The Holy Spirit: Revealing the Mind of God

July 9, 2024

Who can know the depths of God’s mind?  Paul answers this question in 1 Corinthians chapter two.  “For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?  Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:11 NASB95) To understand who can know the thoughts of God we can first ask this question: Who can know your thoughts? The only one (other than God) who knows your thoughts is you!  Your own spirit which is in you knows your thoughts.  Who then knows the thoughts of God?  The Spirit of God is the only one who can know the thoughts of God.

Unless you reveal your thoughts, no one can know what you are thinking.  It is the same with God.  Thankfully, God has revealed His thoughts through His Spirit.  “…but just as it is written, things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.  For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NASB95) There is amazing wisdom available to us; wisdom that is so great, it never entered into the heart of man before; wisdom that comes from the depths of God’s mind!  This breathtaking wisdom has been revealed through the Holy Spirit who then revealed them to the apostles and prophets.  These things were then handed down to us through their writing.  God has revealed His thoughts!  We can begin to know His mind!  Isn’t that good news?

But we can only delve into the depths of God’s mind if He allows it. God has revealed His thoughts, but not everyone will be able to take them in.  Only a spiritual person can accept the things revealed by the Spirit.  As Paul continues, “But a natural man does not accept the things of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” (1 Corinthians 2:14 NASB95) A natural person cannot accept or understand the things of God.  Why?  Because they are spiritually discerned (appraised).  What is a “natural man?”  It is a person who is not walking by the Spirit.  Natural people cannot understand spiritual things!  Only those led by the Spirit can understand the things of the Spirit.  This is a very important truth that we must take to heart.  The depths of God can only be mined by those who are walking by the Spirit.  The Spirit of God gave us the word of God, and the Spirit helps us to understand and accept the word of God!  But the natural person will be cut off from God’s wisdom.

What amazing opportunities lie before us.  Let’s walk by the Spirit so that we can go ever deeper into the mind of God!

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

Inoculation Against Falsehood

June 14, 2024

A quote often attributed to the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels says, “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”  This seems to have become a motto for many in the world.  Our world is awash in lies, deception, and hypocrisy.  The lies that emanate from the lord of this world, the devil, are repeated over and over until people start to believe them.  Things that were once common sense and bedrock truths are now questioned by many.  This is especially true in human morality and behavior.  I’m sure you can think of some big, obvious lies that the masses are starting to believe.

Of course, we are not immune to falling for these lies ourselves.  Continuously repeated lies can seep into the church and pull us away from the truth.  We must be careful not to get sucked in.  What can we do to inoculate ourselves against the lies?

We must know the truth!  And where do we find the truth?  Jesus prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” (John 17:17 NASB95) The truth about mankind, our condition, what is right and what is wrong, and all matters of our eternal destination are found in the word of God.  We need to know the word and be grounded in it!

We must know the truth, and we must love the truth!  Those who do not love the truth are in great spiritual danger.  Paul warns the church at Thessalonica that one day “the man of lawlessness” will be revealed.  He will come with “all the deception of wickedness,” and people will perish, “… because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved…” (2 Thessalonians 2:10 NASB95) It is not enough to know the truth.  Even the devil knows the truth.  As children of God, we must continually cultivate a love for the truth. 

Finally, to inoculate ourselves against the lies of this world, we must remove what is false from our own lives.  As Peter wrote, “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.” (1 Peter 2:1 NASB95) Notice that we must put away deceit. This is more than just not telling lies. It means putting away any attempt to be crafty or cunning.  It means not doing things like leaving out critical information in order to bait people into believing something untrue.  Notice also that we are to put aside hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is putting on a mask to mislead people about your true purposes and motivations.  People who love truth will always strive to put away any kind of falsehood.  As we do so, we will prepare our hearts to accept the truth and to grow in salvation.

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

The Spirit, the Word, and Singing

March 7, 2023

Spirit-filled Christians will sing praises to the Lord. Listen to the connection between the Spirit and singing in these words: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord…” (Ephesians 5:18-19 NAS95) Being filled with wine leads to dissipation (wastefulness, debauchery), but being filled by the Spirit leads to (among many other things) singing of praises.

