Christian Problem-Solving Solutions

Please Read First

 

Most Scripture References and Word & Phrase descriptions are hover active hyperlinks, just hover your mouse curser over the link and the scripture will pop-up (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it, move curser off the link and pop-up stops), Available via most browsers.

 

Christian Problem-Solving Solutions

 

What the Bible says about Christian problem solving!
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A.  Rebound [Restoring Fellowship with God]: 1 John 1:9

 

a.   Clearly Rebound, is not a license to sin; rather it is a grace provision for the believer’s recovery of fellowship with God so he or she may grow spiritually.

 

B.  The Filling of the Holy Spirit: Ephesians 5:18c—…”but be filled with the Spirit.”

 

C.  Faith-Rest [Resting on God’s promises and His doctrines]

 

D.  Grace Orientation [being oriented through bible truth, to the grace policy of God]

 

E.   Doctrinal Orientation [Orientation to God’s Pre-designed Plan for your life and all doctrines pertaining to it]

 

F.   A Personal Sense of Destiny [Knowing that you have a spiritual destiny in God’s Plan]

 

G.  Personal Love for God the Father [We can love Him personally because He’s Perfect, perfect will never disappoint]

 

H.  Impersonal Unconditional Love for all Mankind [Loving imperfect people unconditionally]

 

I.   Contentment and Perfect Happiness with God [Contentment is happiness; we can’t have happiness without contentment].

 

J.   Occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ [Thinking with the full mind of Christ].

 

Teaching repetitiously means repeating over and over the doctrines found in the Word of God because it is pertinent to our spiritual growth; the bible itself is very repetitious.  We’re going to see in this series on the doctrines pertaining to the problem solving solutions that a lot of it will be repeated.

 

ILLUSTRATION: When a babies is born, they’re dumb as a post.  Over time, the mother repeats the words “mom-ma” and “pop-pa” thousands of times; then one day the mother hears the baby speak “mom-ma” and Mom is happy as a clam at that moment in time. After the baby has aged a little he or she starts to walk, taking the first step in a year or so. Other words begin to be memorized by the baby, one of the first words the baby memorizes is “no.” Why, because it was used by the mother probably thousands of times. As you can see, Tinker-Bell doesn’t just waive her magic wand and boom we’re all knowledgeable, it takes a long time to grow up and graduate from High School; does it not?

 

When the child begins to go to school; they learn the alphabet.  Now, if the teacher were to just read off the alphabet once, is the child expected to remember and understand the alphabet? Obviously not, the child has to memorize the alphabet then be taught how to put each letter into words, then sentences, paragraphs, books, etc. This learning and application process continues until the completion of childhood, adolescence and on into adulthood.

 

When a person becomes a born-again believer, at that very second of faith in Christ, he or she is a “new creation” (2CO 5:17), in this new creation old things [like, the old sin nature has lost its power over us and spiritual death which is separation from God has left us] have passed away; and all things have become new. This new creation [that is, human spirit] is just a baby, dumb as a post.  Like a new born baby, this new creature has to grow, be fed spiritual baby food which is simple and basic bible doctrines so the baby spirit can begin to grow spiritually and eventually start applying what has been learned to his or her new life in Christ through to spiritual maturity.

 

You will hear new words & phrases which will give you new insight to the mind of Christ; this technique is called “language of accommodation.”  This way, you will be able to spiritually grow in your mind, soul and new human spirit, using the language of today which will give you a mental frame of reference containing all the doctrine you learn and will be there when you need it for application so you will be able to live the Christian life the way God intended it to be lived. Jesus Himself said in John 10:10 – “…I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” NKJV

 

As you grow spiritually, you will run into many doctrinal and spiritual challenges that you’ll need to overcome so you can stay on track and continue your journey to spiritual maturity. 

 

The problem-solving solutions you’ll learn about in this discipleship series will give you what you need when you need it so you will be able to live your Christian life according to God’s Will.  Remember, the real you now is the new creation (human spirit) that you’ve become and is connected spiritually to your mind and soul, you need to feed it and train it so it will someday be able to control your life to the glorification of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

Optional Reading:

 

o   Up to about 50 years ago, most every one used the Authorized Version of the King James Bible (KJB) which was written in 1611 English. The King James Version was made to look better around 1900 but the translation remained the same as the KJB. The King James 2000 also kept it mostly the same as the KJB but did bring a few words into the 21st century. This can easily cause a major problem; most people today were schooled in 20th or 21st century English language, not 17th century language. Even modern day bibles still are influenced by the 17th century version.

 

o   Language of Accommodation – The adaptation of eternal truth to the human frame of reference through figures of speech and other human language terms. God knew, at the time of the writing of the books of the Bible, all the scientific knowledge which would be accumulated throughout all time. However, He did not force the writers of the Scriptures to eliminate their contemporary phraseology. For example: "The four corners of the earth..." (Revelation 7:1). God knew the earth was round (Isaiah 40:22; Job 26:10) but did not force John to change his vocabulary. Thus, God accommodated (or adapted) human language to divine revelation. God's use of anthropopathisms [ascribing human feelings or emotions to God] and anthropomorphisms [ascribing human physical characteristics to God that He does not actually posses] is another example of the principle of accommodation. A modern example of accommodation is our use of the term sunrise. Sunrise is observational, but not scientific.  Many similar phrases occur in Scripture. The understanding of this principle serves as an important preservation of the integrity of God’s word. (CTS—Chafer Theological Seminary Glossary of Terms)

 

o   God the Holy Spirit so supernaturally directed the human writers of Scripture, that without waiving their human intelligence, vocabulary, individuality, literary style, personality, personal feelings, or any other human factor, His complete and coherent message to mankind was recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture, the very words bearing the authority of divine authorship. “Inspiration” is translated from the Greek, θeopneustos, literally meaning “God-breathed.”  “No progress has ever been made in formulating doctrine from the Bible when men have doubted the inspiration of the Scriptures in all its parts” (Chafer, VII, p.201).  (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Peter 3:16; 1 Corinthians 2:16).

 

o   Verbal inspiration means that, in the original manuscripts, the Holy Spirit guided in the choice of words used. Human authorship was respected to the extent that the writer’s literary style and vocabulary were employed, but without the intrusion of error.

 

o   Plenary inspiration means that the accuracy which verbal inspiration secures is extended to the entire Bible, so that it is inerrant [free from error] and infallible [not capable of being wrong or making mistakes] in all of its parts. (CTS—Chafer Theological Seminary Glossary of Terms)

 

Doctrinal Solutions to Problems

 

Every Christian problem in life has a solution stated in the Word of God. God reveals Himself and His policy through the written pages of the Bible which we call the Word of God, the mind of Christ, and the voice of the Holy Spirit. God supernaturally directed the human writers of Scripture, without waving their personal feelings, human intelligence, literary style, or any other human factor, to convey [make known] His complete and coherent [logical, reasonable, sound, valid] message to mankind. This was done with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture; these very words [the bible] bear the authority of divine authorship. Therefore, there is no such thing as a problem in life that does not have a solution in the Word of God.

For the unbeliever, solutions are always related to mankind’s God given establishment principles, for only in establishment principles can the unbeliever utilize virtue [a type of love that displays his or her good character] and make it a part of his/her life. Therefore, solutions for the unbeliever are limited because he has no eternal or temporal relationship with God. Ultimately then, biblical and doctrinal problem solving is the monopoly [for believers only] of the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. This does not mean, however, that unbelievers cannot solve problems, but that unbelievers do not have answers to all their problems.

Consequently, the subject of problems and solutions found in the bible is always directed toward the believer in Jesus Christ, and specifically toward the Church-age believer whose possession of the mystery doctrines of the Church-age who has his very own portfolio of invisible assets [In our individual portfolio of invisible assets God has provided everything necessary for us in life, in dying, in eternity, growing in grace, and the execution and fulfillment of the Predesigned Plan of God—PPOG.].

 

Our portfolio of invisible assets only becomes apparent when living in the PPOG [Predesigned Plan of God] under the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and by hearing correct and accurate Bible teaching so that we become inculcated [mentally saturated] with information about the PPOG [Predesigned Plan of God] as in EPH 1:3-14, 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ [we praise and bless God because of His blessings to us in Christ], who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ [we are seated in a spiritual sense with Him in heaven], 4 just as He chose [because of our standing in Christ] us [the church—all believing Jews & Gentiles in one body] in Him before the foundation of the world [this was done in eternity past, even before He created the Angels and the universe], that we should be holy and blameless before Him [at the Judgment Seat of Christ]. In love 5 He predestined [God foresaw beforehand that all who would believe in Jesus Christ would be adopted into His family.] us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed [gave] on us in the Beloved [Christ Jesus]. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses [He totally removed our sins], according to the riches of His grace, 8 which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight  9 He made known to us the mystery [NT mystery doctrine] of His will [His plan and purposes for the Church in Christ], according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him [Christ Jesus] 10 with a view to an administration [God’s administration of all history to fulfill His plan of salvation] suitable to the fullness of the times [the church age], that is, the summing up of all things in Christ [gather together in one all things in Christ], things in the heavens and things upon the earth [all will come together in Christ Jesus]. In Him 11 also we have obtained an inheritance [what God freely gives to all believers because of their relationship in Christ], having been predestined [God has determined beforehand (predestined) that all who believe in Jesus Christ will be adopted into His family.] according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will [God decided beforehand that all believers will have an inheritance], 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope [have confidence in our eternal salvation] in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed [safe forever] in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance [having the Holy Spirit is our guarantee of our inheritance], with a view to the redemption [when God gives us our glorified bodies and removes all taint of sin from the earth and universe] of God's own possession [all believers are Jesus’ purchased possession], to the praise of His glory. NASB

 

There are two characteristics of these assets that we must understand: 1) The assets are invisible; we can only come to know and use them by the metabolization of doctrine. 2) These assets are usable in any category of life. Click the following link for more info on the Doctrine of the portfolio of invisible assets (link removed because web address has changed).

 

Metabolized doctrine is the work of God the Holy Spirit when a believer mixes accurate doctrine that is understood with faith. Bible doctrine perceived is made understandable by means of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Once the believer has understood the doctrine he has knowledge only (Greek gnosis), which cannot be applied. However, the believer can use his volition to either accept its truth by faith or to reject it. Much like the body metabolizes food for energy, when doctrine is believed God the Holy Spirit metabolizes the doctrine by cycling it from the left lobe of the soul (mind) to the right lobe of the soul (the heart) where it becomes spiritual energy (Greek epignosis) which is ready for application.

 

·       Hear (first you must hear or read the truth, also called bible doctrine).

 

·       Understand (you must understand bible doctrine so you can believe it – if you’re filled with the Holy Spirit you will know if it is right or wrong to believe ).

 

·       Believe the doctrine (or reject it).

 

·       If you believe, you’ll have the ability to apply it to your Christian life.

 

·       If you never believe it, it won’t be available for application to your life (who would apply something they don’t believe in?).

 

 

The unique availability of divine power, and the fantastic privileges related to being a member of the Royal Family of God [in scripture the Church—all believers combined are called the bride of Christ (REV 21:9), like any king’s wife in this world, we then are considered to be royalty], provide him with clearly defined problem-solving solutions to live out his/her Christian life on earth. In other words, beyond gnosis [a greek word for knowledge not metabolized yet into wisdom] there is the most fantastic system of solving one's own problems from thinking with the mind of Christ. However, accomplishing this requires us to put Bible doctrine [also called Bible Truth, or the Word of God] first in our life.

 

ROYAL FAMILY OF GOD: A royal family is the family of a king; here our Lord Jesus Christ is divine royalty as God.  He is a sovereign king as part of the Trinity, possessing all the attributes of divine essence. Jesus Christ is also the Son of David and therefore Jewish royalty. But also, after His resurrection, ascension, and session He was given His third royal title, King of kings, and Lord of lords, REV 19:16. The Church now becomes the kings and lords that He is King and Lord over. At the moment of salvation every Church-age believer is adopted as an adult son into the royal family of God, EPH 1:5. The royal family of God, therefore, is defined as every Church-age believer, regardless of ancestry, background, race, classification, etc.  All distinctions are erased at the point of salvation and reconciliation and the believer is royalty forever.

 

ROYAL FAMILY HONOR CODE: The royal family honor code is a system of spiritual integrity mandated by God and revealed by the mystery doctrine of the Church-age. The royal family honor code relates to your personal integrity in relationship to other people.  In that sense, the honor code is a supplement to impersonal love for all believers and other pertinent problem-solving solutions of the predesigned plan of God, Rom 13-15.

 

 

 

The Option of the Christian Spiritual Loser

 

Let’s use a hypothetical example: What if, when a young boy turned 5 years old, his parents told him that he needed to go to school.  He replied, Dad—Mom, I can talk and that’s all I’ll need so I’m telling you I don’t want to go to school. To the boy’s surprise, his parents agreed (stupid kid, stupid parents).

 

Since the boy took his life into his own hands at age 5, he went through his childhood without being educated, he couldn’t read or write or do math, etc. Plus, he missed out on all the childhood normal friendships because he didn’t go to school. Therefore, he became a loser in society at an early age.

 

However, his loser life became more and more evident as he grew to adulthood so he decided to get an education.  Of course, he had to start where he left off at age 5 because he needed to learn how to read, write, math, etc. and in addition he now needed to work at least 8 hours a day to make a living.  So, his decision caused him to embark on a new and more difficult journey to become educated as well as make a living.

 

When he became a Christian by believing in Jesus Christ, that He was in fact the Son of God, the promised Messiah, God gave him His promised eternal life and he became a new creature.  Now as a born-again Christian he’d have a choice to make the decision he made as a boy at age 5, only now the decision that needs to be made is about his new spiritual life ahead of him.  That is, would he be willing to become educated by the Word of God or will he say to God, thanks God for the great gift of eternal life but I really don’t have the time to spend on Church and Bible Studies with work and all; so he makes the same mistake as the boy did at age 5 and he never opened the bible again or went to bible class or seriously studied the bible under a qualified pastor-teacher; of course he would still go to heaven but he would be a spiritual loser without even knowing it because he remained blind to his own blindness of spiritual things and never grew up spiritually and didn’t receive any rewards in time or for eternity [he didn’t even know what that statement meant). He would be classified as a spiritual loser.

 

You see, like when the boy grew up and figured out he had missed out on his childhood education, he learned that in order to live the Christian life the way God intended His children to live it, he must renew his mind with the Mind of Christ [The Word of God]. In this discipleship class, you will have equal opportunity to learn a lot of what the Word of God says regarding how to live successfully the Christian way of life. Christ came that you may have life [i.e., eternal life] and that you may have it more abundantly; the goal of this class is to help you understand how to begin living that abundant life now or to gain even more abundance if you are already experiencing it and on the road to spiritual maturity, so-to-speak.

 

Continuing on with defining a Christian spiritual loser: The malfunction of post-salvation perception [being negative to learning Bible truth], metabolization [understanding but not believing the doctrine you were being taught, and not applying it.], and application of Bible doctrine results in the believer becoming a spiritual loser. I want to be clear, absolutely no born-again believer can ever lose his or her eternal salvation (John 10:28-29), but he can fail to execute God's plan, will, and purpose for his or her life in the Church-age.

 

Malfunction of post-salvation perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine is defined as a failure to learn the Bible doctrines related to the mystery doctrine of the Church-age, subsequent failure to advance to spiritual maturity, and, above all, failure to learn the most fantastic systems of the spiritual life, whereby one can actually solve every problem in life, totally apart from any counseling [e.g., marriage counseling  from a psychologist or professional marriage counselor, etc.; why would you go to a non-Christian for help with spiritual things as they would not have a clue since they cannot even understand spiritual things related to the Word of God. Of course, if the professional or psychologist is a spiritually mature believer, it may help you.] or help from another human being [we’re not saying it’s wrong to receive bonafide personal discipleship training to help a new or confused believer get oriented to spiritual growth & doctrine from the Word of God so they can start living the life God intended them to live—John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life [eternal—everlasting life], and that they may have it more abundantly” [life more abundantly here refers to an abundant experience of life in the here and now or both now and in eternity future—GNTC].

 

There are two general causes for the malfunction of post-salvation perception [hearing, reading and learning], metabolization [understanding and not believing bible truth], and application of Bible doctrine. First, there is the rejection of the mystery doctrine of the Church-age when heard or read.

 

COMMENTARY: Mystery – The term used by the Apostle Paul (Ephesians 3:1-13) to communicate a previously undisclosed fact related to the Church Age which had been kept secret (ROM 16:25; COL 1:26) from previous dispensations, [all past ages & generations] namely that Jew and Gentile would now be joined together as co-heirs as believers in Christ. This mystery revealed points to the position that Divine Revelation is progressive [not bound by traditional Old Testament beliefs]. (Romans 16:25, 26); and other things like all believers would be indwelt by the Holy Spirit in the Church Age which gives them all access to more divine power than ever given too anyone before.

 

Secondly, there is apathy or indifference to that same doctrine, so that it is not heard or read (a yeah, yeah or negative attitude toward learning, understanding, believing and applying bible doctrine to your Christian life).

 

Basic Problems in the Life of the Believer

 

When the believer emphasizes his or her relationship with people as a priority over his or her relationship with God, he has a very serious problem. So, what’s the problem: This believer attempts to execute the Pre-designed Plan of God for the Church-age through human power rather than through the divine power available to him or her. Because of total ignorance of Bible doctrine, especially failure to understand virtue-love (example), believers create their own problems. This is what happens when they associate the subject of love in the Bible with their own concepts of love (e.g., sexual attraction, lust, passion, romance, fling, love affair, puppy love, etc.). Therefore, they fail to understand the mandates (authoritative commands) to love God and to love all mankind.

                                       

An ever-present problem in Christianity is the emphasis of people relationships over one's relationship with God, or assuming that a good relationship with people equates with a good relationship with God. Actually, good relationships with people result from first having a good relationship with God.

 

The first sign of spiritual death in our original parents in the Garden was the erroneous [false] assumption that a good relationship with people equaled a good relationship with God. Immediately after the original sin, both Adam and the woman assigned number one priority to their relationship with each other. They did not give one thought to God until our Lord came in the Garden, and then they had to hide. Both Adam and Ishah [Eve] were naked after their original sin of disobedience, and they tried to solve their problem by putting on clothes. So, their first function in spiritual death [meaning, they were now separated from God due to their sin of eating the forbidden fruit] was one of self-righteousness. They assumed that by covering their naked bodies with fig leaves and adjusting to each other that they would be adjusted to God. When the Lord came to visit in the Garden, they discovered the true meaning of spiritual death; total helplessness to have fellowship with God on the basis of their own merits, so they hid from our Lord.

 

This trend has continued throughout history. Many believers in ignorance and rejection of doctrine—[bible truth] allow “people emphasis” to take precedence [priority of importance, e.g. people are more important] over God emphasis; in other words, people relationships are more important than a relationship with God. This is a major reason why so many believers never come to understand these fantastic problem-solving solutions that God has given us to apply when we have any kind of problem in this life.

 

This emphasis problem can only be resolved by consistent perception [hearing & learning doctrine], metabolization [understanding and believing the doctrine], and application of Bible doctrine to your life. The number one priority in the Christian way of life must be our relationship with God. Therefore, all the problem-solving solutions take this into consideration. It is no accident that, in the Church-age, each believer is a priest (Control+click the previous underlined link to read the lesson) and as such represents himself before God (1PE 2:5, 6, 7, 8, 9). In reality, this priesthood is the basis for the function of all problem-solving solutions. There can be no solution to human relationships until we as believers have sorted out our relationship with God. Spiritual adulthood is where this is accomplished.

 

Using Human Power Rather than Divine Power

 

Here we see the believer attempting to execute the Pre-designed Plan of God through human power or energy of the flesh. God is perfect, which means the plan He has for us is perfect. A perfect God could only design a perfect plan. However, we who are in that perfect plan are obviously not perfect. The recipients of this perfect plan, all believers in Jesus Christ, still possess an old sin nature; they still sin and still fail, 1 John 1:10 (“If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him [God out to be] a liar, and His Word is not in us.”) meaning: His Word has no place in our hearts. In other words, a person who denies committing sinful acts does not have the Word of God changing his or her life because they don’t know (understand) the doctrine or they are not applying it. This verse in no way implies that the person who denies committing sinful acts is not eternally saved; remember, the Apostle John is speaking to believers here not unbelievers.

 

Much of the New Testament epistles record the problems of believers related to sin and their failure to use the problem-solving solution for sin, Rebound (more will be said about Rebound in a few more pages).

 

The perfect plan of God can only be executed by perfect power. Perfect power is God's power or omnipotence [all powerful or all mighty—unlimited, infinite and eternal power of the three Persons of the Trinity]. The only way God's power can be executed is the omnipotence of God (we as church age believers have access to all that power). But we keep intruding with our own ability in all forms of legalism or wanting to do it our way. God has provided us His power for the execution of His plan. Each eternal, immutable, infinite, omnipotent, sovereign Person of the Trinity indwells every believer [via Their omnipresence, all three of them reside within all believers]. Divine power is guaranteed to every Church-age believer through the indwelling of the Father (JOH 14:23; 1JO 3:24, 4:12-13, 14-15, 16; EPH 2:2; EPH 4:6; 2JO 9), Son (JOH 14:20; JOH 17:22-23, 26; ROM 8:10; 2CO 13:5; GAL 2:20; COL 1:27; 1JO 2:24), and the Holy Spirit (ROM 8:11; 1CO 3:16, 6:19, 20; 2CO 6:16a-b, c). Never before in history has so much power been made available to the individual believer (every believer). This is a key point in the study of the problem-solving solutions, for they all function from the mind and the thinking of Christ (the mind of Christ can be brought into our soul and spirit so we can think the same way, what & how He thinks). The Bible is our Lord's thoughts [the mind of Christ], and our life is what our thoughts make it. Therefore, the key to the Pre-designed Plan of God is the fact that divine power is guaranteed to each one of us; it has been delegated and made available to each one of us through the perception of the mystery doctrine, and can be utilized by us through the problem-solving solutions. These problem-solving solutions, then, are the real key to actually experiencing Christianity.

 

Ignorance and Rejection of Bible Doctrine

 

The fact that so many believers reject Bible doctrine means they are ignorant of any means of problem solving provided by God. It is impossible for them to solve their problems from their own base of thinking, and therefore impossible to for them to execute God's plan. When one does not take advantage of God's plan, he substitutes his own plan, which will be totally ineffectual. A common illustration of this is problems found in marriage, when two people refuse to wait for God's timing concerning their right kind of man or right kind of woman (one example: both are born-again spiritually maturing believers at the marriage vows = right kind of man & right kind of woman).

 

The problem is the believer's refusal to make Bible doctrine the number one priority in his or her life. No believer can fulfill the will, plan, and purpose of God for his life apart from understanding the mystery doctrine of the Church-age. The basic problem in Christianity is ignorance, which means sloppy, erroneous [incorrect] thinking. Our life is what our thoughts make it. As it says in Proverbs 23:7 "As a man thinks in his heart (mind/soul), so he is." In other words, what you think is what you are!  Ignorance is no excuse, for God provides prepared pastors & teachers in every generation of the Church-age for the communication of the necessary doctrine. The objective of the mystery doctrine of the Church-age is the formation of the invisible hero (we’ll discuss more about that in the future).

 

Ignorance of the mystery doctrine of the Church-age means problems with no solutions:

 

Problems caused by the arrogance complex [many arrogance types] of sins [e.g., mental attitude sins like pride, anger, bitterness, lust, envy, coveting, etc., & verbal sins like maligning, gossip].

 

Problems caused by the emotion complex of sins [sins such as fear, worry, and anxiety].

 

Problems resulting from substituting emotion for spirituality, or making emotion the criteria for the spiritual life.

 

Problems of insecurity, such as ignorance of our eternal security at the moment of our salvation, or confusion concerning our temporal security and ignorance of logistical grace [logistical grace refers to God’s support system for the Christian warrior, both in his walk and needs].

 

People emphasis over God emphasis [do you think more about God or more about people?].

 

Human wealth emphasized over divine wealth [where do you stand on this one?].

 

Human success emphasized over the execution of God's plan.

 

The problem of the "panacea" personality ["panacea" meaning a "cure-all" for difficulties].

 

Money as your panacea [money as your major problem solver for all things].

 

Marriage as a panacea [meaning, all I need to do is get married and that will cure all my ills and problems].

 

I want to have another baby as a panacea.

Social life and pleasure as a panacea.

Sex as a panacea.

Materialism and possessions as a panacea, or status symbols as a means of happiness.

Health as a panacea.

 

The Seven General Categories of Problems in Life

 

1. Problems of distraction, related to both self and others [thinking about self and others are more important].

 

2. Problems of fear as well as other emotional sins such as worry, anxiety, anger, violence, and even murder.

 

3. Problems of rejection in three basic categories: (1) the rejection of our Lord, (2) the rejection of doctrine or bible truth, and (3) the rejection of the believer [not wanting to associate with believers].

 

4. The problem of dying.

 

5. The problem of timing (once a business associate told me he thought I was nuts to take an hour and a half each day to study the bible).

 

6. The problem of promises versus integrity.

 

7. The fragmentation of the sin nature's trends, the worst problem for a believer [i.e., trends towards legalism or lasciviousness—e.g., overt sexual interest or desire].

 

This study does not deal with these problems themselves in detail, but addresses the actual problem-solving solutions for them.

 

An Overview of the Ten Problem-solving solutions

 

We need to study the ten problem-solving solutions in detail in order to get a look at the life beyond gnosis [knowledge]. The first three, Rebound, the Filling of the Spirit, and Faith-Rest, are applied regularly in spiritual childhood – spiritual adulthood. The fourth and fifth, Grace Orientation and Doctrinal Orientation, are developed in spiritual adolescence. The last five, A Personal Sense of Destiny, Personal Love for God the Father, Impersonal Love for all mankind, Sharing the Happiness of God, and Occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ, are for spiritual adulthood.

 

These problem-solving solutions are based on our own metabolization [hearing or reading, understanding, believing) and application of Bible doctrine. They go beyond just gnosis or knowledge so that we will be filled with all the fullness of God (as per Eph. 3:19) when we apply them. These problem-solving solutions are "infinitely more than all we could ever ask or think," as per Eph. 3:20. These problem-solving solutions glorify [to offer your highest respect and honor to God by learning and consistently using them] God in this dispensation of the Church, as per Eph. 3:21.

 

The problem-solving solutions always depend on learning Bible doctrine; they are not simply isolated mechanics, but depend upon a full knowledge of certain categories of doctrine. We as believers were never designed to walk on spiritual crutches, so-to-speak. We were designed to perceive, understand, and apply Bible doctrine, and to learn the problem-solving solutions in the privacy of our own priesthood. We were never designed to complain and get emotional about our sins and failures.

 

You get no real benefit in sharing your problems with others [it is legitimate at times to share/vent what you are going through with friends, but they cannot solve your problems]. Your benefit comes from learning and using the problem-solving solutions, with the result that you are able to experience great happiness and blessing in prosperity or adversity. Blessing is not confined to prosperity [good times], but to the greatest moments of adversity [bad times even your worst times] as well. The secret to spiritual growth is facing every situation in life from the standpoint of God's problem-solving solutions, utilizing them, and growing in grace.

 

These problem-solving solutions are not designed to take up the slack for problems in physical or mental health that require a doctor's care. Problem-solving solutions will alleviate the mental anguish. If your number one priority is not Bible doctrine, there is no way you can effectively use the problem-solving solutions. The problem-solving solutions are "encapsulated" [contained or outlined] in Bible doctrine. Those who do not get the relevant doctrine, the necessary instructions that go with these problem-solving solutions, never use them effectively and are never consistent. They fall back on false hopes and false solutions that destroy their spiritual life and reduce them to the point where they function as any unbeliever would in a crisis.

 

The Formation of the Problem-Solving Solutions

 

The filling of the Holy Spirit plus human I.Q. equals "spiritual I.Q."

 

There are two systems of I.Q.;

 

Human I.Q. throughout the human race has great inequality, while  spiritual I.Q. has perfect equality among all believers.

 

The inequalities of human I.Q. are reflected in I.Q. testing and in the variation of thinking skills.

 

There are six thinking skills- 1) comprehension, 2) memory, 3) problem solving, 4) decision making, 5) creativity, and 6) awareness. God the Holy Spirit converts our finite thinking skills into infinite spiritual skills for perception of God's revelation [Word of God]. This is accomplished through the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher (Ricardo has provided, through his consistent application of exegeting God’s Word in his studying for us, tremendous insight into the book of Romans, Galatians and all his teaching).

 

Comprehension is capacity of the mind to perceive [learn] and understand the ability to grasp ideas. The filling of the Spirit is the divine power to understand doctrine (this is the power you have available to you). The Holy Spirit teaches the human spirit. When doctrine is taught, God the Holy Spirit converts the thinking skills into perception and cognition [the mental activities of thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering] of Bible doctrine.

 

Memory is the mental capacity for retaining or reviving impressions, therefore, the recall of what has been previously comprehended.

 

Problem solving is a human thinking skill. Lack of common sense and sin nature involvement in the human problems of life destroy permanent solutions, and sometimes even temporary solutions to problems.

 

Decision making is no better than the facts available on which to base the decision. Good decisions are based on correct information. For the believer, these good decisions are based on Bible doctrine. For the unbeliever, good decisions are based on establishment principles. Human viewpoint and the sin nature respond to lust, which is created by decisions to sin and motivated by the lust of the sin nature. Believers make three categories of decisions: (1) a good decision from a position of weakness (to use rebound), (2) a bad decision from a position of weakness (to sin), (3) a good decision from a position of strength (to learn doctrine).

 

Creativity is the state or quality of being creative; it is having the ability or power for originality of thought or expression. Creativity includes accurate recovery of Bible doctrine through exegesis, categories of biblical principles, and illustrative expression [e.g. language of accommodation].

 

Awareness means having knowledge or cognizance of things that make one alert and knowledgeable, such as awareness of danger, trends, repercussions, and the feelings of others. Awareness is thoughtfulness, the application of Bible doctrine to experience, and the wisdom to accurately apply Bible doctrine to experience.

 

Being in union with Christ, no believer has any more of a chance to reach maturity than any other believer. We have equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the Pre-designed Plan of God for our lives. We have no handicaps except those we create through our own negative volition.

 

The only person who can solve our problems is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has provided the problem-solving solutions for us, the only God-given means of application of doctrine to experience. There is no accurate application of doctrine to experience unless you have the appropriate doctrine in place in your soul. All other application is false doctrine.

 

The filling of the Holy Spirit converts awareness into spirituality. It enhances the thinking skills in application. Technically, problem-solving solutions are formed by the extrapolation [recall] of pertinent metabolized doctrine in the soul. Spiritual skills must precede production skills for divine good in Christian service. Christian service is meaningless unless you have spiritual skills (the filling of the Spirit, metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness, and the problem-solving solutions). Without these things, we will never be effective in our spiritual life. Production skills without spiritual skills result in the performance of human good, dead works, wood-hay-straw and evil. Evil destroys freedom, privacy, property, and the life of others. Christian activism contradicts the objectives of the Pre-designed Plan of God.

 

In eternity past, God the Father provided for us our very own Spiritual life, and we are the only ones who can use it. No one else can live our spiritual life. No one can rebound or learn doctrine for us. Christian service must be an extension of our spiritual skills and is related to our spiritual gift.

 

Christian service is related to our Royal Priesthood and our Royal Ambassadorship.

 

Christian service is related to our invisible impact (personal, national, international, angelic, and heritage).

 

Christian service is related to the laws of divine establishment (law enforcement, military service, judges).

 

Spiritual skills plus production skills equal the performance of divine good while production skills minus spiritual skills equal human good, dead works, and evil. The effectiveness of Christian service is dependent on the function of the three spiritual skills. It must be accomplished with the filling of the Holy Spirit, metabolized [understood & believed] doctrine, and the function of the problem-solving solutions. The Christian way of life is a supernatural way of life and it demands supernatural means of execution. The filling of the Holy Spirit; metabolization of mystery doctrine of the Church-age; execution of the Pre-designed Plan of God.

 

The weak link of a believer's spiritual life will be either ignorance or failure to develop the problem-solving solutions in the soul. Without problem-solving solutions operational in our soul, we create "log jams" and "grid-lock" in our spiritual life. Doctrine in our soul with no application of that doctrine becomes very detrimental to our spiritual life. This means failure to follow through in our spiritual life. The problem-solving solutions must first be built in the soul and then become operational.

 

Problem solving solution number one: Rebound.

 

At the moment of salvation every believer is both indwelt and filled with the Holy Spirit. However, these two ministries are not identical and should not be confused.  The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a permanent relationship, regardless of carnality or spirituality.  The filling of the Holy Spirit is temporary fellowship determined by our carnality or spirituality.

 

1 Cor 3:16 says: Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Filling Temporary

Indwelling Permanent

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Holy Spirit indwells the body of every believer to make a temple for the indwelling of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:19).  This indwelling of the Holy Spirit can never be lost (JOH 14:16).  The indwelling is permanent-dependent upon God’s faithfulness; the filling of the Holy Spirit is only temporary—dependent upon our volition.

 

Eph. 5:18 says: And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation [a sin—a sinking to a state of low moral standards and behavior; the wasting of a once promising life in dissipation and drunkenness], but be filled with the Spirit.

