Born Again! Now What?

It doesn’t take much to be born again: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” God doesn’t expect much of a baby being born. However, if the baby doesn’t begin to grow up, something is wrong.

You grow in the same way your were born: By grace, which is through faith, which comes by hearing, which comes by the rhema of God. You were born again when you yielded to God’s grace to the point of obedience as God’s grace activated God’s faith in you. It started when God spoke His Word (Jesus) into your mind whether through the Bible, another Christian, or some other way, and you listened and received the faith Christ authored in your heart. Then, Christ finished that work as His faith accessed His grace and His grace completed the work and planted the Seed (Christ) in your heart. At that point, your spirit was transformed and joined to the Holy Spirit, and you were immediately seated with Christ in heavenly places in your spirit. You became a member in particular of Christ the body, this miraculous body that works in submission to Christ the head in heaven. A very small part of your soul/mind was also transformed from the carnal mind into the mind of Christ.

From that moment, the battle has been for your mind, your soul. And that battle continues in the same way. As you turn your attention exclusively toward God, He speaks His Word (Christ) into your heart through the Bible or one of the means of divine revelation mentioned in the Bible. Christ authors faith in you, which gives you access to His grace, and His grace says His words or does His acts through you as you yield to His righteousness.

The result is a change or transformation of your mind–not everything at once, but bit by bit. This goes on from glory to glory, going forward toward the day when the fleshly veil will be completely removed and replaced by the glorious completion of Christ in you, the hope of glory. You submit as an individual, but your submission brings you into ever-closer unity with the rest of Christ the body. The day will come when those who have come to maturity (Christ fully formed within) in this body will be set into positions or authority and power with responsibility in the Kingdom–and this will be marked by the redemption of their bodies. Pray that you are found faithful for that first-fruits company. And if they are the first fruits, that means other fruit will follow.

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Enlightenment and Post-Enlightenment

Most of the church is influenced to some extent by a mixture of enlightenment and post-enlightenment mindset that seeps throughout culture.

Enlightenment: The movement that emphasized human reason, the philosophy of Rationalism (actually, what is called reason here is actually rationalization–reason based on assumptions, presuppositions, axioms, and other forms of made-up stuff), science, and individual thought as the primary ways to discover truth, often rejecting traditional religious authority. The trouble with so-called “enlightenment” is that the human mind can’t reason to truth, and rational thought is impossible without truth.

Post-Enlightenment: The thought that developed after the Enlightenment, increasingly questioning both traditional religious authority and whether human reason alone can establish truth.

You may answer, “I’m not asking you to believe my assumptions. I’m asking you to seek Christ yourself. If He is who I say He is, He can reveal Himself to you. And whether you believe me or not, He loves you just as much as He loves me.” That is a much different message from “my worldview is better than yours.” It’s an invitation to encounter the source of truth rather than merely argue about competing assumptions.

An example of the Post Enlightenment mindset is that it may say, “Your experience in divine revelation is just an illusion or hallucination in your mind. In reality, it consists of assumptions, and your assumptions aren’t any better than mine.” The problem with that claim is that it’s an unsupported assertion. It’s a bare claim with no evidence.

Romans 8:7 says, “The mind set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

Rationalism is dependence on the mind that’s blinded by the veil of the flesh. The flesh can be very religious.

FREE Books:
“The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational”
“How God Will Transform You”
“Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies”
“Real Faith & Reason”
“How to Walk in God’s Glory”
“Your Metamorphosis”
“Exposing the Real Creation-Evolution Debate”
https://realreality.org/downloads/

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Christians can yield their minds to godly thinking or ungodly thinking

Christians can yield their minds to godly thinking or ungodly thinking. Ungodly thinking tends to be very religious and self-righteous. In Godly thinking, the root or beginning of reasoning is divine revelation directly coming from the mouth of God and nothing is added to or diminished from that root. God may reveal something about a passage in Scripture, something in the physical realm, or something in the spiritual realm. He may speak through Scripture or any of the means of divine revelation mentioned in Scripture such as prophecy, visions, dreams, words of knowledge, etc. When you seek Him, you find Him.

An ungodly thinker can fake divine revelation and say, “This is what Christ showed me” when they weren’t listening to Christ at all. This is what the false prophet is all about. Another kind of false prophet is the person who interprets Scripture using human assumptions, presuppositions, worldviews, learned doctrines, learned principles, or other forms of made-up stuff.

Christians always interpret Scripture—either by the fleshly mind or by divine revelation. They may claim they are looking at the Bible directly, but they are looking at Scripture through the veil of their deceitful fleshly nature. They are not depending on the voice of Jesus Christ. They are depending on their own assumptions.

