Innermost Knowing
A Knowing That Is Deeper Than Our Mind
There is a deeper “knowing” that the
regenerated child of God possesses wholly by their spirit.. It is not
sourced in their mind. It is not taught and yet it is known. This is the
kind knowing whereby we may say, “I just know it”, without
understanding or knowledge in the mind as its basis. It is as an intuitive
knowing and it often may be contrary to what we think we know in our mind,
much as the voice of our conscience may be contrary to our mind’s
conscious rational thought. This paper is an explanation of the function
and importance of this kind of knowing that is by the Spirit of the
indwelling Christ.
Man’s
Human Spirit is Central To The Creation
From the following
scripture we see that our human spirit is unique to mankind and central to
God’s creation. Zech. 12:1 … the
Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the
foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within
him.
Here we see that the Lord ranks the formation of the spirit of man
among the top items of the creation. In the sequence of this verse we may
deduce that the heavens were created for the earth, and the earth for man,
because man, as we shall see, was created with his human spirit for the
purpose of it being Christ’s precise and eternal abode – we are the
living temple of God (1
Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 6:16; Ephes. 2:21).
Proverbs
20:27 The spirit of man is the candle
of the Lord (“candle”
here is “lamp” – as an oil lamp that holds oil; Our spirit is the
container for the Spirit of the Lord),
searching all the inward parts of the belly.
Here we see then, metaphorically, that man’s human spirit is as a
container for His Spirit (1Cor 6:17, Jn 3:6). The “candle” here is
actually a “lamp”, as an oil lamp of historic times. Many
Americans would view this lamp, as was the genie type of lamp. The lamp
usually was brass and contained oil, which was burned for light. This oil
that was burned was as the Spirit of the Lord within man’s container
spirit. God thereby lights the inward parts to reveal to man his true
state of being, thus dividing soul and spirit (Heb. 4:12). Thus we see
that it is by the spirit of man that the Almighty gives man true
understanding. God speaks first via our spirit, and then flows revelation
into our mind. Job 32:8 there’s a spirit in man: the
inspiration (moving in spirit) of the Almighty gives man
understanding (in the mind of the soul).
If man is central to creation and God’s
purpose in creation, and God intended to interact with man, then God
needed man to also be a spiritual being, as He is. God is Spirit, needing
man to have a spirit for possible communion or fellowship. Man must
communicate with the three realms in which he exists.
1.
Physical: A man may relate to the physical creation by his physical body;
by our body we can touch taste, see, smell, hear and enjoy creation.
2.
Psychological: We may relate psychologically by exchanging and expressing
ideas and thoughts.
3.
Spiritual: But, in order for man to relate to God, who is spirit in
substance (spirit, not a spirit, as in John 4:24), man must also have a
spirit – so he may relate to God, spirit to Spirit. Consequently, Jesus
told the Samaritan woman that she only could worship God, not in a
physical place, but in one place – in her own spirit.
John 4:21-24 Jesus saith
unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in
this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22Ye
worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the
Jews. 23But the hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in
spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship
him. 24God is a Spirit:
and they that worship him must worship him in spirit (human spirit)
and in truth.
(NOTE:
A correction shown in the KJV Companion Bible margin indicates that in
verse 24 the phrase “God is a Spirit” more correctly is “God is
spirit”, with the article “a” missing. This is indicative of the
fact that God is not material substance but His substance, so-to-speak, is
spirit. God is spirit as a table may be wooden in its substance.)
Thus it is consistent that we see that Paul said “I
serve God with my spirit”, with or by his own human spirit.
Romans 1:9
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of
his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
Regeneration
By The Spirit Of Life
John
records what Jesus makes clear, that our spirit is reborn of the Spirit of
Christ in John3:6 (Paul calls this “regeneration”, Tit 3:5).
Christ’s Spirit, as the spiritual seed of eternal life of God the Father
(Gal 3:16), comes into our human spirit, thus regenerating us to genuine
life, fellowship, and literal union with Him.
