Weekly Bible Study – June 30, 2014

The new things that have come;
the principle of equality in election and predestination.

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 new things that have come;
the principle of equality in election and predestination.



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

The new things that have come;
the principle of equality in election and predestination.

As a part of “the new things” that have come from 2CO 5:17, we have been noting the ten unique asserts that believers in other dispensations did not possess which are in view. We have seen the first three:

a. The baptism of the Spirit which results in the creation of a new spiritual species and the royal family of God.

b. The PPOG and a personal sense of destiny which is unique for the royal family of God only.

c. You also have a phenomenal portfolio of invisible assets which belongs to you as a member of the royal family of God.

d. The fourth is the principle of equality. For the first time in history, every believer, regardless of background or personal history has equality given by God. The unique equality factor has to do with the subject of election and predestination as equal privilege and equal opportunity. Under the principle of election, God wills His highest and His best for each believer. Under the principle of predestination God has provided a plan for the believer to have that highest and best. Every member of the Royal family of God has equal privilege and equal opportunity to live in God’s pre-designed plan. At the moment of salvation, no one is superior or inferior; no one has a higher position than any other. There is a passage written by the apostle Peter just before his death that deals with election as it should be dealt with, and that is with a recognition of the free will of man.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. (2PE 1:8-11)

We begin with the first phrase in 2PE 1:8, For if these qualities are yours. The word Greek word for quality is the pronoun tauta referring to the qualities or the virtues mentioned in verses 5-7: Virtue (includes respect, loyalty, devotion). Knowledge - perception of doctrine. Self-control - organized life. Perseverance - endurance or consistency. Godliness - living the spiritual life.

Then in verse 7: Brotherly love - love for members of the Royal family. Agape love - impersonal love for all members of the human race. This means that we never arrive, which is why the second quality mentioned is gnosis or perception of doctrine. We cannot afford to ever stop our intake of Bible doctrine and live on yesterday’s manna as the children of Israel did.

The next phrase they renderis the Greek word kathistemi which means to prevent you from being neither useless (ineffective) nor unfruitful (unproductive). Useless is the adjectiveargous which means lazy, inefficient, inactive, careless, apathetic. It means to shun the labor which one ought to perform which is being a procrastinator. Unfruitful is the Greek word akarpous meaning unproductive, without fruit, contributing nothing to the instruction, improvement, comfort of others. (see 1CO 14:14; MAT 13:22; JUD 1:12).

To be useless or inefficient means that if you cannot take doctrine in and apply it to your personal life you will never be spiritually self-sustaining, and therefore you will be inefficient. Your efficiency in the spiritual life must start with your own thinking. This is why we need to learn how to organize our time. The organization of our time is based upon what our preference is or where our heart is. We have to decide what is important in our life and give that number 1 priority in our time slots.

For if these qualities [the dramatic seven principles of verses 5-7] are yours and keep on increasing or are ready for action, they prevent you from being neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2PE 1:8)

The phrase the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ is the Greek prepositional phrase eis epignosin referring to metabolized doctrine. Peter is saying that if you have the dramatic 7 doctrinal principles of verses 5-7, you will not be ineffective or unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your whole Christian life centers around how much knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ you have. This is because the key to the Christian life is proper motivation. Metabolized doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ gives the believer the proper motivation to live. Motivational virtue, love for God, must precede production and Christian service. This is the whole issue once again of the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden.

In the garden, the issue was not really man’s desire to sin, but his ambition to be independent from God. The result of his independence was human good and operation fig leaves, only to find out that man’s goodness or righteousness was minus the perfect righteousness of God. This is what confused Satan as the serpent in the garden of Eden, because even he did not really understand the difference between good and evil. For good and evil is what the creature produces without the power and nature or help from God. In the garden the issue was not just God revealing His love to man through the promise of the coming of the seed of the woman to solve man’s problem with sin. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel” (GEN 3:15). But also it was man’s problem of thinking that through the knowledge of good and evil that he could be like God. The woman’s seed is a prophecy regarding the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and the entrance of the God man in the dispensation of the Hypostatic-union.

The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world through the seed of the woman. In GEN 4:1, Eve said “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord”, she thought that Cain was the promise seed. That’s another reason why she was disappointed when she had Abel because she realized that more children were on their way. Remember that Abel's name means vanity, vapor, nothingness and even disappointment.

So the sign of their salvation is given as leather clothing; for the animals had to die to provide the skins for man. Up until now they had been wearing fig leaves. The leather skins replaced the fig leaves, and the garments of skin are a picture of salvation. The animals had to die to provide the skins, a picture of the work of our Lord on the Cross. The Hebrew verb labash means God caused them to be clothed. In the same way God causes us to have salvation, everything comes from God.

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life. (GEN 3:22-24)

Man was cut off from the tree of life because of his positive volition to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree of life represents God’s perfect happiness, and God’s perfect happiness perpetuated, and both were cut off so that they cannot exist in the human race. The closest you can come to it is spiritual maturity. The analogy is that in the same way we can destroy the happiness of maturity by negative volition to God’s plan. If man, in spiritual death, had eaten from the tree of life, his free will would no longer be the means of resolving the angelic conflict. He would have lived forever in his present state of immortality, in the status of spiritual death, and the human race would have been totally condemned to the lake of fire. You cannot have an old sin nature and eat of this particular tree of life. You cannot have God’s perfect happiness and live in a state of sin.

