Weekly Bible Study – October 27, 2014

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, Doctrine
of Election. Part 1. The Election of Israel.

PLEASE READ FIRST

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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:
God’s Word is Wednesday, Friday and Sunday mornings

STUDY TITLE:

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, Doctrine
of Election. Part 1. The Election of Israel.



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

Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, Doctrine
of Election. Part 1. The Election of Israel.

We need to understand the difference between what is known as Monergism and Synergism. Not monogenism which is the theory that the human race has descended from a single pair of ancestors.

Monergism which states that the regeneration of an individual is the work of God through the Holy Spirit alone.


Synergism, which, in its simplest form, argues that the human will cooperates with God’s grace in order to be regenerated. So the question naturally arises, does man have a free will?

This is God’s world, governed by His rules and persons born into it it have to live with what God blesses them with. The moment God opens our spiritual eyes, we see. The moment He unplugs or circumcises our ears, we hear. Likewise, the moment God capacitates us with understanding and illumination, we believe.

God isn’t doing the believing for us, He has only restored the spiritual capacity we were meant to have. If God miraculously gives new eyes to a blind man and he sees, it is not God who is doing the seeing but the man, yet all glory goes to God because without this new capacity, sight would not be possible.

We infallibly exercise our own faith because we have been given the new capacity to do so by the work of the Holy Spirit, who has disarmed our hostility to God by giving us a new moral perception.

This is the story behind EPH 2:8 and 2CO 6:1-2. That is why EPH 2:8, For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that [the grace, the salvation and even the faith] is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; This is why the apostle Paul wrote in 2CO 6:1-2, And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain for He says, “At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you”; Behold, Now is “the acceptable time,” Behold, Now is “the day of salvation”

So much then for our introduction to our subject which is coming up this evening in ROM 9:27, the Doctrine of Election.

ROM 9:14-27, What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will? On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. As He says also in Hosea, “I will call those who were not My people, ‘My people,’ And her who was not beloved, ‘beloved.” And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, “You are not My people, “There they shall be called sons of the living God.” And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved;

First of all the verb for cries out is the present active indicative of krazo which means to cry but really it means to shout out with an intensive and urgent form of speaking. It is translated here, “speaking [preaching] in an emergency.” This is when Sennacherib invaded Israel. Sennacherib was the prince of Assyria who ruled 705-681 B.C.

This was the great crisis which came to Israel because of a large rejection of the first advent also known as the incarnation. The incarnation is the expense of time, Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, dwelt on earth in hypostatic union. The Jews had rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore they ended up receiving Sennacherib which was a form of divine discipline from God.

The Assyrians under Sennacherib were knocking at the gates of Jerusalem and getting ready to attack the Jews. Isaiah gave the message, producing the action of the verb in a dramatic speech in a time of a national crisis. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal action from the viewpoint of reality.

You must remember that the theme of the book of Romans is generally the integrity of God. And the integrity of God has 2 parts that is His absolute righteousness and His perfect and absolute justice.

Therefore, election, which is the subject here in Rom 9, cannot be viewed apart from God’s integrity. And that’s why ROM 9:14 says, there isn’t any injustice in God, is there?

ROM 9:14, What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be!

Paul not only anticipated the question of his adversary, his sparring partner, his debating partner, but he also used a leg sweep, and swept his legs out from underneath him before he could even make that, and made it himself, and then answered it. In other words, when you think about election, we all think about God’s sovereign choice, but it’s very dangerous to separate or disengage His sovereign choice from His justice and from His omniscience from all the other attributes of His deity. Election is a subject that cannot be viewed apart from God’s integrity. And what do I mean by that? I mean that because God is just and righteous, He will never violate your free will. Election does not mean that God chose you to do something or be something or be someone that you have no say in the matter.


JOH 15:16, “ You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and {that} your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.”

JOH 13:18, “ I do not speak of all of you. I know the ones I have chosen; but {it is} that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘He who eats My bread has lifted up his heel against Me.’”

JOH 15:19, “ If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

LUK 6:13, And when day came, He called His disciples to Him; and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:

ROM 9:20-21, On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?

The point is that when the word of God says that God has chosen us that is not a violation of our free will.

The question is posed, which we all have already looked at it, and it’s answered emphatically in ROM 9:14 there cannot be injustice or unrighteousness in God. There cannot be any compromise of His divine essence. There can be no opposition or contradictions between His divine attributes. This means He can never be unfair or unjust with His divine decisions. This was ultimately revealed with the doctrine that we just completed, the Substitutionary Spiritual Death of our Lord. We went into this in great detail, especially with consideration to the fact that there is no capriciousness or impulse or arbitrary action or thought in God’s sovereignty.

