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but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind...." (Romans 12:2) Into what?
If we are not to be conformed to this world, but be renewed into something else, what is the something else? Let me share what I think the writer was getting at.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Note also the following from Philippians 2:5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
And this I think puts it all together; Romans 8:29 ¶ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
So according to the aforementioned scriptures, it is clear I am sure to everyone that what God is desiring to accomplish in each of us is nothing short of a miracle. Rather than us being conformed to this world, despite the huge influences and temptations that assail us daily, God would have us be conformed to the image of His Son. And because the Son is the express image of the Father, then God desires you and me to be conformed by the renewing of our minds, into a human expression of Himself!!! Therefore He wants to take us is back to Eden, where we were first created in the image of God. This image is in character. It was sin that marred that image, therefore in order to express God's character, we need to overcome sin. This is the heart and soul of the gospel.
An understanding therefore of the nature and character of God would greatly help us to understand and appreciate the manner of man or woman we ought to be.
Throughout the history of mankind, names have been given as a representation of the nature and character of the one named. In the Bible this is especially so, even in relation to God Himself.
Ex 34:5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Being a reflection of God's character is not just a NT concept. Micah had this recommendation for Israel...
Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
God's grace, mercy, and justice, His longsuffering goodness and truth, are all active expressions of the core natural quality that underpins everything that God does, summed up in the one word, love. ! John 4:8 tells us that God doesn't just love, but He is love.
And throughout the scriptures, from Genesis to Revealtion, we are consistently remended that it is love that most expresses God's character, and it is through love that we are to minister to the world and one another, therefore expressing God's nature to all.
Deut 6:4 ¶ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Le 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
Elsewhere in the OT, the word 'stranger' is used instead of 'neighbor'. The stranger was not to be vexed or oppressed, and when sojourning in the land of Israel was to be treated and accepted and loved as a son of Israel. (Except in relation to the ministry of holy things) And most interestingly, Jesus used the word stranger in Mathew 25, telling us precisely how we are to treat him, and that our salvation depended upon it.
To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the homeless, and visit the imprisoned, all strangers, was the same as if we were doing to Him. And the only way this can be done is through a heart filled with the love of God, a heart renewed by the Spirit of God, a heart and mind expressing the nature and character of a gracious, merciful and longsuffering God to a world reeling under the pressures of sin, a world confused by the consistent lies of Satan thus misapprehending the true nature and motives of a loving God, a world beginning to fall apart under the weight of it's collective guilt and unbelief.
The world does not need our condemnation. We, as followers of Jesus, are come not to condemn the world, nor to judge the world, but to introduce the world to Jesus. We are His hands to reach out and lift up the downtrodden and oppressed. We are His mouth to minister to the depressed and fearful. We are His heart and mind to minister to the lonely and the unloved. And we are His feet that delivers the gospel of peace to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people.
If love cannot be found as our motivating force behind all that we do, we are doing it wrong. Are we loving our wives selflessly, as Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for it? Are we loving our neighbours as ourselves? Are we blessing them that curse us? Are we doing good to them that hate us? Are we praying for them that despitefully use us and persecute us? Are we loving our enemies?
And finally, are we proving our love for Jesus by keeping all His commandments? (John 14:15) Particularly the eleventh?
Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Anything less than this my friends, and the world will not recognize us. Without love, we are nothing but noise and show. We can speak any number of languages, see the future, understand all prophecy, expound on all the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, have faith to move the Himalayas into the Indian Ocean, but if we do not have love, all else is vanity.
(1 Cor 13:1-3)
Earlier, I mentioned that the only way to reflect God's character is by overcoming sin. How are we mere mortals to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat? Again, through love.
