everyone has mental issues. serious ones.
let me explain:
we can broadly divide mankind into two categories, those who have received Christ and those who haven't.
first, those who have not believed.
the Bible has a lot of things to say about their minds; here's just a few:
here's the scriptural picture of the mental state of all mankind under the influence of the spirit of this age, by the god of this age:
folks, that is unhealthy. that is mental issues. people have serious, serious problems in their minds and their way of thinking -- they are all "nuts" in a way that goes far beyond just mild personality quirks. that's how the Bible describes us: all of us.
second, we who have believed.
when we heard and believed the gospel of Jesus Christ, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit, and that Spirit began on ongoing work in us. first of all, that "belief" is an activity of our mind. that "hearing" involved understanding, a thing that happened in our mind. we can't 'receive' a gospel that we do not comprehend: Christianity is an intellectual belief, not an emotional one. the Bible calls the heart 'deceitfully wicked above all things' but we as having believed - in some of those same verses above - are encouraged not to walk after the same way of thinking that we formerly were in.
yes, we formerly were in. if we have believed and received the Holy Ghost, then all of us were at one time just as ignorant, corrupted, futile and vain in our thinking. we could not receive God because we could not have any knowledge of Him until He revealed it to us: our belief and our faith in Him are gifts from God, His calling in us, who set us apart before the beginning of the world, predestining us to become an inheritance for the Son, a love-gift to Him who bought our redemption with His blood.
we could not seek God because we could not know Him, because our minds, too, were seriously ill.
we were every bit as mentally ill as everyone else in the whole world.
we commonly talk about this as a 'spiritual problem' but see, the Bible talks about this as a mental problem as well: the spirit is not disconnected from the rest of the man! and all of us by the time we are adults have spent tens of thousands of hours being indoctrinated by the spirit of the age into a corrupt way of thinking, building up in us a mentally unstable, irrational and vain state of mind.
we have come to know a Great Physician, praise God!!! -- but if this redemption meant our minds were automatically and forever completely healed, then would the scriptures include so much encouragement and teaching that we should be careful not to continue in these corrupt, mentally-ill ways of thinking? if we were already fully "sane" as it were, would it be necessary for the Spirit to say to us this?
i'm told that the verb tense here for "renewed" indicates an ongoing process. it is not a one-time deal. we still have the residual effects of the corrupt, vain, mentally unstable, irrational mind-sickness in us that we all were redeemed out of. that is why we need to always be 'mindful' to no longer be pressed into the mold of the spirit of the age, and have our minds instead daily renewed, regenerated, and built up in the truth.
that is the only way we can "discern" the will of God -- and look, again, "discernment" is a thing that goes on in our minds, not in our hearts. it is a cerebral process, not an emotional one!
we have the mind of Christ, it is true, amen! (1 Corinthians 2:16) -- but this is not saying that we all think as Christ does. no, "His thoughts are higher than our thoughts" is still true.
we have the mind of Christ, but we have this through the Spirit that dwells within us, through which God has begun a work of transformation and renewal that is as yet unfinished (Romans 8:23, etc) but will be one day complete, when He returns and reconciles all things.
meanwhile -- we have two laws within us, and we are of two minds: the old way of thinking, which is corrupt and altogether mentally ill, and the new mind that is of God through His spirit given to us by Jesus Christ. these are at war with each other within our hearts and minds: we are schizo, with two radically different ways of thinking opposing each other inside our heads. the scriptures teach us that we should be clinging to one and despising the other; this is the work of God within us, the renewal that goes on each day -- the "therapy" of our Great Physician, our Great Psychologist.
but we are by no means out of "therapy" yet -- none of you have "arrived."
you're mentally ill, still. i am, you are -- all of us are.
we are far better off, having begun the process of recovery, and we have a sure hope that it will be complete, but if anyone thinks they do not have a problem...
well you know what they say "admitting you have a problem is half the battle"
let me explain:
we can broadly divide mankind into two categories, those who have received Christ and those who haven't.
first, those who have not believed.
the Bible has a lot of things to say about their minds; here's just a few:
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
(Romans 1:21-22)
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
(Ephesians 4:17-19)
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see
the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
(2 Corinthians 4:4)
The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
(Psalm 94:11)
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe,
nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
(Titus 1:15)
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
(Romans 1:21-22)
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.