You can’t choose both the plan of God and the cosmic system of Satan. Man would have no free will after the fall if he had been permitted to eat of the tree of life. He would have been in bondage and slavery forever, therefore the tree of life was put out of his reach, so that his free will would determine where he would spend eternity and whether he would be happy or miserable. The tree of life was provided by God’s grace to be associated with man’s positive volition, which was to be expressed in his free will toward the plan of God. So again, the tree of life represents two things: 1. Perfect happiness. 2. Perfect happiness perpetuated. Just as eating from the tree of life meant happiness, so eating doctrine is the closest that you can come to the perfect happiness of the Garden. You can destroy that perfect happiness the same way Adam did, by the use of your own volition.

So concerning the trees in the garden, the Lord said, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die” (GEN 2:16-17). Then, you know the rest of the story: The serpent said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?’” And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’” And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (GEN 3:1-5). Being able to discern the difference between what is divine good and what is evil or what is right and what is wrong.

So with this enticement and lying interaction between the serpent and the woman, we read in GEN 3:6, When the woman saw that the tree [that is the tree of knowledge of good and evil] was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Adam and the woman ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, with no coercion of their own free will, and they realized that without the divine provisions of God, they were completely naked or in need of a covering from the divine provisions of God.

In GEN 3:11-12, And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” And the man said, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then notice that something very interesting is said in GEN 3:22-24, Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was that which the original man and woman ate from while the tree of life was protected and denied by God. So when we get over to the New Testament, we see the divine provisions of God revealed through the equality factor of the equal privilege of election and predestination.
2PE 1:1, Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours. Note that every believer starts with the same kind of faith but none of us end up that way. It all depends upon the operation of the filling of the Spirit in our lives. Everyone has the same chance from the start of salvation. We all start out with an equal amount of faith and with equal privilege and equal opportunity. In eternity past the sovereignty of God elected us to privilege but we have the freedom to accept or reject His way of doing things. God has one will for all of us and that is He wills the highest and best for each of us. Therefore, He starts us all out with equal faith. If he had his way, we’d all be advanced, living in spiritual maturity. But in contrast; some succeed, some fail, some are winners, some are losers. It all depends upon your perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine and the development of virtue in your life.

So Peter says in this verse, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is through the righteousness, virtue, and integrity of our God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, that we attain everything. The divine policy and the divine purpose are stated in verse 2.

2PE 1:2, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; Grace is the policy of God toward man. Grace always depends on the character and nature of God and man being dependent upon that character and nature. It depends on who and what God is, not who and what we are. For the spiritual believer, grace must be multiplied. This is because the believer cannot execute or fulfill the divine plan from his own ability, human energy, or human talent. The believer cannot execute or fulfill the divine plan through good works, or through a pleasing, sweet, personality, or any other system of self-righteousness, morality, or sacrifice. Grace always has to come first because it’s a reminder that none of us ever earn or deserve anything from God. That’s why it's always:

JOH 1:17 - “grace and truth.”

ROM 1:7 - “grace and peace.”

EPH 2:8 - “grace and faith.”

1TI 1:2 - “grace and mercy.”

2PE 3:18 - “grace and knowledge.”

It is always God's magnificent essence that provides everything.

Everything we need pertaining to life or spirituality comes from metabolized doctrine or divine power provided by God. The tree of life represents dependency upon the life of another. The tree of knowledge of good and evil is self-dependency. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is legitimate for God because He lives in self-dependency, but it is not the type of fruit for man.
If you believe otherwise,…then you are deceived and living in self-deception.

2PE 1:3-9, Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge or epignosis knowledge [metabolized doctrine] of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these [metabolized doctrine, God’s own glory in verse 3 and God’s moral excellence or virtue] He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them [the promises of God] you might become partakers or partners of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence or making every effort, with your faith making every effort, with your doctrine supply moral excellence or virtue, and in your moral excellence or virtue, knowledge; [or gnosis which is academic information]. And in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness or spiritual living; And in your spiritual living, brotherly kindness [the royal family honor code], and in your brotherly kindness, virtue-love. For if these qualities are yours and keep on increasing, they render you or prevent you from being neither useless [meaning ineffective] nor unfruitful [or unproductive] in the true knowledge [or the epignosis knowledge] of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks or does not have these qualities, [in context the qualities are found in verses 5-7] doctrine, virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, and spiritual living, brotherly kindness [the royal family honor code], and virtue-love. For he who lacks or does not have these qualities is blind or short-sighted, [blind in the sense of blindness in the soul or blackout of the soul] having forgotten his purification or being cleansed from his former sins.

Most believers are blinded in one of two ways. Satan has two main systems that he uses against believers: In the first system arrogance blinds him. In the second system animosity toward truth blinds him. The target of Satan’s first system is the believer’s ego resulting in pre-occupation with self to the exclusion of reality. Speaking to Satan, the Lord says in ISA 14:12-14, “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’”

Notice the five “I will’s of Satan.” First, I will ascend to heaven, which is a reference to his dissatisfaction with the authority and position which God had given him. Satan wasn’t content with the appointment of God, and he wanted to take up his abode in the highest heaven where God resides.