Ro 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
1Jo 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
The renewing of the mind is faith in God to receive His promises , instead of Going to the World for there substitute for Gods help and be prudent in the spirit and understand the things of God ....... See prudent in the law was rejected by the Lord as he promised Jesus Spirit to come in the old Prophets of the Bible..........An example is , A man has an issue maybe illness and he runs to the Doctor to get medicine or aid and never once even thinks to ask Jesus for help, or a person takes in media like books or movies which are evil and likes its a great thing to do, were Holy Spirit says `I have no authority to protect this person from being cursed from demons`, so the demons come and curse discord on that person until he turns back to God and repents and clears the threat out.......... Were the renewing of the mind know that he must never go here or there and if any of this comes Jesus said that and He knows to trust Jesus Word to know He is there and says in the presence of the Lord at all times ....... Other ideas are a man says I am under the weather today as I was not dressed properly before , which is an old wives tails of the world and will Reject the spiritual forces at work creating any illness, ...... Or a man condemns a neighbor for some thing and another man says `right on brother` for condemning their neighbor, and Jesus is over there were these two or more condemner do not see or care or know about any spiritual authority behind the veil in darkness is planing ....... Know Jesus and His plan which is His will and his promises are life ...... and know the ways of the devil so you can turn to Jesus for His blood will not be deceived into deception and lack of the Holy Spirit
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind...." (Romans 12:2) Into what?
If we are not to be conformed to this world, but be renewed into something else, what is the something else? Let me share what I think the writer was getting at.
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
Note also the following from Philippians 2:5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
And this I think puts it all together; Romans 8:29 ¶ For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
So according to the aforementioned scriptures, it is clear I am sure to everyone that what God is desiring to accomplish in each of us is nothing short of a miracle. Rather than us being conformed to this world, despite the huge influences and temptations that assail us daily, God would have us be conformed to the image of His Son. And because the Son is the express image of the Father, then God desires you and me to be conformed by the renewing of our minds, into a human expression of Himself!!! Therefore He wants to take us is back to Eden, where we were first created in the image of God. This image is in character. It was sin that marred that image, therefore in order to express God's character, we need to overcome sin. This is the heart and soul of the gospel.
An understanding therefore of the nature and character of God would greatly help us to understand and appreciate the manner of man or woman we ought to be.
Throughout the history of mankind, names have been given as a representation of the nature and character of the one named. In the Bible this is especially so, even in relation to God Himself.
Ex 34:5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Being a reflection of God's character is not just a NT concept. Micah had this recommendation for Israel...
Mic 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
God's grace, mercy, and justice, His longsuffering goodness and truth, are all active expressions of the core natural quality that underpins everything that God does, summed up in the one word, love. ! John 4:8 tells us that God doesn't just love, but He is love.
And throughout the scriptures, from Genesis to Revealtion, we are consistently remended that it is love that most expresses God's character, and it is through love that we are to minister to the world and one another, therefore expressing God's nature to all.
Deut 6:4 ¶ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Le 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
Elsewhere in the OT, the word 'stranger' is used instead of 'neighbor'. The stranger was not to be vexed or oppressed, and when sojourning in the land of Israel was to be treated and accepted and loved as a son of Israel. (Except in relation to the ministry of holy things) And most interestingly, Jesus used the word stranger in Mathew 25, telling us precisely how we are to treat him, and that our salvation depended upon it.
To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the homeless, and visit the imprisoned, all strangers, was the same as if we were doing to Him. And the only way this can be done is through a heart filled with the love of God, a heart renewed by the Spirit of God, a heart and mind expressing the nature and character of a gracious, merciful and longsuffering God to a world reeling under the pressures of sin, a world confused by the consistent lies of Satan thus misapprehending the true nature and motives of a loving God, a world beginning to fall apart under the weight of it's collective guilt and unbelief.
The world does not need our condemnation. We, as followers of Jesus, are come not to condemn the world, nor to judge the world, but to introduce the world to Jesus. We are His hands to reach out and lift up the downtrodden and oppressed. We are His mouth to minister to the depressed and fearful. We are His heart and mind to minister to the lonely and the unloved. And we are His feet that delivers the gospel of peace to all nations, kindreds, tongues and people.
