The Real You

In the most recent message given to the Body by our heavenly Father, we learned of the circumcision of Christ. This was taught through our Apostle Mary from the scripture:

Colossians 2:11 KJV

In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

We also learned . . .

1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJV

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole SPIRIT and SOUL and BODY be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Not only was our soul and spirit cleansed, but our bodies were sanctified as well. The body was not a forever-present tempter for the soul. The body is no more evil than the soul and spirit. The operation of salvation is very thorough. Its cleansing is so we remain holy, meaning sinless without blame until the return of Christ. This also means, the sinless life is both possible and expected of saints.

The downfall is that saints do not always achieve this even though salvation made it possible, through the circumcision of Christ. Certain victories are not being achieved even in light of our knowledge of the mystery of salvation, and it is time to consider why I do not want to deal on the surface, but rather deal with those things beneath.

Sin is a result of a lack of love, both for God and people.Sin also stems from our disagreement with the route God has laid out for our lives. It is a refusal to suffer. I am about to describe a disposition that exists in some saints and I pray that you,through the Holy Ghost discern whether or not you have this mindset.

THE ONE DAY MINDSET

Many saints truly believe that in the plan of salvation, overcoming sin and obeying God is a day-by-day process. Many people believe that one day they are going to walk in the Spirit even though the life they now lead is contrary to the principles of God.

One day I am going to stop walking in pride.

One day I am going to stop taking sin breaks.

One day I am going to finally be in the right place with God.

I know what I need to do and one day I am going to do it.

This sounds like a mindset of hope, but it is not. This is great rebellion and deception. The deception is that the individual believes that this particular “one day” is going to come, as if there is no need to work out our own salvation.

This mindset relieves the individual from all responsibility and accountability. The truth is, one day came the moment we received salvation. The day we received the infilling of the Holy Spirit was the day we stopped walking in pride, taking sin breaks and we came into the right place with the Father.

Philippians 2:12 KJV

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

This scripture depicts the seriousness of self-examination inside salvation. Some people refuse to accurately examine themselves because of the unrighteousness that may be revealed. So, they continue in deception, by choice, not wanting to expose themselves to the truth about themselves. Can we truly say we do not see what is wrong with us? God reveals to us, through His Word, where we are spiritually.

Examine and see, how many times have we heard the same message being preached over and over, dealing with our negative dispositions, but they still do not change. This is rebellion.

THE REAL YOU

After all the revelatory Word the Father has given to us, what are our reasons for remaining in deception and rebellion? We know it is a matter of choice, but why do we still choose unrighteousness? Do you desire evil? YOU DO IF YOU PRACTICE SIN! Remember the title of this study guide, THE REAL YOU. If a saint commits sin, it is because the saint prefers sin.

Romans 6:11 KJV

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The word “reckon” is used in the same context as consider yourself or think of yourself as, or regard yourself as. This scripture deals with the way we must now think after salvation. If our thinking does not change, then we will never totally embrace salvation. Paul was setting the boundaries of our thought patterns by first explaining salvation. He explains it as death to sin (or the Adamic existence), which is one of captivity to sin and a sinful lifestyle.

WE MUST SEE OURSELVES AS RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO GOD IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD. Failure to do so will always cause us to think we have another purpose for living. If we are honest with ourselves, we spend most of our existence trying to please ourselves or make our lives comfortable at any cost, even if the cost is sin.

Question:

What does it cost to make me happy?

Question:

Would it make you happy if HELL did not exist?

Question:

Would it make you happy if suffering in Christ was no longer necessary for saints?

Question

Would it make you happy if there was no confrontation from God?

Question

Would it make you happy if the route to the Father was not so strict?

