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. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself) and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
As the Holy Spirit guides and teaches us about our new identity, we discover that how the world describes our new identity, is not who we truly are. One can educate the mind by the teachings of the world, but it is not Spiritual Truth. We learn to read and write, to work at our jobs and to function in this world, but Jesus said that, "We are not of this world," in John 17:18 (Amplified) saying, "They are not of this world (worldly, belonging to the world), (Just) as I am not of this world."
We are truly in this world and we must know how to operate while we are here, but we are not limited to the way the world operates. Our Father intended that we enjoy this earth and the things He created, but His creation and the system of the world are two different things. The earth was to be a home for God's children and everything He made was for our enjoyment. The system that operates on the earth, is not the system that was to govern our lives or this planet.
The world and the earth are two separate realms, according to God's will. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" and this should be enough to say that the system in place now, isn't what the Father intended. When Jesus came to bring about the new creation, He intended that we (the Church) would bring about God's will on earth , by the Holy Spirit's being "blended" with our new living spirit.
We were no longer only guided by our carnal mind, but through the Holy Spirit and our new living spirit from within us. Man was still governed by a carnal mind, because his spirit was no longer able to become one with God, until the new creation. All the information we used originated from the world, which was under the control of an outlaw spirit (satan). We were only taught rituals, traditions and regulations that the fallen man (with his carnal nature) could understand. We had a desire to know God, but could only know about Him in the carnal mind and thinking.
The only way we had of truly "knowing" God, was by seeing Jesus as a Man (which was still a carnal thing) or by allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal Him to us by His Word. Even after being born-again, a man was still governed by a carnal mind that hadn't been renewed from within yet. Proverbs 20:27 (Amplified) tells us, "The spirit of man (that factor in human personality which proceeds immediately from God) is the Lamp of the Lord; searching all his inward parts." The man's spirit is where true understanding from God, enters man.
Even after being born-again, if that man doesn't receive the revelation of God's Word into his spirit, then that is still simply educating the carnal mind. We can read the Word and quote the Word and memorize scriptures, but without revelation from withing our spirit, it remains carnally minded. Without the revelation of the Holy Spirit being given in our spirit, we can still do all these things, but get no results, because it has only become carnal knowledge. Even man's carnal mind can be educated and say that "God's Word is true," but still not have revelation and faith that is alive and acting in the NOW realm. Recently, a preacher told a room full of politicians in the White House, that "They should pray for rain." Even though this group was meeting in a room inscribed with "In God We Trust," they laughed at the preacher and called him "foolish for praying."
The carnal mind has been deceived into believing what the world says, instead of believing what God says. Both might say the same thing, but they don't believe the same thing. I was watching the History Channel's "Secrets of the Bible," about the secrets of the Exodus. Many well-meaning,carnally thinking people tried showing how the miraculous journey could have happened. They believed that instead of the Red Sea, the Israelites crossed the Reed Sea, which had only ankle-deep waters for them to cross.
Without revelation from God, the carnal mind can only explain the scriptures, by man's reasonings. Although it might acknowledge God in speech, that carnal mind will never factor God into the Super-natural realm. The carnal mind might consent to supernatural things, but not believe them in reality. Man might talk about God, but usually do so in past or future tense and not in the present tense. The carnal mind cannot "explain" God and therefore, it cannot accept God.
We can read and learn about God, even after being born-again. We might have a head full of scripture and still have an empty life, because we lack the Truth of God's Word. We won't come right out and say, "We don't believe," but we convince ourselves (by carnal thinking) that "It's all for someday." This provides a way for us to believe, without having to believe at all. We reason out, with our carnal reasoning, that "someday it will be true."
Renewing the mind, doesn't just mean we must memorize scriptures. We must trust in what God has said, will work in our lives now, as well as someday. We've debated why the Word works for some, but not for all. It's not that God favors one person more than He favors another, but that one believed with his spirit and the other by his head or carnal mind. One man has his mind is renewed to understand the NOW things of God by faith and the other hasn't renewed his by by the Spirit. Even though he says he believes, his reasoning puts off the actions of the Word by the "Someday Syndrome."
This is something that is done on an individual basis and although it is available to all who will do it, some don't believe it's something important enough to spend much time developing in their lives. I've had many Christians approach me, saying that, "I don't think we need to know all that to get to Heaven." This is true, but we have been commissioned by our Heavenly Father, to not only "get to Heaven," but to present Heaven to the world. Our walk with God will mostly be for personal gain and not so much for aiding others, until we renew our minds to "think like God thinks."
When our head and hearts come together, in agreement to the Truth and Life of God's Word, it becomes reality and not just religion. Many will say, "I've heard all this before," but Jesus said that "hearing we don't hear and seeing we don't see." There is hearing filtered through a mind that still reasons and one that reveals. This is a personal boundary every person sets on his own. The Holy Spirit continually encourages us to be diligent in seeking the Lord with our whole heart, soul and spirit.
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