John 1:1

The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

For those who have followed Christ for some time it is understood that everything Christ has to say to us is contained in the Word. Access to the Word can only come by faith. Hearing the Word can only come by hearing the Spirit of Truth.

Placing our faith in Christ comes with the presence of the Holy Spirit who teaches us all things that Christ has to say to us by a confirming Word.

John 14:17

even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

Psalm 119:11

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

How can we store up His Word in our hearts if we have never read it? How can we access it by faith if we cannot hear the Spirit of Truth? His Word knows the way into our hearts where the Spirit abides to remind us of all that Christ has to say to us. How do I know this?

Ezekiel 36:26

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

When we placed our faith in Christ, we became His and this new heart is His dwelling place.

Ephesians 3:17

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

All of this comes about by taking the faith that God gave us to believe in Jesus Christ to plant Him in our hearts to grow this life of faith.

But we still need to read the Word in order for the mind to hear what our hearts are telling us.

Our minds are flesh and decay is inevitable. We must renew our decaying minds. Romans 12:2

2 Timothy 2:15

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Getting it right is one of the most important parts of following Jesus. Understand this one issue more than any other, the truth of the Word can only come from the Spirit of Truth.

1 Corinthians 2:14

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Spiritual discernment can only come to those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ and have received the Holy Spirit who will guide us in all truth.

2 Timothy 2:7

Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

When we define a disciple as a student, we teach. When we define discipleship as the discipline to follow theological principles, we become judges.

Neither of those procedures fit the idea of following Jesus Christ.

In order to follow Jesus we must hear what He is saying to us. The activation of those spiritual ears and eyes can only come about from listening to the Spirit of Truth. If a disciple cannot discern the Spirit of Truth they will be a natural person trying to figure out the truth without any help from the third person of God.  Make no mistake, the Holy Spirit is God and without His help we are still just natural people.

How does one describe a sunset to a blind and deaf person? That is impossible. Being born again is like natural childbirth. One can see but has difficulty focusing the spiritual eye. The natural eye wants to overpower the spiritual eye.

Galatians 5:17

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

The spiritual ear is even more difficult because we associate hearing with the natural ear. If we hear something with the natural ear that is not present in the natural world we define that as a form of insanity. Spiritual ears do not operate with the natural ear, they operate by faith.

Romans 10:17

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.