The frame of reference is the location or area of retention of epignosis or metabolized doctrine. The Frame of Reference is the seat of the inventory of metabolized doctrine, from which application of Bible doctrine or wisdom is performed.
i The frame of reference is the location of all concepts related to the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, which explains the protocol plan of God, i.e., God's will, plan, and purpose for your life.
ii The frame of reference is the location of the ten problem solving devices for the Church Age.
iii The frame of reference is the seat of the inventory of metabolized doctrine, from which application of doctrine or wisdom is performed.
iv Metabolized doctrine in the frame of reference is the basis for the construction of the edification complex. See the Doctrine of the Edification Complex of the Soul (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).
v Metabolized doctrine in the frame of reference is the basis for the execution of the protocol plan of God; therefore, it is the basis for the glorification of God and for the manufacturing of invisible heroes.
vi Metabolized doctrine in the frame of reference increases your spiritual I.Q. and provides the basis for learning more advanced doctrines. The amount of doctrine you have in your frame of reference is what really determines your spiritual I.Q.
vii Metabolized Bible doctrine in your frame of reference provides your first divine viewpoint, and it begins to shape your mental attitude for the conflict between divine and human viewpoint, which is a constant struggle until you reach spiritual maturity.
viii Metabolized Bible doctrine in your frame of reference provides the right motivation for the protocol plan of God. It creates motivation for learning more doctrine and so results in increased momentum. Metabolized doctrine is the momentum factor that keeps you moving in the spiritual life and eventually leads to execution of the protocol plan.
(3) Prov. 4:4 Then He taught me and said to me, “Let your heart [right lobe] hold fast My doctrines, keep My mandates, and live.” Your heart is the source of concentration. Your ability and motivation for concentration starts with your frame of reference.
(4) 1Cor. 2:9 Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard, and have not entered into the heart of mankind all that God has prepared for those who love Him.
i There is no way you can understand all that God has prepared for you apart from your frame of reference being saturated with the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. You can only understand all that God has done for you when Bible doctrine enters the right lobe of the soul.
ii To come to love God indicates spiritual progress. Personal love for God the Father is one of the problem solving devices and is the motivation for the Christian way of life. Occupation with the person of Christ is the priority solution to problem solving devices in life.
(5) We do not have a human frame of reference for perception of doctrine, but a spiritual frame of reference for spiritual phenomena to go to a spiritual apparatus.
(6) The frame of reference constructs an instant reaction force or a red-alert system from metabolized doctrine, so that you can tell what is true and what is false in the communication of the Word. Certain doctrines form your instant reaction force to solve the problems of life and cosmic involvement.
i Actually, this is how the construction of the problem solving devices for the Christian way of life is started. Metabolized doctrine in the frame of reference is the basis for the manufacture and the function of all the ten problem solving devices.
ii Many baby believers have been delivered from many false doctrinal areas because, from their frame of reference, they had certain instincts and knew something was wrong with false ideas, emotional activity, ritual, and the like. So the frame of reference is where you get your first protection in life.
iii The frame of reference's alert system is so necessary in the Christian life because you must learn to avoid error, con artists in the spiritual realm, false teachers, and phony Christian service which is used to con believers.
(7) Metabolized Bible doctrine in your frame of reference produces recall in various stages and circumstances of life. Lam. 3:20-24 Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. This doctrine I recall to mind; therefore I have hope [Hope 2 and 3 as a problem solving device]. The Lord's grace support [logistical grace] never ceases; His grace expressions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul; “therefore I have confidence in Him.” (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
(8) The frame of reference provides the basis for effective communication of ideas in conversation, in professional functions, in witnessing, in social interaction, and in the exchange of ideas.
(9) The frame of reference provides capacity for life, happiness, blessing, success, prosperity, and promotion.
(10) The Frame of Reference provides capacity for life, happiness, blessing, success, prosperity, and promotion. Psalm 119:16 I delight in doctrine; I shall not forget Your Word. That means that right next to the frame of reference is your memory center.
(11) Philippians 1:9–10 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; 11having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
i Certain doctrines form your instant reaction force to solve the problems of life and cosmic involvement.
ii This is how the construction of the problem solving devices for the Christian way of life is started. Metabolized Bible doctrine in the Frame of Reference is the basis for the manufacture and the function of all ten problem solving devices.
iii Many baby believers have been delivered from many false doctrinal areas because, from their Frame of Reference, they had certain instincts and knew something was wrong with false ideas, emotional activity, ritual, and the like. So the Frame of Reference is where you get your first protection in life.
iv The Frame of Reference's alert system is so necessary in the Christian life because you must learn to avoid error, con artists in the spiritual realm, false teachers, and phony Christian service which is used to con believers.
2) Memory Center.
(1) As we have noted in our analogy of a "filing cabinet" to explain how the KARDIA / heart of the soul works, the overall Heart is the filing cabinet. Then there is the Frame of Reference which are the various draws within the filing cabinet that provide first access to the central resource center for storing and finding information within our souls. The Frame of Reference is the location for the classification of Bible doctrine. Now the Memory Center is the actual files you place within a filing cabinet. It is the actual storage of information within your soul.
(2) The Memory Center is also the place of recall within our soul. It is the place where we bring back into remembrance all of the Bible doctrine we have learned and stored within our souls. All of this, of course, is accomplished through the power and filling of God the Holy Spirit.
(3) The memory center circulates Bible doctrine into the various parts of the right lobe producing recall. It recalls information like a computer. You associate things in your frame of reference and then remember them from the function of the memory center. After a lot of repetition, the memory center stores doctrine.
(4) Recall is synonymous with the application of Bible doctrine to experience and therefore a part of wisdom; which is sophia (σοφία) [pronounced sohf-EE-ah] in the Greek.
(5) Recall is the basis for the function of all ten of the problem solving devices: rebound, the filling of the Spirit, the faith-rest drill, grace orientation, doctrinal orientation, personal love for God the Father, impersonal love for all mankind, +H or sharing the happiness of God, a personal sense of destiny, and occupation with Christ.
i Recall becomes a basis for structuring problem solving devices.
i) It may take only one verse, such as 1John 1:9, to structure rebound. Rebound should be kept simple; we sin so much that we need a very simple solution. Rebound as the solution relates to the judgment of our sins on the cross.
ii) More complex recall occurs after we learn the protocol plan of God, the portfolio of invisible assets, the unique life, suffering for blessing, and the lifestyle of wisdom.
ii Recall is the basis for the function of all three stages of the Faith-Rest Drill. 1) Establish a relaxed mental attitude and claim promises of God. 2) Concentrate on pertinent doctrine in a logical order [doctrinal rationale]. 3) Reach doctrinal conclusions.
iii Recall is the application of the doctrinal rationales to the circumstances of life; e.g., the essence of God rationale, the plan of God rationale, the politeuma rationale, the grace of God rationale, the logistical grace rationale.
(6) Recall has nothing to do with whether or not you have a good memory as a human being. It has everything to do with the inculcation of doctrine. You must hear a doctrine hundreds of times. The more you hear a doctrine, the sooner you will apply it.
(7) You haven't learned a doctrine until you can't forget it! You cannot use what you cannot recall. You can't look up the pertinent doctrine in your notebook when you're being tested. It must already be in you. You can only apply what you have learned.
(8) Therefore, recall is the application of epignosis doctrine in the right lobe to the circumstances of life. When epignosis doctrine is applied, it is called wisdom. In the Greek, that is sophia (σοφία) [pronounced sohf-EE-ah].
(9) Lam. 3:20-24, Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. This doctrine I recall to my mind, therefore I have confidence [Hope 2,3]. The Lord's grace support never ceases; His grace expressions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul [frame of reference and memory center]; “therefore I have confidence in Him.” (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
i What memory brings about humility as the basis of function in the spiritual life? Verse 21 answers-memory of doctrine.
ii Jeremiah had both doctrinal orientation and grace orientation.
(10) Psalm 119:6 I delight in doctrine; I shall not forget Your word. Psalm 119 was the thinking of those young people on that long march from Jerusalem to Babylon as they were terribly treated and abused. They had learned the doctrine and recalled it under the most awful circumstances.
(11) Psalm 119:109 My life is in constant danger, but I do not forget Your doctrines. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.) The frame of reference plus the memory center equals the recall of doctrine.
(12) 2Cor. 10:4-6 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (ESV) The context of this passage is the angelic conflict, and the issue is your weaponry. You must have the right weapons. You come to Bible class to arm yourself spiritually. God provides the weaponry which is all in one arsenal: the divine dynasphere. The phrase in verse six "holding in readiness" refers to epignosis doctrine in the frame of reference and in the memory center.
3) Vocabulary Storage.
(1) This is the place where thinking develops and where technical words are stored which develop new ideas. You cannot think beyond your vocabulary.
(2) Vocabulary is developed in the left lobe and only transferred to the right lobe when accepted. Often our capacity for life is related to our vocabulary. Concepts are first learned in the left lobe where they are meaningless until we accept them; then they are transferred to the right lobe.
(3) After salvation, the believer must learn an entirely new vocabulary, including technical words for theology, which is tantamount to learning a new language for thinking, for application, and for expression.
(4) Just as at physical birth a baby must learn a language and the meaning of words, so after regeneration the believer must learn an entire new language.
(5) This is analogous to taking out a file within the filing cabinet and reading what is in the file. Recall is necessary for the application of the Word of God to experience for worship, training the Christian reflexes, and the function of the Problem Solving Devices. While the frame of reference is the location for the classification of doctrine, the memory center is the sphere for recall of Bible doctrine from all areas of the stream of consciousness. Recall is necessary for the application of doctrine to experience, for worship, for training the Christian reflexes, and the function of the problem solving devices.
(6) Cognizance of technical language is necessary to understand and apply Bible doctrine. The plan of God, of necessity, is couched in technical, theological terms.
i Soteriology = the doctrine of salvation.
ii Harmartiology = the doctrine of sin.
iii Eschatology = the doctrine of end times/kingdom of God.
iv Bibliology = the understanding of the Bible's design and development.
v Theology = the doctrine of God.
vi Christology = the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
vii Pneumatology = the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.
viii Angelology = the doctrine of Angels.
ix Anthropology = the doctrine of man.
x Ecclesiology = the doctrine of the Church.
xi Hypostatic Union = Jesus Christ is 100% God while being 100% man. This is also analogous to the Bible which is simultaneously the Word of God and the word of man.
(7) Jer. 15:16 Your words were discovered and I ate [metabolized] them, and Your words became for me joy [happiness]. (translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
(8) Deut. 8:3 “And He humbled you [the Exodus generation] and He let you be hungry and He fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your ancestors know that He might cause you to understand that mankind does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Jesus quoted this in Matt. 4:4 as His response to Satan.
(9) Psalms 119:103–104 How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.
(10) Psalms 119:130–131 The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. I opened my mouth wide and panted, For I longed for Your commandments.
4) Categorical Doctrinal Storage.
(1) Throughout this doctrine we have been utilizing the analogy of a "filing cabinet" to explain how the kardia/heart of the soul works, the overall Heart is the filing cabinet. Then there is the Frame of Reference which are the various draws within the filing cabinet that provide first access to the central resource center for storing and finding information within our souls. The Memory Center is the actual files you place within a filing cabinet. It is the actual storage of information within your soul. Vocabulary Storage is analogous to the tabs or headings we put on files as a technical reference to the information within the files giving us easy access and recall. Next is Categorical Storage, which is the organization system we use to file our files. For example we file alphabetically, by date, by topics, by projects, etc. Categorical Storage is the systematic grouping together of similar information.
(2) Categorical storage coordinated with the frame of reference classifies Bible doctrine. This is the storage area of any technical concepts or categorical information in any area of life. It is related to recall from both the memory center and vocabulary. You remember principles and technical words, and you finally put them all together.
(3) By comparing Scripture with Scripture, certain subjects are brought together in the divisions of doctrine for the purpose of classification. In the various parts of Scripture, many ideas are covered from different viewpoints but are still part of the same subject.
(4) Therefore, categorical storage fulfills the principle of cognitive independence.
(5) Categories are fundamental concepts of doctrine to which all knowledge of doctrine can be reduced.
(6) Categories are the divisions of doctrine formed for the purpose of classification of subjects and subject matter in the Word of God.
(7) Categorical storage is the basis for conceptualism in post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation; i.e., the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine; i.e., operation Z.
(8) Both vocabulary and categorical storage are essential to spiritual growth and the execution of God's plan.
i Prov. 2:2 Make your ear to concentrate on wisdom; apply your right lobe to understanding.
i) Only you can make your ear concentrate; no one can do it for you.
ii) You are to concentrate on wisdom, which is châkemâh (חָכְמָה) [pronounced khawke-MAW] in the Hebrew. Châkemâh is a combination of the Greek epignôsis (ἐπίγνωσις) [pronounced ehp-IHG-noh-sis] plus sophia (σοφία) [pronounced sohf-EE-ah]. Wisdom is the basis of spiritual growth. Wisdom is the combination of epignôsis coming into your right lobe as well as being applied from your right lobe.
iii) By applying your right lobe to understanding, you develop categorical
iv) The heart pumps epignosis doctrine through the frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary, and categorical storage areas. Without concentration and positive volition to what is taught, you will not develop vocabulary or categorical storage of doctrinal information.
ii Prov. 2:10 Wisdom will enter your heart, and the knowledge of doctrine will be pleasant to your soul.
i) There is no wisdom until it enters the right lobe.
ii) "Pleasant" indicates the presence of problem solving devices in your soul as you become spiritually self-sustaining.
iii Prov. 3:3 Do not let grace and truth leave you behind; bind them around your neck [carry Bible doctrine with you]; write them on the tablet of your heart [think about Bible doctrine and learn it]. (translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
iv Prov. 15:14-15 The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge;.a good heart has a continual feast. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
v Prov. 18:15 The heart of the wise acquires knowledge of doctrine; the ear of the wise seeks knowledge of doctrine. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
i) The "ear of the wise" is positive volition. With positive volition everything falls into place. Positive volition continually seeks doctrine.
ii) The "heart of the wise" is spiritual growth. It acquires knowledge through operation Z.
