What does FATHER expect of HIS mature sons and daughters?
People wonder why, after giving their hearts to GOD and having the witness of The Holy Spirit, that they are still troubled with evil desires and tempted in evil ways. The nature and the body have three departments, so the surrender of the spirit to GOD is not all that HE demands.
The mind is the soul life, and it continues being natural. It keeps doing earthy things until GOD does something to that mind… until we seek GOD for a new mind.
Paul wrote by The Holy Spirit in Ephesians chapter 4:
17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,
18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the Life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;
19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
20 But you have not so learned Christ,
21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the Truth is in Jesus:
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,
23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and Holiness.
We are to actively put off our former conduct AND put on the new man, renewing our minds to the Truth, and walking in true righteousness and Holiness!
Jesus spoke in John chapter 17:
16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 Sanctify them by Your Truth. Your Word is Truth.
The word sanctify means:
to render or acknowledge, or to be venerable or hallow
to separate from profane things and dedicate to God
consecrate things to God
dedicate people to God
to purify
to cleanse externally
to purify by expiation: free from the guilt of sin
to purify internally by renewing of the soul
Immersing ourselves in FATHER’S Word will cleanse and purify our minds. We will become Heavenly-minded rather than earthly-oriented. Mature Sons and Daughters will have no independent opinions apart from the Truth.
Jesus spoke in John chapter 5:
30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the Will of the Father Who sent Me.
And in John chapter 6:
38 For I have come down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the Will of Him Who sent Me.
Our Elder Brother fully submitted to the Will of FATHER, so should we.
Just as we have realized that our spirit and mind needed salvation, what about our bodies? Is Christ the Savior of the whole man? Shouldn’t we commit our bodies to GOD as well?
We are a three-part being and FATHER should have access to all three, not just one or two. However, it is our decision once our ignorance is addressed concerning these three parts. Will we choose blindness over the Truth found in The Word?
Stephen spoke by The Holy Spirit to the high priest in Acts chapter 7:
51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.”
Resistance to Truth promotes blindness whereas embracing Truth brings forth blessing and Life.
Don’t our bodies need to be transformed as well?