When He elected us, He elected us according to not only his sovereign choice but according to His omniscience, including His foreknowledge. So, before we go on we are now ready for another subject that may seem technical, however, as you will see, it makes your Christian life very meaningful. Election is an important part of understanding the third category of mystery doctrine which we have been noting which is the unique equality factor of the Church-age.

We have been elected and the question you should have is elected to what? The answer is that you have been elected to have God’s highest and best.

Point 1 is a definition.

Election is the expression of the sovereign will of God in eternity past before the universe existed and before mankind lived on planet earth. Election is the sovereign or absolute right that God has over His creation. In this study, election is defined as one of two important principles or desires from the sovereignty of God. The other of course is predestination.


We have noted along with foreknowledge, predestination, justification and glorification, they are all printouts from the Doctrine of the Divine Decrees and the sovereign will of God. This is why we read in ROM 8:28-39, And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 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; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Like predestination, election is used for believers only, ROM 8:33, “ Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies.”

Please notice that in this passage that the elect are justified!

Now, in MAT 22:14 the Lord Jesus Christ said “ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The Greek adjective “polloi” is used from a semitic perspective which involves both quantity and totality, therefore “ all” is the appropriate translation. The Jews would use the word “many” to mean all! For example, in DAN 12:2 speaking of the second coming Daniel says, “ And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

In this passage “many” refers to all! In fact in MAR 10:48 this word is translated all, “ And many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all [polloi] the more,

Or LUK 10:40, “ But Martha was distracted with all [polloi] her preparations;”

Or LUK 18:39 “ But he kept crying out all [polloi] the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

This is also brought out 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;
The Lord Jesus Christ is not the first-born among many brethren, He is the first-born of all brethren.


Now, the fact that the word “many” can mean all is especially brought out in Rom 5.

ROM 5:12, Therefore, just as through one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and spiritual death through sin, and so spiritual death spread to all men, because all sinned

ROM 5:15-18, But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

All men have been re2conciled to God and have the opportunity through faith in Christ to be justified before God.

So, as you can see there are times in the Bible when the word many means “all”.

MAT 22:14, “ For many are called, but few are chosen or elected [eklektoi] .”

Remember ROM 11:29, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

The “calling of God” is irrevocable in the fact that even though God knows who is going to respond and who is not, He still sends out the invitation which is the doctrine of the unlimited atonement. Therefore, “the many or “all” are called but few are elected!

So, there is no such thing as double election or a double pre-destination. Election is a benefit which expresses the sovereign will of God for each believer in the Royal Family during the Church-age.

Election means that God elected or chose you to have His highest and best for your life both in time and in eternity, EPH 1:2-7, Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,

Therefore, election is the expression of the sovereign will of God for your life.

Now, pre-destination is different. Pre-destination is the “ provision” of the sovereign will of God for your life. Pre-destination refers to the plan which God has provided for each believer.

Under election, the sovereignty of God willed the highest and best for every believer, having previously deposited it into escrow in eternity past. The mechanics for the election of the Church is the baptism of the Holy Spirit which occurs at the very moment we believe in Christ. This is one of the forty things we receive at salvation by which each one of us is entered into union with Christ.

The election of the Church includes both equal privilege and equal opportunity for every believer.

Not only do you have a magnificent destiny under the PPOG, but election says that you have the same privileges and opportunities as all other believers for the execution of that plan. Under election, equal privilege is your Royal priesthood. Under election, equal opportunity is logistical grace support and blessing for both winners and losers.

Point 2. There are Three Elections in history.

a. Israel under the ritual plan of God.

b. Christ under the incarnation plan of God.

c. The church under the pre-designed plan of God.

Israel was elected under the ritual plan of God, that’s why DEU 7:6 says, “ For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has elected you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

ISA 45:4 says the same thing, “ For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My elected one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me.

The Lord Jesus Christ was elected under the incarnation plan of God, ISA 42:1, “ Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My elected one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations.

MAT 12:18, Behold, My Servant whom I have elected; My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased; I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

LUK 9:35, And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!”

Then the church under the pre-designed plan of God, COL 3:12, And so, as those who have been elected of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

It’s very interesting to note that each election brought a new category of species into history.

For example the election of Israel brought in the new racial species, the Jew. This is one of the main reasons why there are problems in Iraq and the Middle East.

Then there is the election of Christ which brought in the hypostatic union, i.e. undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. Jesus Christ is eternal God and therefore different from humanity. Jesus Christ is true humanity and therefore different from eternal God. He had to become true humanity to be our Savior, our great high priest, and our mediator.

The election of the Church brought in the new spiritual species, the Church or Royal Family of God. This is called the new creature in the Bible.

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

GAL 6:14-16, But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

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 – October 26, 2014

Sermon title:
The life of the Lord Jesus Christ and how He utilized the sword of the Spirit in His personal life..