(9) Categorical storage is the putting together of words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, paragraphs into chapters, chapters into books, etc. It is cognizance of the various doctrinal categories used to communicate information to the believer.
(10) Knowledge is built on knowledge. Simple categories of doctrine lead to the more complex categories of knowledge in the classification of Biblical categories.
(11) The study of doctrines categorically becomes the basis for greater and greater application. It is very easy to mix the promises with faith in the simple form of the faith-rest drill. But to take a complicated problem in your life and apply various concepts and rationales of Bible doctrine to it requires a greater use of your right lobe.
(12) Eventually, the greatest problems in spiritual adulthood are resolved by categorical application. In the faith-rest drill, instead of claiming a promise, you begin to claim doctrinal rationales. It is from categories that you get stronger application of doctrine to your experience.
(13) Repetition is the key. You must hear a doctrine over and over again. The more you hear a doctrine, the quicker your spiritual IQ is built up and the sooner you will apply it to life. You haven't learned a doctrine until you can't forget it! You cannot use what you cannot recall. You can't look up the pertinent principles and doctrines in your notebook when you're being tested. It must already be in your Memory Center. You can only apply what you have learned.
(14) Both vocabulary and categorical storage are essential for epistemological rehabilitation. Cognition of a technical vocabulary of Biblical theology is necessary for the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God. It can only be explained in terms of mechanics. Therefore, certain technical mechanical terms are necessary.
(15) Every term, including rebound, faith-rest drill, hope 2, hope 3, spiritual self-esteem, virtue-love as a problem solving device, the protocol plan of God, the operational-type divine dynasphere, the portfolio of invisible assets, escrow blessings, logistical grace blessings, election, predestination, computer assets, etc., all have extensive doctrinal explanations. They must be stored in both the vocabulary and categorical compartments of the soul's right lobe.
5) Conscience. The Greek word suneidêsis (συνείδησις) [pronounced soon-Ī-day-sis] means to know with. The equivalent Latin conscientia means joint knowledge, i.e., to know with a standard.
(1) Throughout this doctrine we have been utilizing the analogy of a "filing cabinet" to explain how the kardia/heart of the soul works, the overall Heart is the filing cabinet. Then there is the Frame of Reference which are the various draws within the filing cabinet that provide first access to the central resource center for storing and finding information within our souls. The Memory Center is the actual files you place within the filing cabinet. It is the actual storage of information within your soul. Vocabulary Storage is analogous to the tabs or headings we put on files as a technical reference to the information within the files giving us easy access and recall. Categorical Storage is the systematic grouping of reference material for application. For example we categorized files alphabetically, by date, by topics, by projects, etc. Next we have the Conscience which is the scanning of information within a file to use as reference material. It is the actual reference material within a file that is applied in our lives.
(2) Your conscience is divided into two parts:
i The place for the norms and standards that are developed from Bible
ii The carnal norms and standards developed from your old sin nature.
iii The decisions you make are generally based on your conscience.
i) If your decisions are based on your doctrinal norms and standards, then your decisions are good decisions from a position of strength. The conscience extrapolates from doctrine the norms and standards for life. You have to know something to have a conscience. When you know something you develop standards. Whatever you learn in the right lobe becomes a part of your norms and standards.
ii) If your decisions are based on your carnal norms and standards, then your decisions are bad decisions from a position of weakness.
(3) You must have vocabulary and thought to establish norms and standards. The conscience must be built on a vocabulary that begins with one word: no, or don't. All consciences are built with negative words which forbid doing something. So the conscience of man is first established by negatives, although eventually there are explanations in both positive and negative terms.
(4) Therefore, the conscience becomes the residency of the priorities of your soul. Dan 1:8
(5) Rom 2:14-15 The law printed [written] in your hearts [right lobes], their conscience confirming the testimony and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending themselves. Once you have norms and standards, you orient to whether you are doing something right or wrong.
(6) The conscience is the right lobe's storage compartment for your norms and standards and priorities in life. Rom. 9:1, 13:5 1Cor. 8:7 2Cor. 4:2 5:11 Titus 1:15 Heb. 9:14
(7) Romans 9:1–2 I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. This was Paul's attitude towards the Jews for rejecting Christ as the Messiah. He had the knowledge of God in his heart and through the ministry of the Spirit was able to express sorrow towards the unbeliever.
(8) So you see you have to know something to have a Conscience. The Conscience extrapolates from whatever you put into your soul; the norms and standards for life. When you know something, whether it is good or bad, you develop standards from that knowledge. Whatever you learn in the right lobe becomes a part of your norms and standards.
(9) 2Corinthians 5:11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God; and I hope that we are made manifest also in your consciences.
(10) That is why it is so important to be careful about what you put into your soul and to take every thought captive. 2 Corinthians 10:5, 12-13
(11) All normal persons have norms and standards which are located in the right lobe or heart of the mentality of the soul. From these norms and standards come individual priorities in life. Your priorities form your scale of values.
(12) The norms and standards located in the conscience are directed toward both God and man, but primarily toward mankind until you become aware of the existence of God and what He has done for you.
i Acts 24:16 "In view of this, even I myself keep practicing to maintain even a blameless conscience, both before God and before men."
ii True strength is to develop your standards toward both God and man from the Biblical standards of doctrine.
(13) The conscience of the believer is formed from cognition of Bible doctrine. 2Cor. 4:2 But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame [false doctrine and apostasy], not walking in craftiness, not adulterating the Word of God, but by the unveiling of doctrine [post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation], commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.) Paul is here saying that there is a legitimate modus operandi that goes with the spiritual life. You will build up norms and standards related to it from Bible doctrine, and at the same time set aside false norms and standards related to legalism.
(14) The believer's conscience demands that he submit to establishment authority. Rom 13:5 Therefore, it is necessary to be in subordination, not only because of wrath [law enforcement], but also for conscience sake. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
i In other words, the Christian doesn't refrain from criminal activity because he's afraid of going to jail, but because, with a strong conscience, his norms and standards refuse to let him even consider any criminal activity.
ii The conscience in the soul is far stronger than any fear of punishment from law
(15) Conscience as a motivator is mentioned in 2Tim. 1:3 I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my ancestors did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers, day and night. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
i So your conscience has something to do with your effectiveness in prayer. Paul's conscience demanded that he pray for certain people, and he did so. Paul didn't pray for people because he liked them, but for conscience sake, which is the strongest possible motivation.
ii Since the conscience is located in the right lobe of the soul, the norms and standards of the conscience are built on epignôsis (ἐπίγνωσις) [pronounced ehp-IHG-noh-sis] doctrine, not on gnôsis (γνσις) [pronounced GNOH-sis] doctrine.
(16) The conscience is related to unjust and unfair treatment, 1Peter 2:18-19 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle masters, but also to the perverse and unreasonable ones; for this is grace, if for the sake of conscience toward God, anyone bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
i Though originally addressed to slaves, this verse came to refer to anyone who is under the authority of someone else. Some people in authority are perverse, but you are just as responsible to submit to their authority. You serve them and do your best job as unto the Lord.
ii Such a believer has a strong conscience. The weak believer complains and rejects authority, and so becomes a loser.
iii So it is very important to have a conscience based on epignosis doctrine so that you can handle unjust treatment in the same manner that you handle fair treatment.
iv Military training can be counted on to provide unjust and unfair treatment from authority. To learn to submit to unfair authority is necessary for proper function under the abnormal circumstances of combat.
(17) The conscience is important in suffering for blessing according to 1Peter 3:14-16 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed [suffering for blessing in three categories]. Furthermore, do not fear their intimidation tactics and do not be troubled, but set apart the Lord Christ in your right lobes, and always be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you to give an account for the confidence that is in you with grace orientation and respect [occupation with Christ]. Be having a good of intrinsic value conscience, so that in the things in which you are slandered, those who malign your intrinsic good in Christ may be put to shame. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
i The three categories of suffering for blessing are providential preventative suffering, momentum testing, and evidence testing.
ii Note the source of occupation with Christ is epignosis doctrine in the right lobe. You handle slander through epignosis in the right lobe.
iii If you have a strong conscience, you will leave it in the Lord's hands. Then it will go to the supreme court of heaven. They will be put to shame without you ever trying to defend yourself or answer back.
(18) False standards in the conscience can cause spiritual weaknesses. 1Cor. 8:7 Not all men have this knowledge [about food offered to idols], but some being accustomed to idol worship until now [when saved] eat the food as if it were sacrificed to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.
i Some of the best food in Corinth had been offered to idols and then sold as the choicest meat in the temple market. Food is food and meat is meat. So it was alright to eat that food, once you sanctified it.
ii But for those with an idolatrous background and a weak conscience, eating food offered to idols was very offensive. The one with the weak conscience has legalistic norms and standards in his conscience from his religious background.
iii So there is a conflict between those with a strong conscience and those with a weak conscience. A strong conscience has Biblical standards from epignôsis (ἐπίγνωσις) [pronounced ehp-IHG-noh-sis] and sophia (σοφία) [pronounced sohf-EE-ah]. A weak conscience lives by standards acquired from its background, which may or may not be good, or which may be distorted in the spiritual life. Eating is a physical issue, and has nothing to do with the spiritual life.
iv The weak conscience assumes he's strong, because legalism always assumes it is strong. Yet legalism is really weak.
v So the conscience is a very sensitive thing. It can be erroneous in its concepts apart from doctrine. If doctrine does not feed the conscience, instinct will. And instinct develops legalism in a hurry.
(19) Apostasy in believers is related to a conscience that has been destroyed. 1 Tim 4:1-2 But the Spirit explicitly states that in latter periods of time [between First and Second Advents], some believers will become apostate from doctrine, paying attention to deceitful spirits and concentrating on doctrines from demons [cosmic involvement] by means of hypocrisy of liars [false teachers], seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
i False teaching sears the conscience like a branding iron. It destroys the conscience. This searing refers to scar tissue of the soul and cosmic involvement.
ii A great deal of your strength comes from having the proper norms and standards in the conscience of your right lobe.
iii Therefore, it is important to understand how apostasy can destroy the conscience.
(20) The conscience is purified from dead works through the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross according to Heb. 9:14 How much more will the blood of Christ who, through the eternal Spirit [omnipotence of the Holy Spirit], offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
i There is no work we can perform for salvation; salvation is by grace. Therefore, our conscience must be purified from dead works. Dead works are human works, like faith plus anything for salvation. All dead works will be burned at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
ii In other words, anything performed outside of the divine dynasphere is dead works. Christian service that involves dead works is not Christian service at all.
iii The great power experiment of the Church Age and the execution of the protocol plan of God demands the use of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere.
iv Divine omnipotence and human power are mutually exclusive. Serving God and fulfilling His plan cannot be accomplished by human power. Human power destroys the conscience and results in dead works.
v Legalism cannot execute the plan, purpose, or will of God in the Church Age.
vi Serving God means the utilization of divine power and the cognition of Bible doctrine, which establishes the norms and standards for the right lobe.
(21) The Conscience is a very sensitive thing. It can be erroneous in its concepts apart from Bible doctrine. If the Word of God does not feed the Conscience, instinct will quickly develop into legalism.
i The norms and standards located in the Conscience are directed toward both God and man, but primarily toward mankind until you become aware of the existence of God and what He has done for you.
ii Acts 24:16, "In view of this, even I myself keep practicing to maintain even a blameless conscience, both before God and before men."
iii True strength is to develop your standards toward both God and man from the Biblical standards of doctrine.
iv 2 Corinthians 4:2, "But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame [false doctrine and apostasy], not walking in craftiness, not adulterating the Word of God, but by the manifestation of truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God."
v Paul is saying that there is a legitimate mode of operation that goes with the spiritual life. You will build up norms and standards related to it from Bible doctrine, and at the same time set aside false norms and standards related to legalism or any other Cosmic thinking.
(22) Principles Related to the Conscience:
i The believer's Conscience demands that he submit to establishment authority. Romans 13:5, "Therefore, it is necessary to be in subordination, not only because of wrath [law enforcement], but also for conscience sake." In other words, the Christian doesn't refrain from criminal activity because he's afraid of going to jail, but because, with a strong conscience, his norms and standards refuse to let him even consider any criminal or sinful activity. The Conscience in the soul is far stronger than any fear of punishment from law enforcement.
ii The Conscience is a motivator within our soul to live in the Righteousness of God under His grace. 2 Timothy 1:3, "I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my ancestors did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers day and night." We also see that the Conscience has something to do with your effectiveness in prayer. Paul's Conscience demanded that he prays for certain people, and he did so. Paul didn't pray for people because he liked them, but for conscience sake, which is the strongest possible motivation.
iii The Conscience is tested and trained when confronted with unjust and unfair treatment. 1 Peter 2:18-19, "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle masters, but also to the perverse and unreasonable ones; for this is grace, if for the sake of conscience toward God anyone bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly." "Though originally addressed to slaves, this verse came to refer to anyone who is under the authority of someone else. Some people in authority are perverse, but you are just as responsible to submit to their authority. You serve them and do your best job as unto the Lord. Such a believer has a strong conscience. The weak believer complains and rejects authority, and so becomes a loser (of rewards). So it is very important to have a Conscience based on EPIGNOSIS doctrine so that you can handle unjust treatment in the same manner that you handle fair treatment." R.B. Thieme Jr.
iv When going through suffering for blessing a good Conscience is a witness to others and causes the accuser to reflect upon their own Conscience. 1 Peter 3:14-16 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, 15but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; 16and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. All three categories of suffering for blessing are in view here, Providential Preventative Suffering, Momentum Testing, and Evidence Testing. Regardless of the category of suffering you are under, you will be sustained by applying the Word of God resident within your soul, (Occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ). When you are faced with adversity, such as slandering, your Conscience refrains you from retaliating. Instead you turn the matter over to God, (the Supreme Court of Heaven), in faith and rest in Him.
v Reversionism and apostasy in a believer's life is related to a Conscience that has been destroyed through neglect of Bible doctrine and absorption of Cosmic thinking, resulting in scar tissue upon their soul. 1 Timothy 4:1-2, "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, 2by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, (scar tissue as a result of reversionism)."
vi The Conscience is purified from built up scar tissue and dead works through the substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Hebrews 9:14 How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? We are cleansed at the moment of Salvation. That is true. But if we perform dead works (works performed in carnality absent the power of God the Holy Spirit) post salvation, the cross remains effective for cleansing through the confession of sin, 1 John 1:9. With a cleansed conscience you are now able to truly and righteously serve and glorify God. Divine omnipotence and human power are mutually exclusive. Serving God and fulfilling His Plan cannot be accomplished by human power. Human power, including legalism, destroys the Conscience and results in dead works. Serving God means the utilization of divine power and the cognition of Bible doctrine, which establishes the norms and standards for the right lobe / heart of your soul.
