Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Emotions or knowing?

...each of us as a believer has a spirit knowing that our sins are forgiven. It's not an emotional knowing. It's not simply a fact knowing that's tied to a past event, whereby we remember the day we trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior. Spirit knowing transcends that. We have an inner knowing that our sins are forgiven. We know that. The Holy Spirit has revealed it to us. In the same way, God wants us to know that we have been crucified with Christ, and that it is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us. That is the work of the Holy Spirit: to make a knower out of us, rather than a feeler or a thinker or a hoper.

Knowing is not feeling. It is not thinking. To someone who hasn't yet experienced the difference, knowing seems based on feelings and thoughts. But it isn't. In knowing, you and what you know are one. You become mixed, or united, with the thing that you know.— The Rest of the Gospel: When the partial Gospel has worn you out, pages 125-126

<idle musing>
One time, several years ago now, we were trying to explain the "Christ in you" life to someone. They blurted out, "But it's so touchy-feely!" Nope! We tried to explain what we meant, but they didn't understand it. Hopefully they do now.
</idle musing>

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