Similarly, Christians who are filled with the word of Christ will sing praises.  “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16 NAS95)

What kind of singing will those who are filled with the Spirit and the word offer?  It is singing which speaks to, teaches, and admonishes those assembled.  When we sing together, we are reminding one another of God’s word and what God expects of us as His children.  Singing is a mutual teaching experience, and it should engage the minds of those gathered. 

The Spirit-filled, word-filled believer will offer singing to God that not only engages the mind, but also the heart.  Perhaps at times, we have been guilty of singing the words of hymns that we know well while our hearts are disengaged.  But true worship is about offering our hearts to God in praise and thankfulness.  Worship is to come from our innermost being.  Many try to create a meaningful worship experience by focusing on external things—a great sound, great lighting, great visual effects, etc. But true worship doesn’t come from external things.  It comes from the heart.  I am convinced that the most meaningful songs in God’s eyes, and the most beneficial songs for us, are the simple songs of praise that come from a grateful and reverent heart. 

One might look at our simple worship and think that there’s not much to see—and they’re right.  But the question is, what is going on that you can’t see?  What is going on in the hearts of those gathered?  In the spiritual realm, there is meaningful, uplifting, powerful worship coming from thankful hearts that are filled with the Spirit and the word.  Let us worship God with all our hearts this Lord’s Day.         

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin

True Discipleship

November 30, 2021

Are you truly a disciple of Jesus? Perhaps a better question is this: does Jesus recognize you as one of His disciples? Many people claim to be His followers, but simply saying it doesn’t make it so. Jesus has told us who His disciples are. “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him, ‘If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine’” (John 8:31, NASB) Notice that this is a conditional statement. If we abide in His word, then we are truly His disciples. To abide in the word is to live in it and continue in it. Abiding in His word is to long for the pure milk of the word. It is to meditate on His word. And very importantly, it is to unite what we hear with faith and to obey His word.

It is of utmost importance that we learn to abide in His word in our daily lives. We need to make time to hear and to cherish our Father’s words! It is also of utmost importance that we abide in His word in our classes and worship services. Remember, the word of God will perform its work in us who believe (1 Thessalonians 2:13). The word of God is living, active, sharper than any two-edged sword, and can pierce us deeply in our inner being (Hebrews 4:12). The words of Jesus are spirit and they are life (John 6:63). It is His word, then, that we need to cherish, uphold, and abide in, both in our personal lives and in our assemblies. This is what true disciples of His will strive for.

May we all be true disciples of Jesus and abide in His word! May God help us to be still, to listen, to apply, and to let His word work powerfully in us!

— Scott Colvin

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Posted by Russell Holden

Under the Knife

September 18, 2020

The tabloid press continually report on beautiful people who went under the knife to be more beautiful. They went under the knife of cosmetic surgery pursuing a vision of outer perfection. Although such surgery seems extreme, all of us would willingly consent to surgery when our life or health is at stake. None of us like it, but we are willing to go under the knife.

But there is a surgery more important than the ones to enhance outward beauty or repair physical health. This surgeon wields more than a scalpel. He wields a sword.

Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:11–13, ESV

The message about the sword is bracketed by some important ideas. We are to strive to enter the rest which is heaven itself, and we are warned that this rest can be missed by disobedience. At the end, we are told that everything about us is exposed to God before whom we must give account. God has already seen all our spiritual x-rays, CAT scans, and MRIs. There is nothing about us that he doesn’t already know. We shouldn’t play games or think we can hide. Faking it leads to disaster even if others buy our sham.

The point of sword is that it pierces. The sword of the word can pierce all the way to our thoughts and intentions. God has always wanted our hearts (Deuteronomy 6:5). God has always wanted his law written on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). This is surgery to make us more beautiful on the inside. This is surgery to correct our failing spiritual health. Without it, we will spiritually die. The surgeon wants us more obedient, more holy. The word’s penetration into our heart is to make us more like the one we are following – Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Hebrews reveals all too clearly that there have been others who have heard the word and responded with hardened hearts (3:7-8). We have a spiritual surgeon who wants to penetrate all the way to thoughts and intentions. He wants to make us more beautiful on the inside. He wants to make us more like Him. Are we willing to go under the knife?

−Russ Holden

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Posted by Russell Holden