(23) So the Conscience in the Heart (right lobe) of Our Soul:
i Demands the believer submit to establishment authority.
ii Motivates him to live in the Righteousness of God under grace.
iii Tests and trains the soul under unjust and unfair treatment.
iv Is a witness to and causes self-reflection in others when suffering for blessing.
v Is destroyed through neglect of Bible doctrine and absorption of Cosmic thinking, resulting in scar tissue upon the soul when in reversionism and apostasy.
vi Is purified from scar tissue and dead works through the substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
6) The Momentum Department or the Department of Spiritual Growth.
(1) This is the sphere of spiritual growth which is momentum inside the divine dynasphere under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine. As a result of having doctrine in the frame of reference, moving it into memory center, vocabulary and categorical storage, developing norms and standards; we then have a growth factor from metabolized doctrine which moves us to spiritual maturity.
(2) There are two categories of spiritual growth.
i Normal spiritual growth comes from post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. This is tantamount to operation Z or the three R's.
i) Receptive comprehension, the first three stages of Operation Z.
ii) Retention, the metabolization of Bible doctrine, converting gnosis into epignosis doctrine.
iii) Recall, the application of that doctrine.
ii Accelerated spiritual growth comes from the application of metabolized doctrine and the function of the problem solving devices of spiritual adulthood under suffering, pressure, and adversity for blessing. There are three categories of suffering for blessing in spiritual adulthood.
i) Spiritual self-esteem plus providential preventative suffering equals spiritual
ii) Spiritual autonomy plus momentum testing (gate #7 of the divine dynasphere) equals spiritual maturity.
iii) Spiritual maturity plus evidence testing equals maximum glorification of God.
iii It is true that you can learn from punitive suffering, from divine discipline, from the law of volitional responsibility, and from self-induced misery. But that is a slow process and does not necessarily advance you to spiritual self-esteem, the first stage of spiritual adulthood.
7) The Wisdom Department.
(1) Wisdom is the application of metabolized doctrine and problem solving devices to the various experiences of life.
(2) Wisdom must accompany the learning of Bible doctrine. Otherwise, arrogance sets in. Without wisdom, there is arrogance.
(3) The Greek word for wisdom, sophia (σοφία) [pronounced sohf-EE-ah], (and the Hebrew equivalent, châkemâh (חָכְמָה) [pronounced khawke-MAW]) means the ability to relate metabolized doctrine in the right lobe to life. Therefore, it is the ability to deal sagaciously with life from the accumulated facts of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.
(4) Wisdom is the application of metabolized doctrine and the utilization of problem solving devices for both normal and accelerated growth.
(5) 1Corinthians 3:10–11 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
(6) Ephesians 5:15–16 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
(7) Ezekiel 36:27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.
(8) Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
(9) The launching pad is an entrance hall connected with your memory center. This is the application area. The launching pad takes recall of doctrine and applies it to experience under the function of your very own royal priesthood.
(10) The launching pad is used for the application of metabolized doctrine in both normal and accelerated growth, as well as in problem solving. One of the greatest areas of accelerated growth is the utilization and application of metabolized doctrine in suffering for blessing.
(11) You cannot apply what you do not know. You can only apply doctrine for yourself; the pastor cannot apply Bible doctrine for you.
(12) The launching pad is where thought is converted into action. Your standards are applied to life. All other parts of the right lobe come together to make an application. As you apply more doctrine you develop wisdom.
(13) In the launching pad all the doctrine in the right lobe comes together for its application. This is where virtue love, hope 2 and 3, and the other problem solving devices have a phenomenal impact.
(14) This means always the application of doctrine to your experiences in the privacy of your priesthood, not trying to apply your norms and standards to others (unless you are a
i Scripture. 1Cor. 1:30 But you are from Him in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
ii 1Cor. 2:7-8 For we communicate God's wisdom in a mystery which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for the purpose of your glory, [divine wisdom] which none of the rulers of this age have understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
iii James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and divine good production, impartial, without hypocrisy.
iv Philip. 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is integrity, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if there is any virtue, if there is anything worthy of praise, concentrate on these things.
(15) In the development of your Conscience, you must have vocabulary and thought to establish norms and standards. It is first built on one word, no or don't, negative words, which forbid doing something. Later on there is explanation and reason in both positive and negative terms to go along with the prohibition, but it begins simply.
i So too does the Conscience develop in the spiritual realm; first with simple adherence to God's ordinances; later with knowledge, obedience to His Plan for your life.
ii Romans 2:15, "the law printed [written] in their hearts [right lobes], their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them."
iii Once you have norms and standards, you orient to whether you are doing something right or wrong. Therefore, the Conscience becomes the residency of the priorities of your soul, Daniel 1:8. Daniel 1:8, "But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself."
(16) Your Conscience is Divided into Two Parts:
i The place for norms and standards developed from the Word of God resident in your soul.
ii The carnal norms and standards developed from your Old Sin Nature and cosmic living.
iii The decisions you make as a believer are generally based on your conscience inspired by either the Word of God or your Sin Nature. Unbelievers can only make decisions from their Sin Nature.
iv If your decisions are based on your doctrinal norms and standards, then your decisions are divine good decisions (fruit of Spirit) from a position of strength, (gold, silver, and precious stones).
v If your decisions are based on your carnal norms and standards, then your decisions are bad decisions from a position of weakness (wood, hay and straw, 1Corinthians 3:12;
vi 1Corinthians 8:7, "Not all men have this knowledge [about food offered to idols], but some being accustomed to idol worship until now [when saved] eat the food as if it were sacrificed to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled."
vii Our norms and standards determine our priorities in life. Your priorities form your scale of values. If you have false standards in your Conscience they cause spiritual weaknesses in your soul.
viii "Some of the best food in Corinth had been offered to idols and then sold as the choicest meat in the temple market. Food is food and meat is meat. So it was alright to eat that food, once you sanctified it. But for those with an idolatrous background and a cosmic conscience, eating food offered to idols was very offensive. Likewise those with a legalistic Conscience from a religious background did not understand the grace policy of God and had a warped sense of conscience. So there is a conflict between those with a strong Conscience based on the principles found in the Word of God and those with a weak Conscience based on demon influence. A strong Conscience has Biblical standards from epignosis and sophia. A weak Conscience lives by standards acquired from its cosmic background, which may or may not be good, or which may be distorted in the spiritual life. Eating is a physical issue, and has nothing to do with the spiritual life. The weak Conscience assumes he's strong, because legalism always assumes it is strong. Yet legalism is really weak." R.B. Thieme, Jr.
8) The Launching Pad. Throughout this doctrine we have been utilizing the analogy of a "filing cabinet" to explain how the KARDIA / heart of the soul works, the overall Heart is the filing cabinet. Then there is the Frame of Reference which are the various draws within the filing cabinet that provide first access to the central resource center for storing and finding information within our souls. The Memory Center is the actual files you place within the filing cabinet. It is the actual storage of information within your soul. Vocabulary Storage is analogous to the tabs or headings we put on files as a technical reference to the information within the files giving us easy access and recall. Categorical Storage is the systematic grouping of reference material for application. The Conscience is the scanning of information within a file to use as a basis of reference regarding the situations of life. Finally we arrive at the Launching Pad. The Launching Pad is the gathering together of things stored within the filing cabinet. It is the animated process of removing a file and utilizing what is in that file.
(1) The Launching Pad is the final and critical compartment of the Heart of your soul. This is the compartment that when confronted with an issue or situation, gathers information from the other five compartments of the Heart and sets it in motion. It is the staging and application of metabolized Bible doctrine resident in your soul and/or Problem Solving Devices to the various experiences of life.
(2) Applying the Word of God that you have learned to the situations of life is called Wisdom. The Launching Pad is the staging area for epignosis (complete knowledge) Bible Doctrine and setting it in motion to become sophia (wisdom) as you apply it to life.
(3) Wisdom should be the natural outpouring of your soul as a result of learning the Word of God. If it is not, then arrogance has or will set in.
i Unfortunately many believers don't take in the Word of God after salvation and do not receive epignosis. That is problem #1.
ii Problem #2 is that some believers with epignosis Bible doctrine do not apply it in faith.
iii The most common cause of Problem #1 and #2 is that arrogance (i.e. independence and self-reliance emanating from the Sin Nature) has taken up residence in the soul in the place of epignosis.
(4) Without wisdom applied from your soul, there is arrogance. The Greek word for wisdom, sophia and the Hebrew equivalent, chokmah means the ability to relate metabolized Bible doctrine in the Heart (right lobe) to life.
(5) Therefore, it is the ability to deal sagaciously (keen and farsighted judgment, acute discernment) with life from the accumulated facts and knowledge of the Mystery Doctrine of the Church Age.
(6) The Launching Pad is an entrance hall or conduit for epignosis Bible Doctrine to be applied. It works as follows: Your are faced with a situation in life. The Frame of Reference sends first some general reference points that are related to the situation. Then the Memory Center sends in recalled details and data regarding those reference points. This is followed by the Vocabulary sending technical specifications that can be used for the situation. Next the Categorical Storage compartment sends supporting data from multiple reference points. Then the Conscience brings forth reasoning based on all the norms and standards built in your soul from accumulated Bible Doctrine that has flowed through it. And finally the Launching Pad gathers together all supporting materials, stages them for launch, and thrusts them forward within your soul so that the Wisdom of God flows throughout your soul and can be applied to the situation you are faced with. This all occurs under the function of your very own Royal Priesthood through the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit working within your soul.
(7) You cannot apply what you do not know. You can only apply Bible doctrine for yourself; the Pastor cannot apply Bible doctrine for you. John 16:13, "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears (EPIGNOSIS), He will speak (Launch Pad); and He will disclose to you what is to come (Wisdom)."
(8) The Launching Pad is where thought is converted into action. The standards from your Conscience are applied to life and all of the other parts of the Heart come together to make an application. As you apply more and more Bible doctrine to life, you develop greater and greater wisdom.
(9) In the Launching Pad all the Bible doctrine in the right lobe of your soul comes together for its application. This is where virtue love, hope, and the other Problem Solving Devices have a phenomenal impact. 1Corinthians 2:13, "Which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.
(10) This means application of epignosis Bible doctrine to your experiences in the privacy of your Royal Priesthood. Under the Royal Family Honor Code, we are not to apply our own norms and standards to others (unless you are a parent). But in grace and virtue (unconditional) love, we teach and train others with the hope that they will develop epignosis and wisdom within their own soul to the glory of God.
(11) 1Corinthians 1:30, "But you are from Him in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption."
(12) 1Corinthians 2:7-8, "For we communicate God's wisdom in a mystery which has been hidden, which God predestined before the ages for the purpose of your glory, [divine wisdom] which none of the rulers of this age have understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."
(13) James 3:17, "But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and divine good production, impartial, without hypocrisy."
(14) Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is integrity, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if there is any virtue, if there is anything worthy of praise, concentrate on these things."
9) The Subconscious Mind.
(1) The subconscious is attached to the right lobe because the right lobe feeds it. The subconscious is the place for storage of impressions, thoughts, and emotions which do not exist in the conscious mind or in the emotions. Hence, totally apart from the vocabulary and categorical storage, conscience, frame of reference, or any form of metabolized doctrine, certain impressions are made which enter into the subconscious mind.
(2) The subconscious includes aspects of the mental life which are not immediately a part of the individual's conscious mind, since certain emotional factors will not ordinarily permit its contents to come to the surface. However, with relatively little aid, the obstructing repressions can be lifted and the contents emerge into awareness. People who use their emotions too much usually block these things.
(3) While the subconscious is totally divorced from metabolized doctrine in the right lobe, it is also distinguished from the unconscious; it is between the conscious and the unconscious.
(4) The subconscious is a mental apparatus. It overlaps from the conscious mind, but is not immediately available to the conscious mind. The subconscious affects thoughts, feelings, and behavior without entering into one's awareness. Hence, the subconscious is where there are impressions and mental activity just below the threshold of consciousness. These can be released. Often the teaching of Bible doctrine will release these things and clean out the subconscious of things that are false.
(5) The subconscious is merely the slough-off for things in the conscious mind that are rejected, no longer believed, or priorities and standards which you have now changed. When you change a standard and don't believe it anymore, and it conflicts with your conscience, that causes a leak into the subconscious. So the subconscious collects all the poison of your right lobe.
(6) The subconscious includes aspects of mental life which are not immediately part of the believer's conscious mind, since certain emotional factors will not ordinarily permit its contents to come to surface into the conscious mind; thus they remain repressed.
(7) However, metabolized doctrine in the right lobe of the soul plus the development of wisdom in the application of doctrine can remove obstructing repressions, and the contents of the subconscious can emerge into awareness where they can be dealt with and handled in the proper manner. This is one of doctrine's problem solving functions dealing with the subconscious. In the subconscious there is no problem solving device.
(8) Psychiatry regards the subconscious as the superficial aspect of the unconscious (which is probably incorrect), and certainly the subconscious functions apart from self as known, or self as the knower, or one's sense of self in personal identity and as a personality.
