1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
1Corinthians 7:23 “Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.”
Ephesians 6:6 “Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;”
These scriptures explain that we may think that we are our own, and therefore serve ourselves and our own ideals, however, it says we are to be servants to God not to men or to ourselves for that matter. We can do the will of our selves or do the will of God; both of which can be in our heart, hence the double mind and heart that needs to be cleansed (James 4:8).
Luke 16:1-3 “…There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.”
The rich man or spiritually interpreted the man with knowledge has paid for or bought a “steward” to take care of things. However, there comes a time that the rich man gets even smarter and learns that the he is wasting his purpose. Our Lord takes away our stewardship because we are wasting ourselves and our true purpose by serving ourselves rather than our Lord.
Luke 16:12-13 “And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Remember we really are not our own (1Cor 6:19). We are not to be our own steward any longer (see more of Luke 16). Even if we think we are our own and act through our own understanding, it says that we really won’t get what is truly our “own” unless we are faithful in that which is another’s. To be faithful in that which is another’s means to serve Christ and to stop serving our own mind’s ideals. It says “ye are bought with a price” which has a two-fold spiritual meaning. We “buy” into God when we understand how God already has the control. He has control through “laws” that “rule” our lives, and we are owned by God because we are already a part of him through the “price” Christ payed to be able to come into the mortal body, which is death, but also connects our body to God and God’s control.
Romans 11:33 ” O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”
Remember treasure and riches represents wisdom and knowledge, and mammon (i.e. evil riches) represents our own understanding that is not from Christ. So be faithful in that which is another man’s (ye are Christ’s not your own) because you cannot serve God and mammon both without having a double mind and heart. When you have this double type of service you hate one and love the other and you are torn and tossed.
Romans 12:1-2 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Serving God is a kind of “living sacrifice” to God. And in doing this we also need to renew our mind to prove what is the perfect will of God, and surrender to that. But before we go on to the proving and testing of our heart and mind, let’s talk more about this living sacrifice and what this may mean with respect to the double mind.
Romans 6:6- “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. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:…Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”
Our old man is crucified, so our new man can live, hence the “living sacrifice”. When the old man is “dead” he is also dead to sin. When one is dead to sin he does not serve sin. But what does it mean to serve sin and what is the spiritual meaning of “sin”?
Sin is missing the mark of the high calling of God, which spiritually implies that sin is simply following the understanding of the carnal mind instead of the Spirit.
Romans 8:7-8 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Sin is living in the flesh, and we serve sin when we serve our selves or the carnal mind, rather than God, because it cannot please God. Serving the carnal mind is serving ourselves and our ego mind in what it thinks and wants. This is the meaning of sin. Sin is not forgetting or sinning against the carnal law or the literal commandment. But it is contrary to this. Sin is when we try and live through the carnal commandment so that we then get deceived into sinning against the Spirit and the spiritual law of God, see below.
Romans 7:4&6&9 “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God…But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” Romans 7:14 “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.”
Romans 7:14-15,23 “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I 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….But I 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.”
Romans 7:22 “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:… So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
There are two laws that we serve. The law of sin (carnal literal commandment) and the law of God (spiritual laws) (Romans 7:22). The law of sin follows after the oldness of the letter or oldness of the scriptures and oldness of our mind (old man). The “old man” serves the law of sin, which again, is serving the carnal way of thinking about the world and the commandment, which breeds death of the Spirit. However, the law of God is contrary to the law of sin and is different than simply serving a literal commandment that is understood carnally.
Romans 8:6,10,13 “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace…And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness...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.”
There are two deaths. The death of the old man (living sacrifice) and the death of the spirit caused by the carnal mind. Romans speaks of a death that comes by understanding the law as a carnal commandment (oldness of the letter and death of the Spirit). But when the old man dies the carnal mind is suppressed and the Spirit is raised and lives. When the carnal mind is suppressed the mind can become more spiritual, and can come to understand things spiritually rather than carnally. Understanding the law as spiritual changes our understanding of the scriptures and it then also changes our understanding of our own lives (i.e. the Spirit brings life) and how the laws truly “work” in our life. And when our understanding of ourselves change, our old man is allowed to die (i.e. the living sacrifice of ourselves). When our old man is allow to “die” we hear the law as it should be heard, which is spiritually. We are released from the carnal commandment because we truly hear what the law is saying through the Spirit.
Galatians 4:21 “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?”
Those that are carnally minded want to follow the law, but they do not truly hear what it is saying; so they are deceived by the letter of the law and therefore serve sin or in other words serve the carnal mind and understanding rather than the Spirit and the spiritual law of God. The law when understood as spiritual gives us a logical understanding of how the law actually works through us, rather than us trying to follow a list of carnal laws. When the law is understood spiritually the reason for any repercussion from not following the laws are understood logically, rather some arbitrary reason for punishment for failing. When this happens the carnal law becomes obsolete and one follows the spiritual law because of true reason and clear understanding of the whys and the hows of the Law. We need to truly “hear” the Law, and understand the Spiritual depth of it.