John
3:6 … born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit.
1
Cor. 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
1
John 5:11-12 And this is the record, that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12He that hath the
Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
Romans
8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that
we are the children of God:
Our
Union In Spirit
The
two spirits have become one spirit by a sort of rebirthing at our
regeneration, eternally joined as one, and that Christ is located in the
innermost, or core-part of man – his spirit.
Daniel
7:15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body,
…
2
Tim. 4:22 The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be
with you. Amen.
Paul
was so clear on this joining of spirits to become one spirit that he
simply used the term “the Spirit” (Translated often as both
upper and lower case "S” in the KJV) when he referred to the
two as one, Example: “…walk in the spirit” (Gal5:25). When we see
“the Spirit” in Paul’s writings concerning the regenerated
believer, we should know that he is most often speaking of those who have
become one spirit with Christ’s Spirit of life (1Cor 6:17). Paul
declares that by our one joined spirit we are the habitation or dwelling
place of God. Ephes. 2:22
In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the
Spirit.
In
the New Testament Christ, as the Spirit of Christ, “speaks” in every
believer’s own spirit. So
from this understanding we can see that every Christian has Christ in
their spirit and thus has the capacity to hear Him within their spirit.
1
John 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him,
and he in us, because he hath given us of (Gk.,
ek, born out from) his Spirit.
John
8:47a He that is of (Gk., ek, born out from) God
heareth God's words:
Rom
8:16 The Spirit itself
(Himself) beareth witness
with our spirit,
that we are the children of God:
The little word “of”
noted by bold print in two of the above verses is the Greek word “ek”, meaning “out from
…and with”. This is significant in that it says that Christ has given us
of His One Spirit – so we are partakers of the one Spirit that is out
from Christ’s Spirit and also with Christ’s very own Spirit of life,
coming to us– it is His actual Spirit that we possess in our spirit. In
this case both the sender and that which is sent are one in the same.
Christ sends us His own Spirit (John 14:8) as Christ Himself coming into
us. He did not reach out to jumpstart us with a new life, but it is His
life imparted to us. He came into our spirit.
Jesus said that anyone who is “of”
God hears God (John 8:47). It is unquestionable that we who are His do
hear Him; we hear Him by a sense of the Spirit of Christ within our human
spirit, as confirmed by Paul in Rom. 8:16 above. Frankly, all Christians
hear Him, but many do not heed Him in their spirit, because they most
often are listening to the many other voices, missing His inner voice
entirely.
That’s my introduction - now, to get
into the core of this paper, concerning “innermost knowing”.
Primary “Inner Knowing” for the
Christian
The definitions of the word “know” from the various Greek words in
the New Testament of the Bible are several, but here now I am addressing
one in particular. In the following we see the word “know”, as the
Greek word “eido,
or oida”,
meaning “to see, or perceive, by any of the senses (Louw & Nida
Greek Lexicon), this applies to both physical or spiritual senses.
1
Cor. 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but
the spirit which is of (Gk., ek, out from) God; that we might know
(“eido”, know intuitively by a inner sense) the things that are freely
given to us of God.
Here
we see that we have received the spirit of (ek)
God for the purpose that we might know intuitively (eido)
the
things that are freely given to us. The point here is that we’ve been
given “the
spirit (Christ’s) that we might know”.
Then we can assume that “the
spirit”
is necessary to our proper knowing. We’ve already seen His Spirit is in
our spirit and so our place of knowing all things is resident within our
spirit. In our spirit we have a sense of knowing, an intuitive knowing by
our spirit that is now united with His spirit, such that we know
automatically, intuitively, what we need to know by His inner speaking,
even without words. I know all I need to know to be able to live,
as He desires for me. I may not know much about nuclear fission, but I do
know all that I need to know at just the right time in order for me to
live, as He wants to live through me.
1 John 2:20 But ye have
an unction (anointing) from the Holy One (Christ), and ye know all
things.