(9) Disorders of the conscious mind relate to the subconscious.
i The clouding of the conscious mind occurs when the individual is only partially aware of what is really going on. He is therefore divorced, in part or in toto, from reality. Certain mental diseases produce confusion, disorientation, and hazy awareness. These same things can also be produced in the believer through negative volition toward the mystery doctrine of the Church Age and subsequent cosmic involvement.
ii Normal clouding of the consciousness occurs when the individual is between sleep and waking, called the hypnagogic state.
iii A total loss of consciousness can occur through trauma, shock, or shutting off the blood supply to some part of the brain, as in a stroke. So the subconsciousness must be considered in light of the disorders of the consciousness.
iv Apparently in its function, the subconscious becomes a storage area for shock from sin, failure, adversity, frustration, or disappointment. When the conscious mind cannot or does not handle certain things, they apparently slip into the subconscious mind.
v These shocks can be recalled in dreams. Dream activity is a part of subconscious function. Psychoanalysts give dreams a very high degree of importance, contending that they interpret to the conscious mind the strivings and desires of the unconscious.
vi Dr. Wallace Emerson, a Christian psychologist, noted six classifications of dreams that might do this.
i) The dream of premonition is forebodings of some event to come, usually of an unhappy nature. Two Biblical dreams come under this category: the dream of the chief baker (Prince of the Cupbearers) in Gen 40:16-19, and the dream of Nebuchadnezzar in Dan 4:4-18. Nebuchadnezzar had a premonition of a palace revolution, and that for awhile he would be eating grass in the field.
ii) Prophetic dreams. This category also includes two Biblical dreams: Pharaoh's dream of Gen 41:1-8, and Nebuchadnezzar's dream of empires in Dan 2:1-10. Daniel's interpretation is given in Dan 2:27-45.
iii) Prodromatic dreams are related to disease or different body conditions. This is a dream which persists about some part of the body not yet resulting in pain, but due to some inflammatory or disease condition, it might have prognostic significance. This is a strange phenomenon related to the subconscious.
iv) Kinesthetic dreams are dreams of flying, soaring, or falling through space; perhaps a reflection of subconscious disappointment with one's circumstances.
v) In paralytic dreams, the individual feels as though he cannot move his hands or feet; he cannot speak or cry for help. This is usually associated with some form of horror or unpleasant situation, a reflection of subconscious shock.
vi) In collective dreams, two or more people have the same dream.
vii However, it is not the objective of this study to provide a dissertation on dreams, but simply to note the fact that dreams, which are products of thinking, lacking the awareness and direction supplied by the conscious mind, involve various processes and represent such products of repression as unacknowledged motives and desires.
viii Frequently, dreams are symbolic expressions of inner tension.
ix Every time you knock doctrine down from number one priority in your life, you will have problems in your life that cannot be dealt with directly until awareness exists. To bring these problems out of the subconscious requires going back to doctrine.
(10) With the completion of the canon of Scripture, God no longer revealed Himself or His policy through dreams, visions, or direct conversation. So the use of that part of the right lobe of the soul for that purpose is definitely shut down.
9. Summary of the Compartments of the Heart. Throughout this doctrine we have been utilizing the analogy of a "filing cabinet" to explain how the kardia/heart of the soul works. Basically the Heart is the overall filing cabinet. It is the central resource center of your soul, the place where information is entered, stored, and available for recall and application. As we have noted in this doctrine, there are 6–8 compartments in the heart of your soul so we will use the "filing cabinet" analogy to describe these compartments.
1) The Frame of Reference is analogous to the various drawers within the filing cabinet. The drawers provide initial access to the central resource center for storing and finding information within our souls.
2) The Memory Center is the actual files you place within the filing cabinet. It is the actual storage of information within your soul.
3) Vocabulary Storage is analogous to the tabs or headings we put on files as a technical reference to the information within the files providing us easy access and recall.
4) Categorical Storage is the order and arrangement of files, the systematic grouping of reference material for application.
5) The Conscience is the scanning of information within a file to use as a basis of reference, establishing guidelines regarding the situations of life.
6) Finally, we arrive at the Launching Pad. The Launching Pad is the place where the things stored in the filing cabinet are gathered together for use and application. It is the animated process of removing a file and utilizing what is in that file. For example, you are faced with a disastrous situation in life. The Frame of Reference sends initial general reference points that are related to the situation. Then the Memory Center sends in recalled details and data regarding those reference points. This is followed by the Vocabulary sending technical specifications that can be used for the situation. Next, the Categorical Storage compartment sends supporting data from multiple reference points. Then the Conscience brings forth reasoning based on all the norms and standards built in your soul from accumulated Bible Doctrine that has flowed through it. Finally the Launching Pad gathers together all supporting materials, stages them for launch, and thrusts them forward within your soul so that the Wisdom of God flows throughout your soul and can be applied to the situation you are faced with. This all occurs under the function of your very own Royal Priesthood through the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit working within your soul.
10. Spiritual Growth is the Result of Building Up Your Heart with the Word of God.
1) As a result of having Bible doctrine in the Frame of Reference, moving it into the Memory Center, Vocabulary and Categorical storage, developing Norms and Standards in the Conscience coupled with faith application from the Launching Pad, we then have a growth factor from metabolized Bible doctrine which moves us to spiritual maturity.
2) Although the entire process can be quite complex, our involvement is quite simple.
(1) When we eat and breathe, our contribution is fairly simple. Breathing is automatic; and eating is according to our taste (although most of us realize that some foods are better for us than other foods).
(2) The process by which air taken into our lungs and then is sent throughout our bodies, refreshing and replenishing, is rather complex. No one knows the entire process and all that is involved. Most people don’t know much beyond the breathing in of oxygen and the breathing out of CO2. But, even though our knowledge of this function which sustains and renews our bodies is fairly difficult to understand, all we do is breathe. The body which God has designed takes care of the rest.
(3) The same thing is true of Bible doctrine in the soul. All we do is listen and believe. God has designed our human spirit to take care of the rest. We may understand that we take in doctrine in our perceptive lobe (the left lobe), believe it, and it become imprinted on our heart (the right lobe); but even if we don’t know this, it still occurs.
(4) Our contribution is simple. We need only have positive volition toward the Word of God. We listen, we believe, and God handles the rest.
3) This is the status in which spiritual growth is obtained as a result of momentum inside God's power system for your spiritual walk. This is accomplished through the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit and momentum from the Word of God metabolized within your soul. Learning God's Word provides momentum and motivation to learn more of God's Word. This is the momentum factor of spiritual phenomenon resulting in God's wisdom applied to your life.
4) There are two categories of spiritual growth.
(1) Normal spiritual growth that comes from the renewing of your mind post-salvation. Ephesians 4:23–24 And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. This is accomplished through the Grace Apparatus for Perception (GAP) which includes the three R's by means of the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit.
i Receptive comprehension, faith upon hearing.
ii Retention, the metabolization of Bible doctrine, converting gnosis into epignosis doctrine and storing it within the Heart of your soul.
iii Recall, the application of the Word resident within your soul from the Launching Pad of the Heart resulting in Wisdom.
(2) Accelerated spiritual growth as a result of suffering for blessing. The acceleration of your spiritual growth comes from the application of metabolized Bible doctrine and the function of the Problem Solving Devices when you are faced with pressure and adversity in life.
i As is the general rule, we tend to learn at an accelerated rate when we are faced with difficulties or perceived failures within our lives. This is in contrast to the times of success and prosperity when we are comfortable, think we are all set and "have it all down pat". In the latter the trend is to not turn to God, His wisdom or power.
ii But in times of difficulty and pressure, we find ourselves in a position of hopelessness and helplessness when it comes to human solutions and our human resources. In these times, like no other, we are narrowed in our application to utilize the power of God, His Word and Spirit.
iii This is called Suffering for Blessing, which is facing difficulties, disasters, or pressure when we are walking with God. This is in contrast to divine discipline, when due to our negative volition, God allows discipline to come into our lives to wake us up.
iv You can learn from divine discipline, punitive suffering, the law of volitional responsibility, and self-induced misery. But that is a slow process and does not necessarily advance you to Spiritual Self-Esteem. In those instances, if you wake up and get back in fellowship with God, the discipline is turned into Suffering for Blessing.
v Suffering for Blessing has three categories related to three stages of spiritual adulthood, which moves us forward and provides momentum to achieve further spiritual growth in spiritual adulthood.
vi 1Corinthians 9:24–27 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
i) Spiritual Self-Esteem plus Providential Preventative Suffering (P.P.S.) equals Spiritual Autonomy. P.P.S. insulates against the arrogance complex of sins. This means you begin to eliminate jealous, self-pity, bitterness, vindictiveness, hatred, inordinate ambition, inordinate competition, and all the other mental attitude sins in the arrogance complex. 2Corinthians 12:7-10 1Peter 1:6-8 Philippians 1:29
ii) Spiritual Autonomy plus Momentum Testing equals Spiritual Maturity. Momentum Testing includes People, Thought, System, Disaster, and Prosperity testing. 1Corinthians 15:33 Proverbs 13:20 Colossians 3:12-4:1 Matthew 9:4 Romans 12:2-3 Galatians 6:3 Philippians 4:12-13 Philippians 4:12–13 I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
iii) Spiritual Maturity plus Evidence Testing equals Maximum Glorification of God. Evidence testing is Satan's cross-examination of every witness presented by God in the historical trial of all fallen angels. Zechariah 3:1 Romans 12:10 Ephesians 6:10-12 Revelations 2:8-11
(3) Two categories of Evidence Testing.
i The Relationship to the Plan of God Test, illustrated by our Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 4:1-11
ii The Relationship to Life Test, illustrated by Job. No matter what stage of Spiritual growth you are in, keep in mind 1Corinthians 10:13. 1Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.
iii So in relation to our verse, John 13:2 in the Upper Room Discourse, we understand why it is so important to fill the Heart of our Soul with the Word of God, so that we are not deceived and influence by demons and doctrines of demons. In review we have noted: The Heart is the target within man for storing and applying the Word of God and the target for demon influence.
5) The heart is related to momentum in the spiritual life.
(1) The heart is related to grace function in Prov. 24:17.
(2) The heart is related to grace orientation in Ex 23:9.
(3) The heart is related to +H in 1Sam. 2:1.
(4) The heart is the basis for stability in crisis, Psalm 112:7-8.
(5) The heart is the source of motivation in the temporal life, Ex 35:25-26,35 36:8; and in the spiritual life, 2Cor. 9:7.
11. The Heart and Capacity for Life.
1) Since the emotion takes the place of the right woman-the responder-and since the heart is the “right man”-the aggressor-all capacity for life must be initiated in the heart.
2) All capacity for life resides in the frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary-thinking-categorizing-conscience of the right lobe.
3) From these areas, the heart initiates and the emotion responds as in sex between right man and right woman.
4) There are both positive and negative concepts in capacity for life.
(1) The positive: love (Deut. 6:5; 11:13; Josh. 22:5); happiness (Psalm 19:8; 28:7); dynamics (Job 9:4).
(2) The negative: sorrow (Lev. 26:16; Neh. 2:2); pressure (Psalm 34:18); cowardice (Josh. 14:8; 1Sam. 17:32); discouragement (Num. 32:7, 9).
12. Happiness is related to the heart.
1) Prov. 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. Having a joyful heart means you share God's happiness (+H) in your right lobe.
2) Prov. 15:13-15 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. The heart of the intelligent seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly. All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.
(1) God's +H in the right lobe makes for a cheerful face, a marvelous life, and animation. But the spirit is broken when the heart is sad, down, or complaining.
(2) But the spirit is broken meaning the heart is sad, down, or complaining when you do not have the Word in your right lobe.
(3) The heart of the intelligent seeks knowledge, means that your motivation for learning more Bible doctrine comes from the Bible doctrine you already have in your right lobe.
(4) Eventually your motivation for learning more doctrine comes from the doctrine you already have in your right lobe.
(5) The mouth of a fool feeds on folly refers to the believer or unbeliever who fills his heart with false doctrine.
(6) The continual feast means continuous circulation of Bible doctrine in the heart with never ending supply and sustenance.
3) Prov. 18:12 Before his downfall, a person's heart is arrogant; but humility comes before honor [virtue]. (prob. R. B. Thieme, Jr.) In other words, if arrogance controls the right lobe of your soul, you're a total loser. Humility is teachability and authority orientation. There can never be honor until you learn and metabolize doctrine.
4) Prov. 18:15 The heart of the discerning [wise] acquires knowledge; because the ears of the wise seek it out. Here is motivation to learn Bible doctrine. When you listen and concentrate, then you will acquire the discernment of the right lobe that provides your
5) Prov. 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
6) Prov. 27:19 As water reflects a face, so a person's heart reflects that person. What you really are is not what you appear on the surface; it is what you are in your heart or right lobe. The Bible is like a mirror, for you can look into the Word of God and know what you are really like (James 1:23).
7) Job 38:36 "Who endowed the heart with wisdom, or who gave understanding to the mind?" Both lobes are cited here. The mind is the left lobe; the heart is the right lobe of the soul. Information comes into the mind, volition evaluates that information, and that which is believed is them placed into the right lobe.
8) 2Cor. 6:11-12 O you Corinthians, our mouth has been opened face to face with you [in teaching], because our hearts [right lobes] have been enlarged [by maximum doctrine in the right lobe of the soul]. Therefore, you have not been hindered by us [in your spiritual life]; you have been hindered by your own emotions [= bowels in the Greek]. (translation probably R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
(1) The Corinthians had receptive comprehension but no retention.
(2) Notice that emotions and heart are in contrast in this passage. Therefore, emotions are not a part of the function of the right lobe of the soul.
(3) You have may have made the mistake of arguing with a liberal and then quoted some bit of information, survey, scientific study, etc. Then, you wonder why you have not won the argument. They hear this in their left lobe (the mind), but, whatever consideration is given it still rejects the information due to the emotions controlling the soul. Therefore, it is never transferred over to the right lobe. The heart never accepts that information because they do not believe it. They may say, “Well, you heard that on Fox News” (which they may call Faux News); or they may say, “You can make a scientific survey (or poll, or whatever) say anything.” Their emotional understanding of the topic at hand prevents them from believing what you say. This is the problem of the Corinthians when hearing doctrine taught by Paul. Paul presented the absolute truth to them, but they rejected this truth because it did not line up with their thinking that was controlled by their emotions.
