WHAT THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND IS [u]NOT[/u] (Part 19)


The Spirit of your mind is not a ‘feeling’. It has nothing to do with feeling up or down, feeling good or bad, or feeling positive or negative. [i]Scientology[/i] has corrupted people into believing if there is negative 'energy' in the body that this has to be eradicated. This is false. Should man feel 'positive' when they are in Sin? Should people feel 'good' when they leave a service unchanged? This is the heresy of our times. Keep the people feeling 'good' and 'positive' all the time. As opposed to what, "bad" and "negative" (I speak as a man). It an atmosphere such as this, can God even move among the people? Can a man laugh his way through the New Birth?

The 'spirit of our mind' has nothing to do with 'positive'- it has to do with [i]our response to God[/i]. It has to do with the spiritual [i]disposition[/i] of our minds. "The change is not in mind psychologically, either in its essence or in its operation; and neither is it in the mind as if it were a superficial change of opinion either on points of doctrine or practice: but it is in the spirit of the mind; in that which gives mind both its bent and its materials of thought. It is not simply in the spirit as if it lay there in dim and mystic quietude; but it is in the spirit of the mind; in the power which, when changed itself, radically alters the entire sphere and business of the inner mechanism." (Vincent)

Scripture teaches that the unbeliever has a mind that is [u]hostile[/u] towards God, ignorant of Him, vain, unable to sense the pains of conscience, and without moral understanding. This is a ‘carnal’ mind and cannot be made subject to the Law of God. It follows after the world and its ways- hook, line, and sinker. The spirit of our mind is made after Christ, but the spirit of this world is antichrist (I John 4:3). You simply cannot mix them.

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Robert Wurtz II

YE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST (Part 20)

Another key aspect of our renewed minds deals with our ability to understand and ‘judge’ spiritual things. We are able to separate from holy and profane, truth and lies, sin and righteousness. In I Corinthians 2:15, 16 Paul writes, [i]But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.[/i] The spiritual man is qualified to sift, to examine, to decide rightly, upon all things because he has the eyes of his heart enlightened (Ephesians 1:18) and is no longer blinded by the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4).

There is a great lesson for Christians who know by personal experience the things of the Spirit of God. Men of intellectual gifts who are ignorant of the things of Christ talk learnedly and patronizingly about things of which they are grossly ignorant. The spiritual man is superior to all this false knowledge. (Robertson's) The spiritual do not drink down deception. They do not follow a multitude to do evil, they judge [u]all[/u] things.

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Robert Wurtz II

THE 'SPIRIT' OF THE AGE (Part 21)

It is almost amazing the lengths to which the Spirit of Antichrist can work in evil seducers to deceive and be deceived (II Timothy 3:13). These people can stand a passage of scripture on its ear and make Christians like it and even ‘amen’ it. In I Timothy 6:5-8 we read, [i]Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. [/i]

Can you imagine whole ministries built on prosperity and others that have an undercurrent of that teaching? The word here for ‘supposing’ is the Greek [i]nomizo[/i] (nom-id'-zo) and means to ‘think’. What did they [u]think?[/u] They 'thought' that ‘gain’ (lit. money-getting) is ‘godly’. They believed that money-getting was a legitimate [i]expression[/i] of godliness and a measure of their spirituality. If this is true we can deduce that their whole theology would be effected and they could preach or teach on prosperity and actually ‘think’ it was spiritual. Why?

They were men of [i]corrupt[/i] (lit. thoroughly rotted) minds and literally ‘defrauded’ or ‘bereft’ of the truth. This means that [u]they once held the Truth[/u] and knew the truth, but have set it aside. What a devilish strategy! Feed the people truth until you gain a following and then set aside the truth and feed the people lies. The meaning could also be that the truth ‘died’ in their life. What happened? Obviously they did not renew the ‘Spirit’ of their minds and in time truth perished in their reasoning. The Devil got a foothold in their mind and now they are deceiving and being deceived.

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Robert Wurtz II

PAUL's ADMONISHION (Part 22)

How could a corrupt mind, bereft of truth, assist someone else in renewing their mind? Maybe a better question would be, [u]why would they get an opportunity?[/u] Personally I have to look at the teachers themselves first because of the strong [b]warnings[/b] in the New Testament about God judging teachers with a stricter sentence. We read in James 3:1; [i]Be not many (of you) teachers, my brethren, knowing that we shall receive heavier judgment. [/i](ASV) This is a solemn warning to teach the word of God to God’s people and nothing else. Wherein would teachers presume to stray from the plain precepts of God’s word and even ‘add to’, ‘take away’, or ‘misinterpret’ the scriptures?

