Spirit, Soul and Body Part 5

Inside Out Pray in tongues when you study G.o.d's Word. As you do, you'll release the mind of Christ into your soulish realm through revelation knowledge. I'm not advocating speaking in tongues and then just accepting whatever comes to mind as being from G.o.d. No, it should line up with the Word. G.o.d will supernatu-rally reveal things to you through His Word as a result of praying in tongues.

Revelation knowledge comes by the Holy Spirit inside your born-again spirit bearing witness in your soul with a truth from G.o.d's Word. You might be reading or listening to Scripture when suddenly, it comes alive inside. That's revelation!

Simeon recognized the Christ Child by revelation knowledge. "And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus...Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed G.o.d" (Luke 2:26-28). No human could have told him these things. G.o.d revealed it to Simeon through his spirit.

Revelation knowledge comes from the inside out, not the outside in. You may be reading the Word, studying it, looking things up in the Greek, checking cross-references, and reading or listening to someone else's opinion of what the Word says. But then, all of a sudden, the mind of Christ in your born-again spirit just reaches up from inside and grabs that truth shouting, "Yes! This one's true. This one is for you!" That's revelation knowledge.

Believe to Interpret When you pray in tongues, you can believe G.o.d for interpretation. "Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret" (1 Cor. 14:13). I admit that the context of this verse primarily addresses the need for interpretation of a publicly given tongue in a church service, but you can believe G.o.d for interpretation when you're praying in the spirit privately as well.

Praying in tongues benefits you whether you believe for in-terpretation or not. It relieves stress and releases the peace of G.o.d into your soul and body. "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people...This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing" (Is. 28:11-12). It builds you up and promotes spiritual growth (1 Cor. 14:4). Since you are praying from the mind of Christ, why wouldn't you want to interpret?

I started interpreting my speaking in tongues a long time ago. When I first fell in love with the Lord, I went through an intense time of excitement, anointing, and stirring within, but my mind couldn't comprehend it. Then in Vietnam, 1 began seeing little glimmers of truth while studying the Bible. After returning home and marrying Jamie in October 1972,1 really started poring over the Word. Scriptures began coming alive to me, and my spirit would rejoice. I'd read certain pa.s.sages, and the spirit inside me just wanted to stand up and shout! However, since this was contrary to the religious way I'd been taught, I really struggled with it.

In my heart, I determined to break through. For an extended season of time, I spent six to ten hours a day writing scriptures out longhand on my legal pad. Along the way, I stopped and meditated on each individual word. Then I locked myself in the closet of our little apartment in Garland, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), to pray in tongues over these scriptures for an hour or two. My spirit already knew these truths, but as I prayed in tongues and asked G.o.d to interpret them to my mind so 1 could understand them, revelation came.

Understanding came as I wrote these scriptures out, meditated, prayed in tongues over them, and received interpretation. In fact, this revelation of spirit, soul, and body was one of the first things He showed me. Since my thinking had been so screwed up from religion and wrong teaching, it actually took a couple of months before I started making the connections. Then all of a sudden, in what seemed like one week's time, G.o.d started putting some of this together for me. I understood about eternal redemption and how G.o.d could love me. These truths exploded within and became reality to me. After about a week of this, the revelation was coming so fast and furious that I literally had to ask G.o.d to slow it down. I wanted to comprehend and retain it all without missing a single thing. One of the ways this happened was I prayed for interpretation!

Disaster or Safety?

Now, just because you pray in tongues and ask G.o.d for interpretation doesn't mean you should accept any and every thought that comes to your mind as being from G.o.d. That's a recipe for disaster! You must judge every thought by the Word of G.o.d. The Spirit and the Word always agree (1 John 5:7). They never disagree because G.o.d's Word never contradicts spiritual truth. Whether you are praying in tongues and believing for interpretation or not, whenever thoughts that are contrary to the Word flash across your mind, you should immediately conclude "That's not G.o.d!"

Paul rebuked the Corinthians for using the gifts of the Holy Spirit carnally. His comments in 1 Corinthians 12, 13, and 14 were corrections regarding the proper use of the gifts, especially speaking in tongues. Therefore, just because you are praying in tongues, it doesn't guarantee that they are completely pure and fully inspired by the Holy Spirit. Your flesh could be a factor.