9) Eph. 1:18 [I also pray] that the eyes of your hearts [right lobes] be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance for the saints. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
10) In Rev. 2:23, John adds that if emotional control continues, you die. Just as when blood does not circulate through the heart there is death, so this is true in the spiritual realm. "Furthermore, I will execute her followers with death, and so all the churches will know that I am He who investigates the emotions and the hearts, and I will administer punishment to each one of you [cosmic believers] according to your activities." (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
11) Heb. 4:12, The word of God is a judge of both thoughts and ideas of the heart. Heb. 3:12, Beware, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God. An evil heart of unbelief is failure to metabolize
12) 1Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, always (being) ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.
13) James 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and strife in your heart, do not be arrogant and do not lie against the truth. Arrogance and lying against the truth blocks the metabolization of doctrine. Gnosis doctrine minus epignosis is a lie against the truth. Compare Eph. 4:18 They have darkened their way of thinking [they always distort what is taught], they have been alienated from the life of God [they only have gnosis and lack metabolized doctrine], because of the ignorance which is in them, because of scar tissue of their heart.
14) The heart is the location of true happiness.
(1) "Gladness of heart," Judges 18:20 1Sam. 1:13 2:1 10:9 16:7 17:32 1Kings 8:66 2Chron. 7:10 Esther 5:9.
(2) "A merry heart," 1Sam. 25:36 2Sam. 13:28, 6:16 Prov. 15:13,15, 17:22 1 Chron 15:29 2Chron. 6:7. (Many more for both; see concordance.)
(3) The heart is related to capacity for life. All capacity for life is related to Bible doctrine residing in the heart's frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary and categorical storage, norms and standards and launching pad. The heart is related to both positive and negative aspects of capacity for life.
13. The heart is related to perception and thinking.
1) The heart is related to perception of Bible doctrine. Deut. 29:4 “Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know.” See also Prov. 22:17–21 23:12 Psalm 90:12.
2) The heart is related to thinking in terms of reversionism in Psalm 10:6, 11, 13 reveals the human viewpoint thinking of the reversionist related to the heart. He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved to all generations, I shall not be in adversity.” He says in his heart, “God has forgotten me, He has hidden His face from me. He will never see it. Why has the wicked [believer] spurned God?” He has said in his heart, “You will not hold me responsible.”
3) The thinking of the atheist is related to the heart. Psalm 14:1 The fool has thought in his heart, “There is no God.”
4) The heart is related to rationalizing mental attitudes. The rationalizing maladjustment to the justice of God is found in Isa. 47:10 And you felt secure in your evil, and you said to yourself, `No one sees me.' Your evil wisdom and your human viewpoint knowledge has deluded you, for you have thought in your heart, `I am, and there is no one as good as I am.'"
5) False teachers communicate false doctrine from the deceit of their heart. Jer. 14:14
6) The heart is the place where people think they are superior to others. Luke 9:46-47 Now a controversy entered among them as to which of the disciples was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the thinking in their hearts...
7) The heart is used for meditation on Bible doctrine. Luke 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
14. The thinking of the heart is related to both positive and negative attitudes.
1) Love and the capacity for love is in the right lobe, Deut. 6:5, 11:13; Josh 22:5.
2) On the other hand, sorrow also emanates from the right lobe, Lev 26:16; Neh 2:2.
3) Happiness is related to doctrine in the right lobe, Psalm 19:8, 28:7.
4) Pressure is also related to the right lobe, Psalm 34:18.
5) The dynamics of wisdom are related to the right lobe, Job 9:4.
6) Cowardice is related to the right lobe, Joshua 14:8; 1Sam. 17:32.
7) Discouragement is related to the right lobe, Num 32:7,9.
8) So we see the importance of Bible doctrine. For Bible doctrine will eliminate sorrow, pressure, cowardice, and discouragement. On the other hand, it will handle happiness and the dynamics of wisdom in a magnificent way.
15. Negative Functions of the Heart or Right Lobe. We have primarily studied the heart as related to the growth of a believer. However, that is not always the way heart is used. The heart is the right lobe for the souls of unbelievers and reversionistic believers as well.
1) The heart can reject Bible teaching, as in Prov. 5:12-14. The heart negative to Bible doctrine refuses to concentrate. When you don't like what you hear, then you are unteachable and a candidate for reversionism. How I have hated instruction of doctrine, and my heart has spurned reproof, and I have not listened to the voice of my teacher nor inclined my ear to the instructor. I almost came to ruin in the middle of the assembly of the congregation.
2) The heart can be applied to learning human wisdom and human systems of thought, rather than Bible doctrine. Eccles. 7:25 8:9, 16
3) When doctrine is rejected, (or, establishment truth, in the case of the unbeliever) then there is a vacuum which sucks in that which is false. When this is the case, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. (Jer. 17:9)
4) Negative volition toward the standards of God, will result in a man’s thinking being filled with sin. Matt. 15:15–20 But Peter said to him, "Explain the parable to us." And he said, "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone."
5) The heart is the source of discord and troublemaking, which leads to strife and conspiracy. Prov. 6:14, 18 The one who by distortion or perversity in his heart devises evil continually, he is the one who is the spreader of strife. A heart that devises wicked conspiracy, feet run rapidly to evil. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
6) The woman uses heart thinking to entice the male for personal gain without love.
(1) The heart of the prostitute is subtle. Prov. 7:10 And behold a woman comes to meet him dressed magnificently like a prostitute and very cunning of heart. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
(2) Eccles. 7:26 I have discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and in her hands she has chains. However, the person who is pleasing God [doctrine in the right lobe] will escape from her. But the sinning one [arrogant male] will be captured by her. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.)
(3) A woman can often do a lot of thinking, but it's not objective, doctrinal, professional or academic thinking; it is thinking used to bring attention to herself in whatever way she wants attention. This is thinking in terms of "snares and nets", and in her hands she has chains. She will be very flattering and conniving, and once she catches you by your arrogance, your arrogance will chain you to her.
(4) One thing that will destroy wisdom, I.Q., and ability to look at life from the divine viewpoint is the dumb arrogant male succumbing to the flattery of a woman, using him for her own advancement or pleasure.
7) The heart suffers disappointment from broken promises, as in Prov. 13:12. The heart is the source of frustrations. Frustration is a thought. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.
8) The heart is the environment for mental attitude sins.
(1) 2Sam. 6:16 Now when it came to pass that the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, then Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out the window and she saw David dancing before the Lord; consequently she despised him in her heart. You hate and love in your right lobe. Both love and hate are a system and function of thinking.
(2) Prov. 14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness. Bitterness is one of the greatest of all sins of arrogance. It infiltrates the right lobe and neutralizes whatever doctrine is there. And a stranger does not share its joy.
(3) Sorrow and disappointment (Prov. 14:13).
(4) Pride (Prov. 21:4 Obad. 3).
(5) Arrogance is found in Prov. 21:4 Haughty eyes and an arrogant heart, the lamp of the wicked is sin. In other words, once you have arrogance in your right lobe, whatever its manifestation, this becomes your lamp for life and it sets aside all doctrine.
(6) In Obad. 3, arrogance deceives you and causes you to make a fool of yourself. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you.
(7) Worry is found in Eccles. 2:23.
(8) Deceitfulness is found in Jer. 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else and becomes a source of desperate wickedness.
(9) Women use the heart to trap men (Eccl. 7:26).
9) The frantic search for happiness is related to the heart in Eccles. 1:13.
10) Revolution and insubordination are described as being a part of the thinking of the heart. 2Sam. 15:6 So Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel. Jer. 5:23 But this people have a stubborn and a rebellious heart. They have turned aside and departed from Me. See also Ezek 6:9.
11) Hypocrisy is related to thinking in the heart, for you can think one thing and express another thing overtly. Psalm 55:21 His speech was smoother than butter, but his heart was at war with me. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords, ready to stab me.
12) Superficial gaiety doesn't indicate the true state of the individual's heart or right lobe. Prov. 14:13 Even in times of laughter, the heart may be in pain, and the end of the party may be grief.
13) Reversionism is described in terms of the heart, Jer. 17:5 So says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who depends on mankind and makes flesh his strength. His heart has turned away from the Lord [negative volition to Bible doctrine].” Jer. 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else and becomes a source of desperate wickedness.
14) The heart related to negative thinking:
(1) Thinking of reversionism (Psalm 10:6, 11, 13).
(2) Thinking of atheism (Psalm 14:1).
(3) Rationalization of education (Eccles. 1:13-18).
(4) Rationalization of mental attitude sins (Isa. 47:10).
(5) Communication of false teachers from the deceit of their hearts (Jer. 14:14).
(6) Meditation on doctrine (Luke 2:19).
(7) Ambitious thinking (Luke 9:46, 47).
(8) Reversionism in the heart results in national disaster (Deut. 28:47, 48).
(9) Revenge is a malfunction of the heart (Prov. 24:1, 2 Ezek. 25:15-17).
(10) The heart is related to psychosis (Isa. 13:7, 8).
(11) Mental attitude sins relate the old sin nature to the heart (Psalm 66:18 101:5 Prov. 6:18 Matt. 12:35 15:18, 19 Luke 6:45 24:25).
15) So the heart is related to any kind of failure in life. In other words, the real you is what you think. Your life is not what others see overtly, though it may reflect good or bad thoughts, right or wrong priorities.
16. Satan attacks man in his thinking.
1) We have already studied Satan and his tactics in the deception of man, and we have noted Demon Influence. So with this doctrine, we will understand the place within man that is the target of Satan's tactics and demon influence. But, let us also not forget that the heart of the soul is the place that God targets too. Our heart is the place where we store and retain the Word of God that gives us functionality in the spiritual life and protection from Satan's tactics and demon influence.
2) As we have noted in our doctrines of Satanology and Demon influence, John 12:40 tells us, "He has blinded their eyes and He hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and perceive with their heart, and be converted and I heal them."
17. The heart is potentially an area of disaster.
1) The breakdown of proper thinking is the greatest disaster in life.
2) Reversionism in the heart results in national disaster according to Deut. 28:47-48. The cycles of discipline (or, stages of divine discipline) are related to reversionism in the right lobe. Since the Jews refused to serve God, they will serve their enemies.
3) Revenge as the motivation of the heart is disastrous to the individual who has it, Prov. 24:1-2; Ezek 25:15-17. Revenge and retaliation is a malfunction of the heart.
4) The heart is related to psychosis or mental illness in Isa. 13:7-8. Cowardice results from maladjustment to the justice of God. Isa. 13:7-8 All hands will fall limp. Every man's heart will melt [no thought]. They will be terrified. Fear is when you stop thinking under pressure. It is not your nervous system being active.
5) Mental attitude sins relate the heart to the function of the old sin nature, as in Psalm 66:18 101:5 Prov. 6:18 Matt. 12:35 Luke 6:45, and many other passages.
(1) Mental attitude sins, while originating from your own volition, by their very nature operate from the heart or thinking of the soul. Thinking type sins are a combination of the old sin nature and the heart, the link being the permissiveness of volition.
(2) Mental attitude sins originate from lack of doctrine and result in malfunction of the spiritual life. Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
(3) Psalm 101:5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, I will destroy him. No one who has a manifestation of pride and an arrogant heart will I endure. Volition brings iniquity from the old sin nature into the heart and arrogance is formed.
(4) In Matt. 12:34-35, Jesus called these people with wrong thinking "a brood of vipers, a nest of snakes. How can you, being evil, speak what is good. For the mouth speaks out what fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good. On the other hand, the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil." The Pharisees were critical of those who did not wash before meals. They emphasized the overt and superficial to the exclusion of the important things of life. Matt. 15:17-20. Don't mix cleanliness with spirituality.
6) Emotional revolt of the soul and mental attitude sins are related to the heart in Luke 6:45 24:25.
7) Since maladjustment to the justice of God comes from negative volition to Bible doctrine, it is described as hardness of heart. Lam 3:65
18. Our Lord Uses the word for heart 5 times in the Upper Room Discourse.
1) John 13:2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. (ESV) The heart is where Judas does his thinking and his deciding. He had already decided to betray the Lord.
2) John 14:1 "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”
3) John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” In these two verses the heart is the originator of fear from within. If we do not circulate the Word of God through our heart, we will instead circulate fear, worry, and anxiety.
4) John 16:6–7 "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you."
5) John 16:22 "Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you." In these two verses, we see the heart as the initiator of emotions which come from another part of the soul. We will see more of this a little later but we note that our emotions are to be led by the thinking in our heart and not vice versa.
19. The heart is used as an anthropopathism. 1Sam. 2:35 Psalm. 78:72 Jer. 23:20 30:24.
1) An anthropopathism ascribes to God human feelings, passions and thoughts in terms of man’s feelings, passions and thoughts. An anthropopathism ascribes to God characteristics He does not have.
2) Anthropopathisms are designed to explain God’s policies, thoughts, acts, decisions in terms of human language so that man can have a frame of reference. Hence, anthropopathism is language of accommodation to express the divine attitude to Homo sapiens in man’s vocabulary and language.
3) 1Sam. 2:35 "But I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in My heart." Of course, God does not have a right lobe, so that is an anthropopathism.
4) Psalm 78:72 So He [Jesus Christ] shepherded them according to the integrity of His heart and guided them with skillful hands. This verse contains both an anthropopathism, "integrity of His heart," and an anthropomorphism, "skillful hands."
5) Jer. 23:20 "The anger of the Lord will not turn back until He has performed and carried out the purpose of His heart." Cf. Jer. 30:24.
6) So the heart is used as an anthropopathism for God's thinking and God's planning.
20. The heart is related to adjustment to the justice of God at salvation. Rom 10:9-10. Believing is in the heart. Only the means (believing) saves a person, not the result (confessing Jesus Christ as Lord).
21. Doctrine of the kardia/heart Summary.
1) A physiological analogy of the spiritual life.
2) The first two mentions of Heart in the Bible, Genesis 6. - The dual nature of wickedness and righteousness of the heart.
3) The first mention in the New Testament, Matthew 5:8. - The righteousness of the heart.
4) The second mention in the New Testament, Matthew 5:28 - The wickedness of the heart.
5) "The Heart of Man" is the place where wickedness flourishes or is eliminated. Matthew 15:11,
6) Our Lord used this word (5) times in the Upper Room Discourse. John 13:2 14:1 14:27 16:6-7 22
7) The usage of "heart" is a basis for analogy.