If love cannot be found as our motivating force behind all that we do, we are doing it wrong. Are we loving our wives selflessly, as Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for it? Are we loving our neighbours as ourselves? Are we blessing them that curse us? Are we doing good to them that hate us? Are we praying for them that despitefully use us and persecute us? Are we loving our enemies?
And finally, are we proving our love for Jesus by keeping all His commandments? (John 14:15) Particularly the eleventh?
Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Anything less than this my friends, and the world will not recognize us. Without love, we are nothing but noise and show. We can speak any number of languages, see the future, understand all prophecy, expound on all the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, have faith to move the Himalayas into the Indian Ocean, but if we do not have love, all else is vanity.
(1 Cor 13:1-3)
Earlier, I mentioned that the only way to reflect God's character is by overcoming sin. How are we mere mortals to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat? Again, through love.
Ro 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
1Jo 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
You have the Gospel, brakelite . . . too bad you think it is exclusive to you and those who think do as you believe. Fortunately . . . it isn't.
You have the Gospel, brakelite . . . too bad you think it is exclusive to you and those who think do as you believe. Fortunately . . . it isn't.
And when have I even once suggested that salvation/ heaven/ eternal life is exclusive to such as I think????
While I believe that the posts I contribute to this forum constitute truth, I freely admit and sincerely believe that there will be more people in heaven who believe not as I believe. Not because their version of 'truth' is closer to 'truth' than my 'truth', but because there will be millions that God will accept because they are fully living up to the light they have.
One prime example of this would be Mother Theresa. She worshipped on a different day to me. She belonged to an organisation I have written upon in other places as being the Antichrist. She was submitted to a fallible man who claimed to stand as a mediator between God and man thus revealing himself as partaking of the antichrist spirit. Yet the order she served studied the life of Jesus, loved the way He loved, prayed for the power to serve as He served. Therefore who am I to declare that she would be lost on the grounds that her doctrines differed from mine? The same goes for all in these forums. The question isn't how much truth one has, the question God will be asking is "did you live up to and accept the truths that I revealed to you through My word as My Holy Spirit gave you understanding?"
The question we must ask ourselves, me included, is "am I living up to the gracious revelation of truth fully as God has revealed that to me?" If not, then I will be weighed in the balances and found wanting.
We accept what God has written. "Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word of God." We reject that word, and replace that word with our own interpretations and human inventions and man inspired dogma and doctrine, then we are declaring our mistrust and unbelief...our lack of faith in the very word of God, and in effect calling Him a liar. Will such a one as this be accepted into the kingdom of God? I declare not.
I want to read the posts, when the titles are interesting, but I just cannot read them when they are soooooooooooooooooooo long, so detailed, and not spaced. Please, Brakelite, make your posts shorter. TMI for me at one time, and I so want to read what you have to say.
The same goes for all in these forums. The question isn't how much truth one has, the question God will be asking is "did you live up to and accept the truths that I revealed to you through My word as My Holy Spirit gave you understanding?"
The question we must ask ourselves, me included, is "am I living up to the gracious revelation of truth fully as God has revealed that to me?" If not, then I will be weighed in the balances and found wanting.
We accept what God has written. "Man cannot live by bread alone, but by every word of God."
We accept what God has "written in our hearts" . . . not "written in ink." We accept Jesus Christ as THE Living Word of God and that He abides with us. We need not that any man teach us. His Holy Spirit guides us to the truth of what God has "written in our hearts" . . . NOT the "letter which killeth."We always ask WWJD when reading scripture. If any verse violates the "mind of Christ" or the Love He displayed and taught . . . it is false.
1 John 2:27 (King James Version)
27But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.
2 Corinthians 3: 2-6 (King James Version)
2Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
3Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
4And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;
6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
We accept what God has "written in our hearts" . . . not "written in ink." We accept Jesus Christ as THE Living Word of God and that He abides with us. We need not that any man teach us. His Holy Spirit guides us to the truth of what God has "written in our hearts" . . . NOT the "letter which killeth."We always ask WWJD when reading scripture. If any verse violates the "mind of Christ" or the Love He displayed and taught . . . it is false.