Galatians 5:15-18 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth 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.”
The desires of our flesh are contrary to the spiritual way. If the Spirit guides you and your life you will not continually seek to first fulfil your body’s desires because you come to realize the spiritual way is different and truly better.
Luke 12:29& 31 “And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. ... But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Seeking and following after the desires and needs of the flesh is the meaning of serving sin. But there is more to it than that. It is not that we don’t need things and should not have things in the flesh to live properly here on earth. But there is a spiritual rather than carnal process that we can follow to obtain the things we “truly” need. The law of sin, tells us to do it our own way (own understanding, old man, literal commandment carnal mind, etc.). Serving the law of sin is being oblivious of what God’s will is for us. Sin is following the law of the carnal mind rather the spiritual law of God. We want things so we therefore seek to fulfil those needs and desires without consulting with and seeking out God, who really “owns” us anyway. When we are on the path of our own mind and the process of seeking to fulfil our desires can lead us down a path that is against the way we could have if we serve God rather than sin; where sin is simply missing the mark of God’s plan for us. Living God’s plan comes about by living through the Spirit rather than the flesh. When we live in the Spirit we seek to serve God and his way of doing things in our lives rather than serving our carnal mind and its way of doing things.
Romans 7:7-14 “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead…And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.”
1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”
Our carnal mind is “sold” and under sin, because the riches of our mind are corrupted and we have “bought” into the carnal law and it’s deception. In other words we have “sold” our soul to the “devil” or sin, and bought into a lie. However, God really owns us through Christ who lives in us, so Christ is our [land] Lord and we violate our landlord when we serve sin rather than God. Remember sin is simply living through the carnal mind (flesh) and going against the Spirit. When we are in the flesh or in the carnal mind, the literal commandment makes our lives even more “sinful” (i.e. “exceeding sinful”) because there is no way to follow the carnal law while in the flesh without screwing up if that is how we view it.
Romans 7:25 “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”
It is when we try and live our physical lives through the carnal commandment that we get deceived into sinning against the spiritual law of God because we are following the carnal mind rather than the Spirit. We should serve God with our mind, and not worry about the rest. But when we worry about the carnal commandment more than what the Spirit says, and we get caught (deceived) into trying to follow the commandment when there is another greater law more powerful law we need to be following. And when we follow the greater spiritual law, the carnal commandment that tries to control the physical is voided out because the spiritual law overrules all of its inadequacies.
Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 14:20 “And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
Titus 1:15-16 “Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth. Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”
With the commandments of men come false judgment of others because the consciousness is focused on the carnal literal letter. Romans 14 and Titus 1 says that it is our conscience that condemns us, and what our mind believes to be sin, will be sin. Though the Spritual law, all things are pure, because whatsoever is not of faith (truly trusting the God) is sin.
Romans 6:15,16,18 “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?...Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
Romans 8:12” Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.”
Luke 12:29-31 “And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
We either follow the Spirit or the flesh, and when we are truly following the Spirit, being a servant to the flesh (i.e. sin) is no longer palatable because were realize there is a higher Spiritual Law that needs to be acknowledged in all we do. We no longer feel a need to be under the carnal commandment for our guidance because we are no longer a servant to our fleshly needs and desires, but we rather serve the Spiritual Law which in turn provides us everything our flesh needs through the power of God who works through us. When we come to realize that there is a higher Spiritual law that will guide us, we search out this guidance from the Spirit and not our own mind and flesh. However, we do either serve one or the other to fulfil our needs here. But when we first serve the physical mind and flesh rather than the Spirit, James 1:15 below explains what happens.
James 1:15 “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
Romans 7 and James 1:15 speak of similar things. It says we had not known sin but by the law, but the law is spiritual, right, and as we explained above, the meaning of “sin” is not following the spirit, right? So how does the law make us know sin and lust, if it is indeed spiritual? The commandments say you shall not lust (have desires…), but the problem with that is we all have desires in the flesh. However, by the literal law we learn that it is not “right” to lust, where lust means longing and obsessing over something we want and possibly can’t even have. So how do we stop doing things that we understand, according to the literal commandment is not good? Well remember according to the spiritual law all things are pure unto the pure, so really there is no fault when you are under the spiritual law, however, our conscious is weak and our flesh is still carnal, and we still hear the commandment and therefore we still condemn ourselves when we do not follow the literal law, even doing things that are not considered “lust”. However, it also says that just because we are not under the literal law but spiritually minded does not give us latitude to just go against the commandment (romans 6:15), and follow our fleshly desires, lusts, or what have you. Because if we do that, then we are just serving ourselves and our carnal mind, which is the real “sin” God sees according to the scriptures above. To just go against the literal law because are not under the literal law and because we are supposedly spiritually minded, is simply serving ourselves and is not truly being and living in the Spirit or understanding the Spiritual law for that matter. But if we through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the flesh (i.e. lust) we are on our way to real truth of our lives and how God desires we live (Romans 8:13). But how do we, through the Spirit “put to death” the deeds of the flesh? And what does that really mean? And how does the “lust” spoken of in James 1 lead to death?