Sermon Message Title:
Sermon: The life of the Lord Jesus Christ and how He utilized the sword of the Spirit in His personal life.
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

How Great Thou Art – Lyrics in Video
(You can skip most commercials if there is one, Google adds them.)

Hymn #2

A Mighty Fortress is Our God – Lyrics in Video
(You can skip most commercials if there is one, Google adds them.)

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

The life of the Lord Jesus Christ and how He utilized the sword of the Spirit in His personal life.

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

All My Tears – Lyrics in Video
(You can skip most commercials if there is one, Google adds them.)

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.

Internet Church Service – October 19, 2014

Sermon title:
Sermon: The sword of the Spirit manifested in the Life of Jesus. Part 3.
The mystery behind the five questions.

Sermon Message Title:
Sermon: The sword of the Spirit manifested in the Life of Jesus. Part 3.
The mystery behind the five questions.
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

My Redeemer Lives – Lyrics in Video
(You can skip most commercials if there is one, Google adds them.)

Hymn #2

There Is None Like You – Lyrics in Video
(You can skip most commercials if there is one, Google adds them.)

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

Sermon: The sword of the Spirit manifested in the Life of Jesus. Part 3.
The mystery behind the five questions.

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

Psalms 5 – Lyrics in Video
(You can skip most commercials if there is one, Google adds them.)

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 – October 20, 2014

The Doctrine of the Substitutionary
Spiritual Death of Jesus Christ. Part 3

PLEASE READ FIRST

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

Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church
Robert R. McLaughlin Bible Ministries

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

STUDY TITLE:

The Doctrine of the Substitutionary
Spiritual Death of Jesus Christ. Part 3



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

Terms & Abbreviations used:

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

To look up other “terms”, go to:

Alphabetical Listing

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

The Doctrine of the Substitutionary
Spiritual Death of Jesus Christ. Part 3

The Function of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit during the Substitutionary Spiritual Death. Our Lord’s sacrificial suffering and judgment for our sins is dramatized in a phrase which occurs in all three languages of original Scripture. The phrase originates in PSA 22:1, where it was spoken prophetically of the efficacious sacrifice for sin “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

The doubling of the vocative, “My God, My God,” (Eli, Eli) is a Hebrew idiom for intensity. It expresses the highest quality under two categories: First, the highest quality of the person being addressed, God the Father. Secondly, the highest quality of the attributes used by that person. And both vocatives refer only to God the Father.

The repetition of the vocative, which is My God, My God, refers to the two attributes of the Father involved in our salvation: The omnipotence of God the Father, by which all our sins were imputed to Christ on the Cross, and the justice of God the Father, by which He judged our sins while the still perfect humanity of Christ was bearing them.

So, in Verse 1, the word why is the interrogative Hebrew adverb lamah which literally means “for what reason.” It indicates a rhetorical question. Our Lord understood why He was being abandoned or forsaken; we did not. For that reason, He uttered this phrase on the Cross to tell us what occurred.

The Hebrew phrase “Wa atah qadosh” is translated “because You are holy.” God’s holiness is made up of His perfect justice and perfect righteousness. So God the Father abandoned Christ during those three hours because Jesus Christ was receiving the imputation and judgment of our sins.

HAB 1:13 “Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You cannot look on wickedness.”

So, because He became sin for us, and God the Father is holy, He not only forsook Christ, but He judged Christ in His justice.

The righteousness of God the Father rejected the sins of the human race. And then the justice of God the Father judged all the personal sins of the human race as they were imputed to God the Son. The Father in His righteousness condemns all our personal sins.The Father in His justice judges our personal sins.

The answer to the second half of our Lord’s question, “why have You forsaken Me?” is found in one Hebrew word in verse 6 tolah translated worm.

PSA 22:6, But I am a worm, and not a man, A reproach of men, and despised by the people.

Tolah refers to a very unusual worm which was harvested, crushed, put into a very large vat. In this manner, its blood was used for the purpose of making a crimson dye used to color king’s robes in the ancient world. On the Cross, the perfect and impeccable humanity of Christ was crushed with the judgment of our sins. Therefore, He calls Himself a tolah, for the weight of those sins crushed Him as He was being judged for them. So the imputation and judgment of our sins in Christ on the Cross by God the Father is analogous to the worm being crushed in a vat, so that its blood can be used for the manufacture of royal robes.

Because our Lord was judged for our sins on the cross, we now wear the royal robes of His imputed righteousness. Ours is a double righteousness under the principle of the firstborn receiving double blessing, we were imputed with the righteousness of God the Father, and we share the righteousness of Christ through the baptism of the Spirit.

PSA 22:1, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?

The qal perfect second masculine singular of the Hebrew verb azab means to abandon or to forsake.