8) The Bible never uses the heart for emotion.
9) True happiness emanates from the Word of God circulating in the heart of your soul.
10) The Heart is a Part of the Essence of the Soul.
11) The Essence of the Biblical Heart.
12) Summary of the Heart - Our filing cabinet for the Word of God.
13) Spiritual Growth is the result of building up your Heart with the Word of God.
Pastor Greg Allen on the heart: Let's first take a look at this thing we're commanded to
protect: the heart. A Jewish young man hearing these words would not have thought as we
do when he heard the word "heart". We tend to think of the heart as the seat of emotions. We
love someone "with all our heart"; or we're "heart-broken" when that someone doesn't love
us back. But to a Jew, it wasn't the heart that was seen as the seat of emotions, but rather
the "belly"; which makes more sense. After all, when you're emotionally moved, doesn't your
stomach respond? If a young Jewish man wanted tell his girlfriend that he had a lot of deep
feelings for her, he'd say that, whenever he looked into her eyes, he felt something in his
intestines. And she'd be complemented! The Valentine's card he'd send her would be
decorated with pretty, laced stomachs and livers. To the Jewish reader, the "belly" was,
symbolically, the seat of emotion. By distinction, the "heart" was considered the seat of the
will and thought-life. It was in the "heart" - the inner self - that the personhood of a man or
woman was centered. It was sometimes used as the symbol for the whole, inner, spiritual
aspect of a person. It was parallel to what we think of when we talk about the "mind"; but it
included much more than just thoughts and intellect. For example, when God sent the
plagues against Egypt, it was Pharaoh's heart that was hardened; meaning his "will" (Ex. 9:7).
When King David's son, Absalom wanted to turn the allegiance of the people from David to
himself, the Bible says that he "stole the hearts of the men of Israel"; meaning their allegiance
(2 Sam. 15:6). God sent the flood on mankind, the Bible tells us, because He "saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually"; meaning their moral mindset (Gen. 6:5). When David numbered his
soldiers in disobedience to God, the Bible tells us that his "heart condemned him"; meaning
his conscience (2 Sam. 24:10). King Rehoboam was said to be an evil king, "because he did
not prepare his heart to seek the LORD"; meaning his inner priorities and commitments (2
Chron. 12:14).
Allen continues: According to the standard biblical Hebrew dictionary, the Hebrew word for
"heart" can have the symbolic meaning of such things as (1) the spiritual aspect of man; (2)
the mind; (3) the will; (4) the conscience; (5) the moral character of a man; (6) the seat of his
desires and passions; (7) the seat of his sense of courage; (8) even for the whole man
himself.3 So; it's the whole "inner-life" that we're to be concerned about - the "heart" in the
sense of that part of us at which our thought-life, our values, our drives, our choices, and our
sense of right and wrong all find their seat.
The use of the word heart in the Old Testament should not be confused with its modern-day usage, which usually emphasizes emotion. |
From www.hbcpinellas.org/proverbs/prov4.doc accessed February 26, 2015. |
There are two Hebrew words translated heart. There is lêb (לֵב) [pronounced layby], which means, heart, inner man, mind, will, thinking; midst. Strong's #3820 BDB #524. |
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The second word is lêbab (לֵבַב) [pronounced lay-BAHBV], which means, mind, inner man, inner being, heart. Strong’s #3824 BDB #523. I am not certain that I know the difference between these words. |
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Commentator |
Commentary |
John MacArthur |
The "heart" commonly refers to the mind as the center of thinking and reason (Pr 3:3; 6:21; 7:3), but also includes the emotions (Pr 15:15, 30), the will (Pr 11:20; 14:14), and thus, the whole inner being (Pr 3:5). The heart is the depository of all wisdom and the source of whatever affects speech (Pr 4:24), sight (Pr 4:25), and conduct (Pr 4:26, 27). (MacArthur, J.: The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word ) |
John Kitto |
All the phrases, more or less metaphorical, in which this word occurs, are rendered intelligible, without detailed examples, when we are told that the heart was, among the Hebrews, regarded poetically not only as the seat of the passions and emotions, as of love, pleasure, and grief, but also of the intellectual faculties-the mind, the understanding. In the original Scriptures, as well as in the English and other translations, the word 'heart' therefore, constantly occurs where 'mind' is to be understood, and would be used by a modern English writer. We say modern, because the ancient usage of the English word 'heart' was more conformable than the present to that of the Hebrews. |
Richard Watson |
The Hebrews regarded the heart as the source of wit, understanding, love, courage, grief, and pleasure....The heart is said to be dilated by joy, contracted by sadness, broken by sorrow, to grow fat, and be hardened by prosperity. The heart melts under discouragement, forsakes one under terror, is desolate in affliction, and fluctuating in doubt. To speak to any one's heart is to comfort him, to say pleasing and affecting things to him. The heart expresses also the middle part of any thing: "Tyre is in the heart of the seas," Ezekiel 27:4; in the midst of the seas. "We will not fear though the mountains be carried into the heart (middle) of the sea," Psalms 46:2 .The heart of man is naturally depraved and inclined to evil, Jeremiah 17:9 . A divine power is requisite for its renovation, John 3:1-11 . When thus renewed, the effects will be seen in the temper, conversation, and conduct at large. Hardness of heart is that state in which a sinner is inclined to, and actually goes on in, rebellion against God. |
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary |
Both Old and New Testaments speak repeatedly of the heart as the centre of a person's inner life. An examination of the hundreds of references to the heart in the Bible will show that the word is not limited in its meaning to one particular part of a person. `Heart' may refer to a person's whole inner life - what the person really is (1 Samuel 16:7; Psalms 22:26; Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 22:37; 1 Thessalonians 2:4); or it may refer to attributes of human personality such as a person's understanding (1 Kings 3:9; Proverbs 2:10; 1 Corinthians 2:9; Ephesians 1:18), desires (Deuteronomy 24:15; Proverbs 6:25; Matthew 6:21; Romans 1:24), feelings (Judges 19:6; Proverbs 14:10; Proverbs 15:30; John 14:27; James 3:14), determination (Exodus 8:15; 1 Kings 8:58; Romans 6:17; Colossians 3:22), or character (1 Samuel 13:14; Jeremiah 5:23; Romans 2:29; 2 Thessalonians 3:5; 1 Peter 3:4). Sometimes `heart' is used as another word for a person's spirit (Psalms 51:10; Psalms 51:17; Ezekiel 36:26), soul (Deuteronomy 4:29; Proverbs 2:10; Acts 4:32) or mind (1 Samuel 2:35; Ephesians 1:18; Hebrews 8:10; cf. Matthew 22:37). The heart is what is sometimes referred to as `the inner being', and is the source of all the wrong that a person does (Proverbs 6:14; Proverbs 6:18; Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; Romans 1:24-25; Ephesians 4:18; see SIN). Therefore, the heart must be cleansed to bring forgiveness; or, to use another picture, it must be re-created to bring new spiritual life. Only God can bring about this cleansing or re-creation (Psalms 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26; Acts 8:21-22; Ephesians 3:16; Hebrews 10:22). Since the heart determines actions, a person must be careful to have right attitudes of heart at all times (Leviticus 19:17; Psalms 4:4; 1 Timothy 1:5; James 3:14). God sees the inner condition and judges the person accordingly (1 Samuel 16:7; Psalms 44:21; Matthew 5:8; Revelation 2:23 |
J. Vernon McGee |
The heart symbolizes the center of one's innermost being. The Lord Jesus said that it isn't what goes into a man that defiles him, but what comes out of a man. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Mt 15:19). Some of the meanest things in the world come out of the human heart. The heart is the seat of the total personality. If you want to know how important the heart is, get your concordance and look up all the references to the heart that are in the Bible (Ed: see below for OT & NT Scriptures you can study!). We are to keep our hearts with all diligence. What we hear is important. What we study is important. What we see is important. We should recognize that out of that heart will come all of the great issues of our lives. |
From http://www.preceptaustin.org/proverbs_423_commentary.htm accessed March 7, 2015. |
This is a little corny, but it still has a true message. |
If you're over 40 years old, your heart has already beat more than 1.5 billion times. I know that when my heart stops, it will be too late to change my ways. So I've been trying to control my weight, get exercise, and watch not only what I eat but also what's eating me. This last point relates to another vital organ called "the heart"-our spiritual heart. It too has throbbed millions of times with thoughts, affections, and choices. In the heart we determine how we will speak, behave, and respond to life's circumstances (Proverbs 4:23). Will we trust the Lord and choose to be gracious, patient, and loving? Or will we yield to pride, greed, and bitterness? Today's Scripture reading emphasizes the importance of caring for our heart. Are we keeping spiritually fit? Weight: Do we need to lose the weight of unnecessary burdens and cares? Pulse: Are we maintaining a steady rhythm of gratitude and praise? Blood pressure: Is our trust greater than our anxiety? Diet: Are we enjoying the life-giving nutrients of the Word of God? Have you checked your heart lately? - Mart De Haan Spiritual Heart Care - You're up at the crack of dawn, doing your exercises. You're not going to let your heart get weak! You've trimmed the fat from your diet. You get regular cholesterol checks. And you're exercising four times a week to keep your cardiovascular system in peak condition. But you've let your spiritual heart turn to mush. Preoccupied with the temporary, you've neglected the eternal. You seldom read the Bible anymore. Your prayers are lists of requests to God to make your life more comfortable and pain-free. By the time you reach the church door after the sermon, you can't recall what the pastor said because you were thinking about something else. |
From http://www.preceptaustin.org/proverbs_423_commentary.htm accessed March 7, 2015. |
Paraphrased from http://www.studylight.org/commentaries/phc/view.cgi?bk=19&ch=4 accessed March 6, 2015. |
It is not just the heart that must be kept under the control of the believer, but what we say (Prov. 4:24), what we expose ourselves to (Prov. 4:25), and what we do (Prov. 4:26–27).
Italicized commentary from James Rickard. Except for Prov. 4:23, the other Scripture is quoted from the ESV; capitalized. |
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Scripture |
Commentary |
Guard your heart from every confinement [possibly idiomatic for, with all vigilance, with all diligence], for from it are the sources [or, outgoings, end (s), limit] of lives. (Prov. 4:23) |
So the point is, "what is within your heart?" Because whatever your heart loves, the ears will hear and the eyes will see it. If you love God that is what you will hear and see - chase after. If you love the world, that is what you will chase after. On the other hand, if you pollute your right lobe "spring of life", the infection will spread to your entire body; and before long, hidden appetites will become open sins and public shame that will also lead to physical illnesses. |
Psalm 12:2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. |
The Bible warns us to avoid a double heart; this is a person who says one thing, but is thinking something entirely different. He flatters you, while thinking you are some kind of a loser. |
Prov 28:14 Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity. |
The reader is warned against having a hard heart. On the one hand, there is the believer who fears God (is occupied with the Revealed God); and on the other hand, there is the believer or unbeliever with a hard heart—the one who has scar tissue on his soul. |
Prov 21:2–4 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin. |
Nobody sees themselves as the bad man; but it is God who determines the heart of a man. He rejects the arrogant heart along with the arrogant look. |
Heb 3:12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. |
Here, the unbelieving heart belongs to the Jews who has rejected his Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. |
Mat 24:12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. |
In the end times, the natural affection of love of people will seemingly disappear. We get a rough idea of two examples in our world today: many liberals cheer to see a small business person have their business ruined for (1) giving money to the wrong cause or (2) refusing to celebrate a gay wedding. We see this with Muslim extremists and the enemies that they brutalize and kill—no natural empathy. |
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. |
Psalm 51 is David’s confession of his sin; in being restored to fellowship, his unclean heart becomes clean. |
Partially taken from Rickard; http://gracedoctrine.org/proverbs-chapter-4/ accessed February 28, 2015. |
Related to this and strongly recommended is Mental Attitude Dynamics. Although it is listed as a sermon by Martin Kerfoot, it was originally written by R. B. Thieme, Jr.
