Spiritual Knowledge or Fleshual Knowledge????
I don't have the brain like Sproul, Boice or even Francis A. Schaeffer or other GREAT theologians.
Proverbs 2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
Proverbs 18:15 The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out.
Proverbs 23:12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
Proverbs 19:2 It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.
I know that I am committed to God with every full intent to obey Him, I expect to be led by Him where He wanted me to go. In order for Him to do that, I need to focus on God with all of my heart, mind and soul. I am not a perfect Christian but I am a forgiven Christian who is still learning. I have learned that a misinformed zeal is a dangerous Christian behavior. I have a lot to learn.
If we take our doctrines into our hearts where they belong, they can cause upheavals of emotion and sleepless nights. This is far better than toying with academic ideas that never touch life. John Piper
Doctrinal preaching certainly bores the hypocrites; but it is only doctrinal preaching that will save Christ's sheep. J.I. Packer
If Christianity is really true, then it involves the whole man, including his intellect and creativeness. Christianity is not just "dogmatically" true or "doctrinally" true. Rather, it is true to what is there, true in the whole area of the whole man in all of life. Francis Schaeffer
Humility is the only state of mind in which to approach the Scriptures. The Spirit will teach the humble soul those things that make for his salvation and for a holy walk and fruitful service here below. And little else matters. A.W. Tozer
Doctrines are not God: they are only a kind of map. But that map is based on the experience of hundreds of people who really were in touch with God. C.S. Lewis
There is head knowledge, head and heart and just heart knowledge. In knowing God (not just about Him) the heart must be involved. A.W. Tozer
It is disciples of Christ we are to make (Matthew 28:19) not disciples of ourselves, our churches or our denominations. Granted that in discipling we can hardly avoid transmitting our own truth perspectives. Yet we ourselves must keep in mind, and those we disciple, that truth is greater than our understanding of it. A.W. Tozer
Sadly enough, there is a kind of an anti-intellectualism among many Christians: spirituality is falsely pitted against intellectual comprehension as though they stood in a dichotomy. Such anti-intellectualism cuts away at the very heart of the Christian message. Of course, there is a false intellectualism which does destroy the work of the Holy Spirit. But it does not arise when men wrestle honestly with honest questions and then see that the Bible has the answers. This does not oppose true spirituality.
Francis Schaeffer
Death in the City (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969) 84-85
To denigrate the mind is to undermine foundational Christian doctrines. John Stott
The mind is the atmosphere of the soul. Joseph Joubert
Were the works of God readily understandable by human reason, they would be neither wonderful nor unspeakable. Thomas a Kempis
We cannot change our hearts, but we can change our minds; and when we change our minds, God will change our hearts. Vance Havner
The mind which asks for a non-miraculous Christianity is a mind in process of relapsing from Christianity into mere "religion." C.S. Lewis
The modern intelligent mind, which has had its horizons widened in dozens of different ways, has got to be shocked afresh by the audacious central fact that as a sober matter of history, God become one of us. J.B. Phillips
There are many locks in my house and all with different keys, but I have one master-key which opens them all. The Lord has many treasures and secrets all shut up from carnal minds with locks which they cannot open. But he who walks in fellowship with Jesus possesses the master-key which will open to him all the blessings of the covenant and even the very heart of God. Charles Spurgeon
Therefore, in a post-Christian world and in an often post-Christian church it is imperative to point out with love where apostasy lies. We must openly discuss with all who will listen, treating all men as fellow men, but we must call apostasy, apostasy. If we do not do that, we are not ready for reformation, revival, and a revolutionary church in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are all too easily infilitrated with relativism and synthesis in our own day. We tend to lack antithesis.
Francis Schaeffer
Death in the City (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969) 39
Progress is a farce because man's head and hand have created wonders that stun the imagination, but his heart does not keep step and his morals undo all that his mind has wrought. Vance Havner
Reason is always a kind of brute force; those who appeal to the head rather than the heart, however pallid and polite, are necessarily men of violence. We speak of 'touching' a man's heart, but we can do nothing to his head but hit it. G.K. Chesterton
Discontent is a sin that is its own punishment and makes men torment themselves; it makes the spirit sad, the body sick, and all the enjoyments sour; it is the heaviness of the heart and the rottenness of the bones. It is a sin that is its own parent. It arises not from the condition, but from the mind. As we find Paul contented in a prison, so Ahab discontent in a palace.