 

This verse designates a divine mandate [command] that involves a choice.  God would not mandate [command] a status we already possess.  We must choose to be or not to be filled with the Spirit. No believer has the ability to obey God’s mandates [commands] through human power.  The Holy Spirit fills up this deficiency by giving us the power to live the Christian way of life.  But why, if we are filled with the spirit at salvation, is this command necessary?

 

The reason is our old nemesis [enemy], the sin nature.  The filling of the Spirit is lost when we sin.  In carnality we are no longer controlled by the Holy Spirit, but by the sin nature.  How can we escape this control? Rebound! 

 

 

What are some of the sins listed in the bible:

 

Galatians 5:19-20, 21 adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness [sexual sins], idolatry, sorcery [witchcraft, occult sins], hatred, contentions [arguing, being hard to get along with], jealousies, outbursts of wrath [fits of anger or rage] selfish ambitions, dissensions [disagree with bible truth], heresies [clinging to false doctrine], envy [a painful awareness of another's possessions or advantages and a desire to have them too], murders, drunkenness, revelries [over indulgent partying, e.g. orgies], and the like; (NKJV)

 

Romans 1:24-28—24 Therefore God also gave them [v 18; all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness], up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

 

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions [sin onto death]. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.  27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

 

 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

 

COMMENTARY: Rom 1:24. Because mankind stubbornly persists in the sin of idolatry, the descent into which they fall becomes evident from vv 24-32. Thus Paul says, God also gave them up. The verb “gave up” (paredōken, found in vv 24, 26, 28) becomes highly important to understanding God’s wrath and how it functions. Since this section highlights God’s response, the verb paredōken specifically describes how God’s wrath is presently being revealed (v 18). He basically hands people over to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.

 

1:25. Paul continues describing in detail those who exchanged the truth of God for the lie. The literal phrases, the truth and the lie, suggest Paul has a specific idea in mind. Verse 25 repeats the general sense of v 23. Comparing both verses shows that the truth parallels “the glory of the incorruptible God” manifested in creation and the lie parallels “an image,” which they traded for God. As a result, humanity worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, whom Paul described as blessed forever (a Jewish benediction), with a strong affirmation, Amen (cf. 9:5; 11:36; 15:33; 16:24), that means “Let it be.”

 

1:26-27. Paul says, For this reason [since they chose to worship and serve idols] God gave them up (cf. v 24) to vile passions. Hence, God gives them up by lifting His grace and allowing their desires to be fulfilled.

 

An absence of God’s general grace allows human sin to go unchecked, which results in a greater perversion of sin. Paul explains those sins of vile passions by saying that even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Lesbianism was rarely mentioned in ancient literature. Likewise...men...burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful. Corinth, the place from which Paul wrote, was an immoral city with homosexuality being one of its many vices. Also, one of Rome’s most notorious sins was homosexuality. Paul knew the penalty of their error came in different forms. Today AIDS and scores of other sexually transmitted diseases are examples of common penalties.

 

The Nelson Study Bible – NKJV with notes says the following about ROM 1:27

 

Homosexuality is sin (Lev. 18:22).  In this passage (v. 27), the point is not that homosexuality is a sin that should be punished.  Rather homosexuality itself is the punishment.  Having rejected God and become idolaters, some, if not all persistent homosexual men & women have been given over to their shameful passions (v. 26). Thus they receive in themselves the penalty of their error.

 

1:28. Another step downward occurred because men did not like to retain God in their knowledge. There is a word play here in the original Greek. Man did not like to retain (dokimazo) God, so God gave them over to a debased [adokimon, disapproved] mind (cf. vv 24, 26). Dokimozo is the verb form from which the noun dokimos, and its antonym, adokimos, derive. When men who are believers do not approve God in their knowledge, He gives them up to disapproved minds—we refer to as the sin unto death. (GNTC)

 

Romans 1:29-32— 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness [cruel, wanting to do harm to someone]; full of envy, murder, strife [disagreeing angrily or violently], deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,  30 backbiters [speaking badly of someone], haters of God, violent, proud, boasters [braggarts], inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning [lack of discernment—lacking the ability to judge well], untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;  32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death [sin unto death], not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them [in other words, they disregard their conscience, and instead promote immorality]. (Italics added)

 

The rebound technique is the only problem-solving solution that functions when the believer is in a state of carnality, a state of sin, or in other words when out of fellowship with God. The reason it can function in a state of carnality is because we are a part of the Royal Priesthood at the moment of salvation. This is one of the ten unique factors of the Church-age. A priest functions out of fellowship by using Rebound.  Rebound is recovery of the Filling of the Holy Spirit, without which there is no Spiritual life. Without Rebound as a problem-solving tool, it would be impossible to utilize our portfolio of invisible assets. We can't learn or spiritually comprehend about these assets or any biblical doctrine apart from the Filling of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit cannot teach the human spirit when we are out of fellowship. Why, because we disengaged ourselves from fellowship with God by committing a sin.

ROYAL PRIESTHOOD—All believers in the Church-age are royal priests and represent themselves before God, 1PE 2:5. No longer is there a specialized priesthood like the Levitical priesthood of Israel. Every Church-age believer, regardless of race or background is a royal priest. The royal priesthood is one of the believer’s primary invisible assets.

 

Without Rebound as the first problem-solving tool, it would be impossible to learn and use the others. This is the one that is the most neglected, and the key to using all the others.

 

Since this tool is so important to your spiritual growth and spiritual life, demonic influence (1 Timothy 4:1) activity could increase to try to get you to not Rebound.  Never forget, that Satan’s demons are instructed to do all they can to keep you from growing spiritually and one of their favorite techniques is to use your old sin nature to keep you out of fellowship with God.

 

·       demon influence of unbelievers is invasion of the soul through the doctrines of demons, i.e., cosmic thinking, 1TI 4:1-2, "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron."

 

·       OPTIONAL READING: Demon Influence / Activity –Demon influence is thought transference of Satanic doctrine to the soul and personality of the unbeliever, or to the believer living in the cosmic system (1 Timothy 4:1).  It is accomplished through both demonic and human agents, primarily through demon possession, and secondarily through every mode of communication, in person to person contact, literature, theatre, music, etc. The degree of demon influence depends on how long the believer resides in the cosmic system without the use of confession of personal sin, restoration to fellowship with God, and the filling by means of the Holy Spirit.   Demon influence should be distinguished from demon possession.  Demons are active in and behind some religious ritual (1 Corinthians 10:20). (Romans 1:18-25; 1 Corinthians 10:14, 19-20-21). Chafer Theological Seminary Glossary of Terms

 

Without Rebound as the first problem-solving solution, it would be impossible to execute the Pre-designed Plan of God. No one has ever fulfilled God's plan for the Church-age without consistence in the use of Rebound. Post-salvation sinning is a contradiction to the Pre-designed Plan of God, but God in His grace has provided the solution for it. Without Rebound as the first problem-solving solution, it would be impossible to become an invisible hero, and therefore a member of the pivot who glorifies God. No one glorifies God without the consistent use of Rebound.

 

The pivot is defined as the accumulation of mature believers living in a client nation, or under civil government, in a specific geographical location. While a pivot is composed primarily of mature believers, it may also include those positive believers whose momentum has carried them into spiritual adulthood. Technically, the pivot may include all believers who have fulfilled the principle of virtue first as their first priority in the plan of God [Gods predesigned plan and His bible doctrine must be our first priority in our Christian lives]. Believers in the pivot stand out in contrast to believers living in the cosmic system, whose arrogance from motivational arrogance results in self-righteous and crusader arrogance [putting political or some other cause as our first priority before God]. God’s client nation will fall under blessing or discipline as the pivot increases or decreases respectively. 

 

 

The Christian way of life is a supernatural way of life and demands a supernatural means of execution. The Christian way of life can only be fulfilled in the power of the Spirit.

 

Without rebound as a problem solving tool, the believer will end up being at least nine things:

 

1) An enemy of the Cross, Philippians 3:18-19.

 

It distresses Paul greatly that there are believers who live their lives in opposition to the cross of Christ. These believers pursue their own self-interest and pleasure and disregard His call to bear the cross of discipleship. With their mind set on the things of the world, their pursuit of what is shameful will eventually result in their deaths. Here selfishness and selflessness are clearly contrasted [differ strikingly]. These libertines selfishly live for their own self-gratification. Paul selflessly lives for Christ. The libertines [a person who has sunk below the normal moral or spiritual standard; Synonyms: Backslider, Deviate, Decadent, Perv, Pervert] set their mind on earthly things. Paul, on the other hand, has the eternal perspective of Christ’s reward. GNTC

2) An enemy of God, James 4:4.

 

Materialism, immorality, and spiritual blindness [being blind to your own blindness] are all components of this wicked entity and are in sharp conflict with God’s interests and purposes on earth. James is insistent here (as is the Apostle John in 1 John 2:15, 16, 17) that one cannot be on good terms with both God and the world. One must choose the side he or she is really on, and when one opts for friendship with the world, he/she automatically opts for enmity [a deep-seated ill will or being an enemy] with God. He has chosen the status of an antagonist toward his Maker and Redeemer. This is just like when a married man decides to engage in immorality with a woman to whom he is not married. In that very decision he chooses to reject fidelity (chooses to be unfaithful or not be loyal), to his wife. Thus in their craving for worldly acceptance and standing, James’s Christian readers are committing spiritual adultery and renouncing friendship with their Lord. It may have surprised many of them to hear it put this way, but James’s aim is to wake them up to the sad depth to which their spirituality and devotion had sunk. GNTC

3) Haters of God, John 15:23.

 

COMMENTARY: The sin spoken of in vv 22 and 24 is rejecting and hating Jesus. If Jesus “had not come and spoken to them” and had not performed mighty works (“works which no one else did”) among them, “they would” not have been guilty of the sin of rejecting and hating Him. Failure to believe in Him is the ultimate act of disobedience toward God. The Judeans hatred of Jesus demonstrated hatred toward God the Father as well, though they would vehemently [intensely] deny this. GNTC

 

 4) Double-minded, James 4:8.

 

Split loyalties, teeter-tottering between your desire to stay conformed to the world rather than conforming to God’s plan for your life.

5) Anti (against) Christ, 1 John 2:18, 22, 4:3; 2 John 1:7.

 

1 John 4:3 – “and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” NKJV –

 

COMMENTARY by GNTC on 1 John 4:3 - In contrast to “Every spirit that confesses” Christ is “every spirit that does not confess” ...Jesus [as] Christ come in the flesh. Such a spirit exemplifies the spirit of the Antichrist. John does not say every spirit that denies, but rather every spirit that does not confess [does not teach, profess or proclaim that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God]. Heretical teaching can mask the full extent of its deviation [turning away] from the truth by simply failing to affirm some pivotal [fundamental] biblical truth. GNTC

 

·       I used to run into this principle of deviation [turning away, misrepresentation] from the truth frequently in the life insurance business which is considered an intangible product [can’t see, taste, feel, etc.]  As an example, When I’d get a call from one of my clients saying they were canceling the mortgage life insurance policy I sold them, I’d make an appointment with them to review what they purchased to determine what really was the better product as I had nothing to lose since I had already been paid my commission; and my council was included in that commission whenever the need arises. My objective was to conserve the business I had with my client, for his sake.   Far more often than not, the agent that replaced or was trying to replace the policy was either ignorant of the full truth about his product or actually deceiving the customer so he would be easier to sell and replace the policy the customer already had, and of course the motivation was always the commission that would be received by the replacing agent; the latter was usually the case.  The trick was the difference between straight line decreasing term insurance verses decreasing term insurance that was tied to the same rate of decline as the interest rate in the mortgage. The latter which was replaced had a slightly higher monthly premium payment (motivation to get a cheaper payment which some agents will take advantage of). However, when I would visit my client and looked over the policy he had purchased for a cheaper price I would point out what the pay-off would be in 5 years which would be many 1,000’s of dollars less than the remaining mortgage he purchased from me; far less than what the policyowner was expecting his wife would get to pay off the mortgage if he died. I never lost a case. In essence, the other agent was the wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing looking for easy pray.

 

6) Carnal, 1 Corinthians 3:3.“for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” NKJV

 

CARNALITY: The state of which the old sin nature controls the soul [meaning you’ve lost fellowship with God and your old sin nature is in control] of the believer thereby grieving and even possibly, quenching the Holy Spirit. This control over the soul is allowed through the free-will volitional decision of the believer. Carnality is broken and spirituality is restored by use of the rebound technique, 1 John 1:9. (RMBM)

 

COMMENTARY by GNTC on 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, 3. Paul had been discussing the natural person (the unbeliever) and the spiritual person (the mature believer). Now he addresses the readers as falling in a third category: And I, brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

 

Carnal Christians are spiritual infants, regardless of how long they have been in the faith. They need to be nourished with milk and not with solid food. When Paul came to Corinth in about AD 51, he led many to faith in Christ. For eighteen months Paul taught these new believers the basic and essential teachings of Christian living so that they might become spiritual people. Four to five years had elapsed between the time of Paul’s ministry at Corinth and the time he wrote this letter, but the Corinthians had remained immature in their faith.

 

Paul expresses his dismay when he says, and even now you are still not able to receive the solid food of God’s Word. They had not yet grown into spiritual men and women (cf. Heb 5:14). Their Christian lives were characterized by envy, strife, and divisions. Paul asks them, are you not carnal (lit., “characterized by the flesh”) and behaving like mere men? The original language expects an affirmative answer. They may have thought they were spiritual, but their lifestyle revealed a fleshly mindset (cf. 1CO 4:8, 9, 10). GNTC

 

7) A disciple of the devil, 1 John 3:8, 10

 

 8 “He who sins is of the devil [that is, he is doing the devils work], for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested [appeared, came], that He might destroy the works of the devil. NKJV

 

COMMENTARY: Satan’s sinful nature is shown through the lives of those who belong to him.  Jesus’ purpose in coming was to destroy the devil’s works.  A person who sins, even a believer, is of the devil in the sense that he is participating in the devil’s activity (2:19). Thus John is indicating that it is possible for believers to do that which is of the devil (Mark 8:31, 32, 33; James 3:6). Nelson Study Bible-NKJV

 

10 “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest [made known]: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God [meaning: believers are not applying the Word of God to their life], nor is he who does not love his brother [meaning: again, believers are not applying the Word of God to their life].”

 

COMMENTARY: Christians manifest [make known] their nature by practicing righteousness (2:7). Children of the devil display their basic nature by sinning.  Believers who sin are not expressing their nature as children of God; instead, they are following the devil’s pattern. Nelson Study Bible-NKJV

        

 

OPTIONAL READING:

 

COMMENTARY: by GNTC on 1 John 3:8 & 10

 

3:8. If believers are righteous, and sin is not a manifestation of that righteousness, then the sin all believers commit (1:8) is of the devil, that is, sourced in him. Interpreters who take a statement like this as the equivalent of saying that a professing Christian is unsaved miss the point. Since even John acknowledges that Christians sin (see 1:7, 8-9, 10), if he who sins is unsaved, everyone is unsaved!

 

John states that the devil has sinned from the beginning, that is, he is the source of all sin, and his sinful career dates from the beginning. (The beginning does not refer here to eternity past, since the devil is a created being and not eternal. The reference is to the original state of creation as it was when Satan introduced sin into it (Isa 14:12, 13, 14-15; Ezek 28:11-12, 13a-g, 13h, 14, 15.) To be of the devil means “to be doing the devil’s work” (cf. Jesus’ words to Peter in Matt 16:23).

 

Also participation in sin is participation in the very thing that Jesus came to destroy, because the Son of God was manifested [came] in order that He might destroy the works of the devil (cf. v 5, He “was manifested [came] to take away our sins”).

 

3:10 - The NKJV takes this statement as a reference to what follows it (note the colon in its translation). But it is preferable to take the last half of the verse as the beginning of a new unit.

 

The words In this refer backward rather than forward in this context. The use of the words are manifest [appear] in verse 10 link the statement with what has preceded in 2:29-3:9. The children of God...are manifest [appear to be righteous] by their doing righteousness. This is not to be viewed as a test of salvation. John’s one and only test of salvation is faith (cf. 5:1a [NKJV] – 5:1a [NASB] and 5:9, 10, 11-12, 13). Instead, this is simply a statement about how God’s children do manifest themselves.

 

OPTIONAL READING: 5.1b can be confusing: Zane Hodges, in his book “The Epistles of John (Walking in the light of God’s Love),” wrote the following about 5.1b which says “and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.”—Zane’s commentary says: Why do I love the child of God? Because I love the Father [who is God] of the child! And if I do not love the child, I am simply lying if I say that I love his Father [God] (4:20). Italic’s & brackets added.

 

Those who see 1 John as a handbook for deciding who is saved and who is not misuse the book grievously. John is advancing the theme stated in 2:28 that boldness in the presence of the Lord is offered to those who abide [in fellowship with God, to the max] in Him. By abiding in Him, believers can and do manifest [display] themselves as children of God. But those who do not abide do not so manifest [display]  themselves. The reality of their regenerate inward man remains hidden.

 

The same principle applies to the children of the devil. There is no good reason to take this phrase as a reference to unsaved people generally (see v 8). The term “children of the devil” is descriptive in nature. In light of 2 John 9, the Christian who has deviated from sound doctrine about the person and work of Jesus Christ and who vigorously opposes the truth could be so described. This is no more strange than the fact that Jesus addressed His own disciple Peter as “Satan” (Matt 16:23). The “child of the devil” is anyone who does the devil’s work by opposing the truth.

 

8) Grieving the Spirit, Ephesians 4:30 (cf. Eph 4:25-32) “And do not grieve [sin] the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” [when our current bodies become resurrection bodies at the Rapture] NKJV; this is a command.

 

Ephesians 4:25-32 – 25 Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. 26 “Be angry, and do not sin” [keep anger controlled]: do not let the sun go down on your wrath [deal with it promptly], 27 nor give place to the devil [unresolved anger will allow the devil to divide believers]. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt [rotten] word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption [when our current bodies become resurrection bodies at the Rapture]. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, (along) with all malice [evil behavior]. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

 

Grieving the Holy Spirit is sinning from your area of weakness. So, what’s that mean?

                           

The area of weakness is the source of all temptation to sin. When linked with negative volition to bible doctrine, this area of weakness results in personal sin. Remember, it is not sinful to be tempted, but it is sinful to succumb to that temptation. In other words, your area of weakness, a part of the old sin nature, is where temptation comes from, when you commit the personal sin after you’ve been tempted by your old sin nature to do so; this is grieving the Spirit.

 

COMMENTARY on Ephesians 4:30 – The Holy Spirit of God should never be pushed away, ignored, or rejected. If we would remember that the One who lives in us is God’s own Spirit, we would be much more selective about what we think, read, watch, say and do. Note that Paul acknowledges that evil thoughts and actions are temptations even for those who are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Nelson Study Bible, NKJV, Notes.

 

RQ: Would you do the things you do, say, and think if our Lord Jesus Christ was standing in front of you?

 

He is even closer to you than that, He’s indwelt in you!

 

9) Quenching the Spirit, 1 Thessalonians 5:19 “Do not quench the Spirit.” NKJV; this is a command.

 

Quenching the Holy Spirit is the production of human good from your area of strength. Again, what’s that supposed to mean?

            

The area of strength produces a negative type of good, called human good. This is also called "dead works" and "wood, hay, and stubble or straw." In other words, your area of strength is when you do good deeds when you are out of fellowship with God, this is “quenching the Spirit”.  Furthermore, whenever you do a good deed when you are out of fellowship with God, that good deed is not rewardable in time or for eternity, it’s just wood, hay and stubble that will be burned up at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

SEE ADDENDUM: Human Good vs Divine Good – passed out class #4

A good deed done with improper motivation is still wrong and is quenching the Holy Spirit. Why? Because you are out of fellowship with God when you did the good deed.

 

A distinction must be made between “grieving” and “quenching” the Holy Spirit. It is grieving [sin] that disengages you from fellowship with God the Father; quenching the Holy Spirit is doing a good deed when out of fellowship with God and the good deed will not restore fellowship with Him; both will keep you out of fellowship which shows there are different categories of failure. This difference is in relation to the old sin nature, which is the center of man’s rebellion toward God. Each man’s and woman’s old sin nature has an area of weakness, which produces personal sins and an area of strength which generates human good when out of fellowship with God. Grieving the Spirit is sinning from the area of weakness, and quenching the Spirit is the production of human good [any good deeds done when out of fellowship with God] from the area of strength. In EPH 4:30 and 1TH 5:19, the Holy Spirit is warning us about stepping out of God’s plan; we are the ones who benefit from staying in the plan, and it is only in the plan of God that the Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in our lives. Remember, if you have long or short periods of being out of fellowship, any good deeds you do during times of unconfessed sin in your life are conscientious deeds but are not rewardable; they are nothing more than wood, hay and straw; whereas, good deeds done when in fellowship with God are rewardable and will be considered gold, silver and precious stone which will not be burned up by fire at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1CO 3:12-13).

 

·       COMMENTARY: by GNTC on 1TH 5:19: The first instruction regarding the church body collectively is this: Do not quench the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is figuratively [expressing one thing in terms normally for another, like an analogy] seen as a fire that can be quenched. Paul is not speaking of the Holy Spirit Himself being quenched, for that is impossible. Rather, he is speaking of quenching the work He would like to do in a church. Just as no one would throw water on fire that is warming the house, so one should not throw water on the work of the Holy Spirit carried out by the teachers He has raised up to edify the church.

 

The only way we ever fulfill God's plan and purpose for our life is through the Ministry of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:22, With reference to your former lifestyle, you yourselves lay aside [rebound] the old man [sin nature], you who are becoming degenerate on the basis of the lusts of deceit.

The mechanics of laying aside the old man are found in two passages: Psalm 32:5b, I said, "I will acknowledge my transgression to the Lord, and You forgave the iniquity [guilt] of my sin;" and 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” NKJV In other words, if we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and righteous [just], with the result that He forgives our sins [known sins], and He purifies us from all wrong doing [unknown sins].

It is important to also understand that often those with legalistic tendencies become upset because they think rebound is a license to sin.  Some believers who fail may use rebound for exactly that purpose.  But rebound restores the believer to a position where he can live his spiritual life and serve God, not excuse or rationalize sin; if the term license is used, it should be used in terms that rebound is a license for spiritual growth, not a ridiculous notion that it’s a license to sin.  No believer can be in God’s plan apart from the divine power which comes only through the filling of the Holy Spirit. Rebound is the only means of recovering from post salvation sin and regaining the filling of the Holy Spirit.

 

It is also important to note the motivational elements of staying in fellowship with God.  2 John 8 says: “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.” The more time you spend abiding in Christ, the more eternal and temporal rewards you will accumulate for yourself for eternity future. This warning is not only to guard yourself from sinning and getting out of fellowship but to stay firmly away from false doctrinal teaching because if you get hooked on legalism or turn away you will diminish your reward, even greatly diminish it.  This is not to say you will lose all the reward you have already earned (cf Heb 6:10; Mark 9:41) but that you could be in danger of not receiving “full reward” (i.e., reigning with Christ in the Millennium and eternity).  A full reward would be from enduring the abiding in Christ until you finish this life; with only minimal time out of fellowship.  To look on the bright side, abiding in Christ (staying in fellowship) becomes easier the more you consistently take in the Word of God and apply it to your life; this is how we glorify our Lord and God which is one of the primary reasons mankind came into existence.

 

Example: Most of you have computers or some electronic device.  If you only work with the computer once a week, or just check email, I think it’s safe to say you will never become an expert in running the device and be able to experience it’s full potential. The less you use the device, you may even forget most of what you’ve learned; this would be tantamount to not receiving “full reward”.

Definition and Description of Rebound.

 

Rebound is a problem-solving tool for the sins of the believer. You cannot live the Christian way of life without Rebound, because all believers have an old sin nature. We have an old sin nature with an area of weakness [succumbing to sinful temptations], an area of strength [doing good deeds out of fellowship], and a trend toward legalism or antinomianism [one who holds that in the church age that moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary for eternal salvation—to them it’s a license to sin]. We all have different old sin natures with different areas and different trends. On the Cross, all our sins, past, present and future, were imputed [accredited] to Christ, and He received the judgment for every one of them. He used all the problem- solving solutions (except Rebound because He did not sin) to remain impeccable.

In 1 John 1:9, Rebound is described as one of our priestly functions toward God. If we acknowledge [admit, cite, name, confess] our sins [known post-salvation sins], He is faithful and just with the result that He forgives our sins [known post-salvation sins] and cleanses [purifies] us from all unrighteousness [unknown & forgotten post-salvation sins of ignorance].

 

SKIP: The Greek word for acknowledge is homologeo which means to cite a courtroom case that proves your contention [to state as a fact]. In this sense, we acknowledge, name, or cite a case [sin] that went to court already: the judgment of your sins were paid for by Christ on the Cross. We already accepted this fact when we believed in Christ for salvation. So we, as Royal Priests, cite, name, or acknowledge our sin(s) privately and directly to God.

SKIP:The sins of the believer cause him to be out of fellowship with God and no longer filled with the Spirit. Naming our sins to God is totally non-meritorious [human response in which our merit, emotions, or works are entirely excluded.], how we feel about the sin(s) is inconsequential. We are simply doing exactly what God says to do, which is to privately acknowledge our sins to God in the privacy of our own Priesthood, that is, with your thoughts directed to God the Father only, you cite the sin to Him.

 

SKIP:Illustration: Have you ever been talking to someone on your cell phone and found yourself talking away and no one is there?  On my cell phone, I’ve talked for as long as 5 minutes explaining something to someone and didn’t know I had been cut off.  This is what happens hen, let’s say, you lose it on the freeway and start angrily barking or cussing at some driver who almost cut you off on the freeway; meaning, you went from maybe a prayer to God to the sin of total anger instantly when you reacted to that driver. Instead of the bad outburst of anger, couldn’t you instead have thanked God that the bad driver didn’t run into you or even cause you have an accident?  Which one do you think would be the Christian way to handle it?

SKIP:There's a lot of drive for self-improvement in the old sin nature. We may improve, take vows, try to make it up to God, and if the sin shocks us enough, we may even change our behavior pattern. But none of that is the Christian way of life; it is legalism.

In 1 John 1:9 the word “sins” refers to personal sins, specifically to the sins of believers. It doesn't refer to pre-salvation sins, they were all forgiven and blotted out at the moment of your faith in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation, Isaiah 43:25; Isaiah 44:22; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14. The sins mentioned here are post-salvation sins. Hence, Rebound deals with the problem of post-salvation sinning, as noted in the context with verses 8 and 10 (i.e., 1 John 1:8 and 10).

 

Let’s take a quick look at 1 John 1:8 & 10. 

 

Verse 8 says:  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

 

Commentary: The false claim is that we have no sin. The idea would be that our sin nature is completely gone. To say this is to deceive ourselves (see 2 Chr. 6:36a; John 9:41 GNTC). The truth is God’s revelation, which says just the opposite. To have no sin is to have no need of a Savior, which would make the coming of Jesus unnecessary. Nelson Study Bible-notes, pg 2140

 

Verse 10 says: If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him [God] a liar, and His word is not in us.

 

Commentary: we have not sinned: we may admit to having a sin nature while still denying any personal sin and therefore any need for confession.  The Greek translated we have not sinned indicates a denial in the past that continues to the present.  Unlike v. 8, which speaks of the guilt of sin or a sinful nature, this verse is about the denial of any particular sins.  To make this denial is to call God a liar because God’s word emphasizes the penetrating nature of sin (see Rom. 7:14-24). Denying that sin is in us indicates that God’s word is not in us. In other words, a person who denies committing sinful acts does not have the Word of God changing his or her life. Nelson Study Bible-notes, pg 2140

 

1 John 2:1 says: My little children, these things [vv 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10] I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. NKJV

 

COMMENTARY: With fatherly concern, the aged apostle John addresses his readers affectionately as children, that you may not sin: John’s statements about sin (1:8, 10) were designed to make believers aware of sin’s ever-present danger and to put them on guard against it. According to Greek grammar, the “if”¹ before anyone sins carries the added sense of “and it is assumed that we all do.”  This statement is not an encouragement to sin but a warning to all Christians to be on guard against sinful tendencies. Advocate: This Greek word is also used of the Holy Spirit in John 14:16-17, referring to a Helper for us in understanding the truth of God’s Word.  Here the word describes the intercessory work [He intercedes] of the Son.  When we sin, Jesus represents us to plead our cause in heaven’s court, Satan, on the other hand, is the accuser of believers (see Zech 3; Rev 12:10). Nelson Study Bible notes.

 

COMMENTARY: 1 John 2:1 – The apostle now enters a disclaimer. His words could be wrongly perceived as discouraging the believer’s resistance to sin [being a license to sin]. But this is not his intent. Tenderly he addresses his readers as my little children. (That his readers are genuine Christians he never doubts anywhere in his letter; cf. 2:12, 13, 14). He does not want his spiritual children to misconstrue his intention in writing these things to them. These things (i.e., 1:5-6, 7-8, 9-10) are not written either to excuse or to encourage sin [a license to sin]. Instead they are written so that you may not sin.

 

Though sin is to be vigorously shunned, it can and does occur in the lives of believers. So John adds, And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ. As our Advocate, Jesus does not plead with God to keep us “saved.” The many promises made in John’s Gospel that guarantee the security of the believer stand against such an idea. Since Jesus’ promises are true and the believer is eternally secure, there is no need for the Son to plead with the Father not to cast sinning believers away.

 

As their Advocate, Jesus intercedes for believers in prayer to the Father that their “faith should not fail (cf. Luke 22:31-32, 33). Though “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11:29), the faith that appropriates those gifts is nevertheless subject to failure (cf. 2 Tim 2:18). Christ intercedes for believers so that this will not happen (i.e., that the believer will not stray from the truth). Grace New Testament Commentary

This basic mechanic of rebound is the only means of recovering the filling of the Spirit, it’s the only way you can have restoration to fellowship.

The sins that we confess or acknowledge were judged on the cross. There is no such thing as a sin in human history that was not imputed to our Lord on the cross. You have the right as a royal priest to name, cite, acknowledge your sins to God and be instantly forgiven.

The sin nature's trend toward legalism wants to insert some system of penance. The legalist wants you to publicly announce your sins, which is wrong; it only gets other people out of fellowship. The legalist wants you to feel sorry for your sin, and make rash promises about never doing it again. He wants you to hurt, because the legalistic Christian is basically full of malice. He wants to injure you; he wants you to hurt. He is disgusted with you and shocked by you. Therefore, he wants you to burn! That is moral degeneracy.

Legalism ignores God's grace policy, which means that God did all the work at salvation. In the execution of the Christian way of life or the pre-designed plan of God it is accomplished by the omnipotence [unlimited, infinite and eternal power] of God the Father related to our portfolio of invisible assets, the omnipotence [unlimited, infinite and eternal power] of God the Son giving us a day at a time, and the omnipotence [unlimited, infinite and eternal power] of God the Holy Spirit who provides the means of understanding the mechanics and execution of His plan.

 

The invisible assets are those divine assets provided by God the Father way back in eternity past for the execution of the pre-designed plan of God in the believer's life. God the Father found the way for His justice to provide perfect fantastic blessing to His righteousness without any compromise of His essence. The invisible assets are composed of primary, secondary, and personal assets. The primary assets include equal privilege and equal opportunity under election and predestination [predesigned plan of God]. The secondary assets include volitional assets, which are achieved through good decisions made from positions of strength, and the assets of undeserved suffering. The personal assets are the proper function of every believer’s spiritual gift. It is our invisible assets that we need to utilize to make our calling and election an experiential reality, 2PE 1:9-11. In your portfolio of invisible assets God provided everything necessary for the function in life, dying, eternity, growing in grace, and the execution and fulfillment of the predesigned plan of God

 

Since God the Father judged our sins on the Cross, they've already gone to court. Therefore, post-salvation sins of the believer must be dealt with through a non-meritorious function. The most basic problem-solving tool is Rebound, wherein we simply admit or cite or name or acknowledge our sins to God as believers in the privacy of our Priesthood [you do this silently with your thoughts directed to God the Father only]. The basis for the forgiveness of post-salvation sinning is the work of Christ on the Cross, not the penance of the Christian. No system of penance [paying a penalty for the sins you’ve committed] is a part of Rebound.

SKIP to page 39 Just as there is nothing we can add to faith in Christ for salvation, there is nothing we can add to the acknowledgement of our sins for the recovery of our fellowship with God and the Filling of the Holy Spirit. Both believing in Christ for salvation [eternal life] and simply acknowledging our post-salvation sins for forgiveness does not require feeling sorry or any activity of penance or thinking. They (believing & acknowledging) are totally and completely compatible with God's grace policy. Legalism wants to help God by adding human works which cancel grace. The moment we believe in Christ, we possess eternal life, and nothing can change that (John 10:28-29). The moment we acknowledge post-salvation sins, we are forgiven. Then we recover our fellowship with God and once again are filled with the Holy Spirit.

God is faithful in every case of Rebound, no matter how monstrous the sin of the believer may be to others. Legalism does not dictate to God; God always forgives. There never has been a sin acknowledged to God that has not been instantly forgiven.

God is "righteous" or "just" to forgive us because that sin was already judged at the Cross. God is righteous and justified in forgiving us because He has already judged that sin.

"Cleansing us from all unrighteousness" refers to all the unknown sins that occur, these are sins of ignorance for which we are held responsible.

Using the rebound technique after we have sinned is the only way to recover fellowship with God and the only way by which we reenter the predetermined plan of God.