The subject is found in the suffix, a second masculine singular. Only one person abandoned our Lord at the Cross, and that was God the Father. The reason is because the Father’s omnipotence, which had provided everything for Christ in the incarnation plan, now had to call for the printout of all the sins of the world and impute them all to Christ.

It is important to understand that God the Holy Spirit was not addressed in this cry on the Cross. God the Holy Spirit did not abandon or forsake our Lord Jesus Christ. MAT 27:46, And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”

He shouted this question, not because He needed an answer. It was a question to which we needed the answer. A rhetorical question is not designed to provoke questions but to communicate, to answer why something is happening. God the Father had to abandon the Son as He imputed to Him the sins of the world and judged every one of them. The omnipotence of God the Father imputed to the impeccable humanity of Christ what was not antecedently His own.

JOH 3:16 “For God [Father] so loved that world that He gave His uniquely born Son.”

This is the expression of the Father’s impersonal love for the entire human race. In verse 46, the Greek word for forsake is in the aorist tense. The aorist tense gathers together the entire three hours of our Lord’s spiritual death, during which time God the Father both imputed and judged all the sins of the world. And the culminative aorist regards this three hour action from the viewpoint of existing results: And what are those existing results?:


a) The provision of eternal salvation for the entire human race under substitutionary, efficacious, unlimited atonement:


b) The guarantee of our eternal security because the power of God is greater than human power. We do not have the power to lose our salvation.
c) The strategic victory of Jesus Christ in the historical extension of the angelic conflict.

d) His resurrection, ascension, and session, at which point He received His third royal patent, though He was without a royal family.

e) The interruption of the dispensation of Israel and the substitution of the Church-age for the calling out of the election of the royal family of God to accompany His third royal warrant.

f) The perpetuation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union into the dispensation of the Church, causing the Church-age to become the unique dispensation of all human history.

g) The greatest distribution of divine power to every believer in all of human history, causing the Church-age to become the crossroads of human history as an extension of the angelic conflict.

The active voice in the second person masculine singular refers to only God the Father who produced the action. Perfect God forsook perfect humanity. The deity of the Father could not forsake the deity of the Son. So it was the human body of our Lord that carried our sins. The interrogative indicative assumes there is an actual fact which can be stated in answer to the question. The question is rhetorical for our benefit.

The actual facts which explain the forsaking include substitutionary spiritual death, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, unlimited atonement, imputation, and justification. The facts of soteriology; i.e., the efficacious, substitutionary, unlimited atonement of the perfect humanity of Christ during those three hours on the cross when He was made sin for us. Therefore, salvation is completely the work of God.

1) God the Father imputed our sins and judged them.

2) God the Son bore their judgment and became our Savior.

3) God the Holy Spirit reveals this Gospel message.

He also sustained the humanity of Christ on the Cross. In His unique spiritual death, Jesus Christ received in three hours the judgment for billions and billions of sins. This was why He screamed the question in the Aramaic. Throughout all the beatings and excruciating pain, “as a lamb before His shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.” But in bearing sin as the only impeccable human being, He screamed. The three hours of darkness that covered Golgotha were the most intensive moments in all of history. For every sin in the history of the human race were all imputed to Christ, down to the last sin of the Millennium.

The perfect humanity of Christ received the imputation and judgment for every one of these sins. This was the time, above all, when He could not afford to sin. His humanity could not leave the PPOG at any point during the bearing of our sins. Yet, if ever there was a challenge to bitterness, implacability, hatred, self pity, etc., it was during that time when He was being judged for our sins.

But He didn’t get out of the PPOG; He didn’t sin; He didn’t react. Not only did He remain impeccable, but He endured the suffering. So the scream of our Lord on the cross, “My God, My God, for what reason have You abandoned Me?” was addressed to God the Father only.

Point 7. A Fortiori and the Omnipotence of God as it Relates to the Substitutionary Spiritual Death of Jesus Christ. A fortiori is a Latin prepositional phrase meaning “with stronger reason.” It is a system of logic related to comparison, then inference. A fortiori says that by comparison comes inference. A fortiori compares a first conclusion with a second conclusion, inferring that the first conclusion is more difficult and that the second conclusion is easier, therefore inescapable and even more certain. An a fortiori in Scripture can generally be recognized by the Greek phrase “polus mallon” translated much more then or much more therefore. In the a fortiori of omnipotence, the premise and conclusion are as follows:

If the omnipotence of God the Father has accomplished the most difficult thing in imputing our sins to the humanity of Christ and judging them, it follows, a fortiori, that the omnipotence of God can accomplish the least difficult, which is what the omnipotence of God the Father and the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit are doing for you. For example, if the omnipotence and justice of God the Father did the most difficult thing in all of history in imputing our sins to Christ and judging them on the cross, it follows, a fortiori, that He can do the least difficult thing, which is to deliver the believer from the Last Judgment. This is taught in ROM 5:8 9.

