FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE
TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOUL – I
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open
face beholding as in a glass the glory of IAUE, are changed into the same image
from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of IAUE.
We look into the Scriptures and we see Yahushua. We see ourselves IN HIM, and we believe that even
as he is so also are we in this world (1 John 4:17). However, it requires more than just believing
the Scriptures. That is only the first
step. We must DO what we see in the
mirror of the Word of IAUE. Without
corresponding actions, there is no changing from glory to glory; and THAT is
the whole purpose. If we harden our hearts and refuse to allow what IAUE has
created within our spirit to shine through our heart to our soul, then Messiah
is become of no effect to us. We are
deceiving ourselves if we only believe.
We must DO. We must obey the will
of IAUE; for it is in our obedience to His will that the transformation of our
soul occurs.
It is IAUE who gives
unto every man the breath of life, the spirit.
The spirits of all mankind will return to IAUE whether they animated a
person who was a disciple of Messiah or who rejected him in this life.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the
spirit shall return unto Elohim who gave it.
The new creation was
provided to man through faith in Yahushua Messiah so the life and light of IAUE
supplied to the newly regenerated spirit would reclaim, not the spirit of man,
but the soul of man.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Messiah Yahushua, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.
Christians love to
quote this verse, but pay attention only to the first half of the verse. The condemnation of man is relieved ONLY
insofar as he walks in the spirit and shuns the flesh.
Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the
things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the
Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded
is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind
is enmity against IAUE: for it is not subject to the law of IAUE, neither
indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please IAUE.
Notice that it is that
to which the mind of man attends, that which the mind of man loves and serves,
that either pleases IAUE or sets itself up as the enemy of IAUE.
Romans 8:12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the
flesh, to live after the flesh.
13 For if ye live after the
flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the
body, ye shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of IAUE, they
are the sons of IAUE.
We have spent the
past several weeks discussing “What is Man” in order to recognize that:
- IAUE created the entire universe as a showcase
for His man.
- IAUE created man in His image and after His
likeness. Man was created to be a
soul residing in a body that was animated by a spirit.
- Through the spirit of man, the life and light
of IAUE was infused into man’s soul, conforming man to IAUE’s moral
perfection and purity of character.
- In the fall of man, man’s spirit “died” in that
it was cut off from the light and life of IAUE, leaving only darkness
within Adam. Adam forfeited for the entire human race, aspects of the
image of IAUE and all of man’s capacity to become like IAUE in his nature
and character.
- Messiah was provided by IAUE to redeem unto man
the fullness of the image of IAUE and to restore man’s capacity to
maturing into the likeness of IAUE.
- The NEW CREATURE IN MESSIAH was the method by
which the likeness of IAUE could be restored to man.
- The high calling of man in Messiah Yahushua is for man to submit his soul to the transformation of the Spirit of IAUE.
It is highly
advantageous that we understand how this process works, this changing into the
likeness of IAUE from glory to glory. We spent many weeks discussing this in
our KINGDOM HEART series. (I strongly recommend any reader who has
begun reading this blog from some intermittent point to go back to the
beginning and read the posts in order.
This blog builds upon itself from week to week.)
Briefly, let’s
examine the mechanics of this “transformation of the soul.” Let’s use the classic “target” illustration
to define the relationships of the Spirit, Soul and body.
The Spirit is our “inner
man” and it is what gives life/animation to our body as the core of man. The soul is the intervening faculty between
the Spirit and the Body. It is the soul
that is supposed to be responsive to the life and light of IAUE being
communicated to man from the Spirit, and by an exercise of man’s “mind, will
and emotions” to decide for the body that it shall speak and do in conformity
to the will of IAUE that has been revealed in the inner man/the Spirit. Where is the heart in this imagery?
The heart of man is
the shared wall that both unites and separates the Spirit and the Soul. Imagine one of the walls in your house. On one side of the wall is the living
room. On the other side of the wall is
the bedroom. Whose wall is it? The living room’s or the bedroom’s? It is neither. It is a wall that brings the two together,
but also separates the two rooms. Such
is the Heart of man. It is the
go-between, the pass-through between Spirit and Soul. Let’s look more specifically at the heart,
now.
Going back to the
wall in your house; you very likely have a layer of paint, or wallpaper on
either side of that wall. So too does
the heart. On the side of the heart
facing the spirit, that wallpaper is called the Conscience. On the side facing the soul, it is called the
“Understanding.” Now, from a simplified
and purely mechanical perception, this is what is supposed to happen in our
lives once we have become a new creature in Yahushua Messiah.
Light, life, revelation, etc., has been input
or provided to our newborn Spirit.
- That information is communicated to our
Conscience.
- The Conscience translates that information into
a “language” that we can use and passes it through the heart to our
Understanding.
- Once we understand that which has been revealed
to us from our Spirit, that insight or revelation is subjected to our
Mind, Will and Emotions; which makes a decision on how we will act upon
that which we have come to understand; and THAT is what the body does.
Functionally, however,
there are two major areas of opposition to this process.
One is the hardness
of our heart toward IAUE. Many believers
do NOT want to be disciples of the Master Yahushua. They want to live out their lives believing
they are going to Heaven when they die; and in this life, they refuse to listen
to and refuse to obey what they receive from the Spirit. Over time, this creates blockages, bricks
upon the side of the heart that faces the Spirit. Second is an unrenewed mind
that refuses to recognize the input from the Spirit, that refuses to allow what
is in the mind, already programmed by the flesh, to be altered by the mind of
Messiah. Both produce walls of hardness
that prevents the passage of the light and life of IAUE to the Soul of man.
Resisting the will
of IAUE, over time, will sear the conscience and blind one’s mind to the Truth,
leaving man to his own devices; and we know that the way that seems right to a
man are the ways of death. There are
only two options available to man. Obey
the will of IAUE or die.
Over the next few
weeks, we will be looking at specific ways in which the process of conforming
to the likeness of IAUE can be facilitated in our lives.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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