Spirit, Soul and Body Part 4

Human Faith Human faith is based upon natural knowledge. G.o.d created mankind as faith beings. Even before being born again and separate from the influence of G.o.d, there's still a natural kind of faith. In an attempt to explain faith, this was what my church taught me while I was growing up.

Taking a chair, they'd say, "How do you know if this chair will hold you up? It takes faith to sit in it." Then they'd add, "It's faith when you drive through a green light. You must believe that the other side has a red light. You don't know it because you can't see it, so you can't prove it. Even if the red is there, you still have to believe that the other cars will stop." And s.h.i.+fting to the skies, they'd say, "It's faith to ride in an airplane. You don't know how it works, and you aren't personally acquainted with the pilot. How can you be sure the mechanisms are correct and the pilot can work them?" They'd declare, "That's faith!"

It's a type of faith, but it's human faith. In other words, it's a faith based on sense knowledge-facts-things you can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel.

Whether you are conscious of it or not, the first thing you'd do before attempting to sit in the chair would be to glance over at it to see if it had all four legs. If it only had three legs and teetered like it was about to fall, you wouldn't sit in it. Whether you realize it or not, when you get ready to sit down in a chair, you inspect it. It might not be a perfect inspection, but you do gather some sense knowledge to base your action upon.

You've also been trained to know that when your side of the traffic light is green, the other side has red. You've got personal experience to base that upon because you've been on the other side waiting on the red many times before. However, for additional safety, you probably made sure n.o.body looked like they might speed through and run the light before you proceeded.

Human faith is limited to what it can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel. If you noticed that one of the wings was missing, you wouldn't fly on that airplane. If you saw a wreck at the intersection, you wouldn't just go right on through it, even if the light was green. If the chair looked like it would fall apart under your weight, you wouldn't try to sit on it. If the facts don't seem to support the action, you can't act contrary when you are using natural faith.

Your Faith Is Supernatural!

While human faith follows sense knowledge, supernatural faith precedes it. G.o.d demonstrated this kind of faith when He changed Abram's name to Abraham (father of many nations) before he even had a single child (Gen. 15:2-6, 17:4-6). "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even G.o.d, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were"

(Rom. 4:17). This is how G.o.d's faith operates. He acknowledges those things which aren't yet manifest as if they already are. G.o.d calls those things as if they were, even before there is any physical proof of their existence. Natural faith can only acknowledge what it already sees, tastes, hears, smells, and feels. Supernatural faith literally brings things into manifestation from the spirit realm. Now that's a radical difference!

You used supernatural faith to become born again. It wasn't natural faith because you were believing for things that were beyond your sense knowledge. Unless you had a vision or heard an audible voice, neither of which is the norm, you couldn't perceive spiritual truth with your natural senses. You had to believe in things you couldn't see, like: heaven and h.e.l.l, G.o.d and the devil, sin and forgiveness. All these were faith issues that could not be verified or proven by mere human faith. The Holy Spirit enlightened you from within as He spoke to your heart so you could take a step of faith that wasn't based on what you could see, taste, hear, smell, or feel. Through His Word, you were given G.o.d's supernatural faith when you were born again.

The same faith you used to become born again is now always present in your spirit. It doesn't evaporate, diminish, or get old and lose its power. That supernatural faith is exactly the same in your born-again spirit as it was the very moment you were saved. You may not be experiencing that faith and all of its benefits in your body and soul, but it's there in your spirit. If you've been born again, you already have the supernatural faith of G.o.d!

Faith is a fruit that stems from your spirit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law" (Gal. 5:22-23, emphasis mine). Faith-belief-is a product from deep within the heart, not just the mind. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (Rom. 10:10). For the born-again believer, faith has actually been put into your recreated spirit!

You don't need more faith-you just need to believe that you already have it. As Jesus is now, so are you in this world (1 John 4:17). Is Jesus in faith? Of course He is! He's operating in faith perfectly. Your born-again spirit has the faith of G.o.d in it perfectly, without lack or inadequacy. Acknowledge it! Go to G.o.d's Word and discover the laws that govern how faith works. Then, start cooperating and using them to your advantage. You'll find that the faith that's already inside you is more than sufficient for any problem you'll ever face!

Chapter 12.

Like Precious Faith You were justified by the faith of Christ. "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified" (Gal. 2:16, emphasis mine).

