The moment we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart, at that moment that we repent and believe the gospel, our spirit is recreated and restored to dominion with God, and God gives us a new heart.
Colossians 3:1-4 If you then were raised with Christ, desire those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on earth. 3 For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life shall appear, then you also shall appear with Him in glory.
Repenting is not a process; we decide to make Christ our Life and then live that out. We decide, what I was doing before this moment was wrong, but now I’m going to go this way, which is the way of righteousness and I will renew my mind to the word of God so that I do not go back to sin and so that I can understand who I now am in Christ so that I can walk in the plans and purpose He has predestined for me in Him.
We are three parts, Spirit, Soul, and Body. We are a Spirit, we have a Soul, and we live in a Body.
Before we are saved our spirit operates under satanic dominion, our soul which is our mind, our will, and our emotions is worldly and selfish. Our body is sickly and rightfully so because death is our wage.
Under satans dominion
Our Spirit is in union with satan.
Our Soul has the habits of Satan's kingdom.
Our Body is subject to Satan's kingdom.
Under Gods dominion
Our Spirit is one with God.
Our soul can be renewed by the renewing of our mind.
Our Body has been healed.
Hebrews 10:22 (MEV) let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse them from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
True GK 228 aléthinos – Meaning; true (literally: made of truth), real, genuine.
Heart GK 2588 – Meaning; literally: the heart; mind, character, inner self, will, intention, center.
HELPS Word-Studies
2588 kardía – heart; "the affective center of our being" and the capacity of moral preference (volitional desire, choice; see P. Hughs, 2 Cor, 354); "desire-producer that makes us tick" (G. Archer), i.e our "desire-decisions" that establish who we really are.
The heart is the balanced combination of our Spirit, Soul, and Body
· Sprinkled GK4472 rhantizó – Meaning; I sprinkle, cleanse ceremonially by sprinkling.
Having our hearts cleansed by the blood of Jesus, is God giving us a new heart.
· Evil GK 4190 ponéros – Meaning evil, bad, wicked, malicious, slothful.
(Notice the word slothful, or another word for slothful laziness is evil.)
· Conscience GK 4893 suneidésis – Meaning; the conscience, a persisting notion.
HELPS Word-Studies
4893 syneídēsis (from 4862 /sýn, "together with" and 1492 /eídō "to know, see") – properly, joint-knowing, i.e. conscience which joins moral and spiritual consciousness as part of being created in the divine image. Accordingly, all people have this God-given capacity to know right from wrong because each is a free moral agent (cf. Jn 1:4,7,9; Gen 1:26,27).
"Conscience (4893 /syneídēsis) is an innate discernment, self-judging consciousness" (A-S).]
Our conscience, or our reasoning is the voice of the combination of our Soul and Spirit, which is the voice of our heart.
But the voice of our Spirit is the voice we hear without having any pre-knowledge of what might happen or is really happening in any given situation. It is the voice we hear that is void of input from our 5 human senses, touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste and the voice of the Holy Spirit is often contrary to what our human senses are perceiving.
The voice of the Spirit is the voice of reason that is beyond human reasoning. The voice of the spirit is the voice of God, He knows all things, our recreated spirit knows all things, and speaks to us the things He knows which are not always the things we perceive. Acts 14:9 says Paul perceived the crippled man had faith to believe But Acts 20:23 Paul says that town after town the Holy Spirit testified to him that imprisonment and afflictions awaited him. He didn’t perceive this with his senses, the Holy Spirit testified to Him.
Often Christians will reject God's voice because they cannot reason with His reasoning and that is why God says in Hebrews 11:6 – Without Faith it is impossible to please Him because He who comes to Him must first believe that he exists and that he rewards those who will earnestly and diligently seek him.
God's reasoning is only reasoned by faith. For the unbeliever the Gospel is foolishness. For the believer, it is the only way because it is the truth that leads to life.
Acts 23:1 Paul looked at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.
Paul was murdering and dragged off to prison Christians and lived in all good conscience before God because his spirit was under the dominion of satan. His soul or his mind was that of satan and this is why his heart which is the voice of our conscience did not condemn him. His heart was convinced by his spirit and his soul that the Christians were the evil who came to destroy the way for mankind to be right with God. All of Paul's education had kept Him blinded to the revelation of Jesus in the scriptures He loved and cherished because salvation cannot be reasoned by our senses, it is by faith and faith alone that we can become the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 4:12 says; For the word of God is alive, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Piercing even to the dividing of the character of the person from that of the spirit. The word of God is a sift that sifts out soulishness. The transliteral version from the Wuest says the word of God is a “sifter and analyser of the reflections and conceptions of the heart.” You cannot hide sin in your heart, God sees it, the purpose of the word is to sift your conscience so that you can see the truth, make the change, and walk in the truth.