And by so doing you are directly contradicting the very method by which Jesus Himself not only lived, but commanded us to follow. By relying on your 'inner voice' and your 'heart', you have opened yourself up to being deceived.
Jesus said, when tempted of Satan, "it is written". Even Jesus was open to temptation, but no sin was found in Him. Yet Satan knew that if he could get Jesus to use divine power to overcome sin or work a miracle, then man was lost. Jesus had to walk the same path that He saw that we needed to walk. By faith. Jesus faith was firmly founded on the scriptures. He later said to the Pharisees, "you search the scriptures in order to find eternal life (and so they should) but they are they which testify of me."
Later again after the resurrection He was found walking beside the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He proceeded on that occasion to give them a Bible study, showing from the scriptures all things concerning Himself. Now think carefully. Here were two doubters. They had heard that some of the women had seen Jesus risen, but these two didn't believe them. Jesus was 'hidden' from their eyes, for whatever reason, so Jesus could have done several things in order to establish their faith. He could have suggested what you are doing, that they should rely on the the spirit within them to direct them and lead them to truth. Jesus could also have suddenly made Himself known to them..."Hey guys, it's Me!!! Boooo!" But no, what Jesus did was reveal Himself to them through the scriptures. The scriptures were to be the foundation of their hopes and faith.
Peter also said the same in one of his letters when reminding the church he was writing to of the apostles experience on the mount when Jesus met Moses and Elijah. Peter said that as great as this experience was, even hearing the very voice of Almighty God testifying of His Son, Peter said that there was something even better on which to rely, "even the more sure word of prophecy"! Now why would an apostle be saying that scripture is even more reliable than God's audible voice???? Because there are people who throughout human history have claimed to have heard the voice of God, whether by "an inner voice of reason" or a "inspired spirit" or an inner "witness in the heart" and yes, even an audible voice, we have heard them all haven't we, and we also know that none of them can be trusted. Only, and I repeat only, if that voice or witness agrees with scripture can we depend upon it.
This is contrary to what you have claimed to be doing. You are judging the scriptures on your inner voice, rather than the other way around. Not only have you set yourself up for deception, but what you have done is invented your own religion, making your own voice, feelings, and 'witness' take precedence above the word of God. And sadly my friend, whatever religion that is, it isn't Christianity.
Yeah, I know that some will now protest against "sola scriptura". But be honest. What results have manifested themselves from relying on tradition, or man's intelligence or interpretation above what is clearly written in the scriptures? One brief read through Foxe's Book of Martyrs should completely quell any desire to trust in anything other than the written word of God.
Unfortunately, the dark ages are going to be repeated on a global scale because the Bible will be rejected as the basis for faith and practice, Revelation 13 telling us that a power will come and kill all who refuse to worship according to their rules. This is a "Christian" power! (I can prove this in another thread if anyone is interested).Yet those being persecuted will be Bible believing Christians. Which side I wonder will be those within these forums who now reject the scriptures?
And by so doing you are directly contradicting the very method by which Jesus Himself not only lived, but commanded us to follow. By relying on your 'inner voice' and your 'heart', you have opened yourself up to being deceived.
Jesus said, when tempted of Satan, "it is written". Even Jesus was open to temptation, but no sin was found in Him. Yet Satan knew that if he could get Jesus to use divine power to overcome sin or work a miracle, then man was lost. Jesus had to walk the same path that He saw that we needed to walk. By faith. Jesus faith was firmly founded on the scriptures. He later said to the Pharisees, "you search the scriptures in order to find eternal life (and so they should) but they are they which testify of me."