 

Legalists demand that you feel sorry for your sin and change your ways. They always want you to change your behavior or attitude and if you don’t you’ll lose your eternal salvation. They want to superimpose their ideas on you. The responsibility of the pastor is simply to communicate bible truth about what sin is and isn’t; once the truth has been taught, what you do with it is between you and the Lord.

 

However, as usual, legalism ignores the fact that, under the principle of grace, God does all the work, and there is no work left to be accomplished by man. God the Father judged our sins at the Cross as Christ suffered for them. Therefore, “feeling sorry” or “developing an attitude toward repentance” is not necessary for forgiveness, since our attitude and emotions are not the issue in confession. It all depends on your volition, choosing to do things God’s way instead of your own way (one of those ways will bring on discipline even heavy discipline and one doesn’t, guess which one doesn’t, we know it’s God’s way). Again, what matters in confession of sin is following instructions. Remember the principle that following instructions is very difficult for arrogant people when no meritorious act like penance is required. To have to follow instructions in which your merit and ability are completely ignored can be very difficult! In confession of sin and the resultant filling of the Spirit, the issue is the work of God regarding forgiveness and restoration to fellowship. As always, man can add nothing to the work of God, whether it be in eternal salvation, rebound, recovery, or advance to spiritual adulthood.

 

1JO 1:9, therefore; rebound is not a license to sin, but rather it is a grace provision for the believer’s recovery of fellowship with God. The only way to eternal salvation is faith plus nothing; the only way to the filling of the Spirit is rebound, which is faith plus nothing. You cannot add to the work of God. You cannot improve on the work of God. God does not need your help! All God requires is your heart, PRO 23:26, “Give Me your heart, My son, and let your eyes delight in My ways”—not your ways, but God’s ways. That is, God’s way of forgiveness and restoration to fellowship is 1JO 1:9.

 

RESTART Now, if your intention is to try to outsmart God and be a repeat offender thinking that 1JO 1:9 is a license to sin, in whatever sin you like to participate in and refuse to apply doctrine to that sin by way of repentance, rebound will get you back in fellowship but you’ll be in and out consistently (you are forgiven and fellowship is restored but then a minute or so later you feel guilty about your non-repentant sin), guilt is also a sin and boom your out of fellowship again.  The issue now is God going to discipline you?  The Lord forgives and restores but will also discipline a person who repeats the sin until the sinner changes his or her attitude about that sin. You can’t have your cake and eat it too so-to-speak when it comes to sin.  God will discipline you.  Even to the point where He will turn you over to the sin which is called the sin-onto-death.  Even then, a person can recover with confession and an attitude change [repentance] regarding his/her hardened heart towards his/her favorite sin.

 

The principle is found in Luke 17:3-4 which reads: “3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”

 

A lot of controversy has developed regarding 1JO 1:9 as being a license for sin. This mostly comes from the legalistic viewpoint. The fact still remains that when the promise of 1JO 1:9 is applied to post-salvation sin, forgiveness is given and the person is back in fellowship.

 

However, all though fellowship is restored, it may only be minutes before a chain sinner sins again and is out of fellowship.

 

Lets look at a hypothetical example: Drunkenness.  A guy gets totally drunk daily and repeats this over and over and confesses over and over and does not repent, meaning there is no change in behavior or there is a short lived change in behavior then the guy quickly reverts back to drinking and drunkenness. Is the problem that his drinking is stinking or is it his thinking?  Is this where the legalist says the drunk is using 1JO 1:9 as a license to sin? The fact is, God’s discipline is most likely the course the drunk will be suffering from in addition to the guilt of his drunkenness which is self-induced misery [this is in effect double compound discipline].  The discipline and self-induced misery will not stop until the drunk repents and disciplines himself to stay away from the booze.

This problem-solving solution (rebound) was used in the dispensation of Israel, Psalm 32:5, "I acknowledge my sin to You. Therefore, I will not hide my guilt. I said to myself, I will acknowledge [admit, cite, confess] my transgression to the Lord, and You forgave the iniquity of my sin." The only difference between rebound in the Old Testament and rebound in the New Testament is that, after rebounding in the Old Testament, you were simply restored to fellowship with God, and a very few had a restored relationship with the Holy Spirit. But after we rebound in this dispensation, not only are we restored to fellowship with God, but we are also filled with the Spirit.

 

What are some of the sins we need to confess to God to restore fellowship with God?

 

MENTAL ATTITUDE SINS

 

·       Arrogance (an attitude of superiority)

·       Pride (inordinate love for self, self admired, fatheaded)

·       Jealousy (angry feeling of wanting what someone else has)

·       Implacability (being impossible to please or satisfy, hardened, being inflexible), PRO 27:20

·       Bitterness

·       Vindictiveness (seeking revenge)

·       Inordinate Ambition/Inordinate Competition (exceeding reasonable limits)

·       Fear

·       Guilt

·       Worry

·       Anger

·       Judging

·       Hatred

·       Murder (Christ said if you think it , it is murder)

·       Self-righteousness

·       Lust (sexually), Porn

·       Covetousness

·       Envy

·       Sexual immorality

·       Wickedness

·       Perverted thinking

·       More…

 

 

SINS OF THE TONGUE (verbal sins)

 

1.   Gossip (telling others known sins and their private details about someone)

2.   Slander (making false statements that cause people to have a bad opinion of someone)

3.   Maligning (uttering injurious misleading or false reports about someone)

4.   Using God’s name in vain. (example: swearing on a bible to be truthful so help you God, then lie)

5.   Offensive language around others (even if you don’t know your offending the other person, it’s still a sin; remember, no excuses; that’s the “cleansing us from all unrighteousness” in 1 John 1:9)

6.   Lying

7.   Fits of verbal anger

8.   Verbal abuse towards someone

9.   More…

 

 

 

OVERT SINS (also needing repentance, a change of mind about the sinful activity)

 

·       Drunkenness

·       Smoking marijuana

·       Shooting heroin

·       Smoking crack

·       Taking any kind of illegal drug (sniffing it up your nose, smoking it, swallowing it or shooting it in your arm)

·       Adultery (sexual activity with anyone other than your spouse)

·       Fornication (any sex when not married)

·       Murder [this can also be a mental attitude sin]

·       Filthiness and wickedness [all evil]   (James 1:21)

·       Road rage

·       More…

 

SINS LISTED IN ROMANS 1

·       Homosexuality

·       All kinds of wickedness

·       Greed

·       Hateful of God

·       Insolent (rude, insulting, showing no respect of others)

·       Proud

·       Boastful (bragging about your spiritual accomplishments)

·       Inventors of evil

·       Disobey parents

·       Having no conscience

·       Don’t keep promises

·       Show no kindness or pity

·       Unforgiving

·       Unmerciful

·       Haughty (sticking your nose up to others, you think you’re better, smarter and more important than them)

·       Deceitful

·       Evil habits

·       More…

 

The mechanics and momentum of Rebound are fourfold:

Acknowledge or confess it, 1 John 1:9.

Isolate it, Hebrews 12:15, See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no root of bitterness sprouting up causes trouble, and through this  many are contaminated.

Forget it, Philippians 3:13, Brethren, I do not evaluate myself to have attained, but I do concentrate on one thing: forgetting those sins which are behind, and pressing toward those things which are ahead [execution of the pre-designed plan of God].

Keep moving, Philippians 3:14. I keep advancing toward the objective for the prize of that upward call from God [escrow blessings – earned rewards & blessings for time & eternity] in Christ Jesus.

The point is that if you're still alive after you name your sins, God intends for you to move on!

The results of Rebound are as follows:

You are restored to fellowship with God.

You have recovered the filling of the Spirit.

Any discipline related to those forgiven sins is processed in one of several ways, it can be removed entirely, it can be continued at the same intensity or be diminished so that you can handle it.

The power that executes the Christian way of life is the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit. None of us are capable of executing the Christian way of life, it's impossible! The whole point of the Christian way of life is that it must be executed by God's power, for it is “not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.” (Zechariah 4:6). The Christian way of life is a supernatural way of life that can only be executed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Problem Solving Solution Number Two: The Filling of the Holy Spirit.

 

 

Under the principle of self-discipline, the believer must be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to approach Doctrine with objectivity and concentration. Self-discipline demands that learning overrules preoccupation with personal problems. The filling of the Spirit helps to restrain occupation with personal problems during Bible class. ROM 12:3 says, “Stop thinking of yourself in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to think.” When you think of your problems during Bible class, you are operating in a form of arrogance and have distracted yourself (in other words, when in bible class, what’s more important, concentration on the Word of God being taught or concentration on our personal problems]. You might not immediately need what is taught in class on a particular Sunday or night, but the doctrine that is learned will be needed at some time. Doctrine is an interlocking, interdependent system of applying God's thinking to human life; it (doctrine) is the mind of Christ.

 

The Filling of the Spirit is unique to the Church-age because this is the first time in history when all believers are mandated [commanded] to be filled with the Spirit. However, in the dispensation [in this context it’s the time period between the birth of Christ and His ascension] of the Hypostatic Union [Jesus Christ is true humanity and undiminished deity in one unique person forever], the Lord Jesus Christ appears to have offered the Filling of the Spirit to the disciples. But none of them took Him up on that offer (Jesus’ statement probably went right over their heads at the time). Jesus said, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit^MT to them that ask for Him?" NKJV (LUK 11:13 ^MT; MAT 7:11). That verse applied only to the last dispensation [the Hypostatic Union]; we don't ask for the Holy Spirit today.

 

COMMENTARY: Luke 11:13. The Lord closes the motivational illustration with an argument from the lesser to the greater. If fallen human fathers intuitively give their children “good gifts,” God the Father will surely provide “the Holy Spirit” to those who petition Him (Jesus told his disciples this before the Church Age began but none apparently asked for the Holy Spirit. However, in the church age, we don’t petition the Holy Spirit to indwell us, we automatically were indwelt by the Holy Spirit the moment we believed in Christ). Belief in Jesus as Savior constitutes the only condition for receiving the Spirit in the present church age as shown at the home of Cornelius (cf. Acts 10; Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 12:12, 13). GNTC

 

FYI: Luke traveled with Paul, Luke may be the only book written by a Gentile in the bible.

 

 

 

The Believer's Responsibility.

 

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation [behavior that shows you are interested only in pleasure, money, etc.; a wasteful expenditure], but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord [as believers collectively worship[paying close attention to WOG when it’s being taught] God with gratitude, they sing spiritual hymns together]; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear [respect, genuinely wanting to please Him with your life; as a child respects his father so he does not repeat his sins knowing he would get disciplined for it] of Christ. (EPH 5:18-21)

COMMENTARY: Ephesians 5:18-21

5:18. Paul continues to show what wise living looks like. It is not being drunk with wine, in which is dissipation. But it is being filled with the Spirit, in which are many blessings (vv 19-21).

 

There are two major opinions on what Paul means by the filling of the Spirit here, both of which are found in Acts. One meaning is special enablement for special tasks (cf. Acts 4:31). The other is being spiritual, that is, spiritually mature. When the believers chose the first deacons, the apostles said to pick men “of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” (6:3). To be full of wisdom means to be wise, and so to be full of the Holy Spirit means to be spiritual.

 

Paul might be saying that believers should allow themselves to be controlled by the Spirit by yielding to the influence of the Word of God on their minds. As wine influences the mind, so too does God’s Spirit when one is abiding in Christ (John 15:1-2, 3-4, 5). If this is what Paul means, he is calling believers actively to seek to be under the Holy Spirit’s influence via the Word (cf. Col 3:16, which parallels Eph 5:19-20). Or he might simply be calling them to be spiritual, again by allowing God’s Word to have its influence (cf. 1 Cor 2:14, 15-16).

 

5:19. The result of being filled with the Spirit, unlike drunkenness, is positive things. These positives are corporate [all church members] and occur in local church meetings. These include speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (How Great Thou Art, Amazing Grace, etc.). As believers worship God together, they sing to God with each other. Music sung to the Lord must be biblically accurate and must be given with a heart of gratitude (Col 3:16).

 

5:20. Another result of being filled with the Spirit is giving thanks always for (or “concerning”) all things to God the Father. No matter what the circumstances are in one’s life, believers know that God is in control and that they can rest in Him and be thankful even in the difficult times. Believers can be thankful because they know He works all things together for good to those who love Him (Rom 8:28). And thanks are to be given in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

5:21. The Holy Spirit directs us to submit to one another in the fear of God. There is a divine plan of subjection that God has for believers, [Pre-designed Plan of God] and Paul explains in the following verses just how they can come under God’s order of submission. GNTC

 Again, being filled with the Holy Spirit is a part of a believer’s responsibility. We do not feel the filling of the Holy Spirit, but we do experience the results of it. In verses 19-20, 21, Paul gives us insight into three of the manifestations of the filling of the Holy Spirit: Joy, Thanksgiving, and Humility.

 

Joy means having joy in your heart. To sing and make melody in your heart means that you have a joy that is inexpressible. This doesn’t mean you are singing all day, but the singing represents the happiness of God in your heart. Psalms and hymns are only as good as the words that they consist of [obviously, singing “Who Let the Dogs Out” or “I’m going to just sit here and drink” are not in the category of songs & hymns this verse is talking about]. Therefore, it is not just singing, or joy that’s in view, but the content of doctrine that makes it precious. The singing and melody with your heart is directed at the Lord; this is a beautiful picture of fellowship with Him.

 

The second manifestation listed is thanksgiving. The filling of the Holy Spirit will result in an appreciation in the believer’s heart for all that God has done for him, and that results in giving thanks for all things.

 

The third manifestation is humility towards one another (Mat 23:11-12).

    

Matthew 23:11. Second, a disciple of Jesus is to be a servant of all rather than Lord of all. Greatness is defined by how well one serves the needs of others (cf. 20:26-27 the measure of greatness is not position, power or prestiege; it is service).

23:12. Third, the disciples are to have a different aim. They are not to seek to be exalted [elevated] by

others. If they did, they would be humbled. Nevertheless they can achieve exaltation [elevation] by God through humility. They are to leave promotion, position, and titles to God (Luke 14:11; 18:14  cf. vs 13: both men = the Pharisee was justified the other, the tax collector was not). GNTC

 

So, how do we know that we are filled with the Spirit? Well, some of the results are just that: Joy, Thanksgiving, and Humility. Without the filling of the Holy Spirit these will not be manifested [experienced or made to appear in your life], which makes a profound, gracious point. You don’t have to try to be happy, thankful, or humble. You do have to be filled with the Spirit, and then allow Him to manifest [make visible; make known or make them to appear in you] these qualities in you.

 

These qualities fall under the fruit of the Spirit. Under the Law it was the best man could do, under grace it is the best God can do. Between the Law and grace there had to be a man who could stand in the gap. God chose Paul who received the revelation in the desert of Acacia. These truths have to be revealed to the believer by means of the Spirit. Without that you will never get it because the Spirit is your true teacher. We are reasonably instructed to be filled with the Spirit. This is supported by the fact that Christ instructed His disciples that no service should be undertaken before the Spirit came upon them [i.e., teach, study, good deeds, etc.].

 

“And behold [now hear this], I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high [Holy Spirit].” (LUK 24:49)

 

 

And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:4, 5, 6, 7, 8) NASB

 

Again, between the Law and grace there had to be a man who could stand in the gap. God chose Paul who received revelation in the desert and communicated the full realm of the ministry of the Spirit and how it is received and applied. However, Paul is not your true teacher, he is a communicator just like a pastor is. God the Holy Spirit is your true teacher. The work of the Spirit in and through the believer has both a positive and a negative pole. Positive - that which is good [divine good]. Negative - victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.

 

The word of God emphasizes that we are to be occupied with the positive; the divine good. That is Jesus Christ operating in this world through His church that has been cleansed with the water of the Word and the confession of sin. When we are occupied with the positive, divine good production of the Spirit within, then the negative will be overcome.

 

In the positive the Spirit has 7 ministries to the believer that we have seen briefly, one of which is the filling of the Spirit. After eternal salvation it is the filling of the Spirit alone that is directly related to Christians as the ground and source of the spiritual life. The filling of the Spirit gives the believer the power to do divine good [Christian service or deeds performed by a believer who is filled with the Holy Spirit.]. This positive aspect of the Spirit (Filling of the Holy Spirit) in the believer’s life is manifested [revealed] in 7 ways:

 

-The fruit of the Spirit; [e.g., joy, humility]

 

- The function of the spiritual gift [permanent gifts active in the church age: pastor-teacher, evangelism, missionary, exhortation e.g. giving spiritual advice, encouragement, counsel; teaching, administration, giving, showing mercy, and helps.

Temporary gifts were: Apostle, Prophet, healing, tongues, miracles, casting out demons were only temporary until the canon of scripture was fully written];

- Praise and thanksgiving;

 

- Teaching of the Spirit;

 

- Leading of the Spirit;

 

- The life of faith;

 

- Intercession of the Spirit [A synonym for the ministry of the Holy Spirit related to God’s Word. “We know not what we should pray for as we ought...” (Romans 8:26, 27) because we are ignorant of God’s will for our lives and other peoples lives. Therefore, God the Holy Spirit intercedes for us that we might understand it through Scripture (1 Corinthians 2:11).].

These 7 manifestations of the Spirit in the Church is not to place an ideal before the believer in which he is to try in his own strength to realize; rather it is the presentation to him of that blessed life which he may anticipate as the result of the Spirit’s operation in and through him.

 

Let’s look at the fruit of the Spirit and see how grace operates through the Holy Spirit to actualize the ideals of the spiritual life within us, and apart from any human works or merit.

 

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. (GAL 5:16-18) (Lets look at this another way, the OSN brings up thoughts and temptations a lot, likewise, the Holy Spirit will also place understanding thoughts in  your mind but only when you are not controlled by the OSN, you must be filled with the Spirit for this to happen. Understanding this is actually motivation to remain filled with the Holy Spirit.)

 

COMMENTARY: Galatians 5:16

 

5:16. The words “I say” then introduces an application to what Paul has been saying. Much modern teaching on what it means to walk in the Spirit is inconsistent with Paul’s meaning here in context.

 

To walk in the Spirit means to “live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself for me” (2:20). It is the opposite of living “under the law” (e.g., v 18 below).

 

This is not a matter of some special level of commitment to God. Legalists often are very committed to Him in their own minds (though they go about the Christian life in their own way, not God’s way). Nor is it simply a matter of confession of sin in keeping with 1 John 1:9, as legalists sometimes are diligent in this regard. While walking in the Spirit includes both commitment to Christ and confession of sins, the point is simply that we are walking in the Spirit, that is by faith, not in the flesh, that is, not by the law.

 

The key to victory over the lust [or desire] of the flesh is by walking in a spiritual manner, by faith. Walking in a legalistic manner indulges the flesh.

 

5:17. The word translated lusts here is the verbal form of the word translated lust in the previous verse. Probably it would be better to translate it, the flesh [sets its desires] against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.

 

Here is Rom 7 in a nutshell. There is a tension within each believer. The Holy Spirit moves him to loving service. The flesh moves him to biting conflict. These are contrary to one another. They cannot be reconciled. Victory is not found in legalistically satisfying the flesh. Only by living by faith will the Holy Spirit fulfill His desires in a believer and produce loving service.

 

 

The believer operating on his own resolve and commitment to fulfill God’s commands cannot do the things that he wishes. Only by walking in the Spirit, which is living by faith in Christ, can one do what God, and one’s inner man, wishes to do.

 

The focus of the Christian life is on the Commander in Chief (Jesus Christ), not the commands.

 

5:18. This verse has led to much confusion. Many think Paul is speaking of personal extra-biblical guidance by the Spirit regarding questions such as whom to marry, what job to take, which house to buy, and even small things such as which coat to purchase.

 

Yet the context here has nothing to do with personal guidance. Led by the Spirit is synonymous here with walking in the Spirit in v 16 or with following the desires of the Spirit in v 17. This is simply another way of speaking of the walk of faith mentioned in 2:20.

 

Saying you are not under the law seems to be out of place. Why make reference in this context to not being under the Law? To be under the Law is the same as being under the flesh’s impulses stated in the previous verse. The Law produces fleshly biting, hatred, jealousy, and the like. The one who is led by the Spirit, who walks in the Spirit, is not under the Law. Only by God’s method can a believer please God. GNTC

 

Under the Law it was the best man could do, under grace it is the best God can do.

 

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, [adultery, fornication, uncleanness like being decadent/degenerate, lewdness, indecent  sexual actions], idolatry [worship of idols], sorcery [witchcraft], enmities [people become enemies and fight], strife [distrust], jealousy, outbursts of anger [they become jealous, angry, and ambitious; road rage], disputes, dissensions [distant, quarreling], factions [people separate into parties and groups], envying [become envious], drunkenness, carousing [get drunk or ripped and have orgies], and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. NKJV (GAL 5:19-23)

 

Inheriting the kingdom refers to ruling with Christ in His kingdom, not to getting into the kingdom (cf. Matt 19:29; Rev 2:26). After the tribulation, all believers will enter the millennium (1 Thess 5:10), but only believers [from the Church Age] who lived for God will rule with Christ.

 

There is no system of rules to follow by which a believer may have this fruit, rather they are manifested [revealed, made known] by the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. The word “fruit” is in the singular, and there are 9 manifestations listed in of that fruit. The Holy Spirit isn’t going to give you one and neglect the other 8.

 

Galatians 5:19-23—19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality,  20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions,  factions,   21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (NASB)

 

Understanding of the mechanics of the Spiritual life brings believers into unity because it is all based upon one God through His grace, therefore He, as the Head of the body, brings us into union with each other. What is your motive? It is not a thing that you try to get, it is a thing you already possess. You have the “pleroma” or fullness of God. Your entire Christian life is dependent upon the Holy Spirit. It’s not only the Spirit, but without the Spirit the plan falls apart. The divine plan for the believer’s daily life as given in the word of God includes the method by which that life shall be lived.

 

Two procedures are possible, namely: “dependence upon one’s own ability” and “dependence upon the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.” These two methods are totally incompatible.

 

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. (GAL 5:17)

 

The Christian way of life is a supernatural way of life and it demands a supernatural means of execution. 1) The filling of the Holy Spirit; 2) the metabolization of mystery doctrine of the Church-age; 3) and the execution of the Pre-designed Plan of God. You are called to walk in a manner worthy of your high election after eternal salvation and you cannot do it. You must admit that you cannot, that you are powerless, and that only God can do it through you. The Gospel as well is a revelation from the Spirit is by means of grace though faith, not of works that no man should boast (Colossians  2:6 [NKJV link]  Â¶ Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, (NASB)").

 Application in the spiritual life is always a manifestation [demonstration of the power and purpose] of the Holy Spirit who uses the doctrine in your soul (note: if there is no doctrine in your soul, the Spirit has nothing to work with). So, recognize this, expose yourself to the teaching of the word of God on a daily basis, keep short accounts of your unconfessed sins and confess them, and then sit back and enjoy the ride. All the eloquence in the world is not going to reach the hearts of men. Only God the Holy Spirit can do that. In fact, as you try to reach people with the gospel or with doctrinal truths it can be very difficult if they reject the Spirit. When this occurs, don’t fight against them or try to bully them with your knowledge, instead turn it over to God who is the only One who can soften a man’s heart. Switch gears from talking to the person and go to God in prayer.

 “And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My [Jesus’] name, I will do it.” NASB95 (John 14:13-14)

 

COMMENTARY: John 14:13-14. These verses are not a promise that all prayers of Christians will receive “yes” answers. Jesus gave a condition for answered prayer. He said one must pray “in My name...that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” That means praying in accord with Jesus’ character and nature. Prayers that are inconsistent with Jesus’ character and nature (e.g., praying for success in smuggling drugs or I want a Bently just like the one that just drove by) are obviously not guaranteed a “yes” answer.

 

If a person prays that God will be glorified through his hardship, then he knows he will receive a “yes” answer. A believer may die or suffer terribly from hardship, but if in doing so God is glorified, then he has done the right thing and will be rewarded accordingly at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

 

Other conditions to answered prayers are not specifically mentioned here, but are implicit in what Jesus says. Other conditions include keeping His commandments (cf. John 15:7; 1 John 3:22) and praying in accord with God’s will (1 John 5:14). GNTC

 

The whole concept of the Filling of the Spirit goes back to the principle that there is no human attribute [essential characteristic], no system of human success, no talent, no system of works, no system of any kind whereby we have the ability to execute God's plan for our lives. Just as we had no ability to be saved, so we have no ability to execute God's plan in our own energy. We have to be filled with the Spirit before anything we do for God is counted as gold, silver, and precious stones! All Christian production is a result of Spirituality on the one hand and Spiritual growth on the other. We do not achieve Spirituality by works, anything we can do, by any sacrifice, or by any system of giving. Spirituality is the work of God the Holy Spirit when He controls our life.

 

There are two approaches to the Filling of the Spirit: 1) The issue of who controls our soul, and 2) The issue of whether our soul resides in the Pre-designed Plan of God or in the cosmic system.

 

At salvation, God the Holy Spirit indwells the body of every believer in order to create a temple, a place of residence, for the indwelling of Christ as the Shekinah Glory. The indwelling of Christ is a guarantee of great blessings. So the believer's body is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, but it is also indwelt by the old sin nature. The issue is who controls the soul, the Holy Spirit or the sin nature?

 

The old sin nature is the source of temptation while the Holy Spirit is the source of the Spiritual life, through the enabling power of the Spirit.

 

When the Holy Spirit controls our soul, we are said to be Filled with the Spirit. But when our volition succumbs to temptation and we sin, then the Holy Spirit is either grieved or quenched, and no longer controls our soul. In carnality, the old sin nature is now back in control.

 

At salvation God the Holy Spirit enters us into union with Christ forever. This is the doctrine of positional truth and eternal security, and the basis for the new Spiritual species (new creature).

 

Positional truth: The Church-age believer in Christ is positionally superior to all angels, including the chief fallen angel Satan, because of his [believer] union with Christ, HEB 1:4, 13-14, 2:9, 10, 11. It is in our position in Christ that God sees us, and it is how we are to view ourselves. We are not to dwell on our condition! Positional truth is equivalent to positional sanctification in which God the Father is completely satisfied with the work of Christ on the cross.  It is composed of retroactive positional truth and current positional truth.  Positional truth is our guaranteed relationship with Christ in the Church-age, and it is the key to understanding the Church-age and the royal family. It is the basis for distinguishing between Christianity and religion, and it is the truth concerning the born-again believer who has been entered into union with Christ by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the moment of eternal salvation [faith alone in Christ alone]. RMBM

 

Retroactive positional truth means to be identified with Christ in His death and burial. This position divorces the believer from sin and evil as well as the power of the old sin nature because he is crucified and buried with Christ, ROM 6:4, 6. Not only is the believer identified with Christ in death and burial, but also in resurrection, ascension, and session (current positional truth) as God replaces the old position (retroactive) with the new position (current), EPH 2:6. RMBM

 

Eternal security means that a believer is saved at the moment of faith in Christ and that salvation can never, ever be taken away (John 10:28-29). At the moment of eternal salvation God imputes [credits] His absolute righteousness to every believer and declares him righteous or justified, ROM 3:21-28. If God excluded from eternal salvation anyone who possesses God's own righteousness, He would have to deny Himself and contradict His own pronouncement of justification. Therefore, once saved always saved; our eternal salvation is as strong as the essence of God Himself! RMBM

 

New Species (New Creation) The Church came from the perpetuation of the great power demonstration of the Hypostatic Union into the great amount of Divine power available to all born-again believers of the Church-age. The Church demands a new spiritual species for the calling out of the royal family of God and its utilization of all divine power.  The new spiritual species originates from regeneration at the moment of salvation and is created through the mechanics of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 2CO 5:17. It is important to note that the new creature [human spirit] is a brand new creation that has never existed before and it is not an improved or upgraded form of the old creature [human body], ROM 6:3, 4, 5, 6. RMBM

 

Human Spirit –   Mankind was created as a trichotomous being, having body, soul, and human spirit.  The human spirit is the immaterial part of man designed by God to convert, to store, and to utilize spiritual phenomena (Romans 8:16 [the Holy Spirit joins with our human spirit in testifying to God the Father that we are His children]; cf. Romans 9:1; 1 Corinthians 2:14).  Because of spiritual death [separation from God] and the imputation [crediting] of Adam’s Original Sin to each human being, all are born into a dichotomous [body & soul] state, lacking the human spirit.  The human spirit is created by the Holy Spirit at the moment a person expresses faith alone in Christ alone and passes from spiritual death to Spiritual Life (John 3:6).  This is regeneration. The human spirit is corruptible and correctible, (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Human viewpoint—the opposite of divine viewpoint—is any attitude regarding any subject without the benefit of, and perspective gained from, Biblical truth. Human viewpoint is the viewpoint of the immature Christian, who has little ability to understand God’s plan for his life. Chafer Theological Seminary (CTS) Glossary

When we make a decision to sin, we grieve the Holy Spirit and instantly lose fellowship with God and enter into the devils cosmic system. Once in the cosmic system, we are no longer controlled by the Holy Spirit, we are living under the energy of the flesh.

 

The Filling of the Spirit is an absolute state of being in fellowship with God. You are either filled with the Spirit or you are not. There is no such thing as a graduated concept of Spirituality. You are either in fellowship or out of fellowship, Filled with the Spirit or grieving and quenching the Spirit. Spirituality and carnality are an either/or situation.

 

Spiritual growth is a graduated concept; Christians confuse the relative concept of Spiritual growth with the absolute concept of Spirituality.

 

Under the Pre-designed Plan of God, there are two categories of experiential Christianity,

 

1) the absolute concept is Spirituality versus carnality,

2) the relative concept is Spiritual growth versus reversionism [backsliding].

Spiritual growth is relative and graduated, either progressive [moving forward, spiritual growth] or retrogressive [moving backward or declining growth]. As a new believer, we start out as a Spiritual baby. If we make progress through learning & applying doctrine, we advance to adolescence and then to Spiritual adulthood [Spiritual self-esteem, Spiritual autonomy, Spiritual maturity]. Or we retrogress through the eight cycles of reversionism [yes, there are cycles, this is another study in itself].

 

Reversionism is an act of reversing or turning in the opposite way.  As believers we were designed to execute the predesigned plan of God.  But in reversionism we turn the other way and cannot be distinguished from our pre-salvation status.  We are believers thinking human viewpoint. Reversionism is the act of reverting to a former state, habit, belief, or practice of post-salvation sinning.  Reversionism is a reversal of your priorities, your attitudes, your norms and standards, your affections, the object of your personal love accompanied by the destruction of your impersonal love, and the change of your manner of operation and personality.

 

Progression is the believer's advance in the execution of the Pre-designed Plan of God. Retrogression is the believer's failure to execute the Pre-designed Plan of God, resulting in reversionism and cosmic involvement.

 

SKIP

The Filling of the Spirit is classified by the one word Spirituality, and it is an absolute. Either we are filled with the Spirit and in fellowship with God, or we are grieving Holy Spirit [you have sinned and are out of fellowship] and/or quenching [doing good deeds out of fellowship] the Spirit and out of fellowship with God. When you are out of fellowship, you may shock yourself by sins you commit, but you can never lose your eternal salvation (John 10:28-29). You cannot commit a sin that cancels the work of God at salvation. There is no such thing as percentage or relative Spirituality. There is percentage or relative growth or failure; but the believer is either 100% spiritual or not spiritual at all.

 

Progress in the Pre-designed Plan of God includes Spiritual childhood, adolescence, and adulthood in its three categories. In any stage of growth at any moment, a believer can and does sin, we will never be free from sin in this life.

 

Failure to advance spiritually or decline spiritually (retrogression) in the Christian way of life leads to reversionism in which the believer has had a negative reaction to Bible doctrine or distraction from Bible doctrine. Here there is failure to function under post-salvation perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine [Bible truth]. As a result, the believer goes for a frantic search for happiness. Where the search goes depends upon the trend of the old sin nature, either toward legalism or toward lasciviousness [usually refers to sexual matters like being lustful or lewd in a way that is unacceptable in polite society]. When the frantic search for happiness dead-ends, the believer is in worse shape than when they started. This can lead to the emotional revolt of the soul [a deceitful heart, desperate wickedness] and then permanent negative volition toward doctrine, and hence the total and complete neglect of perception of Bible doctrine. Once this occurs, there is blackout of the soul and scar tissue of the soul.

 

Blackout of the soul is a deep stage of reversionism which is the status of the believer with negative volition to doctrine (bible truth), and it results in his complete involvement in the cosmic system.

 

 

Scar tissue of the soul, also known as “hardness of the heart,” is the result of prolonged residence and function inside the cosmic system, John 12:40. Negative volition towards doctrine results in the inhale of cosmic viewpoint into the soul. After prolonged exposure, this cosmic viewpoint clogs the soul with scar tissue and halts the circulation of metabolized Bible doctrine.

Emotional Revolt of the Soul: JER 17:9-10 says:

 

      9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. KJV

 

 

The emotional revolt of the soul centers around two words found in this passage, the “heart” [mind] and the “reins” [kidneys—emotions]. Although they are literal organs in the body, they generally do not refer to the physical organs when they are used in the Bible. Since there is no vocabulary word in either the Hebrew or the Koine Greek for certain functions of the soul, such as the “emotion,” or the Koine Greek for certain words such as the “emotions,” words of anatomy which have parallel functions in the soul have been substituted. The words translated “belly,” “bowels,” and “reins,” refer to the emotions of the soul [hence the term,“I can feel it in my gut”].  “Heart” is usually the designation for the “right lobe” of the soul. Since we are using language of accommodation to explain certain terms; rather than using the word “heart” we are substituting it with “right lobe” to avoid any misunderstanding with the pump.