But are they alone to blame? In no wise. Paul has already [u]begged[/u] the people to renew [i]their own minds[/i]. He warned them at Ephesus for three years with tears that 'wolves' were coming. Peter also warned them and by when we get to Jude 4 we read, [i]For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (license), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.[/i] Now they were already in the camp and they were here to stay.

How do you protect yourself from ideas and thoughts that would injure (as it were) the spirit of your mind? Concepts and philosophies that could spoil you after the rudiments of this world? What are we to do when those who did teach truth have laid it aside and have suffered decay in their own minds? Paul gave a simple answer; [i]from such withdraw thyself[/i]. Don’t give them an opportunity to corrupt your thinking so that you lay aside truth also. To be certain Timothy understood he states in verse 11, [i]But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.[/i]

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Robert Wurtz II

SECTION II
BRINGING MANY sons UNTO GLORY

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (II Corinthians 3:18)

The great objective of God in creating man was that He might bring many sons unto glory (Hebrews 2:10). He desired that man would be a living manifestation of the nature and character of God. This does [u]not[/u] mean that man was created as Deity, but was created upright or righteous in harmony with the personality of God. When God created man from the dust of the earth, it is said that in His image and in His likeness created He him. God is a spirit without a definite shape, as we would know it.

God exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Man was created as Spirit, Soul, and Body. Man was created ‘upright’ and in the image of God, but Sin has marred that image. Because Sin has entered (Romans 5:12), man has sought out many ‘inventions’ (Ecclesiastes 7:29) Sin came [u]into[/u] man and ruled the heart of man in place of God (Romans 5:21). God formed man’s physical parts in a moment of time, but desired a different process for shaping the inner man. God had given man a free will and any shaping of the inner man would require mans cooperation. God was the Potter and man was the clay.

Beginning with Adam God desired to bring many sons unto glory. Ron Bailey has rightly pointed out that God needed nothing before He created man, but He desired to bless a people with His glory and presence (John 17). Before we were born again we were alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that was in us and because of the blindness of our hearts (Ephesians 4:15-24). Simply put, we were not [i]compatible[/i] with God. Our human spirit had been severed from the life of God and the spirit of disobedience ruled in the heart and mind. This is what it means to be [u]dead[/u] in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2). Death is separation. As we have quoted before, [i]Christ did not simply come to make bad men good, He came to make dead men live[/i] (Ravenhill). Man is born spiritually dead; that is, he/she is [i]dead[/i] towards God.

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Robert Wurtz II

SPIRIT, SOUL, BODY (Man as a Tripartite Being)

The [i]spirit[/i] of man is that which allows man to be God conscious. The [i]body[/i] of man makes him physically conscious. The [i]soul[/i] of man makes him self-conscious. The soul is said to be that true part of man that existed when man was spiritually dead and will exist when he/she is physically dead. This defines man as a tripartite being (I Thess. 5:23, Hebrews 4:12).

In this model the soul is the 'center' of the person where the mind, will, and emotions exist. At the center of the soul is the seat of the affections commonly called the [i]heart[/i]. In fact, the whole workings of the soul, in the lower and sensual, as well as in the higher spheres, has its origin in the heart.

Proverbs 4:23 informs us that it is out of the heart that are ‘the issues of life.’ The word ‘issues’ is literally ‘goings out’. Jesus took this up in Matthew 12:35; A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. There was only one good man and that was Jesus Christ. All others were evil men with evil hearts (Romans 3:12).

This is the condition of man unsaved. His body is cursed with the creation, filled with infirmity. The soul at its heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) The human spirit is dead to the life of God (Ephesians 2:1). [i]Unregenerate[/i] man is physically dying, spiritually dead and morally corrupt.

So why does Paul say in I Thess. 5:23, [i]Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.[/i] ? (NASU) How can man be entirely sanctified to God when they are fallen in Sin? God’s answer is regeneration.

Man has to be regenerated or as we commonly say, [i]born again[/i]. The word ‘regeneration’ is the Greek [i]palengenesis[/i]. It means in modern usage ‘an exact representation of ancestral characteristics.’ (R.B) What were the characteristics of Adam before the fall? More excellently, what are the characteristics of Christ? Adam before the fall was made ‘upright’ or ‘right’ in the eyes of God. Jesus Christ was all that and more- for if you had seen Him you had seen the Father (John 14:9).