ROM 5:8-9, But God demonstrates His own virtue-love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died on behalf of us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, [efficacious sacrifice on the Cross], we shall be delivered from the wrath of God through Him.”

Once you believe in Christ, there’s no way you can be involved in the Last Judgment, the judgment which condemns unbelievers to the Lake of Fire. The a fortiori here says that it is easier for the omnipotence of God the Father to deliver the believer from the Last Judgment than for the omnipotence of God the Father to impute our sins to Christ on the Cross and judge them. The most difficult thing the Father ever did was to use His power, His divine omnipotence, and His justice to impute and to judge our sins in Christ.

If the omnipotence of the Father did the most difficult thing at the cross in judging our sins, it is concluded, a fortiori, that the omnipotence of the Father can do the least difficult thing in the Church-age: deliver the believer from the Last Judgment, and provide eternal security and your very own portfolio of invisible assets, the easiest thing for Him.

This emphasizes the reality of your very own portfolio of invisible assets. If the omnipotence of the Father accomplished the most difficult thing at the cross, it follows, a fortiori, that the omnipotence of God the Father can accomplish the least difficult thing for every Church-age believer.

This is stated in ROM 5:10 “For if, while we were His enemies [in real spiritual death] we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son [substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ], much more, having been reconciled [most difficult], we shall be delivered by His life [least difficult].”

The least difficult thing for the omnipotence of God is to provide the divine power for the execution of the PPOG. It is easier for the omnipotence of God the Father to deliver the believer from the Last Judgment than for the omnipotence of God the Father to reconcile the world to Himself. The most difficult thing was for the omnipotence of God the Father to reconcile the world to Himself. The barrier between man and God was the sins of the world. However, since the work of Christ on the cross, the barrier has been removed. Man is reconciled to God because every sin of the world was judged. It was the omnipotence of God the Father which reconciled us by judging our sins on the Cross. Christ reconciled us by receiving our sins on the Cross. The Holy Spirit was involved in reconciliation because He empowered Christ to endure and to receive the judgment of every sin.

Church-age believers are delivered by His life in two ways:

1) The omnipotence of God the Father in providing us our portfolio of invisible assets.

2) The omnipotence of the Holy Spirit in providing the divine power for the execution of the PPOG.

In other words, we are delivered by His life through the perpetuation of the great power experiment into the Church-age. So the a fortiori conclusion. If the omnipotence of God can accomplish the most difficult thing, it follows, a fortiori, that the omnipotence of God can accomplish the least difficult thing. It was much more difficult for the omnipotence of God the Father to impute and judge our sins in the perfect humanity of Christ on the cross than for that same omnipotence of God the Father to provide for every Church-age believer His very own portfolio of invisible assets.

Your portfolio was easy to provide, and it is as certain as the fact that Jesus Christ died for your sins. It was much more difficult for the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit to sustain and empower the humanity of Christ inside the PPOG so that He endured on the cross than it is for the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit to sustain and empower the Church-age believer inside their very own plan. The most difficult ministry of the Holy Spirit occurred during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union in the PPOG for the lord Jesus Christ.

Hence, the inescapable conclusion of a fortiori: If the most difficult function of the omnipotence of God occurred during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, it follows, a fortiori, that the least difficult function of the omnipotence of God occurs during the great power experiment of the Church-age. This inescapable conclusion explains why God does more for every individual believer in the Church-age than He ever did for the greatest believers in the Old Testament!

The Church-age is the greatest opportunity for believers in history! It’s called an “experiment” because we don’t know how many believers will actually use the divine power available to them. The same omnipotence that sustained Christ during the First Advent now sustains every believer during this Church-age. It was much easier for the omnipotence of God the Father to provide for every Church-age believer a portfolio of invisible assets than for Him to impute our sins to the perfect humanity of Christ on the cross and judge them.

It is much easier for the Holy Spirit to empower and sustain the Church-age believer inside the divine dynasphere than it was to empower and sustain the humanity of Christ inside His very own plan. Therefore, the a fortiori doctrine of ROM 8:31 32 “Therefore, with reference to these things [that relate to the death of Jesus Christ], to what conclusion are we forced? The God [Father], who did not even spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him graciously give to us the all things?”

If the omnipotence of God can accomplish the most difficult, it follows, a fortiori, that the omnipotence of God can accomplish the least difficult. “With Him” means with the substitutionary, efficacious atoning work of Christ on the Cross. “The all things” includes the omnipotence of God the Father doing the easy thing of providing for every Church-age believer with his very own portfolio of invisible assets. “All things” includes the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit providing the easy thing: the divine power for the execution and fulfillment of the PPOG for the Church-age.

So again ROM 8:32 “The God [Father], who did not even spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him graciously give to us the all things?”

