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THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES
The “divine nature” of Christ is found in the heart and mind (attitudes) of Christ. These “divine attributes” or characteristics of Christ are available to every believer. They qualify us to become sons and daughters of God. They give us power over all the works of the enemy. They establish the peace of God which surpasses all understanding in our hearts.
The attributes of Christ are found in His motives and attitudes. His attitudes toward the Father and man motivated Christ to become a servant even though He was equal with God. Jesus was motivated by love and compassion as well as a great zeal to please the Father.
As we study the motives and attitudes of Christ, we will find that everything He did was pleasing to the Father. Even though He was divinely equal with God, He took on the form of a servant in order to be an example of the righteousness of God to men. Christ humbled Himself as a servant in order to fulfill the plan and purpose of God for His life. He became the epitome—the perfect example of an obedient servant. Being servants of God, we are all equally responsible to do everything we can to please God through obedience and self-sacrifice.
If we want to understand why Jesus loved people so much, we must study the “divine nature of Christ.” Jesus is the “express image of the Father.” God is love—love is a part of His nature. It is the nature of Christ to love fervently, unapologetically, and unconditionally. Like the Father--love is His most dominant and important characteristic. The Bible tells us Jesus wears “many crowns.” (Revelation 19:12). The character of Christ is crowned with love, life, liberty, and longsuffering just to name a few.
As Christians our most dominant characteristic should be LOVE. We are nothing without the “divine attribute” of the love of Christ within us. If we do not love those around us, the love of God does not dwell within us. Without love we cannot be or honestly proclaim to be the sons and daughters of God.
Psychologists have studied the workings of the human mind for centuries. Yet they still understand very little about human behavior, how the mind works, and why people act and react the way they do in certain circumstances. They seek to change emotions, thoughts and social processes which affect human behavior in people by studying, observing, and interpreting behavior and offering solutions.
Psychology is merely an attempt by MAN to cure the soul of men and women who are actually in need of a “spiritual fix,” not a human solution to their problems. The practice of Human Psychology will have a positive effect upon some people. Other than chemical imbalances in the brain which some people experience, the underlying problems most people experience are really “spiritual,” not natural. Thus, they can only be correctly and irrevocably “fixed” by Christ.
In reality, Psychology, which is not Bible based can and will do more harm to an individual than good. Even some Christian Psychology is not biblically sound because it is not always tempered with faith and love and is not rooted and grounded in truth. True freedom from bondage can and will only come through the Spirit of Truth and Liberty.
Many times the precepts of “Christian Psychology” which are found in the Bible are taken out of context and used inappropriately. I am not saying all Christian Psychologists are errant scripturally. However, one must be careful of what they are listening and adhering to when they seek spiritual guidance from Christian or non-Christian psychologists and counselors.
I have seen many Christians suffer because they were given bad advice from counselors. It is always best to seek the Lord for answers rather than man. I am definitely not saying we should not seek the counsel of men. However, I am saying we should seek help from those who we know can and will hear from God when we need advice. Jesus is the answer to all our problems.
Christian Psychologists need to be able to do “more than” just offer advice to people who are in need of help. They need to be able to perform deliverance to individuals who are oppressed by the devil. Most emotional problems come from demonic oppression and possession; therefore, a little bit of spiritual advice will not help to free people of what is really the root of their problems.
Most Christian Psychologists do not have a “good understanding,” or any understanding at all, of how demon spirits operate in the life of a person or how to deal with them. They do not have a good understanding of how things operate in the realm of the spirit. They fail to understand how demons can affect and infect the human psyche. Christian Counselors need to possess spiritual discernment, discerning of spirits, and the knowledge of how to cast out demons if they are going to be able to set people free from demonic depression, oppression, and possession.
People need to distinguish for themselves that what they are hearing from others is coming from God or from man. There is nothing wrong with seeking advice from others, however, we must always seek God for confirmation. Many times the advice we receive may not be the advice we need. All advice and solutions for our problems should be God breathed. Some advice can be cheap (inexpensive). Some advice is cheap (ineffective).
Possessing the “divine nature” will set us free from all demonic depression and oppression. If we are going to study the mind and how it operates, we need to study and understand the “nature of Christ.” We must find out what Christ our Lord says about freedom and how we can open the gates of true freedom for ourselves and others if we desire to be free.
The mind or attitudes and motives of Christ are divinely inspirited to believers who fervently love the Lord and seek truth and righteousness. If we do not love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, “the divine nature” will not have dominion in our thought processes.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. Galatians, ch. 5, vs. 22-23.
I think it would be reasonable to say that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was led by the Spirit in everything He did. When we become filled with the “divine nature of Christ,” we will be filled with the fruit of the Spirit. We will have no problem portraying the love of Christ to others. If we love the Father as Christ loves Him, we will humble ourselves before Him; and be more than willing to obey His every command.
When we are FILLED with the Fruit of the Spirit our motives and attitudes will reflect the motives and attitudes of Christ. We will be faithful witnesses of the truth. We will be kind and gentle. We will be filled with joy because the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Jesus. We will be filled with goodness and longsuffering. We will possess self-control, even when things seem to get out of control. The “Fruit of the Spirit’ are all motivational characteristics of the mind of Christ. Jesus was motivated by the Holy Spirit in everything He did and said.
We are commanded by God to “walk in the Spirit.” The scripture tells us that “if we walk in the Spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16). If we are not walking in the Spirit, the flesh will dominate our thinking, thus our entire life. We are commanded to “put on the mind of Christ.” If we fail to put on the “mind of Christ,” sin will have dominion over us.
We should always be pursuing the righteousness of Christ by insightfully studying and bearing the Fruit of the Spirit. The knowledge which we gain from studying the “Fruit of the Spirit” will lead us into a greater relationship with Christ.
The “Fruit of the Spirit” is what sets sincere believers apart from those who are not FULLY committed to walking daily with Christ. God tells us to be “Holy as He is Holy.” If we are going to be Holy, we must be FILLED with the “Fruit of the Spirit.” True Holiness comes from the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as we walk daily in the Spirit with Him. The Fruit of the Spirit are all listed in Galatians 5:16-26.