

Friday, May 11, 2018

Let This Mind Be In You--Because It Clears and Balances Everything

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The mind of Christ---it has no problem with God being man or man being God (Christ), the perfect in imperfect (Christ in you), and the imperfect in perfect (you in Christ). Night is as day to him and darkness is as light. The Messiah is the son of David and yet David called him Lord. Jesus was of the tribe of Judah (not Levi) and yet he is the high priest of our faith.

Or God is love yet he killed a lot of people in the Old Testament (almost killing everyone on earth in the Flood), even killed all the generation that left Egypt but who refused to enter Canaan. He is compassionate but didn't allow Moses to enter the Promise Land just because he hit the rock in the desert two times instead of one. The Mind has no problem with these seeming contradictions. But man's mind does.

Christ was (and is) 100 percent God and 100 percent man. But even today a lot of born-again believers still can't get used to God's apparent "contradictions." They still try to put God and his mind and ways in rigid formulas or templates which cannot be seen except through their religious eyes or color his truths in rigid black or white. In his time, Christ took the form of a slave and the strict bible-believing "chosen people of God" revolted at the idea and crucified him.

This Mind reconciles seemingly contradictory Kingdom truths and balances apparently extreme insights and revelations. You have to have this Mind. Without it, you understand nothing of the spoken Word of God. All you have is the Letter, and it kills [2 Corinthians 3.6]. The Mind enabled Christ to remain perfectly God while at the same time perfectly man. He remained God while not holding on to it, and instead did ministry as a human, making possible God and man fused together or amalgamated in one body and yet remaining separate---and yet one.

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"I and the Father are one." Yet, Jesus is not the Father and vice versa. Hence, we can say, "I and Jesus are one," and also understand that we are not Jesus and Jesus is not us---though in a sense, we are. When Saul was persecuting the church, Jesus said, "Why are you persecuting me?" The Mind understands this so easily.

God expects us to live and operate likewise. Yet, many in church still doubt this and think it is something heretical. They hold on to the idea that God and man, though in a relationship in Christ, are still (or should be) separate, different and conflicting. They cannot mix---as far as the east is from the west---like how the Israelites saw God in Moses' time. He was there, so near, yet away, not realizing that God's real plan is to make church and Jesus one flesh. Not just near but one flesh. They think relationship with God is like close neighbors.

When Adam saw Eve, he said, "This is at last flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone." Jesus, the Second Adam, will say that of the church---the glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and pure.

We are told in Hebrews that we're made "perfect forever" at regeneration while our holiness is "being made" as our rottenness and negative strongholds are being dealt with as we go up higher levels of the spiritual life. All these will baffle you unless you have that Mind. Your human, earthly intelligence can never grasp these Kingdom concepts. Take a look at this:
For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. [Hebrews 10.14]
A lot of believers struggle mentally over this truth, even supposed bible "experts" (with their titles and degrees) who see things as Nicodemus did and ask, "How can this be?" We've been "made perfect forever" because of the one sacrifice on the cross. When you're born again (when what Jesus did on the cross takes effect on you), you're automatically "made perfect," and "forever" at that, not of works or your own efforts, lest anyone should boast. It's all by grace. YOU ARE PERFECT. And this is further enforced when Christ stressed that we should continue to "be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect."

You are perfect. All you need to do is accept and believe it. Jesus did everything for you. You don't need to do anything or prove anything to be perfect. You simple are, in Christ. Christ in you the hope of glory!

But then they'll ask. What about our propensity to err and fall into sin? Well, we know what sin David did, but God still saw him as one who "did not fail to keep any of the Lord's command all his life." God knew what David did to Uriah, yet in God's eyes he "did not fail." You see that? Did not fail all his life is as good as being perfect. Even Abraham was declared righteous even if he had asked Sarai to lie for him in Egypt.

However, though God saw David that way---he didn't fail God all his life ("all the days of his life" or at any time in his life)---God still put him in the cleansing process, disciplining him like a son he loved. It's something like that with us. We are declared perfect though still in the process of being made holy. That is, if we continue in Christ and submit to Him in purging and purifying our lives.
Yet, the unspiritual mind will never accept this (in fact, just going to church religiously will not make you understand any of this). It will convulse in your mind and you'd spit it out in utter disgust. You'd see it as heresy, cultic. And because you can't understand you'd retreat and take refuge in elementary teachings---we are sinners, we are weak, nobody is perfect, we are just humans, don't judge, don't be judgmental, believing you are perfect is pride, etc. They understand meekness as putting yourself down or magnifying your powerlessness. They maintain they are sinners and fall short of God's glory (they can never be like God). Well, that's what the devil wants you to think.