Later again after the resurrection He was found walking beside the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He proceeded on that occasion to give them a Bible study, showing from the scriptures all things concerning Himself. Now think carefully. Here were two doubters. They had heard that some of the women had seen Jesus risen, but these two didn't believe them. Jesus was 'hidden' from their eyes, for whatever reason, so Jesus could have done several things in order to establish their faith. He could have suggested what you are doing, that they should rely on the the spirit within them to direct them and lead them to truth. Jesus could also have suddenly made Himself known to them..."Hey guys, it's Me!!! Boooo!" But no, what Jesus did was reveal Himself to them through the scriptures. The scriptures were to be the foundation of their hopes and faith.
Peter also said the same in one of his letters when reminding the church he was writing to of the apostles experience on the mount when Jesus met Moses and Elijah. Peter said that as great as this experience was, even hearing the very voice of Almighty God testifying of His Son, Peter said that there was something even better on which to rely, "even the more sure word of prophecy"! Now why would an apostle be saying that scripture is even more reliable than God's audible voice???? Because there are people who throughout human history have claimed to have heard the voice of God, whether by "an inner voice of reason" or a "inspired spirit" or an inner "witness in the heart" and yes, even an audible voice, we have heard them all haven't we, and we also know that none of them can be trusted. Only, and I repeat only, if that voice or witness agrees with scripture can we depend upon it.
This is contrary to what you have claimed to be doing. You are judging the scriptures on your inner voice, rather than the other way around. Not only have you set yourself up for deception, but what you have done is invented your own religion, making your own voice, feelings, and 'witness' take precedence above the word of God. And sadly my friend, whatever religion that is, it isn't Christianity.
Yeah, I know that some will now protest against "sola scriptura". But be honest. What results have manifested themselves from relying on tradition, or man's intelligence or interpretation above what is clearly written in the scriptures? One brief read through Foxe's Book of Martyrs should completely quell any desire to trust in anything other than the written word of God.
Unfortunately, the dark ages are going to be repeated on a global scale because the Bible will be rejected as the basis for faith and practice, Revelation 13 telling us that a power will come and kill all who refuse to worship according to their rules. This is a "Christian" power! (I can prove this in another thread if anyone is interested).Yet those being persecuted will be Bible believing Christians. Which side I wonder will be those within these forums who now reject the scriptures?
And by so doing you are directly contradicting the very method by which Jesus Himself not only lived, but commanded us to follow. By relying on your 'inner voice' and your 'heart', you have opened yourself up to being deceived.
Did you read the scripture I posted or are you just pressing forward with your indoctrinated ancient ignorance? You are free to remain in ignorance . . . it won't matter as long as you follow Christ's commands to "love God and each other." But it is very annoying when you ignore what people write to promote your twisted understanding of God's true nature . . . which is DIRECTLY CONTRADICTED by Christ's example and teaching. I tire of talking to walls and mindless blocks of stone.
Yeah, I know that some will now protest against "sola scriptura". But be honest. What results have manifested themselves from relying on tradition, or man's intelligence or interpretation above what is clearly written in the scriptures? One brief read through Foxe's Book of Martyrs should completely quell any desire to trust in anything other than the written word of God.
Unfortunately, the dark ages are going to be repeated on a global scale because the Bible will be rejected as the basis for faith and practice, Revelation 13 telling us that a power will come and kill all who refuse to worship according to their rules. This is a "Christian" power! (I can prove this in another thread if anyone is interested).Yet those being persecuted will be Bible believing Christians. Which side I wonder will be those within these forums who now reject the scriptures?
Brakelite -
Just because you interpret the scriptures differently than others does not mean someone is rejecting the scriptures. And I dare say, I will always rely on the inner Voice within myself over the inner voice of others who come preaching and teaching by force. God knows there are ga-zillions of spiritual teachers in the world trying to draw disciples after themselves, but the scriptures state that we have no need that any man teach us because we have been given freely of God's Spirit. You can rest from your labor and the burden of thinking you are called to protect others from "false teachers". The Holy Spirit will take care of his own, not we ourselves. Drop the religious spirit and you'll find the joy and peace that has been eluding you.
Heartsong
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