However, if you stay within these biblical boundaries, you'll be able to safely receive much revelation from the Lord. As you pray in tongues and ask for interpretation, thoughts will come, and all of a sudden you'll say, "I've never seen that before!" Then, as you verify it in more than just one obscure place in the Bible, it'll become an obvious truth to you.

Basically, you need to know G.o.d's Word to be able to do this. This may not be the way an immature Christian should operate. I was spending six to ten hours a day studying the Scriptures and then one or two hours praying in tongues for revelation. I don't think you ought to spend one hour studying the Word and then many hours praying in tongues. It ought to be the opposite-many hours in the Word. Through this, G.o.d has revealed many things to me!

These truths on spirit, soul, and body came through G.o.d's Word. Everything I share, I share from Scripture. But the reason these verses and pa.s.sages have come alive and impacted my life in ways they might not have for you is because I mixed my Scripture meditation with praying in tongues.

For additional information, my teaching ent.i.tled "Revelation Knowledge" goes much further in depth on this topic. I elaborate on many things that I've only been able to touch on here, including how to interpret, checks and balances, etc. I encourage you to get a copy!

Meditating G.o.d's Word, speaking in tongues, and receiving interpretation is the fast track to single-mindedness and manifestation!

Chapter 15.

Empowerment Required G.o.d has imparted perfect wisdom and complete revelation into your born-again spirit. "Wisdom is the princ.i.p.al thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding" (Prov. 4:7). Wisdom and understanding are keys that will unlock anything else in life you need. Therefore, draw on that wisdom and receive understanding so the floodgates of your soul will open up to allow G.o.d's truths already in your spirit to manifest in the physical realm. Yes, you can live a fruitful and ful-filled Christian life!

Without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, you won't be able to fully release all of these wonderful realities already present in your born-again spirit. That's why the baptism in the Holy Spirit is so important!

Jesus needed the baptism in the Holy Spirit! He was born as G.o.d in His spirit and as man in His soul and body. He was complete in His spirit while on the earth in His physical body. However, Jesus didn't do any miracles until He received the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21-22, 4:1,14 & thereafter).

Since the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One, they don't operate independent of each other. The Hoy Spirit is the One who releases the wisdom and revelation of G.o.d. He comforts, teaches, and reminds. "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" (John 14:26). He guides into all truth, listens, speaks, shows things to come, glorifies Jesus, receives of Him, and shows it by revelation to you! "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you" (John 16:12-14). Apart from the Holy Spirit, you won't have access to all that G.o.d has placed within you!

Receive His Spirit & Pray In Tongues!

When you receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the ability to pray in tongues comes with it. As you pray in the Spirit, you draw on and release the wisdom that's in the born-again part of you. It's not the only way, but it's certainly one of the primary ways. Therefore, it's essential that you receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit!

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a second, separate experience from salvation. You receive an enduement of power by the Holy Ghost and the gift of speaking in tongues, which will help you operate this power. When you pray in tongues, you build yourself up, but it's much more than just an emotional lift. It helps you release the wisdom of G.o.d within you. Even if there were no other results (which there are), that would certainly be enough! Speaking in tongues produces tremendous spiritual benefits!

Some groups overemphasize speaking in tongues when you first receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit and underemphasize the benefits to your Christian life thereafter. Due to this, many who have received the baptism in the Holy Spirit only spoke in tongues once or twice to prove they had it. However, they didn't know there were other benefits, so they haven't really used the gift since. They also have been missing out on the tremendous benefits speaking in tongues brings to their daily lives.

I expound much more from G.o.d's Word on these topics in my messages ent.i.tled "What Is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit" and "Speaking in Tongues" (collectively known as The Holy Spirit teaching). If you aren't baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues, I encourage you to get this teaching because you're really missing out. In fact, you're probably frustrated and powerless in your Christian life. Receiving the Holy Spirit will help you experience His love more than ever before and make His power available to you. Besides, the Lord Jesus Himself commanded, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John 20:22). Will you obey?

If you are reading this book and haven't yet received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, you need to! Either go to someone who already has, or directly seek the Lord in prayer about it. I encourage you to call our Helpline because someone will be happy to explain and pray with you to receive. We see many, many people baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues over the phone!

