1 Corinthians 2:10-11 “But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. (11) For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.”
In the following section we want to discuss the need for our minds to gain spiritual understanding so that our spirits can grow strong. Before we discuss that concept however, we need to understand that both our spirits and our minds have their own understanding, and the two are not the same. Scripture reveals to us that the spirit of man has spiritual understanding. The understanding of man’s spirit however, is not to be confused with the understanding of man’s mind. To understand the concept of the spirit of man having its own understanding outside of the mind of man, we can look at the Spirit of God as an example. The Spirit of God, being a separate personality in the Godhead also has His own understanding, which is why the above quoted passage of scripture declares that the Holy Spirit searches all things even the deep things of God. In this passage the apostle Paul teaches us that a man’s spirit knows everything about the man, which would include his spirit, soul and body. And so we see that in this life the spirit of man has far greater understanding than the mind of man, for man’s mental understanding of themselves i.e. their spirit, soul and body is extremely limited. The reason why our spirits have far greater understanding than our minds is because the Holy Spirit resides in our spirits and as this passage declares, it is He that gives our spirits their understanding. So how do our spirits acquire their understanding from the Holy Spirit? Although not expressly stated, it is nevertheless implied in this passage that just as the Spirit of God searches the deep things of God, so our spirits also search the things of the Holy Spirit who resides within us. And it is therefore as a result of our spirits searching the things of the Spirit of God, that He then gives our spirits their understanding of all things. When our Lord Jesus walked the earth He made a comment that confirms this particular truth to us, for He stated that His spirit made diligent search to know God’s counsel (Psalm 77:6). And so we see that just as the spirits of the New Testament saints search the things of the Holy Spirit within them, so the Lord’s spirit would also have searched the Spirit of God who was residing in His spirit, so that He could have understanding of God’s counsel.
1 Corinthians 2:6-16 “However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. (7) But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory … (12) now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. (13) These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (14) But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (15) But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. (16) For "Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
In the passage of scripture quoted above the apostle Paul contrasts the natural man with the spiritual man. In this passage Paul tells us that the natural man does not understand the things of the spirit and they are in fact foolishness to him. The reason that the things of the spirit are foolishness to the natural man is because the things of the spirit are hidden from them, which is why this passage speaks of the hidden wisdom of God. And so we see that the natural man is constrained in their understanding to that which can be understood with natural human wisdom, whereas the spiritual man has great advantage in this life, for he has spiritual understanding. So what does it mean to have spiritual understanding? This passage tells us that one who is spiritual understands all things (the word translated “judge” can also be translated “understand”). In other words the spiritual man knows what to say and how to act in every situation they encounter. The natural man on the other hand doesn’t understand half of what’s going on in their lives or the reasons why. Have you ever heard someone say “I just don’t understand why this is happening to me”? The spiritual man observes and listens to the natural man and fully understands what is going on in their lives and why. On the other hand, when the natural man listens to the spiritual man and observes their lives they fail to comprehend what they are saying or why they act the way they do. Paul ends the above passage with the question, “Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” followed by the statement, “but we have the mind of Christ”. Paul is not saying that because believers have the mind of Christ that they can therefore instruct the Lord, he is simply saying that the Lord has given us His understanding. His understanding is in our spirits however, which is why it is only those who are spiritual who have access to that understanding.
Colossians 3:9-10 “Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, (10) and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit once again confirms the truth to us that the born-again spirit has spiritual understanding, for the new man that He is referring to in this passage is the born-again spirit of the believer. I want you to notice from this passage that the Holy Spirit says that our spirits are renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created our new man. A more accurate translation of the word “renewed” in this passage is “made new”, and that would be the more appropriate rendering of this word, for our spirits have become new creations of God (2 Corinthians 5:17) which includes our spirit’s understanding, whereas our minds are not new creations and thus still need to be renewed in their understanding (Romans 12:2). In other words the Holy Spirit is telling us in this passage that our born-again spirits, which have been created by God in the image of Jesus Christ, have been given new knowledge and understanding. So does that mean that our spirits know everything that God knows? Not at all, for the apostle Paul teaches us very clearly that in this life we only know in part and that we will only have perfect knowledge when we go to be with the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 13:9-12).
Hebrews 10:16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.”
The question is then asked, if God does not give us perfect knowledge in this life, what knowledge and understanding does God impart to our spirits when we are born-again? The answer to that question is that it is the knowledge and understanding of God’s word that is imparted to our spirits. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit confirms this truth to us, for in this passage God says that under the New Covenant He puts His laws into our hearts. The heart that God is referring to in this passage is the spirit of the believer. When God puts His laws into our spirits He does so by giving our spirits understanding of His word, for if we did not understand the word written in our hearts it would be of no benefit to the saint at all. For not understanding God’s word is the same as not having access to His word. There is therefore another important aspect of this truth that we need to understand, which is that our spirits are not reliant on an external source for spiritual understanding of God’s word, for our spirits are taught by God Himself. Our Lord Jesus confirmed that same truth to us when He was on the earth, when He stated that the New Testament saints would be taught by God (John 6:45).
1 John 2:20-21 “But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. (21) I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.”
The context of the above quoted passage of scripture is that the apostle John is teaching the church about false teachers. And so in this passage John confirms to us the same truth that the apostle Paul taught, i.e. that our spirits have full knowledge of God’s word, for he says that we know all things. When John says that the saints know all things he goes on to elaborate what he means by that statement, for he speaks about us knowing the truth of God’s word and not being deceived by any false doctrine that we may come across in our Christian walk. In this passage John also confirms to us where our spirits acquire their knowledge of God’s word, for he speaks about the anointing teaching us all things. The anointing that John is referring to in this passage is the Holy Spirit.
Romans 2:14-15 “for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, (15) who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.”
We have established thus far that when God writes His laws into our hearts (spirits), that He at the same time gives our spirits understanding of His word. So when does God do that? In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul gives us an indication of when that happens, for in this passage he speaks about gentile believers not having the law and yet knowing what the law says. Paul goes on to explain to us that the reason that gentile believers know what God’s word declares, is because His law has been written in their hearts i.e. their spirits. And so we see from this passage that the spirit of the believer is able to give the believer guidance in the affairs of life from the moment they are born-again, thus indicating very clearly to us that God gives our spirits full understanding of His word at the new birth. This same passage once again confirms the truth to us that the born-again spirit has full knowledge of all of God’s word, for as we can see from this passage there is no area of life that the believer encounters where their spirits are unable to give them guidance according to God’s word. As an aside, we need to understand that God treats our minds differently to our spirits, for although at the new birth we receive new spirits we do not receive new minds. And so because we do not receive new minds when we are born-again, God admonishes the believer to renew their minds to His word (Romans 12:2). When God instructs the believer to renew their minds, He places the onus on the saint to accomplish that. And so although, as we have seen in an earlier passage, God also writes His laws in our minds, He only does that as the believer is diligent in renewing their minds to His word. Therefore unlike the spirit of the believer, which receives full knowledge and understanding of God’s word at the new birth, God imparts knowledge and understanding of His word to the mind of the believer progressively over time. And so it is almost as if in this life, the mind of the believer is continually playing catch up with spirit of the believer in the area of spiritual understanding of God’s word. It is for this reason that the apostle Paul encourages the saints to set their minds on the things of the spirit, because our minds need to gain spiritual understanding in order come into sync with our spirits which already have spiritual understanding (Romans 8:5-6).
Michael E.B. Maher
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