Austin Bible Church
The dominant or right lobe of the soul is the location for spiritual content (epignosis Bible doctrine) that gives capacity for life. Bible doctrine activates the spiritual life through the right lobe. Psalms 19:14.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalms 19:14, NASB)
It isn’t what you think in your mind that defines you, it’s what you think in your right lobe or heart that defines you. Prov. 23:7.
“For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you.” (Proverbs 23:7, NASB)
Positive Capacities
The right lobe of the believer’s soul is the source of all spiritual capacity in the spiritual life - capacity for life, capacity for love of God and others, and sharing the happiness of God. 1 Peter 1:22.
“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,” (1 Peter 1:22, NASB)
In the heart or right lobe resides the Bible doctrine that results in capacity for love. This includes the emotions. Deut. 6:5; Deut. 11:13; Joshua 22:5.
“"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-6, NASB)
“"It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul,” (Deuteronomy 11:13, NASB)
“"Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul."” (Joshua 22:5, NASB)
The heart is the source of true happiness and confidence in life because of our trust in the Lord’s protection and grace provision. Psalms 9:9-10; Psalms 28:7.
“The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.” (Psalms 9:9-10, NASB)
“The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.” (Psalms 28:7, NASB)
Bible doctrine is the mind of Jesus Christ and changes the soul. It is the Holy Spirit that actually renovates the soul and the believer’s thinking. This is the spiritual maturing of the believer as divine viewpoint replaces human viewpoint in the right lobe of the soul. This also results in stability of thinking. 1 Cor. 2:16; Titus 3:5.
“For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16, NASB)
“He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5, NASB)
Happiness is having Bible doctrine in the right lobe of the soul and applying it to life’s challenges. Psalms 19:8; 1 Sam. 2:1.
“The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Psalms 19:8, NASB)
“Then Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the LORD; My horn is exalted in the LORD, My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.” (1 Samuel 2:1, NASB)
As we grow spiritually, we become aware of God's divine protection in tough situations. By our faith, we come to rely on His protection in the spiritual life instead of our own inadequate abilities. Psalms 28:7; Psalms 3:3; Job 9:4.
“The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.” (Psalms 28:7, NASB)
“But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.” (Psalms 3:3, NASB)
“"Wise in heart and mighty in strength, Who has defied Him without harm?” (Job 9:4, NASB)
The heart is related to the grace function and grace orientation. Prov. 24:17; Exod. 23:9.
“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;” (Proverbs 24:17, NASB)
“"You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9, NASB)
The heart is the basis of stability in a crisis. Psalms 112:7-8.
“He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. His heart is upheld, he will not fear, Until he looks with satisfaction on his adversaries.” (Psalms 112:7-8, NASB)
The heart is the motivator for the spiritual life. 2 Cor. 9:7; 1 Kings 8:17.
“Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7, NASB)
“"Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel.” (1 Kings 8:17, NASB)
The heart is the motivator for temporal life. Exodus 35:25-26; Exodus 36:36-37.
“All the skilled women spun with their hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue and purple and scarlet material and in fine linen. All the women whose heart stirred with a skill spun the goats' hair.” (Exodus 35:25-26, NASB)
“He made four pillars of acacia for it, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four sockets of silver for them. He made a screen for the doorway of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver;” (Exodus 36:36-37, NASB)
Positive faith belief in the Gospel and Bible doctrine results in the Holy Spirit converting what you have believed into epignosis and placing it in the heart or right lobe. Rom. 10:9-10.
“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10, NASB)
The heart with Bible doctrine contained in the edification complex of the soul becomes the basic area for happiness in life. Judges 18:20; 1 Kings 8:66; 2 Chron. 7:10; Esther 5:9.
“The priest's heart was glad, and he took the ephod and household idols and the graven image and went among the people.” (Judges 18:20, NASB)
“On the eighth day he sent the people away and they blessed the king. Then they went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David His servant and to Israel His people.” (1 Kings 8:66, NASB)
“Then on the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their tents, rejoicing and happy of heart because of the goodness that the LORD had shown to David and to Solomon and to His people Israel.” (2 Chronicles 7:10, NASB)
“Then Haman went out that day glad and pleased of heart; but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king's gate and that he did not stand up or tremble before him, Haman was filled with anger against Mordecai.” (Esther 5:9, NASB)
Courage comes from epignosis Bible doctrine in the heart. 1 Sam. 17:32
“David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."” (1 Samuel 17:32, NASB)
A maturing right lobe results in a joyful heart. Prov. 17:22.
