Interesting thoughts while studying on the subject of anointing out of 1 John 2:20,27 and also referencing 2 Corinthians 1:21. Know all things…Greek word panton (which is the plural of pas [all])….the unction or the anointing was sealed in us by the Holy Spirit. We could say the anointing of God’s Spirit sealed in us is the authority and power of God to teach us the knowledge of His Word. The Teacher abides in us to reveal God’s Word to us!
Tharsei: Be of good cheer!
What should be our response in the face of great negativity and conflict between faith and fear? The Word of God exhorts us to “renew our minds”…we are commanded to not conform to this world….how is this possible? That’s a good question! We can be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Rom. 12:2). Rom. 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 1 Cor. 2:16 says we can have the mind of Christ (anointing). The anointing of God is sealed in your spirit by the Holy Spirit. You are the very temple and habitation of God by the Spirit. Faith gets God’s attention. We see Jesus speak this Greek word in Matthew 9:2, 22. What does Be of good cheer mean? It is a command (imperative). Allow faith to rise and hold you in a state of confidence and trust. Don’t be fearful any longer! We are to walk by faith and not by sight and know that “the just shall live by faith.” Faith that continues to look at things through a renewed mind and walks: continuing to be confident, be bold, be trusting! (in the Greek this should be customary, habitual and iterative, ie. repeatedly as the situation demands. It is not about the doing but more about the being!
Satan’s Devices
The Greek word nous means intellectual faculty of the natural man, the mind, the reasoning faculty (logic). 2 Corinthians 2:11, “Lest satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” The word devices referenced in this text is this Greek word nous. This word reminds me of a hangman’s noose…and that is exactly what happens in our lives when we permit ourselves to be manipulated by satan’s mind games.
Make this your confession: I am not ignorant of satan’s devices and I have the mind of Christ (the anointing). I choose to renew my mind in the Word of God (Rom. 12:2) and I am transformed!
Faith- 2 Parts
There are two parts to faith, i.e. believing and receiving. Both parts are necessary! We can see this in Mk. 11: 23,24. We must also realize that there are two types of hope, a spiritual hope and a natural hope. The spiritual hope is what you keep dropping in your spirit by the meditation on the Word of God. It is this hope which will eventually produce the believing. Natural hope is empirical knowledge. It says, “I hope I have the same experience as ___.” “I hope to see God move in our church.” This is a product of logic and reasoning.
Real faith looks like this: I believe I receive it based on God’s Word that He has obligated Himself to bring to pass for me. This faith is a realization of your inheritance, that is what you have because Christ lives in you….you are feeding your spirit and renewing your mind with the Word of God.
Ignite the nature
dikaios is the Greek word for righteous or just in Heb. 10:38. But My righteous will live of faith. How do I live? I am living by faith. My sinful nature was replaced by the divine nature of God. A sinner has the nature of sin and when I commit sin I am operating out of the nature that is within my spirit. When I live my righteousness it operates by faith. Sin vs. faith…both natures. I cannot walk out the divine nature and declare, “I am a sinner saved by grace.” I am not “dual-natured”…I walk out the divine nature inside of me…1Jn. 3:9 God cannot sin, He lives in me….I learn to walk out the power of that divine nature within me….I walk in my righteousness…when I apply the Word of God in my life…standing on His promises…. this then ignites or releases the power of the divine nature within me.
I am Justified and Made Righteous
Justified…..
The word just could be defined as : upright, equiptable, fair , righteous. The word for justification is synonymous with the word for righteousness.
Since I have been born again, I have been made righteous. I walk in the nature of God that now resides within my spirit. I am a new creation. I am justified in that I have been made righteous. I am now to walk in this newness of life. I am to walk in this nature. I walk in faith….I walk according to the Word. I walk in the likeness of the image of God.
The Duck thing…..
We’ve all heard this saying….if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, walks like a duck……it is a duck! When you were born again and made righteous by the nature of God on the inside….the operation of the Holy Spirit was performed and the old sin nature was stripped out….you are no longer a sinner….you are now a saint! You have changed kingdoms. You were delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God…Col. 1:13.
You have God inside…God is….God is reality….God is truth…when you walk in His Word…you think like God, talk like God, act like God, look like God….you are the very likeness of the image of God that he created humankind to be in the Garden.
Faith is: The Reality of Who God is
Faith is…
The just shall live by faith.
Mk. 11:22 Have faith in God…or have the God kind of faith. And we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing, meditating on the Word of God. (Rom. 10:17)
Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. For he that comes to God must believe that God is! What is faith? God’s faith is based on the reality of who He is. God’s faith is based on the reality of the fact that God is. God’s faith is based on the knowledge of His Word which brings reality in the knowledge of Him!
If God is….then I can know Him. How? He reveals Himself to me through His Word. The Word of God is truth and is no lie.
The Just Shall Live by Faith
What faith is or is not….that is the question!
You have probably visited church and heard this, “the just shall live by faith.” What does this mean? What does the word faith bring to mind? Is is a creed, a mode of behavior, a set of personal beliefs, or a school of thought?
How does one receive faith? In order to live by it I need to know what it is and how to get it. Is faith an abstract term, an attainable goal? Faith comes from the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”
How am I made just so that I can live by faith?
The opposite of just is unjust. Romans 3:10-12 (references Psalms 14:1-3;Psalms 53:1-3)… this is humankind separated from the life and nature of God living by their sin nature….vs. 22 says the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe, there is no difference; vs. 23 for all have sinned , and come short of the glory of God vs. 24 being justified freely by the grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 5:1,2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
My justification by faith is a gift!
Ephesians 2: 8,9 For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.