FaithWillDo
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- Mar 1, 2023
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Dear Davey,I actually do... understand the difference.
No, you don't understand the difference between spiritual and carnal. I'll explain why below.
You said:
So don't try to tell me I don't understand the difference between carnal thinking and spiritual thinking which deals with HEAVENLY things.
You need to re-read my post to you. I am talking about God's Word and that it is written in "another language". Christ says that the words used in that language are "spirit" - they are heavenly things. The words mankind uses are "carnal" and they are earthly things.
Also, when Christ teaches us with "spirit" words, you are applying the message He is teaching "carnally" (outwardly) rather than "spiritually" (inwardly).
Here is an example of what I am saying:
Mat 26:52 Then said Jesus unto him, put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
Does Christ really mean that if you use a sword to kill others, then you must likewise be killed with a sword?
I hear that verse quoted quite often by others but they understand its message carnally. They really believe that Christ is talking about a literal steel bladed sword. So if we understand this verse carnally, Christ's statement can easily be proven to be FALSE. There are countless examples of people who have used violence to kill others but then do not die from that same type of violence - it almost goes without saying.
Is Christ mistaken or is His message something else?
The spiritual language of the Word of God utilizes the Hebrew and Greek languages. However, Christ assigns meanings to the Hebrew and Greek words which are different from how they are commonly defined:
1Cor 2:13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
In Matt 26:52, Christ is using the word SWORD to teach us a spiritual message. To understand what the spiritual symbol "sword" represents, we must look at how it is used elsewhere in scripture. In other words, we must compare spiritual things with spiritual.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edge sword...
Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword...
From the verses presented above, it is easy to understand that the spiritual word "sword" represents the Word of God who is Christ.
Christ’s hidden spiritual point He is making in Matt 26:52 is that all who take up the Sword (those who are “called out”), must perish (death of the carnal nature) by the Sword. This death is a necessary part of the conversion process which happens when the Word of God (Christ, the Sword) comes to a person.
When Christ gives an unbeliever a blow to their head with His Sword, He does so when He gives them the Early Rain. However, the Early Rain leaves them spiritually blind. Because they are blind, Satan quickly and easily deceives them into accepting "another gospel". After they accept this false gospel, the deadly wound to their head is healed. In other words, their carnal mind does not die. However, to be saved, it must die so that the believer can have the mind of Christ.
Christ is the head of the church but Satan heals the wound by his deceptions and the believer remains a child of the Devil. And with the indwelling of the spirit of anti-Christ, the believer becomes an even worse child of the Devil.
This truth is presented by the spiritual symbol "Seven Headed Beast" used in Rev chapter 13. The Seven Headed Beast represents a fallen away believer who is under the control of the spirit of anti-Christ. Contained in the description of the Beast, it shows that one of its heads has a deadly wound by a sword which has been healed:
Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Because it is healed, the believer is still a child of the Devil (mankind). For this reason, Christ must "come again" to His fallen away Elect and give them the Latter Rain. With the Latter Rain, Christ gives them a second blow to their head by His Sword. With this blow, they will die and be converted into a child of God.
This spiritual message is what this verse is also teaching:
Isa 66:16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
So when I tell you that your understanding of God's Word is carnal and not spiritual, what I have explained above is what I mean. You define the words of Christ as man's defines them and then you apply those words carnally (outwardly) rather than spiritually (within). This is why "end-time" prophecy is so greatly misunderstood. Carnal believers define Christ's "spirit" words as mankind defines them. They then apply the message "outwardly" into the world rather than "inwardly" into a believer.
You said:
And Solomon's reference to 'twice' a thousand years is NOT a reference to Christ's future "thousand years" reign of Revelation 20.
As I explained above, you are defining the words of the verse carnally, as mankind's does. You must use the spiritual meaning of the words used in the verse.
Understanding the verse as you do, the verse contains an obvious falsehood:
Ecc 6:5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. 6 Yea, though he live twice a thousand years, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
Has mankind not ever seen the sun? Has mankind not ever known anything?
By trying to understand this verse carnally, a carnal believer will make the first part of the verse is FALSE.
Unbelievers who read this scripture will do the same. When they do, they will point out this glaring error and use it as an example of why scripture is unreliable. They will also do the same thing with Mat 25:62.
Can you now understand the difference of understanding God's Word "spiritually" rather than "carnally"?
Joe
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