“A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones.” (Proverbs 17:22, NASB)
Bible doctrine in the right lobe results in a discerning heart. 1 Kings 3:12; 1 Kings 3:9
“behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.” (1 Kings 3:12, NASB)
“"So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?"” (1 Kings 3:9, NASB)
Negative Capacities
Lack of epignosis Bible doctrine in the right lobe of the soul produces the wrong kind of sorrow, depression, discouragement, and cowardice. All are associated with emotional revolt of the soul. Neh. 2:2; Lev. 26:16; Psalms 34:18; Num. 32:7; Joshua 14:8. See category on Emotional Revolt of The Soul.
“So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart." Then I was very much afraid.” (Nehemiah 2:2, NASB)
“I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up.” (Leviticus 26:16, NASB)
“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalms 34:18, NASB)
“"Now why are you discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the LORD has given them?” (Numbers 32:7, NASB)
“"Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the LORD my God fully.” (Joshua 14:8, NASB)
The heart becomes an area of cursing due to lack of Bible doctrine. Lam. 3:65; Deut. 28:47-48.
“You will give them hardness of heart, Your curse will be on them.” (Lamentations 3:65, NASB)
“"Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.” (Deuteronomy 28:47-48, NASB)
The heart is related to psychosis. Isaiah 13:7-8 describes a national psychotic condition.
“Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt. They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of them; They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame.” (Isaiah 13:7-8, NASB)
Mental attitude sins are related to the heart. Psalms 66:18; Psalms 101:5; Prov. 6:18; Matt. 12:35.
“If I regard wickedness in my heart, The Lord will not hear;” (Psalms 66:18, NASB)
“Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.” (Psalms 101:5, NASB)
“A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,” (Proverbs 6:18, NASB)
“"The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.” (Matthew 12:35, NASB)
Revenge is a function of the heart and starts with a mental attitude sin, then it triggers the emotional revolt of the soul. Prov. 24:1-2; Ezek. 25:15-17.
“Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them; For their minds devise violence, And their lips talk of trouble.” (Proverbs 24:1-2, NASB)
“'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Because the Philistines have acted in revenge and have taken vengeance with scorn of soul to destroy with everlasting enmity," therefore thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, even cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast. "I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they will know that I am the LORD when I lay My vengeance on them."'"” (Ezekiel 25:15-17, NASB)
When you despise someone, you despise them in your thinking or your right lobe of the soul. 1 Chron. 15:29.
“It happened when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and celebrating; and she despised him in her heart.” (1 Chronicles 15:29, NASB)
The deceitful heart is the emotional revolt carried to the maximum. Jer. 17:9.
“"The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, NASB)
For the carnal and reversionistic believer, the scar tissue in the soul provides capacity for sin, capacity for human good, capacity for evil, and capacity to produce self-induced misery. 1 Sam 18:1; Psalms 6:3; Psalms 106:15; Psalms 119:28; Psalms 119:81.
“Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.” (1 Samuel 18:1, NASB)
“And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD—how long?” (Psalms 6:3, NASB)
“So He gave them their request, But sent a wasting disease among them.” (Psalms 106:15, NASB)
“My soul weeps because of grief; Strengthen me according to Your word.” (Psalms 119:28, NASB)
“Kaph. My soul languishes for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.” (Psalms 119:81, NASB)
Sins of the tongue reveal mental attitude sins. If you are guilty, arrogant, bitter, or full of revenge, you will talk a certain way that reveals the content of your soul. The soul sponsors all overt sins and sins of the tongue. Job 21:25; Zech. 11:8.
“While another dies with a bitter soul, Never even tasting anything good.” (Job 21:25, NASB)
“Then I annihilated the three shepherds in one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also was weary of me.” (Zechariah 11:8, NASB)