Senses Exercised

Man is not saved by works, but he is saved unto good works.  Ephesians 2:8-10:

8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Good works follow grace, if in fact an individual has believed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, surrendered unto Him, and departed from iniquity.  II Timothy 2:19:

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

I John 2:4-5:

4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

James 2:18-20:

18  Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.

19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

20  But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

We are saved by grace unto good works.

Have you found this beautiful salvation that delivers from the bondage of all sin, of fear, of bitterness, of lust, of drug and alcohol addictions—of all sin?  Are you ready to be cleansed of all sin and shame?  Are you prepared to pay the price of redemption that breaks the back of Satan’s strongholds in your life?  The GodSaidManSaid has good news for you.  Today is your day of salvation.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for childlike instructions and immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Hebrews 5:13-14:

13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

MAN SAID: These Bible-thumpers are bunch of flat-earthers who have been duped by old, out-of-touch writings written by mere men.  Man made God.

Now THE RECORD.  GodSaidManSaid is a four-step proof text that proves the full veracity of the Word of God.  The holy scriptures are inerrant, supernatural truth confirmed by archaeology, paleontology, ancient history, geology, medical science, a continuous outpouring of today’s scientific discoveries.  Presently, there are 428 features on GodSaidManSaid, in text and streaming audio accomplishing this task.  Every Thursday eve, God willing, it grows by one.  Every subject is MP3-downloadable free of charge.  Why not get set up for the weekly podcast?

Thousands of years before modern knowledge began to deduce the truth of a thing, God recorded it, demonstrating perfect inside knowledge that only the Maker would know.  Now, in these very last days, more than ever we need to know that God “is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)” 

GodSaidManSaid published an article in January of 2002 concerning the prefrontal cortex.  The title is “Whore’s Forehead.”  A review of that feature follows:

God speaks judgment against a backsliding Israel who had replaced His words with the doctrines and customs of the heathen.  He said that they had a whore’s forehead.

Jeremiah 3:3:

Therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain; and thou hadst a whore’s forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed.

God said they had a whore’s forehead.  Note that they refused to be ashamed.  The whore’s forehead then was associated with immorality and the lack of shame.  The first verse I used concerning the secret of the forehead was Ezekiel 3:8:

Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.

And also Ezekiel 3:9:

As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

God made the prophet Ezekiel’s forehead righteous and strong against the foreheads of backsliding Israel.  In Revelation 7:3, God seals His servants in their foreheads:

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.

In Revelation 14:1, the Bible says that God’s name is written in His servants’ foreheads:

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

The Bible makes many mentions of the human forehead.  It’s important to remember that God’s Word is absolute truth and it is perfect science.  Thousands of years before today’s educated men knew the reasons why, the infinite God of creation published the foundational truth.

According to U.S. News and World Report, a neuroscientist at University College London Medical School examined two young sociopaths and attributed their evil behavior to a common injury that they both experienced to their orbital frontal cortex.  This is a part of the brain located in the area of the human forehead just above the eyes.  The researcher surmised that this area of the brain plays a serious role in matters of judgment and impulse control.  A short line from the article concerning the frontal cortex follows:

It allows people to balance their needs and desires against morality and values. [End of quote]

According to Discover Magazine writer Robert Sapolsky:

The prefrontal cortex is the brain region that plays a central role in self-discipline, in gratification postponement, in putting a rein on one’s impulses.

Again, Sapolsky reports:

Violent sociopaths appear to have insufficient metabolic activity in the prefrontal region.  And damage to the prefrontal cortex, such as that created by strokes, causes a disinhibited, frontal personality.  The person may become apathetic or childishly silly, hypersexual or bellicose as hell, scatological or blasphemous. [End of quote]

Keep in mind the prefrontal cortex is located in the area of the forehead just above the eyes.

According to G.C. Bosley in an article titled, “The Effects of Small Quantities of Alcohol:”

Among social drinkers alcohol causes shrinkage of the frontal lobes, the center of moral discernment. [End of quote]

Even moderate drinking affects the frontal lobes in one’s forehead and it is certainly common knowledge that the drinking of alcoholic beverages impairs Godly morality.  Besides social drinkers, there are some 14 million people in America who are alcoholics or alcohol abusers who are damaging the frontal lobes in their foreheads—the seat of morality and judgment.  Alcohol actually resculpts the brain in a negative way.

The following is a quote from an article in U.S. News and Word Report titled, “Your Brain on Alcohol:”

At this point, recent brain-imaging studies show, the primitive nucleus accumbens, with its hunger for pleasure, may ultimately not be the main player.  New pathways have been formed, adapted to function in alcohol’s service.  Now, researchers believe, the frontal cortex, the brain’s executive branch responsible for decisions and memory, holds a mere memory of pleasure, as insistent as the original pleasure, and demands another drink.  Alcohol may also put its stamp on areas of the frontal cortex involved in judgment and impulse control.

Notice in Isaiah 28:7 the association of judgment and alcohol, and remember the frontal lobe and forehead:

But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.  [End of quotes]

Morality is taught.  True, Godly morality is taught by the Holy Scriptures.  Isaiah 28:9-10:

9  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

God’s Word is the true moral plumb line.

The scientific discoveries about the frontal cortex and the Bible principle of the forehead are just another amazing testimony of the impeccable accuracy of Holy Writ.  The following excerpts are from the March 2009 issue of Discover, under the heading, “Brain Trust:”

One of the most interesting and counterintuitive things I learned in my training is that what differentiates the human brain from those of other species is the huge, enormous size of our prefrontal cortex.  You would think that what all this prefrontal cortex real estate would do for us is allow us to do all these wonderful things like paint and make music and speak and build churches and cities and schools and have systems of justice, but at an anatomical level one of its most distinguishing characteristics is that it’s full of inhibitory circuits.

The prefrontal cortex is often thought of as being responsible for carrying out executive functions: performing the considerations that come before action, planning for the future, acting on those plans, perhaps exerting will to make a good impression on someone in a job interview or in some other kind of controlled situation.

I feel tempted after this very cerebral discussion to give you a piece of practical advice.  These acts of willpower and control in the prefrontal cortex are things that you can exercise like a muscle.  There are mental resources.  The brain changes in response to the environment, and you can in fact increase the amount of willpower you have by practicing something.  [End of quote]

The prefrontal cortex—the Bible’s forehead—is full of inhibitory circuits which will be programmed by one source or another.  This prefrontal cortex can be exercised like a muscle.  Hebrews 5:12-14:

12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Note that moral understanding is exercised through teaching and experience.  When the Word of God—the true moral plumb line—is the teacher we will be able to discern the difference between good and evil, having the “senses exercised.”

The Word of God renews and exercises the mind.  Bad morality can be and must be replaced with good.  Putting on the mind of Christ through the born-again experience is the way.  Romans 12:2:

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Ephesians 4:23-32:

23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

25  Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

26  Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

27  Neither give place to the devil.

28  Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

29  Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

30  And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

31  Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

32  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Science is beginning to arrive at some marvelous truth, but be assured that God’s Word was there all the time, thousands of years before man arrived.  The Bible speaks prophetically of Christ in Isaiah 50:6-7:

6  I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.

7  For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.

GOD SAID, Hebrews 5:13-14:

13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

MAN SAID: These Bible-thumpers are bunch of flat-earthers who have been duped by old, out-of-touch writings written by mere men.  Man made God.

Now you have THE RECORD.

 

References:

Authorized King James Version

“Brain Trust,” Discover magazine, pp66-70, March 2009

GodSaidManSaid, “Whore's Forehead”

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