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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 3:18, Rom. 12:2, Eph. 4:17-25
Let us look through the epistles to Corinthians. Out of two epistles to Corinthians, the First is the foundation, so the First epistle is like a base, and the Second epistle – that is some kind of buildup.
If we will look through the epistles in the light of what we have said during the last days, then the First Epistle shows us how Christ is Divine destiny, a portion for you. He was given to us as wisdom, as our salvation, justification, and revival. Also like sanctification that is our transformation from glory to glory. And finally the redemption, that is a redemption of our body, glorification of our body. Christ is such a portion, given to us. And that Christ became the life-giving Spirit so that we could touch Him through and via Spirit in our body. So we could be united with Him in one spirit. These are the main points in the First Epistle to Corinthians. That is a foundation that was laid down. In the First Epistle 3:11, this word is mentioned exactly: “For another foundation, no one is able to lay besides that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”. And that Christ is not only our Savior, not only our Lord, that Christ is the destiny, a portion given to us by God, as wisdom, salvation and transformation. And today this Christ is a life-giving Spirit!
In the Second Epistle something is based on this foundation. We must not forget about this foundation and what kind of building is constructed on this foundation. In the last part of 2 Cor. 3:6, it is said: “for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” – in other words, this Spirit – is a life-giving spirit. This Spirit gives life, He is life-giving! Then in verse 17: “And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”. Which Spirit is it? It is the Spirit that is mentioned in verse 6 – “The Spirit gives life”, and now in verse 17 “Lord is Spirit”, that is the same Spirit, Who gives life.
In verse in 2 Cor. 3:18 – “But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit”, there is a word “transformed” and it is used in Rom. 12:2 – “And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.”
Transformation is a process that happens to us. That process will end with conformation to the image of God’s Son: Rom. 8:29 “Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers”, 1 Cor. 15:49 “And even as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly”. We were caring for one image, from the ash, but we will care for another, a heavenly one.
To describe this process, Paul shows us that there are two people inside of us: an old man and a new man, and he used allegories in the description of actions: “to take off an old man” and “to put on a new man”.
On the one hand, everything has already happened, and the old man is crucified (Rom. 6:6), and we put on a new man, that is Christ (Gal. 3:27). That is a fact which already happened in eternity, but in the reality of our daily life that is a process, and it is about our old lifestyle, thinking, manner of thinking.
Let us read three phrases from Epistle to Ephesians:
Eph. 4:17-25 – “This therefore I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance which is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lasciviousness to work all uncleanness in greediness. But you did not so learn Christ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus, that you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the bold man, which is being corrupted according to the lusts of the deceit,
And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man, which was created according to God in righteousness and holiness of the reality. Therefore having put off the lie, speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are members one of another”.
In Eph. 4:20-21 Paul says that we received some kind of education after knowing Christ, that is when He entered in us, we received education in Him, as a theory and now a practice began. And here, in the passage: - ”If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus”, Paul does not say, that you are taught by some people, but he began from the words “But you did not so learn Christ”, showing that something happened in a moment of believing when you got to know Christ, knew Him personally. In a moment of receiving the Divine nature you receive an inner knowledge from the Holy Spirit (John 14:26 – “But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit… He will teach you all things and remind you of all the things..”)
And Paul makes a stipulation – “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him”, he was doing a similar stipulation in Rom. 8:9 “But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him” – Paul was emphasizing that all these things are only for those who have the Spirit. For others that are just rituals and dogmas that is, in his words, “not His”, not of Christ, they do not belong to Him, they have no nature of God and eternal life. You must have a testimony of the Spirit inside of you (Rom. 8:14-16), the seal of the Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22). Everyone who has the Spirit, knows about that.
Let us go back, to words “If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him”, apostle Paul was calling that “anointing” – which teaches us inside of us (Heb. 8:10 – “I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them; and I will be God to them, and they will be a people to Me”).
Let us read some more verses:
1 John 2:20 “And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know”.
1 John 2:21 “I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and because no lie is of the truth”.
1 John 2:27 “And as for you, the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone teach you; but as His anointing teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not a lie, and even as it has taught you, abide in Him”.
As we can see in these verses, anointing from the Holy One teaches us. And this anointing is Lord, Comforter, Holy Spirit Himself; and He teaches us through inner anointing according as we receive this renewing, in other words, put on a new man.
According to a sequence of processes, first of all, we put out an old man, and when the light lights – then repentance (change of thinking) happens in us, in this light we reject our old lifestyle. Then we put on a new man. During this process “Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our 1bouter man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). This process takes place directly in our spirit: “to receive in spirit” (Eph. 4:23), “…to be strengthened with power through His Spirit into the inner man” (Eph. 3:16).
All elements are participating in the process: light, breathing, nutrition, drinking, and dwelling.
