Medicine for Mental Health

Someone once said, “Man is mind. When the mind is gone, man is gone.” In this study we want to examine what a depraved mind is, what a sound mind is, and then give some illustrations of both from the Bible.

A Depraved Mind

What is a good mind? It is a mind that thinks God’s thoughts after him and interprets reality correctly. A man with a good mind will worship and serve God as Creator of all. He will think God’s thoughts, will God’s will, hate evil and love good. A man with a good mind will live in God’s presence and enjoy all spiritual blessings.

God created man with a good mind, and it remained good until he sinned. Adam and Eve sought independence from God and so lost their sound minds through unbelief and disobedience (Gen. 3:4-7). Now every man by nature has a depraved, twisted mind that influences everything he thinks and does. Genesis 6:5 tells us the Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. Elsewhere we read, “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart, ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood'” (Gen. 8:21).

Adam and Eve’s fall from perfection brought man a depraved, twisted mind. Paul writes about this extensively in the book of Romans: “Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity; they are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless” (Rom. 1:28-31). This depravity is pervasive throughout man’s sinful mind. Paul explains, “There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands” (Rom. 3:11). Sinful man is wrong when he interprets both God and creation. He cannot understand reality truly. That is why idolatry and false religions abound throughout the world.

Because natural man cannot understand God correctly, he hates God. Paul speaks about a time “when we were God’s enemies” (Rom. 5:10), and this enmity is first manifested in our minds. He also states, “The sinful mind is hostile to God” (Rom. 8:7). Natural man hates the infinite, personal, triune God and his word. Jesus Christ tells us, “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” (Mark. 7:20-22). Every kind of evil is mentioned, but it all begins with our thoughts.

Paul explains why a sinner refuses to understand the word of God: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. . . . The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is in the image of God” (1 Cor. 2:14; 2 Cor. 4:4). An unbeliever does not have the Holy Spirit. Satan deliberately works in the minds of such people, blinding them so they will not believe the gospel and be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Since Adam’s fall, every man is twisted in his mind. Man has lost his mind. He fails to think God’s thoughts after him and interpret any reality correctly. He cannot even interpret the reality of a flower correctly as witnessing to the glory and wisdom of God. His mind is pervaded with evil and he sees God as an enemy, even though he exists sheerly because of God’s common grace.

What happens to a sinner who violates God’s covenant? Moses spoke about this in the Pentateuch: “The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind” (Deut. 28:28). It is a divine judgment not to understand God and his creation correctly: “But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear” (Deut. 29:4).

A Sound Mind

Can twisted man be straightened out so that he will think once again God’s thoughts after him and delight in the word of God? With man, it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. People speak about the perfectibility of man, but that is utter foolishness. Man cannot perfect himself because he is wicked in the depth of his being. Why do our children refuse to listen to us? It is because of the innate sinfulness of their minds. Without regeneration man cannot enter or see the kingdom of God. We must be born again, born from above, by the direct miraculous action of the Holy Spirit. We must experience resurrection from the dead.

Paul writes of this glorious transformation: “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved” (Eph. 2:1-5). Speaking of unregenerate man, he says: “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God” (Eph. 4:18). But then God made us alive: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24).

Only when we are regenerated by the Holy Spirit can we understand the gospel correctly. Paul says, “But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. . . . We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us” (1 Cor. 2:10, 12). A regenerate man interprets all reality correctly as he sees it through the lens of God’s word: “The spiritual man makes judgments about all things but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment” (1 Cor. 2:15). What is the reason for this great understanding? “We have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16).

The devil wants to keep us from seeing the truth of the gospel, but when the Spirit of God regenerates us, he opens our eyes so we can see clearly. The almighty God who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. So Paul writes, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6). Elsewhere he exhorts, “You have not received a spirit of timidity, but you have received a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7, KJV). God gives us a healthy, straightened-out mind so that we can think God’s thoughts, read, understand, and love God’s word, and worship and serve God.

All this is a result of the Holy Spirit working in us. Isaiah speaks about the Holy Spirit coming upon the Lord Jesus Christ: “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him-the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord-and he will delight in the fear of the Lord” (Isa. 11:2-3). At his baptism the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove and rested upon Jesus (Matt. 3:16). Later, Jesus himself spoke about the Holy Spirit coming on him and anointing him to do God’s work: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

But the Holy Spirit does not just work in and through Christ. Jesus promises his disciples, “But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit straightens out our minds, enabling us to think correctly and understand the will of God. He creates in us a desire to do the will of God and find great joy and happiness in so doing.

