Weekly Bible Study – June 2, 2014

The will of God that most believers resist.
Knowing no man after the flesh. Part 3.

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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:
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STUDY TITLE:

The will of God that most believers resist.
Knowing no man after the flesh. Part 3.



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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

The will of God that most believers resist.
Knowing no man after the flesh. Part 3.

We have been noting our third vital subject concerning the will of God which is: Knowing no man after the flesh.

Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (2CO 5:17)

Experiencing forgiveness is transforming and it causes us to love ourselves and others more (LUK 7:47). Forgiving yourself can be a deep form of spiritual healing. By forgiving ourselves, we free ourselves to love and receive God’s love. We also free ourselves to receive the love of others. One of the main reasons why the Old Sin Nature (OSN) controls the life of most believers today, and why very few believers do not have victory over their OSN is because they fail to understand the doctrine of the new creature. It all begins by understanding what took place after the Cross.

EPH 4:8, “When He ascended on high,”

Upon arrival in the Third Heaven, our Lord was seated at the right hand of God the Father; this is known as the doctrine of the Session.

The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Thine enemies beneath Thy feet?” (MAT 22:44).

Then He received His third royal title “King of kings, Lord of lords, the bright and morning star.”

He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords;(1TI 6:15).

And on His robe and on His thigh He has a title written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (REV 19:16)

Because this third royal title had no accompanying royal family, the Church-age was inserted for the purpose of the calling out of a royal family. It is that royal family that is called the new creature. Our Lord Jesus Christ now possesses three categories of royalty.

- The royalty of His deity, by virtue of the fact that He is eternal and infinite God.

- The royalty of His humanity, by virtue of the virgin birth, Incarnation and First Advent.

- The royalty of His Hypostatic Union, by virtue of His empowerment from God the Holy Spirit resulting His strategic victory at the Cross.

This is why PHI 2:9-11says, Therefore also the God has highly exalted Him to the maximum, and bestowed on Him the name or rank which is above every name, By means of the office, rank and dignity belonging to Jesus, every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth and under the earth. and that every tongue should acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, resulting in the glory of God the Father.

Let’s look at the different royalties of the Lord Jesus Christ:

First, there is the Divine Royalty of Christ. This is Christ’s eternal and infinite relationship with the Godhead. Jesus Christ is eternal God. He has all the attributes of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He is coequal and coeternal with them. As the manifest person of the Trinity, our Lord wears the crown of divine royalty (JOH 1:18; JOH 6:46). That royalty is found in such passages as JOH 1:18, No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained {Him.}

“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” (JOH 5:22-23)

“Not that any man has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.” (JOH 6:46)

Our Lord also said “I and the Father are one." (JOH 10:30)

In JOH 14:5-9, Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way? Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and {yet} you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, (ROM 1:3)

The title for His divine royal patent is Son of God. This royalty has no beginning and no end. All Bible doctrine comes from His divine royalty.

Secondly, the Jewish Royalty of Christ, the Royalty of His Humanity. The royal patent of our Lord’s humanity is the virgin birth, resulting in His humanity. At the point of His virgin birth, our Lord Jesus Christ became Jewish royalty, directly descendant from David and Bathsheba in the tribe of Judah, the family of Jesse. Mary is descendant from their son Nathan. Joseph is descendant from their son Solomon, Joseph being Jesus’ legal but not real father.

Mary’s line from Nathan is recorded in Luke; Joseph’s line is recorded in Matthew. Why are these genealogies mentioned and recorded for us? They are recorded and mentioned to us that God keeps His word. As Jewish royalty, our Lord fulfilled the Davidic covenant. In resurrection body in Hypostatic Union, Jesus Christ will reign forever as the Son of David, (2SA 7:8-16; PSA 89:20-37).

Then thirdly there is the Battlefield Royalty of Jesus Christ. This royalty is a result of the strategic victory of Christ in the angelic conflict. By living in the PPOG and His own personal sense of destiny for His life, our Lord was qualified by impeccability to go to the cross and be judged for our sins. We know He lived in the PPOG and fulfilled His destiny.

He was delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. (ACT 2:23)

For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur. (ACT 4:27-28)

By living in the PPOG for His life, our Lord was qualified by impeccability to go to the Cross and be judged for our sins. That judgment is the beginning of the strategic victory of our Lord. It was followed by His resurrection, ascension and session at the right hand of the Father. The cross was the greatest battlefield in history! This battlefield royalty makes Jesus Christ the ruler of elect angels and regenerate mankind (COL 2:14; HEB 2:14). The battlefield royalty was given to our Lord Jesus Christ as a verbal commission: “Sit down at My right hand.”

