DM#12: Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind

Doctrine of the Mysteries #12

The Roman epistle is the foundation laying epistle for the grace believer. It lays four cornerstones that will stablish the believer in ‘the faith’; and set them up to build upon this foundation with the doctrine presented in the rest of Paul’s letters.

The first cornerstone of the Romans foundation is understanding God’s righteousness opposed to the depravity of men. The second is understanding God’s free justification and grace through faith in Christ. The third is to gain knowledge of God’s dispensational wisdom and His purpose for both Israel’s prophecy program and the mysteries of the Body of Christ. In the fourth and last cornerstone, from chapter 12, Paul lays out the characteristics and outcomes of the application of his doctrine in the grace believer.

Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind 

Rom 12:1-2  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  (2)  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

DM#11: Blindness in part is happened to Israel

Doctrine of the Mysteries #11

Blindness in part is happened to Israel 

Paul’s 13-epistles constitute the ‘mystery doctrine’. It is Paul himself that describes his inspired writings as mysteries,

1Cor 4:1  Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Eph 3:3  How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

He calls his writings mysteries, not because they were mysterious or enigmatic, but because they were a secret that was never revealed before. Paul tells us that what he made known, “was kept secret since the world began, but now made manifest”, Rom 16:25-26. Paul uses the words, “but now”, many times in his epistles, as it indicates that things were a certain way before, but now, by God’s design, they were replaced by a new set of doctrinal principles, and these principles were never prophesied and made known in the prophetic scriptures.

Accounting for the sequential order of Paul’s epistles in the Bible, the very first mystery that we encounter, is the blinding of Israel, as quoted below,

DM#10: Debtors to the Spirit

Doctrine of the Mysteries #10

Debtors to the Spirit

Rom 8:12-14  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.  (13)  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  (14)  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

Our principal duty as believers, which is also the will of God for us, is to come to the knowledge of the truth, 1Tim 2:4. How do we come to the knowledge of the truth? We study the written Word of truth and learn how to rightly divide it, 2Tim 2:15. We allow the Word of God to dwell in us richly, Col 3:16. We allow it to renew our mind so that it makes us wise unto its doctrine, allowing it to reprove, correct, and instruct us.

Being led by the Spirit of God is not being led by some ethereal voice or premonitions, but rather, it is simply having a knowledge and understanding of the written Word within you. You walk by the Spirit (or walk by faith) when you obey the truth of God’s Word, applying it to your life circumstances and scenarios. Notice what Paul says here,

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DM#9: O wretched man that I am!

Doctrine of the Mysteries #9

Time for a quick synopsis

Paul’s mystery doctrine is a spiritual message. It cannot be received or understood by the carnal mind. The Corinthians were informed about this in the very beginning of their epistle,

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Likewise, Paul starts the foundational epistle of Romans with the statement,

Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 

Paul was stating that to continue in his writings, one had to first be saved. In the context of this post, salvation is the condition for enrolment into the curriculum. This is confirmed in the fact that the next few chapters of Romans are a presentation of the gospel, informing us that all men are lost, and need to believe in Jesus Christ to receive the free gift of justification, a quickened spirit, and atonement by the grace of God, Rom 3:23-26.

DM#8: Dead to the law

Doctrine of the Mysteries #8

Dead to the law

We have determined that Romans chapter 6 is an incredibly important, mile-marker chapter. It sets a strong precedent for a believer who is committed to learning and living the mystery doctrine. After telling us that through faith in the gospel of grace, we have justification and access to the grace of God, Paul immediately gets into the details of what we should know, and how we should start to think. He places a responsibility upon us to learn a few things which are intended to renew our pattern of thought, things that will help us to understand our new position in Christ, and spiritual truths that will become cornerstones within the foundation he will lay throughout Romans.

Having informed us that we are dead to sin, Paul enlightens us of our relationship with the law. There are a few surprises in store for the uninformed reader.  

Rom 6:15-17  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.  (16)  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  (17)  But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

SPIRITUAL LESSONS

Paul uses that statement again, “God forbid!” He is cautioning you not to think carnally. We cannot reason spiritual truth in a carnal mind. We must consider what we are being taught from our new positional stance with God, through Jesus Christ.

DM#7: Dead to sin

Doctrine of the Mysteries #7

Dead to sin

The book of Romans does not waste any time in getting a believer straight in their faith. Romans is a foundational book, and it sets the standard, going forward, for the mystery doctrine. Having come through the first five chapters that bring us to justification, delivered to us as a free gift through Christ, and by the perfect grace of God, we come to chapter 6, an incredibly important, mile-marker chapter, and it packs a proverbial punch. The first 4-verses of Romans 6 sets a strong precedent for a believer who is committed to learning and living the mystery doctrine. Let’s see what it says,

Rom 6:1-4  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?  (2)  God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?  (3)  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?  (4)  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.