The believer’s mind (heart) contains both a conscious and a subconscious
aspect.
The conscious aspect of the believer’s mind (a.k.a the stream of
consciousness) can be seen as containing various compartments for purposes of
our discussion:
memory (Phil. 1:3 - “I thank my God in all my remembrance
of you.” See also Psa. 145:7-10; 1 Cor. 11:24, 25)
frame of reference (facilitates learning by providing a basis
with which new categories and vocabulary can be compared and added to the
existing frame of reference - See Prov. 4:4)
vocabulary storage (Proverbs 4:4 - “…let your heart hold
fast my words…”)
category storage (Proverbs 4:4 - “…keep my commandments and
live…”)
momentum (illustrated via passages such as Luke 2:19; Gal. 2:20
and commands to be transformed such as Rom. 12:2 which require consistency
and continuance throughout life. See also Heb. 10:25, 35-36; Col. 2:6-7
which also relate to the importance of momentum)
conscience (Rom. 2:15; 9:1; 13:5; 1 Cor. 8:7; 2 Cor. 4:2; 5:11;
Titus 1:15; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 2:19)
wisdom (relates to the insight of the believer with regard to
the application of spiritual thinking, i.e. principles, promises, and
doctrines, to life - see Col. 1:9, 28; 3:16; Jas. 1:5 as examples)
It is from the stream of consciousness that we think in life. The stream of
consciousness provides us with awareness and ability to articulate.
The stream of consciousness contains both old-man thinking
and new-man thinking.
Col. 3:8 - 10 “But now you also, put them all aside: anger,
wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to
one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil
practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to
a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.”
So the question is this: which man (old or new) are you going to allow
to influence your thinking? Which “man” are you going to yield to in your
thinking? The point is that you will produce a lifestyle consistent with the
type of thinking to which you yield.
The ultimate source of old-man thinking is Satan.
The ultimate source of new-man thinking is God.
Old-man thinking can be learned from any source that carries it and
disseminates it, e.g. news, magazines, other people (even other Christians),
government, educational system, entertainment media, etc.
New-man thinking can be learned from any source that carries it and
disseminates it, e.g. the pastor, other Christians, tapes, books, etc.
Col. 3:10 …and have put on the new self [at the moment of salvation,
we are a new spiritual baby that is without spiritual knowledge], who is being
renewed [caused to grow] to a true knowledge [epignosis - a
full knowledge] according to the image of the One who created him.
The Internal Battle: the Flesh vs. the Spirit
1. The believer will find it difficult to be transformed in his thinking
because of two opposing forces at work in his life.
Gal. 5:17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit,
and the Spirit [sets its desire] against the flesh;
for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not
do the things that you please.
Notice that both the flesh and the Spirit have desires.
The desires of the flesh are listed in Galatians 5:19-21 and Colossians
3:5, 8, & 9.
The desires of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22-23 and Colossians
3:12-13
The desires of the flesh are personal sins that the old sin nature would
produce.
These passages are just a representative listing, not a comprehensive
listing.
The Spirit desires to produce fruit in the believer’s life.
The Process of Transformation Into One Who is “…Filled
by Means
of the Holy Spirit With the Fullness of God…”
The Concept of Yieldedness (Life Situations Should be Self-Examinations)
The believer must yield to “new man” thinking in order to be
transformed into a believer who is characterized as possessing the “fullness
of God”.
The key to understanding how to be “filled with the Spirit” per Eph.
5:18 is in understanding the concept of yieldedness.
The Life Situations that we encounter can serve as self-examinations of
the direction in which we are yielded. See the following diagram.
Abbreviations
LS life situations PS/HG personal sins/human good
OMT old-man thinking 7M/S 7 manifestations of the Spirit
OSN old-sin nature NMT new man thinking
This diagram illustrates the following:
An old man system of thinking is present in this believer’s
subconscious mind.
When the father shows up, this old man thinking is brought to the
stream of consciousness.
The believer has a choice to either yield to old man thinking and
produce personal sins or he can yield to new man thinking and produce the
appropriate fruit of the Spirit.
For the believer to yield to new man thinking, he must learn new man
thinking through Bible study.
