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| A living man but weak and sickly; even so, A regenerated man but carnally minded. |
https://www.facebook.com/sing.f.lau/posts/10203299896793666
December 9, 2014
Question:
Does a man have a spiritual mind through
regeneration or does he develop a spiritual mind beginning at the conversion by
the hearing, and believing of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Is a spiritual mind an intrinsic fruit of
regeneration?
What do you think?
An answer:
A spiritual mind is the mind of a child of
God that is BEING renewed and transformed by and through the ministry of the
word of truth.
A child of God has spiritual life through the immediate regeneration by the Spirit of God, without the ministry of the word.
A child of God CANNOT, and DOES NOT and WILL NOT have a spiritual mind apart from the ministry of the word that renews and transforms the mind, AND the child of God subjecting his mind to the will of God.
Without the ministry of the word, God's children remain ignorant as well as carnal!!!
Regeneration DOES NOT produce a mind that is
spiritual.
No, a spiritual mind IS NOT intrinsic to
regeneration.
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Comments
(One Dan made some comments but has deleted them. Just read between the lines.]
Sing F Lau
If speaking of nature, then it is a redundant
question... since that is already assumed by virtue of regeneration, Brother
Dan.
The original question is this:
Is a spiritual mind intrinsic to
regeneration? What do you think?
If the spiritual mind is intrinsic to regeneration, then EVERY child of God without exception will have a spiritual mind, and therefore none will have a carnal mind. But that idea does not accord with the Scriptures.
Sing F Lau
Yes, a regenerate has a spiritual nature; he
is no longer flesh, he is spirit. "That which is born of the flesh is
flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
A regenerate has a spiritual nature but NOT
an intrinsic spiritual mind the way the Scriptures speak of being spiritually
minded. A spiritual nature enables him to have a spiritual mind.
In the context of a regenerate, being spiritually minded and carnally minded are opposed to each other.
A spiritual nature by the divine activity of regeneration, and a spiritual mind by its renewal through the ministry of the word and being transformed through it are quite distinct indeed.
Ante Zivkovic
I think that the issue is that a regenerated person
cannot know right from wrong without the ministry.
Sing F Lau
1 Cor 3:1 ¶ And I, brethren, could not speak unto
you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with
meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
These Corinthians believers were children of
God, regenerate elect.
But they were NOT spiritual-minded. They were
carnal!
Spiritual things are spiritually discerning.
Those who have a spiritual nature, a new nature as a result of regeneration are
capable of discerning spiritual things. Under the ministry of the word, a man's
MIND with a spiritual NATURE will soon be renewed and his mind is said to be spiritual.
A dead man who is quickened will soon gain health and strength under a rigorous regime of nourishment and physiotherapy. I hope this helps to illustrate what I'm saying.
Sing F Lau
Ro 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
============
It requires great effort on the part of God's
children to move from being carnally minded to being spiritually minded.
If being spiritually minded is intrinsic in regeneration, then life and peace here on earth are automatically the portion of all of God's children.
Sing F Lau
I thought so... we are defining things
differently.
A man with a new spiritual NATURE is not
necessarily of spiritual mind.
You seem to disagree with this... do I read
you right?
If a spiritual mind is intrinsic to
regeneration, then each and every child of God (regenerated elect) IS
spiritually minded, and none will ever be carnally minded. Such an idea is quite
contrary to the Scriptures.
I wish such an idea is true indeed. It will make pastoral ministry a whole lot easier!
Sing F Lau
1. It all depends on how you understand
"spiritual mind" and "spiritually minded."
In one sense EVERYTHING about a regenerate is
spiritual.... since " that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
Thus he is a spiritual man, in contrast to being a natural man, of the flesh.
Such a spiritual man DOES NOT necessarily be spiritually minded. To be
spiritually minded, his "spiritual mind" - the mind of the spiritual
man MUST need to be instructed and renewed by the word of God. Thus being
spiritually minded is NOT intrinsic to regeneration.
2. The mind of the "spiritual man"
on any particular matter is either carnal or spiritual, either conformed to
God's word, or not.
On matter A, he may be spiritually minded, on
matter B he may be carnally minded.
This is how I understand the matter.
Sing F Lau
Let me put rephrase what you say - "I
believe Paul (Rom. 8:6) talks about two sorts of mindedness that a spiritual
mind of a regenerated may put on: spiritually minded or carnally minded."
Is that what you are saying - a spiritual
mind yet carnally minded?
I would rather say - a regenerated man yet
carnally minded.
(It is like saying - a living man yet weak and sickly.)
Sing F Lau
The reason I REPHRASE it (I did say "Let
me rephrase what you say") to highlight the problem as I see it... that of
equating a man with spiritual life with a spiritual mind.
In your understanding, a regenerate is
ESSENTIALLY spiritually minded also, and then that spiritual mind can be
spiritually minded or carnally minded.
I think that manner of speaking is a recipe for confusion.
Sing F Lau
Brother Dan, I may have erred.
I will leave it to you to use such language
as "a spiritual mind is not spiritually minded."
Carnally minded is the result of the
spiritual man not thinking and acting spiritually. You would attribute it
to the old nature.