A more complete Doctrine of the Heart (which is 40 pages long) is found here: (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). This abbreviated doctrine is about 10 pages and could stand to be reduced in size. |
1. Definition and Description of the Heart. 1) The physiological heart is rarely used in the Bible. However, it makes for a great analogy; therefore, let’s spend some time examining the physiological heart. (1) The physiological heart is an intricately woven muscle which by rhythmic contraction circulates the blood. (2) It is estimated that the heart pumps five quarts of blood every minute, 75 gallons an hour, and 70 barrels a day, and about 18 million barrels in seventy years. (3) The heart's anatomy and relation to the circulatory system includes a double pump: two atriums and two ventricles. The ventricles have a four ounce volume and the atria a five ounce volume. (4) The thick muscular walls of the ventricles are primarily responsible to pump the blood. Used blood is low in oxygen and high in CO2. To be cleansed, the used blood enters the right atrium through the superior and inferior vena cava. Used blood is like false ideas we pick up in life. (5) The right ventricle pumps blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs where it discharges CO2 and picks up oxygen from the alveoli. Then the blood travels through the pulmonary veins to the left atrium which in turns pumps the oxygen in the refreshed blood out through the aorta to the entire body. i So with metabolized doctrine (Bible doctrine that you believe): it is pumped through various valves and circulates through the brain, giving you a dynamic mental attitude. ii Likewise, the CO2 of the soul, i.e., all the false and erroneous ideas we've learned, must be replaced by the oxygen of Bible doctrine. All that is accomplished in the heart or right lobe. iii Just as breathing and the replenishing of oxygen is a day-by-day operation, so is the taking in of Bible doctrine, so that we might breathe out false doctrine. (6) The function of the blood is to bathe tissues with fluid, preserving their slight alkaline condition, supplying tissues with food and oxygen, to provide building material for their growth and repair, distribute heat generated by cells and equalizes body temperature, carry hormones which coordinate and stimulate the activities of various organs, and convey antibodies and white blood cells which fight infection. Blood cannot support life unless it keeps circulating. Each day that we take in Bible doctrine, it is pumped throughout our soul (the doctrine which we believe) and it renews the thinking of the soul. Bible doctrine circulating in the soul as a result of the function of the Grace Apparatus for Perception (GAP) provides these same functions. This begins and is accomplished in the heart, or what we call the right lobe of your soul. When we do not take in Bible doctrine, then this is analogous to breathing in air which lacks oxygen. (7) If blood flow is cut off to the brain, the person loses consciousness in three to five seconds; after fifteen to twenty seconds the body twitches convulsively; if more than nine minutes, the mental powers of the brain are irrevocably destroyed. The muscles of the heart can only survive loss of blood flow for thirty minutes. These facts emphasize the vital importance of the heart to our life. The energy used by the heart is fantastic. (8) Many tissues of the body use as little as one-fourth of the oxygen brought to them by the blood. The heart uses eighty percent of the oxygen brought to it by the blood. Therefore, the amount of blood supplied to the heart is extremely important, especially when its activity raises its demand for oxygen. That is analogous to positive volition. (9) All of these statements provide fantastic analogies to the heart or right lobe of the soul as the circulator of Bible doctrine into the thinking part of the soul. When Bible doctrine reaches the heart, Bible doctrine is converted into spiritual energy, i.e., the ten problem solving devices, divine viewpoint, and the momentum of the spiritual life. No one can grow spiritually except through perception of Bible doctrine. 2Peter 3:18a But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (NIV). That is a command, not a suggestion! (10) Until the atomic age, nothing man made ever came close to the efficiency of energy transfer compared to the heart. (11) Psalm 139:13-14 For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. (ESV; capitalized) i This passage recognizes what God has done in grace in providing the human body. The human body is a grace asset; we don't earn or deserve it. No matter what kind of person we are, we all can metabolize food and breathe air. Health is not determined by merit. ii Health can be impacted by volition, however. Our daily decisions can impact what happens to our body. iii The psalmist recognizes the wonder of the human body, which he understands from the right lobe of his soul. 2. The Great Analogy. Just as the physical heart is the pump that circulates blood throughout the body and thereby supports physical life, so the right lobe of the soul circulates Bible doctrine supporting the spiritual life of the believer. Bible Doctrine is actually perceived and understood in the left lobe of the soul, but it is in the right lobe where it is actually circulated and utilized. 1) The mentality of the soul is divided into two lobes: The left lobe, called the noús (νούς) [pronounced noose], meaning mind or thought; and the right lobe, called kardia (καρδία) [pronounced kahr-DEE-uh], meaning heart. This is noted in Job 38:36 "Who endowed the heart with wisdom, or who gave understanding to the mind?" 2) The right lobe is the dominant lobe designed by God to dominate the entire soul. Whenever you are logical, analytical, or categorical in your thinking, you are using your heart. 1Sam. 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart. 3) Proverbs 23:7 As a man thinks in his right lobe [heart], so he is. The verb to think is shâʿar (שָעַר) [pronounced shaw-ĢAHR], which means to split open; to reason [out], to calculate, to reckon, to estimate. Strong’s #8176 BDB #1045. 4) The mind is the staging area, where information is received; it is believed and then it is pumped throughout the soul. This can be truth, but this can also be false information. 5) This is the dichotomous action of the heart choosing for or against the ways of God through discernment based on what he has received in his heart, cosmic system thinking (demon influence) or the Word of God. 6) What we breathe into our heart circulates throughout our entire soul. 3. The Biblical Vocabulary. The Biblical nouns for heart always refer to the right lobe of the soul; they do not refer to the physiological heart. (1) The Hebrew lêb (לֵב) [pronounced laybv] and the Greek kardia (καρδία) [pronounced kahr-DEE-uh] are both translated heart. Both are used outside the Bible for the literal heart, but never so used in the Bible. (2) The usage of the words for heart is based on analogy. Just as the physical heart is the pump that circulates blood throughout the body and thereby supports physical life, so the right lobe of the soul circulates doctrine supporting the spiritual life of the believer. The doctrine is actually understood in the left lobe, but it is in the right lobe where it is actually circulated and utilized. (3) The word "heart" connotes many things in English different from what is found in Scripture. i The core of something. ii In cards, it is a suit; also the game "hearts." iii It is used for emotion, "He is all heart." iv There is the false statement, “He has a head belief and not a heart belief.” The implication here is, the person did not involve his emotions when believing in Jesus Christ. However, there is a proper way to understand this—the gospel is heard by the mind, it is considered; and if it is believed, then it is transferred to the heart (and to the human spirit) where it becomes the most fundamental piece of spiritual information. Rom. 10:10 ...for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (NASB) (4) The Bible never uses the heart for emotion (in the original languages). Faith comes from the heart because faith is thinking, not emotion. However, in some modern translations, words which do not mean heart are sometimes translated heart. This will be discussed in greater detail later on. (5) The mentality of the soul is divided into two lobes: the left lobe, called the noús (νούς) [pronounced noose], meaning mind, thought; and the right lobe, called kardia, meaning heart. (6) The left lobe is the reception area. It is the perception—you hear things and consider them in your left lobe. However, when you hear something and believe it, then it is transferred to the right lobe of the soul. (7) The right lobe is the dominant lobe designed by God to dominate the entire soul. Whenever you are logical, analytical, or categorical in your thinking, you are using your heart. 1Sam. 16:7. 2) However, the Bible does not use the word heart to mean emotion. (1) Emotions are designed to respond to thinking that comes from the heart of your soul, never the other way around. Faith too comes from the heart because faith is thinking, not emotion. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17; NASB). The truth of Scripture is heard, evaluated by the mind, and then, ideally speaking, believed. (2) 2Corinthians 6:11–12 Our mouth has spoken freely to you, O Corinthians, our heart is opened wide. You are not restrained by us, but you are restrained in your own affections (emotions). (translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.) Notice that emotions and heart are in contrast in this passage. Therefore, emotions are not a part of the function of the heart/right lobe of the soul. (3) Romans 1:21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. This is a reference to the person who is negatively influenced and led by their emotions. (4) Romans 6:17–18 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. This is a reference to the person who has rejected emotional control of the soul and is instead led by the Word of God circulating in their soul which causes them to build upon their souls with more and more Bible Doctrine. (5) However, bear in mind, in more modern translations, words for emotions (not heart) are translated heart from time to time. 4. First Mentions of Heart in the Bible. 1) Gen 6:5–6 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (1) This tells us that in the days leading up to the flood man stopped taking in and applying the Word of God. He was not cycling the Word within his soul. As a result, God's heart was grieved by man's predicament. (2) Here the word heart is used of both man and God. As for God this is both an anthropomorphism and an anthropopathism, as we know God is not built like man and is instead a spiritual being without the blood pumping organ or brain as we have, nor does He think the way we do, or have the emotions we have. (3) Anthropomorphism is a physical attribute of man ascribed to God, which He does not literally possess in order for man to understand something about God and His policy toward man by the use of language of accommodation. Likewise an anthropopathism ascribes to God mental characteristics found in man to describe God's thinking and God's planning in human terms. 2) The First Mention in the New Testament, Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (1) This verse tells us that when we have the cleansing of our soul through the circulation of the Word of God through our heart, we will come to have knowledge and understanding of who and what God is and our relationship with Him. (2) Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. (HCSB) 3) The Second Mention is in Matthew 5:28 "But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." The second mention tells us that our heart can also be a place of sin influence over our soul when we allow temptation from our Sin Nature to circulate through our heart/soul. 4) Just as the first two mentions of heart in the Old Testament had the meaning of sinfulness verses the thinking of God, the New Testament's first two mentions show the same potential dichotomy in man's heart but in reverse order. 5. The Heart of the Body/Heart of the Soul Analogy: 1) Ideally speaking, when we breathe, we take in the proper mix of inert gases and oxygen, so that the oxygen is taken into the lungs, transferred into the blood stream, and sent throughout the entire body. 2) Ideally speaking, when we hear Bible doctrine taught in church, we take in enough truth so that this truth is considered by the mind, evaluated by the heart; and then it is believed, after which, it is circulated throughout the soul, into our thinking, vocabulary, memory center, and norms and standards. This supplies nourishment throughout our soul. 3) The end result is that we will think as Christ thinks. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renovation of your thinking, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace which has been given to me to every one who is among you, stop thinking of yourself in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to think, but think in terms of sanity for the purpose of being rational without illusion as God has assigned to each one of us a standard of thinking from doctrine. (Rom. 12:2-3; R. B. Thieme, Jr.) 4) Robbie Dean: When we begin to grow as a believer the Lord through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God is going to change our thinking. That is what Romans 12:2 is all about: transforming, METAMORPHOO [metamorfow], completely overhauling your thinking. How does that happen? First of all, you have to think about it. Right then you know that this is going to run counter to the whole trend of our age today because we live in an era when people really don't want to think-for any number of reasons, depending on their background. They want to emote, they want to feel good, they want to have psychological transformation, whatever that may be. If you look at certain books today that talk about spirituality, that is how they define it. They talk about psychological wellbeing, sense of stability, sense of happiness, getting rid of some negative emotions like anger and hatred, so you're just not so uptight, you just have to sort of relax as you go through life. And they define that as spirituality. But what the Bible says is that you have to change your thinking, so change is at the heart of spiritual growth. That means that we have certain thought patterns, that we have certain beliefs within that thought pattern, as unbelievers, that are very comfortable to us. We have certain beliefs, certain ideas that we picked up from parents, that we picked up from peers, from teachers along the way, and some of these things you have absorbed into your own personal worldview, your own personal philosophy of life, and you have operated on these things because they help you solve problems, face challenges in life, deal with certain relationships; and yet, they are products of cosmic thinking and human viewpoint, they are not products of the Word of God. The process of spiritual growth is the process of identifying these things in our souls and marking them for destruction and replacing them with principles from the Word of God. That is not an easy process, it takes the entirety of our life to go through that. From Dean’s website, accessed November 22, 2014. 5) How does this happen? Where do we find out how God thinks? From the Bible. Paul told the Corinthians that we have the mind of Christ (1Cor. 2:16). That thinking is what Paul taught in his epistles. This is the thinking that we take in during Bible class; and therefore, the information which renovates our thinking. It is a command that we learn to think like Jesus thinks: For this way of thinking (this attitude and disposition) is continuously within you folks -- which [is] also within Christ Jesus. (Philip. 2:5; JMNT) Despite this translation, this is in the imperative mood; meaning that this is a command. 6. The Heart is a Part of the Essence of the Soul. In Scripture, the heart is used for the right lobe of the soul. This distributes all knowledge, thinking, wisdom, and divine viewpoint throughout the entire mentality, just as the physiological heart distributes nourishment throughout the entire body. 1) The heart is used in the Bible for the place of thinking, the location of your vocabulary and categories of thought. Therefore, the heart is the thinking function of the soul. The Lord's evaluation of you is what you think. 1Sam. 16:7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his outward appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. God sees not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Compare Prov. 23:7 As a man thinks in his right lobe [heart], so he is. (Translation probably from R. B. Thieme, Jr.) 2) The Lord looks in your heart and sees how much doctrine is circulating through the component parts of your right lobe. 3) The soul is composed of at least four invisible but real parts: self-consciousness (Acts 20:10), mentality (Prov. 19:2), volition (Acts 3:23), and emotion (Luke 12:19). 4) The mentality of the soul is divided into two parts: the left and right lobes. The right lobe is where you do your thinking, analyzing, applying of knowledge, and is the seat of common sense. The left lobe is your place of assimilating information and the area where your talent functions. R. B. Thieme, Jr. often calls this the staging area. It can be seen as the waiting room or the entry hall. This is where information comes first and is evaluated. 5) Brain scientists indicate that two persons inhabit our heads, each residing in the two separate hemispheres of our brain. According to scientists, one is verbal, analytical, and dominant, while the other is mute and mysterious. 6) Scientists classify the non-speaking side as the right hemisphere (we call it the left lobe). 7) In the Bible we classify the mute side as the left lobe and the verbal hemisphere as the right 8) The two half brains are linked together by millions of nerves forming a thick cable called the corpus callosum. 9) In cases of severe epilepsy, this cable sometimes has to be cut. This results in some strange occurrences. The left side of the brain no longer knows what the right side is doing, yet the speaking half of the patient is controlled by left lobe. The person still insists on finding excuses for whatever the left side has done. His thinking part is severed from his non-thinking part and still operates under the illusion that he is one person, and that his lobes are combined. The two halves of the brain are integrated into a single mentality with the speaking half called the "heart" by the Bible. 10) Scientists say that the left hemisphere has a language ability and is analytical; and the right hemisphere is artistic and talented. Talented people tend to live using mostly the non-thinking part of their brain. 11) A child is about two years old before the link between his two hemispheres is completed. And it doesn't become completely functional until he is about ten years old. After age ten, one side of the brain is used for synthesis, spacial perception and music, while the other side performs sequential, verbal, analytical, and computer-like activities. 12) Scientists contend that excellence in one hemisphere tends to interfere with top level performance in the other. The conclusion is that most talented people aren't smart or analytical. Operation Z
