Let His Mind Be In You
~ From the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Philippians ~
- A Work in Progress -
Apology
Make no
mistake. Be not deceived.
All have fallen
short. All are sinners only Christ can save.
None is exempt.
Not me. Not you. Not anyone.
Preface
Before
beginning, please read this short section, then put the book down and pray in
whatever manner you pray until you believe you are open to receive truth … even
if it means you must change the way you’ve been thinking.
The purpose of
this book is to bring Christians together, to break down the imaginary walls
between us so we can enjoy our lives more fully and offer hope to others.
| Nothing here is
intended to take away from what you believe already. We all believe something.
We all have our private views of truth. We all agree about some things.
What this book
sets out to do is to help us see how much agreement we have between us already,
and to encourage us to enter into that agreement and act on it as a united
force. We do this for the sake of ourselves and for the children of this world
who need our leadership and guidance perhaps more than ever before.
Agreement is
the stuff of peace.
Agreement is
the proof of love, for love cannot exist without it.
Let us enter
into agreement, therefore, and be free from the imaginary constraints of our
unimportant differences, knit together by truth in a genuine fellowship of
faith.
Before we
begin, however, please allow God to prepare your heart and mind. Ask for wisdom
to see what changes he desires to work in you. Ask God to open your heart to
what you need to see. Ask God to empower you to do whatever he wants you to do.
Approach him in
silence and wait.
Then come back
and read on.
Thank you.
Introduction
If this book meets its goal you will share it
with leaders of your local assembly. You will share it with friends. If this
book does what it purposes to do, you will cherish what it teaches and be
motivated to teach others, for the love we all seek cannot abide where there are
differences. Disputes have no place where there is perfect love.
Distinctions
and disagreements are enemies of the peace we all are seeking. This book may not
dispel all the differences between us, but hopefully it will demonstrate the
power of those principal things about which we agree. It may also serve to
underscore the pain our needless differences create and the unnecessary
destruction caused by individual imperatives that separate us and destroy the
power we are meant to share in unity.
Only in the
sweet soil of agreement can the beauty of love truly blossom.
Ironically,
many of us are so deceived that we believe the peace and love we seek can be
found by demanding our differences, by enforcing individual rights, by a process
of requiring others to surrender to our views or be condemned as enemies. This
is not the way of Christ, and those who practice such things are not of his
church no matter how faithfully they attend meetings of an approved denomination
that calls itself a church.
The church has
no divisions, no disputes, no bitter battles between believers. The church is a
spiritual body in which all the parts are knit together in love by a mystery of
grace that leads its members in truth that brings love into their lives and
promises them an eternity of never being separated by the devices of difference.
The church is
built on this mystery of grace, the knowledge that comes from God alone and is
revealed only to those who surrender in unity. The foundation on which the
church is built could never be made with hands. No amount of human wisdom could
ever conceive its plan. The best of good intentions could not begin to set a
single stone in its walls. God created it to rise above man’s world of work and
war, to stand forever in the truth of Jesus crucified and risen, a testimony of
God’s love no demon can destroy. The truth on which it stands is hidden from
those who would misuse its power, yet a child is welcomed to its peace, and when
this planetary place has finished its appointed purpose the church will still
remain … eternal testimony to the love that fashioned us from dirt.
Rejoice,
therefore!
Be glad.
For God has
prepared for us a place of everlasting habitation wherein we can be friends
forever, brothers and sisters united in love by a Father who longs for us to
know eternal life … no more to dwell in separation and rejection.
The church is
real, and in it there are no divisions.
War is not the
result of anger and greed; war is the consequence of no agreement.
Divorce is not
the consequence of lust; divorce results from misunderstanding the covenant of
marriage.
Sickness is not
brought on by viruses and germs; sickness is a natural progression that affects
a body that is not in harmony with itself and its surroundings.
Crime is not an
act of evil persons; it is the response of people who are out of order,
separated from the rest of society by a barrier that ignorance erects.
We are not
designed to be divided. We are made to be fit together, loving, happy, fulfilled
in our individual unique purposes, encouraged by the body, whole and able, in
agreement with the plan of our creator.
But the mind of
man has other plans. The mind of man wants to rule. The mind of man wants to be
worshipped. The mind of man wants to have the last say. The mind of man wants to
demand and receive special attention, separate from others.
This is the
mind of denominations, not the mind of Christ.
This mind has
no place in the church.
Yet there it is
… in your denomination and in every denomination across the face of this planet.