This is the great a fortiori of grace. God the Father did not even spare His own Son but actually judged our sins as they were imputed to Christ. Again here is the substitutionary prepositional phrase: huper plus genitive of advantage of pas and ego means “in place of [instead of] all of us.”

God has provided more for us in this dispensation than has ever existed for believers before.

Therefore, if the greatest benefit was given to us when Jesus Christ was judged for our sins on the Cross, then, a fortiori, God can surely provide anything else.

HEB 12:1-3, “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us [Old Testament believers of Heb 11], let us lay aside every encumbrance [human power] and the sin that so easily wraps itself around us [by rebound]. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Be concentrating on Jesus, the author [pioneer] and perfecter of our doctrine, who because of exhibited happiness [+H], He endured the Cross, having disregarded the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you do not become fatigued and faint in your souls.”

More than in any other dispensation, we in the Church-age are required to have endurance.

Why?

Because when the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union reached its peak at the Cross, our Lord had endurance. The basis of His endurance was the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit; the same omnipotence of the Holy Spirit we have right now! Endurance comes from the enabling power of the Holy Spirit inside both the PPOG for our Lord and for us. Running with endurance includes the utilization of both categories of divine power: the omnipotence of God the Father related to our portfolio of invisible assets, and the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit related to our function inside the PPOG.

Christ was able to endure the judgment of our sins on the cross through the available omnipotence of the Holy Spirit inside the PPOG and by using the ultimate problem solving device: +H. All precedence for the PPOG in the great power experiment of the Church-age is derived from Jesus Christ in the previous dispensation. The doctrine of the Church-age is mystery doctrine, totally unknown to Old Testament believers, and not revealed until our Lord came in the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. And so our Lord endured the Cross and the substitutionary spiritual death which took place because of the joy or the happiness that was placed before Him.

+H fulfills the mandate to of HEB 13:5
“be content with such things as you have, for He will never leave you nor forsake you.” “Exhibited happiness” means exposed to public view.

The entire world could see that Jesus Christ, in His humanity, had the ultimate problem solving device. For no one has ever endured more pain, been more unjustly treated, had so much abuse, and then received the judgment of the sins of the world! The humanity of Christ had advanced in the PPOG to spiritual maturity and had passed evidence testing. Therefore, He had maximum use of this fantastic problem solving device of +H.

In HEB 12:2 having disregarded the shame, means our Lord did not allow contact with our sins to produce sin in Him. Even while being judged for our sins, our Lord did not have any self pity, bitterness, vindictiveness, etc. Instead, He was able to remain on the cross and receive the judgment for all sins by the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit and the function of +H [the happiness of God]. And therefore we are told in HEB 12:3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you do not become fatigued and faint in your souls.”

You become fatigued by using human power instead of the unfailing power of God. Human power is no substitute for divine power in the execution of the PPOG for your life. So our heritage from Jesus Christ on the cross is the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit and the use of the greatest problem solving device, +H. The omnipotence of the Holy Spirit is available to us inside the PPOG, in the fulfillment of the two commands: “Be filled with the Spirit,” EPH 5:18; and “Keep walking by means of the Spirit,” GAL 5:16.

Both these are mandates to reside inside the PPOG under the enabling power of the Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine. So when it says that Christ died for our sins it isn’t talking about physical death and it isn’t talking about bleeding to death, which He didn’t do at all, it is talking about spiritual death. Our Lord’s physical death had nothing to with our salvation, His physical death meant that His work in the first advent was completed.

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.

Weekly Bible Study – October 13, 2014

The Doctrine of the Substitutionary
Spiritual Death of Jesus Christ. Part 2

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

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STUDY TITLE:

The Doctrine of the Substitutionary
Spiritual Death of Jesus Christ. Part 2



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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 Doctrine of the Substitutionary
Spiritual Death of Jesus Christ. Part 2

JOH 3:1-8, Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Him by night, and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

“Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.” Here is our Lord dealing with religion. Religion needs a spiritual birth. Religion needs changes.

Because you see religion is Satanic.

Religion has false doctrine, called doctrine of demons, 1TI 4:1.

Religion has a devil’s communion table, 1CO 10:19-20.

Religion has another gospel, GAL 1:6.

Religion has another Jesus, 2CO 11:4.

Religion has another Spirit, 2CO 11:4.

Religion is called “whitewashed tombstones”, beautiful on the outside but inside full of dead-men’s bones. So our Lord’s words in JOH 3:7, “Do not marvel” suggest the reaction of Nicodemus.

Nicodemus was totally shocked in spite of all his human accomplishments. He was totally baffled.

In verse 8, Jesus illustrates that a spiritual thing is not something that you can see.

JOH 3:8, “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

When you were born again you didn’t see it. God the Holy Spirit entered you into union with Christ.

