Wkly Bible Study for Dial-Up/Broadband, 1-7-2013

The Mystery Doctrine of the Church Age. Part 62.
The Doctrine of Supergrace (spiritual maturity). Lesson 3.

PLEASE READ FIRST

Scripture References, Word & Phrase descriptions: If available on the website you're viewing this on, a few links (i.e., those without an already written scripture quote or brief explanation) are hover pop-up active, meaning the scripture reference will just pop-up if you hover your cursor over it (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it), they work best using the Firefox browser – pop-ups in Internet Explorer, Chrome & other browsers only appear for a few seconds at best. If you don’t have Firefox (or hover pop-ups aren’t available on the website you’re viewing this on), that’s OK, move your cursor off and on the link until it is read; or left click the link which will open the verse at the online bible; or you can always use your Bible to look up the verses.

Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge (confess) your sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).

1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sins]." NKJV (New King James Version) [italics added]

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to have faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life:

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: "¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church
Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries

The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary:
God’s Word is Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings

STUDY TITLE:

The Mystery Doctrine of the Church Age. Part 62.
The Doctrine of Supergrace (spiritual maturity). Lesson 3



OPTION: If you would prefer to go directly to the Grace Bible Church website to read this study message, all verse reference links are active there (but not hover active) and Enlarged Text is also an available option – right click the above link then left click “Open Link in New Window” or “New Tab”

Terms & Abbreviations used:

PPOG = Predesigned Plan of God
Human Good = Evil + Good Deeds while not in fellowship with God
OSN = Old Sin Nature
TLJC = The Lord Jesus Christ
SSE = Spiritual Self Esteem
PVTD = Positive Volition Towards Doctrine
+H - The Happiness of God
NVTD = Negative Volition Towards Doctrine
Doctrine = Bible Truth

To look up other “terms”, go to:

Alphabetical Listing

BEGIN BIBLE STUDY
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotes and references
are from the NASB – New American Standard Bible

We continue our study of Supergrace: Supergrace is the objective of the believer after salvation (EPH 3:14-21). EPH 3:14 “For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,” Any prayer when recorded in Scripture has great significance. Notice that the pattern of prayer is set: God the Father is the recipient of all prayer. EPH 3:15 “from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,” The Greek word for family is patria which is where we get the word patriot from, and which describes what we really are, members of the Royal Family of God. The phrase every family in heaven refers to the believers who are now home with the Lord. The phrase and on earth refers to the members of the Royal Family who are still living in the Church-age. So the family of God in the Church-age is divided by location. EPH 3:16 “that He would graciously give to you, according to the riches of His glory,” Here again we see the principle of supergrace. God's purpose and God's plan demands that He gives to us, and in giving to us, He is glorified. As a child of God, we are to become recipients of His grace in a very special way. For many people, one of the most difficult things is to be a recipient of something you did not earn or deserve. Grace makes it very difficult to take credit; you cannot stand back and say that you did it, earned it, or deserved it. There is a total destruction of pride that makes it very difficult for us to be receivers. In EPH 3:16 the Greek verb for give is didomi, and some translations have it in the operative mood, which means to graciously give, to give one something for the advantage of the giver or the receiver. It is to the believer's advantage to receive grace from God, and God is glorified as the Giver of that grace. It expresses the mood of strong desire not yet being fulfilled.

Again EPH 3:16 “that He would graciously give to you, according to the riches of His glory,”

At this time, there were few Ephesians that were receiving all of the blessings that God desired to give them. There were few, if any, who were on the road to Supergrace and ultra-Supergrace. God wants to graciously give to you and grace you out, but there must be a norm or standard for His giving. That norm or standard is now declared in EPH 3:16 “that He would graciously give to you, according to the riches of His glory,” This is the norm or standard behind Supergrace. The phrase according to is the Greek preposition kata which is the preposition of norm or standard. His glory refers to His character, His essence, His perfect person! That's why the objective of the Christian life is to be that reflected glory. Glory is the essence and the character of God, and, from God's glory there is given to us strength. Remember the Supergrace Psalm? PSA 84:5 “How blessed to those whose strength [Supergrace status] is in You; In whose right lobe are the highways to Zion [or Supergrace and ultra-Supergrace].” Or PSA 84:7 “They go from strength [Supergrace] to strength [ultra-Supergrace], Every one of them appears before God [or is seen by God] in Zion [Supergrace status].”

EPH 3:16 “that He would graciously give to you, according to the riches of His glory, for you to be strengthened with His power.” The phrase to be strengthened with power in the Greek is krataioo, which means to have inner power and strength so that you will be able to handle anything in life. God's way of conveying His plan and His way of providing for us, and revealing Himself to us, is to communicate to us the power and strength to do so. This is where doctrine is received under the filling of the Spirit, and this results in doctrine being resident in the soul. God's purpose for the believer is to have doctrine in the human spirit with the exhale toward God, which is love for God, and with the exhale toward man, which is the production of divine good.