 

The soul has essence, which is composed of six characteristics.  First of all, it has self-consciousness; the element that makes you aware of your own existence.  The soul also has mentality contained in the two frontal lobes.  The left lobe of the soul, translated “mind” from the Greek word “nous,” is the perceptive lobe.  This is a staging area from which, for believers, doctrinal information is transferred to the human spirit and then to the right lobe of the soul.

 

The right lobe is the dominant lobe and is designated by two different words in the Greek: “kardia” (heart) and “noema” (understanding or thought).  It is the area referred to in Proverbs 23:7, which says, “For as he (a person) thinketh in his heart (right lobe), so is he.” KJV. “Heart” in the Hebrew refers to the divinely designated authority of the soul vested in the heart or right lobe of the mentality of the soul.

 

The right lobe has four areas: 1) a frame of reference with a memory center; 2) a vocabulary; 3) norms and standards, called the “conscience;” and 4) viewpoint.  The frame of reference is the place where you store information.  It is where you keep memories about people—people you love, people you dislike—all kinds of people. It is the place where you store your attitude towards country, toward life, toward your job, etc. When you began to think, you began to develop norms and standards.  You have norms and standards about what is right and wrong, what things are proper, and so on.  Some of your norms and standards may be compatible with God’s and some may not.  Bible doctrine provides you with information whereby you can develop divine norms and standards.

 

The viewpoint is a combination of what you have in your frame of reference plus your norms and standards.  You have a viewpoint about everything in life. The believer’s viewpoint must have doctrine to launch into the soul and into experiences in life.

 

Another characteristic of the soul is volition.  This means that you are capable of making decisions, and you are responsible for all your decisions.  The soul has emotions. We will be examining the emotions in our study of the “reins.” Every soul, since the fall of Adam, has an old sin nature, or Adamic nature, designed in scripture by the terms “flesh” in Romans 8:3, 4, And “old man” in Ephesians 4:22.  The sin nature has an area of weakness which produces personal sins, an area of strength which produces human good, a lust pattern, and trends toward asceticism and lasciviousness [legalism and immoral activity] which are the distorters of the soul. (Excerpt is from the book: Emotional Revolt of the Soul, pg 1-3; by R.B. Thieme, Jr.).

 

The Holy Spirit is the real secret in understanding doctrine. This grace process for perception and metabolization totally eliminates human I.Q. as an issue. One can be a genius in human I.Q. (brainiac) and understand no doctrine and have no Spiritual growth. We can be a few points above a moron and grow spiritually to maturity. Divine I.Q. has no limitations, thanks to the Ministry of God the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Spirit is the basis for the function of all the problem-solving solutions. It is not only the basis for learning doctrine, but it is the only way the problem-solving solutions can function. This gives a new connotation to our use of “faith-rest,” the third problem-solving tool. For while the Old Testament believers had “faith-rest” available for their use, they did not have the Filling of the Holy Spirit. Yet we have “faith-rest” with the Filling of the Spirit, which gives it a fantastic dynamic and power.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Problem Solving Tool Number Three: The Faith-Rest Technique.

 

 

The Faith-rest technique is the means of claiming the promises of God and applying them to our experience. We can utilize promises in both the Old and New Testament. Faith-rest is also the means of application of Bible doctrine to experience. But a new aspect to the Faith-rest technique that is unique to the Church-age is that, for the first time in human history, God the Holy Spirit can fill every believer. This gives tremendous dynamics (power) to the Faith-rest technique.

 

God the Holy Spirit had a limited Ministry to those in the Old Testament dispensations, this was called enduement. For example, Elijah had the enduement of the Spirit [being clothed with the Spirit as apposed to a church age believer being indwelt and filled with the spirit], and in fact he prayed for a double portion of it.

 

David as a ruler had the power of the Spirit. When he committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband, Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11:1-27), he prayed "take not Your Holy Spirit from me."

 

So, one could lose the Holy Spirit by stepping out of line in certain ways in the Old Testament. But we cannot pray that prayer today, for we are always indwelt by the Spirit. And we need only Rebound to recover the Filling of the Spirit when we sin. Remember that the Christian way of life in the Church-age emphasizes the ordinary believer. He can become extraordinary by the use of the greatest assets that have ever been made available. The ordinary Church-age believer has greater assets than the greatest Old Testament believers ever had. The Faith-rest technique is the means of claiming the promises of God and applying them to our life. It is the means of the application of Bible doctrine to experience.

 

Most of our use of the Faith-rest technique occurs when we are Filled with the Spirit. But the Faith-rest technique can also be used in Rebound when we are out of fellowship. Having the faith that God “will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” while out of fellowship is the use of the Faith-rest technique when claiming the promise in 1 John 1:9.

There are three stages to the faith-rest technique:

 

Stage one is mixing the promises of God with faith. This is for new believers in Spiritual childhood. Hebrews 4:2b, But the Word [doctrine] they heard [the Exodus generation] did not profit them, because they did not mix it with faith.

 

 

Heb 3:7 – 4:10

Be Faithful [possibly the Apostle Paul wrote Hebrews]

⁷ Therefore, as ^jthe Holy Spirit says: (the following is a quote from Ps 95)

^k“Today, if you [written probably to Jewish Christians]; will hear His voice,

⁸ Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion [Exodus generation had been given a warning by God],

In the day of trial in the wilderness, [40 years]

⁹ Where your fathers tested Me [God], tried Me,

And saw My works forty years [manna].

¹⁰ Therefore I was angry with that generation,

And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart [the thinking part of the sole, where one exercises faith or unbelief],

And they have not known My ways.’

¹¹ So I swore in My wrath,

‘They shall not enter My rest [the promised inheritance in the land of Canaan and rest from their enemies].’ ”

¹² Beware [warning], brethren [again, he’s writing to Christian Jews], lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; ¹³ but ²exhort [encourage] one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. ¹⁴ For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, ¹⁵ while it is said:

^l“Today, if you will hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Failure of the Wilderness Wanderers

^16 mFor who, having heard, rebelled?  Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? ¹⁷ Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, ⁿwhose corpses fell in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And ^oto whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? ¹⁹ So we see that they could not enter in because of  ^punbelief.

The Promise of Rest

4 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, ^alet us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. ² For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, ¹not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. [‎New Covenant Christians have been offered a far superior good news–the privilege to reign with Jesus. In both cases, however, a response of faith and obedience is required].

³ For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

^b“So I swore in My wrath,

‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: ^c“And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; ⁵ and again in this place: ^d“They shall not enter My rest.”     

 

Rest is to be enjoyed by those who complete their works [devine good] (as God modeled). Works—those done in faith through the enabling Holy Spirit—are what believers should be doing faithfully (cf. John 14:12; Eph 2:10; 2 Tim 2:21). Faithfulness in doing the good works God has ordained [ordered] for us is related to ruling with Christ after His return (cf. Rev 2:25-26, 27 ). Just as God rested after His creation work, so this greater rest is offered to believers who faithfully endure and complete their works (note Heb 4:10). GNTC

⁶ Since therefore it remains [since God has promised that some will enter this rest]  that some must enter it, [that is, the opportunity to successfully receive an inheritance in God’s ultimate Sabbath rest—or what we are calling “faith rest” remains available to New Covenant believers (that’s the Church Age), unless they disqualify themselves] and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience,

 

The believers of the Exodus generation were the recipients of marvelous doctrine. For the first time, they heard all the great doctrines related to their dispensation. But they did not mix those doctrines with faith. So stage one is claiming promises pertinent to specific situations. God's promises are marvelous and it is the most relaxing thing in the world to enter into God's rest.

Stage two is claiming actual doctrines, like the essence of God rationale [The essence of God rationale for eternal security is based on the attributes of God. Because of His immutable, eternal, infinite attributes, God cannot and will not cancel the salvation of any believer, no matter how disgusting or evil that believer may be.], the logistical grace rationale [have faith that God will supply all your needs, physical and spiritual], and the Plan of God rationale [have faith that God has a plan for your life and it is all spelled out in the Word of God]. This requires some Spiritual advance in doctrine.

 

God is a person, and as a person He has personality, self-consciousness, as well as self-determination. God recognizes Himself as a personality and as such, He thinks, He decides, He acts rationally. God is perfectly motivated, He is perfectly rational, and God has never performed any deed of any kind that was not absolutely, totally, and completely perfect in keeping with His perfect mentality, as well as His perfect motivation. Whether we are looking at God from the standpoint of what He does, or what He thinks, or how He is motivated, it all adds up to perfection.   Each member of the Godhead has the same amount of sovereignty [total reigning power over everything], eternal life, holiness [integrity], omniscience [all knowing], omnipotence [all powerful], omnipresence [(everywhere present], and immutability [unchangeable or changeless]. They are co-equal, they are co-eternal, and when they are regarded from the standpoint of their essence, God is said to be One. “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (DEU 6:4-5). This has always been the case, and there never was a time in eternity past when this status-quo did not exist. Furthermore, these members of the God-head perform certain functions which differentiate persons in the Godhead.

 

I suppose “man”, only as a believer could also be considered to be one in essence, we are also three in one; i.e., we are body, spirit, and soul.

 

Logistical grace is defined as divine planning, divine support, divine provision, and divine blessing, given by God to every Church-age believer, whether a winner or loser believer, for the execution of the predesigned plan of God. Logistical grace includes everything that you would need to fulfill the plan of God for your life. It is food, water, clothes, shelter, air to breathe, a Bible, a pastor-teacher, etc. Logistical grace is a free gift by God’s grace that originates from His Justice and is imputed to the very Righteousness of God in every Church-age believer.

 

Predestination [a modern day term is: Pre-designed Plan of God] is one of the many assets in our portfolio of invisible assets [blessings in time for both time & eternity]. Predestination [Pre-designed Plan of God] is the provision of the sovereignty [total reigning power over everything] of God for every believer in eternity past to execute God's plan, purpose, and will for your life. God provided for you, under predestination [His Pre-designed Plan for the life of every believer], everything you need to execute His plan. However, this does not mean that God violates human free will, but that God (in his omniscience) has predestined [pre-designed] a plan for each believer that they can accept by faith or reject by negative volition.

Stage three is where faith makes doctrinal conclusions, so that faith is in control of the situation. At first, you use the Faith-rest techinque to handle the charge of the mosquito [the reactor factors you experience daily], something which prayer cannot handle. Prayer does not stop the charge of the mosquito [the little pressures of everyday life], but the Faith rest technique does. This prepares you for suffering for blessing when you face the charge of the elephant [the very big pressures of the Christian way of life].

 

Only in this dispensation do we have the combination of the Filling of the Spirit and the Faith-rest technique.

 

Scriptural Promises.

 

HEB 4:1, 2 3 admonishes [urges] us to look at the Exodus generation (paraphrased), Therefore, let us fear, while a promise remains, of entering into His rest that any of you should come short of it. For indeed, we have the good news proclaimed [preached] to us (as they did also); but the word they heard did not profit them, because those who heard it did not uni mix it with their faith. For we who have believed enter the rest.

 

The "rest" for the Jews was to get into the land and safe from their enemies, the rest for us is to be free from worry, anxiety, and the emotional sins. Verse two addresses the question of after salvation - what? The Jews were believers as we are, but they malfunctioned in post-salvation perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine. To "enter the rest" in verse three means to claim the promises of God, then believing the doctrines of God so that they can be metabolized from gnosis (knowledge) into epignosis (knowledgeable wisdom).

 

Psalm 37:4-5, Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall [will] give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; Trust also in Him, And He shall [will] bring it to pass. NKJV.  Occupation with the person of Christ results in getting the desires of our heart [thinking part of the mind/soul]. Why the heart [thinking part of the mind/soul]? Because if we delight in the Lord, our heart [thinking part of the mind/soul] is filled with lots of doctrine, and all our norms and standards and desires have changed to match God's Word.

 

Proverbs 28:25, An arrogant person stirs up strife [disagreement, friction, conflict], but he who trusts in the Lord will prosper. NASB. This means there is prosperity from the use of the Faith-rest techinque.

 

Proverbs 29:25, The fear of the man builds a snare [trap], but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted [promoted]. NASB.  Here the Faith-rest drill is related to Spiritual promotion in our life.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust [conscious dependence on God] in the Lord with all of your heart [thinking part of the mind/soul]; And do not lean on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight [smoothes out your paths making them straight paths for you / you can sit back and enjoy the ride]. NASB.

 

The right lobe is where you have all the doctrine, this means you have advanced to where you have some doctrine you can claim as well as promises. "Do not lean on your understanding" means don't try to work it out yourself.

 

2 Corinthians 5:7, For we walk by faith and not by sight. Here is the Faith-rest techinque plus the Filling of the Spirit. However, unless you love God you cannot claim ROM 8:28, all things work together for good, because they don't unless you love God. The verse says, to those who love God, He works all things together for good. Love for God the Father and occupation with Christ are the highest problem-solving solutions. So this verse includes the Filling of the Spirit plus the Faith-rest technique plus the advance to Spiritual adulthood.

 

Romans 8:31-32, If God be for us, who should be against us? He who spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?" The all things is the provision of the Pre-designed Plan of God, our portfolio of invisible assets.

 

·       The invisible assets are those divine assets provided by God the Father way back in eternity past for the execution of the pre-designed plan of God in the believer's life. God the Father found the way for His justice to provide perfect fantastic blessing to His righteousness inside us all without any compromise of His essence. The invisible assets are composed of primary, secondary, and personal assets.

 

o   The primary assets include equal privilege and equal opportunity under election and predestination.

o   The secondary assets include volitional assets, which are achieved through good decisions made from positions of strength, and the assets of undeserved suffering.

o   The personal assets are the proper function of every believer’s spiritual gift.

 

·       It is our invisible assets that we need to utilize to make our calling and election sure, or an experiential reality, 2PE 1:9-10, 11.

 

o   2 Peter 1:9-11 9 For he who lacks these qualities is ^ablind or short-sighted, having forgotten his ^bpurification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His ^acalling and ^bchoosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never ^cstumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into ^athe eternal kingdom of our ^bLord and Savior Jesus Christ will be ^cabundantly ^dsupplied to you. NASB

 

·       In your portfolio of invisible assets God provided everything necessary for the function in life, dying, eternity, growing in grace, and the execution and fulfillment of the predesigned plan of God.

1 Corinthians 10:13, Testing has not caught up with you except the human kind; moreover, God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tested beyond your capabilities, but with the testing will also provide a solution [a way of escape, i.e., the ten problem-solving solutions], so that you can carry the pressure.

 

·       1 Corinthians 10:13 - No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Problem Solving Solution Number Four: Grace Orientation.

 

Grace is God’s free gift of unmerited [undeserved] favor.  Grace is all that God is free to do for man on the basis of the saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross; also the gracious work of God on behalf of man even when man deserves the exact opposite (Romans 5:8; Rom 5:10; Rom 5:20).  Man, through his own effort and work, can never accomplish or achieve the favor of God. CTS

 

Grace orientation is being oriented to the grace policy of God through the inculcation [teaching or influencing persistently and repeatedly so as to implant or instill an idea, theory, attitude, etc.] of bible doctrine [i.e., bible truth; Word of God] under genuine humility [Humility is teachability and the antithesis or opposite of arrogance! Humility is the ability to not think to highly or to lowly of oneself, but to know that one must be taught by a pastor-teacher to live the spiritual life. Without humility there can be no reception of truth! Without reception of truth there can be no spiritual growth, hence no spiritual life. RMBM] and the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit. The grace-orientated believer does not judge others and always offers other believers privacy while minding his or her own business! (Example: first church experience) Grace orientation offers to others the very grace that God offers to you! RMBM

 

There are two categories of grace in God's policy for mankind. In category one, grace is extended to the unbeliever through the salvation work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, this is saving grace.

 

In category two, God's grace is extended to the believer through the Pre-designed Plan of God for the dispensation of the Church. Under category two grace, there is Grace orientation as a problem-solving solution related to both understanding God's policy and relating it to the Christian life and to others. The prevalence (commonness) today of Christians sticking their noses into other people’s business shows no Grace orientation at all. There's no grace in the common trend to slander or malign anyone else. Many Christian people today don’t want to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. If we have nothing good to say of someone, we shouldn’t say anything. Anything said about someone that is demeaning or derogatory towards that person should not be spoken or written. Besides, it’s far better to be occupied with Christ than to be occupied with correctly or incorrectly discerned sins of others.

 

 

 

 

 

Category one, saving grace, is defined as all that God is free to do for mankind on the basis of the salvation work of Christ on the Cross. When Jesus said, "It is finished," that means nothing can be added to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Saving grace is called the total work of God, because each member of the Trinity contributed to salvation.

 

God the Father is the author of the eternal salvation plan, God loved the world so much that He gave His uniquely-born Son," John 3:16. God the Father is also the judge, for He judged our sins after He imputed [credited, attributed or ascribed to Jesus Christ all the sins of the world; past, present & future] them to Jesus Christ on the Cross.

 

God the Son is the Savior, and so is the object of faith for salvation. He provided Eternal salvation through being judged for our sins on the cross, called His substitutionary spiritual death [during those 3 hours of judgment on the cross, Jesus was separated from God the Father for the first time ever as all the sins of the world were poured out on Him and judged; only His humanity suffered spiritual death (spiritual death means separation from God the Father; even for 3 hours), [His deity was never separated from God].

 

God the Holy Spirit reveals the work of salvation. This is called the convicting [convincing] work of the Spirit in John 16:7, 8, 9, 10, 11. The only sin God the Holy Spirit uses in his conviction ministry at salvation is the sin of unbelief, "concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me." NASB John 16:9

 

The way of Eternal salvation is (exclusively) by faith in Jesus Christ totally apart from human works, human talent, human ability, human self-righteousness, human commitment, or making Christ Lord of all.

 

Category two, post-salvation grace, is all that God is free to do for the Church-age believer. Post-salvation grace is totally divorced from any system of human works, human merit, human ability, human behavior, human talent, human emotion, or any form of human power. God's plan is totally grace, which means we cannot do anything to enhance it! Yet today and throughout the Church-age, no organized Church or denomination has correctly taught: after salvation, what? The Reformation [a religious and political movement of 16th-century Europe that began as an attempt to reform the Roman Catholic Church and resulted in the establishment of the Protestant Churches] did not clarify the issue. Right down to this very moment in Theological Seminaries, few people know what it means to live the Christian life. Most of them think it means morality. Morality is for the entire human race, unbelievers can be moral, and anything the unbeliever can do is not a part of the Christian way of life. What the Holy Spirit can do for us is far greater than morality. Moral people live under the laws of divine establishment, which are for believer and unbeliever alike.

 

Grace is the function of the attributes [divine characteristics] of God on behalf of each Church-age believer as Royal family. Grace is always the work of God, not the work of man. The work of God is so perfect and so great that God does not need our help; we need His (which can be a problem because we more often than not, don’t want His help (at least when we are in the baby stage of spiritual growth, new, baby believers and adolescent believers have a tendency to want to continue doing it themselves; that is, our way rather than His way. I don’t think we literally  want to displease our Father in heaven in doing deeds our  way, I think much of the time we are out of fellowship when we do something considered divine good but don’t realize that we are out of fellowship until after the good deed is done.  Does that make sense? If so, we need to be more observant of ourselves to be certain we are in fellowship with God so the Holy Spirit can effectively teach us). Under the divine policy of grace, everything depends on who and what God is, never on who and what the believer is.

Under the divine policy of grace, everything depends on the ability of God; nothing depends on the ability of the believer. God has found a way to bless the worst of believers as well as the best without any compromise of His attributes (divine characteristics), this is the study of Logistical grace. No attribute of God can be compromised or jeopardized in providing blessing for the believer. Therefore, divine blessing comes from grace which excludes any form of human merit, human works, self-righteousness, feelings, emotions, or any other activity of man.

 

Under the divine policy of grace, only the ability and power of God obtained through the filling of the Holy Spirit and taught by the convincing ministry of the Holy Spirit can meet the needs of the helpless believer, and therefore provide answers and solutions to the problems of life.

 

Grace is further defined as the genius of God directed toward mankind. Bible Doctrine is the manifestation [visible representation] of that genius. Our positive, non-meritorious response, to that grace is the glorification of that genius [In other words, when we don’t try to use any kind of human power but only the filling of the Holy Spirit thereby using the Spirits power, we glorify God, Jesus and the Spirit].

 

In salvation or category one grace [saving grace], the non-meritorious response is simply personal faith in Jesus Christ.

 

In the Pre-designed Plan of God for the Church-age, category two grace, cognition by grace [you can understand and believe God’s Word  via the convicting ministry of the Spirit], Spirituality by grace [growing spiritually under His grace and applying or living what you have learned], execution of the Pre-designed Plan of God by grace [only while in fellowship with God can you initiate,  activate or restore His plan for your life, you must do it with the power of the Holy Spirit, not human power], and glorification of God by grace are the non-meritorious responses to God's grace. God can only be glorified by grace. If the glory goes to God that means God has done the work, and that's grace. REPEAT!

Invisible God plus invisible assets plus invisible power equals invisible heroes. Before an invisible hero is formed, it all adds up to the work of God. Grace is all that God is free to do for each believer and be consistent with His own divine attributes [characteristics - Sovereignty, Righteousness, Justice, Love 1, 2, 3, 4; Eternal Life 1, 2; Omniscience; Omnipresence; Omnipotence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Immutability; and Veracity-ask me if you want the bible support verses as there wasn’t room in pop-ups].

 

Logistical grace support is given to all believers. This Logistical grace support and blessing is imputed [credited] to both winner and loser believers alike, as part of the equal opportunity of election. Logistical grace support and blessing is sent from the justice of God to the indwelling righteousness of God [the real you inside]. And it is not sent on the basis of any human merit of any kind on our part. The principle is that divine justice can only bless divine righteousness.

Logistical grace is defined as divine planning, divine support, divine provision, and divine blessing, given by God to every Church-age believer, whether a winner or loser believer, for the execution of the predesigned plan of God. Logistical grace includes everything that you would need to fulfill the plan of God for your life. It is food, water, clothes, shelter, air to breathe, a Bible, a pastor-teacher to instruct and even show you how to live the Word of God, etc. Logistical grace is a free gift by God’s grace that originates from His Justice and is imputed to the very Righteousness of God in every Church-age believer.

The holiness or integrity of God is composed of two merging attributes [divine characteristics] that form into one: the perfect and eternal justice of God, and the perfect and eternal righteousness of God [God’s righteousness and God’s gift of eternal life are synonymous terms; Paul’s favorite term for eternal life was righteousness in the book of Romans; John’s favorite term in the Gospel of John for righteousness was eternal life or everlasting life].

 

In blessing mankind through the policy of grace, divine justice is the guardian of the attributes of God; divine justice is the believer's point of contact with God. In the function of God's holiness or integrity, righteousness demands righteousness, and justice demands justice.

 

God cannot accept anything less than perfect righteousness, and God cannot bless anything less than perfect righteousness. Consequently, the justice of God is the source of all direct blessing from God. Grace demands that God must be consistent with His own attributes [characteristics - Sovereignty, Righteousness, Justice, Love 1, 2, 3, 4; Eternal Life 1, 2; Omniscience; Omnipresence; Omnipotence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; Immutability; and Veracity-ask me if you want the bible support verses as there wasn’t room in pop-ups]. Therefore, God is only free to bless where someone has been the recipient of His perfect righteousness; that someone is anyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

 

The imputation [crediting] of divine righteousness to the believer at his/her point or moment of faith in Christ is absolutely necessary for any blessing from the justice of God. Therefore, the justice of God administers what the righteousness of God demands.

 

The expression of Logistical grace is found in many passages, Matthew 6:33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness [imputed through faith in Christ], and all these things [blessings listed in the Sermon on the Mount] will be provided for you."

 

The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) will not be operational until the Millennium [the 1,000 year reign of Christ]. In this message [Sermon on the Mount], Christ presented Himself as the Messiah, and He presented the lifestyle that will exist in client nation Israel in the Millennium. At the moment of personal faith in Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God [eternal life] is imputed [credited] to each believer. We are blessed undeservedly, because we have the righteousness of God.

 

The imputation of divine righteousness provides three things.

 

1) Justification.

 

Justification means a judicial act of vindication [to be cleared from guilt, blame, criticism, separation, etc.—acquittal: set free from being condemned to the lake of fire]. We are born under condemnation, being spiritually dead [separated from God from birth to belief in Christ for eternal life]. Justification is an official judicial act that occurs every time anyone believes in Christ.  God the Father was satisfied with the substitutionary spiritual sacrifice of Jesus Christ and by means of Christ’s efficacious [root=effort] work on the Cross the divine righteousness of God is imputed to every born again believer at the moment of eternal salvation. Simultaneously the Father sees the righteousness in us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and His justice pronounces us justified (Romans 3:23-24). Justification therefore guarantees a relationship with God forever and also guarantees our perfect standing as holy and blameless in His eyes forever (Romans 4:4-5; Romans 5:1; Romans 8:29-30; Galatians 3:24; Titus 3:7). There is also a justification for reward and blessing, which comes on the basis of the application of the mind of Christ in your thoughts, your words, and your deeds, which James refers to as a “justification from works” (James 2:21-22, 23-24).

2) It provides the grace mechanics for blessing all believers, winners and losers, through logistical grace.

3) The personal love of God: as unbelievers, God had Impersonal love 1, 2 toward us. Now that we have His own righteousness, God can love us personally. The pattern for grace is established at eternal salvation, and remains consistent with all post-salvation function inside the Pre-designed Plan of God.

 

Category one grace is taught in Ephesians 2:8-9, For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves it is a gift from God [we cannot do anything to earn our eternal salvation];, not of works, lest any man should boast [Paul is saying that even our belief in God does not originate in ourselves; this too is a gift so no one can take pride in their position as a Christian].

The two important words are grace (charis) and faith (pistis). The saving work of Christ on the Cross excludes any form of human works, human penance, human repentance, and anything meritorious. Faith is the total absence of human merit. Salvation is the work of God, and therefore it excludes anything that man can contribute or add to faith. The only means of eternal salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ, and faith alone with nothing added.

 

Attempting to get Eternal Salvation by works is blasphemy [speaking evil, slanderously or disrespectfully of God]. Most of the works added are added through legalism. Christians have added prohibitions [making things illegal] that include sins they think are incompatible with the plan of God, sins that shock them. But the point is that no sin is compatible with the Pre-designed Plan of God.

 

SKIP DOWN TO: page 82

 

In order to determine whether or not you are saved, you must determine whether the first time you believed in Christ, you simply believed in Christ and added nothing else [John 20:30-31 tells us what we are to believe about Christ]: ³⁰ And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹ but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may [will] have life [eternal life] in His name. [John guarantees that when we believe that Jesus is the Christ we have eternal life]. For if you later believed in Christ and added something to that belief, like making a commitment, you're still saved though very mixed-up. But if the first time you believed in Christ you added making a commitment, then you are not saved because you added to the work of Christ on the Cross.

 

Salvation through "making Christ Lord of all," is salvation by works. Christ is Lord of all the moment you believe in Christ, because the Baptism of the Spirit enters you into union with Christ. The erroneous belief in salvation through morality or through keeping the Mosaic Law is taught in Eph 4 and Galatians 2:16a-c, d Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the Law, because by observing the Law, no one will be justified.

 

Romans 3:28, Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law.

 

Those who advocate [teach] eternal salvation through "repent [confess your sins] and believe" mean they want you to feel sorry and/or guilty for your sins and believe in order to be saved, this is wrong. The Greek word metanoeo, sometimes used in connection with salvation and repentance, means to change ones mind. And it is the convicting [convincing] work of the Holy Spirit that changes our mind toward Christ before we believe. So it's a part of the doctrine of common grace, and it prepares us for salvation by giving right information so we can change our mind about Christ. No one has ever believed in Christ without repenting, that is, in the sense of changing his or her mind about Christ. But it does not mean is to feel sorry for sins. One of the most inconsequential [unimportant, insignificant, minor] things in life is how you feel about your sins; it is only what God thinks about them that counts. God the Father showed how He felt about our sins when He judged them on the Cross.

Salvation through emotional experience is wrong. Although you may have a great experience at the point of your salvation [some say the removal of all sin at our point of faith in Christ is a great lifting experience, they felt a large load of sins and guilt lifted of them], it has nothing to do with your actual salvation. You are saved only by faith in Jesus Christ. You may feel terrible with a hangover and believe in Christ, and you are saved. You may feel elated and believe in Christ, and you are saved. How you feel has nothing to do with salvation.

 

Eternal salvation by water baptism is totally wrong. Being dunked in a tub of water doesn't affect eternal salvation or change your life. The purpose of water baptism, when it was legitimately practiced before the completion of the Canon [New Testement], was to teach retroactive positional truth [to be identified with Christ in His death and burial, divorced from sin, evil and the power of the old sin nature because he [that was you] is crucified and buried with Christ] Rom 6:4, 6. Eternal salvation has never been given to anyone by performing a ritual. Ritual is designed to teach doctrine, but no one has ever been eternally saved by a ritual. Salvation isn't administered by man, by a ritual which man performs; eternal salvation is the work of God and it occurs at the very second you simply believe in Christ [nothing more, nothing less].

 

Salvation by psychological activity includes jumping through a psychological hoop, raising your hand, or walking an aisle. You can't be saved by some posture. And to have people come forward so you can "follow up on them" implies God cannot follow up on them.

 

Salvation by invitation whereby you invite Christ into your heart is colossal gall! Jeremiah 17:9 says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Nor do you invite Christ into your life. There's no such thing mentioned in the Bible as "inviting Christ" anywhere.

You go to Christ for salvation; He doesn't come to you. This is a blasphemy that is misleading.

The passage in Revelation (REV 3:20) from which some derive this idea is a reference to rebound and fellowship with God. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open, I will come in and dine with him." Christ knocks through Rebound and when we rebound we have restored fellowship with God.

 

COMMENTARY - Revelation 3:20 Through their sinful attitudes and actions the Laodicean believers had shut the Lord out of their lives. Now in His mercy and grace He seeks fellowship with anyone there who “hears His voice and will open the door.” Christ’s invitation here is not for lost sinners to believe in Him for the free gift of eternal life, but for His disobedient children to get close to Him once again. If any of these lukewarm believers did open the door to Him, Christ promises, “I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” This is a promise that they will enjoy close fellowship with Him once again. (GNTC)

 

No one has ever been saved by good conduct or good behavior. So there's no such thing as Lordship salvation, or commitment salvation, or discipleship salvation, or even inviting Christ into your heart or into your life. In fact, Roman Catholics believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, and that He died on the cross for their sins. But, they add to that faith a whole category of works as also being a prerequisite for their eternal salvation. Therefore, they are not saved unless at one point they only believed in Christ. The only condition for eternal salvation is a non-meritorious condition which is compatible with God's policy of grace.

 

 

So it's important to understand that we cannot add anything to faith in Christ and have eternal salvation, because when we add anything we are giving merit to ourselves. For example, people boast, "I invited Christ into my heart, I made a commitment, I made Christ Lord of all, I repented, I was baptized, I had a rosy glow." All these add something and attempt to help God. All this is legalism and not grace at all. So the only condition for eternal salvation which is non-meritorious is personal faith in Jesus Christ, whose substitutionary Spiritual death on the cross provided all the work for salvation.

 

Eternal salvation is a free gift compatible with grace. It is attained by faith alone.

 

Legalism is the enemy of grace, man intrudes into the grace policy of God with self-righteousness, works, good behavior, self-improvement, emotional-ism, ritual, and talent.

 

Ritual is a non-thinking person's way of worshipping, but it is not worship at all. The only ritual we have today is the Eucharist [the Lords Supper, Communion]. Anything added to faith in Christ (for eternal salvation) becomes a contradiction to the divine policy of grace.

 

Legalism is salvation by works.

 

Legalism is spirituality by works.

 

Legalism is crusader arrogance, trying to improve the devil's world, as per post-millennial theology.

 

Legalism is human plans substituted for the Pre-designed Plan of God.

 

Legalism always wants to invite Christ somewhere for salvation. Such a person therefore assumes Christ is in his life and he becomes very self-righteous. We are saved by believing in Christ, not by inviting Christ anywhere.

 

Grace and legalism are mutually exclusive at salvation. Grace and legalism are mutually exclusive in the Christian way of life. They cannot coexist in any category, whether at salvation or in the Pre-designed Plan of God.

 

Legalism in salvation is man seeking to gain the approbation [praise or recognition] of God through his own works or production; this can be called the Cain syndrome.

 

Legalism is the believer seeking to gain the approbation of God through his own works.

Grace in eternal salvation is the work of God. The ten problem-solving solutions all function on a grace basis. The problem-solving solutions of the Pre-designed Plan of God cannot function where legalism is practiced by Christians.

 

So grace is the policy of God in blessing mankind totally apart from any creature merit.

 

 

 

 

 

RESTART:

 

Grace is not an excuse to take what we want in life. Therefore, grace must not be rationalized. Grace must not be distorted so as to bring reproach [disgrace] on the name of Christ which is tantamount [equivalent] to blasphemy. Grace is the policy of God to sustain and regulate our lives under the Pre-designed Plan of God. As Church-age believers and Royal Family of God, we must avoid superimposing our personal desires on God, and making stupid demands in the name of grace. This is an insult to the wisdom of God. What He has already provided in grace is far, far greater than anything for which we could ask. He has given us "exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or be imagining."