Everywhere there are divisions. Everywhere there are separate opinions. All the
world is one great disagreement brooding for war.
Let the church
come together in these prophetic days. When Christ returns, let him find us in
agreement, at peace with each other, encouraging each other as that day
approaches, strengthened, of one mind.
Let God be
glorified in his church.
Let it begin
today.
Let it begin
with you.
Give the teachings of this little book a chance.
Use your Bible to investigate and test to see if what’s said in these pages is
in keeping with the truth revealed to you by the printed Word and the incarnate
Word who dwells in the heart of every true believer. Ask God to teach you what
your job is in the work of finding unity. Share these thoughts with others and
consider what they say. But, above all, put each idea to the test of what your
Bible teaches. If you’ve never read your Bible cover-to-cover we encourage you
to do so, starting at the beginning of Genesis and continuing without
interruption through the end of John’s Revelation. Read your Bible
cover-to-cover, regardless what version you have chosen as your own authority.
Hide the words in your own heart, then you’ll need no man to teach you truth but
can rely on God alone to guide you.
There are so many versions of the Bible these
days (further evidence of our need to find agreement in these critical times)
that we avoid quoting passages with citations to chapter and verse because it
seems impossible to please everyone these days. Some rely on the truth of the
King James version, while others insist on something new. There are so many
Bibles in the world today that any direct reference is likely to elicit
opposition and, since this book is offered to lead us to a common ground of
agreement, it seemed best to avoid traditional citations to scripture so you can
find truth in your own version without our giving cause for further disputation.
We have not,
however, avoided sticky subjects like sin and hell, nor have we gone outside the
Bible in any way but have relied on the authority of scripture to check each
sentence thoroughly to insure that every thought is brought under the discipline
of Christ.
The only way to
know for certain what’s true and what is false, of course, is to go to the
source on your own. Pray without ceasing. The power in learning the truth is not
in reading alone but in comparing what you read to the witness of God who
reveals the truth to all who ask. Ask, therefore, to know the truth. Ask God,
not men.
We make no
apology for what is written here. There is a critical need today for men and
women to find common ground where love can prosper and life be experienced with
meaningful expression free from fear and doubtful disputations. Perhaps as never
before the world needs a vision to unite us, and nowhere is there such a vision
than is found in the person of Jesus the Lamb of God who was killed for our
sakes by a division that had separated itself from the truth and sought to be a
truth within itself. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus
the wounded one who alone has power over death and in whom alone true love is
found.
If you do not
yet know Jesus as Lord, if you have never invited his Spirit of Truth to come
into your heart and guide you through life, ask him this instant to forgive you
of your sins and to perform the miracle of his grace within your heart so you
may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, surrendering
your will to him and him alone. No longer need you be submitted to the will of
man outside the will of God. Make Jesus Lord of your life and surrender to him.
Ask him to give you his Spirit of Truth to live in you … not as a set of rules
or the commandments of men but the counsel of our living God always at hand,
always ready to guide you in paths that are safety for your soul. Be not
deceived. Men cannot save you nor guide you to the truth. Knowledge cannot bring
you love and joy. Only the love of Christ in your heart, illumined by Truth that
is only revealed to us individually as a mystery of God’s grace, can bring
happiness and secure your soul in eternal bliss. Trust nothing other than Jesus’
Love to guide you. Ask to be filled with His Spirit right now. Purpose in your
heart to resist the ever-present temptation to rely on your own understanding
and trust in Jesus’ love alone to lead you to the peace and joy you seek.
Apart from
Christ Jesus there is no love that lasts, and without lasting love we all are
doomed to an eternity of sorrow and regret.
It is this
simple.
Make no
mistake.
Jesus is the
only door to God’s kingdom of grace.
Let us enter by
agreement two-by-two.
There is no
other way.
The Beginning
The purpose of
this book is to promote union in Christ’s church ... not division.
But, before we
can begin we need to understand how it all started. Otherwise we won’t know how
we got where we are or be able to go on from here.
In the
beginning God made Adam, the first man being who could talk to God, i.e., the
first creature that possessed the gift of speech. The Bible says God fashioned
Adam from the dust of the ground, breathed his own spirit into Adam’s human
being, and Adam became a living soul.
That word soul
is significant, because the soul is that part of us that wants, seeks, desires,
feels, and wills. The spirit God breathed into Adam, however, was the gift of
life, without which the soul is trapped with no ability to act upon its wants,
no ability to seek and find, no ability to fulfill desires, no ability to move
from what feels bad to what feels good, and no ability to carry out and achieve
the objectives of the soul’s will. It is spirit that gives life. It is the soul
that wishes to live. God creates both in each of us.
