GLEANINGS 2

In Gleanings part one, I talked about your Position (Standing) and your Condition (State) in GOD’S sight, and how your Position was secured by Christ’s work for you. He did what you could not do for yourself which is the reconciling of yourself to GOD.

Once that is a reality the next step is to bring your Condition up to the level of your position. Another way of saying that is; “Once saved, you need to get your act together.”

Paul the Apostle recognized this fact and addressed it as an important issue that is common to us all. The separation of Position and Condition was an essential part of salvation. If our Position (Standing) before GOD depended upon our Condition (Conduct) then it would have been based upon our (self) righteousness instead of Christ’s sacrifice. Because of the infirmity (weakness) of flesh we couldn’t meet GOD’S requirement for forgiveness and no one would be saved.

Paul knows in order to help the church measure up to GOD’S standard he would have to break it down to layman’s language. He explains that man is a three part being, spirit, soul and body, and then he goes further to say: present the use of your body for the service of the LORD. That excludes many things like; honky tonking, stealing, gluttony and the rest of the “List of lust."

After dealing with the body Paul immediately turns to the complex soul.

Compositionally the soul is mind, will and emotions. Some have used the description: thinker, decider and feeler, however when you view the soul you must deal with the component parts separately.

Romans 12:1-2 deals directly with the soul and gives instructions as what to do, and then explains the result of doing it. These words, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” are just what a Christian needs to know. It is a “how to” achieve a needful result.

Think with me; big bad Bob goes to church and is convicted of his sins; he goes to the altar and gets saved. He is now position-ally right with GOD. He is still big bad Bob conditionally. Soulically he has a lot of work to do. How he feels (his emotions) about things must change and come into harmony with his present state. His decisions need to be made in light of GOD’S word. His mind now must be transformed to reflect a born again one’s standing and his attitude toward himself as a child of GOD must be one of acceptance, ole Bob doesn't live here anymore, in fact he doesn't exist anymore, he is forever gone. Since he is gone, the mind needs to change in order to accommodate the new BOB.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYkNtE3l1gc&feature=related
(THIS WILL CONTINUE)