G.o.d not only provided salvation but also gave you the faith to receive it. You were so bound up in sin before being born again that you couldn't reach out in your own ability to receive the salvation G.o.d had already purchased for you. Your mind and heart were simply too corrupted to believe. This sin-caused blindness separated you from G.o.d. He pierced through your darkness.

Not only were you born again through that faith, but you're to live your entire Christian life by it! "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of G.o.d, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Gal. 2:20, emphasis mine). It doesn't say "I'm living by faith in the Son of G.o.d" but rather "I'm living by the faith of the Son of G.o.d. " (I am aware that several modern translations render it "I live by faith in the Son of G.o.d," but that's not accurate according to the Greek.) Just a few verses earlier in 2:16, Paul stated twice that you are justified by the faith of Christ. It's very clear that it's not just a human faith that receives from G.o.d but His own supernatural faith.

Knowledge Problem The first step is to believe you have this faith, but the goal is to release its benefits into your soul and body. Just like everything else in your spirit, your faith doesn't fluctuate because of your performance. You were born again, apart from your works, using the supernatural faith of G.o.d. Now, that faith is always there. Your faith begins to operate, work, become effective when you acknowledge the good things that are in you in Christ (Philem. 1:6). Acknowledge that G.o.d has already given you His super-natural faith!

You don't have a faith deficiency, you have a knowledge problem! You don't know what you've got. You haven't learned the laws that govern faith or how to cooperate with them. If you don't acknowledge this faith and learn how to use it, then you won't see it manifest. It won't be because you don't have it but because you're ignorant of how it works!

Every born-again believer has been given the measure of ta.th. "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as G.o.d hath dealt to every man the measure of faith''1 (Rom. 12:3, emphasis mine). Some people teach and some Bible versions actually translate this incorrectly, saying a measure of faith. How-ever, Galatians 2:16 & 20 both verify that this is truly the measure of faith.

You received the exact same quant.i.ty and quality of faith when you were born again as did every other Christian. However, in G.o.d's "soup line," most people think He dishes out faith using a wide variety of different measures. Someone's given a ladle full, another a teaspoon. To this one, a tablespoon, and to that one, barely a drop. Romans 12:3 soundly refutes this false perception. In reality, everyone's given the ladle full because it's the measure of faith!

Looking on externals, there's no doubt some people operate in more faith than others. You might think, They've got more faith than I do! No, they just have more of it out in the physical realm. In other words, they are using more of their measure of faith than you are. Let's say you and I were both given identical gift cards worth $1,000 each. I buy an $800 stereo system, and you purchase a $200 leather coat. Even though we were given the exact same measure initially, according to our use, we experience very different results!

Peter, Paul & You Paul used the faith of Jesus. In Galatians 2:20, he basically stated, "I'm living by the same faith that Jesus used when He walked on this earth." Romans 12:3 reveals that there aren't varying measures or different amounts. So if Paul lived by the faith of the Son of G.o.d, then that means every other born-again believer like him also has the faith of the Son of G.o.d. What a radical truth!

When you were born again, you were given the faith of Jesus Christ. Even if you don't yet understand how to release it, just the knowledge that it's there and its potential would give you all the motivation you need to not quit until you see it manifest. If you could just grasp what I'm sharing, your expectation level would shoot through the roof!

Peter had this faith. "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of G.o.d and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Pet. 1:1). Peter wrote this letter to a group of believers who had already obtained this "like precious faith." It wasn't something they were searching for or seeking after; they already had it. Did they receive this faith by being holy and do-ing things? No, it came "through the righteousness of G.o.d and our Saviour Jesus Christ." When you were born again, you also received this "like precious faith."

Peter released his faith and manifested many awesome things! He walked on water in the midst of a raging storm (Matt. 14:29). He preached and saw three thousand people born again on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37-41). Peter healed the lame beggar at the temple gate (Acts 3:6-7). His shadow fell on people who were instantly made whole as he walked down the street (Acts 5:15-16). He also raised Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-41). This is he who said you have like precious faith!

If you don't believe that you have this faith, then you might as well tear 2 Peter right out of your Bible because it doesn't apply to you! It's specifically written to believers with "like precious faith" (1:1). Peter wasn't operating in his own human faith. It wasn't because he was an apostle and had walked with Jesus that he was endued with such faith. Like Paul, Peter had been given the measure of faith upon being born again. He was living his life by the faith of the Son of G.o.d-and you can too!