As you speak in tongues, your spirit prays, and the perfect mind of Christ releases the hidden wisdom of G.o.d. Then, ask and believe for interpretation (1 Cor. 14:13). Let G.o.d give you understanding so that revelation knowledge of the mysteries you are speaking in the spirit can come out into your physical mind. That's when you'll see His power manifest!

Chapter 16.

Spirit vs. Flesh Once you're born again, the rest of the Christian life is learning to walk in the spirit. It's letting what G.o.d has done through the new birth dominate you more than your physical, emotional realm. That's really how simple the Christian life is!

It may be simple, but it's not easy! One of the hardest things you'll ever do is learn how to turn from your natural self-rule and let who you are in Christ dominate instead. Why is it so difficult? You must perceive your spirit by faith in G.o.d's Word because you can't see or feel it. Jesus' words are spirit and life (John 6:63). When you look into G.o.d's Word, you're looking into a spiritual mirror (James 1:23-25). The only way to really know what is true about who you are in the spirit is by believing G.o.d's Word. You must shift from walking by sight (sense knowledge) to walking by faith (revelation knowledge) (2 Cor. 5:7). All you have to do is start basing your thoughts, actions, and ident.i.ty on who you are in Christ.

As long as your flesh is contrary to your spirit, you'll have conflict. "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the l.u.s.t of the flesh. For the flesh l.u.s.teth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law" (Gal. 5:16-18). "Contrary" means they're "opposed, enemies, adversaries." This conflict between spirit and flesh is your true spiritual warfare!

Each and every day of your life, the battle lies in whether you'll be dominated by your flesh or your spirit. Your flesh gravitates toward what it can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel. Therefore, it leans toward the influence of Satan and his kingdom, which operates in the physical realm. The devil is flesh-oriented, working through carnal, natural things. He tempts you to not believe G.o.d by things you can see and feel. On the other hand, the Lord operates in the spirit realm, primarily through His Word. Due to the nature of this intense, continual, inner conflict, you can't just do what you want to do. Either your spirit will dominate you or your flesh will instead!

You cannot please G.o.d in your flesh. "So then they that are in the flesh cannot please G.o.d" (Rom. 8:8). It's not just hard-it's impossible. This means you must identify the flesh and deal with it!

Not "Sinful Nature"

Living after the flesh brings all forms of death. "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 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" (Rom. 8:12-13). This not only means ultimate physical death (when your spirit and soul separate from your body) but includes everything that leads up to it. "For the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23). Biblically speaking, any result of sin is a form of death. Depression, discouragement, anger, bitterness, fear, worry, sickness, poverty, loneliness, etc. are all death. If you live after the flesh, you'll-be sick, impoverished, depressed, angry, etc.-die. Your flesh is Satan's inroad to bring death into your life.

As a born-again believer, your flesh is made up of your soulish and physical realms. However, before you were saved, it also included your fallen human spirit.

My study of the New International Version of the Bible (NIV) has shown me that it almost always subst.i.tutes the phrase "sinful nature" for what the King James Version (KJV) translates "flesh." This interpretation may work to a certain degree, but I've found it misleading in many places. For instance, in Romans, the flesh basically refers to either someone who isn't born again or a born-again believer who isn't living under the control of the Holy Spirit. The phrase "sinful nature" does not accurately convey this truth.

Newness of Life As Paul taught how G.o.d now deals with people based on His grace, not their performance, this raised the question in Romans 6:1. "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" The answer, of course, is, "G.o.d forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Rom. 6:2). Your spirit is the part of you that's dead to sin. Your body and soul can still do sinful things, but the born-again part of you cannot.

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" (Rom. 6:3). This is talking about being baptized into the body of Christ with the Holy Spirit being the baptizer-not water baptism (1 Cor. 12:13).

There are different baptizers and different elements you're baptized into. After professing faith in Christ, you should follow the Lord and be physically dunked under water as a symbol of what took place at salvation. Also, Jesus will baptize you in the Holy Spirit. But Romans 6:3 is referring to how, when you're born again, you are placed in Christ and He in you. You receive the Spirit of Christ and He receives you. When this baptism took place, you were baptized into His death.

