2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come."
Many Christians struggle with their walk with the Father, because of the guilt they hold onto from the past. Many have even convinced themselves that this is what we need in order to keep us humble. We continue walking under condemnation and feel like sinners still, because of what we were before receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We've even been taught to feel this way, by much of our religious teaching and preaching over the years.
We should be praising the Father and giving Him eternal thanks, for His glorious grace and Love for us. We should never walk in our past, but learn to live in the eternal life and family of God. Walking as just "old sinners saved by grace, " comes from an unrenewed mind and from not being spiritually minded. An unrenewed mind will hinder the power of the new creation man from being the one in charge of his own flesh, even in our physical body. The Apostle John writes to the Church in 3John 1:2 (Amplified) saying, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and (that your body) may keep well, even as (I know) your soul keeps well and prosper."
A "prosperous soul (mind and emotions)," is one that has been renewed by God's Word and has been trained by thinking on the Word, to not think only on things of the earth. We're instructed continuously in the Word, how and what to think. And, because God is the One Who has created this new creation, He should (above all Persons) know how we are to think. When you became the new creation, only your dead spirit was created alive and returned to perfect fellowship with the Father. Your body and your soul remained like they were. Many of those who received Jesus in salvation, were healed simultaneously. This had much to do with the message, that was being preached at the time they were saved.
We don't hear much about being healed at the same time we are born-again, but in the early Church, this was what was being preached. The things we continually think on are the way we live our lives in the flesh. In the world, those who "suffer" depression, are those whose minds are fixed in guilt and condemnation, even if they're not currently sinning, but from things they did in the past. This is simply being carnally minded and not being able to silence the voices from the past.
The soul of man was never to be the part of the man that would reign in authority in the lives of God's people. The spirit man was supposed to be the one who would direct and have dominion over mankind. The soul of man was to be the one that would "broadcast" the signals to the brain, that would move the flesh. The spirit (which is alive now unto God again), is to receive directions from the Spirit of God. Then, the spirit is to relay this new wisdom to the soul (mind, will and emotions) and the physical brain, which will cause the body to be directed like the Body of Jesus was, on this earth.
When Jesus said, "I only do and say what the Father says and does," He meant exactly that. Jesus received instructions in His Spirit, and His soul was subject to His Spirit. The thoughts and directions that were relayed to His physical brain, were the thoughts of God. Jesus never allowed His thoughts to dwell on anything but what the Father said. We sometimes forget that Jesus was also a man and had a will and a soul (mind) of His Own.
Your body can only do what your brain tells it to do and your brain will only receive the things that are taught to it, through your soul. The soul of man, was to be the "link" between the spirit and the flesh. When a person leaves this earth and is present with the Lord, his soul also goes with him. His brain (which is a physical component), remains intact with the flesh of his body, but the soul and spirit will not be in it any longer. When we fully enter into the Presence of the Lord, your soul will no longer be pulled two ways, but will be single minded on the things of God.
James spoke about receiving wisdom from God when we ask, but not being "double minded" when we receive it. James 1:5-8 (Amplified) says, "If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God (Who gives) to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or fault finding, and it will be given. Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind." Verses 7-8 go on, "For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything (he asks for) from the Lord. (For being as he is) a man of two minds (hesitating,dubious,irresolute) (he is) unstable and unreliable and uncertain about everything (he thinks,feels,decides)."
The man James writes about, knows he needs the Wisdom of God in his life, so He asks God for it. God "liberally" gives the man the wisdom he requests according to the Word. But, because the man's mind is not renewed, he still thinks in the carnal realm (is carnally minded). And, when he receives wisdom, his carnal mind rejects it, because it's "foolishness" to the natural man and mind and the carnal mind rejects and doesn't act on the wisdom. The soul is not renewed and it makes demands on the flesh, which brings confusion to the brain and the flesh remains inactive on the wisdom.
Years ago, Brother Kenneth Hagin made a statement concerning carnal thoughts, saying, "I can't keep the birds from flying over my head, but I can keep them from building a nest in my hair." We might not be able to make our mind think on only God's Word, but we can control whether or not we allow those thoughts to remain there. We can simply replace the old thoughts and teachings of the world, by training our soul and mind what to think.
Paul writes to the Church in Philippians 3:15 (Amplified) saying, "So let those (of us) who are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you have a different attitude of mind, God will make that clear to you also." In Philippians 4:8,9 (Amplified) Paul tells us what we are to keep our hearts and minds trained on, in order to live in peace. Thus, he says, "For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, Whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, Whatever is just, Whatever is pure, Whatever is love and lovable, Whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, If there is any virtue and excellence, if there by anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things (fix your minds on them). Practice what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and model your way of living on it, and the God of peace (of untroubled,undisturbed, well being) will be with you."
When we allow the world to invade the body and brain, with uncensored thoughts, it brings forth dis-ease in the body, as well as distress to the enzymes that flow thought the flesh. Proverbs 17:22 (Amplified) tells us, "A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
We cannot afford to leave our minds unrenewed, to the Word of God. We've all heard the saying, "As the mind leads, the man follows." Your body can only do or not do, what you allow it to. The things you think on and move on in your body, determine how you live and walk. Jesus didn't allow the words of satan, the unbelievers, or the religious people, to direct His mind (soul). He only did and said what, "The Holy Spirit directed Him to say and do."
The greatest difficulty many face, in living the Gospel like the Lord directs, is that we do not allow the Lord to direct it. Our unrenewed minds don't allow the body to lay hands on the sick, because our double-minded thinking paralyses the body, like a man who suffered a stoke. Our spirit wishes to do the things God directs, but the flesh will not react to this Truth. The mind tells the flesh, that "These things are not for today or not for us or only for certain others."
As Christians, we believe in God, but don't believe "God in us." The very same Father Who directed Jesus, is the very same Father Who now lives in us. He hasn't changed from what He directed Jesus to do and what He directs us to do, The greatest difference being, a mind that is directed by the Spirit and not just the flesh. Only a mind that is renewed by the Word, can comprehend the miraculous things that only our God can do. The carnal mind cannot and will not acknowledge "God in us." We're still living as mere men, without this, according to Hebrews 5:14 (Amplified) which 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."
The flesh was made to house the spirit, the soul was to direct the flesh, the spirit was to direct the soul, and God was to direct the spirit. This is the Trinity of God displayed in the Three Part man, who was made in His Image. After the fall of Adam, directions from the Spirit of God was severed and the soul could only receive directions from the earthly things around it. The body, then, came under the control of the worldly elements and not of the God Who created it. With the soul directing, the cravings of the flesh began to grow disproportionately from the things God directed, to the evil influences of a fallen world.
This is all that the soulish control center of man could transmit to the brain. As the soulish center was programmed in sin and death, the body acted in that training. When we begin training the senses and faculties by the Word of God, the flesh will accept the commands from the soul, the soul will be led by our spirit, and your spirit (just like Jesus' Spirit was) will be led by the Holy Spirit. This is how the new creation will rule through God, just like it was intended to do.
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