(Ephesians 4:17-19)
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see
the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
(2 Corinthians 4:4)
The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
(Psalm 94:11)
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe,
nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
(Titus 1:15)
here's the scriptural picture of the mental state of all mankind under the influence of the spirit of this age, by the god of this age:
- their minds and consciences are corrupted.
- their thinking is futile and vain.
- they are blinded.
- their hearts are hardened.
- they are ignorant & have lost all sensitivity.
- they think they are wise, but are foolish.
folks, that is unhealthy. that is mental issues. people have serious, serious problems in their minds and their way of thinking -- they are all "nuts" in a way that goes far beyond just mild personality quirks. that's how the Bible describes us: all of us.
second, we who have believed.
when we heard and believed the gospel of Jesus Christ, we were sealed with the Holy Spirit, and that Spirit began on ongoing work in us. first of all, that "belief" is an activity of our mind. that "hearing" involved understanding, a thing that happened in our mind. we can't 'receive' a gospel that we do not comprehend: Christianity is an intellectual belief, not an emotional one. the Bible calls the heart 'deceitfully wicked above all things' but we as having believed - in some of those same verses above - are encouraged not to walk after the same way of thinking that we formerly were in.
yes, we formerly were in. if we have believed and received the Holy Ghost, then all of us were at one time just as ignorant, corrupted, futile and vain in our thinking. we could not receive God because we could not have any knowledge of Him until He revealed it to us: our belief and our faith in Him are gifts from God, His calling in us, who set us apart before the beginning of the world, predestining us to become an inheritance for the Son, a love-gift to Him who bought our redemption with His blood.
we could not seek God because we could not know Him, because our minds, too, were seriously ill.
we were every bit as mentally ill as everyone else in the whole world.
we commonly talk about this as a 'spiritual problem' but see, the Bible talks about this as a mental problem as well: the spirit is not disconnected from the rest of the man! and all of us by the time we are adults have spent tens of thousands of hours being indoctrinated by the spirit of the age into a corrupt way of thinking, building up in us a mentally unstable, irrational and vain state of mind.
we have come to know a Great Physician, praise God!!! -- but if this redemption meant our minds were automatically and forever completely healed, then would the scriptures include so much encouragement and teaching that we should be careful not to continue in these corrupt, mentally-ill ways of thinking? if we were already fully "sane" as it were, would it be necessary for the Spirit to say to us this?
Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
(Romans 12:2)
(Romans 12:2)
i'm told that the verb tense here for "renewed" indicates an ongoing process. it is not a one-time deal. we still have the residual effects of the corrupt, vain, mentally unstable, irrational mind-sickness in us that we all were redeemed out of. that is why we need to always be 'mindful' to no longer be pressed into the mold of the spirit of the age, and have our minds instead daily renewed, regenerated, and built up in the truth.
that is the only way we can "discern" the will of God -- and look, again, "discernment" is a thing that goes on in our minds, not in our hearts. it is a cerebral process, not an emotional one!
we have the mind of Christ, it is true, amen! (1 Corinthians 2:16) -- but this is not saying that we all think as Christ does. no, "His thoughts are higher than our thoughts" is still true.
we have the mind of Christ, but we have this through the Spirit that dwells within us, through which God has begun a work of transformation and renewal that is as yet unfinished (Romans 8:23, etc) but will be one day complete, when He returns and reconciles all things.
meanwhile -- we have two laws within us, and we are of two minds: the old way of thinking, which is corrupt and altogether mentally ill, and the new mind that is of God through His spirit given to us by Jesus Christ. these are at war with each other within our hearts and minds: we are schizo, with two radically different ways of thinking opposing each other inside our heads. the scriptures teach us that we should be clinging to one and despising the other; this is the work of God within us, the renewal that goes on each day -- the "therapy" of our Great Physician, our Great Psychologist.
but we are by no means out of "therapy" yet -- none of you have "arrived."
you're mentally ill, still. i am, you are -- all of us are.
we are far better off, having begun the process of recovery, and we have a sure hope that it will be complete, but if anyone thinks they do not have a problem...
well you know what they say "admitting you have a problem is half the battle"
