In the book of Hebrews 8: 7- 13 we read ' For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbour, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” In that He says, “A new covenant, ” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away '.
Trusting in and depending upon the Lord for His anointing we are going to look into attaining a new understanding. Proverbs 4:7 says ' Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding '. What is understanding ? It is the capacity or organ of sight of the internal, inner man. Every person has an internal and an external man, these two are to be and act as one, but sin has so disordered man that today you can hardly find singular people even among the church, except we are regenerated this duplicity will not cease. The case today is that man manipulates his understanding from his will internally to give an expression of what pleases him and is beneficial to his natural life. To attain to a new understanding this must change.
Continuing with what is the understanding we must also look into memory, a component. Memory is created and formed by storing knowledge of images, scents, sounds, feelings, and tastes from the time a newborn is in the mothers' womb and increases when he comes into the world. This process cannot be measured nor explained by any natural man or instrument, we can only grasp the general meaning. This memory which is all natural ( because we are born into the natural world ), then forms an understanding for the will of man, that the two may be a person. The desires of a person belongs to their will, the emotions and affections belong to the mind or understanding. Emotions are formed by the conjunction of the will and the understanding, or is the effect of that conjunction/agreement, thus people agree on some things, and feel differently about the same issues in life.
To point out the difference between the will and the understanding , one may know what is right because of being taught the truth, this is in memory and forms the understanding, yet by a deliberate act this same one does/acts on the contrary. In the scriptures King Saul knew that David was not his enemy yet he pursued David to kill him, Saul desired the honour he had lost through disobedience to the Word of God by the Prophet Samuel , he saw that David was now honoured. A clear example of how we can know and understand truth and yet do evil. There are many examples in the scriptures that teach us the difference between the understanding/mind and the will. So then, though the understanding may be in truth, the will can be in impurity and evil intent. To him that knows what to do and does not do it, it is sin. The man who buried the talent that was given to him by the master, wilfully hid what he understood to be true and the right thing to do.
The reason why we must have a new understanding is that it is the only way for us to be regenerated and conform to the image of Jesus Christ. Romans 8: 29 -30 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
The process of being regenerated begins with being born again, which is being born from above, from God. Our natural parents give birth to our natural bodies and aids our natural minds, added to this is what one inherits through hereditary means. God the Father of spirits gives birth to our spirits, or quickens/makes alive from the dead our spirits. Proverbs Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the inner depths of his heart.
Luke 11:33 “No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lamp stand, that those who come in may see the light.
All other efforts to be spiritual though sincere are in vain, no one can be saved except by Jesus Christ, He alone lights the candle or lamp which is the spirit of man, religious teachings only go into the same natural understanding and from thence is manipulated by the unconverted to show forth his religion, but there is no reality of heavenly life until a new understanding and will is formed by Jesus Christ.
Note that in the scripture we began with, God said that if there was no fault with the first covenant there would not be a need for a second. The fault was that the Law exposed the weakness and sinful nature of man, and his helplessness to keep it, for it could only indoctrinate and not regenerate man, forcing man to do what his will and love was opposed to. Romans 8: 3-4 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8: 7-8 ..the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
So the coming of Jesus Christ to establish a new covenant was necessary, now the old religious efforts have vanished. Why can't the natural man please God ? It's because his heart always wants to go back to Egypt which represents the past old life of bondage to and delight in the earthly, worldly pleasures of sin. In the Old Testament we see Israel always breaking away from the Lord and going the way of other nations. Why ? because the law was not written on their hearts, the Holy Spirit was not yet given, only promised. They were to be obedient to the rules and ordinances naturally, but they soon grew weary in doing this, only a remnant like the prophets and a few humble folks continued in the law faithfully. Now that the Holy Spirit is come and we can serve God willingly and naturally out of love from our hearts, because He is joined to our spirits . Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
The Law is now written on our hearts/will, but note that first it is put in our minds. There is a difference in putting in the mind and writing on the heart that we cannot bypass. Transformation takes place only as the mind/understanding is renewed. When God says He will put the Law in our minds, this is done spiritually through the agency of the angels and spirits sent forth from the Lord in the form of thoughts to our minds. If those thoughts are rejected by our will the new understanding cannot be formed, neither a new will. A falsehood or error will remain in the place of that new thought sent from the Lord to regenerate us. The temple must be cleansed.
Writing in the spirit means to keep in the memory, that is why the new heart/will is formed by keeping in memory the new thoughts put by the Lord into the new mind. This process creates conflicts between the old man and the new man for a while, until we gain the victory and be established in the present truth. This is what the new creation is all about.
Note also in our scripture that because Israel ( this is the spiritual man ) continued not in the covenant, God disregarded them. he did not disown them or disinherit them. He could not regard their religious behaviour, or give attention to it. When we behave like the Israelites in our walk with God the same will happen to us. Many of the churches today are experiencing this disregard, that is why though they are Gods' people they have no revelation, no real fellowship and community life. They interpret the Word of God naturally to their own stagnation. The reason is they love this world and their own lives more than God, and they keep in memory the same old mentality. They make up the 30 and 60 folds dimensions of the Kingdom of God. They also become the churches that have lost their hearing, let him that has an ear to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Gods' love for us will never cease but he cannot regard our rebellion and disrespect for him.
1 Corinthians 2 :13-16 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 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. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
We cannot grasp spiritual teachings with the natural mind. All heresies, errors, and falsehoods are due to men of corrupt and natural minds trying to interpret the scriptures, using the historical natural word which only keeps the mind on the sense of external and literal things. The natural literal Word conceals the spiritual sense of the Word like the clouds hide the sun. So only by revelation can we come to a true understanding of the Word of God, this is why we were given the Holy Spirit, to know the things that are freely given to us. 1 Corinthians 2:12 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.
Jesus said when the Spirit comes He will guide us into all truth, note He will guide, therefore we must follow not lead. John 16: 12 - 15 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.
When the new understanding is formed, a foundation is laid for more understanding, the capacity to accommodate God is increased, this joyous process is eternal and everlasting and is eternal life. The opposite is true, when men harden themselves and reject the new understanding, a foundation is laid for error and falsehood, the capacity to accommodate evil spirits is enlarged, this sad and vexing process is hell and continues for eternity for those who confirm themselves in evil by rejecting Jesus Christ. So it is irresponsible and utterly abominable to teach of a magical transformation into heaven for anyone, God will judge those who teach that people can live a life of total demonic activity and evil practices and suddenly be forgiven and enter eternal life. This is a form of insanity making God appear to break and violate His own Divine order for the salvation of those who do not want to be saved. It is impossible for God to lie, impossible. We are not to bring Him down to our level of humanism, but to reach up to Him through the Spirit out of our fleshly humanity.