Only Americans You have the same faith as Jesus! You might not have all of it operating the way He did, but it's there. Your soul, like a filter, screens what flows out from your spirit into the physical realm. All of your thoughts and concepts that are contrary to the revelation of G.o.d's Word block the flow. The fact is, if your thoughts are really screwed up, very little of what's in your spirit will be able to pa.s.s through your soul and manifest. That's why you may not be seeing much happen as far as actions and results. How-ever, as you continue renewing your mind, more of G.o.d's supernatural faith that's in you will be free to manifest!

I've experienced a tremendous increase of G.o.d's faith manifest in my life. Although I'm not a perfect example, I've seen people rise from the dead. Blind eyes and deaf ears have literally opened right before my eyes. The gifts of the Holy Spirit have been able to flow through me far beyond anything I could have ever perceived in the natural realm. Through a word of knowledge, I've actually told individuals their names before! I've also accurately perceived in my spirit different people's sicknesses and diseases, what's going on in their marriages, etc. It takes faith to do such things! I don't manifest it perfectly, but I've seen such an increase that I can tell you about the positive results I've experienced, all because I've believed that I already have G.o.d's supernatural faith. I'm not trying to get more faith-I'm just learning to release what I already have!

When asked on television "Why do you see so many more healings in Third-World countries than here in the United States? Is it because they have more faith?" Reinhard Bonnke, renowned German world healing evangelist with a special pa.s.sion for Africa, answered, "That's an invalid question!" He clarified his a.s.sertion by adding, "Americans are the only people on the face of the earth that I have encountered who have this concept of 'more faith' and 'little faith.' In other countries, either you believe or you don't! Only Americans believe in varying degrees and having to hit level 10, 20, or whatever before their faith starts to work. Really, this idea violates what Jesus taught in Matthew 17:20. He said that if your faith was like a grain of mustard seed, you could tell a mountain to move, and it would obey you. You could just speak to it, and your faith would work!"

What a difference this revelation will make in your life! You can now honestly and boldly declare, "1 was given the measure of faith from Jesus at salvation. The faith of Christ is in me-no more and no less than any other born-again believer. The same faith Jesus used to raise Lazarus from the dead is available to me right now. It's just a matter of renewing my mind because in my spirit, I've got the same power, anointing, and potential. From this day forward, I expect to see an increase of manifestation in my life to the glory to G.o.d! Amen!"

Chapter 13.

Your Spirit Knows All Things Your born-again spirit came with the mind of Christ. "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:16). In your spirit, there's a mind that already knows all things. The rest of the Christian life is learning how to draw it out into the physical realm. When that happens, you experience what's called "revelation knowledge."

You were born with a natural mind. It operates both in the soulish realm and in the physical realm as your brain. When you came into this world, you didn't know anything. Your brain had some automatic functions that kicked in, like breathing, pumping blood, etc., but your mind had to be educated. You didn't come out of the womb walking and talking. You had to train yourself to coordinate your muscles. This required lots of input!

When you were born again, you received the mind of Christ in your spirit. However, your spirit mind doesn't have to be developed, trained, or taught because it was born again in perfect knowledge.

You might be wondering, What about 1 Corinthians 13:9-10, which talks about only knowing in part until that which is perfect is come? That's referring to your natural mind in your soulish realm. Right now, you don't understand everything with your physical mind. You are in the process of renewing it, which won't be complete until you receive that which is perfect-your glorified body. But in your spirit, you have the mind of Christ, which is already complete. It's just not manifest in your limited little brain inside your skull!

n.o.body can defend the erroneous position that 1 Corinthians 2:16 means you have the mind of Christ right now in your physical mind. There are things the Lord Jesus knows that you simply aren't aware of in your natural mind. The Lord knew what He was saying in the Word, but you and I are still discovering the fullness of His meaning-even in just the Gospels alone! n.o.body can claim total understanding and complete revelation because your actions and att.i.tudes don't back it up.

Are You Double-minded?

Your spirit mind and physical mind are two separate ent.i.ties within you. When they don't agree, double-mindedness occurs. "Purify your hearts, ye double minded" (James 4:8). The key to the Christian life is training your physical mind to agree with your spirit mind, which is the mind of Christ.