Of course, before we met Christ, we were sinners, weak, imperfect, etc. But Christ's death on the cross deleted all that. "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. [Hebrews 7.25] You see that? Jesus saves us "completely." And to get a good idea what this looks like, we simply look at Jesus. We received him into our bodies, so he's what we get. Data in, data out. You didn't receive Adam into your heart so don't insist on getting Adam---or Eve.

Again I say, God wants to be one flesh with us, one flesh with his church.

And meekness? True meekness is how Jesus showed it. You never catch him saying "I'm imperfect," or "I'm weak," or "I'm just human," or "Nobody's perfect," or anything like that. He knew 100 percent in his mind that he was God's Son, he was King, and he was the Messiah. But he kept things simple. He didn't brag about anything (unlike how pastors brag about their ministry achievements). He claimed matter-of-factly that He was the Son of Man---without feeling proud or arrogant about it (because he was simply stating a fact)---yet he lived a very radically simple lifestyle.

Here's the really funny thing----those who pretend to be "humble" live lifestyles that are far from being radically simple. They hate the idea of claiming perfection, holiness, having Jesus' DNA and things like that, but they try to live a perfect lifestyle in this world. They buy this and that and a lot of none essentials. They live abroad for greener pastures in the guise of being called by God to missions. But once they're there, the first thing they work for is getting a car. And when they do so they brag about it on Facebook. 

Jesus claimed a lot of great things in the spirit but never had any interest in anything of this world. He even just borrowed a colt for his procession or grand entry into Jerusalem. He didn't own any property. He didn't have a "pillow to lay his head on." He was just a carpenter, said Mark. He never even once thought he should improve his station in life and have a more decent lifestyle (which many of us keep doing). Never mind that he didn't have any possession worth calling an asset in this world or didn't look kingly. He knew he was the King. And we should follow in his footsteps.

We're not mere humans---we're sons and daughters of God. We're kings and priests but we live simply and humbly. We do not belong one bit to this world but we move and live in it. We buy things but we live as if we don't need them, using the things of the world but not engrossed in them [1 Corinthians 7.31]. We are separated and holy yet we eat with sinners as Jesus did. We go to moviehouses and bars and casinos (even motels) and not be tarnished by sin one bit. We are heirs of God and co-heirs of Christ yet we own few earthly possession, if any.

The Mind easily grasps all these things.

We are known by God and heaven yet disowned by men. Rich in heaven but seen as scums of the earth, "through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything" [2 Corinthians 6].

Earthly minds will hear about God's prosperity and immediately think it's all about money and possessions. So they flaunt their riches and claim it's proof that God favors them and then ask insultingly why you are poor. To them, you're poor because you don't please God. "Have faith!" they'll tell you, simply because you're not moneyed like them. They don't realize that the rich man went to hell and poor Lazarus went to paradise. 

They don't have the Mind that sees how Jesus was rich, yet for other's sake became poor. And God calls us not just to believe in him but also suffer for him [Philippians 1.29]. We look "poor" but we have the power to create wealth. We give up everything but gain more---and yet look like we gain nothing.

On the other hand, earthly minds also tend to see "giving up everything" for Jesus as a vow of poverty. They scorn you if you manage to make even a few sum of money, more so if you get rich. A lot of people hate it when they see pastors getting wealthy. Wealth is unspiritual to them. They want everyone poor because, they think, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." They don't have the Mind of Christ to see that the Acts church gave up their possessions and yet were able to "give to everyone who had need."

They also fail to see that Jesus fed thousands for free out of meager resources. The poor in Christ are rich in faith, said James, and spiritual riches can transform materially. Christ looked poor and yet, in his rich faith and spirituality, fed thousands that was estimated to cost a lot. Yet he didn't use a cent or a dime to accomplish this. Does your mind see this? The Mind does. Yet churches today can't accomplish anything without raising funds or soliciting money.

Lots of believers fail to see that holiness and eternal security are compatible because they are both in the bible. But no, they insist that you have to choose just one between them---go to hell "for" your sins or go to heaven "with" your sins? Which do you believe?

Why do they fail to balance things and fail to see God's spoken truth? Because they don't have the Mind. Paul tells us we should let this Mind be in us as it was in Christ Jesus---it supernaturally makes us see clearly that in God's realms, not just like signs attract but so do opposites attract. Paul emphasized that righteousness had nothing to do with works while James insisted faith without works was dead, but the Mind sees that more as complementary than contradicting.

Jesus said the Mind (the secrets of the Kingdom) is given to disciples but not to the world. The world sees nothing but senseless parables (Matthew 13 and Luke 8). If you fail to understand the deep things of the Spirit of God, you're probably still part of the world. You see nothing but parables. And all your spirit can take are elementary teachings. But Hebrews says, we should leave the elementary teachings and go on to maturity.