The light – lights, disclosing our old lifestyle.
The breath – it is like taking a decision to reject the old lifestyle.
The drinking – to receive renewal.
The nutrition – strengthening, putting a new man.
The dwelling – it is like abiding in Him, like full life in a new man.
For a wide understanding of the terms “old” and “new” Paul uses the words “outer man” and “inner man”, showing where it happens and what kind of “men” they are. An “old” and “outer man” – that is a soulish man, a “new” and “inner man” – that is a spiritual man.
Read the verses below and compare them with previous verses:
1 Cor. 2:14 – “But a soulish man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he is not able to know them because they are discerned spiritually”.
1 Cor. 2:15 – “But the spiritual man discerns all things, but he himself is discerned by no one”.
1 Pet. 3:4 – “But the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptible adornment of a meek and quiet spirit, which is very costly in the sight of God”.
In 1 Pet. 3:4, Apostle Peter uses very noticeable phrases to describe a new man: “the hidden man of the heart”, “incorruptible adornment of a meek and quiet spirit”. And another noticeable phrase – “very costly in the sight of God”. These phrases point out the will of God. His will is, so we would put on this hidden man of the heart, which is very costly in the sight of God, and would walk by the Spirit.
Do we all want to fulfill His will? We have one way for that – to be in spirit!!! That is His will: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification” (1 Thes. 4:3), “no longer to live the rest of the time in the flesh in the lusts of men, but in the will of God” (1 Pet. 4:2).
To be in spirit – that is easier to say than to do. That may sound like a doctrine, a teaching. Today in Christianity there is too much outward knowledge, outward teachings, and all these “outward” things just distract us from Christ.
Let us look through some moments of our life. During our life, we were trying on, or we can say, we were putting on many images, that we were putting on some rules and were living according to these rules. For example, in our childhood we were told, that we have to love our parents, to honor older people. Then in us was put a love toward motherland (patriotism), a love toward nationality (nationalism). At the same time were put in the principles of ethics, philosophy, and morality. We grew up and then ideological principles occurred: communism, democracy, etc. All these things are outward, we were put in them and were walking, living according to these principles. And we even had no other choice. That was so before God came to us. He offered Himself, we received Him, and the process of renewal started – taking out old things and putting on a new man in spirit.
All outward images must be taken out, that happens through the renewal of our mind in spirit. We reject our old, outward lifestyle and receive and new inner lifestyle from spirit.
A marriage life could be a good example. During some life period, we received some principles and images concerning our soulmate: a wife must be such and such, a husband must be such and such, these were our imaginations that were offered to us and we accepted them according to some concepts which we received earlier. Maybe we received them because of some experience, but compare them with Bible – are they correct? Or the things in Bible are different? And you can see a discordance here. You may not see at all in the Bible some principles and images which you have, which were possibly imposed on you by psychology, or maybe by parents, etc., and in practice, at the time flows, you see that your soul mate is not conforming your images, strained relations began, etc, and everything is not so well.
What can be done? Reject your outward images and receive a renewal in spirit. If there are some difficult issues with your “soul mate” or in other areas of your life, then exactly the time for renewal and taking away an old thinking, and old lifestyle. Exactly here your mind will help you if you will turn it into the spirit and would ask God to lighten, it so you would see your “old” things.
Any situation which happening with you is showing with what we live, and what principles we follow. If in some situations the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) are revealed in us, then we are in spirit – in a new man, and if works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21) are revealed – then we are in the old man. That is an exact moment to pay attention to our principles and worldview. You can speak a lot about irritation and anger, and also you could try some psychological trainings, try not to get nervous, not to wound up, etc. that may work out for some time, but that does not solve the issue. First, we need the light from Lord – why am I irritated? Then I have to reject things that Lord has lightened and receive a renewal of mind in spirit.
Smart people do the same things that silly people do. Smart people think, that if they are smart, that is, they have a lot of knowledge and experience, their mind has fast logical understanding and thinking, they can understand everything concerning God – but no, that does not help.
There are problems when you are confused about something and do not see a picture clearly. Do not try to use your ability to understand things logically, according to your knowledge and experience, but try as hard as you can to turn to spirit, to turn your mind into spirit. If you would just go back to spirit, you will immediately see the picture, and the sky will become clear and all smog will disappear, and everything will become transparent.
It happens that one minute ago I was in spirit, everything was clear and transparent, and the light was shining, but some time passed and now I am again in darkness. In the morning – everything was light for me, and in the evening everything is in darkness. Why? Because in the morning I was directing my mind into spirit and then I just went out of spirit for some reason and did not even notices that. For what reason? Here we need the light from Lord – how that happened that insensibly my mind turned to the other side? For what reason has the mind turned away from the spirit? The reason is in lifestyle, which is being shaped from principles of thinking, which were put into your mind from the outward teachings, that is your outward, old, soulish man.
