Beyond
the Natural Mind
1 Corinthians 2:12-15
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
who is from God, that we might know the things that have been
freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in
words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man
does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned.
God wants to take us to a place of faith that is beyond the
natural mind. The natural mind is that place where everything
makes sense, everything is comfortable and we “feel”
secure. But this is a false security at best. The only safe
place is in the will of God whether we can “figure it
out” or not. The natural man wars against this because
it is the life of the Spirit lived out be the spirit within
a person. The carnal mind thinks it has a right to know all
things and to have all things explained to him, even the things
of the Spirit. But the natural man cannot and does not have
the ability to understand the things of heaven. The things
of heaven are not of this world. Abraham was told to leave
his father, mother, tribe and country and head out toward
somewhere he had never been before. God gave him a simple
command and it required simple obedience. He did not get any
details in advance of where this was. He received revelation
from God one step at a time.
For those who are outside the Kingdom of God, don’t
know Jesus as the Gate, the Good Shepherd, the Way, the Truth
and the Life they will never be able to understand or walk
in the things of the Spirit. The natural mind can be brought
into submission. But this requires one to be born of the Spirit.
If one is not born again there is no way that they can even
begin to receive the things of God. The things of God are
received as revelation, not earned or achieved through natural
effort and natural strength. The things of God come through
communion with God. They are received not worked for. There
is a price to receive the things of God. That price is to
lay down the natural desires to seek God. Only those who can
find this truth will walk in a life of revelation of who God
is. They have found this simply because they have sought to
know Him intimately. They are those who have placed value
on the Lord to the point that they are willing to lay down
the natural things of the world for the things of heaven.
Jesus told us not to be amazed that he said that we must be
born again. The born again spirit is where entrance and life
in the Kingdom of God begins. As He said, a man cannot even
enter into the Kingdom unless he is born again. It is the
person who has experienced being born again that can now understand
the things of God. Until a person comes into this salvation
experience there is a veil over their eyes so that they may
read the scriptures and think that they have understanding
from a “natural” perspective, but never receive
revelation that leads to freedom in Christ. Like Jesus said,
no one come to Him unless the Spirit draws him or her.
The natural mind reasons “believing” away. It
discards faith. So those who live by the natural mind and
have to have an explanation for everything will find a way
not to believe. They will look for a “reason”
not to believe. But faith is received by revelation of the
Holy Spirit. The reasoning of the mind is the root of doubt
and unbelief, the beginning of a spirit of criticism. You
have heard of critical thought. This is intimately associated
with “reasoning of the mind.” If the natural mind
cannot figure it out it gets upset, complains and criticizes.
Criticism is the serpent’s food. Especially when it
is criticism against the things of God and the people of God.
This opens the door to the poisonous spiritual venom of the
devil. Discernment is different than criticism. Why? Discernment
comes from revelation and a heart that has passion and love
for God and His Words. But the main distinction of discernment
is love and kindness. True discernment is couple with the
love of God that desires all men to find freedom in Christ.
The natural mind says that it has the right and privilege
to understand everything that goes on and gets upset if it
doesn’t. But the Lord will not heed the natural mind.
He will feed the inner man of the Spirit with His choice morsels.
Again, the natural mind wants to be the “center of operations”.
It wants to be in control of everything, all the ducks in
a row. But God has ordained the inner man to rule of the life
of the believer. When one is born again, it happens by believing
from the heart through faith in Jesus. But that is the first
step. Believers are to live by faith. This life by faith emanates
from the inner man. Much of what has happened is that many
who come into the Kingdom of God believe in Christ then live
the rest of their Christian lives out of the natural mind,
not by faith. They live in their own understanding and not
from the inner man. Their inner man goes on starved for the
rest of their Christian walk on earth. They never experience
anything beyond the comfort zones. They never go on to the
depths of intimacy with God the Father to know Him deeply
as a son or daughter of God. The life of faith is foreign
to them. The world of the spirit is also foreign to them.
The only things that can be legitimate to the natural mind
are natural things that can be seen with the eye and touched
with the hand. Those who have not understood the place of
revelation and faith have discarded the things of the Spirit
and of the spirit world.
Selfishness is the root of the natural-filled life. It cannot
produce the love of God. It imitates a superficial love that
involves no sacrifice. It only gives within the comfort zone,
or to achieve control, or for vain attention, to be the centerpiece
of conversation or for something in return from to one the
superficial love has been given.
In a nutshell, the life lived by the natural man is not the
life to live. Jesus told us that in order to find your life
you must lose it. It is this self-filled natural life that
must be lost. The measure it is lost will also be the measure
of the Spirit-Life gained. Commit your heart to the things
of the Spirit. To know that God knows our hearts better than
we do. Know that He is able to bring us to that place of communion
with Him where revelation and His light shine into our hearts
with unending beauty and grace.
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