The Baptist minister that has a thirty-minute broadcast on the local television station on Sunday mornings focused this Sunday on Galatians 3:3, which has Paul asking, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
Yahweh is the tree. The branch is the proposal of divine marriage. The saw is a human brain thinking about what Scripture means. The leaves are those who have been reborn as the Son, who will bear fruit in ministry.
The Baptist preacher made a point of explaining that the word “foolish” literally meant having nothing but space between the ears. He said it meant an inability to think; and, he then explained that Paul asked this question because only ‘air heads’ would think being blessed by the Spirit of salvation means one does not have to do anything more to reach heaven. He said you have to keep going with God, not thinking you have become a god from knowing Him. [I paraphrase.]
That got me thinking [divine inspiration], because I saw the beauty of what Paul wrote, while the Baptist minister was missing the deeper point of “foolishness.”
The Greek word written by Paul is “anoētoi,” meaning “not understanding, thoughtless” and “foolish.” The root word, “anóētos,” is defined by HELPS Word-studies in this way: “properly, non-thinking, i.e. not "reasoning through" a matter (with proper logic); unmindful, which describes acting in a "mindless, dense" way ("just plain stupid").” The word is a combination of “a,” which means “without,” and “noiéō,” which means “to think.”
So, Paul was asking (in essence), “Has your sacrifice of brain [self-ego] kept you from thinking about self, so Yahweh can lead you down a path of righteousness [“made perfect by the flesh”], without your 'Big Brain' getting in the way?”
This means “foolish” is a state of being, one that must precede the transformation that is written of as “having begun in the Spirit” (“enarxamenoi Pneumati”).
To think that one has “begun” to be led through life by the Spirit, as some external presence in a cloud high in the sky, is the truth of foolishness. In the picture above, that is like thinking, "If I take this limb of God with me, I will be saved."
That only leads to holding onto a dead branch that will end up being burned as useless.
That is when the gray matter between one's ears begins to figure out, "How can I be saved, without having to do anything?" That equates to the prevalence Christianity has become mired in, which is the laziness of scheming one's way to salvation, rather than living one's way there - righteously.
That is the epitome of being without the voice of Yahweh being one's only source of thought; and, that is "just plain stupid."
The "unmindful" part of "foolishness" enters ministry for Yahweh, shutting the Big Brain down so the Christ Mind does all the thinking for one. It is when Yahweh asked Ezekiel, "Mortal, can these dry bones live?" An unmindful brain says, "Yahweh, you know." [That means, "I only know what you lead me to know Yahweh."]
Ministry means one opens one's mouth and Yahweh speaks [sounding like one's voice].
Ministry speaking the truth of Yahweh; and, that is the living waters that transforms dry bones [dead mortals filled with an eternal soul] into saved souls reborn from above."
Without having bowed down in total submission to Yahweh’s Will – marrying one’s SOUL to the SPIRIT of Yahweh, saying “I do promise to do whatever You tell me to do, till death do us part,” where a beginning is an inward, eternal promise to love, honor and obey the presence of Yahweh IN one’s soul that lugs around a body of flesh in the world – then there has been NO beginning.
Paul's question does not apply to those, because one’s brain kept that willing sacrifice (due to total love of Yahweh – heart, mind, and soul) from kneeling at the Spiritual altar of marriage and making an eternal commitment to stop thinking about self and be led by the Spirit, so others can get a divine proposal.
Having not begun upon that path of righteousness means one's brain got cold feet, too afraid of losing one’s self-importance by giving oneself away in divine marriage.
You have to STOP thinking, because thinking means putting your brain on a pedestal and worshiping it, rather than sacrificing your self-will and beginning to do Yahweh’s Will.
No human brain – alone in its flesh – can think about Scripture and then think how not to sin when sin comes flirting. Sin comes like a floozie, dressed in whatever floats your body’s sense organs to no end, making one's flesh begin to shake like a dog in heat. Humans try to nurture their souls to salvation; but humans forget all about the power of nature, which is a demon god that a brain alone cannot resist.
Your brain naturally becomes your pleasure zone; and, the fool stops thinking all about Scripture when getting rubbed on and rubbing back becomes one's call. Scripture thought does not return until after the stench of sin has been smeared all over one’s body … once again.
This is why Paul then answered his question (it was rhetorical) by saying, “If you have begun in the Spirit, when now in flesh you have been perfected, then you have stopped thinking how to live your life.” You can only become “in flesh perfected” when your soul marries Yahweh’s Spirit.
Of course, with marriage comes baby (the only reason for marriage); and, the baby born to a wife of Yahweh (a wife means all souls lugging around a body of flesh, regardless of whatever sex organs are present) is His Son, a resurrected Jesus. Yahweh sends the seed of His Son into his wife soul, placing the Jesus soul [a.k.a. Adam] alongside the wife-soul (therefore within one’s body of flesh).
The name Jesus means "Yahweh Saves." Fools think they are saved because they believe that; and, fools are not one with Yahweh.
A sacrificed human - who gave away heart, mind and soul to marry Yahweh - is mindless out of total self-sacrifice, led to a righteous state by a greater Mind.
One does not get saved by thinking this is true. Thinking leads to belief in Yahweh. Having met one in ministry, who speaks the truth of Scripture, leads to belief. However, one's soul only gets saved by knowing the presence of Yahweh with one's body of flesh. That means faith is knowing Yahweh personally. Only one's soul can choose between belief and faith. A Big Brain (being of the flesh) will resist faith.
A soul gets saved by being reborn as the Son of Yahweh and acting as divinely told from at day forward.
This dual soul presence brings about a further submission of oneself, where a wife of Yahweh (begun in the Spirit) allows the Son to become the Lord and Master of one’s self-soul. One stops thinking what to do, as Jesus shows a weak brain everything it needs to see for faith to spring eternal. Faith means one has been reborn in his name. Faith means following Jesus (so, picking up one's cross means both self-sacrifice [the crucifix] and a life of righteousness that bears good fruit [like a stake in a vineyard being upright].
One then goes into ministry in the name of Jesus, a resurrected Christ in human flesh, speaking the truth of Scripture in his name, so others can be led to do the same thing.
No fools will walk this road to salvation. Only those who give Jesus their bodies (including the air between the ears) will walk this road of righteousness.
If only the Baptist minister had made that message clearly stated in his thirty minutes on TV.