The next point we must get is that without God’s
Spirit changing us from the inside out we would be useless to Him. Those bent
to a Calvinistic way of thinking may want to shelve the work of the Holy Spirit
in their lives because there has been so much abuse of late concerning His work
amongst the churches of God; “throw the bathwater out with the baby” type of
mentality, which would be a grave miscalculation.
We need the Holy Spirit in our lives far more than
some have begun to understand. Praise God His work continues in spite of the
lack of some believers understanding. God is at work and the gates of hell
shall not prevail. As individuals of the body of Christ we need God to help us
understand the work of His Spirit and get ourselves out of the way to allow the
change to happen in our lives. We need faith for this to be actualised. “For
without faith it is impossible to please God”.
We understand
from a scientific point of view that we have opposite and opposing forces that
work in tandem and yet change a dynamic and they repel one another. A magnet
attracts another magnet when the opposing poles face one another, in other word
north and south will attract each other whilst two south poles will repeal and
that is why when a magnet is flipped it repeals what it once attracted. A
common law that we can most certain learn from and use it as a baseline to get
ahead with our understanding.
The Lord Jesus’
often used parables to highlighted a truth, for example you couldn’t put new
wine into old wines skin for the old skins would burst, nor can you mend a worn
garment with new fabric for the opposing strengths in the material would cause
more damage, the new would cause the old to tear; like for like is needed to
arrive at the perfect fit. In the case of the magnet opposites are needed to
attract; our flesh and sin fits perfectly, but walk in the Spirit and we will
repeal sin in our lives. The Apostle Paul establishes this base line for us; “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust
of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh: and these are
contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye
would.” (Galatians 5:16-17) – This is not a suggestion but rather a common fact
concerning the mechanisms of the Spirit versus the flesh, there will always be
conflict between the two and it cannot be any other way, no matter how much
psycho-jargon is thrown into the mix.
We cannot
expect to put on the mind of Christ and use it to its full potential if we
muddle those thoughts; Christs actions against our normal engagements. When the
two are mixed it will result in a catastrophic concoction of mismatched
thoughts that cause more conflict that enlightenment. Here is some more
doctrinal evidence to prove this point; “For
those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the
flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things
of the Spirit. For to set the mind
on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and
peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to
God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-8)
If we go back
to the beginning of time, the time of creation and the birth of mankind, I
notice something of great value that is easily overlook, which is; “the
KNOWLEDGE of good and evil”. We have a skewed perception on what is “good and
evil” and therefore our natural reasoning will always lack the knowledge
required to arrive at a God saturated conclusion. Our minds are naturally
sinful and to put “new wine” into an old “wine skins” will result in a failed
attempt every time.
This is why we
all needed a new beginning, Christians are born again and given the Spirit of
God, which now also affords the ability to put on the mind of Christ. However
in order for Christ’s mind to dominate our existence we need to “unlearn what
has been learnt”. Without this intent in a believers mind and heart, we will
always fail to reach the heights that our beloved Father affords those whom He
loves, His children; the sons of God!
We must all
learn to walk in the Spirit. It rather simple to understand, but quite another
thing to implement; obey the words of God regardless of the cost is the
instruction, follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus, for God knows what He
is doing; bless and do not curse when reviled; the opposite reaction to our
natural instinct. Turn the other cheek when it receives a harmful blow; go
without so that someone else may have and in so doing we will be realigning the
radar of our minds eye when it comes to putting on the mind of Christ; However,
when we look for justification to find justice when we have faced injustice we
have not understood what it means to put on the mind of Christ. We are
endeavouring to put old wine into new wineskins and it will always end with the
same result, a miss-match.
God help us and
may He give us the eye salve needed to see these truths for what they are and
may we be quick in running to Him when grace is needed to overcome our old
natures.
Grace and peace
to all who confess Jesus as Lord.
Signing off
Tyrone
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