If the believer is determining to yield on a situation by situation
basis, he is destined to fail in his spiritual walk. This could be
considered yieldedness as a matter of convience, i.e. when its convient, I’ll
yield. This believer has not truly “died to self” per Rom. 12:1.
However, if the believer is making a conscious decision be yielded,
then he has predetermined the course of thinking (i.e. new man thinking)
he will follow prior to a life situation ever presenting itself. This
could be considered yieldedness in the sense of an all determining act.
This could be termed “Preventive Yieldedness”.
The Holy Spirit ministers to such a yielded believer so as to empower
him to respond properly in any given life situation.
However, there must be doctrine (truth) in the believer’s soul with
which the Holy Spirit can work His ministry in the life of the believer.
A conclusion is that the believer never has to sin again.
What if the believer does sin? The solution:
PS after it has been committed - confession per 1 John 1:9
Mental attitudes - repentance per Rev. 2:5; 3:19
Old man thinking from the OSN - Operation KRY per Rom. 6:6, 11, 13
Operation KRY
To experience victory over personal sins in one's own Christian life, the
believer must deal directly with his old-sin-nature, and not with his personal
sins themselves. Victory over personal sins is never achieved by a
frontal attack on personal sins themselves. Victory over personal sins is
achieved only by dealing with them at their source. This means that the
believer must learn how to deal with his own old-sin-nature; and if the
believer fails to learn this, it can be guaranteed that there will be no
victory over personal sin in the life of that believer!
Confession is Recovery Victory Only
1 John 1:9 teaches that confession of sin is the means by which the
believer receives forgiveness and cleansing and is restored to fellowship, if
he sins after he is saved.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
"Confess" is the Greek word HOMOLOGEO which simply means "to
name or identify". The fact that the subject of this verse is
"we" believers emphasizes the fact that we are affirming to God that
we know that we have sinned against Him. We are not informing God of something
about which He has no knowledge.
Just Saying "No" is Not the Answer
There are two ways to gain victory over sin: 1) Just say "no" to
temptation and 2) the use of "Operation KRY" when temptation arises.
The results are the same no matter which option is used; however, the
motivation behind the results is not the same. God is equally as interested in
motivation as He is in the results.
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." (Pa. 51:17)
"For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the
knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6:6)
When a believer is tempted to sin, he can achieve victory by saying
"no" to that temptation. In effect, by saying "no", he has
gained victory over temptation and victory over the personal sin that would
have been committed had temptation conceived; however, there is a question
that should be asked. What motivated the person to say "no"?
Obviously, it is one thing to say "no" to fornication because one
fears contracting "AIDS", but it's an entirely different thing to
say "no" to fornication because it dishonors God. In the first case,
man is honored. In the second case, God is honored, and God is interested in
honoring Himself. Therefore, there is a right motivation and a wrong
motivation in dealing with personal sins, and God is honored only by right
motivation.
The same principle is true of any other sin. The believer can be motivated
to not sin by a fear of the consequences of that sin. Or, the believer can be
motivated by his love and respect of the Lord. If the motivation is not
correct, the believer may have gained victory over temptation and personal
sin, but there is no advance in spiritual growth because the victory was
gained in the energy of the flesh.
Operation KRY is Preventive Victory
"Operation KRY is an acronymn that stands for "Know,
Reckon, and Yield." The concept is found in
the language of Romans 6:6, 11, & 13 in the King James Version.
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should
not serve sin." (Romans 6:6)
"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead
indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
(Romans 6:11)
"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are
alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto
God." (Romans 6:13)
What Are We to Know?
We are to know that "our old man is crucified with Him". Our old
man is the influence that our old-sin-nature has over us when we are yielded
to it. We are to know that yieldedness to the influence of the old-sin-nature
was crucified or put to death with Christ on the Cross. The purpose for this
crucifixion was that the old-sin-nature might be rendered inoperative and that
believers might have the option to no longer serve the old-sin-nature.
Positionally, we are said to be "in Christ". We have every
spiritual asset available to us that He had. Those spiritual assets empowered
Jesus Christ to live His entire life and go to the Cross as a Perfect God-Man.
As the Second Adam He never acquired an old-sin-nature because He never
sinned. Those same spiritual assets that empowered Jesus throughout His life
are available to us.