Only the Spirit of God can regenerate sinners and straighten out our twisted, hostile minds. When he does this, our eyes are opened and we can see God and creation aright. No longer enemies of God in our minds, we now fear the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and true knowledge. We repent of our sins and trust savingly in Christ who died for our sins. The Spirit of God permanently indwells us, teaching us God’s truth, empowering us to live godly lives, and guiding us in paths of righteousness. He lifts us from our depression, fills us with inexpressible and glorious joy, and enables us to find true happiness.

Not only does the Holy Spirit straighten out our twisted minds and cause them to understand and interpret reality correctly, but he also enables us to know God and worship him only. This understanding also comes to us from Jesus Christ, as it came to the two disciples whose eyes he opened on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24). The Lord opens the minds of his people so they may understand that the thrust of the entire Old Testament is the person of work of Christ: that he must die and be raised from the dead and that repentance and forgiveness of sins must be proclaimed to all nations (Luke 24:46-47). Jesus himself told the Pharisees, “You do err because you do not know the Scripture or the power of God” (Matt. 22:29). John writes, “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true-even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). The triune God enables us to gain knowledge of him and the world through the Bible. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). So Paul exhorts, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Col. 3:16); “Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:18). The psalmist says of the godly man: “His delight is in the law of the Lord” (Ps. 1:2).

On the day of Pentecost, Peter proclaimed, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy” (Acts 2:17). The disciples were not speaking from their own minds, but prophesying the mind of God as revealed in the Scriptures. In the same way, the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, and of the fear of the Lord will come and rest on us and straighten out our minds until we think God’s thoughts, love God’s will, and do God’s will.

Illustrations of Depraved Minds

The Bible provides many illustrations of depraved minds so that we can take warning from them.

The Devil and Demons

These evil angels were the first to fall from the state of perfection in which God created them. Because of their moral fall, their minds are forever twisted and depraved; there is no plan of redemption for them. They know God, they believe he exists, and they even tremble at that knowledge. But they cannot be saved. For them is reserved everlasting destruction.

King Saul

After God chose Saul to be the first king of Israel, the Holy Spirit came upon him at times and he prophesied. Yet he remained an unregenerate with a twisted mind. Incapable of thinking God’s thoughts, Saul did not love God’s word or obey him. Eventually God rejected him as king. Samuel told Saul, “Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king . . . I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord and the Lord has rejected you” (1 Sam. 15:23, 26). Saul’s rejection of God and his word had bitter consequences: “Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him” (1 Sam. 16:14). The Holy Spirit departed from Saul and an evil spirit came upon him so that he saw all reality in a twisted way.

God refused to talk to Saul because he rejected God’s revelation to him, so Saul finally went to the home of a witch to get counsel: “‘I am in great distress,’ Saul said. ‘The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams'” (1 Sam. 28:15). What a pathetic, hopeless, helpless man! He remained depressed and tormented until he finally committed suicide on the mountains of Gilboa.

King Nebuchadnezzar

God exalted the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar and warned him through Daniel and others to not become proud, but Nebuchadnezzar could not help himself. So God dealt with him: “All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, ‘Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence by my mighty power for the glory of my majesty?’ The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, ‘This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar. Your royal authority has been taken from you. You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes'” (Dan. 4:28-32).

Nebuchadnezzar became like an animal, but finally he humbled himself: “At that time, my sanity was restored” (Dan. 4:36). God will not put up with a person with a twisted mind who hates God; he will deal with him most severely.

King David

David was a lowly shepherd boy whom God exalted to be the king of Israel. He had a good beginning, refusing to kill his enemy Saul and trusting wholly in God, who anointed him with the Holy Spirit. The key to his success is seen in 1 Samuel 18:28, where we read that the Lord was with David as he was with Joseph. That is the key to success-having the Lord with us in our thinking, willing, decision-making, and coming and going. We will hear a voice from behind saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isa. 30:21).