The soul wills
to live.
The spirit is
life.
Jesus alone has
power to separate one from the other.
Now Adam was
not like the other creatures, for Adam was created in God’s image, possessed of
the ability to communicate with words, abstract representations of reality,
expressions of truth that exist as part of truth but are separate from the
material realm. In short, words are spirit. This book is too short to go into
great detail about the nature of words or even to examine in depth the
differences between our souls and the spirit God gives us to communicate with
him, but suffice it to say for now that without words this book would be
useless, and Adam would not be created in God’s image. By words we can not only
communicate with God, but we can communicate with others. We can even
communicate with people who are not yet born by writing the words on pages of
books like this. It was the spirit God breathed into Adam that made the words
possible, the spirit that made Adam a living soul, the spirit that gave flesh
the power to choose.
Next God gave
Adam someone other than himself to talk to. God made woman and breathed into her
as he did Adam, and Eve became a living soul … but in a female body. Now Adam
had two persons to talk with. On the one hand there was God who had made him,
and on the other there was Eve who would soon be used by God to create both Cain
and Abel, the first children to be born to human creatures. Eve had a soul, as
did her children and every child born thereafter without exception. She had
desire. She had wants and feelings. Like everyone else, including Adam, she
wanted to be known and appreciated. She wanted to be important to someone else.
Unlike Adam, when Eve was created she was not God’s only creature created in
God’s image. She was one of two, and she was number two. Adam was already in the
garden, talking with God. Eve, therefore, was created with a special need to be
recognized for her own uniqueness. Adam already had a sense of his uniqueness,
for he was the first creature and had a special relationship with the creator.
Eve had to compete for God’s attention, when she wasn’t competing with God for
Adam’s attention. And so it all began.
Those who blame
Eve for falling into temptation and for tempting Adam miss the point. It wasn’t
Eve’s fault she wasn’t created first. God might just as easily have made the
woman before the man, and life might be entirely different today, but God
elected to make man first, and Eve came after. It was perfectly natural,
therefore, that Eve should be the one to tempt Adam away from God.
It wasn’t her
fault.
It was her
destiny.
It was all a
part of God’s perfect plan. She tempted. Adam gave in.
It’s been the
same ever since.
Of course it
wasn’t long before they were a family, and one thing led to another. Cain slew
Abel. More children. More generations of temptations, giving in, turning from
God, seeking satisfaction in pleasures, gaining material things by abandoning
things of the spirit, communing with nature by exercising the will of the soul
through the body instead of communicating with God by exercising the will of the
soul through the spirit.
The power of
life, i.e., the spirit that made them living souls, became an unruly energy
directed by soul struggling to survive in the flesh: fighting, stealing, lying,
murdering, stealing wives and husbands of others, making war, denying the truth
for the sake of momentary pleasure, exercising every option available to stay
alive as long as possible … always resulting inevitably in death, separated from
the light of life by the fear of darkness.
It all began
with Adam and Eve, but the choice of using spirit to talk with God or to carry
out the will of the soul to be important and appreciated apart from God remained
the same for every living soul since the moment of man’s first creation. None of
us are immune. All of us are faced with the same choices.
Many years
later, the descendants of Adam and Eve were tending the sheep and gathering
grain into barns … still stealing wives and husbands, still lying to get ahead,
still killing each other if that’s what it took to stay alive a moment longer …
when a few of them approached a man named Samuel, who was one of the special men
of God who was more interested in speaking with God than in the things that
interested others. The people, it seems, wanted a king.
Jesus lovingly
brought a sword to divide us as is wonderfully explained again and again with
many illustrations in the scriptures, but the sword Jesus brought was to make us
decide to choose him, not do divide his church into denominations. Jesus brought
a sword to divide between us, because a choice must be made. Either we are
separated from God by our sin or we are not. It cannot be both ways.
Jesus also
brought a light to show which way we should choose. The purpose of this book is
to unite us again by revealing the purpose for his sword and lifting his light
so others can find the truth that makes us one.
Before we can
get very far on a journey with others we need to agree where we are to begin.