 

Under the grace policy of God, every believer has equal privilege and equal opportunity for the execution of the predesigned plan, resulting in the manufacture of invisible heroes and the glorification of God. Grace is the divine policy for using the baptism of the Spirit to create a new spiritual species. God has provided for us in grace the most fantastic divine power. Grace is the divine policy for keeping both winners and losers alive under Logistical grace. Grace is the divine policy for providing equal privilege and equal opportunity, for making each one of us a Royal priest and a Royal ambassador. Grace is the divine policy for the manufacture of invisible Christian heroes and the glorification of God.

 

Therefore, we cannot squeeze grace into the narrow confines of human viewpoint, but we utilize grace through the wide expanse of God's thinking through the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. We do not distort grace to comply with our lusts or our concupiscence [strong desire—usually sexual], but we expand our horizons through the perception of doctrine and the function of the ten problem-solving solutions.

 

Grace does not give us what we want; grace gives us something far greater: what God wants, something far better than anything we could think of or imagine. Grace is dependence on God's wisdom rather than on our own desires and lack of wisdom.

 

Again, no one can retain 100% of what’s being taught in any class like this, you need to reread this lesson at home a few times; when you do, meditate on all the subject matter we’ve discussed today.  Of course, be certain you are in fellowship with God so the Holy Spirit can teach you the things you may have missed getting understanding of during the discipleship class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Problem Solving Solution Number Five: Doctrinal Orientation.

 

Essentially, Doctrinal Orientation to the Pre-designed Plan of God for your life is the function of post-salvation perception, metabolization and application [living it] of Bible doctrine. Perception (gnosis= knowledge) and metabolization (epignosis=understood & believed  doctrine) always result in confidence. This confidence can be classified in the Bible in several ways.

 

Confidence can be classified as spiritual adulthood in its three stages,

 

Spiritual self-esteem: Spiritual self-esteem is cognitive self-confidence and the beginning of effective function of the ten problem-solving solutions of the pre-designed plan of God for the Church. It is that virtue of God’s plan whereby the believer’s confidence is based on Bible doctrine; and the believer’s respect for self is linked to grace-orientation. Spiritual self-esteem is the believer’s dependence on God’s grace provision for stabilizing self and integrating self into God’s plan for the Church-age believer, EPH 3:12 ¹² in whom we have boldness and access ^owith confidence through faith in Him.. Spiritual self-esteem is the foundation for the stability of the Christian life, and it is the believer's dependence on God's grace provision for stabilizing self and integrating self into the predesigned plan of God. This is the first stage of spiritual adulthood.

 

Spiritual autonomy: Spiritual autonomy is a continuation of contentment or +H [sharing the happiness of God] as a major problem-solving solution. In spiritual autonomy the believer has become spiritually self sustained having maximum love for God and impersonal unconditional love for all mankind. It is the second stage of spiritual adulthood.

 

Spiritual maturity: Spiritual maturity is the third and final stage of spiritual maturity. It is accomplished by the believer who has advanced in the spiritual life by executing [living] the predesigned plan of God in his or her own dispensation. This advancement to the high ground of spiritual maturity is attained after the believer passes many tests of undeserved suffering [e.g., loss of wealth, loss of health, loss of a job at age 50, anything that causes undeserved suffering] and the various momentum tests. Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with sinless perfection, which cannot ever be realized in this life, but is characterized by virtue developed by an attitude of perseverance despite many failures. The mature believer has attained to the measure of the fullness of Christ, EPH 4:13 ^3 pTherefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, ^qwhich is your glory. NKJV The life of the mature believer is also known or referred to in some church groups as the super-grace life, JAM 4:6 6 But ^aHe gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “^bGod is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” NASB  

 

Confidence can also be referred to by the Greek word elpis which is always translated hope, but in the English language hope implies doubt and uncertainty. However, elpis means confident expectation; it can also mean confident assurance.

 

Hope [confident expectation] is an expression [personal response] for Doctrinal orientation, an extension of faith or confidence into future things. So elpis in the New Testament means to have confidence in something in either the near future or the distant future. When hope is directed toward Bible doctrine and the Pre-designed Plan of God, it becomes confidence in the sphere of anticipation or expectation. Hope is confidence in what is attainable in the Pre-designed Plan of God. Therefore, hope cannot be divorced from the function of post-salvation perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine. Hope [confident expectations) becomes motivation for momentum and advancement in God's plan, purpose, and will for your life. The unbeliever is described in Ephesians 2:12 as "having no hope and without God in the world."

 

When the believer faces the death of a loved one, 1 Thessalonians 4:13 describes his attitude, "We do not grieve as others who have no hope." When our loved ones die, if they are believers we know we will see them again. That is confidence in something in the future. If on the other hand, we know that our loved one professed to be an unbeliever (we can never really know if someone is not saved when they die, only God knows), we understand that as humans, all humanity has equal opportunity to hear the accurate Gospel and that God does not interfere in our free will choices.

 

Hope [confident expectation] is defined in relationship to doctrine in Hebrews 11:1. Throughout Heb 11, the Greek word pistis means what is believed, or doctrine believed. In fact, doctrine [bible truth] is the reality from which we receive hope, the proof of matters not yet being seen. Doctrine is the reality, the legitimate expectation as we progress in the Pre-designed Plan of God.

 

Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. NKJV

 

 

COMMENTARY: Let’s see what the GNTC has to say:

11:1. The author begins by defining faith and the value it has. He says it is the substance of things hoped for. The word translated substance is quite flexible in meaning, but in this context it probably stresses the confidence or assurance that one has in something (cf. the synonym in 10:35). This active sense would fit the description of faith in 11:6 as something that believer’s do that pleases God (cf. v39). Also this is consistent with the author’s concern in 10:38 that believers “live by faith” (i.e., be confident in what God has said and act accordingly).

 

 

The word translated evidence would better be understood as “a conviction about” something. The NIV’s translation is accurate: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” In light of the examples cited the author has in mind an assurance about things God has revealed or called a person to do (not things one wishes to happen).

Hope (confidence in bible truth) is a problem-solving solution as a part of Doctrinal orientation. Romans 12:2, With reference to hope, be rejoicing; with reference to pressure, stand fast. Persist in prayer.

 

 

Romans 12:2 - ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind [retraining your brain], that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. NKJV

COMMENTARY: Let’s see what the GNTC has to say about Romans 12:2. Negatively, Christians are commanded to not be conformed (cf. 1 Peter 1:14 the only other use of this word in the NT) to this world. Rather, positively, believers should be transformed by the renewing of [their] mind. Christians should actively seek to be influenced and changed by the Spirit through God’s Word. This occurs as believers prayerfully read and meditate on God’s Word privately and as they hear it [or read it] taught when assembling with other believers for worship and instruction (cf. Rom 8:5-6, 7).

 

Once believers begin to be transformed they may prove that God’s will is good and acceptable and perfect (i.e., complete). As the minds of Christians are renewed, they come to see that God’s will for their lives is better, more enjoyable, and more satisfying than any plan they could have come up with.

 

Romans 15:4, For many doctrines as have been written before [in the Old Testament canon] were written for our instruction in order that, through perseverance [steady persistence, in this context, learning and living bible truth] and encouragement from the Scriptures, we [Church-age believers] might have hope [confident expectation]. In other words, hope has always been a problem-solving tool for believers in every dispensation.

 

Romans 15:4  ⁴ For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. NKJV

 

COMMENTARY: Let’s see what the GNTC says about Romans 15:4

After quoting from the Psalms 69:9, Paul explains the purpose of using OT Scripture.  It serves to teach one how to behave.  As a result of learning the Scriptures the believer will gain patience to overcome adversities and find comfort in times of distress. This cultivates hope (cf. 5:2-3, 4, 5; 8:20, 22, 23, 24-25; 15:12, 13) which gives believers confidence to live in unity now as a foretaste of what will come at a later date.

Lamentations 3:21-23, 24-25: This I recall to mind; Therefore, I have hope. The Lord's gracious functions never cease [grace orientation]; His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I have hope [confidence] in Him [occupation with Christ]. The Lord is good to those who trust in Him [faith-rest technique], to the soul who seeks Him [doctrinal orientation].

                                           

Notice that as a result of recall or the application of metabolized doctrine, the believer has confidence. Being "new every morning" means we are to live a day at a time as a part of God's plan for all dispensations. The only way you can seek God after salvation is through the perception and metabolization of Bible doctrine.

Jeremiah 17:7, Happiness belongs to the person who trusts in the Lord [one who is devoted to the Lord and His Word], and whose hope [confidence] is in the Lord [occupation with Christ].

Psalm 71:5, For You are my hope [confidence], O Lord God, my confidence from my youth.

Romans 15:13, Now may the God of hope [confidence] fill you with all happiness and prosperity [escrow blessings for time & eternity] in believing, that you may abound [be abundantly supplied] in hope [fulfillment of hope 2—the  believer has confidence that by persistent metabolization and application of doctrine, he will reach maturity and receive fantastic blessings in time.] by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

COMMENTARY: Romans 15:13 – Paul concludes the nonessential issues section begun in 14:1 with a benedictory prayer. He asks God as the source of all hope to fill believers with joy and peace (14:17) by believing in the hope, which guarantees a future day of unity that Jews and Gentiles (cf. vv 9-10, 11-12) will share. One’s behavior should exemplify this unity now in light of that future day. This hope, like that mentioned in 14:17, comes by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

This verse also concludes the section (Romans 12:1-15:13) dealing with the practical aspect of the gospel that reveals specifically God’s perfect will that exhorts [strongly urges] believers to serve in all aspects. Only the justified can experience gospel-life by serving others in love.

 

Paul concludes his letter with a Manual for Ministry by giving believers specific exhortations [strongly urging us] on how to behave in key relationships within the church and the world (Romans 12:1-15:13). GNTC

Job 4:6, Is not your fear [reverence, awe, love] of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope [confidence]?

When you are executing the plan of God, you have hope [confidence], which is absolute confidence in the fulfillment of His plan in your life.

Romans 5:5, And hope [confident expectations] does not disappoint, because the love of God [virtue-love/impersonal love] has been poured out within our hearts [thinking portion of our brain] through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

 

The GNGC says this about Romans 5:5 - Paul further adds that this hope does not disappoint or, put to shame. The hope produced by suffering (vv 3-4) will not presently allow us to be put to shame (cf. Rom 9:33; 10:11). Paul’s reason for Christian confidence is because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. The Holy Spirit...given to us at the moment of justification (8:9) aids us [by constantly encouraging us in our hope or confidence in God] in life and suffering (8:13-39 see below).

 

Extra Optional Reading – GNTC notes; home work.

 

Skip to page 93.

Romans 8:13-39 - 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

    Romans 8:12-14. Up to this point Paul showed how believers are not debtors to the flesh. That is, believers do not have to live according to the flesh (like unbelievers; 8:1,4-5) because they have resurrection power to overcome the deadly power of sin.

Paul now explains two possible outcomes believers will experience depending on their choice. If you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. The Reformed-Calvinist view is that the one who lives according to flesh is unregenerate. The Arminian view is that Paul is presenting a real warning to believers to live holy lives or the believer will forfeit eternal life and die eternally. Neither view fits the book or the context.

First, Paul is not expressing a warning, but is explaining the believer’s victory over sin by the resident power of the Spirit. Second, Paul uses the term brethren in v 12, a term he uses for believers throughout the epistle (except in 9:3). Third, 7:7-24 and 8:1-12 demonstrate the possibility of a regenerate person to live after the flesh. Not once does Paul imply that the one who lives according to the flesh will forfeit or prove they do not have eternal life. Fourth, Paul’s use of the terms die and live refer to physical, not eternal, life and death. Eternal life is freely given to all who believe in Jesus for it.

Paul now describes believers who stop obeying their evil disposition (v 13). Only mature believers (implied by the term as many as) that are led by the Spirit can rightly be called sons of God.

There are two different aspects of beings sons of God in Paul. Positionally all believers are sons of God by virtue of faith in Christ (Gal 3:26). Yet, experientially only those believers who walk according to the Spirit, who are led by Him, are manifesting their identity sons of God. Paul refers to the latter here.

8:15-17. Believers did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, because they received the Spirit of sonship (‎huiothesias ‎is best translated as sonship, rather than adoption; cf. vv 18-23). The idea of sonship (cf. vv 14-15,17-22) refers to the OT Jewish view of the adoption rights or benefits of the firstborn that now belong to all believers. One of these benefits is to call God “Abba, Father,” in times of need. Paul uses huiothesias in 9:4 to refer to the benefits or advantages that belonged to the Jews. Thus believers have nothing to fear because they received a Spirit of sonship with all the benefits that pertain to it (Gal 4:5). But believers must live obediently to receive the double portion that belongs to them from birth; not squander it as Esau did (Gen 25:34; Heb 12:16-17).

The Spirit Himself aids believers in crying out to God. He bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Many view this verse as saying the Spirit internally witnesses to believers of their eternal salvation. But the Greek compound verb ‎summartureœ ‎conveys the meaning of bear witness with (NKJV), not bear witness to. This is not an internal witness of the Spirit to us that we are saved. Rather, the Holy Spirit joins with our spirit in testifying to God the Father that we are His children. This fulfills the OT principle that all matters must be verified by a minimum of two witnesses (Deut 19:15; Matt 18:16).

This dual witness to God occurs through prayer (cf. v 26). In the OT, prayer directed toward God in a time of need reminds God that the people of Israel are His people (1 Kings 8:51-52; Ex 33:13; Deut 9:26,29). This is analogous to reminding God in a time of need that we are His children. God doesn’t need reminding, but in times of need it serves to solidify the believer’s petition by virtue of the relational status they have with God.

Furthermore, the relational status strengthens believers to endure suffering. If [since we are] children [‎teknon‎], then heirs—heirs of God. All Christians are heirs of God simply by faith alone. However becoming joint heirs with (‎sunkl¢ronomoi‎) Christ occurs only if indeed we suffer with Him.

The term teknon (children, vv 16-17,21) has a more distinct nuance than the terms ‎huios ‎(son, vv 14,19) and ‎huiothesia ‎(sonship, vv 15,23). The term ‎teknon ‎is used in many ways, but here it simply means children of God.

In this context, only the mature sons of God are co-heirs with Christ as a result of living righteously through the leading of the Spirit (vv 13-15). Living in such a way will lead to suffering in this life, but enduring through suffering will result in greater glory. Two related Greek terms (one with the preposition with prefixed to it) distinguish mere heirship (‎kl¢ronomoi‎) as a result of believing in Christ, from co-heirship (‎sunkl¢ronomoi‎) as a result of suffering with Christ. The result of suffering with Christ is that we may also be gloried together (‎sundoxasthœmen‎, lit., “we may also be glorified with”; cf. v 18 to define the meaning of glory). Scripture clearly supports that rewards are conditioned upon works and suffering (Acts 20:32; 1 Cor 9:27; 2 Cor 5:10; 1 Peter 1:4; Col 3:24; 2 Tim 2:11-13; James 2:5; 1 John 2:28; Rev 2-3). Paul teaches here that all believers upon regeneration become heirs of God, but only those who suffer become joint-heirs with Christ and will rule and receive rewards from Him at their glorification. GNTC

 

From Suffering to Glory

 Romans ¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; ²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

 

26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

 

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

 

God’s Everlasting Love

 

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:

 

“For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

 

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 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.

    

Believers need the help of the Holy Spirit to overcome sin (8:1-17), but He also helps believers persevere in suffering (8:18-30). Therefore, Christians who suffer for Christ can rest assured that God will never abandon them (8:31-39).

8:18-22. Paul instructs his readers to consider the suffering of this present time (v 17) as beneficial, because the future rewards for the faithful (cf. 2 Cor 4:17) far outweigh present suffering. Sharing in Christ’s suffering is a precursor to sharing Christ’s glory. There are two kinds of glory expressed in chap. 8. Glorification corresponds to the third stage of Christian salvation and occurs at resurrection. It is an unconditional and guaranteed result of believing in Christ (5:2; 8:21,30; cf. 1 John 3:2).

The glory which will be revealed in the mature sons of God (cf. v 17) refers to faithful believers who will share in the honor, prestige and reward of co-reigning with Christ over creation (Heb 1:8-9; 2 Tim 2:12; Rev 2:26-28). Although creation was subjected to futility due to the curse of the fall (Gen 3:17-19), creation will be delivered from the curse into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Paul carefully distinguishes the meaning of the phrase liberty of the children of God from the earnest expectation to be revealed by the sons of God (v 19). The earnest expectation that awaits creation refers to the future rule of creation by the sons of God. Creation waits to be under the control of these future rulers. Conversely, Paul does not state that creation awaits the liberty of the sons of God. That would elevate creation to the place belonging to its future rulers. All children of God will equally inherit the earth at its liberation from the curse of the fall. However, only the sons of God as committed believers who suffer for Christ will receive a double portion (vv 13-15,17-19). As first-born sons, they will rule creation.

Verse 22 concludes the preceding theme by summarizing the current state of the earth. By stating that we know, Paul implies a common knowledge obvious to all by merely looking at creation. It groans and labors with birth pangs. In v 22, creation is groaning; not believers. The groaning of creation pictures a painful and wearisome interval in which it waits for deliverance from the curse of sin.

8:23-25. So also, believers groan within themselves. Just as creation waits for final deliverance, so also do believers, especially when undergoing suffering. Yet because believers have begun to experience the adoption (‎huiothesia‎, “sonship” as in v 15) privileges that will be fully realized in the future when the redemption of our body occurs, believers groan even more. They have tasted what is to come, and groan with longing for the full realization of redemption.

Those who tasted the liberating power and life in the Spirit anticipate their future resurrection. They were saved in this hope. The point in time that believers are saved refers to their experience when they first tasted these firstfruits of the Spirit’s quickening power that gave life to this mortal body (v 11). This does not merely refer to justification, but also the effects of sanctification as believers are delivered from sin’s power in their lives and begin to experience the resurrection-life. Believers hope for this experience to become permanent in the future.

Obviously the full sanctification-salvation experience from sin remains to be realized in the future and cannot be presently seen (cf. 2 Cor 4:18; Heb 11). But since believers have tasted the “firstfruits of the Spirit” they wait for it with perseverance. Experiencing this sanctification-salvation causes believers to endure suffering through tribulations, which in turn produces more hope (cf. 5:3-5).

8:26-27. As hope aids believers in suffering (5:3-5; 8:24-25), the Spirit also helps in their weaknesses, since they do not know what they should pray. Since believers lack sound udgment in how to present their case before God, the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us.

Even if believers cannot ascertain God’s will in hard times, God the Father (implied by He who knows the hearts of men; cf. 1 Sam 16:7; 1 Kings 8:39; Heb 4:13) knows what is in the mind of the Spirit as He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. God knows our hearts and the mind of the Spirit. Therefore, when we pray, it is as if the Holy Spirit interprets our prayers to God and corrects them to conform to the will of God. The Holy Spirit intercedes for believers when we do not know what to pray, and even when we pray incorrectly.

8:28. If knowing that our prayers get through to God is not enough comfort for the suffering, Paul provides further solace by stating we know (cf. 2:3; 3:19; 6:6; 7:14; 8:22) all things work together for good to those who love God. The phrase those who love God refers only to faithful believers as opposed to all Christians (cf. John 14:15,23-24). While all Christians cannot avoid human suffering, those who are led by the Spirit (cf. vv 13-18) can know that their suffering will have spiritual benefits. The phrase all things work together for good refers to the benefits that committed believers ought to look for in the midst of suffering. Therefore all things, qualified by the phrase those who love God, must be viewed as applicable only to obedient believers. Bad things happen to obedient believers for their good, whether it makes sense or not (Gen 50:20).

To be called according to His purpose refers to more than an obedient response to the Spirit’s leading (Rom 5:5; 8:11-18; Eph 4:25-32; 5:18; 1 Thess 5:19; 1 John 4:19-20). God’s purpose is the justification-salvation and eternal security of believers (Matt 22:14; Rom 1:1,6-7; 11:29). To be called according to His purpose refers to believers being called to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives. This is supported by the context of faithful believers living in obedience to God through the power of the indwelling Spirit. God works in all things for good for those who are working to fulfill God’s calling on their lives. Though they may suffer, He guarantees they will not lose their justification, but will ultimately be glorified in eternity. This is what Paul goes on to explain vv 29-30.

8:29-30. Verses 29-30 are a golden chain representing God’s plan for our deliverance. It begins with God’s foreknowledge. The term foreknew means to “know beforehand” and “chose beforehand.” This does not mean that God looked ahead and acquired the facts about what would happen, but that God made a predetermined choice to have an intimate relationship with certain individuals (cf. Jer 1:4-5; Amos 3:2; Eph 1:4; cf. Luke 1:15; Gal 1:15). In context, those whom God decided to have this intimate relationship with are suffering believers.

The term predestined means “to decide beforehand” as in making a choice. But what was the choice? Not to turn unbelievers into believers, but to conform those He foreknew to the image of His Son. While foreknowledge implies the intention to develop a relationship, predestination implies the plan and decision to carry it out. God planned, before anybody was ever born, before anybody was saved, that every person who believed in Jesus for eternal life, and who suffered as a result of living for Jesus, would be conformed completely to the image of Jesus.

God’s purpose in foreknowledge and predestination is that suffering believers may share with Christ (i.e., He) in His firstborn privileges (cf. cf. vv 14-15,17-22). Hence these many brethren, contextually, are those who will have a special status as firstborn who will reign with Christ since they also suffered with Him (v 17; 2 Tim 2:12; Heb 1:9; 3:14; Rev 2:26). To further comfort suffering believers, Paul stresses God’s unbroken purpose for the called (‎ekalesen‎) who are the justified (‎edikaiœsen‎) and glorified (‎edoxasen‎). All three verbs in the Greek appear in the aorist “past” tense. The future of these believers is so certain that Paul uses the aorist past tense to describe future glorification (since it is guaranteed at justification) as though it were already completed.

8:31-36. Paul transitions and gives the utmost security and comfort to these suffering believers by bringing to a climax God’s unbroken promises that apply to all believers. He begins by stating seven rhetorical questions from vv 31-36.

If [i.e., since] God is for us, who can be against us? This means that no lesser power can defeat His purpose. Since God did the greatest thing of all by not sparing His own Son to die on the cross for us all to pay for sin, will He not do the lesser thing and also freely give us all things? Of course He will! Paul’s legal language continues in vv 33-34. Who charges God’s elect? No power lesser than God can, since He justifies and is greater than all. Who then condemns? No one! Christ died (v 32) and rose (v 34) from the dead making condemnation of anyone who believes impossible (5:17; cf. 4:25; 10:9). Only Christ could condemn us, which He will not do. Rather, He continuously makes intercession for us.

Hence Paul rhetorically asks, Who then can separate believers from Christ’s love? No one can. Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? These are common instruments of suffering that usually follow believers who love God (cf. 1 Peter 4:12-13; Rom 8:17-18). Paul quotes Ps 44:22 referring to those who face daily persecution.

8:37-39. Therefore, Paul assures suffering believers that in all these things we are more than conquerors. Christian victory becomes possible only through Him (Christ) who loved us, unlike the self-sufficient attitude found in 7:14-25.

Paul explains the immensity of this love by including a list of four contrasting pairs. The first item, death, is feared by many, but cannot defeat Christians. The word life affirms believers cannot lose their eternal salvation. In death or life, Christians exist in God’s presence (2 Cor 5:8-9). God’s angels would not cause believers to lose their eternal status, and neither can they. Angels are contrasted with principalities and powers, the evil spiritual hosts in obedience to Satan. Though they would take away our eternal life if they could (Eph 6:12), they are powerless to reverse the believer’s eternal destiny.

Neither the present perils nor things to come can sever the believer’s relationship since Christ’s paid for all sins, past, present and future (vv 32-34). Neither height nor depth (heaven or hell; see Eph 3:18-19), can separate believers from God’s immense love. This does not mean that some believers will end up in hell, but that even hell has no power over the believer’s relationship with God.

The final item summarizes all that Paul has listed, and everything else besides. There is not any other created thing that can separate us from the love of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord. The thrust of Rom 8:18-39 is to motivate committed believers to endure suffering, knowing that victory is already accomplished through Christ.GNTC

 

1 Peter 1:21, who through Him [Jesus Christ], we are believers in God who raised Him from the dead, and gave Him [Jesus Christ] glory [of the Hypostatic Union—true humanity and undiminished deity in one unique person forever], so that your faith and confidence [hope] are in God.

 

Commentary: 1 Peter 1:21—Faith in God is through Jesus, as God’s manifested provision for sin. There is no other avenue of salvation (John 5:23; 14:6; 1 John 2:23), whether for those coming to God or those continuing with Him. The grammatical construction of the words so that your faith and hope [confidence] are in God expresses result rather than purpose. The Father’s resurrection and glorification of Jesus results in faith and hope [confidence] being in God as people believe through Jesus. Faith and hope are directed toward, or focused on God.

Why does Peter emphasize this? One is saved only by faith in Christ. Yet the desire to live a godly life springs from a real hope in God—that He will keep His promise to ultimately save and reward them. GNTC

 

Problem Solving Solution Number Six: A Personal Sense of Destiny.

 

Since you already have a destiny as a believer, you might as well have the experience of knowing that you have a destiny. The experience of knowing that you have a destiny is a personal sense of destiny. Every Church-age believer, as a member of the body of Christ and as a member of the Royal family of God, has a destiny. The very fact that you have personally believed in Christ is just the beginning of a fantastic destiny for you in time as well as in eternity. Mechanically, this destiny is accomplished at the moment you believed in Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit means equal privilege for all members of the Royal family of God under predestination (Pre-designed plan of God). The very fact that you have unique equal privileges with all believers indicates that you have a destiny.

The Baptism of the Spirit is the basis for Eternal security as well, which also means you have a destiny. Eternal life is for both winner believers and loser believers in the Pre-designed Plan of God.

 

You might say to yourself, I thought all believers are winner believers. That is true but only from a eternal life standpoint.  However, an example of the loser believer is the one who has believed in Christ and of course received eternal life at the moment of his or her faith in Christ; but then never participates in any spiritual growth activities for the rest of his/her life.  Another example of a loser believer would be the believer that attends bible class and only ends up with a head basic knowledge of bible truth (doctrine); what I mean by that is when someone hears or reads bible truth but doesn’t believe it, it is only a head knowledge because it was never understood and believed; or the believer rejected the truth.  Why would this be truth:  Because only bible truth understood and believed stored in the soul and human spirit can you take with you when you enter the eternal future after this life on earth? Why would that be? Because anything not done in the Spirit [in fellowship with God] is considered wood, hay and straw; only gold, silver and precious stones (good deed done in fellowship with God and bible truth resident in the human soul & spirit will survive at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Therefore, the believer who has accumulated only good deeds out of fellowship with Godf will be a loser believer. If this were not truth, every believer would be a king in heaven.

There is no sin you can ever commit, no renunciation you can make, no way can you ever cancel the forty things (see attachment) God did for you at salvation.

Human arrogance thinks that something can be done to cancel the work of Christ on the Cross. Therefore, there is no way you can lose eternal life, "For whosoever believeth in Him shall never perish, but have everlasting life." The moment you believe in Christ, God does forty things for you which cannot be canceled. The logical approach is taught in Romans 8:32, "He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?"

The approach of God's hand is stated in John 10:28, "I give unto them eternal life. They shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand." Once you're in the hand of God, you're in the hand of God forever.

The positional approach is found in Ephesians 1:6. At the moment of salvation, the baptism of the Spirit enters the believer into union with Christ, a permanent status forever.

The experiential approach is taught in 2 Timothy 2:12, 13, Even though we deny Him, He cannot deny Himself.

 

^{12 q}If we endure,

We shall also reign with Him.

^rIf we deny Him,

He also will deny us.

¹³ If we are faithless,

He remains faithful;

He ^scannot deny Himself.

 

COMMENTARY on 2 Timothy 2:11-13

 

2:11-13. Verses 11-13 are thought by most commentators to have been a song or poem that was well known in the first century and in Ephesus where Timothy ministered. While possible, we should not rule out the possibility that Paul himself created this faithful saying. Or possibly he adapted it from something in his day.

Verses 11 and 13 are key eternal security verses.

Paul often taught that all believers have been crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20; 5:24). Thus when he says if we have died with Christ, he is referring to something that is a past reality for all believers. All who’ve died with Christ shall also live with Him. Note the future tense here. While all believers already have eternal life (Eph 2:5), we are not currently living with Jesus in His kingdom. That is yet future. But, as Paul indicates here, it is guaranteed (cf. 1 Thess 5:10).

The words translated if we are faithless (ei apistoumen) probably should be translated “if we are unbelieving” since all other NT uses of this verb refer to unbelief, not to unfaithfulness. Even if we stop believing, we remain eternally secure, for He cannot deny Himself. Jesus promised that all who believe in Him will never hunger, will never thirst, will never die, will not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16; 6:35; 11:26). He cannot deny what He Himself has promised. His promise is independent of our continued faith or of anything we may do or fail to do.

Verse 12 is a key eternal rewards verse. In v 10 Paul spoke of his own endurance. Now, using the same Greek verb, he say: If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. Note that unlike vv 11 and 13, the promise of ruling with Christ is condition upon something we must do.

The second half of v 12 is antithetically parallel [directly opposed or contrasted; opposite] to the first half. If we deny Him, that is, if we fail to endure in our confession of Christ, then He will also deny us the privilege of reigning with Him. Paul is interpreting Matt 10:32-33 for us here.

Paul was at the end of his life. Timothy and those to whom he ministered were not. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. The issue is rulership, not kingdom entrance. GNTC

The family of God approach is found in Galatians 3:26, We are the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Once you're in a family, you're in that family forever.

The inheritance approach is found in 1 Peter 1:5, We have an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, which fades not away, reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

There is no way our inheritance can be canceled, we can't do anything to cancel it; even God can't do anything to cancel it.

The body of Christ approach compares 1 Corinthians 12:21 with Colossians 1:18. 1 Corinthians 12:21 says, The head cannot say to the foot, I have no need of you. The foot is one of the invisible Spiritual gifts. The head is the Lord Jesus Christ, as per Colossians 1:18. Jesus Christ cannot say to any member of the body of Christ, "I don't need you."

The Greek tense approach is found in Ephesians 2:8, For by grace have you been saved through faith, and that not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. The intensive perfect tense of the Greek verb sozo means we have been saved in the past with the result that we keep on being saved forever. There's no way we can cancel it.

The point is that once we understand we have Eternal security and that there's no way we can cancel it, and once we understand that God can never renounce us once we have been born into His family, then we should begin to realize that we have a destiny. When we realize it to the point where we can apply it to the situations of life, then it becomes a Personal Sense of Destiny.

The moment we believed in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit entered us into union with Jesus Christ and that created a new spiritual species (2CO 5:17) designed to utilize the unprecedented power of God available to us, the omnipotence of all three members of the Trinity.

 

The Church came from the perpetuation of the great power demonstration of the Hypostatic Union into the great power experiment of the Church-age. The Church demands a new spiritual species for the calling out of the royal family of God and its utilization of all divine power.  The new spiritual species originates from regeneration at the moment of salvation and is created through the mechanics of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 2CO 5:17. It is important to note that the new creature is a brand new creation that has never existed before and it is not an improved or upgraded form of the old creature, ROM 6:3-6.

To understand this means you understand that you have a destiny. It is a personal destiny, for there are only two new species in history: Israel and the Church.

The creation of the Royal family of God also provides the Church-age believer with a sense of destiny. The dispensation of the Church is designed for the calling out of a Royal family to complement our Lord's third Royal title, King of kings and Lord of lords.

Jesus Christ has a destiny and being in union with Him means we also have a destiny; this is the real meaning of Predestination.

Once you know you have a destiny, it completely changes your attitude toward everything in life. It destroys all the boredom, self-pity, and all the problems we manufacture for ourselves. You have an inescapable destiny which neither you nor God can cancel.

You have a double destiny.

1) You have a destiny in time under the Pre-designed Plan of God.

2) You have a destiny in Eternity by having a Resurrection body.

The more you learn and understand the Pre-designed Plan of God, the more you will develop a sense of destiny. Even the losers [loser believers] are in that plan forever. However, the fact remains that, as a believer growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, you have a destiny. The realization of that fact and its application means you have a personal sense of destiny.

A personal sense of destiny is related to the Politeuma privileges of the Royal family (the privileges of citizenship). Learning about these privileges gives you a personal sense of destiny. You do have a destiny, regardless of whether you have succeeded or failed from the human standpoint, or are known or unknown.

Because of the baptism of the Spirit at salvation, we have a personal sense of destiny.

Because of the unique Pre-designed Plan of God we have a personal sense of destiny.

Because of the equality [equal privilege & opportunity] factor in the Pre-designed Plan of God we have a personal sense of destiny.

Because we have a portfolio of invisible assets prepared for us by God the Father in eternity past, we have a personal sense of destiny.

 

The invisible assets are those divine assets provided by God the Father in eternity past for the execution of the pre-designed plan of God in the believer's life. God the Father found the way for His justice to provide perfect fantastic blessing to His righteousness without any compromise of His essence. The invisible assets are composed of primary, secondary, and personal assets. The primary assets include equal privilege and equal opportunity under election and predestination. The secondary assets include volitional assets, which are achieved through good decisions made from positions of strength, and the assets of undeserved suffering. The personal assets are the proper function of every believer’s spiritual gift. It is our invisible assets that we need to utilize to make our calling and election sure, or an experiential reality, 2PE 1:9, 10, 11. In your portfolio of invisible assets God provided everything necessary for the function in life, dying, eternity, growing in grace, and the execution and fulfillment of the predesigned plan of God

Because we have two Royal commissions, as a Royal Priest and as a Royal Ambassador, we have a personal sense of destiny.