It’s very common for these ungodly thinkers to project their problem on you. It’s very common for ungodly thinkers to assume that you are also basing all your reasoning on assumptions and other forms of made-up stuff.

When you spend time in Christ’s presence, seeking His will and understanding and wisdom and not adding your own analysis to it, you can expect that Christ will continually lead, teach, and correct you.

The carnal mind wants to turn that revelation into dogma because the carnal mind wants closure. The carnal mind wants closure because the carnal mind isn’t comfortable with allowing Christ to be our truth, understanding, wisdom, and knowledge. In fact, the carnal mind wants to disconnect from Christ.

Stay connected to Christ in His ever-unfolding revelation.

FREE Books:
“The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational”
“How God Will Transform You”
“Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies”
“Real Faith & Reason”
“How to Walk in God’s Glory”
“Your Metamorphosis”
“Exposing the Real Creation-Evolution Debate”
https://realreality.org/downloads/

FREE: One semester spiritual transformation for children and young people
https://freegospelmusic.org/by-grace-through-faith-homeschool-course/
Adult Version Also Available

Trust Jesus, NOT Human Intellect

The enemy of your soul loves to convince you that revelation is risky. With divine revelation, you might get it wrong. With the alternatives to divine revelation, you are certain to get it wrong. With divine revelation, you should always be teachable and open to correction. With the alternatives to divine revelation, dogmatism is built in. A person receiving divine revelation may get recognition, which might allow fleshly pride to well up even though the Holy Spirit guides Christ’s people away from pride. It still happens. With the alternatives to divine revelation, pride and thirst for power are built in. The alternatives to divine revelation are rationalism or conjuring evil spirits, both of which assure failure.

FREE Books:
“The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational”
“How God Will Transform You”
“Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies”
“Real Faith & Reason”
“How to Walk in God’s Glory”
“Your Metamorphosis”
“Exposing the Real Creation-Evolution Debate”
https://realreality.org/downloads/

FREE: One semester spiritual transformation for children and young people
https://freegospelmusic.org/by-grace-through-faith-homeschool-course/
Adult Version Also Available

Listen to brothers and sisters in Christ. By the Holy Spirit’s testimony, weigh what they say to determine whether it’s coming from the Lord or from human reasoning. Accept correction if it’s from the Lord through a brother or sister. Always remain teachable. Realize the weakness and deceptiveness of the carnal mind, and depend entirely on Christ. Then you will be safe.

FREE Books:
“The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational”
“How God Will Transform You”
“Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies”
“Real Faith & Reason”
“How to Walk in God’s Glory”
“Your Metamorphosis”
“Exposing the Real Creation-Evolution Debate”
https://realreality.org/downloads/

FREE: One semester spiritual transformation for children and young people
https://freegospelmusic.org/by-grace-through-faith-homeschool-course/
Adult Version Also Available

God Wants a Relationship with You

Don’t turn the revelation God gives you into a doctrine in the sense of dogma. God may reveal something to you, and it’s wonderful and exciting. Remember, revelation, knowledge, and understanding are always in part. Your carnal mind wants closure. God wants a relationship with you. Your carnal mind will automatically fill in the blanks, and that can be deceptive. That’s why God warns not to add to His words or diminish any of them. So, receive the revelation with thanksgiving, giving all the glory to God. But guard against pride or a sense that you have it all figured out. God always has greater light and wants to give you more complete revelation. Ask God to correct you and search your heart for errors and false ideas that need to be cleaned away. This is humility. Be humble.

FREE Books:
“The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational”
“How God Will Transform You”
“Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies”
“Real Faith & Reason”
“How to Walk in God’s Glory”
“Your Metamorphosis”
“Exposing the Real Creation-Evolution Debate”
https://realreality.org/downloads/

FREE: One semester spiritual transformation for children and young people

Grace-Faith Homeschool

Adult Version Also Available

THE CARNAL MIND VS CHRIST’S MIND

Is Revelation Risky?

The most important way to receive revelation from God without risk is to spend time in His presence, seek His will and His righteousness, desire Him and His presence, and praise and glorify Him and thank Him for the wisdom and knowledge He gives you.

Acknowledge that any wisdom or knowledge or goodness you have ever had came from Him. Focus on Him and Him alone. It’s so easy and natural to try to mix divine revelation with human intellect—your own and that of others. It’s very important to stay away from ungodly counselors—like most media and educators.

