The will of God is not spoken in the language of this world.
Peter did not understand God's will for Jesus to go to the Cross because he was thinking like the world. The world says that life should be as easy as possible. The world says that God will work to make the lives of believers easier. The world says that you have to act in your own self interest. The world does not understand a God who sends His Son to the Cross. God's will is spoken to those who set their minds on Him.The Apostle Paul wrote:
Romans 8:5 (ESV) 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
The will of God is found in the Spirit. The Spirit speaks God's language. The Spirit is God and therefore knows God's will. The Spirit reveals that will to us.
1 Corinthians 2:12 (ESV) 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.
God's will comes through the Spirit. Thus, the believer must speak God's language by setting his mind on the things of the Spirit. The alternative is to set the mind on the things of the flesh. Of course, speaking the language of the world will result in doing the things of the world.
Romans 8:5 (ESV) 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Believers often seek the will of God without setting their minds on the Spirit. They, therefore, are listening to the things of the world. That is why preaching which appeals to the flesh is so popular among believers. This is the language which is so familiar. It speaks of how the believer can have more in this world. As one of these "flesh appealing" preachers has said, "I don't care if the streets of heaven are paved with gold. I want my gold now!" Many believers are drawn in. They admit that they want their gold now, too.
Our problem is that we live in this world and are compelled to be conformed to it. We do have a flesh which demands satisfaction. We have learned the language of this world. It is the language which the world speaks to us every day. We hear it on every tv program, every news casts and too often on Sundays from pulpits. This language shapes us into its mold so that we want what the rest of the world wants.
So, it takes an effort to transformed from the language of the world. It takes an effort to learn this new language of God which comes to us as we set our minds on the Spirit. We reset our minds and know the will of God.
I have an atomic watch so that I don't have to set its time. Each night the watch makes contact with the radio waves sent out from the atomic clock in Colorado. Thus, the clock is reset daily.
Each morning I must reset my mind. It will get out of sync with the will of God slightly each day if it is not reset. That isn't the only time I have to reset it. I often have to reset it when someone is rude to me and I especially have to reset it when I am driving. But when I do, the things I am going through and the will of God become clear. I may not be richer, healthier or smarter but I am at peace with the things going on. I am fulfilled.
Romans 12:2 (ESV) 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
2 comments:
Too many people, preachers and self-professed teachers of the Word read the Word with not, mind set on the Spirit but a mind set on the flesh. We must want to be led by the Spirit, honestly, not just because it is the right thing to say or cool thing to say. We cannot very easily say the right thing, but actually not meaning to do the thing we say. If we aren't desiring and willing to be led by the Spirit, we will be led by the flesh. When we truly seek first, His Kingdom and His righteousness, yes, in the physical dimension, we will have the necessities like the food, shelter and clothing that we need, but in the spiritual side of things, we will have the necessary food required by our spirit, too.
Scripture said the blessings from God are good. What we get from God are by grace and so, they are gifts. Scripture said that good gifts come from God, or in another way of saying, gifts from God are good, and they do not come with sorrow. The necessities of life, coming from God, they are good and without sorrow, when they are indeed blessing from God, and such would come when it is from your seeking first, of God's kingdom and His righteousness. In the same way, on the spiritual side, the spiritual necessities, the spiritual food, that we receive from the Word (and from the Spirit), they too, are good and not bad for us, when indeed they are from God, and they are from God when we are seek first, His Kingdom and His righteousness. You, as a believer, can only be doing that, seeking first, His Kingdom and His righteousness, if you honestly is setting your mind on the Spirit. What am I getting at? What I am trying to say, is that if you are not setting your mind on the Spirit, wanting only to be led by the Spirit, what you get as spiritual food, may not be that which is good for you; in other words, they are not spiritual food from the Spirit, although you are purportedly feeding on the Word. This can be the reason why believers, including the so-called preachers and teachers, can be reading and studying the same set of scriptures, but come up with different conclusions, very different from another group of readers.
It has been the same Spirit who was given to indwell all the believer-readers, and so, in matter of truths, the same Spirit cannot be giving opposing truths (not talking about shades, but still essentially the same truth, but one is truth, the other is a lie). If one is right (the truth), the other is wrong (a lie), such opposing revelations, can be due to one having been led, for the instance, by the Spirit, the other, by the flesh, for the desires of the two, Spirit and flesh, Scripture said, are opposing. Now if one receives bad spiritual food, that "blessing" is not good, it is likely to bring sorrow, if not immediately, in time to come (for some, it is seen in the time when trouble strikes, and their false belief has not prepared them to face the trouble).
Cont...
Cont. From above
The above was concerning reading and hearing of the Word. There is also a case against us carelessly speaking that which is not quite right, repeatedly, like it was right. Heresy does come about or develop from it, that way. For example, we often say we are saved, and ask people if they are saved, when in fact, we are meaning to say we have been born again or are a believer, or if the person we are asking, is born again or is a believer or not. A believer is, as a matter of norm, in a state of being saved. At best, a believer can say he has the faith that he is saved (presently) when he is in the state of being saved. Such a mouthful, and so, we just short-cut it every time! Ending up with saying, either "I am saved" or "Are you saved?" After enough times, we begin to take half truths as truths, and a heresy develops! And then, we begin to justify the heresy, and develop straw man to defend the heresy. In that attempt, we would begin to read into Scripture that which is not there, or pervert the interpretation thereof. One may even resort to spinning one lie to cover another lie, just to keep the heresy going.
I will not go into long exposition here, but this is reliable - when one is born again or born of God, his name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. When one dies (physical death) with his name in the Book, he is safe or saved. A name that is written in, CAN be blotted out. That is why we are being saved, for you and I, are safe only when our name, presently, are in the Book, not blotted out. If today, I have the faith that I have watched my life, and practiced righteousness, and confessed my sins, I can believe I am saved at this moment if I die. But because I cannot know what I will do in the future, I cannot say I am saved, always saved. God is faithful, but I cannot be so arrogant as to think I will never fall, denying the Lord. The point is that we still have our volition to, in the next moment or in the future, to choose to no longer believe Jesus is the Christ or to deny Him, and so, we cannot say, as a matter of fact, that once we are saved, we are always saved. We need to persevere to overcome, so that our name stay in the Book. So, we should not keep repeating half truths, it is not good to us, and can stumble others, or help to foster the development of heresy. Maybe we should stop asking a person if he is saved; rather ask if he is born again or is a believer or not, when we are of camp that does not believe, once saved, is always saved.
Anthony Chia, high.expressions
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