Acts 7:51 English Standard Version (ESV) “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

While we can rightly declare that Paul is chastising Jews of the day, we might want to look at the issue of circumcision of the heart and resisting the Holy Spirit as a possible problem for us. Once again we address personal attitudes when we address Christ in us.

If we see Him only as Savior, the Lordship part of Christ will find a way to reveal that part of His identity. While resistance is not rebellion in a heart that has received Him as a friend, resistance to correction will led to steps that might not be as soft as expected. Rebellion is not an option. Being force to surrender to His Lordship is more painful than surrendering freely.

Because Jesus Christ is fully man, He has a deep understanding of what it means to be human. His understanding is patient and kind. He also knows how best to change our attitude by changing our hearts. We might not recognize at first that our hearts are being changed by His presence. The rational mind resists change but we cannot deny our hearts.

Ezekiel 11:19 English Standard Version (ESV) And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

A heart of flesh is tender unlike the stone heart. It takes some time for the rational mind to accept something supernatural has occurred within our human condition. Change the heart, train the mind, and the result is a change in attitude. We will eventually come to terms with who Christ is in us as God, Son of Man, Lord and Savior.

John 1:16 English Standard Version (ESV) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.

From His fullness, all that He is in us, not just the parts we want to receive.

Who dat is my shorthand for “Who is that?”

Although the precise difference between a ‘name’ and a ‘title’ may be open to interpretation, 198 different names and titles of Jesus in the Bible are listed in Cruden’s Concordance, first published in 1737. Found via Google search.

Listing all those names and titles will not gain us much here.

John 12:34 English Standard Version (ESV) So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”

The names and titles for Jesus in the bible held specific meaning and identities based on who is reading, what they are reading, what they have been taught, what they believe and their own needs.

Know that Christ dwells in our hearts. The spirit of truth will correct error in our minds, if we are willing to listen and discover how to listen with our hearts rather than our intellect. Paul’s exhortation to renew our minds in Romans 12:2 is directed at correcting errors in thinking. It is one thing to think we know Christ and another to discover the Christ that dwells in our hearts.

Using these new spiritual ears and eyes is an adjustment. It is the way to receive truth from He who is truth. When we read about Jesus in the bible and our thinking is in error, correction of error comes from our hearts by use of those spiritual ears and eyes. If we have not learned how to perceive with them, renewing the mind becomes a more difficult task. Not impossible, just more difficult.

As was written before, reasoning with God is all about correcting error. That cannot happen if we turn a deaf ear to God. We must trust God, hear God and accept correction.