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Robert Wurtz II

PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE

There is only one Father, one eternally uniquely Begotten Son, and one Holy Spirit. There is only and will ever only be one God. As God says in Isaiah 45:18, [i]For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.[/i] So what does Peter mean when he writes, “[i]Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.[/i]” (II Peter 1:4)?

The object of all God's promises and dispensations was to bring fallen man back to the image of God, which he had lost. This, indeed, is the sum and substance of the religion of Christ. We have partaken of an earthly, sensual, and devilish nature; the design of God by Christ is to [u]remove[/u] this, and to make us partakers of the Divine nature; and save us from all the corruption in principle and fact which is in the world; the source of which is lust. This is the Greek word [i]epithumia[/i], which in this context, means irregular, unreasonable, inordinate, and impure desire; desire to have, to do, and to be, what God has prohibited, and what would be ruinous and destructive to us were the desire to be granted. (Ed. Adam Clarke)

God so designed that man would not only be a demonstration of His personality and character in the earth, but a truly compatible being with which to have fellowship. Remember that our section is to the effect of bringing many sons unto glory. Though we stress this often, we must understand that when Sin entered the human race the image of God in man was marred and a total restoration to that image had to be accomplished before God could restore man to fellowship. Spiritual 'death' is man seperated from the life of God. Man needed 'life', that is, eternal life. [i]And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.[/i] (John 17:3) If you recall the Garden of Eden in light of this passage, it is almost as if man had chosen the knowledge and experience of Sin [i]over[/i] a knowledge and relationship with God.

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Robert Wurtz II

AN ILLUSTRATION FROM THE WILDERNESS TABERNACLE

We know that God desires to make man His tabernacle (dwelling place). This was the basic point of Steven's message. God desires to reside in man (John 14:17). For the unsaved, this is impossible without regeneration. To complicates matters further, unregenerate man has no real desire for God.

The Wilderness Tabernacle was basically tripartite, with the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. By way of analogy, the Outer Court is like unto the body, the Holy Place the soul, and the Holy of Holies our human spirit. As with the Tabernacle, so with us, the temple had to cleansed with blood. In our case it was the Blood of Christ, as we had been defiled by Sin.

The next step is that Christ must restore His rightful place in our Holy of Holies (as it were). In the Wilderness Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant represented the very Throne of God with the Cherubim as we find in Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. This Throne was shielded by a huge curtain 4 inches thick and woven of one seam. It was total darkness behind that vail. You had not been able to see your hand in front of your face. The Lord's glory was only there at special times. This is a picture of man utterly dead in trespasses and sins. This is man alienated from the life of God. This is Ichabod over the doorposts of man's human spirit.

With God gone man was left to himself and Sin to rule and reign. The body served as the only real expression of the life of the Soul; hence, man gave himself over to sensual and glandular experience. The mind was darkened and any real fulfillment in life came through the exercise of his glands. Solomon took this reality to a whole new level. And after giving himself to everything any unregenerate man or woman would ever dream to have and more; he found that none of those things could meet the need of a man. (Paris Reidhead) Man was simply incomplete with a dead human spirit, dead to God. The bodily satisfactions could not [u]fulfill[/u] him.

Yet, tragically, the Vail remained. Hebrews makes interesting parallels also of the Tabernacle and the True Temple in Heaven. I find it wonderful and mysterious that God desired to both rule and reign [u]in[/u] man and at the same time open the way for us to come boldly before the Throne of Grace. We read in Hebrews 10:20; [i]... which way he did initiate for us -- new and living, through the vail, that is, his flesh.[/i] (YLT) It was commonly believed that Sin was the great barrier between us and God and that 'Sin' was symbolized by the Vail.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (II Corinthians 5:21)

This is a wonderful truth that answers why we can be dead to Sin and alive unto God. Jesus said in Luke 12:50; [i]But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished![/i] We shall presume no farther than the revelation of scripture and simply say, that Christ was 'made' sin for us. When items were baptized in the New Testament era it was that of fabric being dipped into dye. The two became one. Christ took sin down into death on the Cross- wrending the vail from top to bottom; that is the Sin that separated us from God. Christ's death on the Cross seperates us [i]from the dominion of Sin[/i]. Christ's death loosed Sin and death's hold upon all those who are [u]in[/u] Him. [i]Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.[/i] It is through Christ that we can now enter into the Holiest and that the Holiest might enter into us. It is Christ who was made Sin for us that He might die to it for us that we would be free from its reign and rule.