Secondly, I will raise my throne above the stars of God, this refers to sitting on the throne of God and ruling all the angels. Again, we see the frustration and the rejection of a creature that had negative volition toward the plan of God for his life. Satan or as the Latin says, Lucifer, had been appointed the guardian of the throne of God. However, he aspired to the possession of a throne of his own where he could rule all of creation. Which he cannot even do now because, those under his rulership choose also to be independent from him as he was independent from God.

The third I will, I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. The mount is a phrase, which refers to the seat of divine government on planet earth. Remember that angels were on earth perhaps thousands of years before humans.

The fourth I will is found in ISA 14:14, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds which refers to the glory which belongs to God alone;

Then probably the most shocking of the I will’s, the fifth one: I will make myself like the Most High. Satan’s main purpose is not to be unlike God, but like Him.

All of this is to say that the first form of rebellion ever committed in the universe was committed in the form of negative volition toward the plan of God on the part of a creature. Yet the shocking thing is that this same independent viewpoint or system of thinking now controls the majority of unbelievers and believers in the world today. Very few believers take their calling and election seriously and therefore they reject the plan of God for their life. This is why the apostle Paul said in GAL 5:24, Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If you truly believe that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, you will not allow your fleshly desires or passions to control your life. Remember that there is a divine blessing or a divine curse on the believer depending on his love for Jesus Christ.

The divine blessing; PSA 23:6, “Only prosperity and grace shall pursue me [prosperity looks for the mature believer] all the days of my life.”

The divine curse, 1CO 16:22, If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha."
So, the target of Satan’s first system is the believer’s ego resulting in pre-occupation with self to the exclusion of reality. The target of Satan's second system is truth or Bible doctrine resulting in antagonism toward Christ, His body, and doctrine itself. One system emphasizes self over God. The other system emphasizes human viewpoint over divine viewpoint. One system was developed by Satan before the human race which is simply living for self rather than God. The other system was developed by Satan at the fall of the human race which is human viewpoint over divine viewpoint.

Both systems are controlled by the philosophy of Satan.

The whole world lies in the power of the evil one: 1Jo5:19, We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

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.

Internet Church Service – June 29, 2014

This week’s sermon title:
What it means to have your feet prepared with your combat
boots and ready for walking in the Spiritual Warfare, Part 6.

Today’s Sermon Message:
What it means to have your feet prepared with your combat
boots and ready for walking in the Spiritual Warfare, Part 6.
Video & Audio

Please join us as we fellowship in the Word of God, listen to
Christian Music, Pray in Christ’s Name and Praise the Lord
in our Hearts and Minds.

ALL ARE WELCOME!!

# # # # # # # #

from - Romans 8:38-39

Thank you for joining us for today’s worship service. Please enjoy the music before you watch and|or listen to today’s message.

TIP to enlarge the print hold down the “Ctrl” key on your key board, while it is being held down, move your mouse forward until the desired print size is just right for you. To return to normal screen size, reverse the process (some will see a % in the lower right corner of your screen, normal is 100%)

The lyrics have been provided so you can sing along with the artist in your mind and soul; imagine that the artist’s voice is your voice. I’m not a very good singer myself so I often get the lyrics for some of my favorites and sing along in my mind and soul, this way it’s as if I’m doing the singing to the Lord; try it.

Hymn #1

He Hideth My Soul – Lyrics in video
(You can skip the commercial if there is one)

Hymn #2

In The Garden – Lyrics in Video
(You can skip the commercial if there is one)

Preparing yourself for the study of God’s Word

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is— you have trusted in Him for eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to take-in God’s Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge your sins privately to God the Father.

1 John 1:9 says—“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” NKJV (New King James Version)

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 faith alone in Jesus Christ alone:

John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life.” NKJV

Notice again what John 6:47 says, “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 Jesus Christ’s promise of everlasting life, you have it (it’s really just that simple), and it can never be lost or taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift 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: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 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:

Lectionary

The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart. (Heb. 4:12) GNB-UK

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed. (2 Tim. 3:16-17) GNB-UK

Do your best to win full approval in God's sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God's truth. (2 Tim. 2:15) GNB-UK

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Opening Prayer
(Do your best to make it your own – below is a sample prayer)

Heavenly Father, we pray that we will all be richly edified by Your Word today and that You will make what we study today clear to us. We pray that all participants in this service as well as those who review it at a later date will be edified and blessed by today’s message. We pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

Our guest Pastor-Teacher is:

Robert McLaughlin - Grace Bible Church
and Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Doctrinal Statement

This ministry is non-denominational and is dedicated to teaching the Word of God from the original languages and making it available at no charge throughout the world.

Today's Sermon

What it means to have your feet prepared with your combat
boots and ready for walking in the Spiritual Warfare, Part 6.

TO VIEW THE SERMON: Right click the link above, a small window will open then left click either “Open in New Window” or “Open in New Tab” and the church service notes page will open, it has three options in the upper right side of the page, right click the link titled “download mp3” and just like before, select either Open New Window or Open New Tab to open the MP3 player, this will leave the notes page open so you can move back to it, so go back to the notes page to follow along in the notes, the streaming audio should begin automatically in your default audio/video player (like, Windows Media Player).