1 John 2:27 But the
anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you,
and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing
teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie,
and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Two Kinds of
Christians
Paul
explains in the following two kinds of Christians, those who have
spiritual (pneumatikos) knowing (eido) and obeying by in
inner sense of His Spirit within their spirit and those who are
“natural” (psuchikos, soulish) and only live by the soulish knowledge (gnosis).
Natural or soulish knowing is a knowing in the mind that is entirely apart
from spiritual knowing. The spiritual cannot be “known” by the
soul’s faculties of mind, emotion, or will. Eido is a knowing only
perceived in our spirit.
1
Cor. 2:10-15 But God hath revealed (unveiled)
them unto us by his Spirit:
for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11For
what man knoweth (eido,
intuitive, of the spirit) the
things of a man, save the spirit of man
(see Zechar. 12:1) which is in
him? even so the things of God knoweth (eido)
no man, but the Spirit of God. 12Now
we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of (out
from) God; that (so
that) we might know (eido,
know by intuition of spirit)
the things that are freely given to us of God. 13Which
things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but
which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual (pneumatikos,
of the spirit) things with
spiritual (pneumatikos,
of the spirit). 14But
the natural (psuchikos,
of the soul, soulish) man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit (pneuma)
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know (ginosko,
come to know) them, because they are spiritually
(pneumatikos, of the spirit)
discerned. 15But
he that is spiritual
(pneumatikos, of the spirit)
judgeth (Gk.,
anakrino, discerns, scrutinizes)
all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
Knowing His Will
In my own past experience there has been,
and there still may be for most Christians, much confusion in knowing the
will of the Lord. Most Christians listen to many voices, trying to discern
what they ought to know or do. But, the voices most Christians listen to
have one thing in common – they are all outside the Christian. They
ignore the “eido” or “inner knowing”, which we each have by the
indwelling Spirit of Christ. Outer voices are not Christ’s voice. As we
grow in Him it is actually a growing in the knowledge of the Christ (2Pet
3:18) who dwells within us. In fact the only Christ you can know is the
one who indwells you – all other knowledge of Christ is the Jesus of
Nazareth who lived outside us. Paul said, “Henceforth know we him no
more”. (2Cor 5:16). As we proceed in our walk He will work in our lives
that we should become separated from all the outer voices, reducing us to
His voice alone.
Acts
5:29b …We ought to obey God rather than men.
Outer
Voices Vs. Christ Within
The OUTER voices may
in practicality include those of our husband or wife, our parent’s,
religious doctrine, pastors and intermediaries, the written law of the Old
Testament, even Biblical Christian “Biblical principles”, which are so
highly acclaimed by Christian radio and preaching biblical principals,
which equal biblical LAW, from the scriptures. In Psalms it says the
people of Israel saw the works of the Lord, but Moses knew the ways of the
Lord. Many Christians say, “that is what we need –to know His ways as
in principals”, but that was the best available at the time, in the Old
Testament. Today, in the dispensation of grace, we have the Lord Himself
living within us speaking “eido” to guide us from within.
Now consider these
outer voices I mentioned above to be listed on one side of a ledger, and
then on the other side we list one item – Christ with the innermost
sense knowing that we have by Christ in our spirit. If God the Father went
to all the trouble to kill His Son, and raise Him from the dead as the
life-giving Spirit, then place the Spirit of His Son in you and me to be
our all – then why would we need to listen to outer voices, Bible, laws,
rules, and principles? We have Him within as your final Word. (NOTE: The
indwelling Christ will never speak contrary to the revealed word in the
Bible, applicable to us in the dispensation or grace in which we live.)
The Final Arbiter In Our Walk
I
say the indwelling Christ is the “final word” because God may well use
ALL the voices from outside of us, one time or another, to speak to us but
these are not His direct speaking – these will only serve to confirm
what you already should know in your own spirit by the sense of Him
within. To walk by the inner knowing and not listening to the outer
voices does not mean we do what we want to, rather,
we walk according to Him within. We will bear the consequences of your
actions as result of NOT obeying His speaking. Failing and bearing the
consequences of disobedience is how we learn to obey the voice of Christ
in us. I am responsible for what I know inwardly.