During his early years David was led by the Holy Spirit. He was always praying: “God, is this what you want me to do?” (1 Sam. 23, 2 Sam. 2, 5). When God said no, David would not act, and when God said yes, he would. He had a copy of the Scriptures, which he was supposed to read daily so that he could judge as king correctly. The Lord gave him victory over all his enemies as David did what was just and right according to God’s word (2 Sam. 8:15). God gave him a sound mind. He listened to prophets like Gad and Nathan and obeyed them. What a wonderful life! He arrived at the pinnacle of his fame as the king of Israel.

But then came the fall. At the height of his fame, David’s heart became proud. Prosperity goes before pride and pride before a fall. David had great wealth and many wives, concubines, and children. Tributes from conquered enemies flowed regularly into Jerusalem. But all of a sudden David decided not to go to war, although even the ark of God was going out with the army. David remained in Jerusalem enjoying his leisure, while Israel was fighting the Lord’s wars.

One day David saw Bathsheba, lusted after her, and committed adultery with her, though he was a covenant Israelite. That tells us he had lost interest in the word of God. He was not praying, worshiping, fellowshipping with God’s people, or listening to God’s prophets. David knew Bathsheba was the wife of a fellow Israelite and that he should not commit adultery. But David’s mind had become twisted and he refused to heed God’s clearly revealed commands. In his arrogance, David deceived and murdered Uriah and took Bathsheba as his wife.

After confronting David with his sin, Nathan told David that he had despised God and his word (2 Sam. 12:9-10). David had lost the sound mind of his early days. He had lost his first love that had sustained him during the days of poverty and wanderings. (PGM) His mind had become dull, unable to understand and judge carefully. He made foolish decisions that brought great shame, loss, and destruction. The pleasures of sin are for a brief season, but its effects can last for generations.

What David sowed brought forth bitter fruit in his children. First, Amnon raped Tamar. “In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David” (2 Sam. 13:1). Amnon was counseled to pretend to be sick. “When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand'” (v. 6). Anyone can understand that having a young man and young woman alone in a house could lead to problems. But David had lost his common sense. He told his virgin daughter Tamar to go to Amnon, who then raped her and sent her away. We are told that David was furious, yet he refused to discipline his son.

Because David treated the word of God with contempt, God himself took action to deal with Amnon. Two years later Tamar’s brother Absalom came to David and invited him to a feast. David demurred, but allowed his sons, including Amnon, to go. If he had thought about it, he would not have sent Amnon, for it was common knowledge that Absalom wanted to kill his brother (2 Sam. 13:32). God used Absalom to administer the justice that David had not carried out.

Did David subsequently deal with Absalom for killing Amnon? According to the Bible, he should have put this son to death also, but he did not. This showed that David had no regard for the glory of God and for his law. He had become stupid.

Absalom fled to Geshur, but his father’s heart longed after him. In due time, Absalom was brought back and in 2 Samuel 14:33 we read that the king kissed his son, meaning he forgave him without exercising any disciplinary action. How many of us have loved our children more than the glory of God, that we did not administer discipline!

Absalom then began a four-year campaign to turn Israel against David. Although all Israel knew what Absalom was doing, the king’s mind was still dull. When Absalom asked permission to go to Hebron where David had been proclaimed king, David told him, “Go in peace.” Absalom had himself declared king, drove his father from Jerusalem, and raped David’s concubines (2 Sam. 15; 16:21-22). What bitter fruit David was reaping!

Then there was a man named Ziba, the steward of Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth (2 Sam. 16). Ziba met the fleeing king, bringing several donkeys carrying two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred loaves of fig cakes, one hundred raisin cakes, and a skin of wine, all of which belonged to his master. Ziba brought these items as a bribe and then slandered Mephibosheth. But David’s discernment had left him. He believed Ziba’s story, accepted the bribe, and transferred all of Mephibosheth’s properties to the crooked Ziba.

This is what happens when we lose our heads; we cannot make even simple decisions. Though our minds may be going, our lives are not standing still. We are making foolish decisions with our foolish minds. So we may find ourselves marrying people we should not be marrying, or entering into businesses that we should not be entering, or investing money where we should not. We are always busy buying and selling, marrying and giving in marrying, going and coming, planting and harvesting. But at the end, we will discover that all these things were done foolishly, to our everlasting sorrow, shame, and destruction.