One of the methods of the enemy – to do so, is that you yourself would create a personal religion inside of you. Using the word “religion” I mean it as something that replaces God and makes a man not God’s man but a fanatic of some religious principles.
How he, the enemy do that? During all your life you see these things. Somewhere someone asks you: “How should I act in such circumstances?” “What kind of attitude should be toward a person who did this or that”? “And if children are hungry – stealing is not sin?” etc.: “What if... ”What about?”, “Imagine if…”. There are thousands of such questions.
What happens at that time? In your mind, you begin to put so-called marks, principles, and labels. And if you do that, then an enemy got a success. Why? Because when the real situation will come, you will not apply to spirit, but your label, a principle that you received in the past will work. And even when you are in spirit, and such a situation will come, you would turn away from the spirit. You will always act according to decisions, taken in issues with similar situations, according to principles which you put into your mind. That is the most dangerous and most widespread tactic of the enemy – he hides himself behind your decisions. He gave you a question task and if you accepted it in your mind, to act certainly, then you are caught. And you have plenty of such decisions and labels. You created your own religion, wrote your own rules, put labels on people, etc.
You don’t have to answer to yourself or someone else, or take any decisions about such issues: “What if …“ “What about…”, “Just imagine…” etc. – you have to be sure that you will be in spirit and Lord Himself will lead you. God’s ways are unknown and you can’t understand now – how He will lead you. Maybe, He won’t allow some situations to happen to you or the circumstances would be different. You must rely on God and learn to walk by the spirit. God will allow situations when you will have to reject labels, concepts, and principles, which were received because of the craft of the enemy through such questions, and to be cleansed from them.
Passing through transformation and sanctification, we will stay more, or we can say, stay longer in spirit, until we fully conform to Lord. Be watchful, guard your mind and you will ward off all flaming darts of the evil one – false thoughts which he tries to put into your mind. Usually, it is especially hard in the beginning, when we begin to cleanse ourselves from them, take them away, reject them – that is the hardest battle. Mark 13:37 “And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”. In the majority of cases, the enemy tries to board, to bring back evil thoughts, but it is easier to ward off these attacks. He will send you thoughts, that you are right, according to some concepts, etc. Immediately check these concepts – do they conform to the Word of God, or it is just a worldly worldview. Rom. 12:2 “And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect”. The issue of cleansing your mind from a lie, evil thoughts is very important. We must not have anything inside of us from the enemy. Any lie in our mind is a beachhead for the enemy – his territory in our being and then he could easily plant other evil thoughts.
The evil thoughts may not seem evil to you, but their nature is from evil one and they are not from the Spirit. These thoughts produce principles and lifestyles according to worldly concepts, which are from this world. But we are those who have a Spirit – we belong to Christ and nothing from the enemy must not be inside of us: John 14:30 – “I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and in Me he has nothing”. Amen!
We have considered the issue of personal transformation and conformity in spirit. In this personal aspect, the will of God for us: that is to be in spirit, to be in victory, in glory, in the reality of life, in Christ! Our personal transformation serves more high purpose – for building up the Body of Christ. We know that this happens in love: Eph. 4:16: - “Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love”.
In 1 Cor.12, Paul, considering the issues concerning the gifts for the Body, was pointing out, that this is a manifestation of the Spirit, and everyone gets a manifestation of the Spirit for a useful purpose, showing the irreplaceability of members and mixing the members in one body. Further, he shows the great way to build the Body of Christ up – the love.
We all speak about God’s love and we all notice the lack of it. Where is that love? To begin, let us read the verse which determines God’s love and compare that with our personal concept about what love is:
1 Cor. 13:4 “Love suffers long. Love is kind; it is not jealous. Love does not brag and is not puffed up”;
1 Cor. 13:5 “It does not behave unbecomingly and does not seek its own things; it is not provoked and does not take account of evil”;
1 Cor. 13:6 “It does not rejoice because of unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth”;
1 Cor. 13:7 “It covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”.
I hope everyone has seen personally for himself the differences between his own and God’s determination and what love is. Such differences in the determination of something are also present in our other personal concepts: concerning people, things, and situations. May the light of the Lord would disclose the enemy in the principles of the lifestyle of your life.
Where is this ideal love, and where it can be taken? Probably you already understood that – in spirit. The love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, Gal. 5:22 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness”. It is already given to us, we have it and it is in our spirit! God Himself is love – and He is in our spirit! And God is not only as love in our spirit, He is like everything – life, breathe, nutrition, water, house, defense, grace, salvation, righteousness, strength, our faith – He is all of that in our spirit! Hallelujah! Glory to our God and Father!
Amen!
May God bless all His children!