James
4:17 …to him that knoweth (eido, know by a sense) to do good,
and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
Another
way to express what I’m saying is to say the sense in your spirit is the
final arbiter in your walk! This is what it means to be a “son of
God”. In Romans 8:14 we see we are the children of God but we all aspire
to grow up to be as sons.
Romans
8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God
Knowing
Him Inwardly Is NOT Knowing About Him
Knowing
him inwardly is much more than knowing His acts and His ways, or
“Biblical Principles” of God.
Psalm
103:7 He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of
Israel.
Many prefer God’s
principals and laws i.e., about family, giving and sowing, etc. In
Matthew, Mark and Luke we see the acts that Jesus of Nazareth did,
but in John we see who Jesus is – He is Life and all the
supporting issues of life; the light, bread and water of life. Paul’s
however speaks of who Jesus the Christ is to us – our life
and our all. Paul tells us that He is “the life-giving spirit”
(1Cor. 15:45), who now is the “Christ in you”
(Col. 1:27) as our Life (Gal. 2:20, Col 3:3). Paul tells us
that this is the Christ “whom we preach” (Col. 1:28). We are to
preach “The Christ that is
IN the believer.” Paul’s bumper sticker would not say “Christ is the
answer” but it would say, “Christ in you is the
answer”. With Paul, this walk is all up close and personal for the
Christian. It is living by His life within; it’s neither law keeping nor
an intellectual exercise.
Imparting
Christ As The Spirit of Life
God
Breathed into man twice; first for man to receive the created human spirit
to enliven man as a tri-part being as a body, soul, and spirit creature.
Second, it is Christ who breathed on the disciples to impart Himself as
the Spirit into man’s spirit. (Spirit
in the Greek is “pneuma,” the exact same word as “breath.”)
Genesis
2:7 And the Lord God formed
man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul.
John
20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto
them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost (as the breath of the Spirit of the
resurrected Christ):
This in John 20:22
is Christ imparting His breath of His life as the “indwelling”
“Spirit of Christ” to be received by the disciples. Receiving
Christ’s life makes you a Son of God (Jn. 1:12).
This impartation of
the Spirit of Christ is not to be confused with the outpouring of the Holy
Spirit, whose function is seen in Luke 24:49 and was limited to a span of
time between Pentecost and the mid-Acts period. The Holy Spirit’s was to
be an outer enduement, Gk. “enduo,” meaning “clothed upon” as we
see fulfilled in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came “upon them,” (not
in them as life) for the power to be witnesses as prophesied by Joel
and seen in Luke 24:48. This power was to announce the then present
availability of the Messiah and His kingdom for the Jews. If we read
Peter’s preaching in Acts 3 we do not see a word about the cross, or new
birth but a re-declaration of the call for Jewish repentance so the
Messianic kingdom would come right then. So, this outpouring of the Holy
Spirit upon (clothed) men at Pentecost was not the new internal birth at
all. It is in contrast to the inbreathing of the Spirit of Christ
available in John 20:22.
So,
we who are regenerated, or born again, do have what it takes; a human
spirit mingled with Christ’s Spirit; and as tea in water these are
inseparable
1
Cor. 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Romans
8:9-11 ye (the real you) are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be
that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his.
Knowing By A Sixth Sense
Thereby we have gained a sixth sense, an
inner knowing, which is by His life in our spirit, just as
Paul had.
Acts 18:5 And when Silas
and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed (compelled
by the spirit) in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that
Jesus was Christ.
Acts 16:7 After they were
come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit
suffered them not (Would not let them).
Romans
8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God: (You just
know you’re his child)
Philip.
2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of
his good pleasure.
John
3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again, he cannot see (eido) the kingdom (small
“k” kingdom = realm) of God.