If you need to leave the service, when you come back, to move the MP3 player forward, press and hold the left click down on the player progress bar where you see the little arrow under the time on progress bar and move your mouse forward

OPTIONAL: On-line Bible – NASB95

If you wish to use it, right click the link and in the drop-down box, left click the "Open Link in New Window"; when the new window opens, reduce the window size of both the on-line bible and the slideshow and configure them to be side-by-side. Also, the window opens to John 3:16, click the word “more” below the verse, you will then see two online bible columns, Use the column on the left as it is set for the NASB95, at the top of the column where you see John 3:16 in the search box, type the book and verse the Pastor asks you to go to a particular Bible verse, e.g., 1tim 5:21, or eph 3:10, etc., then click “Enter” on your key board. You can use the “right column” if you wish for a different bible version but you’ll need to type in the verse you want each time as I directed you for the column on the left side.

Hymn #3

Holy, Holy, Holy – Lyrics in Video
(You can skip the commercial if there is one)

CLOSING PRAYER:
(Again, below is a sample prayer, do your best to make it your own)

Heavenly Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit will make what I’ve learned today clear to me, for I pray this in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s name. Amen

If you have any questions that are pertinent about today’s message, please don’t hesitate to ask, you are welcome to ask them via a private message or by a reply in today’s post. However, sometimes questions can be real short but require a much longer answer in order to give an adequate answer. If I don’t think that the question is able to be answered quickly I’ll reply back telling you that I’ll research it and get to you with the answer (it may even be a few days as I’m a little slower than I used to be). Please don’t let what I’ve just said make you hesitate to ask questions.

I want to thank all of you who have attended this Sunday service as well as those who will view it at a later time or date.

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

Weekly Bible Study – June 23, 2014

Recognizing no man after the flesh.
The new that has come.

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:

Recognizing no man after the flesh.
The new that has come.



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

Recognizing no man after the flesh;
The origin of the old sin nature.

Therefore if any one is in Christ [and they are], he is a new creature; the old things have lost their power; behold or [now hear this], the new has come. (2CO 5:17)

The phrase behold, new things have come means something new that has never existed before. It refers to all of your tremendous assets as a member of the Royal Family of God. In the Church-age, we have ten unique things that believers in other dispensations do not possess, and which others in future dispensations will never possess. As a result, there is tremendous emphasis on the individual believer in the Church-age.

The new things which have come refer to the baptism of the Spirit which results in the creation of a new spiritual species and the royal family of God. In fact, it is extremely important that we understand this baptism or this ministry of identification.

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1CO 12:13)
For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. (GAL 3:27)

Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start which we call regeneration (TIT 3:5). Your baptism is also known as one bath, but many washings. Part of the new things that have come is the baptism of the Spirit, which means that in our Lord's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. We are all equal.

The new things that have come means that as a member of the royal family of God, you have the PPOG which is unique for the royal family of God only. Brethren [members of the royal family], be co-imitators of me, and be having respect for the same ones, who walk according to the pattern you have in us (PHI 3:17). As a part of this PPOG, we noted that you have a personal sense of destiny where you have to learn at times to go it alone. For each one shall bear his own load. (GAL 6:5). All of us need to understand that life must go on. God has a purpose for you being alive.

The new things that have come means you have a phenomenal portfolio of invisible assets which belongs to each one of us as royal family of God. The word portfolio refers to the work of God the Father on behalf of the believer in eternity past, the securities and the invisible assets which He has provided for each member of the Royal family of God before creation. You have securities and invisible assets that stagger the imagination. However, before these assets are usable, they must be understood. The portfolio of invisible assets connotes the grace work of God the Father on your behalf in eternity past. God the Father found the way for His justice to provide perfect fantastic blessing to His righteousness in us without any compromise of His essence. In your portfolio of invisible assets God provided everything necessary for the function in living, dying, eternity, growing in grace, and the execution and fulfillment of the PPOG. Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (2PE 1:2). Grace and prosperity are increased to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Lord.

Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (2PE 1:3)

Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God, both in the natural realm, called life, and in the spiritual realm, called godliness has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. This is the best invitation we ever received!

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2PE 1:4).

We have been given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.

In your portfolio of invisible assets God provided everything necessary for the function in living, dying, eternity, growing in grace, and the execution and fulfillment of the PPOG. This is why the apostle Paul said in EPH 2:10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. We neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work He does, the good work he has ordained for us to perform, work we had better be doing. That is because God has not only prepared beforehand good works for us to walk in, but He also has provided us with the assets and ability to perform these good works. This is why the Bible says we are his workmanship.

The portfolio of invisible assets provides everything necessary for you to have a fantastic life which glorifies God through receiving your escrow blessings in both time and eternity. This is why we read in MAR 10:28-30, Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel's sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.”

The portfolio of invisible assets provides everything necessary for you to have a fantastic life which glorifies God through receiving your escrow blessings in both time and eternity. The point is: If you do not have a fantastic life, it’s your own fault, never God’s. All you need is positive volition, and God will direct you to the place where you can get the information. The very existence of escrow blessings implies the conditions for the transfer of those greater blessings from their present place of deposit in Christ to us, from the escrow officer to the grantee. Our portfolio of invisible assets only becomes apparent when living in the PPOG under the ministry of the Spirit, and by hearing correct and accurate Bible teaching so that we become inculcated with the PPOG (Ephesians 1:3-14).

Long before he laid down earth's foundations, He had us in mind. He had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy by His love. Long ago, in eternity past, He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, His blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people. Free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, including letting us in on the plans He took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ. There is a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had his eye on us, His had designs on us for glorious living.

