Let’s look at how God’s Word, His path for us, and the result of these things working in our lives are depicted through Hebraic pictures.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? [the Greek for “infidel” is same word as the first “unbeliever”]
For me this is a very visceral demonstration of what belief vs. unbelief is like, like how light and dark can never overlap. Someone who believes has nothing in common with someone who doesn’t believe, there is no common ground, there is no compromise between them, complete separation.
And I believe that is true without a doubt, but let’s bring in more verses.
Romans 8:5-8
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.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
It’s simple enough to think about the decisions our physical body wants to make vs. the decisions the Holy Spirit would make. And again, these are completely separate, life and death. And notice, this is giving you a strong direction on the way you live your life. You are looking after the things of the Spirit and not doing the things that your flesh wants.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
This gives us another vivid image, not only do we not look after the flesh, we take what the flesh wants and we crucify it. The punishment of crucifixion is truly an unmerciful way to punish someone designed to maximize their suffering. And this is the image we can see how the Bible wants you to treat what the flesh wants.
Without mercy put it down, you’re not giving it just a little bit to keep it in check but completely ridding yourself of it. We’re being told to go for complete and total victory, like a war to the death.
2 Timothy 2:2-3
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life;
that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
You have a mission. You have a purpose in Jesus (יהושוע). We are being instructed to separate ourselves from the way the people of this world function, to separate ourselves from the way our physical bodies function. And do what?
The things of the Holy Spirit. What are those things?
Minding the Things of the Holy Spirit
What does the Holy Spirit do for us? Maybe that will help us see what we can do to mind Him.
John 14:26
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things,
and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
For context, this is Jesus (יהושוע) speaking, so we know that the Holy Spirit is going to lead us into all things that Jesus (יהושוע) told us.
John 12:49-50
For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
So Jesus is speaking all the things that the Father told Him to say, which is what the Holy Spirit is leading us in. Does the Old Testament say this?
Deuteronomy 18:18-19 (God speaking):
I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth;
and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
So let me just summarize our chain of instructions so far:
- We are to mind the things of the Spirit (and not the flesh).
- The Holy Spirit brings us into remembrance of all things that Jesus (יהושוע) said.
- Jesus (יהושוע) only said what the Father commanded Him, not of Himself.
Jesus (יהושוע) is speaking the Word of the Father. Just to emphasize how clear this relationship is between what the Father said and what Jesus (יהושוע) said let’s look at the response to this question from Phillip the disciple.
John 14:8-9
Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?
he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
Jesus (יהושוע) is expecting His disciples who have been with Him to know the Father through Him. That is very direct, we aren’t talking about Jesus (יהושוע) just saying some of the Father’s things, He’s saying that you will understand the Father through knowing Him.
John 1:1-4, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
…
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Jesus (יהושוע) is the Word of the Father that means Jesus (יהושוע) is your Bible.
Jesus (יהושוע) is Your Bible, Including the Old Testament
So if you track this back to “minding the things of the Spirit” what you are supposed to do, is mind your Bible. You are supposed to do your Bible, to not do the things your flesh wants you to do but to do the things your Bible tells you to do.
This will separate you from every non-believer, like light is separated from darkness. You can talk to them, but you aren’t looking to join them, but for them to join you in the light. You are a soldier in the spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:10-13), you are not to get entangled in the affairs of this world but to try to please God.
James 4:4
Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?
whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Dead Works are the Opposite of Living Works
In my experience with myself and others, this is the hardest part to understand, not because it’s technically challenging but because it seems impossible. I will just encourage you to have faith in God, and not in yourself. He promises that you can succeed by faith in Him, not by your own discipline, skills or will power.
Isaiah 41:10
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Jesus (יהושוע) is the right hand of God, how beautiful is that?
I think the living works are the easiest to see, we know them, you can find them very easily in your Bible. Lots of beautiful living works to do with full confidence that you are pleasing God.
Prayer, studying our Bible, learning doctrine, doing the instructions (or commandments), teaching others, keeping the appointed times, evangelizing, helping others, disciplining ourselves, fasting, learning biblical Hebrew or Greek, being an example of faith to others, having mercy, judging justly, ministering to others, especially the poor, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widows. Trying to better implement the profound lessons in forgiveness, not having respect of persons, fleeing from self-righteousness and avoiding puffing up with knowledge. And everything else that has genuine merit for the kingdom of God.
There’s many lifetimes of work in that list above, of things that are sure to please God. But in my experience, people want to spend a lot of time, money and energy on other things. Or sometimes, if they are very disciplined, just a little bit, here and there.
James 1:14-17
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Do not err, my beloved brethren.
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
I can personally attest to the fact that our enemy is extremely dangerous and crafty, maybe it doesn’t feel like a war but it is. You can get tricked and deceived by your sin exceptionally easily.
Remember, the light does not mix with the darkness at all. Think about “that thing” that you feel like you would struggle to give up, of course God allows you to do *that thing*… Right? Or if you know, it’s not good, it’s not a big deal and He’ll definitely have mercy on you.
