This is an initial take-through of the process which God desires to effect in all our minds while His grace still reaches
Ever considered how your brain resembles an actual seed - a dicotyledonous seed - which in this case pops out as a branching stem that supplies every single inch of your body with vitality? Well, this is another demonstration God’s beautiful workflow which I’m seeking to explore today with reference to what salvation is all about.
In this case; while your brain is a tangible structure which governs all your conscious activity; there is one equally intricate, intangible structure termed your mind which governs all your subconscious activity. Intellectual knowledge sharpens your brain’s capability on the conscious level such as to enable you interpret physical patterns (visual stimuli, auditory stimuli, taste stimuli, touch and smell) in a way that this enables you function at your best physically. On the other hand, spiritual knowledge (which has been exclusively availed to us by God) is meant to sharpen your mind’s capacity on the subconscious level such as to enable you interpret spiritual patterns (spiritual knowledge basically incorporates the incontestable laws which govern both nature and mankind) in a way that this enables you to function at your best both spiritually and physically - this just means that if your mind is sharp, your brain will also be sharp.
What am I getting to with all this? Well; when it comes to God’s Word (which has been established as being spiritual knowledge), it can enter your mind first of all through your eyes when you observe. After observing, you need to then perceive it. On the other hand, it can as well enter your mind through your ears when you hear it. After hearing, you’ll need to then take heed or let it ring over and over again within your mind. Finally, it can as well enter your mind through your mouth when you speak it. After speaking, you’ll need to judge how it registers within your mind or how it actually tastes within your spirit - the power of the tongue in this case carries life and death (Proverbs 18:21).
When this word enters your mind; it takes the form of a seed which has the potential of reaching into every inch of your being so as to charge you up with vitality. In this case; God’s Word then ends up governing how you view things, how you listen to the surrounding sounds, how you speak to others and to yourself, how you interact with your surroundings by way of touch and even smell. Thus, God’s Word enters your brain through your physical senses and it ends up resting within your mind as a seed wherein it gets optimized for germination. After optimizing the Word, your mind begins to apply it by re-configuring your habits in keeping with the Word’s guidance (in this case, you begin to submit more willingly to the laws of nature as spiritual knowledge keeps us more in touch with nature). Your mind in this case acts like the soil which causes the seed to germinate so that it ends up boosting your overall physical functionality as a human being - you begin to grow into an actual tree of righteousness as Isaiah elaborately puts it in Isaiah 61:3 ("...They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor"). In this case; as a tree now bearing good fruit in terms of your tangible/physical deeds, you begin to embody what Isaiah calls "a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor."
If you haven’t made the connection yet, your mind is your soul while the brain only functions as the vessel through which your mind so exponentially operates so as to enable you draw when you want to, sing when you want to or even offer up praises to God whenever you desire. It is the same way a phone’s software uses the phone’s shell or hardware to accomplish the phone’s overall purpose. In this case; while the brain can actually die due to lack of oxygen supply, your mind or your soul never really dies but its death is on the grounds of it being eternally separated from God and that’s why you need to be saved before you die physically. Salvation is only possible when you’re still alive as this means that you can still be able to acknowledge what the Lord has done by way of your physical senses, receive His Gospel in your hearing and then confess with your mouth and heart that you have accepted Him as Lord of your life.
In this way, it takes your brain (working through your physical senses) to receive God’s Word and the message of salvation upon which your mind enables you to perceive the overall implication of God’s word on your life. Finally, your mind begins to then govern both your spiritual functioning and physical functioning by influencing what you choose to look at, listen to, speak about, touch and even smell. This ends in the re-configuring of every inch of your being so that you are restored to the image of your Creator who is God.
Be saved while you still have your functional brain so that you can start experiencing what true life is all about. Your true self which is your mind depends solely on this!
Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is - His good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Certainly, you can only determine what God’s will is for your life once you submit your mind to the renewal process. God’s will in this case requires that you be able to first of all see, listen, speak, touch and even smell your surroundings as God Himself would if He were physically present on earth in your place. At this, Jesus Christ was and He ended up giving us the pattern to follow as we interact both with the physical and spiritual matters of life. Jesus is the only pattern for true living.
Romans 1:20: "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."
Romans 10:17: "Consequently, faith comes by hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word about Christ,"
Romans 10:9: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Very educative. I have learnt that our spiritual life is like the brain. Our minds should be trained on how to relate with God and His word.