It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free, signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit.

This sign from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. There are two characteristics of these assets that we must understand:

A. The assets are invisible; we can only come to know that these assets exist by the metabolization of doctrine. You cannot use what you do not know exists.

B. These assets are usable in any category of life.
Let's look at the portfolio of invisible assets from the viewpoint of the believer’s experience.

However, as it stands written [ISA 64:4], Things [portfolio of invisible assets] no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him (1CO 2:9).

Our greatest blessings are completely and totally invisible, and therefore can only be understood by revelation. That revelation is contained in the Word of God. By knowledge of Bible doctrine, we are able to become aware of our fantastic assets and use them both in time and in eternity.

Note the qualifying factor in the last phrase: for those who love Him. The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who loves God has at least reached the point of spiritual self-esteem or is very close to it. Once he reaches spiritual adulthood, life takes a fantastic and unusual turn. He or she is no longer a victim of circumstances. He isn't bitter, jealous, vindictive; he isn't trying to prove something to someone; he has lost his inordinate ambition, his inordinate competition, and he is now functioning in a magnificent way under these fantastic invisible assets.

In this passage, what God has prepared for all of us is the portfolio of invisible assets.

It was prepared in eternity past, and it becomes real when we come to the point of loving Him.

HEB 12:1 puts it all in the right perspective, Now doctrine is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.You can't hope until you know doctrine. Hope means you understand your portfolio of invisible assets. Hope means you understand the eschatology of the Rapture, and the tremendous escrow blessings for eternity, the rewards and decorations that belong to the believer forever and ever. Note that doctrine is substance; doctrine is thought. In that sense, the writer is saying that doctrine must be real; doctrine must be your viewpoint. The evidence of things not seen is the portfolio of invisible assets.

There must be an experience in the believer’s life if the invisible assets are used to glorify God and inherit what God has provided. God is to be glorified, honored and have power over his creatures. How is God glorified in our lives? JOH 15:8 answers that question, “By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.” That’s indoctrinated ones. Therefore, if we are to receive what He has provided for us and what gives Him glory, we must use our invisible assets and live for Him.

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become foolish that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “he is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness.” (1CO 3:18-19)

The wise in their craftiness speaks of those who live for every other reason than the one they have been created for.....they think they have a better plan for their life. They are independent from God. In many cases, they are also independent from Satan. Little did Satan realize that when he tempted the woman to sin and then give the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he was also promoting the same sin he had committed, the sin of independence. You say why did he do that if he was such an intelligent creature. The answer to that is JER 49:16, “As for the terror of you, The arrogance of your heart has deceived you,” The sin of independence is what stops you from fulfilling the PPOG and using your portfolio of invisible assets. For example, when Adam and the woman sinned, they knew that they had turned against their loving Creator by doubting His words and not listening to His instructions. They had left the secure place of total dependence on His words and put themselves in a vulnerable, independent state. Adam and the woman had been uniquely created; their consciences were still totally sensitive, the way their Maker had created them to be. However, as soon as that bite of fruit entered their mouths, they knew immediately overwhelmingly that they were guilty and naked, in need of covering. They knew that they were unfit in their naked state to come into the presence of God.

Today we have become used to living in a state of guilt and independence from our Creator. Our consciences are dull, desensitized. We need to be told the truth in order to realize that we are guilty and become aware of our nakedness or literally our helplessness before God. This is why ROM 14:23 says, But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin. The sin of independence is also manifested by such things as worry as in 1PE 5:7, where we are told casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you. The sin of independence is also manifested by such things as fear because we are told not to fear as in MAT 10:30-31; “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

The sin of independence is also manifested by such passages as 1JO 3:20, in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

EPH 4:32, And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. All through the ages God has been speaking to the conscience of every man and woman on the face of the earth. If only we would listen, face our condition, and truly repent, receiving the covering He has provided for us! Most Christians become Christians because they saw their guilt and their need to be covered. Either through circumstances in their lives, or through reading the word of God or hearing it preached, they become aware of their sinful state which makes them worthy of death. In a desperate attempt to be covered and made fit to appear before their Maker, wanting to escape the condemnation of their guilty consciences, they become Christians. They then consider themselves to be clothed and no longer naked or in need of covering. What was wrong with the fig leaf covering that Adam and Eve covered themselves with? Why was it that when their Maker finally appeared, they still hid themselves from Him, even though they were now covered?

They had covered themselves in an attempt to HIDE their shame. They did not want their guilt to be exposed and laid bare, so they desperately sought to make themselves presentable. Somewhere deep inside, they knew that they were still unfit to come into the presence of God they were still naked and guilty. When their God finally came in search of them, they hid themselves in the trees of the garden. When He called to them and then questioned them, their responses to Him showed that they were still afraid of freely exposing their guilt, as they both put the blame onto someone else. But our Maker's heart is to provide us with a true covering: a SACRIFICE.

Adam and Eve finally had to remove all their fig leaf coverings and expose their true state of nakedness so that they could receive the garments God provided for them, garments taken from an animal that had shed its blood to cover them in the very first physical death creation had ever seen. Even way back then it was in our God's heart to sacrifice life in order to cover mankind's sin. Already He had a plan. In His amazing love, He would send His only begotten Son, Yahshua, the Lamb of God, to be slain and to shed His blood so that we could be clothed in white garments and be restored to being found worthy to walk with Him as He had always desired. He was well aware of what He would do. Through a chain of circumstances in our own lives, an awareness grew in all of us of our guilty, fallen state, and we became a Christian. However, the issue now is after salvation, what? That is where the new things have come. That is where our portfolio comes into existence.

