We've all heard of the "split personality", well this concept is far more pervasive than we may have thought, and
especially in the life of the believer, for at the moment we accept Christ as Savior we aquire another life, a living
spirit, and an entirely new agenda for our lives.
Needless to say, this state of existence is somewhat complicated, and it requires many years of study and application to
begin to differentiate, on a moment by moment basis, exactly which life, and which frame of mind, we are operating with.
Let me explain.
From the moment of birth we have a mentality, a soul which is manifest by the small, smooth organ called the brain. As we
grow and develop the brain's surface becomes irregular, and the more so as we grow older. By one means or another, many
thousands of variations of stimuli shape our conscious mind, and we learn the nuances of life in minute detail. Thus, we
adopt as absolute the entity called the mind, so far as the source of thinking is concerned.
Every facet of life is controlled and moderated by the institutions of this world, our culture, our society, our education,
and a hundred other influences. These, and our own personality, shape us as a person.
Then, one day we accept Christ as our Savior, and ZAP!, in one instant of time we are transformed into a new
creature, a spiritual entity, and with this "rebirth", or second birth, we inherit another life, eternal life. With this
new life comes the necessity of developing the new mind that will dominate it, guide us in spiritual matters.
One can readily see how things get very complicated in a heart beat!
In that moment our lives assume an entirely new direction, ordained of God, but the problem is, we are blissfully
ignorant of it! For the longest time we continue to operate within the cosmic mind, as is normal, while we begin to
gather information that forms the spiritual mind. The distinction is one of vital importance.
Supposing that we expose ourselves to a good teacher, our spiritual mind begins to take an active part in our daily lives,
our decision making, and the way we view life in general. We would call this growing awareness "divine viewpoint", for it
is based upon "The Mind of Christ", or the substance of scripture.
This is the process that God has programmed into this experiment called "human history", and while it does seem almost too
convoluted for us to understand, the power of God is instrumental in making this a reality, until eventually our spiritual
mind is the one we use primarily, as we avoid the cosmic, or carnal mind, as much as possible.
It should be apparent that there is a conflict in the making, as we become aware of the spiritual mind, and begin "jumping
back and forth" between the two minds. This presents a problem of some proportion, obviously, as it is given to confusion
at times, and lends to discouragement, illusion, distraction. To put it mildly, we tread a very tentative path as we
struggle to develop a spiritual maturity, to the exclusion of the cosmic mentality we were born with.
It is God's objective for us to aquire a complete spiritual mind, and operate exclusively, or almost exclusively, on
the tenets of scripture. As we grow, we master more of the finer details of life, then move on to more involved processes,
more profound thoughts, until we reach a pinnacle in the spiritual life where the carnal mind plays almost no part at all.
It's always there while we occupy this body, the cosmic mentality, and we slip into it on occasion, but the trick is to
recognize this lower state of mind and recover our spiritual mind as soon as possible. This involves a procedure called
"rebound".
The principles involved in this area of life are absolutely fascinating;
But let me illustrate from history just what the difference is bewteen the manifestation of the one mind, as opposed to the
other.
The exodus generation, led by Moses, are one of the most succinct examples that comes to my mind. If you are familiar with
that saga, the liberation of the Jews from Egypt, and the struggles of a great leader, Moses, to keep them alive in a
hostile environment, you will understand this example all the more fully.
Note that those Jews witnessed many spectacular miracles, like the pillar of fire, and the parting of the Red Sea, yet they
were in awe only a brief moment before they returned to maligning Moses, and even conspiring to kill him. As the epic of that
40 years unfolds we begin to see the working of the two minds we are studying...the carnal mind of the Jews, and the
spiritual minds of just a scant few. The contrast is startling.
With each miracle, each deliverance, the Jews returned to their spiritual mind for a short while, they worshipped God and praised
Moses. But shortly they were back to their old tricks, vacating divine veiwpoint and returning to their carnality. The root
casue of this vascillation was their refusal to hear and apply doctrine, as taught by Moses and Aaron. In a carnal state
of mind, they rejected truth, and thus did not develop a strong spiritual mind. This points to certain reality; One mind
or the other will become the dominant, depending upon the individual volition.
The carnal mind cannot cycle truth as God intended. Principles of doctrine, which comprise solutions to the problems of
life, have no pertainance. We know the right stuff, but have not the power to use it to our fullest advantage.