When you have a sense God wants you to do something, do it without question or delay. When you have a sense He wants you to avoid something, avoid it without question or delay.

Ask Jesus your questions. Expect answers. Above all, don’t doubt that He can give you the answers.

FREE Books:
“The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational”
“How God Will Transform You”
“Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies”
“Real Faith & Reason”
“How to Walk in God’s Glory”
“Your Metamorphosis”
“Exposing the Real Creation-Evolution Debate”
https://realreality.org/downloads/

FREE: One semester spiritual transformation for children and young people
https://freegospelmusic.org/by-grace-through-faith-homeschool-course/
Adult Version Also Available

Jesus is alive, and you can know Him in a real way.

Jesus is alive, and you can know Him in a real way. He will lead, teach, and correct you in many ways. He speaks through the Bible, through prophecies, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, dreams, visions, a quiet inner voice in your mind, or through intuition. He will speak to you through your personal senses of spiritual hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting, and smelling.

Though revelation is partial, it’s real. Everything else is artificial and fake. Though you may get it wrong, continue to seek the Lord for unfolding revelation and continual correction. Keep on keeping on and never give up.

Keep in mind that all revelation is in part, but the deceptive and desperately wicked human intellect will try to fill in the blanks. It always gets it wrong. The Bible says that if any Christian thinks he or she understands ANY thing, that Christian doesn’t understand that thing as he or she ought to understand that thing. We don’t worship dogma. To worship dogma is idolatry and worship of human intellect. We don’t worship personalities or saints of the past because that would be idolatry. We don’t worship organizations because that would be idolatry. We worship and follow One Lord Jesus Christ. He is our One Teacher and Lord.

FREE Books:
“The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational”
“How God Will Transform You”
“Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies”
“Real Faith & Reason”
“How to Walk in God’s Glory”
“Your Metamorphosis”
“Exposing the Real Creation-Evolution Debate”
https://realreality.org/downloads/

FREE: One semester spiritual transformation for children and young people
https://freegospelmusic.org/by-grace-through-faith-homeschool-course/
Adult Version Also Available

The problem is not whether God is speaking. The problem is discernment. We need to be able to discern between God’s voice and all the other voices. The difference is where you focus your attention. You need to turn your attention to Christ at all times.

If you ask God for a fish, He won’t give you a serpent, the symbol of a demon. As your vision improves, you can better discern the Body of Christ. You see who you are in Christ. You now identify with Christ in you. You have died to your fleshly nature. That’s not who you are. You see what is and is not part of the body of Christ. You see Christ in your brother and sister and no longer know them after the flesh. You realize you are dealing with the living Lord when you are dealing with a brother or sister. You see how you fit into the body of Christ.

FREE Books:
“The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational”
“How God Will Transform You”
“Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies”
“Real Faith & Reason”
“How to Walk in God’s Glory”
“Your Metamorphosis”
“Exposing the Real Creation-Evolution Debate”
https://realreality.org/downloads/

FREE: One semester spiritual transformation for children and young people
https://freegospelmusic.org/by-grace-through-faith-homeschool-course/
Adult Version Also Available

How God Speaks to Those Who Refuse to Acknowledge Him or Thank Him

How does God speak to those who refuse to acknowledge Him or thank Him?

He speaks into their minds just as He speaks into your mind, but there’s a big difference if they refuse to acknowledge and thank Him. Demons also speak into their minds just as they speak into every mind. We’re all aware of their voices, but we don’t all listen to them and follow their direction. In fact, an ungodly person is ungodly because they are listening to demons and demons are forming their worldviews.

Ungodly persons who desire truth will eventually recognize God Who is speaking to them. Those who hate truth and righteousness will persist in taking the credit for themselves for any wisdom and knowledge God gives them. They will not give God the glory. They won’t thank Him. Then, they will slowly lose the distinction between God’s voice, their own self-talk, or even the voices of demons.

At some point, they can no longer tell the difference between reality and make-believe. They don’t know right from wrong. Even now, you hear them declaring that good is evil and evil is good. Just look at the culture. It’s all around us.

FREE Books:
“The Nuts and Bolts of Being Rational”
“How God Will Transform You”
“Encyclopedia of Logical Fallacies”
“Real Faith & Reason”
“How to Walk in God’s Glory”
“Your Metamorphosis”
“Exposing the Real Creation-Evolution Debate”
https://realreality.org/downloads/

FREE: One semester spiritual transformation for children and young people
https://freegospelmusic.org/by-grace-through-faith-homeschool-course/
Adult Version Also Available