And again, “the Lord knows the reasoning’s of the wise, that they are useless.” So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, And you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God. (1CO 3:20-23)

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.

Internet Church Service – June 22, 2014

This week’s sermon title:
What it means to have your feet prepared with your combat
boots and ready for walking in the Spiritual Warfare, Part 5.

Today’s Sermon Message:
What it means to have your feet prepared with your combat
boots and ready for walking in the Spiritual Warfare, Part 5.
Video & Audio

Please join us as we fellowship in the Word of God, listen to
Christian Music, Pray in Christ’s Name and Praise the Lord
in our Hearts and Minds.

ALL ARE WELCOME!!

# # # # # # # #

from - Romans 8:38-39

Thank you for joining us for today’s worship service. Please enjoy the music before you watch and|or listen to today’s message.

TIP to enlarge the print hold down the “Ctrl” key on your key board, while it is being held down, move your mouse forward until the desired print size is just right for you. To return to normal screen size, reverse the process (some will see a % in the lower right corner of your screen, normal is 100%)

The lyrics have been provided so you can sing along with the artist in your mind and soul; imagine that the artist’s voice is your voice. I’m not a very good singer myself so I often get the lyrics for some of my favorites and sing along in my mind and soul, this way it’s as if I’m doing the singing to the Lord; try it.

Hymn #1

Grace with Grace Greater Than Our Sin – Lyrics in video
(You can skip the commercial if there is one)

Hymn #2

God of Wonders – Lyrics in Video
(You can skip the commercial if there is one)

Preparing yourself for the study of God’s Word

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is— you have trusted in Him for eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to take-in God’s Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge your sins privately to God the Father.

1 John 1:9 says—“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” NKJV (New King James Version)

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 faith alone in Jesus Christ alone:

John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life.” NKJV

Notice again what John 6:47 says, “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 Jesus Christ’s promise of everlasting life, you have it (it’s really just that simple), and it can never be lost or taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift 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: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 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:

Lectionary

The word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet, to where joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of the heart. (Heb. 4:12) GNB-UK

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed. (2 Tim. 3:16-17) GNB-UK

Do your best to win full approval in God's sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God's truth. (2 Tim. 2:15) GNB-UK

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Opening Prayer
(Do your best to make it your own – below is a sample prayer)

Heavenly Father, we pray that we will all be richly edified by Your Word today and that You will make what we study today clear to us. We pray that all participants in this service as well as those who review it at a later date will be edified and blessed by today’s message. We pray this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

Our guest Pastor-Teacher is:

Robert McLaughlin - Grace Bible Church
and Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Doctrinal Statement

This ministry is non-denominational and is dedicated to teaching the Word of God from the original languages and making it available at no charge throughout the world.

Today's Sermon

What it means to have your feet prepared with your combat
boots and ready for walking in the Spiritual Warfare, Part 5.

TO VIEW THE SERMON: Right click the link above, a small window will open then left click either “Open in New Window” or “Open in New Tab” and the church service notes page will open, it has three options in the upper right side of the page, right click the link titled “download mp3” and just like before, select either Open New Window or Open New Tab to open the MP3 player, this will leave the notes page open so you can move back to it, so go back to the notes page to follow along in the notes, the streaming audio should begin automatically in your default audio/video player (like, Windows Media Player).

If you need to leave the service, when you come back, to move the MP3 player forward, press and hold the left click down on the player progress bar where you see the little arrow under the time on progress bar and move your mouse forward

OPTIONAL: On-line Bible – NASB95

If you wish to use it, right click the link and in the drop-down box, left click the "Open Link in New Window"; when the new window opens, reduce the window size of both the on-line bible and the slideshow and configure them to be side-by-side. Also, the window opens to John 3:16, click the word “more” below the verse, you will then see two online bible columns, Use the column on the left as it is set for the NASB95, at the top of the column where you see John 3:16 in the search box, type the book and verse the Pastor asks you to go to a particular Bible verse, e.g., 1tim 5:21, or eph 3:10, etc., then click “Enter” on your key board. You can use the “right column” if you wish for a different bible version but you’ll need to type in the verse you want each time as I directed you for the column on the left side.

Hymn #3

Fairest Lord Jesus – Lyrics in Video
(You can skip the commercial if there is one)

CLOSING PRAYER:
(Again, below is a sample prayer, do your best to make it your own)

Heavenly Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit will make what I’ve learned today clear to me, for I pray this in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s name. Amen

If you have any questions that are pertinent about today’s message, please don’t hesitate to ask, you are welcome to ask them via a private message or by a reply in today’s post. However, sometimes questions can be real short but require a much longer answer in order to give an adequate answer. If I don’t think that the question is able to be answered quickly I’ll reply back telling you that I’ll research it and get to you with the answer (it may even be a few days as I’m a little slower than I used to be). Please don’t let what I’ve just said make you hesitate to ask questions.

I want to thank all of you who have attended this Sunday service as well as those who will view it at a later time or date.

