And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.20 By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:19-23 NLT)
“In the film, A Beautiful Mind, the main character suffers from a schizophrenia that results in delusions of various kinds. Throughout the film, you watch him wrestling with fantasies and apparitions. He begins thinking people are after him. He starts imagining a Department of Defense contact helping him with his mission to unravel a conspiracy. All of these hallucinations seem very real to him on an experiential level. His thoughts and emotions tell him no different. Eventually he comes to grips with the fact that he is suffering from delusions. For the rest of the movie, you watch him trying to move on with everyday life, all the while trying to ignore some very strong pulls toward fantasy. People appear to him, thoughts are presented to him, and the one and only solution is to ignore them all. As he turns a deaf ear to them and sets his mind on what is really true, he experiences peace, but the temptation to revert to the old ways of delusion is still very strong! It’s not much different for us Christians. For us, what we experience mentally and emotionally in our souls from day to day can be very different from what we’re called to set on minds on concerning our human spirits.” (loc. 927 of 2138) Share an experience that seemed to be absolutely real and turned out to be something else entirely. Are your emotions any less real during those misinterpretations?
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23 ESV)
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 ESV)
“The soul (Greek: psyche) is our psychology, our mind, will, and emotions. It’s where we think, feel, and experience relationship with other people. In our soul we experience wild fluctuations of thought and emotion as we go from the heights of ecstasy to the depths of despair within moments. Our feelings follow our thoughts, and our thoughts are sometimes all over the place. Our soul is like a mirror that can reflect anything at any given time. Our soul doesn’t give us our spiritual nature. Instead it merely reflects the nature of something else in a given moment. This is why we can walk according to the Spirit (reflecting Christ) or according to the flesh (reflecting sin) in any moment. These occur as we set our mind one way or the other, ‘angling’ the soul mirror.” (loc. 938 of 2138) How wild is this ride for you?
“In contrast, our spirit (Greek: pneuma) is a deeper place within us. Our spirit is how we relate to the spiritual realm. And our spirit is what determines our spiritual nature as humans. When we are born, we are dead to God and alive to sin in our spirit. At salvation we become alive to God and dead to sin. We are made partakers of God’s divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) in our spirit. Our human spirit is made right with God and sealed by the Holy Spirit forever.” (loc. 938 of 2138)
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
… [9]Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:1, 9 ESV)
In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, [14] who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV)
“When we are reborn in Christ, our soul is not replaced or instantly reprogrammed. The psychology of our soul (mind, will, emotions) remains. In our soul, what we reflect to those around us is progressively changing by the renewing of our minds.” (loc. 938 of 2138)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 ESV)
But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. (1 Corinthians 6:17 ESV)
How will this “simple truth” change your approach to frustration or confusion in your life?
“How can I be a new creation and have Christ living in me and yet still be struggling with sinful thoughts?
The answer is that we are describing our soul’s experience with temptation, not our spirit’s perfection in Christ. Conversely, when we read the Bible and see that we have become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21) and that we have been made perfect forever (Heb. 10:14) and that we are now seated in heaven (Eph. 2:6), we wonder, ‘How can these verses be true of me? If you knew what my thoughts and emotions are like some days, you’d wonder if I’m even saved!’ We fail to realize that heaven is describing the condition of our spirit, not the fluctuating experiences of our soul.
Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19 ESV)
So discerning the difference between spirit and soul allows us to take heaven’s message about our new identity at face value without watering it down. It also enables us to explain how we are still growing yet 100 percent righteous along the way. We don’t get our righteous nature from the soul. So whether our soul is reflecting the flesh or the Spirit in a given moment doesn’t change the fact that we are right with God all the time in our spirit.” (loc. 959 of 2138)
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. [24] God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24 ESV)
“In what ways have you based your theology on the roller coaster of your soul when heaven calls us to worship God in spirit and in truth? On one hand, we rightly say that God will never leave us or forsake us. But then we turn around and say that we can be ‘out of fellowship’ with God. In claiming things like these, we are describing how we feel in our soul.
There’s no question that, when we choose sin, we are not expressing Christ. But (and this is an important but) even when we sin, he is still within us, living at the core of our being—in our spirit. The Spirit of Christ does not come and go, no matter what our soul might feel from one moment to the next. So instead of developing an ‘in-and-out’ theology based on the roller coaster of the soul, we should be looking to the Word itself for answers. [What do you typically do when what you feel differs with what the Bible says?] The Scriptures tell us that when we sin, God’s Spirit is not being expressed (1 Thess. 5:19) and we may even experience painful outcomes from our foolish choices (Rom. 6:21; Gal. 6:8).
When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:20-23 NLT)
But our spiritual fellowship is solid and secure, unmoved by the fluctuations in our soul.” (loc. 983 of 2138)
Heaven Speaks (What Jesus might say if He were sitting right here)
“Although you experience the ups and downs of life in your mind and emotions, I have given you everything you need within your human spirit. I have filled you with my Spirit and equipped you in every way. I removed your heart of stone and gave you a new heart like mine. This is what matters most – that you are a new creation. If you are walking in this reality, then you will find peace. Just as I spoke the world into existence, I spoke your new spiritual heart into being. You are new at the core because of the words I have spoken to you. I took away your old self, nailing it to the cross. Then I buried your old self along with me. And just as I was raised from the dead on the third day, I raised you along with me to a newness of life. The surgery my Spirit performed on your heart is inward, hidden. Your praise is from me, not those around you. I have placed my desires on your mind and heart so that you know what they are and desire them yourself. You are aligned with me, and we agree. There are times you’re confused about what you want. You experience the chaos of the world, and you start to wonder. But even in those times, you can know that you and I are one. We want the same thing, as we share in the same life. As you wake up every day and live in the midst of everything earthly, remember that you, at your spiritual core, are heavenly. You are a member of a royal priesthood on earth, an alien and a stranger in the world. You are my handiwork, without blemish and free from accusation. I love all that I have made you to be. My word is meant as a mirror into your spirit. It is designed as the most perfect reminder of who you are. If you find yourself not being a “doer” of my Word, it’s only because you’ve walked away from the mirror and forgotten who you are. The best cure is to gaze long and deep into the mirror of my Word and gather in all that I have said about who you really are. I love you. – Jesus” (inspired by 2 Peter 1:3-4, 8-9; Rom. 2:29; 5:5; 6:4-6, 17; Gal. 2:20; 4:6; 6:15-16; Eze. 36:26; John 15:3; Col. 1:22; 2:11-13; 3:4; Heb. 8:10; 10:16; Phil. 2:13; 1 Cor. 6:17; 1 Peter 2:9-11; Eph. 5:26-27; James 1:23-24.) (loc. 1005 of 2138)
Awakening to Heaven (a sample closing prayer)
“Thank you, Jesus, for equipping me and making me complete in you. I often find myself doubting and wondering if I need more of you to be made whole. I realize now that these are the fluctuations of my soul, in my mind and emotions. Even when the storms of the soul rage, my spirit is firmly anchored to yours. We are one, and I cannot thank you enough for meeting my deepest need in this life and beyond. Teach me to turn a deaf ear to the sales pitch of the enemy that says I need more. Teach me to rest in you. I choose to offer my body to you, recognizing that I am dead to sin and alive in you. I feel privileged to be included in the honor of reflecting your Spirit. I love you, Jesus.” (loc. 1017 of 2138)
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