We've concluded in these studies that the Holy Spirit is to be the Teacher of the Church. Even born again men who are not led by the Holy Spirit will bring God's people back to bondage with man made doctrines. When we're not led by the Holy Spirit, we remain babies in Christ instead of growing to be mature men. Hebrews 5:12-14 (Amplified) says that, "For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God's Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food." Verse 13 continues, "For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought and action) for he is a mere infant (not able to talk yet)." Verse 14 says, "But solid food is for full grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law."
Paul is speaking here to Christians who haven't listened to the Holy Spirit, but are still led by the carnal, unrenewed mind of the natural man. He continued in Hebrews 6:1-3 (Amplified) saying, "Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrines of Christ (the Messiah) advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity. Let us not again by laying the foundation of repentance and of dead works (dead formalism) and the faith (by which you turned to God)." Verses 2-3 say, "With teachings about purifying, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment and punishment (these are all matters of which you should have been fully aware, long long ago). If indeed God permits, we will (now) proceed (to advanced teaching)."
These weren't just the congregations, but the minister Paul was addressing. When we attend church, we should be in a place of peace and surety. We seem to remove the armor of God, kick off the shoes of the Gospel of peace and lay down our shields when we're at church. We open our spirit to what's being said to us and everything preached goes in unfiltered. Few will discern whether what's being said is from the carnal man or from the Holy Spirit. We should be in a safety zone at church, but we need to be aware of what's being said.
Jesus spoke the parable of the sower in Mark 4:24 (Amplified) saying, "And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure (of thought and study) you give (of virtue and knowledge) that comes back to you-and more (besides) will be given to you who hear."
Jesus said to, "Be careful what you hear!" Romans 10:17 (Amplified) says, "So faith comes by hearing (what is told)." This scripture is talking about our faith in God and how faith comes by hearing God's Word. The principal also works in anything else. Faith in communism comes by hearing communism preached. Faith in Hitler came by hearing what he preached. Faith in anything else come by hearing whatever is preached, told, or spoken enough times. And, if we listen to it, then it will be what we now believe (even if it isn't true).
In Mark 4:14 (Amplified), Jesus said that, "The sower sows the Word!" So, words are seeds and the heart (or spirit) of man is the soil. In this case, the seed (Word) that was being sown is the Word of God. What if the seeds (words) being sown are not the Word of God? If your heart (spirit) is the good soil, then it will grow whatever you sow into it. The earth has no way to discriminate what seed goes into it. The earth will grow weeds just as quickly (or more quickly) than it will grow corn.
If our hearts (spirits) are born again, then it is good soil. It will now grow whatever is sown into it. It will grow fear, doubt, unbelief, dead formalisms and whatever else you allowed be sown in it. That is why Jesus admonished, "Be careful what you are hearing." An unrenewed minds will read the spiritual Word of God and remove the revelation from it, leaving only the carnal thoughts to guide them. This always leads to condemnation, feelings of unworthiness, fear of God and doubt when we pray because we still see ourselves through man's eyes and not God's eyes.
Romans 12:2 (Amplified) says, "Do not be conformed to this world (this age) (fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs) but be transformed (changed) by the (entire) renewal of your mind (by its new ideals and its new attitude) so that you may prove (for yourselves) what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God; even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect (in His sight for you)."
If we do not allow the Holy Spirit to renew our mind (our old carnal way of thinking), then even though we're born again, we will continue thinking on and in the same manner we did before being saved. When reading the Word, the carnally minded man will still identify with the old, sinful man and not with the new being he's become.
Do you remember when Peter was up on the roof of his home and received a vision from God? God lowered a sheet down to Peter by the four corners of the sheet. Acts 10:11-16 (Amplified) says, "And he (Peter) saw the sky opened and something like a great sheet lowered by the four corners, descended to the earth. Verses 13-14 say, "It contained all kinds of quadrupeds and wild beasts and creeping things of the earth and birds of the air. And there came a voice to him, saying, Rise up, Peter, kill and eat. But Peter said, No, by no means, Lord; For I have never eaten anything that is common and unhallowed or (ceremonially) unclean." Verse 15 says, "And the voice came to him again a second time, What God has cleansed and pronounced clean, do not you defile and profane by regarding and calling common and unhallowed or unclean."
Listen carefully to what I wish to say to you in this next sentence. If God has cleansed you by His Blood, has pronounced you clean and pure, has declared you to be the "Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and has declared you clean from all unrighteousness, then He would say unto you what He said unto Peter. God would say, "Do not defile and profane by regarding and calling common and unhallowed or unclean, what God has cleansed."
We refer to ourselves (by the carnal mind), as "old sinners"," unworthy", "just pilgrims" and say how "non are righteous, no not one." God said, "Don't call unclean, what I have made clean." God says, "Don't call yourself a sinner if I have declared you righteous." And, He says, "Do not defile and profane what I have pronounced clean and good."
The carnal (unrenewed) mind of man will still run by feelings and by guilt. The renewed mind (the mind of the Holy Spirit) will rise above the old man and receive himself as "that which God has made clean and cleansed by His Own sacrifice." We fail to realize that when referring to ourselves as unclean and unrighteous and sinners saved by grace, we're actually defiling and profaning what God declares clean and righteous.
This sounds slightly different when viewed from God's point of view, doesn't it? It sounded good and right to Peter when he said to God, "Not so Lord, I won't partake of anything unclean." As a man who was raised under the Law, Peter's response sounded correct. What Peter failed to see, was what the Holy Spirit had to say about it. To those of us who raised under denominations and churches that were taught by carnally minded men, it sounds right to us to say, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" and "None are righteous, no not one."
We forgot that the Holy Spirit is telling us that we've been made righteous by Jesus' righteousness and we have been cleansed from all unrighteousness through Jesus. You are not unclean and profane, because God has cleansed us.
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