You are spirit, soul, and body. Your born-again spirit always agrees with G.o.d. Your body is under the influence of what it can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel. When your natural mind thinks the same way as your spirit mind, you're single-minded. That's when you are believing with all your heart and see G.o.d's power manifest. However, if your physical brain thinks contrary to your spirit mind, your experience will be different than the way your spirit thinks. Your soul-specifically your natural mind and the way you think-is the determining factor.

Your spirit mind always thinks the way G.o.d thinks. The Word perfectly represents what you think in your spirit. It's saying, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil. 4:13). If your physical mind agrees, then you'll see supernatural power and ability flow through your soul into your body, which produces results in the physical realm. But if your mind is contrary, thinking / can't beat this sickness. I've known five people who've died of this same thing, and my doctor told me it's hopless! then you're double-minded. A double-minded person receives nothing from the Lord!

Single-mindedness brings stability, but double-mindedness causes instability. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of G.o.d, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:5-8). The mind of Christ is in your spirit, but your soul doesn't automatically think that way. It takes effort to renew your physical mind to agree with your spirit mind. Basically, this is where the conflict in the Christian life is-in the mind.

You Know All Things Most Christians believe that the only thing that changed when they became born again is their future-heaven instead of h.e.l.l. After accepting Christ, they didn't see any change in their physical bodies, and they didn't automatically perceive it in their souls either, so they conclude that the real change must just be on paper. Nothing really changes until heaven, when everything will be awesome.

Yes, the change will be completed in heaven, but right now one-third of you is already complete. Your spirit has the mind of Christ and knows all things! If you really believed this, you wouldn't be so easily pushed into defeat, whining, "I know G.o.d can do it, but I just don't understand the things of G.o.d!" Embracing your ignorance, you sing songs about someday it'll be better, but now "I'm just a poor wayfaring pilgrim." Wailing and travailing, you glorify your infirmities, taking solace in the fact that "I'm just so inadequate. I can't experience victory until I go to be with the Lord." That's not true! You just don't realize that in your spirit, you're already a brand-new person!

In your spirit, you know all things! "But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things" (1 John 2:20). "Unction" simply means "an anointing, a special enduement with power, or an ability." The Holy One is Jesus.

People who don't understand spirit, soul, and body read a verse like this and throw up their hands saying, "The Bible is so hard to understand! I can prove by my last test score that I don't know all things. I even forgot where I put my keys this morning. After walking into the room, I couldn't remember why I was there. That proves I don't know all things!" Those who only acknowledge their physical brain and soulish realm will never be able to embrace this truth from G.o.d's Word.

However, 1 John 2:20 plainly reveals that you know all things. How can this be? In your spirit, you have the mind of Christ. The Greek word for "all" means "to the exclusion of nothing." This means you not only know some things or many things but a]] things. In your spiritual mind, you know everything Jesus knows!

The Road to Manifestation You're probably asking, "That's great, but what good does it do me? How do 1 get it out into the physical realm where I need it?"

First and foremost, you must believe you've already got it. You can't release something you don't really believe you have. If you waver regarding the truth that your born-again spirit has the mind of Christ and knows all things, then as you put forth effort in the process of releasing this, the devil will tempt you to think, What that guy said isn't true. The Word doesn't mean that. This just doesn't work! Unless you're absolutely convinced, you'll get frustrated and quit before you see the manifestation. You must believe you have the mind of Christ in your born-again spirit, even if you mess up. That's the first step.

Once you truly believe, you're on the road to manifestation!

Chapter 14.

Releasing the Mind of Christ Studying G.o.d's Word will draw out the wisdom that's in your spirit. When you're reading the Bible, you are receiving words with your physical eyes that are spirit and life. As you take this knowledge into your soul, new thoughts and ideas come to your physical mind. When this happens, your spirit-which already has the truth and mind of Christ-will bear witness with it.

Surely you've read a scripture and felt like all of a sudden you "saw" it. You may have read it a dozen, even a hundred times, before, but all at once, everything within you shouts, "Yes!" That's your spirit and your soul becoming of one mind. When your soulish realm gains a truth and begins to embrace it, your spirit connects and agrees. Once the connection is made, that truth just goes off inside of you. It's now revelation and reality to you. Because of your inner witness, you don't necessarily need anyone else to prove it; you just know!