The Holy Spirit came to indwell inside of you, you didn’t feel it or see it either. Where does the wind begin and where does it end? The wind cannot be seen, only the effects are visible. You know wind exists because it hits you in the face. However, you do not know how the wind got there or where it’s going. So, it is with the spiritual birth. It is unseen, but it is nevertheless real.

So in JOH 3:9, Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

He had not been taught this at his theological seminary and please notice our Lord uses a little sarcasm at the right time.

JOH 3:10-13, Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak that which we know, and bear witness of that hich we have seen; and you do not receive our witness. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how shall you believe if I tell you heavenly things? And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, {even} the Son of Man.”

No man has ascended up to heaven, simply means that all Old Testament saints were in Abraham’s bosom and none had ascended into heaven as of yet. Abraham’s bosom is a reference to paradise which was located in the middle of the earth before Christ ascended into heaven. The first man to enter into heaven in a resurrection body was the Lord Jesus Christ. However, in verse 13, the Lord Jesus Christ declared He was in heaven at the very moment He was speaking to Nicodemus.

He could be in heaven at the same time that He was also in His human body because He is the God-man, the unique person of the universe. Nicodemus was familiar with Numbers 21 which gives us the story of the serpent. What did our Lord mean when He said “The son of man must be lifted up?”

He meant that true life could only come out of death. He meant that in order for a new creation to begin the old creation must be destroyed. When our Lord died on the Cross He put an end to the Adamic race and began a new one.

Our Lord referred to His sacrificial death as a lifting up because the Jews were looking for a Messiah who should be lifted up. They wanted the Messiah to be elevated to the throne of David but before this, He must be lifted up upon the Cross and put to shame. To illustrate the character the meaning and the purpose of His death, the Lord refers to the well known incident in Numbers 21.

In Numbers 21 Israel was murmuring against the Lord and against the man of God.

NUM 21:4-9, Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. And the people spoke against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food.” And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

Israel was murmuring against the Lord and against Moses. So that in verse 6 the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people. The interesting thing here goes back once again to the original language.

Because in verse 6, the word for serpent is the same word used for the serpent in the arden of Eden in Gen 3, nachash (naw-khawsh’); meaning a snake or literally an image of a serpent. This serpent lies and deceives the individual in a literal way. However, when the Lord says in NUM 21:8 to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard” The word for serpent here is the Hebrew word nachash (naw-khawsh’) referring not to a snake, but a mythological type of a serpent. Which simply means that the Lord jesus Christ does need to use sin to fulfill His plan and policy literally. He can use a type of sin or something that represents, as in, in this case a nachash, a type or representative analogy of sin. Now, why is this so important? It is important because there are teachings like BUddism that teach that we need evil to reveal sin.

There are even Christians who teach others that we need evil to appreciate good.

And they quote verses and passages like ISA 45:7 to justify their opinion, which says “I am the One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these." These fiery serpents bit the people so that some of the people died and many others were wounded from the poisonous bites of the literal serpents. In verse 7, notice that they confessed they had sinned and they cried unto Moses for relief. Moses cried unto God and the Lord told him to make a serpent out of brass and place it on a pole.

The Jews who were bitten by the fiery serpents were told to look at the brazen serpent “in faith” and they should be healed. This all was a foreshadowing of our Lord. It spoke of Christ being lifted up on the cross in order that He might save, through the look of faith, those who were dying from sin.

Why use a serpent?

The serpent was an appropriate figure of that deadly and destructive power, sin.

In GEN 3:15, the serpents’ seed is said to be unregenerate sinners.

The serpent therefore represented the sinner. Now, the poison of the fiery serpents’ bite effected the entire system of its’ victims. There was no deliverance therefore for the Jews unless God provided one. The remedy which God provided was a “public exhibition” of the destroyer, the serpent on a pole.

GAL 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”

Now, the question arises, Why didn’t Moses use one of the actual serpents and spike a fiery serpent on the pole?

Because it would have damaged the typology.


It would have pictured God’s judgment on the sinner himself and worse still, it would have misrepresented our sinless substitute, TLJC.

HEB 7:26, For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens.

The type chosen was in the likeness of a serpent, it wasn’t an actual serpent, but a piece of brass made like one.

The correlates with ROM 8:3, For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God {did:} sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and {as an offering} for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

HEB 4:15, For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as {we are, yet} without sin.

The one who is the sinners Savior was sent, in the likeness of sinful flesh. How could a serpent fitly symbolize the Lord Jesus Christ, the holy One from God? A serpent is one of the last things we would ever think would represent the Lord. However, the brazen serpent foreshadows Christ only as He was lifted up on the cross.

The lifting up pointed to the Cross. The serpent was a reminder and emblem of the curse. It was through the agency of that old serpent, the devil, that our first parents were seduced nd brought under the curse of a holy God. On the Cross never forget, the holy one of God was made a curse for us.