Matthew Henry
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (McLean, Mac Donald Publishing Company) 694
Our calling is to enjoy God as well as glorify Him. Real fulfillment relates to the purpose for which we were made, to be in reference to God, to be in personal relationship with Him, to be fulfilled by Him, and thus to have an affirmation of life. Christianity should never give any onlooker the right to conclude that Christianity believes in the negation of life. Christianity is able to make a real affirmation because we affirm that it is possible to be in personal relationship to the personal God who is there and who is the final environment of all He created. All else but God is dependent, but being in the image of God, man can be in personal relationship to that which is ultimate and has always been. We can be fulfilled in the highest level of our personality and in all the parts and portions of life... There is nothing Platonic in Christianity... The whole man is to be fulfilled; there is to be an affirmation of life that is filled with joy.
Francis Schaeffer
Death in the City (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969) 26
Inner Being of a Christian
"Inner Being" means the Holy Spirit is IN you as a new creature. The Greek word for "dwells" is okv (oike), which means "I inhabit." "If Christ is in us, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness" (Romans 8:10). "My temorary body is decaying at the same time, my inner being is being renewed day by day" (2 Cor 4:16). "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25). We are to present our bodies "as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. I have LEARNED that I have an inside world that is made up of the different parts of my inner being: the heart, soul, mind, spirit, will, intellect and emotions. It is the life that goes on inside of me: thoughts, feelings, attitudes, sentiments and opinions. I have learned that I should not be looking at my inadequacies because obviously, they will always be there. I need to be looking at my adequacy in the Holy Spirit, which will always be in me Who supplies me limitless GRACE.
Truth is, the Holy Spirit is able to grasp our inner being only when we submit completely which will allow Him to teach us, lead us mysterious and divine where we ought to go. Christ in me does not mean that I am no longer without sin. My old sinful nature is not ripped out from my heart. Christ is in my heart and with the help from the Holy Spirit, Christ changing me from the inside and lives through me as I live daily under His encouragements.
For years I have been trying to explain this: My human body is subject to death (and is already dying) because of sin, however my spirit is alive in Christ. I have eternal life in my possession. Even though my body is dying because of sin, but as a Christian, my spirit is fully alive and thriving "because of righteousness"--because he is justified and therefore already has "passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). My temorary body is decaying at the same time, my inner being is being renewed day by day (2 Cor 4:16). "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galatians 5:25.
The Holy Spirit dwells in me with all the power and gifts of God, necessary to enable me to walk the noble, spiritual, Son-like life with God.
The concept of "inner being" is this: Both Spirit and Soul however Spirit is the primary while soul is secondary. We ALL have an inside world that is made up of the different parts of our "inner being": the heart, soul, mind, spirit, will, intellect and emotions. It is the life that goes on inside of us: thoughts, feelings, attitudes, sentiments and opinions. Our old sinful nature is not ripped out from our hearts on the day we got SAVED.When a Christian who is saved by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, this Christian is living in a new Creature with holy conscience rather than sinful conscience. Christ is in our hearts spiritually and with the help from the Holy Spirit, Christ changing us from the inside and lives through us. This is where Paul is talking about in Romans 7.
Old Creature (Following flesh's desires) = Self-Centered
New Creature (Following God's desires) = God-Centered (Luke 17:21 "the kingdom of God is within you.")
Those who are in Christ Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Galatians 5:17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. We just need to be looking at our adequacy in the Holy Spirit, which will always be in us. If we didn't feel the conviction and didn't have the motivation to change from "within", then we should be concerned whether we are truly saved or not. "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galatians 5:25. Any selfish motives toward the blessings of God can destroy God's blessings' purposes and usefulness.
One great example to understand "soul & spirit" is from the book of Hebrews: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12).
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