As a Royal Priest, we represent ourselves before God; therefore we have a personal sense of destiny.

As a Royal Ambassador, we represent God to a lost and dying world, therefore we have a personal sense of destiny.

Because of cognition [you know & understand it] of the mystery doctrine of the Church-age, we have a personal sense of destiny.

However, this personal sense of destiny only becomes a reality through consistent and persistent post-salvation perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine.

In other words, awareness of our destiny provides the personal sense of destiny. This begins at Spiritual self-esteem, which is cognitive { you’re conscious of your } self-confidence. It continues in Spiritual autonomy, which is cognitive {you’re conscious of your} independence. It reaches its peak in Spiritual maturity, which is cognitive {you’re conscious of your} invincibility.

The Church-age believer learns about his double destiny through motivation from positive volition. The more you learn about doctrine and the stronger your motivation to learn doctrine, the greater your positive volition. The greater your positive volition, the more you learn about God's plan, purpose, and will for your life. Therefore, you come to have a personal sense of destiny.

Eventually, in the three stages of Spiritual adulthood [spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity], this personal sense of destiny becomes so great that it outweighs any problem, any disaster, any heartache, and any tragedy that comes your way. No matter what happens to you, you must always remember that you have a destiny. Your awareness of your destiny is a fantastic problem solving tool as you face problems. Now your problems may be personal; soon they will be historical. The combination of the two demands you have a personal sense of destiny.

There are three occasions in which everyone must grow up.

1) When we are born, we must grow up as human beings. We learn from our parents, school, military training, coaches, and all the authority systems in life. We grow up by understanding the laws of divine establishment. This means we recognize the many categories of authority in life. We eventually grow up when we can take the responsibility for all our decisions, both the bad ones and the good ones.

2) When we are born again as a believer, we grow up through perception of Bible doctrine, understanding the Pre-designed Plan of God, the unique characteristics of the Church-age, and the problem-solving solutions.

3) When we get married, we must grow up in the marriage. It is imperative that we be mature as an individual, and at least positive in the Spiritual life. In marriage, we must grow up experientially as a spouse through the use of the problem-solving solutions.

So the believer living under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine, not only grows spiritually but acquires a personal sense of destiny. When you grow up as a believer, as a human being, and as a spouse in marriage, you have a personal sense of destiny.

A personal sense of destiny is related to Spiritual adulthood. The sooner we grow up spiritually, the better off we are.

A personal sense of destiny begins with Spiritual self-esteem [confidence].

A personal sense of destiny continues with Spiritual autonomy [you become spiritually self sustained having maximum love for God and impersonal unconditional love for all mankind].

A personal sense of destiny reaches its peak in Spiritual maturity [you have maximum occupation with Christ and share His perfect happiness, you experience maxium contentment].

While every believer in Jesus Christ has a destiny under the Pre-designed Plan of God, not every believer is aware of his destiny. When believers are arrogant, whining, complaining, and falling apart for all kinds of reasons, that is a sign that they have no personal sense of destiny. Only consistent intake of Bible doctrine provides the experience of having a personal sense of destiny. Having a destiny alone is not a problem-solving solution. It is the experience of knowing that you have a destiny [living the doctrine or bible truth] that is the problem-solving solution.

Once the believer attains Spiritual self-esteem, the state of self-confidence, he begins to have a personal sense of destiny whether he's in adversity or prosperity, poor or rich, married or single, in whatever is his circumstance in life. He has a personal sense of destiny in living and in dying. God doesn't desert us when we're dying; He handles our dying as well as He handles our living. The only difference between the two is that while living, we had the full exercise of our free will. But your dying is strictly a matter of the sovereignty of God. The only way we can use our volition while dying is to apply what doctrine we know. God chooses the time, place, and manner of our dying; we have nothing to say about it.

God's choice for our dying comes from His wisdom, love, and grace; He makes the best choice for us. Therefore, we should die magnificently using all ten of the problem-solving solutions. Take whatever God gives from His grace while dying, just as He provided so many wonderful things in grace while living. Then you can say with Paul who said in Philippians 1:21, For me living is Christ and dying is profit.

We have a personal sense of destiny in Resurrection and the Eternal state. The eternal state is divided into two parts for both believer and unbeliever.

1) When you die, the soul and spirit leave the body and are face to face with the Lord. Now you're in the interim state, a time when no distinction is made between winners and losers. In this interim state, there is no unhappiness, no regrets, no shame, even if you are a loser. [How can this be? Because the body or old sin nature has been removed from you, it is dead an gone].

2) Then comes the Rapture and Judgment Seat of Christ. Winners receive great rewards and decorations that losers do not.

3) The unbeliever's soul leaves his body at his death and enters Torments, a compartment of Hades.

4) After the 1000 years of the Millennium, and the Gog [Satan] and Magog [followers of Satan] revolt, there is the last judgment when unbelievers are condemned to the lake of fire for eternity.

Momentum in the Pre-designed Plan of God results in the experience of having a personal sense of destiny.

Through physical birth, God has a purpose for your life. But through regeneration, God has a destiny for your life. You have a destiny in time, the execution of the Pre-designed Plan of God by which as a believer you become an invisible hero.

For the believer in Jesus Christ living on earth, this destiny is related to the Pre-designed plan of God, the unbeliever has no destiny. There is no destiny for anyone apart from the Pre-designed Plan of God.

The Church-age believer must learn the content of his portfolio. He must learn the problem-solving solutions, then he can apply these principles.

1) If God doesn't promote you, you're not promoted.

2) God only promotes prepared believers.

3) Part of being a prepared believer is to have a personal sense of destiny from cognition [understanding] of the mystery doctrine of the Church-age.

4) The mystery doctrine of the Church-age orients the believer to God's plan, God's purpose, and God's will for his life.

5) The mystery doctrine of the Church-age includes the content of your portfolio of invisible assets, the equal privilege and equal opportunity to grow up spiritually, and the problem-solving solutions.

A personal sense of destiny becomes your motivation to be consistent in the reception, retention, and recall of Bible doctrine. Remember that the only destiny you have is in the pre-designed plan of God. If you depend on money, wealth, success, authority, power, or influence for your destiny, you are a straw in the wind and you will be gone with the wind. If you're building your own destiny from your talent, ability, or even your dreams, you will end up with a wasted life. You have no destiny apart from God and apart from His plan for your life. A great tragedy in life is when the believer fails to have a personal sense of destiny. Consequently, he fails to attain his destiny for time, which is, to execute God's plan and become an invisible hero.

A personal sense of destiny is something you cannot live without!

 

 

 

Problem Solving Solution Number Seven: Personal Love for God the Father.

 

Personal love for God the Father must be distinguished from Occupation with the person of Jesus Christ. In the transitional verse of 1 John 4:19, the corrected translation is, We love, because He first loved us [when a baby is born, who is first to express love, the baby or the mother]. This establishes the precedence that God loved us first. Personal love is only a virtue [highest & most excellent quality of love possible] when it is directed toward God. Personal love for God the Father is motivational virtue [we express our loving gratitude towards God for providing us a perfect plan on how to live the Christian life] of the Pre-designed Plan of God.

The virtue [moral excellence or excellence of person] of personal love is always found in the object [e.g., God] of love; i.e., the object of love actually possesses a virtue [moral excellence, purity] that makes the object worthy of love [God is perfect in all ways so it’s easy to love Him back when we transform our minds to be Christ likeminded]. Here, the object of personal love is God the Father as the author of His Pre-designed Plan for us to live by and of our portfolio of invisible assets, therefore, He is infinitely worthy.

 

The invisible assets are those divine assets provided by God the Father in eternity past for the execution of the pre-designed plan of God in the believer's life. God the Father found the way for His justice to provide perfect fantastic blessing to His righteousness without any compromise of His essence. The invisible assets are composed of primary, secondary, and personal assets. The primary assets include equal privilege and equal opportunity under election and predestination. The secondary assets include volitional assets, which are achieved through good decisions made from positions of strength, and the assets of undeserved suffering. The personal assets are the proper function of every believer’s spiritual gift. It is our invisible assets that we need to utilize to make our calling and election sure, or an experiential reality, 2PE 1:9-11 (start reading at vs 5). In your portfolio of invisible assets God provided everything necessary for the function in life, dying, eternity, growing in grace, and the execution and fulfillment of the predesigned plan of God.

 

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, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:    1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;    1:3 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.    1:4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.    1:5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge,    1:6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,    1:7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.    1:8 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.    1:9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.    1:10 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;    1:11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.    

Problem solving solution number ten is “Occupation with Christ” as the priority solution to our Christian life and is not the same as personal love for God. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit is the means of loving God the Father and being able to execute His pre-designed plan, and thereby glorifying Him in doing so.

Having fellowship with the Spirit is also a means of loving God the Father, because the Holy Spirit is the teacher of doctrine, and no one ever comes to a true love of God the Father or God the Son apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit in teaching the Word of God under post-salvation perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine [truth].

Fellowship with the Spirit is the only means of loving God the Father according to Romans 5:5 which says: Now hope does not disappoint, ^jbecause the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (NKJV), Hope [confidence] does not disappoint us, because the love for God has been poured out in our right lobe (mind) by means of the Holy Spirit who was given to us to be our Helper. In other words, the Holy Spirit aids us with providing understanding of God’s Word as we journey through the transforming of our minds to become Christ likeminded.

So the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit in our perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine is the means by which we come to love invisible God [again, we must hear/read bible truth, understand it, believe it and apply it which also means we must live it to grow and prosper spiritually].

The Holy Spirit is the teacher of doctrine according to John 14:26 ²⁶ But ^gthe ⁷Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will ^hsend in My name, ⁱHe will teach you all things that I said to you. [this originally was targeted to the Apostles but it also applies to us as we are being taught by prepared Pastors]; John 16:12, 13, 14 ¹² “I still have many things to say to you, ⁿbut you cannot bear them now. ¹³ However, when He, ^othe Spirit of truth, has come, ^pHe will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. ^14 qHe will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. NKJV; 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 which says: 2:9 but just as it is written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him."    2:10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.    2:11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.    2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,  2:13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.  2:14 ¶ But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  2:15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.    2:16 For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. . Therefore, personal love for God can only exist through perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine [truth]. Since God is invisible, He cannot be loved through visual or emotional attraction. He cannot be loved by human affection. Only through learning Bible doctrine and subsequent spiritual growth can there be any personal love for God the Father.

Personal love for God the Father becomes a reality in spiritual adulthood. Meaning you’ve mastered Rebound [Restoring Fellowship with God using God’s promise in 1 John 1:9;]; The Filling of the Holy Spirit: [Ephesians 5:18c—…”but be filled with the Spirit.” ]; Faith-Rest [Resting on God’s promises and His doctrines]; Grace Orientation [being oriented through bible truth, to the grace policy of God]; Doctrinal Orientation [Orientation to God’s Pre-designed Plan for your life and all doctrines pertaining to it]; you have A Personal Sense of Destiny [Knowing that you have a spiritual destiny in God’s Plan]; have Personal Love for God the Father [We can love Him personally because He’s Perfect, perfect will never disappoint]. It begins with cognitive {you’re conscious of your} self-confidence in spiritual self-esteem, continues in cognitive {you’re conscious of your} independence in spiritual autonomy, and reaches its peak in cognitive {you’re conscious of your} invincibility [your spiritually bulletproof, impregnable] and spiritual maturity.

 

      Romans 8:28 ²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to  those who love God, to those ⁿwho are the called according to His purpose. We know, therefore, that to those who love God, He works all things together for good to those who are elected according to a predetermined [pre-designed] plan.
1 Corinthians 2:9 ⁹ But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart [mind] of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”  But just as it stands written, Things which the eye has not seen, and it has not entered into the mind of mankind all that God has prepared for those who love Him.

The fantastic things provided for those who attain personal love for God are absolutely beyond description.

Personal love always emphasizes the object of love, for this reason; there is no virtue [moral excellence] in personal love directed toward human beings, whether in friendship, romance, or marriage. The only way for virtue to exist in such human relationships is for the believer himself to acquire virtue [moral excellence or excellence of person or self] through consistent post-salvation perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine [this is the only way we can renew our minds to the point of being Christ like in our thinking and actions]. In all three of these categories, personal love is virtue-dependent [i.e., possessing moral excellence or excellence of person] for its validity and perpetuation [capable of continuing indefinitely].

There are two ways of inserting virtue into personal love for mankind.

1. The limited way for the unbeliever is by adherence to the laws of divine establishment, resulting in enforced and genuine humility. This provides some capacity for personal love in friendship, romance, and marriage. From the base of humility and authority orientation, great capacity for love can be developed among unbelievers.

2. For the believer, the only way is to advance to spiritual adulthood, where virtue-love [your very own moral excellence] provides greater capacity for personal love in friendship, romance, and marriage.

Therefore, virtue-love is a problem-solving solution in three separate categories.

1. Personal love for God the Father is problem solving solution number seven. Personal love for God the Father as a motivational virtue emphasizes the integrity of the object, God the Father.

2. Impersonal love for all mankind is problem solving solution number eight. Impersonal love [unconditional] for all mankind as a functional virtue [developed in believers with the help of the Holy Spirit] that emphasizes the integrity of the subject [you], not the object [spouse, boss, relative, criminal, etc.] you want to love (we’ll get more into this subject next class).

3. Occupation with Christ is problem solving solution number ten.

Occupation with Christ as the priority problem solver emphasizes the integrity of our scale of values. In occupation with Christ, Bible doctrine [Bible truth; i.e., especially the transformational mind of Christ that is in us] and it application to our lives must always have number one priority in our life.

The Pre-designed Plan of God can only be executed through the perception of the mystery doctrine [most of the new testament] for the Church-age. Therefore, the insertion of virtue-love [moral excellence] into our life demands the consistent function of post-salvation perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine [in other words, this is living the Christian life which glorifies God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ every step of the way to spiritual maturity].

Virtue-love as a problem-solving solution begins with the attainment of spiritual adulthood [as we covered earlier in theses lessons]. In spiritual self-esteem, it begins with cognitive self-confidence. No one can be a lover of God or a lover of people without cognitive self-confidence. For the believer cognitive self-confidence comes from Bible doctrine perceived, resulting in Grace Orientation. In spiritual autonomy, you have virtue-love in cognitive independence. At this point, you handle life magnificently. In spiritual maturity, the invisible hero has the virtue-love in cognitive invincibility [your spiritually bulletproof, impregnable].

 In the sixth problem-solving solution (personal sense of destiny), personal love for God the Father is the motivation for the Pre-designed Plan of God. Without that motivation, you cannot advance through the three categories of suffering for blessing which God has designed for you. Virtue-love emphasizes God the Father as the object of personal love, for He has the virtue [because he is perfect super excellence].

This means that when you begin to face the four parts of providential preventative suffering [this is defined as short-termed suffering from the sovereignty of God for the benefit of the believer, it is that suffering which prevents, restrains, or insulates sin and evil, while challenging spiritual self-esteem to suffer for blessing and profit; it is the first category of suffering for blessing related to spiritual adulthood.] i.e., people testing, system testing, thought testing, and disaster testing, you cannot advance in these tests without personal love for God the Father as a problem solving solution. The simultaneous development of occupation with Christ will also carry you through providential preventative suffering and momentum testing. Hand Out’s

There is a distinction between Personal and Impersonal Love. Personal love always emphasizes the object of love. Impersonal love always emphasizes the greatness and virtue of the subject [you]. Personal love in the human race is always conditional; there are always strings attached. But impersonal love is unconditional. You will never be relaxed in human relationships until you acquire impersonal love which is unconditional. This means you will accept and tolerate people as you find them. You will stop being critical, looking down your nose, and being legalistic.

You will realize that turning your will over to a jerk, friend, relative or acquaintance with a bad attitude becomes self-induced misery; when you do that, you let them control your life, your thinking, your attitude, etc. by becoming just like they are; misery loves company so-to-speak.

The only love that solves the problems of human interaction is unconditional love whereby the object [spouse, friend, foe, acquaintance] can be acceptable or unacceptable, attractive or unattractive, obnoxious or pleasant. That is the only way you will properly interact with people.

Personal love is directed toward a few people in friendship, romance, and marriage and this personal love is not commanded by the Word of God. Rather, Impersonal love is directed toward all mankind and therefore, impersonal love calls for the highest professional standards [thinking with the mind of Christ gives you this power and is a solution to people testing].

Personal love toward human beings has no built-in virtue [moral or person excellence], and it has no virtue [moral or person excellence] guarantee. Impersonal love contains built-in virtue and therefore has capacity for true love in friendship, romance, marriage, and all other human interaction. Personal love is based on attractiveness and rapport with the object [spouse, friend, foe, acquaintance]. However, impersonal love is based on the virtue of the subject [you].

Personal love is a possessive and subjective attitude toward a few. Impersonal love is an objective and relaxed attitude toward the human race.

Personal love is the expression of man's ego. Impersonal love is the expression of man's virtue [moral or person excellence, i.e., if you have it].

Personal love is vulnerable to arrogance and hypersensitivity. Impersonal love is free from arrogance, including jealousy, hatred, bitterness, vindictiveness, guilt, self-pity, implacability [a person who just can’t be pleased in any way], revenge motivation and revenge.

So personal love only has virtue [moral excellence] as it relates to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Impersonal love is the great problem-solving solution toward people. Personal love in the human race has no built-in virtue. Personal love in friendship, romance, or marriage must depend on something outside of that love for its virtue and there is no capacity for love apart from virtue [acquired through the intake and application of God’s Word, when you acquire the mind of Christ and live the Christian live, you have virtue/moral excellence for personal love in friends, marriage, etc.].

The instability of personal love is a source of many problems, often self-induced. There are problems of (personality) conflict and antagonism. There are problems of arrogance, jealousy, guilt, self-pity, hypersensitivity, and disorientation. There are social problems, marital problems, and all kinds of interaction problems.

For example, falling in love with a member of the opposite sex is often simply a matter of libido and nothing else. Being attracted to someone or being motivated by libido is devoid of virtue. Libido has no conscience, but also minus virtue and stability, without a sense of responsibility, selfish, and self-serving. This is no basis for a permanent relationship between a man and a woman. For this reason, personal love in romance or in marriage has no stability and no perpetuity [no foreverness].

Personal love minus the virtue of impersonal love to provide capacity often reaches its peak at the altar or shortly thereafter, and it makes a mockery of marriage. Wrong priorities and wrong emphasis in life results in the believer becoming a loser. The loser manufactures his own problems, but has no problem-solving solutions with which to cope in life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Problem Solving Solution Number Eight: Impersonal Unconditional Love for all Mankind.

 

Mental Attitude Love – Impersonal Unconditional Love

 In this lesson on Impersonal Unconditional Love, we will be discussing the Delegation of Divine Power as it relates to the Change in Our Mental Attitude.

First, there is no substitute for perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine. The delegation of divine power to every Church-age believer is only experienced when Bible doctrine is metabolized and deployed as applicable problem solving solutions in your soul. These problem-solving solutions are important because they give us the power and the ability to handle any problem in life. God has provided for us in grace everything it takes to transfer what is written in the Bible to the human spirit and then to the soul.

All forms of worship are a concentration test and whether you like it or not, all life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. That which cost little is less valued. We should try to become a person of values rather than a person of success and that begins with mental attitude.

Whether it's concentration on doctrine, the communion service or in prayer, it's all a part of the same thing, thinking. As you develop these spiritual habits of thought and concentration, there is a spiritual life that awaits you that goes beyond your understanding [in simple terms, it’s a life that we don’t currently know yet, or you don’t know what you don’t know].

 

God has chosen to reveal his thoughts to us by means of the Spirit of God.

1CO 2:12, 13, 14 ¹²Now we have received, not the spirit of the world [i.e., the I.Q. of the world, the cosmic system] but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things [invisible assets = The invisible assets are composed of primary, secondary, and personal assets. The primary assets include equal privilege and equal opportunity under election and predestination or living the predesigned plan of God. The secondary assets include volitional assets, which are achieved through good decisions made from positions of strength, and the assets of undeserved suffering. The personal assets are the proper function of every believer’s spiritual gift. It is our invisible assets that we need to utilize to make our calling and election sure, or an experiential reality, 2PE 1:9, 10-11 (start reading at vs 5). In your portfolio of invisible assets God provided everything necessary for the function in life, dying, eternity, growing in grace, and the execution and fulfillment of the predesigned plan of God.] freely given to us by God, ¹³which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words or interpreting spiritual truths to spiritual persons. ¹⁴But a natural man [the soulish person, i.e., the unbeliever or believer minus doctrine] does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised [discerned in a manner caused only by the filling of the Spirit]." NASB

Now, this cannot just refer to an unbeliever or to a believer who is just minus the filling of the Spirit because you can learn doctrine even if you're not filled with the Spirit. You can understand and comprehend doctrinal thoughts at least to a point even though it is not converted from gnosis [doctrine understood but not believed which is knowledge only, if you don’t believe it you’ve rejected it] to epignosis [doctrinal knowledge understood & believed and the Holy Spirit turns it into Wisdom ready for application or living it.] or to spiritual phenomenon, so-to-speak. The ultimate goal is not learning doctrine, nor is it works or even applying doctrine. The ultimate goal is to have a personal relationship and fellowship with God. The goal of changing our mental attitude is to draw us closer to God. As we are kept dependent upon God, we will grow in His grace and knowledge which will lead us to a submissive, yielded life to Him. We will have the attitude that our Lord had in HEB 10:9, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” (NKJV) not, "What's in this for me?"

 

SKIP TO THE BOTTOM OF PAGE: 114 (but read and study at home).

How far are we willing to go in submitting our life to God? Far too many so-called normal Christians today are being deceived when it comes to eternal salvation, the filling of the Spirit, and living the spiritual life. 1JO 5:18-19  ¹⁸ We know that whoever is born of God does not sin [this conveys the idea of not practicing sin as habitual lifestyle]; but he who has been born of God keeps [keeps moving forward to spiritual maturity by staying in fellowship with God and living the life God intended his children to live—His Predesigned Plan for our lives] himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. ¹⁹ We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway [influence] of the wicked one [Satan]. NKJV

 

COMMENTARY: GNTC

1 John 5:18: John now wishes to remind his readers that whoever is born of God does not sin, that is, the regenerate person as such is incapable of any sin. This leads to the further observation that he who has been born of God keeps himself with the result that the wicked one does not touch him. The inner man, born of God, has the inborn capacity to resist the pollution of evil and thus lies outside of Satan’s reach.

In saying that the regenerate inward person (cf. Rom 7:22) keeps himself, John is not saying that one’s inner self can somehow prevent all sin in the Christian life (cf. 1:5-10). What John means is that God’s “seed remains in” the regenerate inner self (cf. 3:9) as the controlling element of his born-again nature and is impervious to even the slightest contamination from the wicked one. Believers’ failures are due to the sinful “programming” of their earthly bodies [the old sin nature], as Paul himself taught in Rom 7:7-25.

But try as he might, Satan cannot really touch the believer. But if a believer lets him, Satan will use his failures to lead him to further failures. So after every sin, a believer ought to rise from his confession to God, knowing that he is the same inwardly holy person he was before he failed! [example: if you are walking in the rain and you slip and fall down; what do you do?  You don’t just lay there, you get up, look around to see if anyone saw you fall and get back on track as to where you were headed.  This is analogous to committing a known sin and rebounding quickly after you’ve sinned].

1 John 5:19: If a Christian knows the truth stated in v 18, he can also know whose side he is on. Knowing God normally suggests a dynamic experiential relationship with Him (cf. 3:19; 4:4).

The world lies under the sway [influence] of the wicked one translated en tœ ponerœ keitai, (“lies in the wicked one”). This phrase suggests that the world passively rests within Satan’s operative sphere. By contrast, the phrase ek Theou (of God) means being “from” God.

The Christian should be aware of his own sinless inward man (v 18), and he should also be aware of his utter separateness from the whole world that lives under Satan’s sway [influence]. Believers, whom the enemy cannot “touch” (v 18), are not a part of the world, which lies passively in the wicked one. Thus believers must not “love the world or the things in the world” (2:15-17) and they must resist the ideas that the world promotes (cf. 2:18-19).

This letter is written to Christians who are advanced in their spiritual state (cf. 2:12-14 [open link]; 4:6), probably the church leaders. The statements of these closing verses can apply in varying degrees to other believers, depending on the extent to which their own spiritual experience matches that of the readers being addressed. (NKJV)

What are our limitations of obedience to God and His plan for our life, what could make us quit and lose our dedication and devotion for Christ?

What are the ends of abandonment that you would be willing to go to, the ultimate willingness of surrendering your plans and goals and dreams, for God's will for your life?

If a person has given his or her life to the Lord [not just verbally but mentally], it would be conflicting for the one who places his whole happiness, his whole being, in the hands of God alone, that he or she would continue to have a list of desires for their own happiness and wants. If we live for God because of true love for God [impersonal unconditional & personal love for God], just because we love Him, we place all our happiness in God alone; love alone should cause us to surrender up our will to the Lord. If it is not love that produces submission to Him, eventually that wrong motive will be revealed.

When the believer relinquishes his soul, his will, his all to his Lord, and desires nothing of himself and desires only God for the sake of God, that is the beginning of experiencing the life of God in the soul. Here is a state where there is no satisfaction for self as the final goal, the glory of heaven is not the motive, the blessings and rewards are the not the motive.

If I love God alone, I will desire God alone.

We must love Him without any end in view and even without expecting any emotional feeling present to strengthen us. We must love Him with total disregard to dry-spells and to times of abundance.

RESTART HERE: In JOH 14:15, our Lord said "If you love Me, you will keep My commands…" (NASB) This is not the Ten Commandments because there are over 400 in the New Testament. However, we need to focus in on the word love which in the Greek here is agapao not phileo, agapao refers to a mental attitude love. The point is that when it comes to our mental attitude love for God, this alone should cause us to surrender our will to Him.

There is a love for God that is also very personal, it is called phileo love.

JOH 16:27 "for the Father Himself loves you [phileo's you, loves you personally], because you have [phileo'd = personally] loved Me [Christ], and have believed that I came forth from the Father." NASB

The goal of agapao love, this mental attitude love, is to lead us to a phileo love or personal love for God and for The Lord Jesus Christ.

This is why 1CO 16:22 says "If anyone does not [phileo] love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha [O Lord, come!]." (NASB)

COMMENTARY BY GNTC - 1 Corinthians 16:22:

He also issues a strict warning if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ. The verb translated love is phileo, instead of agapao, which means this phrase may be translated if anyone does not have affection for the Lord Jesus Christ. The person with this attitude would be accursed (anathema). Paul is not referring to unbelievers here, but to those believers in the church at Corinth who have been causing dissentions, divisions, and unrest, thus showing that their love was self-centered rather than Christ-centered (3:1, 2, 3-4; cf. Gal 1:9). They would not be eternally condemned and lose their eternal life, which is impossible (John 10:28). However, they would be judged by God in the sense that they may be presently chastised and may forfeit some of their eternal rewards (1 Cor 3:15; Heb 12:3-11). Paul also prays, O Lord, come! This expression is a transliteration of the Aramaic Marana tha. It expresses the eager longing felt by the early Christians for the speedy return of the Lord.

Phileo love [personal love] is actually a greater love in the sense that when it is directed toward God it is a more personal love developed from the mental attitude of agapao love [impersonal unconditional love]. This is why Peter became grieved when our Lord gave him that test in John 21. Here we see the contrast between agapao love or as we’re calling it, the mental attitude love and Phileo which is personal love. This is very vital if you are going to live the Christian way of life and enjoy the truth that sets you free. The average believer doesn't rightly divide the word of truth, they become confused concerning the way that they should love according to the Bible. The problem is there is no knowledge of the original language and why God the Holy Spirit chose to use two different words for love when He inspired men to write the Bible. If the meaning of these two important words that must be understood in order to separate in context the word love, people will normally, when they hear the word “love” they normally will superimpose what they think it should mean and most likely they will be incorrect.

Let's look at this passage in the original language: JOHN 21:15-17 ¹⁵ "So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, {son} of John [Jonah], do you love [ἀγαπάω - agapao=impersonal unconditional love] Me more than these [fish & fishing]?” He [Peter] said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love [φιλῶ or φιλέω phileo=personal love] You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.”  ¹⁶ He said to him again a second time, “Simon, {son} of John, do you love [agapao=impersonal unconditional love] Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love [phileo=personal love] You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, {son} of John, do you love [φιλῶ or φιλέω -phileo=personal love] Me?”  Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love [φιλῶ-phileo=personal love] Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love [phileo=personal love] You.” Jesus said to him, Tend My sheep." (NASB)

COMMONTARY: GNTC

John 21:15-17: Jesus reaffirms Peter’s position as one of the apostles. After his three denials, Peter might have had doubts about his future role as a follower of his risen Lord. Jesus gives Peter three opportunities now to confess his love, and each time Jesus commands Him to feed and tend His sheep.

The first two times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” Jesus used the word agapao. The third time Jesus used the word phileo. All three times Peter used the word phileo to express his love for Jesus. Some suggest that Jesus’ change from agapao to phileo conveys the idea that Peter’s love was in some way deficient. However, that seems unlikely. My personal opinion is, Peter thought a lot about his wood shed conversation with His Lord and eventually caught his not answering the Lord back using agapao as he should have; but the Lord was gracious and let it pass probably knowing that Peter would realize what he said after he evaluated himself as to their conversation in vv 15-17. Obviously Paul understood the conversation because he wrote it; which is interesting because Paul wasn’t even there; but who taught Paul, Christ Himself.

The word phileo does not represent an inferior type of love. John, for example, uses phileo to refer to the Father’s love for Jesus (5:20). Surely the Father’s love for Jesus is not some lesser love! In addition Jesus’ love for John and for Lazarus is expressed by phileo (11:3, 36; 20:2), as is the Father’s love for the disciples and the disciples love for Jesus (16:27).

The change was merely for stylistic considerations—much like the change from “Feed My lambs” to “Tend [Shepard—in NASB] My sheep” to “Feed [Tend in NASB] My sheep.”

Jesus wanted Peter to confess that he loved Him more than he loved fish and fishing (v 15 “more than these”). It is highly unlikely that Jesus was asking Peter to compare his love for Him with the love the other disciples had for Him (cf. 1 Cor 10:12).

Each time Peter asserts his love for Jesus he also states, “You know that I love You.” The last time he adds, “You know all things” (v 17), suggesting he understands Jesus’ omniscience. That is why the repetition of the question especially bothered Peter. It probably took Peter a while to figure out why Jesus three times asked him a question to which He already knows the answer. This was a lesson for Peter’s benefit, not a fact-finding mission!

 

The question is this: If God the Holy Spirit supernaturally directed the human writers of Scripture to put His complete message to mankind recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture, then why use two different words? There are two different meanings that He originally intended, if that's true, then why did the translators translate two totally different words, phileo and agapao, the same? Personal opinion: could it be that the translators were not in fellowship at the time? Or, maybe they were just lazy and were not paying full attention at the time they translated.

Actually, in the Greek language there are four basic words four love.

The most popular one is the word agape or agapao which refers to an Impersonal love or a love from the mental attitude.

Then there is phileo love or a personal love which connoted personal attraction. This love can be good or bad depending upon where it is directed.

Then there is stergo love which means to feel affection for someone, especially parents or children and even for animals, it means to be lovingly devoted. ROM 12:10 "Be devoted [philostorgos] to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;" This too can be good or bad depending upon where it is directed.

The final type of love is eros love, that state which we call "being in love" or "the kind of love that lovers are in".

We need to see the importance of understanding the mental attitude that we are commanded to have toward God which is the mental attitude of agapao love.

Agapao love is not a feeling or an emotion, it is a system of thinking that produces the greatest virtue of all, 1CO 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love [ἀγάπη, agapē ] these three; but the greatest of these is love [e.g. to abide in it]., proceeding from the mind, PHI 2:2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love [agapēn], being of one accord, of one mind. When it is directed toward God, agapao love serves as motivation, 2CO 5:14  For the love [agape] of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died. This is the love commanded of husbands in EPH 5:25 “Husbands, love [impersonal unconditional love] your wives, just as Christ also loved [impersonal unconditional love] the church and gave Himself up for her;”

A mental attitude of respect not personal love. This is why as a part of the first commandment we are commanded not to love God personally but to have a fear or respect or love for Him. In fact, even when the Ten Commandments were given in EXO 20:3-17, there's no command to love God in there.

To have given a commandment to love God personally would have been a violation of both the unbeliever's and believer's free will.

Agapao love is a mental attitude love of appreciation that may result in phileo love, personal love for God. Agapao love is the ability to love and respect someone you do not see, 1PE 1:8 "and though you have not seen Him, you love [agapate] Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory," NASB

When you start to love someone you have not seen, it is because you have lined up with their thinking.