The Titles of Our Lord’s Three Categories of Royalty.

- Divine royalty title: Son of God (or Jehovah Elohim in the Old Testament).

- Jewish royalty title: Son of David.

These first two together were combined in His Hypostatic Union, giving Him the title: Son of man.

- Battlefield royalty title: “King of kings, Lord of Lords; the Bright Morning Star.”

“King of kings” gives Christ precedence over human rulers; “Lord of lords” gives Christ precedence over angelic rulers (REV 19:16). That includes the New Creature.

So we have The Royal Families of Jesus Christ.

1. Divine royalty: God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ always had this family in His divine royalty and always will.

2. Jewish royalty: The dynasty of David. All His ancestors from David and Bathsheba down to his legal father Joseph and His real mother Mary.

3. Battlefield royalty: The royal family of God, every Church Age believer.

After His ascension and session, there was no royal family for His third royalty. So the Age of Israel was brought to a halt, and the Church-age was inserted, the dispensation for the calling out of the royal family of God. The Church-age is the mystery age, its doctrines being previously unknown. Technical phrases are used to describe the royal family: Body of Christ, Church, Bride of Christ, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, sanctification, and beloved brethren. Something new had to be created to accompany this new third royalty of Jesus Christ, a new royal family. His new royalty had to be a new spiritual species, as per GAL 6:15 and 2CO 5:17. Paul says in GAL 6:15, For neither is circumcision anything [Jewish race], nor uncircumcision [Gentile race]; but a new creation or a new spiritual species. The new racial species has been replaced in the Church-age by the new spiritual species. That's exciting!

In 2CO 5:17, Therefore, if anyone [Church-age believer] is in Christ [and they are], he is a new creature or spiritual species the old things [position in Adam, spiritual death] have passed away or lost their power; behold, new things have come [the invisible assets plus the PPOG]. The believer still has the old sin nature, but it cannot function or control his life apart from his own consent and negative volition.

The old things have lost their power, and this only happens by the use of divine power. The Greek words kaine ktisis are the two most startling words in the New Testament. It does not mean simply that you have been renovated, fixed up or repaired. It means you have been created a new creature.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature the old things [position in Adam, spiritual death] have passed away or lost their power; (2CO 5:17)

Our Lord Illustrated this principle in passages like MAT 9:16-17, “But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. Nor do {men} put new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the wineskin burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskin are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskin, and both are preserved.”

In other words, you cannot apply the principles of the Mosaic Law to the spiritual life as pioneered by the Lord Jesus Christ and as lived by the Church-age believer. If you do, it is not only incompatible but it is potentially harmful and tears or factions or splits results.

The word for tear is the Greek noun schism which means a split, a tear, a division, a schism. Paul used this word in 1CO 1:10, Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

If someone attempts to repair a torn garment with a new piece of cloth that has not been shrunk beforehand, the tear on the old garment will only worsen. The same can be said for attempting to merge Judaism and Christianity, eventually both would be destroyed. There are many applications to this verse. For example, if you apply human solutions to the problems of life, and you make the problems worse. Here’s the point, fasting while Christ is present is just as incompatible as an unshrunk piece of material sewed on an old garment.

“But no one puts a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and a worse tear results. Nor do men put new wine into old wineskin; otherwise the wineskin burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskin are ruined; but they put new wine into fresh wineskin, and both are preserved.” (MAT 9:16-17)

When you feed the new creature with the metabolization of doctrine, you are putting new wine into new wineskin. When you put new wine into new wine skins, both your very own spiritual life (new wine) and the new creature (new wineskin) are preserved. So putting new wine into new wineskin emphasizes the fact that every believer is a new creature! The new wine is your very own spiritual life; the new wineskin is the new creature filled with metabolized doctrine. This is the meaning of the phrase but they put new wine in new wineskin and both are preserved.

The point is that new wine has to go into new wineskin or a new leather bag. New wine and the new leather bag or wineskin are compatible together. The old wineskin has already been expanded and stretched to the limit and if you fill that with new wine it will not be able to stand the fermentation or the chemical agitation that happens with fermentation. What will happen is that you lose the wineskin because it will burst and you lose the wine because it will spill. Here’s the interpretation, when you try to apply things from the Mosaic Law to the system of grace, you destroy the integrity of grace in your life and the integrity of the Law. That is what I want you see here. The old wineskin refers to the Mosaic Law.

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.