The BIG Picture (Q&A)

Emotions are part of our humanity. God created us with the capacity to feel joy, sorrow, fear, compassion, and even disappointment. These are not sinful in themselves, for they belong to the soul—the realm of mind, will, and emotions. Yet Scripture warns us that the motions of sins, which are by the law, work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death (Romans 7:5). This shows that emotions, though natural, can be stirred by the flesh and lead to sinful outcomes when not governed by the Spirit. Faith, however, is of another order. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). It is not emotion, nor is it feeling—it is trust in what God has spoken. Faith rests on the certainty of His Word, while emotions fluctuate with circumstance. Without faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6), which means that God is not pleased with our emotions in themselves, but with our trust in His truth. Yet emotions, when submitted to the Spirit, can reflect His own hea...

What does the "spirit of your mind" mean in Ephesians 4:23? All humans are made up of spirit, soul, and body, 1Th 5:23. The 3 circles represent the default template of the 3 parts of a human being. Spirit is the breath of God that fills a person with life, Gen 2:7. Soul is the essence of the person, their persona (mind, will and emotions), and the body is the outer shell of flesh. Though you might be familiar with these 3 circles, these are NOT the parts that Paul is referring to when he speaks of the ‘inner man’ (or new man) and the ‘outer man’ (or old man) in Eph.4:17–24. If you look at the image below, the grey hexagonal is the ‘outer man’ (or old man) and the blue hexagonal is the ‘inner man’ (or new man). These are the two parts that Paul refers to in most of his writings. The grey outer man connects the soul (or persona) of a person to the flesh. In other words, the thick red oval is the part of a human that functions in the world, ie: the carnal man with his 5-...

QUESTION: Wouldn't you say that before I was a Christian, I was a slave to sin, but now I am a Christian I can overcome sin in my life through the power and grace of God. Not to be saved but because I am saved by grace. God loved me enough to die in my place and forgive my sins. He also loved me enough to dwell in me through the Holy Spirit so I can have a new life and not be a slave to sin. For example, before I was a Christian I was addicted to drugs, after I'm a Christian Jesus not only saved me but delivered me from drugs. Now my desire is to obey and follow Jesus because I love Him. ANSWER: We learn from scripture that the flesh is unsalvageable. Even Paul, our apostle and example in the faith, cries out at the end of Romans 7, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Sin is inside the nature of man. The flesh can never be saved. This is ultimately why we get a new body at the rapture/resurrection. What God has saved and regener...

COMMENT: You say, “Repentance and water baptism is part of the salvation requirements in the Kingdom gospel for Israel. They [Israel] are commanded to repent for their unbelief and crucifying their Messiah. Water baptism is required to fulfil the priestly calling they have according to Exo.19:5–6, which they will fulfill in the Millennial Kingdom.” So, you call obedience to repentance and water baptism, works? How sad. You haven’t obeyed Jesus and Peter. MY RESPONSE: According to Paul’s writings we are to obey the living Word within us. You see, when we read the Word and fill ourselves with it, then it starts to renew our mind. It starts to influence our thoughts and actions. Giving ourselves over to obey that which the Word works out of us is what we obey unto righteousness. See what Paul writes in connection with this, Rom 6:16-17 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedien...

The Word of God is the only way to mortify the flesh. Romans chapter 6 is Paul’s advice on how to overcome sin. The chapter in essence tells you to “know a few things”. Paul says. “Know ye that…” , and “Know ye not…” . The idea here is that we have things to learn. We need to get into the Word so that the Word can get into us. We need to study it and saturate ourselves with it. Basically, the more Word you have inside you and allow to influence you; your thoughts, behaviours, actions, and speech, the more that Word will subdue the flesh. You cannot kill sins by your own power, because sin is within you. The only way to mortify the flesh is to live by the spirit. How does one do that? Well, in John 6:63, Jesus says, “My words are spirit and they are life” . So, by getting the Word (which is the Spirit and life of Christ) into you, and allowing it to influence your living, then you will be living by the spirit of Christ in you. If sin is in your flesh, but you choose to live by the Spiri...

QUESTION: Let's say a person hears and responds to the gospel of grace and believes in Jesus. Justification takes place the moment the get saved. However, the remain a babe in Christ as they never renew their mind to the will and ways of God. They remain weak in spirit and their flesh continues to control their thoughts and actions. What will happen to people like this when they die or when the rapture happens? ANSWER: You need to understand that justification is not something that occurs in the flesh. It is a positional status that God declares over you when you believe in Christ, Rom.7. Your flesh is not justified. That is why your flesh will be dissolved (in death or the rapture). Your flesh is unsalvageable. It is corrupt and vile, and it must be done away with. Your spirit is justified at salvation, and this verdict cannot be changed irrespective of your choices on earth, Rom.8:1. What should happen on earth is the following: If you chose to follow God’s word, you will mortify...