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

Weekly Bible Study – June 16, 2014

Recognizing no man after the flesh;
The origin of the old sin nature.

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:

Recognizing no man after the flesh;
The origin of the old sin nature.



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

Recognizing no man after the flesh;
The origin of the old sin nature.

We continue our study of 2CO 5:17 which says, Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

The Biblical interpretation of this subject begins by understanding what took place with the creation of man, where this all began. It starts off with an understanding of the word image GEN 1:27, And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then in GEN 5:3, When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth. This was after the events in the Garden.

When the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world, we read in COL 1:15, And He is the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation. We are told how we can be restored back to the image of God as COL 3:10 says, By putting on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. Therefore in 2CO 3:18, But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. This will happen because in 1CO 15:49, And just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. As a part of the victory of God’s plan in ROM 8:29, For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren;

Those passages actually give us the plan of God in a nutshell. It all began in GEN 2:15-17, Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”

Then of course we have the narrative of what happened when Adam and the woman were in the garden in GEN 3:1, Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The serpent represents evil which is the policy of Satan. Satan always uses an agent to represent him and his evil policy.

for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds. (2CO 11:14-15)

The serpent was indwelt by Satan for the purpose of tempting the woman. Satan’s greatest weapon is conversation because Satan is the greatest genius that ever came from the hand of God. So, here is Satan getting ready to outsmart two of the most beautiful and perfect people who ever lived. Satan will open up his attack with a very tender statement for the woman’s well being, he’s seems so sweet, he seems so good.

In his first approach he introduces doubt to the woman: And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” (GEN 3:1). He tries to make her focus in on the prohibitions rather than the divine provisions. This is what Satan’s ministers of righteousness do, they focus in on the do’s and don’ts, they bring in standards that even God does not. Notice in verse 1 that Satan’s first weapon was neither terror nor intimidation, nor threatening, his first and most brilliant weapon has always been conversation. Conversation is a medium for expressing thought and Satan is much smarter than any creature that has ever existed pre-historically or historically.

GEN 3:1, he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” God didn’t say that. In GEN 2:16 the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;” He didn’t say “you shall not eat from any tree of the garden.” Satan is willfully misquoting what God said. Satan is a master at twisting the scriptures, distorting the scriptures, and misinterpreting the scriptures.

And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it [here comes not sin but evil] or touch it, lest you die.’” (GEN 3:2-3)

She adds to the word of God which is forbidden in REV 22:18. She was so occupied with the sin of disobedience and not eating the fruit that evil crept in. Satan’s plan is to get the believer so occupied with sin that good and evil can sneak in. Sin was not the issue in the Garden. Sin was the result of those who thought evil. What came first sin or good and evil? The answer is that good and evil came first, then sin. There was no poison in the tree to kill the woman. It was simply her free-will going negative toward doctrine.

And the serpent said to the woman., [actually this is Satan speaking], “You surely shall not die.” (GEN 3:4)

Satan willfully and categorically denies the truth of the doctrine that the wages of sin is spiritual death (ROM 6:23). God said it in GEN 2:17, and Satan denies it GEN 3:4.

“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (GEN 3:5)

Satan is attributing to God a spirit of selfishness and jealousy, and Satan himself was the jealous one. So, Satan says your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God and then notice the next phrase, it has to do with our subject knowing good and evil. Satan tries to get us involved with good and evil so that he can blind us from grace and doctrine.

The Hebrew word for opened is a niphil perfect of paqah. Its in the passive voice, but more than that it has a plural suffix which says both you and your husband. Satan is now telling the woman that she knows what is best for her husband. Satan is saying that she knows what is best for her husband, not God. Satan is going to help the woman reject authority in life. No one can ever reject authority in life and ever come out on top, it’s impossible.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (GEN 3:6)

The Hebrew word for desirable is chamad which means to covert or to lust after something. After the conversation with Satan, she became very lustful for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She thought that understanding good and evil could make her wise rather than doctrine. The word for wise is sakal which means to be intelligent, to prosper and to be successful. She begins to desire something that is negative toward God's plan.

The first thing that the woman wanted that she thought had apparently not provided for her was intelligence, and wisdom. The woman’s original sin is revealed now two verbs. First, the qal imperfect of laqach translated she took. Laqach means to take and in the imperfect tense it means that she had it in her hands for a while. She hasn’t died by touching it, and she’s no longer afraid of it. Remember she thought that if you touched it she would die. She added to the Word of God and now her false doctrine will deceive her, for the Lord never said she could not touch it. She is not spiritually dead yet. Satan appears to be telling the truth, so she thinks. The next verb describes the first sin in human history. She took its fruit and ate. The kal imperfect of akal, and when she ate it, she entered in to the first sin of human history. Holding it in her hand it was still temptation. However, once she decided to eat it that was the act of volition that becomes the original sin. The woman was now in the status of spiritual death while her husband, Adam, was still in the status of perfection. The woman therefore, looked at the fruit; longed for the fruit; held the fruit; then ate the fruit, and the fruit was that she became spiritually dead. By this time Adam is with her and his original sin now follows.