Take a step back for a minute, God has given you the power to decide what you want. There’s good choices and bad choices but it is your choice. Now remember all the amazing promises of God, that God is good and He loves you and He wants the best for you.
Now ask yourself, *that thing* that you want to have in your life, is that desire coming from the Holy Spirit?
Paul describes it in just amazing detail. It’s a challenging read, but I encourage you to take your time with it. Remember, we learned that we will not obey the desires or the actions of the flesh but the Spirit.
Romans 7:10-25
And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid.
But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
If it was tough for Paul to fight against sin, it seems certain to be a difficult battle for you and me. But God can teach us to battle, and give us the victory. Trust Him, and not what you feel. He told us ahead of time, we just have to trust and walk in that trust.
Psalms 144:1-2
[To David]. Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:
My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
You can do it, not through your will power, nor through your intelligence or discipline, or because you have skills or knowledge, but because God said He would give it to you.
Matthew 7:7-11
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
God Gives the Increase
He’s teaching us to live spiritually. I fought this battle for a long time, I had these worldly things in my life, things that I genuinely thought I needed to do. How could I not? I was weak, and sick, I couldn’t possibly be expected to give all this up. I didn’t know anyone who wrestled with this in the way that I was (and I knew some serious Bible scholars and doers, even at that time).
But I just kept bumping into the verses about dedicating yourself to God every month or so. And when I did I would think about how I was spending all this time on things that were not my Bible, and that were not in my Bible (at least not positively) and I couldn’t let it go. Was I really serving God the best I could when I was losing all this time and energy for other activities?
Would I not be better off without them?
And it got to the point where I had basically accepted that it was obvious I would be better off without them, but that I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t cut the last bits of my worldly life away. So I didn’t think about it and just assumed everything would be fine.
Until one day, I was thinking about how I should have something up on my door because of this verse.
Deuteronomy 6:6,9
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
And I wanted to do it, so I did. Nothing fancy, I literally just wrote the below verse on a couple index cards and put one on each doorpost.
Matthew 22:36-37
Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
And then I kept walking by that door and reading it. Every time I got some food, I had my lacking dedication staring me right in the face. I didn’t last 24 hours before I had literally and metaphorically thrown every last bit of worldliness I could find into the trash.
And I mentally prepared myself to suffer. I had tried things like this before, permanently giving up video games had resulted in months of great difficulty (but it was successful), trying to read much more diligently had similar struggles.
But I just said to myself, I’ll just do my best and if my life is miserable so be it, I’ll just accept being miserable. And I waited, and it never happened. It was a little weird at first having so much time and just a Bible as I was (and still am) often confined to bed. But this time it was completely different, I never struggled at all, I simply felt joy and peace. Deep, deep joy and peace.
And from that day forward it has never stopped. I’ve dealt with serious situations since then, my health has improved but it is still severely limiting. I’ve dealt with rather intense circumstances with an inexplicable calm and fortitude.
Phillipians 4:6-7
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
And I had thought that I knew my Bible well before this but I just started understanding it and enjoying my time in it in a completely new and profound way. Since that day I learned Hebrew from scratch, became fluent in Spanish, started on Greek and I enjoy analyzing the grammar to get every bit that I can from my Bible. None of this was possible before.
So that is my testimony to you, you don’t need any worldliness. None. Zero. I don’t know how it will be for you giving it up, but it was the best decision I have ever made. And it was given to me just like the Bible says, it was not in my own power to do this.
Slavery to Sin
The world is not your friend, these things we did to cover our pain, to get by, that was then, now we have the opportunity to love God and leave these things behind. To actually be free to serve God.
Don’t trust yourself, just trust God. He said He will give it to you. He really does love you and though it might seem impossible, He’s God, He can do it and He will set you free.
John 8:34-36
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil,
to give you an expected end.
I pray for all of you fighting this battle, may God grant you the victory. I pray passionately for more strong brothers and sisters, we, the elect of God, existing and future need you at your best.
That was one of the main thoughts that helped in the times of great temptation, on the days when my desires were so strong that I felt like I didn’t even care if I died, and I would just go back to the worldliness.
But I had a person in my life who I loved very dearly, who I was teaching what the Bible really said. And I thought to myself, well maybe I don’t care any more about what happens to me, but what will happen to her? I don’t think she’ll make it without me.
How many people can you bless if God grants you the victory?
My now-wife is asleep in bed across the room as I write this, with tears in my eyes. I know how hard it can be, but it does matter. God is good. God is faithful. You can trust Him.
Joel 2:12-14a
Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God:
for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him;
You don’t have to give God more than you have, but with what you have, don’t hold back. He’s a God of the poor.
Mark 12:41-44
And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
In whatever way you are poor, be it willpower, or time, or energy or money, it’s ok, you will succeed based on Him and not yourself.
1 Corinthians 4:20
For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
Romans 15:13
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Amen.