There is no shortcut to sanctification, you must die to yourself and be born again.
You must renew your mind so that the words of God can dwell in you richly (Colossians 3:16).
John 3:3 Jesus says, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
The word Kingdom is GK932 basileia – Meaning; kingship, sovereignty, authority, rule, especially of God, both in the world and in the hearts of men; hence: kingdom, in the concrete sense.
HELPS Word-studies.
932 basileía (from 935 /basileús, "king") – properly, kingdom; the realm in which a king sovereignly rules. A kingdom (932 /basileía) always requires a king – as the kingdom (932 /basileía) of God does with King Jesus! 932 (basileía) especially refers to the rule of Christ in believers' hearts – which is a rule that "one day will be universal on the physical earth in the Millennium" (G. Archer).
[The kingdom (932 /basileía) is constantly used in connection with the rule of Christ in the hearts of believers – which also extends in various stages.]
Unless you are born again unless you repent unless you are baptized in the sense of going in and coming out new, Born again. Your heart can never be ruled by Christ. Because Christ does not rule in the hearts of sinners.
Can you understand the importance of renewing your mind? Your mind once you have repented and believed the Gospel is the only place the devil can still influence your heart. Your mind is the only place that still retains the precepts of the kingdom of Satan.
Without renewing your mind your spirit and soul will conflict. Your conscience will be double-minded because your recreated spirit now speaks God's word to your heart, but your Soul continues to speak the word of your old way of thinking to your new heart and if your soul is left unrenewed it will corrupt your heart and your conscience will again be influenced by the dominion of satan whose intent is to cause you to leave the faith and re-enter his dominion.
Jesus will say get away from me I never knew you not because we did not partake in His dominion, the scripture says, but Lord “have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonderful works in Your name?” (Mathew 7:21-23). But because we did not renew our minds, we left our hearts double-minded, practicing sin, which is Satan's dominion, and working in the gifts of the spirit which is God's Dominion.
If sin is the best of Satan's world and righteousness is the best of God's Kingdom, we cannot have both. We are either a sinner or we are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus.
You cannot renew your mind to the heart of God unless you have received a new heart. Once received, you cannot maintain the righteousness of God unless you renew your mind to the word of God. If your mind is renewed to the word of God and Your spirit has been recreated. When your heart speaks it will be speaking the word of God.
Luke 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bears what is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bears what is evil. For of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
The question we must ask ourselves is, Is the treasure of our heart the Word of God? If the answer is no, WILL YOU CHANGE THAT BEFORE ITS TO LATE?
The church of this century has been teaching that as long as we attend church, as long as we have said a prayer, as long as we tithe, and as long as we pray, we are justified. Paul whilst still murdering Christians did all these things in good conscience.
Our conscience is not confirmation of salvation, the condition of our heart only when sifted through the Word will reveal who we are serving. Only filtered by the Word of God can we make the changes necessary to be saved, that is sanctification.
God is not looking for the works of man as I have described, taught by many a minister of the church. He is looking for the works that prove repentance. These works are done in the soul of man and gather in the heart of man and are confessed by the mouth of man. The abundance of the heart is a clear sign of who our master is. Only God and ourselves know our true condition.
The world can only see our lip service. God sees the motives and intent of our hearts.
When the heart remains unchecked, the confessing Christian may not be a Christian at all.
We can spend our life ever learning how to work in the gifts of the Spirit and fail to receive the ultimate gift, the gift of salvation. We must prioritize our sanctification above every other miracle and teach the world to do the same.
1 Timothy 1:19 says keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.
To have a good conscience you must deal with your soul. Your thoughts, mind, and will must be renewed and submitted to God.
Romans 12:2 Paul says Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
The word renewing anakainósis (GK342) means a change of heart and life. Be transformed by a change of heart and life in your mind, in your reasoning faculty, in your intellect all together meaning in your soul. So be changed by changing what is in your mind concerning the old spirit and your old way of life and renew your mind to your new spirit and the new way of life which is in Christ Jesus.
Mathew 6:33 Jesus said to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. His Kingdom is His rule and His reign in the world AND our hearts. This is the only condition of mankind that is acceptable to God, the condition of righteousness, without which no person will see God.
1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, 4 for whoever is born of God overcomes the world, and the victory that overcomes the world is our faith.
Let me be literal, the conquest of world systems is only done in faithfulness to God.
I pray this has blessed and encouraged you, or at the very least provoked you to righteousness.
Evg. Bradley Sliedrecht
Comments