In GAL 5:22, agape love or this mental attitude love is the production fruit of the Spirit,

In ROM 5:5 agape love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

So in the passage we have been noting JOH 21:15-17 The Lord was asking Peter if he had that Impersonal unconditional virtuous love, which emphasizes the virtue of the subject [Peter] and not the object [Christ]. And Peter knew and understood what the Lord was saying. The Lord was saying you cannot serve Me without this virtue or this Impersonal unconditional virtuous "agape love." However, when virtue love is directed toward God ultimately it should lead to phileo [personal love] love, a deep personal love for God. This is why Peter became upset when the Lord kept asking this question. In verse 15, the Lord used agapao, He didn't use phileo. The Lord said "do you agape-love Me more than these"? [fish & fishing], He [Peter] said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love [phileo] You." Peter is a little disturbed. Peter used phileo which means I keep on loving you personally because of who You are. Our Lord said do you have Impersonal unconditional love for Me, and Peter said, "Lord you know I love you personally [phileo]."

As a result of his answer Peter receives a command! He [the Lord] said to him, "Tend My lambs." This is a command for all pastors & teachers to produce the action of the verb which is to feed new believers. "lambs" refers to baby sheep, analogous to the new believers [I would add those totally confused believers that have been under incorrect teaching or just baby spiritual food possibly for many years]. The Lord is saying to Peter, "if you really love me personally you're qualified to feed new believers" Peter is commanded to feed the Lord's lambs if he really loves the Lord. When the Lord asked Peter if he loved Him more than these [fish & fishing], there is a very important principle here.

No man can function as a teaching Elder, Deacon or Teacher of God’s Word with his eyes just on people. The motivational virtue for the gift of pastor or teacher of God’s Word must come from personal love for The Lord Jesus Christ. He said to him again a second time, "Simon, {son} of John, do you love [agapao = impersonal unconditional love] Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love [phileo = personal love] You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep." In verse 16, the Lord gives him a second command. "Shepherd My sheep." The word "shepherd" means to rule or clobber which is how the pastor-shepherd must function with some. The word “sheep” means the sophomores in the Christian life. These are the ones that have a little knowledge of doctrine and think that they have a lot. Here authority of the teaching Elder or Deacon now becomes a major issue in the believer's life.

In verse 17, we have a final question and command. He said to him the third time, "Simon, {son} of John, do you love [phileo] Me?" This time our Lord switched from agape to phileo. Peter was distressed because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love [phileo] You." Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep."

The Lord was making a point not only for Peter but also for the benefit of all future pastors & teachers in the Church-age.

The word for "tend" is bosko which is the command to moderately and prudently feed His humble sheep which is a reference to the seniors or the mature believers. All you have to primarily do for mature believers is teach them doctrine. In the sophomore stage as in verse 16, you have to use that stick a shepherd carries to guide them.

The shepherd has to whack the sheep at times to keep them from running off the cliffs. The pastor or teacher doesn't do that literally, he does that with his communication of doctrine. Once a person becomes a senior, he has developed enough humility to be teachable.

Jesus said to him, Tend [Feed] My sheep.

So, what we’ve learned here today is it wasn’t just simply because Peter had denied Jesus three times that he asked Peter the three questions but also to teach the difference between agapeo love and phileo love and bring to the believer a greater understanding of the more advanced meanings of the word love in God’s Word.

 

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Impersonal love is that problem solving technique of Christianity which is defined as unconditional love toward all mankind. Being impersonal, this category of love emphasizes the virtue [integrity of character, uprightness of conduct, moral excellence] of the subject [you] rather than attraction or the unattractiveness of an object [boss, spouse, friend, neighbor, enemy, etc.] or rapport with an object [towards the person you’re trying to love unconditionally].

 

In other words, Impersonal love is loving someone without the influence of any emotion or sin(s) you are aware of regarding the person your attempting to love.

Impersonal love toward all mankind is the ultimate expression of virtue [integrity of character, uprightness of conduct, moral excellence] and of humility [having a low opinion of one's own importance or merits:  being modest or meek in spirit, manner, or appearance:  not proud or haughty]. Without enforced and genuine humility, people are disoriented to life. Lack of humility creates numerous and often tragic flaws in our lives. Impersonal love for all mankind is therefore the ultimate expression of virtue, humility, objectivity, and is the basis for being receptive to Bible doctrine, which is the basis for growing in grace through post-salvation perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine. Personal love for people is optional; the Bible never commands personal love for people. But in the Pre-designed Plan of God for the Church-age, impersonal love is mandated by God as a part of His plan, His will, and His purpose for our life. Impersonal love as a problem solving solution is mandated in all dispensations under the one phrase, "love thy neighbor as you love yourself," Leviticus 19:18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. Matthew 19:19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love [Ἀγαπήσεις—Agapēseis = “you will love” = the “love” here is impersonal unconditional love, not personal love] your neighbor as

Agapēseis

yourself.’” Matthew  22:39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Mark 12:31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Romans 13:9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”; Galatians 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love [Ἀγαπήσεις—Agapēseis = “you will love” = the “love” here is impersonal unconditional love, not personal love] your neighbor as yourself.”(NASB). Impersonal love is a must in our life if we are to have a life full of purpose, meaning, and definition.

Our Lord said in John 15:17, "I command you these things, that you [ἀγαπᾶτε—agapate = “you love”, again it means impersonal love] might love each other." Jesus said this to the disciples, most of whom were believers, after they had been together for almost three years. They had developed personality conflicts, took sides, and were critical of each other. So this command from our Lord is brought into the Christian life.

You cannot have impersonal love for people until you are properly motivated, and you cannot be properly motivated until you love Jesus Christ. People who love Jesus Christ concentrate on the teaching of the word of God, the mind of Christ. Does this mean you are to be a perfect concentrator all the time, I think not, we are human, we can sometimes drift off during a teaching session, some more than others.  What then, we get back on course and restart concentrating.  However we will have missed the truth being taught during the short time were drifting.  This is just another reason why it is so important to re-study the lessons 2-3 times during the month, during quiet time with only you in fellowship, the lesson and the Holy Spirit and you will be surprised what you really missed, probably each time you study it.

Impersonal love is unconditional. It emphasizes the virtue of the subject [you] rather than the attractiveness or repulsiveness of the object [person you are attempting to love].

 

Peter describes “virtue” as those qualities produced by the believer who resides in the Pre-designed Plan of God.

 

2 Peter 1:2-4  ² Grace and peace [the blessings of maturity] be multiplied to you [through spiritual momentum] in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power [which is given to us through living the Predesigned Plan of God]  has given to us all things that pertain to life [logistical support] and godliness [blessings of spiritual maturity], through the knowledge of Him [Christ] who called us by glory [the Predesigned Plan of God] and virtue [manufactured in the Predesigned Plan of God], ⁴ by which [both the PPOG and virtue manufactured in it] have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises [Bible doctrines learned and applied], that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world [Satan’s counterfeit system] through lust. NKJV

Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brethren [Royal Family—Church Age believer], whatever things are true [doctrinal], whatever things are noble [having integrity which comes from doctrine], whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely [having capacity for love], whatever things are of good report [commendable], if there is any virtue [and there is] and if there is anything praiseworthy [and there is]—meditate [concentrate] on these things.

 

We are to “concentrate on virtue” by concentrating on Bible doctrine; doctrine reveals Jesus Christ, the perfect example of virtue. Christian virtue is not superficial adherence to religious traditions or self-righteous avoidance of taboos; virtue is strength of character based on the love of God revealed in the Person of Christ.  The mind of Christ, Bible doctrine, in your soul forms the character of Christ in your life. Thought comes before action; motivation comes before function.

Impersonal love is a problem solving solution in human relationships (apply it to your boss, unruly kids, relatives when they criticize your beliefs, etc.).

Impersonal love is the basis for having the capacity for love for a few people. (like, spouse, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brothers, sisters, teenagers).

Impersonal love emphasizes the virtue, honor, integrity of the subject [you].

 

Impersonal love is a virtue which cannot be duplicated in any phase of personal love among human beings. Why? Because only God is perfect so we can apply personal love towards Him always; all human beings are imperfect so impersonal unconditional love is for applying to all mankind.

"Impersonal" is an adjective which means without personal reference or connection, not primarily affecting or involving the emotions of a person; a professional attitude, like the attitude of a doctor.

So impersonal is a very important word which you should highly value. For without impersonal love, you will never have any good human relationships. You will change friends, partners in romance, and spouses in marriage simply because you have no basis for perpetuating [successfully continuing] any of those relationships apart from virtue.

In fact, morality will not hold together human relationships; morality is likely the cause for their breakup. Morality doesn't solve the problems of human relationship. Only virtue can solve the problems of human relationship.

Virtue can only be produced by persistent perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. The noun "impersonally" is the quality or state of not involving personal feelings or emotions in relationship to an object [friend, spouse, relative, acquaintance, anyone]. Emotion is designed to appreciate the relationship but it is never designed to establish a relationship. Impersonal is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in the person who has learned the doctrine and has come to cognitive self-confidence which is spiritual self-esteem.

It therefore becomes obvious that virtue in the Christian life is totally devoid of emotion. You can respond to virtue emotionally, but there is no place for reactive emotion in the Pre-designed Plan of God. Why? Because, emotion has no ability to rationalize, to think, to apply doctrine, or to solve problems. Emotion is designed for our pleasure and enjoyment, but it was never designed for emotional sins such as fear, worry, anxiety, anger, violence, and murder, etc.

Reactive emotion is not a part of the Christian way of life. Emotion is a normal function of the human soul when you respond to something you enjoy. Emotion is abnormal when sinning.

The only base for true love is impersonal love, and it brings with it a wonderful emotion that is always subordinate to principle.

Impersonal love is defined as that problem solving solution of the Pre-designed Plan of God for the church (that’s all of us) which produces unconditional love toward all mankind. Being impersonal, this category of love places emphasis on your honor, your integrity, and your virtue (not morality) of the subject [you], rather than the attractiveness of the object [friend, spouse, relative, acquaintance, etc.].

Impersonal love for all mankind is the ultimate expression of maximum metabolized Bible doctrine circulating by means of the Holy Spirit in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness of the heart (see below). You must have the objectivity and grace orientation of the spiritually adult believer. It is the expression of virtue in human interaction. It is the ultimate expression of humility in spiritual self-esteem. The advance to spiritual adulthood is required before this virtue usually gels.

 

Review at HOME beyond this point:

 

The Heart: A metaphorical term, from the Greek kardia (or Hebrew lēhv), referring to various aspects of the human soul as the seat of mentality, conscience, or volition. The heart is described as “deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9), while a “pure heart” can be the source of love (1 Timothy 1:5). The meaning of the word is highly dependent on the context. CTS

 

The heart is the part of the soul where metabolized Bible doctrine resides and therefore the heart is to dominate the soul. When negative emotion takes over the believers thinking the heart is no longer in control and the believer is in emotional revolt of the soul [a “deceitful heart” and “desperate wickedness”].

 

The heart has two parts:

 

1) Stream of consciousness with its

 

2) Seven compartments.

 

1. The Frame of Reference [storage area for applicable doctrine].

2. The Memory Center.

3. The Vocabulary Storage.

4. The Categorical Storage.

5. The Conscience.

6. The Momentum Department.

7. The Wisdom Department.

 

Spiritual adulthood exists in three categories.

1) Spiritual self-esteem, which is cognitive self-confidence, is the beginning of the most effective part of impersonal love.

2) Spiritual autonomy, which is cognitive independence, is the perpetuation of the effective function of impersonal love. Impersonal love has no strings attached to it; it makes no demands.

3) Spiritual maturity, which is cognitive invincibility, is the ultimate expression of impersonal love. Spiritual maturity guarantees that your relationships with people will be absolutely fantastic, and they will never irritate you. Therefore, if people can irritate you under any set of circumstances, you have not yet reached spiritual maturity.

So while personal love in human interaction has no virtue, impersonal love is the maximum expression of spirit filled virtue toward other people.

Personal love relationships exist in the three categories of friendship, romance, and marriage. Personal love in human relationship is not a virtue in itself; it is virtue dependent for success in all three categories.
Therefore, all problems related to human love demand the function of impersonal love for solutions as well as capacity. Your capacity for love increases as your impersonal love increases. Your personal love has no staying power with anyone until you reach cognitive self-confidence when you no longer feel threatened by anyone.

Impersonal love is related to humility.

The status of impersonal love for all human beings is also the status of true humility. Arrogant people are constantly seeking unconditional love from others, but all they offer in return is conditional love. The greater your arrogance the more conditions you put on someone's love. Arrogant men are most likely to do this to the woman they love.

The lust pattern of arrogance covets the following: success without integrity, promotion without ability, approbation without achievement, love without virtue, sex without happiness, and ministers who covet someone else's pulpit and congregation. If you lust for any of these things, you are not a candidate for applying impersonal love.

Impersonal love is a problem solving solution in human relationships because virtue resides in the subject [that’s you or another person in spiritual adulthood]. It is as great in our relationship to other people as occupation with Christ is in our relationship to God.

We will love those who are known or unknown, friends or enemies, attractive or repulsive, honorable or dishonorable, loving or hateful, appreciative or antagonistic, rich or poor.

Impersonal love is absolutely necessary to get a hearing in the supreme court of heaven. Impersonal love is unconditional because of the grace orientation from Bible doctrine resident in the soul. Therefore, impersonal love perpetuates its own honor, its own integrity, its own virtue in every stage of your spiritual life, and it does so without retaliation, revenge, prejudice, discrimination, arrogance, hatred, self-righteousness, self-pity, jealousy, implacability [cannot be satisfied], vindictiveness, slander, gossip, maligning, controlling, and without judging.

Personal love minus the virtue of impersonal love is the weakest and most unstable status quo in life. It is vulnerable to the entire realm of both the arrogance complex of sins [bitterness, vindictiveness, jealousy, self-pity, gossip, maligning, slander, revenge motivation, and malice which is the lust to hurt someone].and the emotional complex of sins [Hysteria which includes fear, worry, anxiety, panic, confusion, irrationality, dislocation, and garbage in the subconscious; Hatred includes anger, hatred, bitter jealousy, loathing, animosity, vulnerability to imagined insults or injury, implacability, malice, tantrums, irrationality, violence, and even murder, arrogant self righteousness, egotistical irrationality, hypersensitivity concerning self and insensitivity concerning others, projection, denial, self-pity, and whining, etc].  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Problem Solving Solution Number Nine: Sharing the Happiness of God.

                                      

The Doctrine of Happiness

 

THE DOCTRINE OF HAPPINESS

Acquiring the perfect happiness of God.

 

Point 1. Introduction and Description of Happiness.

Let's begin our subject with some principles.

A) Happiness is not having what you want; it is wanting what you have, or as we have seen before, it is being at a place of contentment.

  Paul will say this to us in PHI 4:11 "Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." NASB

 Phi 4:12 "I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need." NASB

Phi 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." NASB

  The word for content in the Greek is the noun autarkes [αὐτάρκης] which means contentment, to be content, to be self-sufficient. It actually describes the happiness of the believer in spiritual adulthood.

 B) The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts; therefore, you should guard the type of thoughts that you allow into your soul. You should be careful that you do not entertain any thoughts unsuitable to virtue [excellence of person] and impersonal love.

  This is why Paul said to the Philippians in PHI 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute [reputation], if there is any virtue [excellence of person] and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things."

  In fact, happiness and virtue [excellence of person] rest upon each other; the best people are not only the happiest, but the happiest are usually the best people.

 C) The truth is that all of us attain the greatest success and happiness possible in this life whenever we use our capacities to their greatest extent. It's our capacity that allows us to experience happiness.

  That's why HEB 13:5 says "Let your lifestyle be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you."  This quotation is one of the most empatic statements in the New Testament. In Greek it contains two double negatives similar to saying in English: “I will never, ever, ever forsake [abandon] you.” Nelson Study Bible pg. 2100.

 D) There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. An unhappy person is involved with egotism, selfishness, evil, or absolute ignorance.

  Happiness is a way of life. In fact, happiness requires problems [if you never had a problem, you would never know if you’re happy or not].

  As Paul will say to us in Phi 4:4 "Be happy in the Lord always; again I will say, be happy!" [corrected translation]

PHI 4:5 "Let your forbearing [considerate, gentle, merciful, indulgent] spirit be known to all men [you’re looking forward to being with Christ soon]. The Lord is near."

Philippians 4:5 – The third encouragement pertains to gentleness, a quality to be expressed toward all people, all the time. The context of this kind behavior is the imminent return of Christ: The Lord is at hand. This implies that the eager expectation in 3:20 will not be for long. The return of the Lord for the Church is always imminent. This is likely one reason Paul was not discouraged by his circumstances [look for the best in the worst of circumstances]. He could always look forward to being with Jesus soon. This focus on the Lord’s return will steer a person away from a lack of gentleness toward people. When a believer is thinking about being with Jesus, it will help him to be kind, even with those who are difficult. GNTC

Phi 4:6 "Be anxious for nothing [stop worrying about anything], but in everything by prayer and supplication [being humble] with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Phi 4:7 "And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:6-7 – The fourth encouragement concerns worry. The believer is admonished [instructed] to be anxious for nothing. The way to do this is through thankful prayer to God. As a believer makes his requests to God, he should never forget to be thankful as well. When a believer is burdened by some care [concern], his load will be lightened when he remembers to be thankful to God for all that He has done and continues to do.

As a result, God promises that His supernatural and incomprehensible peace will envelop the heart and mind of the one praying. When this happens, worry will dissipate.

This kind of prayer is a perfect expression of a selfless attitude. The believer should cast his cares on the Lord (cf. 1 Peter 5:7) instead of trying to take care of problems in his own way. GNTC

E) You'll never realize how happy you are until you go through certain problems and find out that your happiness has not been taken away. (when I got sick in 2002, I experienced many serious medical problems over the years but I didn’t lose my happiness, contentment, even my sense of humor).

1Pe 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope [hope = confident assurance] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"

1Pe 1:4 "to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,"

1 Peter 1:4 - This inheritance already belongs to believers by spiritual birthright. It is a place (John 14:2, 3) described with three adjectives. Incorruptible describes its permanence rather than moral nature. It cannot perish, be lost, or break down over time. Undefiled means that their inheritance is unstained by sin. And unlike flowers, it does not fade away in that it does not lose its beauty or desirability.

Reserved translates teteremenen, a perfect passive participle, which means that it is already in place and being guarded, or watched over, by God. The possession of the believer from the point of regeneration into eternity is in heaven, to which may be added additional rewards based on one’s deeds (1 Cor 3:10-15). GNTC

1Pe 1:5 "who are protected by the power of God through faith [it’s not the believer’s faith that keeps him saved, it’s God’s faithfulness that keeps us saved] for a salvation [a permanent eternal salvation] ready to be revealed in the last time [future destiny in heaven]."

1Pe 1:6 "In this you greatly rejoice [you have inner happiness], even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials," [sickness, accidents, war, or any other negative experiences, along with persecutions and tribulations.]

1Pe 1:7 "that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise [well done good and faithful servant] and glory [sharing in Christ’s glory]  and honor [describes the high distinction or recognition given to the faithful] at the revelation [second coming] of Jesus Christ;"

 1Pe 1:8 "and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice [happiness] with an inexpressible happiness and full of glory [a reference to a soul structure which thinks with God],"

 

F) Happiness is not a reward for doing something; it is a consequence. In the Biblical realm, it is the consequence of taking in doctrine and applying it to your life.

Pro 3:13 "Happiness belongs to the person who finds wisdom [a priceless treasure, its stored bible truth understood in your soul], even to the person who gains understanding [after applying the doctrine in your soul, you will have experiential understand of happiness]."

 G) We tend to forget that true happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. This is where capacity comes in once again.

 

H) It is not the place, nor the condition, but the mind alone that can make anyone happy or miserable.

Pro 23:7 "For as he thinks within himself, so he is." [we’re not what we think we are, but rather what we think is what we are].

Pro 17:22 "A happy heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones."

 

I) Happiness is learning to understand rather than to immediately judge. (Remember the short video I showed you a few months ago?)

  A person can save himself from many hard falls [in your mind] by refraining from jumping to conclusions. If you could only take some time to understand all the facts rather than immediately judge someone, you will experience a tranquil life, a life of peace and happiness.

J) Happiness means not following the majority and accepting their approach toward life.

  A happy person is one who makes up his own mind, has his own convictions, and doesn't allow himself to be manipulated.

 K) Happiness is not allowing yourself to indulge in the usual manipulation that goes on in life.

 L) Happiness is coming to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized or just considered.

  A happy person is not afraid to live and is not afraid to fail.

M) A person is happy because they are growing daily and not thinking of where the limit lies.

  Every day there can be a new revelation or a new discovery about life and about God. The happy person lives one day at a time and enjoys himself.

 

N) Happiness is also being able to treasure the memory of past misfortunes. (I treasure the memory of how I handled getting undeservedly fired from a very successful 16 year tenure. The Lord gave me that job and His permissive will allowed it to be taken away from me].

  In fact, happiness isn't something you just experience; it's something you remember.

 

O) The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development, who love good music, good books, good pictures & movies, good company, good conversation, are the happiest people in the world. They are not only happy in themselves, but they share their happiness with others.

 

P) It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.

  The key to true happiness is a change in our mental attitude.

 

Point 2. Definition and Vocabulary.

First of all let's begin with the English words used in the Bible for happiness.

  The English noun "joy" refers to a state of happiness or bliss or something which causes happiness, great pleasure, or satisfaction. It is interesting that it is used by the apostle [Paul] in the book of Philippians seven times, the number of completion or perfection.

  The verb "rejoice" is also another word which describes happiness, and it is defined as an expression of a state of happiness or delight. Paul used this word eight times in the book of Philippians.

  The English noun "happiness" is defined as a state of well-being characterized by a relative, permanent contentment, marked by pleasure, satisfaction, or joy. In fact, it also means to be enthusiastic about life.

  However, these English words do not necessarily reflect the original languages of Scripture.

SKIP THE HEBREW & GREEK WORDS:

Let's note the Hebrew words used for happiness.

  Eshor is translated blessed, blessedness, happiness. It is usually found in the construct form ashere, generally translated happiness, blessing, blessed.

  For example, in PSA 1:1 "How blessed [happy] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers [belittler’s, mocker’s, jeerer’s, discrediter’s]!"

  Or look at PSA 32:1 "How blessed [happy] is he whose transgression [sin] is forgiven, Whose sin is covered [taken away, removed]!"

Psa 32:2 "How blessed [happy] is the man to whom the Lord does not impute [attribute, assign, blame, accuse] iniquity [sin, wickedness], And in whose spirit there is no deceit [cheating, misleading, fraud, deception]!"

  Eshor and ashere on the basic words used for happiness in the Old Testament.

   Then there are the Greek words used for happiness.

  The noun chara is translated "joy." However, the Romans and Greeks were very cynical [skeptical, sarcastic, distrusting] about happiness, and they didn't seek it in things and people as we do. So these Koine [koi-ney] Greek words have different connotations from their English translations.

  The noun makarios (usually in the plural makaroi) is translated "blessed" or "happiness." For example, it is the word used in the Sermon on the Mount.

Mat 5:3 "Blessed [happy] are the poor in spirit [The idea of God blessing the humble believer and resisting the proud], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [actually possessing the kingdom and elevated in it rather than just entrance into it]."

Mat 5:4 "Blessed [happy] are those who mourn [to mourn means that the things that break the heart of God should break the believer’s heart as well, whether it is sin or the effects of sin.]

Mat 5:5 "Blessed [happy] are the gentle [i.e., the mature believer who is willing to wait for God’s timing to claim what is rightfully his], for they shall inherit the earth [ruling one’s spirit in time qualifies one to rule with Christ in the kingdom]."

Mat 5:6 "Blessed [happy] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [a consuming desire for righteousness in both one’s life and in others] for they shall be satisfied [in their personal life, Ps 107:9; and the coming kingdom, Isa 62:1-2; Jer 23:5-6; Mal 4:2]."

Mat 5:7 "Blessed [happy] are the merciful [compassionate spirit towards others], for they shall receive mercy [possibly, more than they deserve at the Judgment Seat of Christ]."

Mat 5:8 "Blessed [happy] are the pure in heart [devoid of or free from sinful motives], for they shall see God."

Mat 5:9 "Blessed [happy] are the peacemakers [in the kingdom they will have a reputation of being like God, a friend, co-heir with Jesus Christ], for they shall be called sons of God [while all believers are children of God, only those who were the peacemakers will be His sons]."

Mat 5:10 "Blessed [happy] are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Mat 5:11 "Blessed [happy] are you when [men] cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me."

Mat 5:12 "Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Matthew 5:10-12. Twice in these verses “those who are persecuted” and reviled are congratulated on their future happiness. “Those who are persecuted” may rejoice only if such persecution comes “for righteousness sake.” Many people feel they are persecuted, but their trials and troubles are only the consequences of sin or bad behavior. When persecution does come because of a righteous stance on justice, truth, or liberty, others may “revile...you,” or “say all kinds of evil against you.” Persecution may be either physical or verbal.

Those who face persecution are admonished [urged] to “rejoice and be exceedingly glad.” This is not sadomasochism—rejoicing in pain. It is being happy in spite of painful persecution because of what is coming later. “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim 3:12).

The promise for enduring abuse “for My [Christ’s] sake” is authority and exaltation [praise & elevation] in the kingdom (cf. 5:3). Loyalty under persecution brings “great...reward in heaven” so that disciples fully possess “the kingdom of heaven” (cf. 2 Tim 1:12). If persecution should make them feel worthless, let them remember that the OT prophets were also persecuted. They are in good company! GNTC

  However, these words used for translation do not explain the Biblical doctrine of happiness. The Greek noun [autarkeia] comes a little closer, because it means contentment, to be content, or to be self-sufficient. It means a perfect condition of life in which no aid or support is needed.

  It actually describes the happiness of spiritual adulthood.

  It is used in 1TI 6:6  "But living the spiritual life keeps on being a great means of prosperity when accompanied by contentment or capacity for life." [Corrected translation]

  Notice how it is translated in 2CO 9:8 "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency [there's autarkeia or another definition for happiness] in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;"

   Its verb arkeo, in the active voice, means to be sufficient; therefore to be self-sufficient. This comes closer to describing what Biblical happiness really is, and what happens to us when we execute the PPOG for the Church-age.

  It is used in 2CO 12:9 "And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness."

  In the passive voice, this verb means to be satisfied and content. This refers to an expression of happiness related to spiritual autonomy.

  The passive voice use of this is found 1TI 6:8  "Now having nourishing food and a change of clothes, with these we shall be content." (corrected translation)

  Now, we really cannot discover from these words alone what happiness is. We commonly use them in relationship to our emotions, stimulation, excitement, and anticipation. But we do not know what happiness is from these words in isolation. Therefore, to understand what happiness is becomes a grammatical, exegetical, contextual examination of certain passages of the Word of God.

  In other words, one word doesn't really describe happiness. But to refer to it, we will use the commonly used word "happiness."

  Most people carry the entrenched notion that some set of circumstances, things, or people can "make" us happy. [I’ll get married; I’ll have another baby; if only I had a different job; made more money etc.]

  However, happiness is not something that is made or manufactured by you. We must never confuse happiness, as taught in the Word of God, with the various stimuli of life which are enjoyable for the moment, but have no ability to sustain us in day-by-day living.

  Whatever happiness is, it is something we have with us all the time. It's only in the body to the extent that the soul is in the body, for happiness is related to the soul and spirit, to the immaterial parts of man, and is not related to the body at all. [the physical body is the genetically formed old-sin-nature]

   Remember that rapport with God must precede [come before] rapport with people. And if you have no rapport with God, you will never have good rapport with people, and you also will never experience true happiness [i.e., the perfect happiness of God].

  Our corrected translation of PHI 1:15-18 reads, PHI 1:15, "Certain ones, on the one hand, are proclaiming the Christ even from jealousy and strife [rivalry] or discord, but certain ones on the other hand because of good motivation"

PHI 1:16 "the latter category [the last ones mentioned in verse 15] out of the motivation of love [Impersonal unconditional love: agapēs - ἀγάπης,] are fully convinced that I [Paul] am appointed for the defense of the good news;"

PHI 1:17 "the former category [the first ones mentioned in verse 15] from the motivation of divisive self-promotion proclaim Christ, not from pure motives, since they presume [take for granted] to arouse mental distress with regard to my imprisonment."

PHI 1:18 "What is my conclusion? Only that in every way, whether in false motivation or in true, Christ is being proclaimed; and in this I am happy, not only at this time, but I will continue being happy."

  We have noted in relationship to this passage the subject of happiness, which is a very misunderstood concept in our day an age.

  True happiness is having contentment no matter what type of situation you are faced with.

  Happiness depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

  There is only one way to happiness, and that is, as an example, to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our control [In other words, worry is being controlled mentally by whatever a person is worrying about, the worrying person is occupied with it.  However, we have the power through rebound and then the help of the Holy Spirit to renew our minds, to stop worrying, actually when we reach spiritual adulthood, we will automatically stop worrying.

  In fact, happiness requires problems and pressures in life. You'll never realize how happy you are until you go through certain problems and find out that your happiness has not been taken away.

  We tend to forget that true happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have [contentment]. It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that reveals our happiness.

  So the key to true happiness is a change in our mental attitude.

  The phrase "the pursuit of happiness" is actually a ridiculous phrase because if you pursue happiness [i.e., the frantic search for happiness] you'll never find it. [However, if you pursue bible truth or bible doctrine, understand it, believe it and apply it to your life, happiness will find you and even become you, that is the only way to achieve true happiness or maximum contentment].

Point 3. The Biblical Categories of Happiness.

1) Pseudo happiness, counterfeit or false happiness.

2) Establishment happiness from following the laws of divine establishment [for the unbeliever].

3) Perfect happiness which is the believers possession of divine happiness (also called +H) [for the believer only].

   Pseudo happiness is Satan's attempt to counterfeit the happiness, the contentment, and the blessing which God has provided for every Church-age believer as members of the royal family of God.

  The provision of perfect happiness is found in our portfolio of invisible assets and the game plan for the Church-age, the PPOG [the Predesigned Plan of God or what the bible calls predestination]. However, as the ruler of this world, Satan loves to keep his citizens deceived through this counterfeit happiness. He does so by providing stimulation [anything that distracts you from devoting time for studying God’s Word on a daily basis], ambition [e.g., placing your career as top priority in your life to the exclusion of taking in God’s Word,] and self-indulgence [e.g., being occupied with the details of life like, TV, shopping, movies, sports, politics, etc., more than devoting time to renewing your mind to be Christ like] which will either counterfeit or cancel out the happiness God provides for us.

  This is why the Apostle John said in 1JO 2:15 "Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." [This doesn’t mean the person is unsaved. What it does mean is God’s love is not working in and through those who love the world. It is impossible to love both the world and God at the same time.].

1Jo 2:16 "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."

1Jo 2:17 "And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides [lives] forever [in Christ is eternal happiness and contentment].”

  Satan himself does not personally administer pseudo happiness to any person, but he does provide the system called in this passage the world, or the kosmos, which we will call the cosmic system.

  And the cosmic system provided by Satan is filled with illusions, delusions, fallacies, and misconceptions of happiness.

  Satan's myth of arrogance is that both people and pleasant circumstances in life can make you happy. This of course is not true.

  Satan's propaganda is that money, success, pleasure, social life, sexual life, public approbation, fame, material things, travel, health, and pleasant circumstances in life can make you happy.

  This is only true under certain circumstances and with certain limitations; however, it doesn't last. Often these things are pleasurable, stimulating, fun, and enjoyable, but they cannot support you...especially in time of suffering.

   By way of contrast, what God has provided for us in perfect happiness is a permanent factor and problem-solving solutions.

  Remember this principle: anything that is worthwhile is worthwhile in adversity as well as in prosperity [taking in God’s Word and applying it to your life is worthwhile whether you’re in a circumstance of adversity or prosperity].

  If you are dependent on any person or set of circumstances for happiness, you are weak and you do not have happiness [example: a woman believes that if she has another baby that will make her happy or cure any marriage problems she may be experiencing].

  To the extent that you are dependent on people, circumstances, prosperity, success, or any accoutrements of life for happiness, you are weak.

  But if, as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been faithful in the reception, retention, and recall of Bible doctrine and have advanced to spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, or spiritual maturity; you are not only a strong person, but you have great inner happiness. You take this inner happiness with you wherever you go, just like the Apostle Paul took it with him while in prison.

  God's happiness isn't dependent on environment, associations, or circumstances of prosperity or adversity; it depends on none of these things.

  God's happiness is simply a part of God's grace policy [opportunity to acquire it] to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

   Remember that Satan is the ruler of this world, LUK 4:5-6, 7; JOH 12:31, 14:30, 16:11 [ruler]; 2CO 4:4 [god]; EPH 2:2 [prince]. In Eph 2:2, he is called “the prince of the power of the air”, or the one who controls the atmosphere in this world. Here the "atmosphere" refers to the educational system, the media, television, radio, literature, or any other means that the kingdom of darkness can use to invade your system of thinking.

  Satan rules and controls through a policy called arrogance, in contrast to God's policy of grace. However, Satan's administration of pseudo [bogus, counterfeit] happiness to any believer or unbeliever can only exist when that person is involved in the cosmic system. This happens primarily in cosmic one, where through arrogance, any capacity for true happiness is destroyed.

COSMIC ONE: Cosmic one consists of grieving the Spirit. In Cosmic one the believer becomes involved with sin or preoccupation with self, which is the arrogance complex [the full array of sins] of sins, hence exiting the predesigned plan of God (PPOG). Once in cosmic one believers only need rebound, 1JO 1:9, to get back in fellowship with God.

