Spiritual Understanding

Spiritual Understanding

God wants His children to have a perfect understanding of spiritual things; He does not want us to always find ourselves in a position where we don’t understand what He desires of us. Talking about the day of the Church through the prophets, God said,

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest” Hebrews 8:10-11

God wants us to have a personal relationship with Him through His Word. Though He has given the five-fold ministry gifts to the Church to teach the saints, and build them up, He requires every one of His children to search the Scriptures for himself. He does not want us to know His acts alone. He wants us to have an insight into His mind, purposes and plans. The children of Israel knew the acts of God, but Moses knew His ways (Psalm 103:7).

1 Corinthians 14:20 is an instructive verse: “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men”

Some Christians unfortunately are children when it comes to understanding. They always require someone to tell them what God has said, instead of going through the Scriptures themselves. This is not right. It is possible to be a man physically but a mere child in other things.

There’s an innocence that children possess, which God wants His people to have. That’s why He says, “In malice, be children.” God doesn’t want you to be perfected in the wrong things of life. Rather, He wants you to be perfected in the right things. He doesn’t want you to become a professional in the wrong things. If you must become an expert at anything, it should be in things that are praise-worthy. Become an expert in understanding, in wisdom and in knowledge.

Paul also refers to this in his letter to the Colossians.
“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” Colossians 1:9.

God wants you to be filled with the knowledge of His will for you. He does not want you confused or uncertain about His desires for you. He wants you to know what He wants you to do, and what He wants you to believe on every issue of life.

Unfortunately, instead of studying the Word of God for themselves, some Christians will simply fold their arms and moan, “We don’t know the will of God, we don’t know what God might do, we don’t know what is on His mind. God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.” Have you ever heard that? It’s a lie from the pit of hell designed to keep the child of God in ignorance! God does not work in mysterious ways. He gave us the Bible, and blessed us with the Holy Spirit, and declared that as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14), and in this Scripture (Colossians 1:9), Paul prays for this church that they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. Paul was praying by the Spirit of God, and if God wanted them to be filled with the knowledge of His will, it’s proof-positive that He wasn’t about to do anything mysterious or unknown with them.

So when in Colossians 1:9, Paul prayed for the church at Colosse that they should be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, he was referring to spiritual things.

To understand spiritual things really refers to understanding the Word of God; understanding the things that are relevant to the Kingdom of God. There are many things that we don’t ask questions about, we just know them in our spirit. I was not there when Jesus rose from the dead but I believe it with all my heart. If you ask me, “How do you know?” I can only tell you I believe it. And if you’re a Christian too, you know it this way, because you also were not there. You would have to be over 2,000 years of age to have been in Jerusalem when Jesus rose from the dead.

The Bible says the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. If you ask me, “Are you born again?” I will answer that I know I’m born-again.

If you go on to ask me, “How do you know?” I can only say I know it in my spirit. The Holy Ghost bears witness with my spirit that I am a child of God. I know it deep down in me. So it is the same way with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus from the dead. I was not there, but I know it deep down in me. The Bible says so and I believe it.

I once asked a young guy a question like this and he gave a very beautiful answer. He said it was “an inner feeling.”
The more you understand the Word of God, the more spiritually enlightened you are.

You’re not supposed to do anything just because somebody said it, neither are you supposed to stick to something when it has been proven to be scripturally unsound, just because you have believed it all your life.

When you find out something is wrong, you should throw it away. Sometimes it’s amazing how God’s own children allow themselves to be easily deceived. Note that I said they “allow themselves,” because it doesn’t have to be so. But thank God, you can’t deceive the real Christian for long! If he’s desirous to follow Jesus, it’s not possible to deceive him for long. He may be deceived for a while, but he’s sure to find out the truth soon.

Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth,” and that is what He is doing right now. This doesn’t mean you should say, “Okay, now I don’t want anybody to lead me, I’ll find my way by the help of the Holy Ghost.” No! There are many ways the Holy Ghost leads us, and what is going on right now is the Holy Ghost leading you through His inspired words in this article.

When Jesus ascended on high, the Bible says,
“ ...he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men ...And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Ephesians 4:8,11-14

The Holy Ghost has established these offices in the Church. Therefore, when someone stands in any of these offices to minister, it is the Holy Ghost ministering to the saints through him. Right now the Holy Ghost is using this medium to minister to you. This is the voice of the Spirit to you right now.

The beautiful thing is that God never contradicts Himself. What He has said in His Word stands. Any other thing that other people teach you must line up with the written Word of God. That is the sure way you to know it is inspired by the Holy Ghost.