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In our study of Romans we are between chapters 7 and 8 in a topical study of the doctrine of the heart of the soul. We are presently looking at the compartments of the soul where information is understood, believed, and made available for application. Last time we finished our discussion regarding the memory canter.
This brings us to the next compartment in the heart of the soul, the vocabulary storage compartment that is the place where thinking is developed and where technical words are used to develop new ideas. Information is conveyed with words so people cannot think beyond their vocabulary.
Vocabulary is developed in the left lobe (the mind) and only transferred to the right lobe (the heart) when accepted. Often our capacity for life is related to the limits of our vocabulary.
Spiritual concepts are first learned in the left lobe (the mind) where they cannot be deployed until after we accept them as being true and then they are transferred to the right lobe (the heart) by God the Holy Spirit for application.
After salvation, the believer must learn an entirely new technical spiritual vocabulary, including learning technical theological words similar to learning a new language for thinking, for application, and for the expression of God's Word.
Just as at physical birth a baby must learn a language and the meaning of words to understand and communicate so after regeneration the new believer as a member of God's new spiritual species must learn an entirely new spiritual language that has its own vocabulary for explaining spiritual concepts.
Technical language is necessary to understand and apply any subject especially Bible doctrine because God's plan is revealed by God the Holy Spirit and explained in the technical, theological terms of Bible Doctrine.
Jer 15:16, "Your words were found and I ate (metabolized) them, and Your words became for me joy (happiness)."
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 man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the month of God." Quoted by Jesus in Matt 4:4;
Categorical doctrinal storage is the next compartment in the heart that when coordinated with the frame of reference classifies Bible doctrine. This is the storage area for technical concepts or categorical information in any area of life.
It is related to recall from the memory center using vocabulary words. You remember the principles with their technical words, and when you put them all together you begin to understand and use them.
By comparing Scripture with Scripture, certain subjects are brought together in the divisions of doctrine for the purpose of classification. In God's Word many ideas are covered from different viewpoints but they are still part of the same subject.
This means that categorical storage fulfills the objective of cognitive independence in spiritual autonomy because categories are fundamental concepts of doctrine that all doctrinal knowledge can be reduced in to.
Categories are the divisions of doctrine formed for the purpose of classification of the subjects found in God's Word of Truth.
Categorical storage is the basis for conceptualism in the post- salvation renovation of the thinking from the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine under the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
Both vocabulary and categorical storage are essential for the spiritual growth that is required for the believer to implement God's plan.
Prov 2:2, "Make your ear to concentrate on wisdom; apply your right lobe (heart) to understanding." Only you can make your ear concentrate; no one can do it for you.
You are to concentrate on wisdom, that is called "chakmah in the Hebrew." Chakmah is a Hebrew word that combines the ideas presented by the Greek words "epignosis" and "sophia." Wisdom is the basis of all spiritual growth. Prov 15:33;
Wisdom is the combination of epignosis entering into your right lobe after you believe it that is followed by application from your right lobe as sophia. When you apply your right lobe to understanding under the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit, you build categorical storage.
The heart pumps epignosis doctrine through the frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary and categorical storage compartments. Without concentration and positive volition to what is being taught in Bible Class, you will not develop the vocabulary or categorical storage that is necessary to understand spiritual information.
Prov 2:10; "Wisdom will enter your heart, and the knowledge of doctrine will be pleasant to your soul." Prov 3:3.
We see here that there is no wisdom until the information that is understood enters into the right lobe and is believed as truth for it to be written on the tablet of your heart.
The word "Pleasant" in Prov 2:10; refers to the effect of the problem solving devices in your soul as you become content because you know how to solve your own problems with God's Word of Truth.
Prov 15:14-15, "The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge; ... a good heart has a continual feast." This refers to the believer feasting on Bible Doctrine.
Prov 18:15, "The heart of the wise acquires knowledge of doctrine; the ear of the wise seeks knowledge of doctrine." (The word translated "mind" is the Hebrew word "leb" that should be translated heart) The KJV and NIV get translate it correctly.
The "ear of the wise" is positive volition related to humility from authority orientation. With positive volition God the Holy Spirit makes everything fall into place. Positive volition continuously seeks doctrine because doctrine reveals God's omnipotent power.
The "heart of the wise" refers to spiritual growth from the knowledge that is acquired through the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
Categorical storage is where words are connected together into sentences, sentences into paragraphs, paragraphs into chapters, chapters into books and books into libraries in the heart of the soul. It is cognizance of the various doctrinal categories that God uses to communicate spiritual information to the believer.
Knowledge is built on knowledge. Simple categories of doctrine lead to more complex categories of knowledge in the classification of Biblical information.
