Emotional Understanding
September 18, 2007(Explaining a GBism)
GB uses the term ‘Emotional Understanding’ for want of a better term, to mean a deep deep understanding of something. It is a term that he coined over 30 years ago to differentiate the right kind of understanding from a merely intellectual one. So the opposite of an ‘emotional understanding’ would be a mere intellectual understanding.
The term, because it contains the word ‘emotional’ has the disadvantage of being misunderstood to mean ’superficial’ or ‘temperamental’, ’sudden’, and ‘temporary’. However, GB has consistently used it to refer to an understanding and realization that is deep down, real, and from the heart.
An example of emotional understanding
Many people, to some extent, believe that God exists; the existence of God can be understood at an intellectual level. But only some have a deep conviction about this, of the kind that the scriptures describe. With regeneration comes such a faith.
Now faith is . . . the conviction of things not seen. Heb 11;1 To have faith is to have an emotional understanding of things that one cannot see.
. . . for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists, and that He rewards those who seek Him. Heb 11:6 To have faith is to emotionally understand that there really is a God. Not only that, one must understand emotionally that He rewards those who seek Him.
GB’s way of putting it would be like this: Those who have faith are those who have an emotional understanding of the existence of God, where the truth has struck home. The understanding is deep, real, and from the heart. A person can know all the right things about faith and understand it merely intellectually. To have the faith that Hebrews 11 speaks of is not like that. It is also definitely not superficial or merely of the lips.
Communication Aided by the Holy Spirit
I am greatly pleased to note that Nahomi has correctly understood a favourite spiritual term that I often use. Not only has she understood it correctly but has also interpreted it in a way that others who are less familiar with this term can understand.
Effective communication and appropriate interpretation are the work of the Holy Spirit without Whose grace no
believer can understand anything biblically, although he may do so intellectually. If Bertrand Russell one of the greatest philosophers and Bernard Shaw the literary giant, both of the 20th century, could not be Christians as they themselves confessed, it is because they wrongly held to the idea that the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ can be understood by any scholar. No, it cannot be. Without the grace of the Holy Spirit no one can understand it.
The word of God says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside”, (1 Cor 1: 19) and again, “….. God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe”, (1 Cor 1: 21).
Murali from the Bangalore Church wrote to me after his recent return to India and to the church after a gap of many weeks. “It made me feel at home. Your message restored back to me the required spiritual fervency. Not to exaggerate or to flatter, I have just been to the most developed nation, attended one of the biggest churches, listened to one of the world’s renowned preachers, and also to several other messages of great preachers in the Internet. But I did not feel this kind of reality, urgency, and relevancy as when I hear spiritual messages from you. Thanks a lot.”
I don’t think Murali compares or equates me with the well-known great preachers and theologians of the world. But my teaching has appealed to him more than that of many well-known theologians. This is because of the communication brought about by the Holy Spirit.
I believe that God has anointed me with a gift for micro ministry. As I repeatedly say, Micro and Macro ministries are different from one another but both are God’s gifts. Nahomi’s interpretation of my term ‘emotional understanding’ that I use in my teaching, is also, I believe, the work of the Holy Spirit.
The origin and source of the entire word of God is Jesus Christ. Interpretation of the words of the Bible also requires the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The truth lies in the right interpretation of the text and not in the mere words.
For instance, the same word ekklesia used for “church of God” is also used for the rebellious gang referred to in Acts 19: 30. On the other hand the English word “Church” is absolutely an irrelevant word for the concept of ekklesia. According to the oxford dictionary the main meaning for ‘church’ is a building used for public Christian worship. Later on some more meanings have been added. But none of these reflect exactly the sense of the Biblical concept. This is just one example to show how that words can be misleading. The word ekklesia is not an exclusive Greek word for the church of Christ.
So also the word baptizo was a word for dipping, and would have been commonly used for mundane activities like rinsing clothes and so on. But this word was used in the New Testament sacramental act after salvation. In the words, many mundane common words have been adopted in the Bible to express spiritual thoughts.
Although by and large, the Bible is readable for preliminary understanding, for a deeper understanding and clarity, the help of Holy Spirit is absolutely essential. Only in heaven the cursed confusion of language commenced at the Tower Babel will be removed. Until then, we rely on the Holy Spirit to understand biblical concepts. We are quite satisfied with that position.
GB