second rational christian thinking lesson

I've provided some key terms used in Rational Christian Thinking. The premise of the course runs something like this ...

It is not the external world or even Satan that makes us sin. Our sin flows from our hearts.

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. - Mk 7.21-23

No one makes me angry, I choose to be angry. No one makes me act deceitful, I choose to act deceitful. Etc..

The remedy of course is to be transformed into Christlikeness.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. - Ro 12.1-2

We need to identify wrong behavior and emotions. Any emotion contrary to the fruit of the Spirit is not of the Spirit. We have been set free from that and subsequently our actions will not be that of the "flesh".

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. - Gal 5.16-25

The consequential feeling and the decisive behavior flow when an activating event passes through our belief system. We must now transform our minds.

2 Co 5.17 - we are new. The old is gone. We are no longer slaves. We have been changed, we are changing, and therefore we can change.

Some of the characteristics of a Christian Belief System are:

• God is ever present in our lives. He is constantly with us. He loves us.
• Our minds are constantly to be in the process of being transformed and renewed. We need to always allow the Spirit to lead us into all Truth, so that our thoughts are the thoughts of God, that is, we have the "mind of Christ".
• There is a commitment to believing God's truth rather than Satan's lies. Satan's intent it to steal, kill, and destroy. A large part of abundant living is saying yes to God's truth and no to Satan's lies. Choose life rather than death.
• We acknowledge that what God says about us is the truest thing there is. We are committed to believing those truths over irrational self-talk or misinformation fed into our minds by a faulty environment.
• The Bible is God's authority. A renewed Christian will spend little time debating sinful thoughts and sinful behavior but will call certain behaviors sinful on the authority of God's Word.
• A renewed Christian recognizes that the ability to implement new thoughts and behaviors must come from the Holy Spirit. The task of renewing our minds is a direct result of His ministry. The changes that take place are infused with His power.

More later ...

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