Grace tidings: Beware of your thoughts

What we believe is a result of our thinking. If we think wrong, we will believe wrong.

If our believing is wrong, our confession will be wrong. In other words, what we say will be wrong. Everything hinges on our thinking.

Thank God, His Word has been given to us to straighten out our thinking hence it has to be our daily bread.

Jesus said in Mark 11:23, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith “

Ordinarily, we talk a lot about the believing part, but we do not talk too much about the saying part. Of course, we will not be able to make the right confession until our thinking is right. Our thinking must be in line with the Word of God, because we cannot believe beyond the actual knowledge we have of the Word of God.

People who have been involved in the past with metaphysical, mind-science religions often get this teaching about right and wrong thinking confused with those religious teachings, because they still think that man is just a mental and a physical being. But man is far more than that: He is also a spiritual being.

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Advocates of metaphysics have taught so much about the mind that some believers are almost afraid to say a word about it yet the Bible has a great deal to say about the mind.

For example, the Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding [mind]” (Prov. 3:5). The Bible says,

“Casting down imaginations [reasonings], and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought [thinking] to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).

The Bible also says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2).

We renew our minds by studying the Word of God. The Bible tells us that we have “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16). The only way we can apply the mind of Christ is by studying His Word, believe it in our heart, and act upon it.

The Word of God also teaches us to think on whatever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, or whatever has virtue or praise (Phil. 4:8). This shows that the Word of God does have much to say about the mind.

However, we need to realize that thoughts can come into our minds from two different sources. In other words, the thoughts that come into our minds do not always originate in our minds.

The devil puts many thoughts into our minds from outside ourselves. That is one source. Then, of course, thoughts from God come from within us. They come through our spirits into our minds.

As you stay in close fellowship with the Lord through prayer, meditation, and study of His Word, you will learn to distinguish the source of your thoughts.

Naturally, evil thoughts are from the devil. God is love, and love thinks no evil, hears no evil, and sees no evil. Those kinds of thoughts, come from God. I have found that Scriptures referring to the mind confuse many people. However, in Scriptures referring to believing, many think they do believe. They do believe in their minds, but not in their hearts.

Paul says in Romans 10:9, “... if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.... “ This does not refer to confession of sin, nor is it a confession of weakness. Instead, it is a confession of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This passage continues, “... and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. “

This is not a negative confession; it is a positive confession. In fact, Christianity is called “the Great Confession.” Hebrews 3:1 says that we should consider the Apostle and High Priest of our “confession”.

At this point, it would be helpful for us to define the word “confession.” First, it is affirming something we believe. Second, it is testifying to something we know. Third, it is witnessing to a truth that we have embraced.

It is necessary that we do as Hebrews 4:14 admonishes, and “... hold fast our confession”. It is also necessary that there be a continual confession of redemption from Satan’s dominion and a confession of the fact that he no longer rules us with condemnation, fear, or disease. We are to “hold fast” to our confession because our confession is Satan’s defeat. Jesus defeated the devil two thousand years ago. But what Jesus did for us legally must become a vital, living reality in our lives. Some of us are not experiencing that reality.

The experiential side of redemption is the vital side. We never shall thoroughly understand the Word of God until we can clearly see the two different sides of our redemption, the legal side and the experiential side.

An example of the legal side of redemption is this: We often pray, “God save this man,” or “God, heal that woman.” However, in the mind of God, He has already healed these people and saved them. In other words, God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Jesus doesn’t have to die again to save anybody. He already died once, didn’t He? He doesn’t need to shed His blood anymore.

Legally, God has already done everything He needs to do to provide our redemption. If one just deals with the legal side of redemption and preaches it exclusively, people will not actually experience anything in their lives. And that is one of the biggest problems with some of our churches. What is being preached is legally true, but the believers have become cold, dead, and formal because they have heard just one side of redemption preached, the legal side and so redemption hasn’t become a living reality in their lives.

If, on the other hand, only the vital side of redemption is preached, the experiential side, fanaticism, and extremism result. Also, if a minister preaches only the experiential side of redemption, some people will seek for experiences apart from the Word of God. A balance must be achieved between the two so that one can enjoy everything God has legally provided in redemption. That which the Lord has legally purchased, wrought, and provided for us becomes ours, experientially, when we believe the Word of God in our heart and confess with our mouths that it is true and that it is ours.

Jesus did forgive sins, but we have more than forgiveness of sins in redemption, we are made “new creatures”. Redemption did not become available to us until after Jesus was crucified, was raised from the dead, and was seated at the right hand of the Father. In other words, the New Covenant was not in force until the High Priesthood of the New Covenant (or New Testament) was in effect.

Jesus is the High Priest of the New Testament. It is difficult for some people to understand this, because they think redemption was in force while Jesus was here on earth. But redemption was not yet in force. Some men on earth did have their sins forgiven then, but under the New Covenant we have much more than just forgiveness of sins. We have the New Birth, and we have become new creatures in Christ Jesus. We need to live in this reality.