May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 (NIV)
Just as God is three-in-one—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—so am I. I am spirit, soul (mind), and body. My spirit is where I was born again by His Spirit. My soul is what some might call my personality. It is my mind where my attitudes are determined. What I believe affects how I feel. If I believe something fearful, I have fear. If I believe God’s truth, I have His peace. What I think in my mind affects my physical health. Either I believe who He says I am in my born-again spirit, or I believe what I feel in my mind.
My born-again spirit is where Jesus has completely changed me. His grace saves me. He has given me His righteous nature and taken my sinful one. I have been thoroughly altered and set free from the power of sin.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6, NJKV). Together the soul and body make up the flesh. Those two are separate from my born-again spirit, where the Holy Spirit communicates with me. My born-again spirit needs to impact my mind to bring about change. When I am sanctified—in my mind—by what I have received in my spirit, God's truth changes my mind and the way I think. God, himself, sanctifies me through and through with the reality of who I am in Jesus. I come to believe the change He has wrought in my spirit.
My spirit is the outlet for the power of God. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead " (James 2:26, NKJV). The life-giving part of me is the spirit. The soul (mind) is where I “flesh out” what my spirit has received. When I was born-again, I became new by His Spirit. But without His Spirit impacting and renewing my mind, that newness of life makes little difference. I remain unchanged. So without the spirit making a difference, whatever work I do for Him has no life.
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63, NKJV). I cannot feel spiritual truth. The only way to understand spiritual truth is through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. If I want to understand what Jesus has given me in my born-again spirit, I go to God's Word. I can't go by what I feel.
“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was” (James 1:23, 24, NKJV). The Word of God is like a mirror I look into to see who I am n Jesus. The Word reveals who I am in my born-again spirit. And when the Word has transformed my mind, I believe I am the person Jesus reveals. In the mirror of the Word, I see who I am in Him. And I don’t forget. I am changed.
The Word of God is a perfect reflection of what spiritual truth is. The Word gives me an accurate representation of my spiritual self, and it is the only way to see who God says I am. I want to be renewed in my mind by my born-again spirit instead of believing what my natural mind says. I want the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit to determine my emotions and what I think.
When I choose to draw nearer to God, He is closer to me. My soul draws near to whom Jesus says I am. I believe the truth of His Word in my mind—in my soul. I am changed and renewed by His Spirit. Then what has been birthed by His Spirit within my spirit, changes my mind—my attitudes—my perception—what I believe becomes who He says I am. The Lord, who called me by His Spirit, is faithful to do the work in me. I am sanctified through and through by His power.
Whom do I see in me in the mirror of my soul—Jesus in my born-again spirit or the lies of my flesh? Who directs my life? The new life of my spirit or the flesh? Who directs yours?
“So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NLT). The veil is gone. The Holy Spirit convinces you (in your mind) of the miraculous change He has made in your spirit. And as you come to believe in His new life more and more, you are sanctified through and through. He, who calls you to new life, is faithful. He does the work in you.
© 2020 Lynn Lacher
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