The first knowing we
have as Christians is seen from the Greek word “eido”. This is the
spontaneous, automatic, sense or intuitive knowing in our spirit just as
the outer physical senses; see, smell, touch, taste and hear, but
“inner,” we have a perception “in spirit” - We just know
intuitively!
How
did you get sense knowledge? We gained this sense by being regenerated,
“born of God” by Christ’s indwelling Spirit. Every warm-blooded life
form has its own level of a sense of knowing. A fish has a sense by his
innate life and a dog has another level of senses by his life and so on.
Humans have a level of sense by their soul and body but a regenerated
human has another sense, which is by Christ within his spirit. This is the
crucial, primary awareness by His Spirit of life within us as our life.
This knowing is the truth because truth is Christ. This sense is not
subject to deception. So John says abide or stay “in Him”.
1
John 2:20 But ye have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One (Christ),
and ye know (eido,
know by a spiritual inner sense)
all things.
1
John 4:13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in
us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
1
John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth
in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same
anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie,
and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
1
Cor. 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the
spirit which is
of
God; that we might know (a
inner sense) the things that
are freely given to us of God.
1
John 5:20 And we know (eido,
intuitively) that the Son of
God is come, and hath given us an understanding (intuitive
perception), that
we may know (ginosko,
come to understanding) him
that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus
Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Understanding
In The Mind
I’ve bolded the word
“that” in 1John 5:20 above to show the emphasis or purpose of
having primary eido knowing. We have sense knowing for the reason
“that” we might ultimately come to know with understanding what we
first only sensed. This may be so we could then explain it to another
person. Often the Father desires that we understand what we may initially
only sense in our spirit. So then, we intuitively have the mind of Christ
(In 1Cor 2:16, “mind” is “nous” = intellect) so that we might
“come to know with understanding in the soul/mind.” This “coming
to know” is another Greek word for “know,” it is “ginosko,” If
we had only then sense knowing, then that would be sufficient for our
living our lives overcomingly. However, if we are to pass on what we know
in our spirit, teach, preach or share, then we must have understanding in
our soul’s mind so as to be able to express what we see, perceive, or
know in our spirit.
1
Cor. 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct
him? But we have the mind (nous)
of Christ. (Spontaneously
working in our spirit, as a sense knowing.)
Walking
In of By The Spirit
Paul’s life is an
example of how he heeded the sense (eido) knowing. His life was
guided by the sense of the indwelling life of Christ as in his spirit:
Acts
18:5 And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was
pressed
in the spirit (his), and
testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
Acts
16:7 After they were come to Mysia, they assayed (tried) to go into
Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not (would not let them
alone).
To walk in the Spirit is to
“walk according to” or by your spirit, one with His.
Galatians
5:25 If we live (since
we have life) in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit.
Galatians
5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit (affirmative
action), and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (By walking in
Christ’s Spirit of life the flesh is swallowed up.)
The conscience is the most easily
recognized innermost sense of our spirit. The conscience functions in all
men. It gives us a knowing that is deeper than our mind. Conscience in
Greek is “suneidesis”, meaning a “co-perception by another
consciousness”, other than our mind alone.
Genesis
3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be
opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Acts
2:37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart,
and said unto
Peter
and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Romans
2:14-15 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature
the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto
themselves: 15Which shew the
work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing
witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one
another;)
The
Apostle
Paul lived by the conscience of the spirit.
Romans
9:1 I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me
witness
in the Holy Ghost,
It is important to
keep our conscience clean.
Titus
1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and
unbelieving
is nothing pure; but even their mind (of
soul) and conscience (of
spirit) is defiled (soiled).
Hebrews
10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,
having
our
hearts sprinkled from an evil (dirty)
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
The light and life of
Christ’s life-shines on me from within in order to purge the conscience
of my spirit.
Hebrews
9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
Spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge (cleanse) your
conscience (consciousness
by your conscience) from
dead
(separated) works
to serve the living God?
We have the rich deposit of Christ’s
Spirit in our spirit so we might come to a full knowing of who we are.
1
John 4:13
Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit.
<END>