So again EPH 3:16 “that He would graciously give to you, according to the riches of His glory, for you to be strengthened with His power [dunamis] through His Spirit in the new man [the new creature or new spiritual species] so that Christ may be at home in your right lobes by means of doctrine; and that you, being rooted and grounded in virtue-love,”

EPH 3:17 “so that Christ may be at home in your right lobes by means of doctrine; and that you, being rooted and grounded in virtue-love,” For Christ to be at home and relaxed in your heart means Bible doctrine in the human spirit. Christ is not at home in every life; He's only at home in those believers who are under the principle of Bible doctrine (REV 3:19-20). So, the phrase “that Christ may be at home in your heart" is another way of describing the soul structure in the believer especially at Supergrace, which is the objective of the believer after salvation. In verse 17 the phrase “through faith” in the Greek is dia pisteos which means by means of doctrine. Receiving doctrine supplies the building material for your very own altar or soul structure to worship God from the realm of supergrace. The Greek word for grounded is the verb themelioo which means to lay a foundation, to erect a structure, to lay a basis for something. This is in the perfect tense and indicates the permanence of the foundation. The last phrase is the Greek preposition en plus the noun agape which means by means of love. EPH 3:18 “And that [hina again, here's the purpose] you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,” This means that you are totally able to have full strength, but the believer must have positive volition toward doctrine. It all depends on positive volition and the filling of the Spirit. The Greek word for comprehend is katalambano which means to be strengthened to grasp. It means to seize according to a norm or standard or to grasp the meaning of what is communicated. This verb describes the whole function of doctrinal intake. It means to seize or to take something which someone else offers.

The next phrase is with all the saints. This is the Greek preposition sun, which means in the company of, and it emphasizes the communication of doctrine in a public assembly. Next is pas (all) tois (the) hagiois (saints). The word all which is pas is of great significance because it indicates that all believers regardless of human I.Q. can learn Bible doctrine.

Next there are four nouns joined by the Greek conjunction kai, but only have one definite article at the beginning. If each noun had a definite article, then they would each refer to different things, but since they have only one article, they refer to the same thing (Granville Sharp rule). The four dimensions are all talking about the same thing. They refer to God's plan, will, and purpose for every Church-age believer. The four dimensions emphasize the fact that God has provided the means of tactical victory for every believer to become a winner, an invisible hero, reaching our subject of Supergrace and following the precedence of the humanity of Christ in the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. EPH 3:18 “that you may be able to have the complete ability to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,”

All four words are different dimensions of perception. The first word breadth is the Greek noun platos which means width, and it refers to the function of the defense line of your soul, made up of the ten problem-solving devices. Those devices are designed to prevent the outside pressures of life from becoming the inside pressures of stress in the soul. The word length is mekos which refers to metabolized doctrine circulating in your soul through the filling of the Holy Spirit. The next word is the word height which is hupos referring to the execution of the PPOG and reaching the height of supergrace, becoming an invisible hero and having an impact on those around you. This is when you really receive the conveyance of escrow blessings for time and eternity, and glorifying God in the historical phase of the prehistoric angelic conflict. Height also refers to our invisible impact as believers.

Personal impact: Blessing by association to those with whom you are associated.

Historical impact: Blessing by association to the client nation.

International impact: Blessing by association to a non-client nation.

Angelic impact: The invisible hero becomes a witness for the Prosecution in the rebuttal phase of Satan's appeal trial, which is human history.

Heritage impact: Blessing by association with the mature believer or invisible hero after his or her death.

Height emphasizes the conveyance of our escrow blessings for time and eternity.

Then the word depth is bathos, which refers to our very own portfolio of invisible assets, the means of executing the PPOG, which God prepared for you in eternity past. Depth is God employing you in eternity past so you can glorify Him. Depth is defined in ROM 11:33 “Oh, the depth of the riches of both the wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His decrees and His ways past finding out! ” ROM 11:36 “For all things are from the source of Him and through the agency of Him and because of Him and the glory belongs to Him forever. Amen.”

EPH 3:19 “and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Verse 19 begins with the most important principle in the Christian life and the purpose for which we are here. The Bible is given to the believer to be learned and understood. After we've studied the target for Bible doctrine we now come to the objective which is to know the love of Christ.

The phrase to know is ginosko which means to know, to concentrate on, or to be intimate with someone. This is literally the love from Christ. To understand the love from Christ means that you're going to respond to it. You must understand someone's love before you can respond to it. You must understand the person if you're ever going to understand their love. In other words, you will never understand God on the basis of knowledge. Gnosis is human knowledge. Epignosis is divine wisdom. Simply understanding the doctrine is not applicable and it is not enough. It has to be something that Surpasses gnosis and that is epignosis. This passage is saying you can understand the love of Christ through epignosis. So we can know the love from Christ, which Surpasses knowledge by having doctrine in the human spirit. The fullness of God is a reference to a soul-structure filled with Supergrace.

EPH 3:20 “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,” The phrase exceeding abundantly is another phrase for Supergrace. It is the adverb huperekperissou, which means beyond all measure or infinitely more than. He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. This describes the infinite resources of God providing all that we need in Supergrace and ultra-Supergrace. God is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask. This indicates that we have the right to ask God for certain things, but He is able to do more than what we ask. When you start out with God you don't really know what to ask Him for. You could be a genius and not understand what to ask God for, but He is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.

EPH 3:21“to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

You are here to glorify God, and you do that by reaching Supergrace. Supergrace leads to capacity, which leads to blessing, and blessing glorifies God. In every generation of the church-age, there will be a remnant of grace believers who reach Supergrace.

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.