Notice how being baptized into His death is automatic, but walking in newness of life isn't. "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4, emphasis mine). Manifesting newness of life is something that should happen.

But it depends on how you renew your mind. "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this"

(Rom. 6:5-6). Your spirit died to sin, cannot sin, and has no desire for sin, but this doesn't automatically mean that your soul and body will reflect that change. Your walking in resurrection life depends upon you "knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth, we should not serve sin" (Rom. 6:6).

"Old man" refers to the spirit you had prior to salvation. It's your spirit realm that was dead in trespa.s.ses and sins (Eph. 2:1). Your old man no longer exists because it's been crucified, has died, and was buried with Christ. The way some people teach the Scriptures would lead you to believe you have up to four spirits all living somewhere inside you at once (old spirit, new spirit, Spirit of Christ, and Holy Spirit). That's worse than being schizophrenic-it's multiple personalities! G.o.d's Word doesn't teach that!

Most Christians today believe they have an old nature and a new nature. That's wrong because your old man died, and your new man is now who you are in the spirit. I'm not going to verify this any further here because my focus is showing you how to overcome the flesh.

Spooked!

The NIV translates "flesh" as your old "sinful nature." That's just too much interpretation! At the new birth, your old nature is crucified, dead, and gone. In its place, G.o.d gives you a brand-new spirit, and you become a new creature. That spirit is so united with Christ that there is actually no difference between your born-again spirit and the Spirit of Christ, which was sent into your heart. You literally became one with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). Your born-again spirit is identical to Jesus. The two of you have become one, making a brand-new person. Then, your spirit was sealed, surrounded, and encased by the Holy Spirit!

People embrace this concept of having an old nature that drives them to sin because it logically explains their continued propensity for it. But Romans 6:6 explains what you need to know to be free. Your old man was crucified with Him. Then, the body of sin has to be destroyed!

When you die physically, you leave a body behind. "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26). Physical death occurs when your spirit leaves your body. It takes a period of time for your body to begin deteriorating and decaying. Even though your spirit is gone, your physical body can look exactly the same as it did during life for a brief period of time.

Many years ago, my friend worked in the morgue on the 13th floor of Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas. One time, he pulled a man out on a slab who was already dead and in there for an autopsy. When my friend turned around to do something, this guy sat up with his mouth open wide and arms dangling at his side. Completely spooked, my friend almost jumped right out the window!

Running down the hall, he dragged somebody in to check this man's vital signs. Dead! After pushing the corpse back down, the medical professional explained, "Sometimes when a person has just died, there will still be electrical impulses in their body. Their muscles contract, and they can sit up like that, but he's not alive." The body still had some of life's mannerisms, but life itself had departed.

One Nature, Two Minds When you were born again, your old sin nature left behind a body. That's why you still feel a drawing toward sin even though you're dead to it. Your old man was crucified, has died, and now is gone, but its effects are still being felt through your physical body and unrenewed mind.

Your natural mind was programmed to act like the child of the devil that you were before receiving the Lord (Eph. 2:1-2). You were taught how to be selfish, angry, l.u.s.tful, critical, greedy, bitter, and to do all the other sins that you did. But now that you're born again, your heavenly Father has adopted you into His family and given you a brand-new, righteous nature. However, your old man left behind a body. This means your physical mind will continue functioning like a computer under its prior programming until you renew it to G.o.d's Word!

You have one nature but two minds. If you think you have both the old nature and the new one inside, you're going to think you are two different people at once. That's schizophrenic! You only have one nature-the new one. But you do have two different minds-the unrenewed mind (flesh) and the mind of Christ (spirit).

The key is to reprogram your physical mind to agree with your spiritual mind. Your spirit is always for G.o.d, always thinks on who you are in Christ, always considers what you have in the Lord, and always believes what you can do in Him. As you renew your natural mind to think like your spirit, you'll experience the life and power of G.o.d within you.