The fact that God sees our old-man as dead is the basis for victory over
personal sins because this enables the believer to deal with the source of
personal sin. God sees our old-man as dead, therefore God sees every old-man
as a dead root that can produce no fruit or a dead spider that can produce no
web.
Therefore, knowing is the first step in the Christian life toward victory
over personal sin. The believer cannot have victory if he doesn't know what
God knows. The believer cannot have victory unless he sees his life from God's
perspective. The believer cannot have victory unless he realizes that in God's
sight each believer is responsible for the direction in which he yields.
Our baptism into Jesus Christ can be none other than the act of God
in placing us in Christ (cf. Galatians 3:27). This evidently is our
baptism into His body by the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13); for in no
other sense are we all "baptized into Jesus Christ." Being
by the baptism of the Spirit vitally united and placed "in
Him" we partake of what He is, and what He has done. He is the
righteousness of God and the Scriptures teach that we are made the
righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:210, and are made
accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6). All this is true because we
are 'in Him.' So also, He has substituted for us, and what He has done
is reckoned unto us because we are 'in Him,' - or because we are
baptized into Jesus Christ. The argument in this passage is based on
this vital union by which we are organically united to Christ through
our baptism into His body; 'Know ye not (or are ye ignorant) that so
many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his
death? Lewis S. Chafer, He That Is Spiritual, p. 122
Being baptized into Jesus Christ is the substance of which
co-crucifixion, co-death, co-burial and co-resurrection are
attributes. One is the cause: while the others are the effects. All
this is unto the realization of one great divine purpose. 'That like
as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life,' or by a new life
principle. Our 'walk,' then, is the divine objective. Christ died in
our stead. The judgment belonged to us; but He became our Substitute.
We are thus counted as co-partners in all that our Substitute did.
What He did, forever satisfied the righteous demands of God against
our 'old man' and opened the way for a 'walk' well pleasing to God
(see 2 Corinthians 5:15). Lewis S. Chafer, He That Is Spiritual,
p. 123
What Are We to Reckon?
"Reckon" in context means to consider or to think the same way
that God thinks. In other words, if God considers our old-man to be dead then
we should also. Using our analogies, every believer is to reckon his old man
as a dead root that can produce no fruit. Our old-man is to be considered a
dead spider that can produce no web or a dead water fountain that can produce
no water.
Such facts [Romans 6:6-10] are recorded in the Scriptures
concerning the meaning and value of the death of Christ and our
present position in Him that we may be led to believe that it is all
for us and is actually true of us now. Believing this, we
will fearlessly claim our position in His boundless grace and dare
to enter the life of victory...We are not exhorted to reckon
the sin nature to be dead; but we are exhorted to reckon
ourselves to be dead unto it...The union with Christ has provided a
possible deliverance; but it must be entered into and claimed
by such human acts of faith as are expressed in the word 'reckon,'
and the additional words which follow in the passage: 'But yield
yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your
members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin [the nature]
shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law [which
provides no power for its fulfillment], but under grace' (which
provides the sufficient Substitute and limitless enablement of the
Spirit of God)...All this was accomplished for us before we were born.
'Therefore,' because of all this that is now accomplished and
provided, we have limitless encouragement to enter into His plan and
purpose for our deliverance. Faith, which believes the victory to
be possible because it reckons the 'old man' to have been
judged, is the normal result of such a revelation...we are
encouraged by the revelation of what has been done to reckon
the divine requirements for our deliverance from the 'old man' to have
been met perfectly and to believe that, because of this, we can now
'walk in newness of life. Lewis S. Chafer, He That Is Spiritual,
pp. 124-125
How Are We to Yield?
Let us re-exam Romans 6:13 once again.
"Neither [do not] yield [present] ye [Church
Age believers] your [Church Age believer's] members [body
parts; hands, feet, eyes, ears, tongue, etc.] as instruments
[tools] of unrighteousness [that which is contrary to the goodness
of God] unto sin [the old-sin-nature]: but yield
[present] yourselves [Church Age believers] unto God [the
Father], as those [Church Age believers] that [who] are
[[spiritually]] alive from the [[spiritually]] dead, and
[[present]] your members as instruments of [associated with] righteousness
[the absolute goodness of God] unto God [God the Father]. (Romans
6:13) (KJV)
This verse affirms that a believer can yield in one of two directions. First,
he can yield to sin, that is, unto the old-sin-nature, or second, he
can yield to God.