Ron Bailey points out that there is a wonderful connection to all this that summarizes what our Lord means by ‘regeneration’. We read in Matthew 19:28, [i]And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, [u]in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory,[/u] ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.[/i] Regeneration, simply put, is when Jesus Christ is sitting upon the Throne of your very life ruling through the Holy Spirit, in your quickened human spirit. This passage is indicative of the post-resurrection world, but the principal is the same no less. Christ restored to the Holy of Holies in me, sitting on the throne of His Glory- ruling and reigning in my life.

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Robert Wurtz II

THAT WE MIGHT COME 'UP' INTO GOD

We have a great picture of salvation from Sin, the flesh, the world, and the devil in God’s great deliverance of Israel from Egypt (Hebrews 3). We were slaves to our cruel taskmaster Sin and the Devil, but God called us out, through the hand of Christ as He did with Moses that we may go and sacrifice to our God (Exodus 5:8, Romans 12:1-2).

What does this mean? Did God just desire to save us from Sin? Did Jesus die to save us from Hell? What does the scriptures say? [i]And this is life eternal, [u]that they might know thee[/u] the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.[/i] (John 17:3) The point of everything is that God would restore man to His Image that we might know Him.

And this is the difference between those who fell in the wilderness and those we will take the 'Promised Land'. When Israel was free from their taskmasters they were happy, for a while, until trials came for the word of the Lord’s sake. Then, they murmured against God as would fair-weather believers, and their hearts turned back to Egypt.

God led them out by a mighty deliverance. He called out a people to [u]sanctify totally[/u] to Himself. He wanted to fellowship with them and walk among them. But did they share the same feeling towards God or were they merely interested in being relieved of their sorrow and afflictions?

God sanctified a Mountain and forbid any from coming up to Him save those whom He would allow. What a picture! What a fearful sight. This is the place where God would test the hearts of the people. This was the Mount that was not to be touched. This was the Mount that burned with fire. It is here where Moses trembled and quaked. It is here we learn a tremendous lesson.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. (Psalm 24:3, 4)

God knew the rebellious hearts of the people (Jeremiah 17:10). He knew the thoughts and intents of their hearts (Hebrews 4:12). If they had presumed to come before God in that rebellion He had broken upon the people with tremendous judgment (Exodus 19:23). It is here on the mountain that we learn the terrible awesomeness of God's pure holiness. It is here that we are made to appreciate the priveledge of ever coming back into the presence of God once we were sinners. It is here that we stand in awe and wonder at the marvel of a salvation that could reconcile a thrice holy God, with a thrice sinful sinner. Man, who was shot thoroughly through with Sin, was about to reckon with the reality of His maker.

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Robert Wurtz II

A READINESS TO OBEY

If there is a word that is completely out of vogue it is [i]obedience[/i]. The word has even been deleted from marriage vows in many cases. The word implies a readiness to submit our will to another. Folk don't like to be told what to do or not to do. This attitude must be utterly forfeited when coming to Christ. Humility implies [i]subjection[/i]. Not only towards God, but a prevailing attitude towards one another (Ephesians 5).

And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people.

This is a bad mixture, God who [i]demands[/i] total obedience and a stiff-necked people? God wanted to bless Israel with His glory and presence, but they desired a life [u]totally incompatible[/u] with God.

When we say ‘glory’ we are not referring to God’s sovereignty, worship, and praise. We are not saying God was about ready to share His throne. God says in Isaiah 42:8 that He will not give His glory to another or His praise to graven images. God was saying that there is a glory due to Him, and to Him alone.

What we are referring to is what Jesus spoke of in his prayer to the Father in John 17:22-23;

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

This is the glory of God’s person, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). The prayer is for all those who should believe on Him through the Apostles word (John 17:20). As Christ, according to his human nature, is termed the Son of God, He may be understood as saying: "I have communicated to all those who believe, or shall believe in me, the glorious privilege of becoming sons of God; that, being all adopted children of the same Father, they may abide in peace, love, and unity." For this reason it is said in Hebrews 2:11, Christ is not ashamed to call them brethren. (Clarke) Why? Because they have the nature and mind of Christ and are no longer incompatible with Him. This is not Deity, it is the fruit of the Spirit; the evidence that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

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Robert Wurtz II