Several scriptures reveal this inner witness. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of G.o.d" (Rom. 8:16). First John 5:6-10 also describes this, specifically verse 10, which says, "He that believeth on the Son of G.o.d hath the witness in himself."

Studying G.o.d's Word is vital for achieving single-mindedness and releasing G.o.d's power! Your spirit mind, the mind of Christ, agrees completely with the Word. When a truth from G.o.d's Word takes root in your soulish realm, that same knowledge, which has already existed in your spirit mind, rises up and meshes with it. This draws G.o.d's power resident within you out into the physical realm. That's when you see manifestation!

Your Spirit Prays!

Praying in tongues is another powerful way to release the mind of Christ. "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto G.o.d: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries" (1 Cor. 14:1-2). When you pray in the Spirit, you are speaking mysteries.

Your spirit prays! "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful" (1 Cor. 14:14). This scripture shows both minds in operation. When you pray in tongues, your spirit prays, but your understanding-your soulish, physical, natural mind-is unfruitful.

You build yourself up by praying in tongues. "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself' (1 Cor. 14:4). "Edify" means "to build up" or "to promote spiritual growth." It's your soul that's actually growing and being built up because your spirit is already perfect and complete. The mind of Christ in your spirit prays when you pray in tongues.

Your goal is to facilitate single-mindedness. You aren't trying to get the Word of G.o.d into your spirit because the mind of Christ already knows all things. You are trying to get G.o.d's Word into your soul so that your spirit can bear witness with it. As your soulish realm embraces a truth and agrees "Yes G.o.d, this is what } believe. I'm throwing out all other contrary thoughts and belief systems. This truth will now rule my life," you become of one mind. Your soul unites to your spirit's way of thinking, and you're built up by drawing your spirit's wisdom and knowledge out into the physical realm. That's when you'll see G.o.d's power manifest!

Hidden Wisdom When you pray in tongues, your spirit prays the hidden wisdom of G.o.d. "Howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries" (1 Cor. 14:2). What are those mysteries? "The wisdom of G.o.d in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which G.o.d ordained before the world unto our glory" (1 Cor. 2:7). That's what the Apostle Paul preached!

In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul describes his preaching and wisdom. He didn't just use his human intellect but ministered G.o.d's Word "in demonstration of the Spirit and of power" (1 Cor. 2:4). In the process of explaining this, Paul actually put down carnal knowledge-learned physical knowledge, the kind you receive from school-in favor of G.o.d's wisdom. In other words, there's a wisdom that proceeds from your born-again spirit (mind of Christ. 1 Cor. 2:16), and there's a wisdom that comes from your physical brain (what somebody taught you). Since you cannot really understand the things of G.o.d with just your natural mind, you must understand them through your spirit man. It's this wisdom that comes from your spirit that enables you to relate to G.o.d. Paul preached this wisdom as he invited unbelievers to believe and as he encouraged them to mature.

"But G.o.d Hath Revealed..."

Before moving on, I'd like to clear up a misuse of 1 Corinthians 2:9, which says, "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which G.o.d hath prepared for them that oe him." Some people read that and say, "This contradicts what you're teaching. It shows that you can't really know the things of G.o.d. This verse proves that He's mysterious and you can't really know!"

Don't stop there! Keep reading the next few verses: "But G.o.d hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of G.o.d. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of G.o.d knoweth no man, but the Spirit of G.o.d. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of G.o.d; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of G.o.d...we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:10-12, 16; emphasis mine).

First Corinthians 2:9 contrasts Old Testament saints, who couldn't understand, with New Covenant believers, who know all things in their spirits! In this verse, Paul quoted an Old Testament scripture (Is. 64:4). Old Covenant people weren't born again, so they didn't have born-again spirits. Because of this, it's totally accurate to say that they couldn't understand the things of G.o.d. To them, it's foolishness because they have to be spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). However, it's inaccurate to say the same thing about a New Testament believer who has the mind of Christ in their born-again spirit. You can understand the things of G.o.d!

Paul preached the hidden wisdom of G.o.d that he received by revelation. He declared, "I speak with tongues more than ye all" (1 Cor. 14:18). As Paul prayed in the spirit, he spoke forth G.o.d's mysteries and received revelation knowledge concerning them(l Cor. 14:2). However, he did not preach or teach in tongues (1 Cor. 14:19). Paul ministered in his native language the wisdom he received through praying in tongues.