To yield to sin is described as yielding your body parts as tools of
unrighteousness. This means presenting your body parts to the old-sin-nature
so that they can be used as tools to produce personal sins.
To yield to God is described as yielding your body parts to God as tools of
righteousness. This means presenting your body parts to God so that they can
be used as tools to produce righteousness.
Even though the believer knows that God says his old-man is dead, and even
though the believer reckons his old-man dead, there can be no victory over
personal sin unless the believer makes a decision to yield himself and his
body parts to God. The believer must KNOW, RECKON, and YIELD.
Positionally, the 'old man' has been put off for ever.
Experimentally, the 'old man' remains as an active force in the life
which can be controlled only by the power of God. We avail ourselves
of that divine sufficiency when we renounce entirely the thought of
compromise with, or toleration of, the fruit of the old nature and by
faith apply the divinely provided counter-agency for victory through
the Spirit. The result of so 'reckoning' and 'mortifying our members'
will be to make way for the Spirit to work out in the life the
manifestations of the 'new man,' Christ Jesus. Lewis S. Chafer, He
That Is Spiritual, p. 113
To summarize:
1) The believer must KNOW from God's viewpoint that his old man has
been crucified (put to death) with Christ.
2) The believer must RECKON his old man as dead because God says it is
dead.
3) Even though the believer KNOWS what God knows, he must RECKON or
consider or think the same way God thinks before there can be any
preventive victory over sin.
"But who is 'dead to sin'? Is it true that any Christian ever
experienced a death to sin? Never was there one. But the death which is
mentioned in this passage is said to be accomplished for every believer.
All Christians are here said to have died unto sin. A death which is
all-inclusive could not be experimental. It is positional. God reckons all
believers, as to their sin nature, to have died in Christ and with Christ;
for only thus can they 'walk in newness of life' as those who are 'alive
unto God.'" Lewis S. Chafer, He That Is Spiritual, p. 121
4) The believer must YIELD to what he KNOWS and RECKONS before there
can be preventive victory over sin.
The Consequences of Operation KRY
The consequences in the believer's life of functioning in Operation KRY
will be suffering. The believer who is in a position of yieldedness to God and
functioning under Operation KRY will pay with his life (i.e. his self
interest). The suffering in this case is the result of something done right
rather than something done wrong. The modus operandi (method of operation) for
the follower of Jesus is illustrated in the following statements of Jesus:
"Then Jesus said to His disciples, 'If anyone wishes to come after
Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For
whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life
for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains
the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in
exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of
His Father with His angels; and will then recompense every man according
to His deeds." (Matthew 16:24-27)
The believer KNOWS that his old-man was crucified with Jesus on the Cross.
The believer RECKONS it to be so and thinks the same way God thinks when he
"...denies himself, and takes up his cross..." on which his old man
was crucified. The believer YIELDS when he follows Jesus in volitional
perfection.
The Cross and suffering go hand in hand. When the old-man is being put to
death, he doesn't die easily. He struggles to stay alive, and it is this
struggle that causes the believer to suffer. If the old-man would just roll
over and die, the battle would be won without suffering. The suffering
associated with reckoning and yielding is a clear indication that God plans
for the old-man to be put to death without any pain killers. Therefore,
reckoning and yielding spontaneously produce the suffering of death and the
joy of victory.
Synonyms for Operation KRY
1) Depending upon the translation, Colossians 3:5 commands the believer
to "Mortify..." (KJV), "...consider...as
dead..."(NAS), or "...put to death..." (NEV) his members
(the flesh, the old-man).
"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth;
fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and
covetousness, which is idolatry." (KJV)
"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to
idolatry." (NAS)
"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:
sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is
idolatry." (NEV)
2) Also, depending upon the translation, Romans 8:13 uses the word
"mortify" or "put to death" to describe the means by
which the believer is to deal with personal sin in his life.
"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through
the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." (KJV)
"For if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but
if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body,
you will live." (NAS)
"For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if
by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will
live." (NEV)