Absalom finally received the discipline he deserved (2 Sam. 18). As king and father, David was responsible to kill Absalom (see Deut. 21, Ex. 21, Lev. 20, Deut. 27). Cursing, attacking, and rebelling against one’s father all merited capital punishment. But David repeatedly refused to be the king and father he ought to have been. In 1 Kings 1:6 we read that he never restrained his children, meaning he loved them more than God. How many people have the same problem of rejecting God and his truth because we worship our children!

As they were going out to fight Absalom, David told his army, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom for my sake” (2 Sam. 18:5). David was not showing compassion; he was again dishonoring of God. Read what David said after learning of Absalom’s death: “The king was shaken. He went to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: ‘O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you-O Absalom, my son, my son!'” (2 Sam. 18:33). Here again we must note that David had lost his head and had become so twisted that he would not administer justice, though that was his duty. Jesus said that we must love God more than our own children and lives (Matt. 10, Luke 14). God hates idolatry, especially indulging our children and loving them more than God.

Why did David not discipline his children? Because his own sin condemned him. Many people who have sinned terribly are soft when it comes to disciplining their own children because they have an ever-present consciousness of their own past sin. How could David discipline his children when he himself had committed adultery and deceived and killed a covenant brother? Because David had lost his moral authority, he was reluctant to exercise discipline. Therefore God himself meted out justice on Absalom:

Now Absalom happened to meet David’s men. He was riding his mule, and as the mule went under the thick branches of a large oak, Absalom’s head got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in midair, while the mule he was riding on kept on going. When one of the men saw this, he told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.” Joab said to the man who had told him this, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him to the ground right there? Then I would have had to give you ten shekels of silver and a warrior’s belt.” But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels were weighed out into my hands, I would not lift my hand against the king’s son. . . .” Joab said, “I am not going to wait like this for you.” So he took three javelins in his hand and plunged them into Absalom’s heart while Absalom was still alive in the oak tree. And ten of Joab’s armor-bearers surrounded Absalom, struck him and killed him.” (2 Sam. 18:9-12, 14-15)

Some people speak about God being only love, but they do not know what God they are talking about. God is love but he is also holy. The true God deals with sin.

In 2 Samuel 24 we read that David was inspired to take a census of fighting men, even though he should have put his trust in God instead. Even Joab told him it was wrong, but David would not listen. A foolish mind does not pay attention to the Holy Spirit, the holy Scriptures, or the counsel of other people. It took about ten months to count, and afterwards David was conscience-stricken. Because of David’s foolish decision, God sent a plague and killed seventy thousand people. David should have been killed also, but God in his mercy spared his life.

If you are a Christian, do not presume you are making wise decisions. David was a believer, yet look at how many wrong decisions he made. David did not want to kill Amnon, so God had to kill him. He did not want to kill Absalom, so God killed him also. He did not want to kill Adonijah, so God eventually had him killed through Solomon. God had told David, “The sword will never depart from your house” (2 Sam. 12:10) and it came to pass in the lives of his sons. Hosea says, “[You] sow wind and reap the whirlwind” (Hos. 8:7). Paul exhorts, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Gal. 6:7). Because of his sin, David’s mind became unsound, not able to discern reality.

This is what happens to a believer who sins. The Holy Spirit never departed from David as he did from Saul, but the Holy Spirit was grieved and David himself became depressed. “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30). We can never be happy when the Spirit of God is grieving.

God rejected Saul forever but in grace he disciplined David. Thank God, he did not reject him forever! But think about the discipline, chastisement, and fiery trials David suffered for years because of his sin. Sin dulls and corrupts our minds. We lose our ability to discern and interpret reality correctly. Therefore, we make wrong decisions that result in great sorrow, loss, and shame. We become like the prodigal who lost his mind until he came to himself. And wrong thinking causes wrong decisions that result in great loss for generations to come. How many of us think that our sin may affect future generations? The pleasures of sin for a little season costs us the joy of the Lord and divine benediction.

When the Holy Spirit is grieved, our life is not pleasant. We can have great material wealth like David did, but we will be miserable. David himself described his misery before he repented: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’-and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Ps. 32:3-5). We can try to explain away our sin, but there is no solution except true repentance, confession, forsaking of sin, and walking in obedience to God’s word. The reason David was miserable was not physical but spiritual. As God told Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” (Gen. 4:6-7). The joy of the Lord is our strength. That joy shall return only when the Spirit rejoices in us because we have done what he tells us to do.