This is, perhaps, the single most daunting obstacle the church faces today. We
don’t know where we are. Many denominations think they know, but the very fact
they have set themselves apart from the body of Christ reveals they are lost in
the realm of separation. One believes one thing. Another believes another. Yet
on the fundamentals where we all should agree they are uncertain, unsure,
unwilling to commit … perhaps because to commit would be to admit that their
separation is sin. Each believes it is the correct view or the best view or even
the only view, yet each is divided from others so that the glory of Christ is
hidden from the world, and many stumble at their errors. To make progress on
this journey, therefore, we need to agree where we are to start with. Are we
enlightened? Do we know all truth? Have we fully appropriated the grace of God
in our churches? Are we teaching the full gospel? Are we giving hope to every
soul whom Jesus loves? Are we reaching every lost person?
Jesus said if
we would judge ourselves we could be spared God’s judgment. Are you ready to
judge yourself? Are you ready to judge your denomination? Are you ready to
accept what Christ desires and receive the power of a new anointing to prepare
the way of the Lord and be ready for his return in glory? Are you ready to admit
things aren’t as good as they ought to be … not in you and not in your
denomination. If you are not ready you may as well put this book down now and
admit you are part of the problem. God does not merely want clean vessels to
fill with his glory. God wants willing vessels. Are you willing to be filled? Is
your denomination ready? Or have you decided you don’t need any new revelation,
that things are just fine as they are, that you’re doing all you can and your
denomination is as nearly perfect as God can expect it to be?
Rebellion is as
the sin of witchcraft. Therefore we must put aside our rebellion, the pride that
insists we don’t need to change, the root of separation that makes us believe we
are just fine as we are. Until we are ready to do this there can be no change,
and Jesus is denied his bride by our unwillingness to submit to his divine
authority. We are not God nor is our wisdom the wisdom of God. Until we are
ready to receive this truth we are part of the problem. Until we are willing to
face the problem and agree with others to remove it from this planet, we are
hindering the gospel. If we believe we have no sin we make God a liar, and the
truth is not in us.
The unity
Christ calls us to begins in confession … nowhere else. We believe in our hearts
that he is the Savior of the world, but with our mouths we confess and receive
thereby our salvation. There is no other salvation. There is no other way. There
is no other path. There is no other formula. There is no other doctrine. Either
we confess or we are not his. Either we confess or we can never be united.
Either we confess or his mind cannot be in us, and we are only kidding ourselves
to play church. We begin in confession and remain in confession, submitting
ourselves one to another, or we are liars and thieves attempting to climb into
the kingdom by another way.
There is no
other way.
Jesus died for
sinners.
Begin here.
One Doctrine
Ironically, the
thing that should unite us is the very thing that most separates us.
Doctrine.
What a
powerful-sounding word it is. Imposing. Dominant. Why, it’s downright
intimidating!
That’s because
the word is misunderstood, misapplied, mishandled, and missed altogether by
those who build denominations and call them church. Doctrine is a word that
strikes fear in the hearts of the lost and often condemns more souls than it
comforts.
Why should this
be?
What is the
root of the problem?
If our doctrine
were of Christ it would bring liberty, not chains … yet many today are so full
of themselves and their own private views of morality and “God’s will” as they
see it, that they’ve amassed great volumes of doctrine they use like a scourge
to keep the people in line obeying precepts and legalistic imperatives instead
of leading souls to the saving knowledge that comes by Christ and Christ alone.
To be sure the
church needs doctrine, but denominationalists have imposed duty on souls by
creating rules erected on human traditions and calling it doctrine. From such
turn away.
The doctrine of
Christ’s church is simple. Salvation is a free gift.
All who are
willing to enter through this narrow gate may be saved. All who teach otherwise
are blind. Everything builds from this simple premise. All the teachings of the
church are rooted and grounded in this simple truth. Salvation is free.
It cannot be
obtained but one way, however.
Many stumble
and fall because of men’s doctrine.
Doctrine
becomes the banner of denominationalism. Where it should be a joy that unites
us, it becomes a burden that weighs us down with sorrows that separate us. Where
we should receive doctrine gladly as our key to Christ’s kingdom, many are
turned away at the gates by teachings of men that glorify men and promote a
world view instead of a welcome that proclaims, “All are equal. Salvation is
free.”
Jesus died for
sinners. Jesus died for you.
Jesus is the
gate.
Accept what he
has done for you and enter in, or deny this simple truth and ban yourself to an
eternal darkness where love is never real and peace impossible. There is no
other way. There is no other doctrine.
All are sinners
but one, and he is the Christ of God, our Savior.
Where the
leaders of Christ’s church have erred is in adding to this simple truth. To them
and their followers doctrine is a set of rules for living, strictures the
command the people to submit to human authority, plans for organizing the
affairs of their corporate organization. Nothing could be further from the
truth.