And she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate (GEN 3:6)

This is Satan’s gospel, get others to agree with you. Of course, Adam finds himself in the status as his wife. She gave it to him, he ate it. Adam had no conversation with Satan therefore his temptation is entirely different. Adam is looking at the first sinner in the human race, his wife, who is now of course spiritually dead. Adam must choose between Jesus Christ and remaining in the status of perfection, or his wife and entering into the status quo of spiritual death. Adam’s act was not a noble one, he was not protecting her, it was outright rebellion and disobedience. Adam is still the ruler of the world. He is still the authority in marriage. The issue is: Fellowship with God verses compatible relationship with the woman. He now must make a choice. So the woman who is spiritually dead gave him the fruit. The woman is now Satan’s agent being spiritually dead. Adam actually ate the fruit. He decided to go with the woman rather than the Lord Jesus Christ. Adam should have been leading, instead he was led. This is his act of volition and his original sin. Satan had victoriously caused them both to be independent of God.

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; (GEN 3:7)

The Hebrew word for naked is erom which means that their physical body was no longer covered by light. Satan’s first objective in this temptation was to take control of the world from Adam. Satan’s second objective was to defeat God in the courtroom appeal trial of the angelic conflict which he did not succeed in doing. So disobedience to God regarding the tree of knowledge of good and evil meant not only spiritual death but coming under the rulership of that creature genius Satan. When you understand that human good plus sin equals evil, you will understand the policy of Satan, and the genius of Satan as the ruler of this world.

Satan spends more time trying to acquire human good from his followers rather than getting them to sin. Sin is something that is inevitable because of the sin nature. When you understand that human good was not necessary for a relationship with God then you understand something that most Christians do not understand today. This is why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was prohibited. The average believer today thinks that they must be doing good, and that the Christian way of life is a function of their human good. Human good produced from the cosmic system is never acceptable to God, ISA 64:6 tells us that all our righteous deeds are like menstrual rags to God. All human good in history will be judged because it comes from the same source as sin: The old sin nature (OSN).

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. (GEN 3:7)

They covered their waist where their genitals or their sexual organs were. They didn’t cover their whole body with fig leaves. They were now both spiritually dead. After the original sin of Adam and the woman, the first act of spiritual death was an act of human good and the function of legalism. They now both know that they are naked. Now they know good and evil. Remember in perfection and innocence, the man and the woman were married and nakedness was not an issue. In spiritual death and sinfulness, nakedness now becomes an issue in the marriage. They’re naked, but so what, they’re married. There is no one else to look at their nakedness. So what’s the problem? Spiritual death has taken a strange turn. Nakedness, the normal status in the garden, now becomes a social problem and demands a solution.

There were two possible solutions: First, the divine solution which is regeneration, that, for the moment, they have rejected. Secondly, the other solution, is legalism or human good, this is the wrong solution, but that’s the one that they have accepted. Their conscience is now suffering from guilt reaction. Therefore, a culprit must be found to pacify the conscience. What did they decide? If they covered their genitals who were they hiding them from, the animals?

No, it was from each other. Here are two married people who are the only people on the earth and now they have a marital problem and they have a social problem.

There is no thought of God, no turning to God, no leaning upon the grace of God. They have completely forgotten about God because they are spiritually dead. As spiritually dead persons, there is nothing that they can do to enter into a relationship with God but they’re going to do something anyway. The culprit is nakedness, in covering their genitals or their loins they made a statement. There were no other human beings in the garden to hide from, so they’re making a human good statement. “We are not going to have sex.” We have this big guilt complex now because we’ve done something wrong. We’re going to make up for it by doing something else which is wrong. We’re going to deny each other sex. We are going to cover that part of our physical body which has given us so much stimulation and arousal and happiness.

We’re going to show God that we can do something good because of the bad which we've done. This is why we need the ministry of God the Holy Spirit so that He can produce the only good that God will accept, divine good. (see ROM 16:19; HEB 5:14; 3JO 1:11).

When they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and [what was the result of their now new OSN and spiritual death manifested by separation from God? Fear!] I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” (GEN 3:8-10)

They were separated from God and hiding from Him in the trees of the garden. Fear is a result of the OSN controlling us but now the old things, like the OSN, spiritual death and separation from God, are now passed away. It’s lost its power over us as well as delivering us from our spiritual death and separation from God. When we become independent from God and think that we know the difference between good and evil, and what is right or wrong than that we fear end up becoming a reality. What happens is that we end up trying to make plans to avoid what we fear. However, without God's wisdom, or metabolized doctrine, our imagination runs wild and becomes a cruel taskmaster. By choosing to claim that we know the difference between good and evil and what is right and wrong, we seek to determine our own destiny and live for ourselves, not others. We choose our personal sense of destiny for our lives rather than God’s.

And the Lord said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” And the man said, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (GEN 3:11-13)

In JOH 3:16 the Lord told the Woman, “I’ll multiply your pains in childbirth; and also, you will want to please your husband, but he’ll lord it over you.” To Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” (GEN 3:17-19)

All of this was simply because of the sin of being independent from God and thinking that they knew the difference between good and evil, not the sins of immorality. TLJC gave up everything (His Deity-kenosis), so that by His dependant life upon God, He became our prototype that would allow us to live free enough to willingly give up our own rights. What is good and what is evil for us can really deceive us. The problem with Adam and the woman was not the lust for immoral sins but choosing to be independent from God. Adam and the woman left the unity of the thinking of one mind (mind of Christ) when they chose independent thoughts over God's. Therefore, it was independence from God that brought the OSN spiritual death and separation from God into this world.

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.