Psalm 37:4 “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
Psalm 37:4 says that the Lord will give us the “desires” of our heart when we are delighted in the Lord. So do the desires of our heart change depending on what we find delight in? In other words, do our desires just simply vanish or change once we begin walking in the Spirit and are led by the Spirit and therefore children of God? It says that the Lord will give us the desires (lusts) of our heart. There may be a slight difference in definition between lust and desire, where lust is more directed towards wanting something that you can’t have but yet you keep wanting it, where a desire may be a simple need or want that you are not technically obsessing about. However, in either case it is something we want. When we are walking and living through the flesh and the carnal mind we are solely focused on our lusts and desires and that is how we go about our lives each day, living in the flesh and following after our needs. In James 1 is says “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” These lusts and desires we all have take our mind off God’s will for us; where God’s will is being thankful in all things and finding our way through the Spirit (see Galatians 5:16 and 1 Thessalonians 5:18). When we want something in the physical that we may not be able to have we begin to think about it and we focus mainly on what we want or think we need to be happy and satisfied. [And know that desires and lusts and needs can be ANYTHING we want, and it is not sexual as some people think because their minds are in the gutter. However, basic animal needs are not excluded from this discussion on desire either.] This diversion of our thoughts onto what we want or need rather than on the Spirit and simply not following the Spiritual law is the definition of sin (sin=missing the high calling of God). This is what the law is warning us about lust and how lust kills the Spirit. Again, what is the Spiritual law vs the carnal commandment and being carnally minded? The carnal mind wants us to follow the literal commandments and carnal law (see Romans7:14, 8:6-7 & Hebrews 7:16) because the carnal mind thinks through the physical world. However, when we do not follow the Spirit, we divert from the Spirit and begin obsessing over our body’s/ mind’s needs, hearts desires, and needs and this in itself makes us sin against the Spiritual law because of what our mind is thinking about. We are obsessing over our needs and desires rather than looking at the Spiritual nature of it all (remember James 1 above) and trusting God. This is lust. Lust is obsession over something we want, or need for that matter and solely focusing on it. Then as we are following after our flesh our mind is more carnal so we also condemn ourselves because we are not following the literal carnal commandments either due to our ways of seeking after our fleshly needs and desires. Physically “lusting” and therefore seeking after our carnal needs is sinning against the Spiritual law because this way of getting things brings death of the seed of the Spirit (see the parable of the seed of the word in Mathew 13 and Luke 8). The seed represents the word, which tells us how to think. When we begin worrying about the cares and needs of this world the seed dies, and this is the same death spoken of in James 1 above. These lusts that takes a hold of us (the word conceived in James 1 means take prisoner) breed sin (not walking in the Spirit) and therefore death of the seed [of the word] that wants to rather live and grow in us. However, it says in Psalm 37:4 that if we “delight in the Lord” we will get the “desires” of our heart. Lust is obsessing over our desire, but rather look to God and how he is already blessing you and delight in his methods each day, and it will all work out his way, which is better anyway. It is not the desire itself that is sinful, it is the way we let it control our mind that causes us to sin against God and his Law.
Romans 7:13 “Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.”
This sin (diverting away from following the spirit and the spiritual understanding but rather seeking our carnal needs and desires) makes us also “sin” against the carnal commandment by “lusting” rather than “trusting” God, and our ways become “exceeding sinful” (see Romans 7:13 above). The law is supposed to be spiritual, but our carnal mind is always looking at it as a literal commandment. When we are not following it spiritually, it makes our ways “exceeding sinful” because we are looking at the law carnally rather than spiritually and also following it carnally (not looking at the spiritual nature of the law) but rather looking at the appearance of fleshly sin and what we are doing wrong in the flesh. When it says thou shalt not lust, it is telling us to trust God for all our needs instead of obsessing about it. In other words, the act of obsessing over a desire is the sin itself. The sin of not trusting God, the sin is not the need or desire. Lust is simply the wrong mindset about a desire.
So what is this “Spiritual Law” that we are to follow that is against the carnal mind and carnal law? Remember the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh (see Galatians 5:17). So when we are seeking after our carnal needs and wants these “lusts” divert us from walking in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit is therefore contrary to lusting and seeking after those lusts and needs and it is also contrary to the carnal mind and the carnal literal law which tells us how to live based on a carnal literal commandment. If our main focus is to follow a literal commandment, we are not focusing on seeking out the Spirit (again see Romans 7:13). The Spiritual Law takes the literal law and turns it slightly so you see it in a new spiritual way or in a new light.
Romans 8:4-6 “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
Galatians 2:19 “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.”
Walking after the Spirit means following the Law because of a spiritual understanding which proves the validity of the Law through the power of the Law that works through us.
The following is a list of Spiritual Laws that are extracted from the carnal letter after it has been turned into a new spiritual light. These are the Laws of faith.
To be continued...