Out of fellowship, in a carnal state, the power of The Holy Spirit is denied us, and we operate on the mind we were born
into this world with, and it simply doesn't "cut it" in the spiritual warfare we must deal with. Only the spiritual mind
perceives of reality on a spiritual plane, and is convinced of the power we are given to overcome the appearance of
reality, the trappings of this world.
In effect, there are two realities; That of this world, and that of the eternal state. To grasp this, the contrasting
spheres we are exposed to, is paramount in understanding much of what we are doing here, what the issues are that we are
intended to understand, and how to deal with them successfully.
Here are some absolute principles that come to bear, and produce a very desirable effect;
1. The spiritual mind is "higher", for it is rooted in eternity as opposed to a temporal environment. This means that
we have the power, with a well developed spiritual mind, to overcome the problems of this life, which are a byproduct
of a temporal realm. The eternal is superior in every way to the temporal.
2. The spiritual mind understands the carnal mind, but not vise versa. This is significant, for much of the wisdom we
aquire is the result of perspective, looking back at mistakes and arriving at certain conclusions that enable us to
understand why we failed, and how to avoid failure of the same sort again.
On the other hand, when the carnal mind is stuck in a problem it resorts to human solutions, brushes grace aside, and
won't even recognize the issues as they truely are. The carnal mind cannot apply spiritual soultions, and those are the
only effective soultions.
4. The spirtual mind always filters every impulse, every stimulus, every circumstance through the resident doctrine in the
soul. This is called in scripture "capturing every thought for Christ". This is the very purpose for which Jesus Christ
recorded the substabce of His thoughts, that we might adopt His rationales, His mental processes, in living our lives. In Him
God has provided us a template for life, and victory in the angelic conflict.
5. The two minds are diametrically opposed in every way. This is the contrast between divine and creature viewpoint.
The interesting thing is that we do not lose human viewpoint even if we persist in the spiritual mind, but we do lose
divine viewpoint if we neglect it. The reason should be obvious.
This existence is steeped in the cosmic system, completely oriented to the temporal. Cosmic mentality is born into us, and
is a residual influence in this body of corruption. Spiritual mentality, on the other hand, is aquired, and is foreign to
the temporal, the corrupt. It must be maintained by constant upkeep and enhancement. We naturally slip into human veiwpoint
with no effort at all, but it is a conscious effort to gain, and sustain, spiritual mentality.
6. With the aquiring of spiritual maturity we break through the cosmic barrier and bask in the ambience of the eternal
realm, even in this body. This is another manifestation of the ascendent nature of the eternal, as opposed to the temporal.
The spiritual is everlasting, unchangeable, and if we persist in remaining in the spiritual mind we eventually feel the
power of eternity in a very real sense. We share God's happiness, and every moment we operate with supreme confidence. We
rarely succum to disillusion, and then only when we fall into the carnal mind for some reason, and remain there long enough.
The plan of God, in it's most basic fundamentals, is designed to accompish this single objective; To instill in us the
spiritual mind, and gradually, overcome the disruptive and destructive nature of the carnal mind. In this God is demonstarting
the ascendency of His Person and plan. Satan is doomed by the successful emergence, in man, of the spiritual mentality, in spite
of the fact that we are born into this world, his kingdom, and we are slaves to his system. Only the truth can set us free,
and that fact will comprise the gist of Satan's sentence to the fires of hell.
Another fascinating aspect of the two minds is the perception of reality.
Have you ever been frustrated because a friend can't grasp spiritual reality? Like the basics of salvation by faith, and
not works? Many of my fiends are convinced that they are happy, when I know they aren't. But the thing is....they are
happy in cosmic terms. Let me expand on this a moment.
The world defines happiness in one way, and God another. If we reside in the carnal mind then we see happiness in worldly
terms....things, relationships, power, sex, whatever. In reality, these things don't convey happiness, quite the contrary,
but try and convince the carnal mind of that!
Take the entertainment industry, for example. Did you ever see a more miserable bunch than movie stars? Yet, if you take a
poll, they would say to a man that they are blissfully happy, and they are if they are carnal. Worldly happiness is real,
but infinately inferior to eternal happiness, which thrives upon divine viewpoint, doctrine in the soul, and nothing of
this existence.
It seems impossible that people who fall into drug and booze addiction, get divorced every year, and suffer from a level
of illusion that we can't even understand, could actually believe they are happy. But they do believe it!
The good news is, true happiness is available to all of us, not just the rich and famous. We can lay hold of the pure
quill, the unshakable happiness of God, by persistent study of His Word and its' application to our lives. Such is the
blessing of the spiritual mind, and the blindness of the carnal.