If you answer these questions with your conscience you will be able to define the real you. Yes, the real you! This is the person most people do not know. Most people lie to themselves, blaming their mindsets and faults on outside influences like their childhood or offenses laid by others. These things are valid factors before salvation, but salvation does away with all the excuses. The scripture that confirms this is:

2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Either we are new creatures or we are not. But is it possible that a person could have all that God has to offer, but still want sin and death? Well, Adam and Eve are our examples.They possessed the entire world and still desired the knowledge of not just good, but also evil. Mankind desired evil before the fall. Had Adam and Eve not desired to “be as gods, knowing good and evil” they would have never eaten of the tree’s fruit. Now once this act was committed, sin possessed man.

Sin was both captivity and man’s excuse to live out what was already in his heart. David refers to this in the Book of Psalms:

Psalm 51:5 KJV

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

David could make this statement because it was true. God knowing this, provided the circumcision of Christ to cut away the dominion of sin.Therefore, we no longer have this excuse. For us to sin now, we simply have to make a choice.

BEING MADE BY THE FATHER

God places us in situations where we lack the things we want, but HE uses those situations to make us. When we sin, it is our way of rebelling against God and His route for our lives. In actuality, we still believe our lives are our own. We throw the whole “bought with a price” scripture out the window when we choose our own route.

Have you ever had a decision to make and sought the advice from your pastor or other leaders in the church? When you were advised you might have felt like they were trying to control you. Usually, couples wanting to get married experience this when asking for counsel as to whether they should marry or not. If the counsel is “No,” or “Not right now,” the couple might feel like the counselor just does not want them to get married, or just wants to control them.

But what if God is trying to control us? Is He wrong for controlling someone who belongs to Him? Does He have the right to control us? If you have a problem with this, it is because you are a carnal minded person, who prefers to be led by his own mind rather than to be controlled by God. This is why you may find it hard to live holy, because your mind says, “I am saved, but I am my own person.” As long as you think like this, sin is still an option for you.

RENEWING OUR MINDS

How do we change our minds? To change our mind we must follow these four principles:

• belief,
• acceptance,
• agreement and
• obedience.

1. Belief - we must believe in the salvation experience and that we are dead to sin and alive unto God. Believe that the blood of Jesus purged our conscience from dead works.

2. Acceptance – we must accept the truth that we have come to know about salvation. Accept that we once belonged to the devil and sin, but because of salvation we now belong to God, giving Him control over us.

3. Agreement – It is important for us to agree with the will of the Father. Agreement from the heart is real when the will of the Father becomes our preference.

4. Obedience – True sons of God obey Him from the heart. The will of the Father is when our obedience comes from agreement.

This has been one of my most painful lessons learned, how to obey God from the heart. Many times we obey God, but hate or regret what we did. Have you ever obeyed God and still hurt from the situation? Have you given the righteous response, but were still torn up inside?

I was experiencing all of this and I needed to hear from God. One day Shaun and I began one of those deep conversations as to where we both were spiritually. In our conversation the question was asked:,

“Is agreeing with God equivalent to agreeing to be unhappy?” The Holy Ghost gave me this scripture:

Philippians 2:1-2 KJV

1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies

2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

This was answering my question, because I was searching for consolation in obeying God. Now the “one mind” Paul is speaking of is the mind of Christ, and if my mind is not in one accord with the mind of Christ, then I am not in fellowship with the Spirit or its’ leading in my life. So, when I try to obey God while I am carnally minded, I become unhappy. Let us examine the mind of Jesus and compare it to our own.

Philippians 2:5-8 KJV

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Christ was in total agreement with the will of the Father. Jesus, knowing the will of the Father, became a servant to God’s will. He never strayed in His heart, even though He knew that by obeying God He would be made to suffer. But, He accepted that He was born to be the Lamb of God. Have you accepted who you are? Have you accepted that your only purpose for living is so God’s purpose is fulfilled even if it means you must suffer and most of the time you will.

This is the mind you must have to always choose righteousness and receive from God. This is the mind of the Spirit and when we walk in it, we are walking in the Spirit. We must do away with our old reputations and allow Christ to establish His own reputation through us.

Love, Apostle Michael Thomas.