 13) What does the Bible say? The heart is part of the essence of the soul; it is the thinking, reasoning part. It is designed to dominate the soul. Therefore, it must be the target for doctrinal teaching, 1Kings 3:9,12 Psalm 119:11 19:14. To reach the target, Bible doctrine must pass through two staging areas: the left lobe and the human spirit. (See the Doctrine of Operation Z.) Graphic of Operation Z, taken from Bible Doctrine Resources, but it is not original with them. R. B. Thieme, Jr. developed this concept and did the first graphics for it. This particular graphic may have come from Jim Oliver. See Country Bible Church for a similar graphic. All of these are accessed September 29, 2014. 7. Summary of the Compartments of the Heart. Throughout this doctrine we have been utilizing the analogy of a "filing cabinet" to explain how the kardia/heart of the soul works. Basically the Heart is the overall filing cabinet. It is the central resource center of your soul, the place where information is entered, stored, and available for recall and application. As we have noted in this doctrine, there are 6–8 compartments in the heart of your soul so we will use the "filing cabinet" analogy to describe these compartments. 1) The Frame of Reference is analogous to the various drawers within the filing cabinet. The drawers provide initial access to the central resource center for storing and finding information within our souls. 2) The Memory Center is the actual files you place within the filing cabinet. It is the actual storage of information within your soul. 3) Vocabulary Storage is analogous to the tabs or headings we put on files as a technical reference to the information within the files providing us easy access and recall. 4) Categorical Storage is the order and arrangement of files, the systematic grouping of reference material for application. 5) The Conscience is the scanning of information within a file to use as a basis of reference, establishing guidelines regarding the situations of life. 6) Finally, the Launching Pad. The Launching Pad is the place where the things stored in the filing cabinet are gathered together for use and application. It is the animated process of removing a file and utilizing what is in that file. For example, you are faced with a disastrous situation in life. The Frame of Reference sends initial general reference points that are related to the situation. Then the Memory Center sends in recalled details and data regarding those reference points. This is followed by the Vocabulary sending technical specifications that can be used for the situation. Next, the Categorical Storage compartment sends supporting data from multiple reference points. Then the Conscience brings forth reasoning based on all the norms and standards built in your soul from accumulated Bible Doctrine that has flowed through it. Finally the Launching Pad gathers together all supporting materials, stages them for launch, and thrusts them forward within your soul so that the Wisdom of God flows throughout your soul and can be applied to the situation you are faced with. This all occurs under the function of your very own Royal Priesthood through the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit working within your soul. 8. Spiritual Growth is the Result of Building Up Your Heart with the Word of God. 1) As a result of having Bible doctrine in the Frame of Reference, moving it into the Memory Center, Vocabulary and Categorical storage, developing Norms and Standards in the Conscience coupled with faith application from the Launching Pad, we then have a growth factor from metabolized Bible doctrine which moves us to spiritual maturity. 2) Although the entire process can be quite complex, our involvement is quite simple. (1) When we eat and breathe, our contribution is fairly simple. Breathing is automatic; and eating is according to our taste (although most of us realize that some foods are better for us than other foods). (2) The process by which air taken into our lungs and then is sent throughout our bodies, refreshing and replenishing, is rather complex. No one knows the entire process and all that is involved. Most people don’t know much beyond the breathing in of oxygen and the breathing out of CO2. But, even though our knowledge of this function which sustains and renews our bodies is fairly difficult to understand, all we do is breathe. The body which God has designed takes care of the rest. (3) The same thing is true of Bible doctrine in the soul. All we do is listen and believe. God has designed our human spirit to take care of the rest. We may understand that we take in doctrine in our perceptive lobe (the left lobe), believe it, and it become imprinted on our heart (the right lobe); but even if we don’t know this, it still occurs. (4) Our contribution is simple. We need only have positive volition toward the Word of God. We listen, we believe, we think; and God handles the rest. 3) This is the status in which spiritual growth is obtained as a result of momentum inside God's power system for your spiritual walk. This is accomplished through the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit and momentum from the Word of God metabolized within your soul. Learning God's Word provides momentum and motivation to learn more of God's Word. This is the momentum factor of spiritual phenomenon resulting in God's wisdom applied to your life. 4) There are two categories of spiritual growth. (1) Normal spiritual growth that comes from the renewing of your mind post-salvation. Ephesians 4:23–24 And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. This is accomplished through the Grace Apparatus for Perception (GAP) which includes the three R's by means of the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit. i Receptive comprehension, faith upon hearing. ii Retention, the metabolization of Bible doctrine, converting gnosis into epignosis doctrine and storing it within the Heart of your soul. iii Recall, the application of the Word resident within your soul from the Launching Pad of the Heart resulting in Wisdom. (2) Accelerated spiritual growth as a result of suffering for blessing. The acceleration of your spiritual growth comes from the application of metabolized Bible doctrine and the function of the Problem Solving Devices when you are faced with pressure and adversity in life. i As is the general rule, we tend to learn at an accelerated rate when we are faced with difficulties or perceived failures within our lives. This is in contrast to the times of success and prosperity when we are comfortable, think we are all set and "have it all down pat". In the latter the trend is to not turn to God, His wisdom or power. ii But in times of difficulty and pressure, we find ourselves in a position of hopelessness and helplessness when it comes to human solutions and our human resources. In these times, like no other, we are narrowed in our application to utilize the power of God, His Word and Spirit. iii This is called Suffering for Blessing, which is facing difficulties, disasters, or pressure when we are walking with God. This is in contrast to divine discipline, when due to our negative volition, God allows discipline to come into our lives to wake us up. iv You can learn from divine discipline, punitive suffering, the law of volitional responsibility, and self-induced misery. But that is a slow process and does not necessarily advance you to Spiritual Self-Esteem. In those instances, if you wake up and get back in fellowship with God, the discipline is turned into Suffering for Blessing. v Suffering for Blessing has three categories related to three stages of spiritual adulthood, which moves us forward and provides momentum to achieve further spiritual growth in spiritual adulthood. vi 1Corinthians 9:24–27 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. 9. Happiness is related to the heart. 1) Prov. 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. Having a joyful heart means you share God's happiness (+H) in your right lobe. 2) Prov. 15:13-15 A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. The heart of the intelligent seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly. All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful heart has a continual feast. (1) God's +H in the right lobe makes for a cheerful face, a marvelous life, and animation. But the spirit is broken when the heart is sad, down, or complaining. (2) But the spirit is broken meaning the heart is sad, down, or complaining when you do not have the Word in your right lobe. (3) The heart of the intelligent seeks knowledge, means that your motivation for learning more Bible doctrine comes from the Bible doctrine you already have in your right lobe. (4) Eventually your motivation for learning more doctrine comes from the doctrine you already have in your right lobe. (5) The mouth of a fool feeds on folly refers to the believer or unbeliever who fills his heart with false doctrine. (6) The continual feast means continuous circulation of Bible doctrine in the heart with never ending supply and sustenance. 3) 2Cor. 6:11-12 O you Corinthians, our mouth has been opened face to face with you [in teaching], because our hearts [right lobes] have been enlarged [by maximum doctrine in the right lobe of the soul]. Therefore, you have not been hindered by us [in your spiritual life]; you have been hindered by your own emotions [= bowels in the Greek]. (translation probably R. B. Thieme, Jr.) (1) The Corinthians had receptive comprehension but no retention. (2) Notice that emotions and heart are in contrast in this passage. Therefore, emotions are not a part of the function of the right lobe of the soul. (3) You have may have made the mistake of arguing with a liberal and then quoted some bit of information, survey, scientific study, etc. Then, you wonder why you have not won the argument. They hear this in their left lobe (the mind), but, whatever consideration is given it still rejects the information due to the emotions controlling the soul. Therefore, it is never transferred over to the right lobe. The heart never accepts that information because they do not believe it. They may say, “Well, you heard that on Fox News” (which they may call Faux News); or they may say, “You can make a scientific survey (or poll, or whatever) say anything.” Their emotional understanding of the topic at hand prevents them from believing what you say. This is the problem of the Corinthians when hearing doctrine taught by Paul. Paul presented the absolute truth to them, but they rejected this truth because it did not line up with their thinking that was controlled by their emotions. 10. The heart is related to perception and thinking. 1) The heart is related to perception of Bible doctrine. Deut. 29:4 “Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know.” See also Prov. 22:17–21 23:12 Psalm 90:12. 2) The heart is related to thinking in terms of reversionism in Psalm 10:6, 11, 13 reveals the human viewpoint thinking of the reversionist related to the heart. He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved to all generations, I shall not be in adversity.” He says in his heart, “God has forgotten me, He has hidden His face from me. He will never see it. Why has the wicked [believer] spurned God?” He has said in his heart, “You will not hold me responsible.” 3) The thinking of the atheist is related to the heart. Psalm 14:1 The fool has thought in his heart, “There is no God.” 4) The heart is related to rationalizing mental attitudes. The rationalizing maladjustment to the justice of God is found in Isa. 47:10 “And you felt secure in your evil, and you said to yourself, `No one sees me.' Your evil wisdom and your human viewpoint knowledge has deluded you, for you have thought in your heart, `I am, and there is no one as good as I am.' " 5) False teachers communicate false doctrine from the deceit of their heart. Jer. 14:14 6) The heart is the place where people think they are superior to others. Luke 9:46-47 Now a controversy entered among them as to which of the disciples was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the thinking in their hearts... 7) The heart is used for meditation on Bible doctrine. Luke 2:19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 11. Negative Functions of the Heart or Right Lobe. We have primarily studied the heart as related to the growth of a believer. However, that is not always the way heart is used. The heart is the right lobe for the souls of unbelievers and reversionistic believers as well. 1) The heart can reject Bible teaching, as in Prov. 5:12-14. The heart negative to Bible doctrine refuses to concentrate. When you don't like what you hear, then you are unteachable and a candidate for reversionism. How I have hated instruction of doctrine, and my heart has spurned reproof, and I have not listened to the voice of my teacher nor inclined my ear to the instructor. I almost came to ruin in the middle of the assembly of the congregation. 2) The heart can be applied to learning human wisdom and human systems of thought, rather than Bible doctrine. Eccles. 7:25 8:9, 16 3) When doctrine (or, establishment truth, in the case of the unbeliever) is rejected, then there is a vacuum which sucks in that which is false. When this is the case, the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. (Jer. 17:9) 4) Negative volition toward the standards of God, will result in a man’s thinking being filled with sin. Matt. 15:15–20 But Peter said to him, "Explain the parable to us." And he said, "Are you also still without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone." 5) The heart is the source of discord and troublemaking, which leads to strife and conspiracy. Prov. 6:14, 18 The one who by distortion or perversity in his heart devises evil continually, he is the one who is the spreader of strife. A heart that devises wicked conspiracy, feet run rapidly to evil. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.) 6) The woman uses heart thinking to entice the male for personal gain without love. (1) The heart of the prostitute is subtle. Prov. 7:10 And behold a woman comes to meet him dressed magnificently like a prostitute and very cunning of heart. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.) (2) Eccles. 7:26 I have discovered more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and in her hands she has chains. However, the person who is pleasing God [doctrine in the right lobe] will escape from her. But the sinning one [arrogant male] will be captured by her. (Translation probably by R. B. Thieme, Jr.) (3) A woman can often do a lot of thinking, but it's not objective, doctrinal, professional or academic thinking; it is thinking used to bring attention to herself in whatever way she wants attention. This is thinking in terms of "snares and nets", and in her hands she has chains. She will be very flattering and conniving, and once she catches you by your arrogance, your arrogance will chain you to her. (4) One thing that will destroy wisdom, I.Q., and ability to look at life from the divine viewpoint is the dumb arrogant male succumbing to the flattery of a woman, using him for her own advancement or pleasure. 7) The heart suffers disappointment from broken promises, Prov. 13:12. The heart is the source of frustrations. Frustration is a thought. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life. 8) The heart is the environment for mental attitude sins. (1) 2Sam. 6:16 Now when it came to pass that the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, then Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out the window and she saw David dancing before the Lord; consequently she despised him in her heart. You hate and love in your right lobe. Both love and hate are a system and function of thinking. (2) Prov. 14:10 The heart knows its own bitterness. Bitterness is one of the greatest of all sins of arrogance. It infiltrates the right lobe and neutralizes whatever doctrine is there. And a stranger does not share its joy. (3) Sorrow and disappointment (Prov. 14:13). (4) Pride (Prov. 21:4; Obad. 3). (5) Arrogance is found in Prov. 21:4 Haughty eyes and an arrogant heart, the lamp of the wicked is sin. In other words, once you have arrogance in your right lobe, whatever its manifestation, this becomes your lamp for life and it sets aside all doctrine. (6) In Obad. 3, arrogance deceives you and causes you to make a fool of yourself. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you. (7) Worry is found in Eccles. 2:23. (8) Deceitfulness is found in Jer. 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else and becomes a source of desperate wickedness. (9) Women use the heart to trap men (Eccl. 7:26). 9) The frantic search for happiness is related to the heart in Eccles. 1:13. 10) Revolution and insubordination are described as being a part of the thinking of the heart. 2Sam. 15:6 So Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel. Jer. 5:23 But this people have a stubborn and a rebellious heart. They have turned aside and departed from Me. See also Ezek 6:9. 11) Hypocrisy is related to thinking in the heart, for you can think one thing and express another thing overtly. Psalm 55:21 His speech was smoother than butter, but his heart was at war with me. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords, ready to stab me. 12) Superficial gaiety doesn't indicate the true state of the individual's heart or right lobe. Prov. 14:13 Even in times of laughter, the heart may be in pain, and the end of the party may be grief. 13) Reversionism is described in terms of the heart, Jer. 17:5 So says the Lord, “Cursed is the man who depends on mankind and makes flesh his strength. His heart has turned away from the Lord [negative volition to Bible doctrine].” Jer. 17:9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else and becomes a source of desperate wickedness. 14) So the heart is related to any kind of failure in life. In other words, the real you is what you think. Your life is not what others see overtly, though it may reflect good or bad thoughts, right or wrong priorities. |
Bible Doctrine Resource, Doctrine of Heart; accessed September 24, 2014. Bible Doctrine Resource, Doctrine of Heart/Kardia; accessed September 24, 2014. This is a revision of the doctrine above. Very little material is taken from the next two sources. Wenstrom Bible Ministries, Doctrine of the Heart; accessed September 24, 2014. L. G. Merritt, Doctrine of the Heart; accessed September 24, 2014 (includes several charts). |
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Bible Doctrine Resource, Doctrine of Heart; accessed September 24, 2014. Bible Doctrine Resource, Doctrine of Heart/Kardia; accessed September 24, 2014. This is a revision of the doctrine above. Very little material is taken from the next two sources. Wenstrom Bible Ministries, Doctrine of the Heart; accessed September 24, 2014. L. G. Merritt, Doctrine of the Heart; accessed September 24, 2014 (includes several charts). |
Like many of these doctrines, much of the original work was done by R. B. Thieme, Jr. during his 53 year ministry. Some of these writers/pastors drew heavily upon Bob’s work; and some of them used his general teaching as a springboard. Bible Doctrine Resource, insofar as I know, simply has recorded these doctrines, primarily from R. B. Thieme, Jr.; but from other sources as well. |