The study of doctrine categorically creates capacity for more and more doctrinal application. It is very simple to mix God's promises with faith in the basic function of the faith-rest drill.
But to understand how to apply more complicated problem-solving rationales to the problems of life requires understanding of many various concepts from Bible doctrine so it requires a greater capacity for thinking in the believer's heart. Eventually, the more powerful problem solving devices are developed in spiritual adulthood for categorical application.
Instead of claiming a single promise using the faith-rest drill you begin to claim entire doctrinal rationales. It is from categories that you develop the capacity to deploy more powerful applications of doctrine to your situation.
Both vocabulary and categorical storage are essential for the renovation of the thinking. Cognition of the technical vocabulary of Biblical information is necessary for the fulfillment of God's protocol plan. It can only be explained and understood in terms of spiritual mechanics. Therefore a technical spiritual vocabulary is required.
Every term, including rebound, faith-rest drill, hope, spiritual self-esteem, virtue-love as a problem solving device, God's protocol plan, the operational-type divine power system, the portfolio of invisible assets, escrow blessings, logistical grace blessings, imputation, justification, sanctification, glorification, election, and predestination all have extensive doctrinal explanations. They must all be stored in both the vocabulary and categorical compartments of the soul's heart for application.
The next compartment in the heart of the soul that we will look at is the conscience. The Greek word "suneidesis" means, "to know with." The equivalent Latin word "consientia" means joint knowledge, or to know as a standard. We see that the English word conscience is a transliteration of the Latin word "consientia."
The conscience is divided into two parts: The place for the norms and standards that are developed from God's Word of Truth and the norms and standards developed from the old sin nature under the influence of satan's cosmic system.
The decisions a person makes are generally based on what a person believes to be right in their conscience. This is why different cultures have different standards for accepted behavior.
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 of the soul becomes a part of your norms and standards.
If your decisions are based on norms and standards from the sin nature, then your decisions are bad decisions from a position of weakness.
Rom 2:14-15, This tells us that when a person has norms and standards they orient to that as the basis for determining if what they are doing is right or wrong from that set of standards.
The conscience is the compartment in the heart where your norms and standards and priorities in life are stored, Rom 9:1, 13:5; 1Cor 8:7; 2 Cor 4:2, 5:11; Tit 1:15; Heb 9:14.
All normal people have norms and standards that are located in the right lobe or heart of the mentality of the soul. From these norms and standards a person derives their individual priorities in life. Those priorities establish a scale of values.
False standards in the conscience cause spiritual weaknesses. 1 Cor 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."
Some of the best food in Corinth had been offered to idols and after that it sold as the choicest meat in the temple market. Food is food and meat is meat. So it was fine for a believer to eat that food after they had given God thanks for it.
But for those with a legalistic background who had a weak conscience that was programmed by false norms and standards to them eating food offered to idols was very offensive. The one with the weak conscience had legalistic norms and standards in his conscience from his religious culture.
So there is a conflict between those with a strong conscience and those with a weak conscience. A strong conscience has Biblical standards of "epignosis" and "sophia" from Bible doctrine.
A weak conscience lives by standards acquired from its culture that may or may not be correct, or that may be distorted into a religious "spirituality." Eating is a physical issue, and has nothing to do with the spiritual life.
The person with weak conscience assumes he's strong, because legalism always assumes it is strong even though legalism is really very weak because it tries to make overt physical activity spirituality.
You must have vocabulary and thought to establish proper norms and standards. The conscience must be built on a vocabulary that begins negatively with the word: no, or don't.
All consciences are initially built with negative words that forbid doing something overt. So the norms and standards of the conscience of mankind is initially established from negatives but eventually there are explanations in both positive and negative terms in God's Word.
Therefore, the conscience becomes the residency of the priorities of the soul, Dan 1:8.
This tells us that the conscience is a very sensitive thing. It can be erroneous in its concepts apart from accurate Bible doctrine. If doctrine does not feed the conscience, instinct will. And instinct rapidly develops legalism.
The norms and standards located in the conscience are directed toward both God and people, but primarily toward people until you become aware of the existence of God, what God has done and why He did it that way.
Acts 24:16, "In view of this, even I myself keep practicing to maintain even a blameless conscience, both before God and before men." True strength is to develop your standards toward both God and man from the Biblical standards of doctrine.
The believer's conscience is formed from cognition of Bible doctrine. 2 Cor 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."
What Paul is saying here is 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.
The believer's conscience demands that he submit to establishment authority. Rom 13:5, "Therefore, it is necessary to be in subjection, 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 criminal activity.
The conscience in the soul is far stronger than any fear of external punishment from law enforcement.
Conscience as a motivator is mentioned in 2 Tim 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."
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 one of the strongest motivations possible.