Jesus said in John 10:10 (Amplified), "I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)."
Most of us have failed to receive the new life we were given, when we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior. 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ (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." The new creation people aren't just forgiven sinners, like most of us have been taught. Our old physical bodies didn't get saved, nor did our souls. We received the very Life of God Himself by the Seed of the Word.
We need to recognize what happened in our spirit-man who lives in our physical bodies. Our old body still looks the same and our soul (mind, will and emotions) still thinks and feels the same. We're more aware of our soulish leading, because we haven't developed our new creation spirits, by God's Word. We've failed to bring the new life that's in our spirit, into our soul and body. We continue to see, think and judge ourselves by our old, previous condition.
When we still think and feel just like we did before, we see ourselves after the flesh or carnal selves and allow that to dictate who we "feel" like we are. We're to feed our new creation man/woman on God's Word and receive guidance and counsel from the Holy Spirit. This will renew our minds, so we think and know the Truth of what God's Word says we are now in Christ Jesus. When our spirit is guided by God's Word and His Holy Spirit, then the thoughts of our new spirit will go into the soul. Then our soul will guide our brain, which tells our flesh or body, what to do.
Our body doesn't do anything, unless our brain tells it to. Hebrews 5:14 (Amplified) 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." When we train the senses and mental faculties, by learning and using God's Word, we renew our minds to think and conduct our lives by the Holy Spirit, through our new creation spirit. Before we were created new, our spirits were dead to God and had no say in what we did. 2Corinthians 10:3-5 (Amplified) says, "For though we walk live in the flesh (as mere mortal men), we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons. For the weapons of our warfare are not physical weapons of flesh and blood, but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and the destruction of strongholds. In as much as we refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the True knowledge of God: and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)."
Many believers haven't renewed their minds or souls, in order to bring their flesh into subjection. Proverbs 14:8 (Amplified) says, "The Wisdom (Godly Wisdom) is comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of self-confident fools is to deceive." The Wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way. This comes by renewing our mind, which is now the Mind of Christ. We must know God's Word, so we can train our senses (mind, will and emotions) to keep our bodies in subjection into God's Word and our new creation spirit, by the strength of the Holy Spirit Who will guide us into all the Truth.
Before being born-again, we were only led by our senses and a dead spirit that didn't know God. To some degree, we rebelled against the soul and didn't do everything it wanted to do, using pure willpower. Without the strength of the Holy Spirit, it would be impossible for us to give into these desires. Before being saved, many of us just accepted the hedonistic ways of the world, which says, "If it feels good, then do it." We were completely ruled by our senses and moved mostly by our feelings and emotions.
Our soul or emotions, are unstable at best, and bring anger and many other thoughts that lead to death and destruction in our lives. This is why it's so dangerous for a new creation person to not renew his/her mind by God's Word. Having an unrenewed mind, makes the daily walk of Christians to be a constant fight and struggle to stay in-line with how we should be living. This is true, even in the world. A drug addict can enter rehab for three months, so that his body (his flesh) is recovered from the drug addiction. His mind though hasn't been renewed and leads him right back into the drug scene, so he's addicted again. This is why rehab doesn't work for many.
Remember that Hebrews 5:14 tells us to "Train your senses and mental faculties to discriminate between right and wrong; evil or contrary to what is either Divine or human law." We've tried walking by human law and willpower, which are performance based, instead of the new creation person and the strength of God which lives in us. We need to hold our thought lives into subjection to the Holy Spirit and God's Word. Jesus said, "I only do what I see My Father do and I only say what I hear My Father say and I only go where My Father says to go."
This came by Jesus' renewing His mind by God's Word and training His senses and emotions by practice. We've believed that Jesus never had a bad thought or that He had to keep the emotions of His flesh, in line. Hebrews 2;18 (Amplified) says, "For because He Himself, in His humanity has suffered in being tempted, tested and tried, He is able immediately to run to the cry of assist (relieve) those who are being tempted and tried and who therefore are being exposed to suffering."
Jesus was born in the flesh and needed to keep God's Word always before His eyes and in His heart, in order to deal with a soulish, carnal nature. Jesus had to listen to the Wisdom of God and the Holy Spirit Who was in Him, just like we do. We've never had to endure the trials, tests and temptations that Jesus dealt with. It wasn't any easier to Him to go through them, than it would be for us to do. Jesus had to use the same Word and the Same Holy Spirit to keep Him, that we've been given to guide and keep us.
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