So, the serpent accurately prefigured the crucified Savior being made a curse for us. But why a serpent of brass? This brings out once more the perfect accuracy of the type or the doctrine of typology. In the scriptures brass symbolizes divine judgment! The brazen altar illustrates this truth for on it the sacrificial animals were slain. Upon the brazen altar descended the consuming fire from heaven. In Rev 1 Christ is seen as judge inspecting the seven churches, we are told that His feet were like fine brass.

REV 1:15 and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace,

Brass is harder than iron, or silver, or gold, it told, then, of Christ’s mighty strength. He was able to endure the awful judgments which fell upon Him, a mere creature, though sinless would have been utterly consumed.

From what has been said so far, it is evident that when God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and to place it on a pole and told the Jews to look on it and they should live, that He was preaching to them the Gospel of His grace.

Moses was commanded by God to make a serpent of brass, it was something the Lord provided. Moses was commanded to fix this brazen serpent upon a pole. Therefore, the divine remedy was publicly exhibited so that all Israel might look and be healed. The Lord’s promise in NUM 21:8 was that “It shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he looks upon it shall live.”

The point is that man was to look away from himself to the divinely appointed object of faith.

The brazen serpent was lifted up so that those who were too weak to crawl up to the pole itself simply could look and be healed.No matter how many times he may have been bitten, no matter how far the poison had advanced, if they looked they could be healed, anyone could be look and anyone could be healed.

It is interesting that man became a lost sinner by a look as in GEN 3:6 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.

Now the sinner is saved by a look, ISA 45:22 “Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.

After salvation the Christian life continues by looking.

HEB 12:2, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.


At the end of the Christian life we are still to be looking for Christ, Philippians 3:20.

PHI 3:20, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;

From the beginning to the end it’s a mere look. Some might say, I don’t know if I’m looking right. In that great crowd of bitten Israelites there were some with young eyes, some with old eyes that looked at the serpent. Some with clear vision and some with dim vision. Faith is simply the eye of the soul looking toward the Lord Jesus Christ, even if it’s only a little faith.

LUK 17:6 “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you.”

JOH 3:14-16, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him 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 eternal life.”

“God” refers here to the first person of the Trinity, God the Father. Since God is perfect, His plan is perfect. Man’s biggest problem which was sin was solved by a perfect God in eternity past. Everything we will ever need in time, every sin that we would ever commit has a divine provision from a perfect God. Every sin in the human race that would ever be committed has a divine solution “in Christ”. God knew every failure we would ever have, every suffering and every heartache.

Therefore He made a provision for every situation in this life. There will never be a trial, or a testing or a suffering too great for the plan of God to handle. Billions of years ago at a certain point of time God loved us. Love requires thought not emotion and billions of years ago, God thought about you. And when He thought about you, He loved you. And because He loved you, He decided to act upon that love.

The mental attitude preceded the action. The mental attitudewas love, the action was the cross. God the Father loved you before you ever loved Him. However, it says that God so loved the world. It is true that God is love but here God so loved the world. God’s love for both the believer and unbeliever is centered around the Cross. It is true that God is love and because God is love the cross exists, When a member of the human race by passes the cross or rejects Christ as his or her personal Savior, he then ecomes the object of divine wrath.

People often wonder why is there a hell? First of all, MAT 25:41 tells us hell was prepared for the devil and his angels. The reason is because God has more than one characteristic. God is love and He is also righteous and just and holy, HAB 1:13, Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil, And Thou canst not look on wickedness with favor.

The Bible is very dogmatic about a literal hell, over one hundred-sixty-two texts in the New Testament alone are given, Over seventy were uttered by the Lord.

Hell is said to be banishment from the presence of God, 2TH 1:4.
Hell is a place of torment and punishment, ISA LUK 16:23.
Hell had to be enlarged by God to make room for man, ISA 5:14.
Hell is a place of eternal fire, MAT 13:42, 50; REV 20:15 and outer darkness, MAT 8:12.
Hell is a place of worms which discomfort their victims, where the conscience does not die, MAR 9:44; 46; 48.
Hell is a place where others can be recognized, ISA LUK 16:23.
Hell is a place where people will pray but will not be heard, LUK 16:27.
Hell is a place where desire remains unfulfilled, LUK 16:24-27; REV 22:11.
Hell is said to be a bottomless pit, REV 9:1.
Hell is said to last forever and ever, REV 14:11.
Hell is a place where the victims are eternally dying yet they are not in a state of death but a process of constantly dying, REV 2:11; 20:14.

However, God so loved the world that He did something so that no one would ever have to suffer in the eternal state.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

God loves those who are incapable of loving Him. Spiritual death means more than being separated from God, it means we do not even have the ability to love God. And, God loved us when we had no capacity to love Him.

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.