A Sound Mind

The Example of Jesus Christ

There was one person, Jesus Christ, whose mind was always right, sound, and clear and who always made right decisions. The Spirit of God was upon him and as a result, he thought God’s thoughts after him and delighted in doing God’s will. He declared, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come-it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Ps. 40:6-8).

Jesus was clear-minded when tempted, countering with “It is written,” when the devil wanted him to go against the Scriptures. He glorified his Father in temptation. At Gethsemane he knew he must die for our sins, yet he resolved to go to Calvary. We also must do what is right, not what makes us feel good. The prospect of the cross did not give Christ an emotional boost, but he knew it was the will of God, which he himself had agreed to in the eternal council. Therefore, he made up his mind and went to Calvary with a clear mind. As he hung on the cross, he refused to take the mind-numbing drink. He ministered to his mother and the dying thief and, with a clear head, entrusted his spirit to his Father.

His family once thought he was crazy and came to take him home (Mark 3:21). Some people think we are crazy also because we stand for truth. The teachers of the law said he was insane (Mark 3:22). The Jews thought he was mad and demon-possessed (John 10). But the truth was, Jesus had a perfect mind and perfect understanding of all reality, especially the ultimate reality of his Father.

Jesus came into the world to solve our sin problem that we may have sound minds, even the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). Paul writes, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5, KJV). This is speaking about a sound mind that knows God and interprets reality truly according to the word of God, a Spirit-empowered mind that delights in God’s word.

Mark 5 speaks of a madman whose mind was destroyed by six thousand demons. Notice, the battle against evil is not for our legs but for our minds. Jesus drove out the demons and saved the man, and Mark says this formerly restless and naked madman was completely changed. People saw him seated, clothed, and in his right mind. Only Jesus can turn our crooked minds into sound minds so that we can make decisions that will please the Father. Everyone who does not believe in Christ is like this man-restless, wandering, and wretched. Such people may be rich, educated, powerful, or even religious. But if they have not been regenerated, they will make foolish decisions with their depraved, twisted minds and waste their lives.

How to Have a Sound Mind

How, then, can we have a sound mind? First, we must be regenerated, because every sinner has a depraved mind by nature. What we need is a direct, supernatural work of the Spirit upon us to raise us from the dead. We will know that we are regenerated when we truly repent and savingly believe in Jesus Christ and stop sinning.

Second, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 5:18 Paul says, “Be being filled with the Spirit” (author’s translation). It is a continuous imperative, meaning we must experience daily filling.

Third, we must study the Bible voraciously, passionately, and intelligently. Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). When we read the word of God, believingly and prayerfully, it will clean our minds and motivate us to holy living. God’s word is designed to clean our spirits and give us wisdom.

Fourth, we should not only study the Bible and be theologically knowledgeable, but we must also do what the Scripture says. Otherwise, we will experience divine curse.

Fifth, we must find a church that unashamedly and boldly declares the old-time gospel. We must be ready for people to call us crazy as Felix the governor called Paul in Acts 26. He told him, “Paul, you are a maniac” (that is the Greek word used). Paul disagreed with the governor’s evaluation. But even if the world calls us crazy for the sake of Christ, we can rejoice because they did the same to Jesus.

When we find such a church, we should worship there regularly, become educated in the gospel as it is preached, and receive ministry from other brothers and sisters. This last point is important because we do not see ourselves as we truly are; we need input from others. God has given us fellow members in the body of Christ who love us enough to tell us when we have problems. When this happens to us, we should thank that person and take care of our problem.

Above all, we must believe in the absolute authority of the word of God. Our motto should be: “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me.” If that is true of us, we will thank those who bring God’s word to us. We will not despise it but do it, for to despise God’s word is to despise God himself. We will accept the authority of God’s word, for it is ever settled in the heavens. We will not exalt anything above the very word of God. We will not exalt psychology, philosophy, or anything else above the very word of God.

By God’s grace, he has given sound minds to all of us who have believed in Jesus Christ for salvation. May God help us to get sounder minds and make better decisions, all for the glory of God.