Christ loves
his sheep. We are not cattle to be beaten into stalls or prodded into obedience.
We are sheep guided gently through this valley by a Lord who understands our
weakness, using his rod not to punish but to gently guide us in the path of
safety.
We were created
to be led by one shepherd.
One doctrine.
Christ died to
rescue us from sin.
The Price of Separation
None is exempt.
Herein lies the
problem, however, for each and every one of us wants a special deal, a
particular dispensation of grace just for us, a unique place in the kingdom
where we can be ourselves just as we are, a favor from God that gets us out of
the punishment we deserve without paying the price.
We are so very
blind, for the price is the same for everyone.
Either we
confess with our hearts we are sinners … or we are lost.
In practice,
however, we confess only part of our sin, receive the acceptance of men through
the denomination of our choice (we generally choose a denomination that most
nearly agrees with the lifestyle and beliefs we wish to follow), then comfort
ourselves in the ear-scratching lectures of men (and now women as well) we hire
to tell us what we want to hear. This is what denominationalism is all about.
Separation.
The gospel is
thereby hindered.
We hide from
truth by manufacturing doctrine that comforts our ego. We are hiding from God
who alone sees what’s secretly kept back from him in our hearts. We deceive
ourselves, and others stumble and fall because of our errors.
If we were
united, confessing our faults one to another, lifting Jesus as the author and
finisher of our faith, we would enter into a joy no words could explain. God
would perform all his promises in us. Our prayers would be answered. Broken
relationships would be restored. Dreams would come true.
But we are
separated, cursing the darkness because we will not lift the light of truth and
be healed. Separated because we desire what we cannot have. Separated by a curse
we ourselves cling to, a curse only we can let go. Separated by spiritual greed,
a compelling motive we allow that seeks our own preeminence instead of the
preeminence of him who died for us.
What does our
separation cost?
One need only
look at the world today to see what it is costing in the lives of millions who
have turned completely away from the denominations, destroying themselves
without hope because we refuse to embrace the truth and be changed.
How many will
die this day without hope because the denominations refused to tear down the
walls and embrace each other as brothers and sisters saved by grace? How many
will die this very hour? How many in the time it took for you to read this
single paragraph left this world without love in their hearts?
That’s what
it’s all about, you know.
You do know,
don’t you?
How many are
perishing without love? How many are living alone? How many are destroying their
minds and bodies with drugs and alcohol? How many are hiding in the blind
teachings of the occult or leading others into the dangers of demonology all
because the denominations refuse to judge themselves and lift Christ higher?
How many more
must perish?
The answer, of
course, is that none. Not one more soul need suffer the result of denominational
rebellion. Just as lost sinners have a choice to confess and be saved, so the
denominations of this world (and that includes the denominations that make a
great show of being “non-denominational”) have a choice to repent and lift Jesus
as one body surrendered to the truth of his one doctrine.
Why should any
one of us enter eternity without love because one denomination believes the wine
is blood and another believes the bread of life is spiritual food?
What is wrong
with us?
Our God is one
God.
Why do we
disagree?
Is it, perhaps,
because we do not see the price of our disagreement?
The Power of Unity
The Other Way, The Deception, The Deceiver
The Yoke
Being burdened by each other may seem difficult
until you see that you are helpless on your own. You need others, just as they
need you. Iron sharpens iron.
The Perfection
Jesus tells us,
“Be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
The world tells
us, “Nobody’s perfect.”
Jesus is
perfect, and we can be perfected.
Stand against
the lie. That’s what the church is for. Stand up for the truth. Stand in the truth. There is a way to be perfected, but you cannot do it alone.
Just as was discussed in the last chapter about other things the church is
called to do as a body, the perfecting of Christ’s saints is not something that
can be done standing alone. You’ll need help.
So, how is this
perfecting accomplished?
This is the
good part.
James says, “
......... . [ to be continued ]
The Promise
The Joy of Unfeigned Fellowship
Peace and love
are in the power of the tongue. Words separate us, not individual beliefs. We
can get around differences. What we cannot endure separation. That comes by and
through our words. When we share truth, speaking in unity, we are strengthened
as a body. To speak truth in unity, however, we must first agree.
Thanks be to
God who gave us Jesus to remove our differences and show them for the sin they
are. Everything that separates us from him is sin. Everything that separates us
from each other is also sin.
I will write more as time permits.
Thank you for your patience.
Please email your comments.
|