Simple, But Not Easy It's that simple, but not that easy. If you tapped into the spirit realm as a brand-new believer, only listened to who you are in Christ, and let the Holy Spirit instruct you without any negative outside influence (human, religious, or demonic), you would naturally start radiating and manifesting the life of G.o.d in your thoughts and actions. However, life's just not that way. You've been programmed wrong and need reprogramming. The enemy lies to you, and friends, family, and religious people say, "Oh no, you don't have the nature of G.o.d! You're just an old sinner saved by grace. You can't do these things!" These voices constantly challenge you not to believe what your spirit is saying. Due to this, you manifest the life of G.o.d from your spirit only to varying degrees, depending on how well you renew your mind.

Your physical mind decides whether you'll be dominated by your spirit or your flesh. If you don't renew it with G.o.d's Word, your natural mind will automatically gravitate toward what it can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel. You must get into G.o.d's Word and mix it with faith in order to be led by your spirit. "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the l.u.s.t of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).

b.u.t.toning my shirt was a problem for me until I repro-grammed my mind. I'm not sure why, but when I was a kid, I had a hard time b.u.t.toning my shirt. Every time I started, I'd get it wrong. When I got down to the bottom, I'd realize I b.u.t.toned it incorrectly and had to redo it. Yet today, I have no problem b.u.t.toning my shirt. I wear b.u.t.toned shirts often and b.u.t.ton them correctly the first time without even thinking about it. b.u.t.toning my shirt has become "second nature."

You can mistake something that comes so naturally to you today as your "nature," when in reality, it's something you learned. The reason you still do some of the things you do is because you haven't renewed your mind. Your old sin nature isn't in there forcing you to do things like before you were born again. You've just acted on these negative things and had them reinforced by the carnal world around you so often that they've become established patterns of thinking and acting. If you're born again, you're not evil inside! You just need to reprogram your mind to G.o.d's ways of thinking and acting!

Jesus has set you free! There's no sinful nature inside of you that you're warring against. That old man is dead and gone. The only reason you aren't manifesting your freedom in every area of life is because you're ignorant of it. You haven't renewed your mind, and your flesh still dominates you in different ways. Personally, I've experienced a tremendous amount of victory, but I'm still in the process of renewing my mind just like anybody else!

Spirit = spirit The "flesh" is not really describing a "sinful nature" after you've been born again. Rather, it more accurately refers to every thought, emotion, desire, and part of you that isn't under the control of your brand-new righteous spirit.

Technically speaking, what's true of the Holy Spirit is also true of your born-again spirit because they are one. "But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (1 Cor. 6:17). There aren't capital letters in the Greek. Translators decided from the context of a pa.s.sage whether to render it "Spirit" or "spirit." Either way- Holy Spirit or born-again spirit-the same point is made. "Walk in the Spirit [spirit], and ye shall not fulfil the l.u.s.t of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16, brackets mine).

The thoughts, desires, patterns, and habits that were established in you through the old sinful nature will begin to diminish as you choose to be dominated by your spirit instead. You don't have to continue in bondage to l.u.s.t, alcohol, hatred, drugs, strife, gossip, depression, sickness, discouragement, disease, poverty, etc. You can break all of those things off because in your spirit, you're already free. It's just a matter of renewing your mind and beginning to see who you are in Christ manifest. As that happens, you won't fulfill the l.u.s.t of the flesh. Awesome!

Chapter 17.

The Impossible Life "For that which I do I allow not: for what L 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" (Rom. 7:15-18, emphasis mine). Paul knew that the Spirit of Christ indwelt his born-again spirit. Therefore, he couldn't be technically correct and say "In me...dwelleth no good thing" without the clarifying statement "(That is, in my flesh,)."

Paul acknowledged his born-again spirit, but declared, "There is no good thing in my flesh-my unrenewed mind and physical body, all the external parts of me functioning independent from Christ. There's nothing good about that! I'm going to have to lay this flesh down and receive a new body and a new soul, which are completely renewed and think exactly like G.o.d."

"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 G.o.d after the inward man: But 1 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" (Rom. 7:18-23).

Sounds a lot like what he wrote in Galatians 5:17, "For the flesh l.u.s.teth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Romans 7:24 summarizes Paul's dismal dilemma, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

My a.s.sociate, Don Krow, has an excellent message from this pa.s.sage ent.i.tled "USDA Choice Flesh." He goes into much more detail than I will here. Don preached it at a Ministers' Conference and literally changed people's entire att.i.tude toward what these scriptures are really communicating. I encourage you to get ahold of it!