COSMIC TWO: Cosmic two consists of quenching the Spirit. This is man's exit from the predesigned plan of God by way of antagonism toward God and the plan of God. Cosmic two entails more than sin per se in that it moves into evil. Evil is more than sin; it is a system of thought based on disputes, rejection and contradiction to the Word of God. Evil attempts to frustrate the grace policy of God. This "human viewpoint" takes more than mere rebound to re-enter fellowship with God, it requires recovery as well. Recovery is the cleansing of the mind through consistent perception, metabolization and application of the accurate teaching of the Word of God.

 

START JULY CLASS 2016

As a side note to cosmic two: the sadist point about quenching the Holy Spirit is when we are out of fellowship or continue to remain out of fellowship with God due to unconfessed sin is that we have actually left the predesigned plan of God and reentered the devils cosmic system; therefore, when we do a good deed, it is not rewardable since it will be classified as wood, hay and straw rather than gold, silver & precious stone at the Judgment Seat of Christ. It’s very important to remember, when we are out of fellowship with God, that is, we are grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit because we are in the devils world or his cosmic system where we can only commit evil deeds [Why? Because you’re out of fellowship with God, in other words, you’re not abiding in Him and not controlled by the Holy Spirit] which are the opposite of good deeds [they are good deeds only when abiding in Christ, i.e., in fellowship with God], this is why when we do a deed inside the cosmic system, one that would normally be rewardable for both time and eternity future if done in fellowship [i.e., while living inside the Predesigned Plan Of God], the deed will be considered to be wood, hay and straw (1 Corinthians 3:12, 13, 14-15) at the BEMA Seat [Judgement Seat of Christ]. This is why it is so important to keep a very short list of unconfessed sins and to restore yourself back to fellowship with God and be again filled with the Holy Spirit ASAP.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27   ^9:24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.    ^9:25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.    ^9:26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;    ^9:27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.    

Commentary from GNTC: (scripture reference pop-ups are from NASB)

9:24-27. He offers strong practical application for believers to engage in discipline in light of winning others to Christ, and he uses himself and the Corinthians’ own Isthmian athletic games as examples. He refers to particular events of running and boxing that were part of these Isthmian [(ĭs′mē-ən] games, which were close to the city of Corinth. The athlete took ten months to train for these games. In these games all the runners prepare to run, but in the actual event only one receives the prize (brabeion). Paul exhorts [urges, encourages] the church in Corinth to run in such a way that [they] may obtain the prize. He continues that everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. The verb agonizomai (competes_ means “to get in shape in order to participate in the games.” The word “agony” comes from it. Temperate refers to the athlete’s self-control because of this strict training. The athletes in the Isthmian games exercised discipline so that when they would come to their event they would win it and obtain a perishable crown. The word crown (stephanos) was a wreath woven of oak, ivy, or spruce, which was given to the victor.

All believers are given this same opportunity to win an imperishable crown. An imperishable crown, awarded by the King of kings, is far more valuable than a perishable one awarded by some local official. Furthermore Christians are not competing against one another in the “race” or in the “event.” They are competing against themselves. In the Isthmian games only one person wins, but in the Christian race all who abide by the rules and run the race with diligence receive this imperishable crown (cf. 2 Tim 2:5). The athlete would receive a wreath that would eventually fade and fall apart. But the faithful believer receives a crown that lasts forever. It does not fade or fall apart.

Paul is not telling the unsaved that they need to run the race in order to earn eternal life. Rather he is addressing the believers who have been given the gift of eternal life, and he is telling them they can win a prize for the faithful discipline in their lives. He offers himself as an example of this when he says, Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. He stays on course and does not run aimlessly. He also engages in the boxing match not as one who beats the air. It would be futile for a boxer to punch the air.

Paul realizes that his greatest problem in this contest is himself. So he disciplines his body (cf. Rom 7:24; 8:8, 10-11) so that he will not become disqualified (adokimos, lit., disapproved; cf. 2 Tim 2:15 which has dokimos, “approved”). The apostle did not fear the loss of eternal life. He feared not having His Lord’s approval at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and not having the privilege of ruling with Christ which will come to all who have His approval (cf. Luke 19:17; 1 Cor 9:25).

James 1:21-22 - ²¹ Therefore ^wlay aside all filthiness [evil] and ⁴overflow of wickedness [excess evil, a kind of unwanted enlargement, or abnormal outgrowth, in the Christian life, e.g., continuous quenching of the Holy Spirit], and receive with meekness the implanted word, ^xwhich is able to save your souls [the latter doesn’t mean saved from hell]. ²² But ^ybe doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

As a third opinion regarding our subject, in the book written by Zane Hodges, titled “The Epistle of JAMES” – 1:21-22, pages 40-42, beginning at the bottom of paragraph two, he states: “All human evil [i.e., grieving and quenching of the Holy Spirit, involved in sin and more than sin which is evil] should be renounced [rebound] by the Christian before he hears [and obeys or applies] God’s Word.”

In other words, when we step out of the PPOG, we step back into Satan’s evil cosmic system where we can only do evil. Therefore, it’s very important to prepare oneself before hearing God’s Word; this would be to use 1 John 1:9 to restore fellowship with God the Holy Spirit.

Doing so makes it certain that the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit.  As you’ll see in the next paragraph, the same “renouncement of sins” [rebound] should be done, if needed, prior to obeying or applying God’s Word; this would be especially important with regard to doing good deeds [good works] since they are rewardable only when done while abiding in Christ [being in fellowship with God and filled with the Holy Spirit] which assures the believer that his/her good works will be determined to be “gold, silver and precious stone” at the BEMA Seat [Judgment Seat of Christ]. 

How could we expect God to justifiably reward a believer for deeds done when he/she is living [abiding] in Satan’s cosmic system [out of fellowship, i.e., not filled with the Holy Spirit] which we refer to as living outside the predesigned plan of God.

Furthermore, 1 John 1:9 is both a command and a promise: “If ³ we confess [commanded by God—site or acknowledge] our sins [known sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin(s) [promise] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [unknown or forgotten sin(s), also a promise].

James 1:22. As important as it is to receive the implanted word [implanted word = the Word we hear, i.e., the metabolized Word of God in our soul/spirit] with cleansed hearts and a meek spirit [rebounded], there is one further essential step. They must become doers of the word. James’s readers must never allow themselves to become mere hearers; instead they must obey it. James trades on the fact that the word “hear,” in both Hebrew and Greek, can mean either “sensory audition” or “to hear responsively,” that is, “to obey.” In his exposition of the command to be swift to hear (v 19), James wants his audience to realize that the regular hearing of God’s Word in the meetings of the church is not all he has in mind. To be swift to hear, at its deepest level of meaning, means also “to be swift to obey.” If the readers ever thought that mere attention to the Scriptures was enough, they were mistaken. With such a view they would be deceiving themselves. The analogy today would be the Christian who is fascinated by the exposition [explanation or interpretation] and study of God’s Word but who has assimilated very little of it into his everyday life.

 

Unfortunately many Christian’s service, sacrifice, and works will be determined to be wood, hay, and straw and will be burned up at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1CO 3:11, 12, 13, 14-15; 2CO 5:10). The only Christian service and production that counts is the production that results from the filling of the Holy Spirit and the perception, metabolization & application of Bible doctrine. Therefore, Christian service and Christian works are not the means of attaining spiritual adulthood or of glorifying God. Spiritual growth is not measured in works; spiritual growth is measured in momentum [continuously and persistently moving forward in your spiritual intake and application of God’s Word, even through to spiritual maturity]. When there is momentum, there will be production. That production will be gold, silver, and precious stones and it will be rewardable at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

COSMIC SYSTEM: The phrase the cosmic system involves both cosmic one and cosmic two and entails the overall objective of Satan in using mankind to prove his superiority over God. The cosmic system is the devil's multifaceted policy for achieving his goal by way of human viewpoint projected through the world system. The cosmic system refers to the Greek word kosmos. Satan is king of the world and its cosmic system.

Read the following Lewis Sperry Chafer commentary at home: skip to page 147.

The Lewis Sperry Chafer commentary below uses the old KJV for bible references.

Chapter 46: Judgment of the Believer's Works

CHAPTER XLVI

JUDGMENT OF THE BELIEVER'S WORKS

By Lewis Sperry Chafer

With reference to sin, the Scriptures teach that the child of God under grace shall not come into judgment (John 3:18; 5:24; 6:37; Rom 5:1; 8:1, R.V.; 1 Cor 11:32); for, as to his standing before God, and on the ground that the penalty for all sin—past, present, and future (Col 2:13)—has been borne by Christ as the perfect Substitute, the believer is not only placed beyond condemnation, but, being in Christ, is accepted in the perfection of Christ (1 Cor 1:30; Eph 1:6; Col 2:10; Heb 10:14), and loved of God as Christ is loved (John 17:23). But with reference to his daily life and service for God, the Christian must give an account before the judgment seat of Christ (Rom 14:10; 2 Cor 5:10; Eph 6:8), which judgment will occur at the coming of Christ to receive His own (1 Cor 4:5; 2 Tim 4:8; Rev 22:12. Note also Matt 16:27; Luke 14:14).

When standing before the Great White Throne for their final judgment, the unsaved are to be judged "according to their works" (Rev 20:11-15). It is not the purpose of this judgment to determine whether those standing there are saved or lost; it rather determines the degree of penalty which, because of their evil works, shall rest upon those who are lost. Likewise, the saved, when standing before the judgment seat of Christ at His coming, are judged according to their works, and this judgment does not determine whether they are saved or lost; it rather determines the reward or loss of reward for service which will be due each individual believer. Those who shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ will not only be saved and safe, but will already have been taken into Heaven; not on the ground of their merit or works, but on the ground of divine grace made possible through the saviourhood of Christ. Since, under grace, the character of the believer's life and service does not, and cannot, in any way condition his eternal salvation, by so much, the life and service of the believer becomes a separate and unrelated issue to be judged by Christ — whose we are and whom we serve.

When gathered before "the throne of his glory," there is also to be a reckoning of reward on the basis of merit both for Israel and the nations, but apart from the issues of personal salvation (Matt 25:31. Note Matt 6:2-6; 24:45,46; 25).

There are two central passages on the subject of the believer's rewards which are conclusive:

First. 1 Cor 3:9, 10, 11-12, 13-14, 15.

In determining the force of this passage, it should be observed (1) that only those who are saved are in view. The personal pronouns we and ye include all who are saved and exclude all who are not saved, and likewise, the word man refers only to the one who is building on the Rock Christ Jesus. (2) Having presented to the Corinthians the Gospel by which they were saved—which salvation provides the Rock on which the saved one stands — the Apostle Paul likens himself to a wise master-builder who has laid the foundation; but in strong contrast to this, he indicates that each believer for himself is building the superstructure upon the one foundation which is provided through the grace of God. The appeal, therefore, is to each one to take heed how he builds thereon. This is not a reference to so-called "character building," which theme finds no basis in those Scriptures which are addressed to the saints of this dispensation; their character is said to be "the fruit of the Spirit" (Gal 5:22,23) and is realized not by fleshly effort, but when walking by means of the Spirit (Gal 5:16). The believer is represented as building a superstructure of service, or works, which is to be tested by fire—possibly by the eyes of fire of the Lord before whom he will stand (Rev 1:14). (3) The "work" which the Christian is building upon Christ Jesus may be of wood, hay, or stubble which fire destroys; or it may be of gold, silver, and precious stone which fire does not destroy, and which, as in the case of gold and silver, is purified by it. (4) To the one whose "work" shall abide which he hath built on Christ, a reward shall be given; but the one whose "work" shall be burned shall suffer loss: not his salvation which is secured through the finished work of Christ, but his reward. Even when passing through the fire which is to test every Christian's work and though suffering the loss of his reward, he himself shall be saved.

Second. 1 Cor 9:16-17, 18-19, 20, 21, 22-23, 24, 26-27.

Having reference to his own service in preaching the Gospel, the Apostle inquires, "What is my reward then?" The true answer to this question most naturally depends upon the nature and quality [was the work done in God’s divine system (PPOG) or in Satan’s cosmic system] of the service he has rendered to God. The Apostle therefore proceeds to recount his own faithfulness in works (18-23). No one will deny the truthfulness of his report. He then likens Christian service to a race in which all believers are running, and, as in a foot race, but one receiveth the prize—and that through a superior effort. Similarly, in Christian service the believer should exert all his strength that he may obtain his full reward—run, as it were, to surpass all others. Again, as the athlete is temperate in all things that he may obtain a corruptible crown, so the Christian should be temperate [self-control, remain approved by following God’s rules, so-to-speak] in all things that he may obtain an incorruptible crown. The Apostle's temperateness is seen in the fact that he kept his own body under and brought it into subjection lest that in some unworthy and half-hearted service for others he himself should be disapproved. The word here translated "castaway" (v 9:27 KJV) is _adokimos, which is the negative form of _dokimos, and as _dokimos is translated "approved" (Rom 14:18; 16:10; 1 Cor 11:19; 2 Cor 10:18; 2 Tim 2:15), so adokimos should be translated "disapproved." Since the Apostle's salvation is in no way in question, he was not fearing lest he would be dismissed from God forever; but he did fear being disapproved in the sphere of his service.

The Christian's reward is sometimes mentioned as a "prize" (1 Cor 9:24), and sometimes as a "crown" (1 Cor 9:25; Phil 4:1; 1 Thess 2:19; 2 Tim 4:8; James 1:12; 1 Peter 5:4; Rev 2:10; 3:11). These crowns may be classified under five divisions representing five distinct forms of Christian service and suffering, and the child of God is also warned lest he lose his reward (Col 2:18; 2 John 8; Rev 3:11).

 

The doctrine of rewards is the necessary counterpart of the doctrine of salvation by grace. Since God does not, and cannot, reckon the believer's merit or works to the account of his salvation, it is required that the believer's good works shall be divinely acknowledged. The saved one owes nothing to God in payment for salvation which is bestowed as a gift; but he does owe God a life of undivided devotion, and for this life of devotion there is promised a reward in Heaven.

  Arrogance destroys any capacity for happiness. The presence of arrogance in your soul is a guarantee of unhappiness perpetuated for the rest of your life [i.e., until you repent, meaning change your attitude/mind about the sin, then use 1 John 1:9].

  Arrogance includes jealousy, and you cannot be jealous and be happy.

  It includes self-pity, and you cannot have self-pity and be happy.

  It includes a guilt complex, which you cannot have and be happy.

  It also includes implacability [you can’t be satisfied], vindictiveness, hatred, revenge motivation [wanting to carry it out], revenge function [carrying it out on someone]; any of these can keep you from being happy. All mental attitude sins, which add up to motivational arrogance, guarantee the exclusion of any happiness. Then from there you will move to functional arrogance, which only intensifies your unhappiness, causing you to begin a frantic search for happiness [inside the cosmic system], and to try all sorts of things that will only make you unhappy.

  Your life might be like the fool mentioned in LUK 12:16-21

 "And He told them a parable, saying, 'The land of a certain rich man was very productive.'"

Luk 12:17 "And he began reasoning to himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?'" [The rich man then ponders what to do with this supply. The revealing of his inner dialogue reflects God’s omniscience and explores the attitudinal root of covetousness. GNTC]

Luk 12:18 "And he said, 'This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.'" [He decides to hoard his abundant goods. Here is a man whose every action points back to himself. GNTC]

Luk 12:19 "And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years [to come]; take your ease, eat, drink [and] be merry. [After hoarding his possessions he plans to address his soul. The man makes his future plans on the basis of a mistaken premise. He counted on his possessions and longevity. He concluded, “‘take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.’” GNTC]

 

Luk 12:20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This [very] night your soul is required of you; and [now] who will own what you have prepared?'" [The parable takes a shocking turn as God, Himself verbally shakes the man into reality by saying, “‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you.’” God’s question strikes at the heart of the conflict introduced by the man in the crowd (v 13). He cared little about God and concerned himself with material possessions. GNTC]

Luk 12:21 "So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." [Jesus then completes the illustration. “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Because God would require the man’s life that very night, he had no time to enjoy his self-centered pursuits. GNTC]

  Unhappiness destroys the potential for contentment and appreciation and causes people to go on the frantic search for happiness. This complete and total search for pleasure eventually results in the total destruction of the individual.

  No amount of material possession produces wealth; but enjoying what we have, no matter how much or how little it may be, is what makes us wealthy.

  And, for those in the world, it is very hard to tell what does bring happiness because poverty and wealth have both failed. The problem is these people have been deceived by the god of this world.

  That's why in REV 12:9 we are told "And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world;"

  So, the arrogance complex is very deceptive because it deludes, distracts, and deceives mankind into false notions about what constitutes happiness. A short good time can certainly be construed as happiness during the time it occurs.

  Pseudo happiness can be stimulation, fun, entertainment, or something that is enjoyable, but it isn't permanent; it is momentary. It depends upon a set of circumstances and an environment pleasant to you. And the great deceiver of this world has trapped many individuals by causing them to be suckers for pseudo happiness.

As 2TI 2:26 says they are being "held captive by Satan to do his will."

  So this is called pseudo happiness because, beyond that moment of a good time, there are bad times, routine times, or dull times. And when you are bored or facing problems, that past temporary happiness does not sustain you. People cannot be carried by good times.

  However, by way of contrast, perfect happiness is a magnificent problem-solving solution because you have it all the time, and you merely tune into it during problem solving.

  Perfect happiness is not only a problem-solving solution, but it is a basis for capacity for life.

  Arrogant preoccupation with self through involvement in the cosmic system guarantees unhappiness, and it guarantees that every moment of stimulation, success, or enjoyment will neither be perpetuated nor sustain you in day-by-day life.

  Therefore, it is called pseudo happiness. You are stimulated and you call it happiness, but it's gone tomorrow.

  Pseudo-happiness is associated with any form of stimulation, enjoyment, or excitement which provides temporary pleasure, but it does not sustain, motivate, or encourage the believer in time of adversity, pressure, suffering, or testing, during which time he needs to use the resources of doctrine to solve the problems that beset him.

  And instead of true happiness, if you are involved with the cosmic system this guarantees you self-induced misery and divine discipline. You can be free to indulge yourself in every whim of life, and yet become frustrated and miserable. You must have capacity for happiness to really be happy, and then you can be happy in whatever life has to offer you in a given moment. Capacity for happiness must precede the experience or function of happiness.

   Morality, self-control, and self-determination based on divine standards of the Word of God will produce two kinds of happiness in your life.

1) The unbeliever who functions under morality without arrogance will have establishment happiness from the laws of divine establishment.

2) The believer who functions under consistent perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine will receive perfect happiness, which is a day-by-day, moment-by-moment happiness that carries you in the darkest of nights and the most difficult of times.

   Life is divided into two parts: living and dying. And if you have perfect happiness in living, you will have perfect happiness in dying, whether it is prolonged and painful or short and sweet.

  The only difference between living and dying is that, in living, we have the full use of our volition toward doctrine. However, in dying, our volition is no longer an issue because God's sovereignty selects the time, place, and manner of our death.

  If you live in the cosmic system, you will have a pseudo happiness in living and therefore a pseudo happiness in dying; and you will die miserably with a lifestyle of fear. Your mental attitude of panic will actually intensify all your problems in dying.

  But if you have perfect happiness, you will have a magnificent life and a magnificent time while dying.

   Another area in which you can have either pseudo happiness or God's perfect happiness is in your single or marital status.

  If you have pseudo happiness, when you are single, you wish you were married; and when you are married, you wish you were single. But if you have perfect happiness, it doesn't make any difference whether you are single or married.

  If you have perfect happiness and impersonal love in marriage, you can resolve all marital problems. That doesn't mean that the marriage is always going to work out; in many cases it does not. However, it does mean you don't have to have any bitterness, jealousy, anger, vindictiveness, or revenge motivation, like so many do when their marriage doesn't work out.

  Remember that the four divine institutions are for believers and unbelievers alike. They are the basis of structure in society, the basis for the perpetuation of human life and freedom, and the basis for order in society by which each person can fulfill his own destiny while others fulfill theirs.

  However, neither divine institution number one, volition, nor divine institution number two, marriage, sustained and carried Adam and the woman in perfect environment. Before the fall of man, two divine institutions existed. There was freedom of volition, divine institution number one, and then there was marriage, divine institution number two. There was no family and no nation, which are divine institutions numbers 3 and 4. However, the marriage of Adam to the woman was a flop, a failure, as noted by Adam's original sin and the woman's sin.

  And as they left the garden, God gave each one a mandate, and whether you and I like it or not is not the issue; God said "Husband, work! Wife, bear children!" God didn't tell them, "Go forth and be happy." In fact, throughout the Scripture, there are no mandates to be happy in marriage, because marriage is not a state of happiness. And if you did a study in the word of God, you would find out that certain marriages were flops, but the individuals still had perfect happiness.

  For example, remember Abraham's deceitful and cowardly attitude toward his wife Sarah, GEN 12:12-13; GEN 20:1-18 (click to open). They didn't have a good marriage, but they both ended up winner believers and had the happiness of God.

  Moses divorced his first wife Zipporah in EXO 18:2, but he still had the happiness of God during that terrible marriage where she threw some foreskin at him. I'll let the Living Bible give you an idea of what happened. EXO 4:25 "Then Zipporah his wife took a flint knife and cut off the foreskin of her young son's penis, and threw it against Moses' feet, remarking disgustedly, 'What a blood-smeared husband you've turned out to be!'"

  He didn't have a good or happy marriage, but he had the happiness of God.

  Do you think that David had a happy marriage when in 2SA 5:13 "Meanwhile David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem,"?

  He didn't have a good or happy marriage, or in his case, marriages, but he had the happiness of God. In fact, in 2SA 6:16, it says that his wife Michal hated him. However, David still had God's happiness.

  Hosea is another example of a winner believer who did not have a happy marriage.

Hos 1:2 "When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, "Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry [or go marry a whore], and [have] children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking [abandoning] the Lord."

Hos 1:3 "So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son."

  He didn't have a good or happy marriage but he had the happiness of God.

  Now, the point is, marriage was never designed for happiness. A happy marriage occurs when two happy people enter into a state of matrimony and in that state retain their happiness.

  The only happy people who can do this are those who have perfect happiness or establishment happiness.

  An unhappy marriage occurs when two unhappy people get married and retain their unhappiness. Or when a happy person and an unhappy person get married, and the unhappy person dominates and controls the marriage, the happy person loses his or her happiness.

  A marriage is successful when two unhappy people get married, and through the predesigned plan of God (PPOG) or the laws of divine establishment, attain happiness and live together in a state of contentment.

  But with regard to believers, it is impossible for believers to have a happy marriage apart from spiritual growth, execution of the PPOG, and possession of perfect happiness.

  The best potential for a great marriage belongs to believers who are positive toward doctrine.

  If the carnal believer tries to have a good marriage through establishment, his carnality and arrogance cancel out the establishment principles. Therefore, the believer's only hope is to grow in grace through the perception and application of Bible doctrine.

  A successful marriage is possible for any two believers who are both positive toward Bible doctrine [consistently seek the mind of Christ, the renewing of their minds].

  An unsuccessful marriage also happens when a happy person and an unhappy person get married, and the unhappy person causes the happy person to revert to the cosmic system.

  A failing marriage occurs when the happy person married to an unhappy person changes his priorities in life so that he loses his premarital happiness.

  So marriage will not make you happy. In fact, if you are involved in the arrogance of the cosmic system [cosmic 1 & 2], marriage will intensify and increase your misery.

  People, marriage, sex, prosperity, success cannot make you happy. Only the execution or fulfillment of the PPOG and the use of the ten problem-solving solutions can make you happy.

  In fact, success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.

  And once you have perfect happiness, you have the same happiness and the same capacity for happiness in adversity as well as in prosperity.

  In PHI 4:13 "You can do all things through Him who strengthens you." [Paul has learned to be content regardless of his circumstances. Having experienced both scarcity and abundance in his life, Paul is able to look on either state with contentment because of the strength Christ provides. Again, Paul’s focus is Christ. And because of this focus, Paul is able to be selfless, even when confronted with hunger, pain, and suffering. Christ’s strength can sustain him through anything.]

  There are also those who are single who are waiting for that right kind of man or right kind of woman [i.e., compatibility of both soul and body; yet both remaining faithful to their Christian calling rather than to social status], 1CO 7:17. This includes those who haven't been married and those who have been married, but are not now married. Remember that those divorced with the legal right to remarry are in single status, and have the bona fide right under certain conditions to remarry, DEU 24:1-4 (click to open). These conditions include unfaithfulness on the part of the opposite partner or desertion by the opposite partner.

  However, if you are single and looking for happiness, do not look for it in someone of the opposite sex.....you won't find it!

 

 

 

 

ADDENDUM TO

THE DOCTRINE OF HAPPINESS

PROBLEM SOLVING SOLUTION NUMBER NINE.

 The Purpose of the Seventy Sevens or the 490 years in DAN 9:24, and The Doctrine of Human Good.  

This section lists six specific things that the Jews or Israel should understand and look forward to. Three of them have negative connotations; three of them have positive connotations.
 
 1. As we have now noted in some detail is the principle found in the phrase in DAN 9:24, to make an end of sin which means to bring one major sin to its completion, which is the sin of unbelief.

 

2. In the phrase in DAN 9:24, “to finish the transgression which not only refers to the payment for sin but also deals with the entire OSN, including the good that the old sin nature produces. This second point of the prophecy not only talks about the payment for sin, but it also talks about what our Lord did about human good as well. You must remember that when our Lord fulfilled the prophecy in DAN 9:24, 25, 26, 27(¹) (²), He also dealt with our problem concerning human good as well, which most believers have no idea about. You see, most believers do not believe PSA 39:5b (KJV) Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. The NKJV says: Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Selah
   
PSA 62:9, Men of low degree are only vanity, and men of rank are a lie; In the balances they go up; They are together lighter than breath.  
   
PSA 144:4, Man is like a mere breath; His days are like a passing shadow.  
   
The production of human good is really more of a serious problem then what the average believer really understands. Because of passages like MAT 6:23, “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.” What does that mean? It means that a lot of believers who do a lot of good things do not realize that they are living in the darkness of producing human good. For example, you will recall what our Lord said to some unbelievers.  
   
MAT 7:13-21, “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of Heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in Heaven.”  
   
By the way, what is the will [the verse below describes one of many verses] of His Father?
   
JOH 6:40, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life;”  
   
MAT 7:22-23, “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”  
  
Lawlessness is the noun anomos (an’-om-os); which means against the Jewish law; wicked; transgressor. Sometimes the word can also refer to the production of human good. Remember passages like ROM 8:8, (cf. ROM 8:1, 4, 5) those who are in the flesh cannot please God. In other words, a second part of the prophecy in DAN 9:24 that our Lord would fulfill would be to reveal the fact that God the Father, the author of the divine plan, would reject human good or the good deeds man could perform without help from the character and nature of God.  

So far then the first two points that we see concerning the prophecy is this:  

The first part of the prophecy deals with the sin of unbelief.  

The second part of the prophecy deals with our Lord dealing with the entire OSN and all of the transgressions of the human race including the production of human good which is also called transgressions or evil. Therefore, with this in mind let us look at:

 

The Doctrine of Human Good.  

Point 1.  Definition and Description.  
   
Human good must never be confused with morality or the legitimate production of the believer. There is legitimate morality and there is legitimate production of good called divine good. However, the problem is that there is also the arrogance of morality. That is the self-righteousness of life described by the apostle Paul as being piles of dung in Phil 3:8, I conclude all things [Paul’s pre-salvation human celebrityship and achievement] to be loss because of the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have forfeited all things, also, I keep on concluding them to be piles of dung in order that I may win for Christ.  
   
Human good is the production of the believer who lives in the cosmic system and who does not rely on the filling of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, human good is not valid in God’s eyes. Human good is the production of evil. Whether it is altruism or any form of asceticism or some system of self-sacrifice, human good is the production of the believer in Satan’s domain or kingdom, called in the Bible the cosmos or the world system. Altruism is an unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others.  
   
Now, that’s good, it’s a good thing, but it does not impress God especially if it’s the result of what the flesh or the OSN produces. Not because it makes God angry but because it makes man feel that there is something good about him that impresses God. GRAPH When in reality, God says Rom 3:10-20, as it is written [quoting Palms 14:3 regarding all Jews & Gentiles being under sin in verse 9], “There is none righteous [none who does good, i.e., no one can be justified on the grounds of his or her own righteousness before God], not even one; There is none who understands [i.e., spiritual truth, see 1 Cor 2:14], There is none who seeks [i.e., diligently] for [after] God; All have turned aside [turning away from God’s way], together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, With their tongues they keep deceiving, The poison of asps [any of several venomous snakes, especially the Egyptian cobra or the horned viper.]  is under their lips Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; Their feet are swift to shed blood [people are prone to violence, murder & kill due to no respect for God], Destruction and misery are in their paths, And the path of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”  
 

 

This is why to advance in the spiritual life; you must distinguish between human good and divine good.  

 

For example, the writer of the book of Hebrews says in Heb 5:11, “Concerning Him [the Lord Jesus Christ] we have much to say [this refers to the CONTEXT which is the doctrine of the High-priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the universal priesthood of the believer] and it is hard to explain [difficult to teach], since you [Jewish Christians of the day] have become dull of hearing. 

In this passage, the writer is addressing those under the influence of human good and legalism, and therefore they are very difficult to teach. Relying upon human good and entering into legalism produces pride and pride makes one stupid.  

Psa 94:8, “Listen, you senseless among the people; And when will you understand, stupid ones?”  

Jer 4:22, “For My people are foolish, They know Me not; They are stupid children, And they have no understanding.”  
   

So the recipients were in no position to receive advanced doctrine. They were ignorant of doctrine, and added to that they had become involved in human good and the religious activity of their day. And so he gives the reason why doctrine is hard to explain to certain believers, Heb 5:11, Concerning Him we have many doctrines to communicate [is the corrected translation] and hard to explain because you have become dull of hearing.  
   
They had become dull of hearing. They were not like that before. They were positive for a while, then they would peel off, then they would come back, then they would peel off, then they would come back.  

Finally, they advanced, or should I say regressed, to the place where they became

dull of hearing. Once you repeat certain actions over and over again, you reach a place where you just continue to exist in that state or action.  

   
So, in Heb 5:12, For though by this time you ought to be teachers, [or teaching other people] but you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God [basic doctrines all over again], and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, not self-righteousness but divine righteousness.  
   
And, notice next, the reason is stated, because he is a babe, or immature. Therefore, verse 14, Heb 5:14, But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.  
   
The Greek word for good is kalou which refers to the believer with positive volition toward doctrine producing and recognizing divine good, it means that which is excellent, virtuous, admirable, excellent in its nature and characteristics. The Greek word for evil is kakou which refers to the function of the royal priest or the believer in carnality, the word means intrinsically [fundamentally] worthless, evil motivation. The background to this passage is legalism and relying upon human good [good preformed inside Satan’s cosmic system] for acceptance with God. However, the problem is that human good and spirituality can appear to be the same thing overtly but they are not the same in the eyes of God or inwardly.  
   
Prov 14:12, There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.  
   
So, the discernment needed today is the same as it was then. Solid food or advanced doctrine produces the ability to discern between being involved in grace and truth or being involved in legalism, human good and self-righteousness. And this discernment only comes from the intake of Bible doctrine or positive volition toward doctrine. Only the believer with positive volition toward doctrine can distinguish between grace and legalism or honorable good and the human good.
   
So, human good is the result of function inside the cosmic system. Human good is often a reaction, e.g., helping someone because you dislike a person who wasn’t helping that person, or showing someone how much better you are by your Christian production. That’s functioning under arrogance.  

 

 

People often even give because they are unhappy or trying to make themselves look good. The point is that the believer performing human good can be motivated by cosmic one or cosmic two. The cosmic system is Satan’s plan as the ruler of this world to control believers and unbelievers. It is His policy for the rulership of this world. And Satan’s cosmic system is composed of two separate power domains.  

Cosmic one is Satan’s exploitation of believers through their own arrogance. This is his means of controlling the human race. Satan invented arrogance, for arrogance was his original sin.  

Cosmic two is Satan’s propaganda and indoctrination college to educate and promote antagonism toward anything related to God, especially the grace of God.  
   
Cosmic one emphasizes arrogance and abnormal preoccupation with self.    
Cosmic two emphasizes antagonism and intolerance toward the plan, purpose, and will of God, as well as toward all Christians executing it.  
   
The target of cosmic one is yourself; the target of cosmic two is Bible doctrine. In cosmic one, we destroy ourselves. In cosmic two, we become antagonistic toward Bible doctrine. This is why we are told to stay away from the cosmic system.  
   
1JO 2:15, Do not love the world [cosmic system], nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.   

The word kosmos means the order, or the government, the system developed by Satan which is alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ. It doesn’t mean that you have to hate the world as such, but it means that you despise those systems designed by Satan which are evil. Can I enjoy earthly goods? Can I enjoy riches, advantages, pleasures, etc.?  
Absolutely!
   
We are talking about that satanic system of deception, where even believers think they are living the spiritual life, but they are not.  2:2
   
1Jo 2:15, 16, 17, Do not love the world [cosmic system], nor the things in the world [cosmic system]. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father [personal love for God the Father] is not in him. For all that is in the world [kosmos or the cosmic system], the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of

God abides forever.

Loving the cosmic system means deception of your motivation, of your thought pattern, of your decision making and of your action. In verse 16, the lust of the flesh is the old sin nature seeking to control the soul. The lust of the eyes is motivational evil in cosmic one. The boastful pride of life is the arrogant pattern of life, the functional evil of the other forms of arrogance in cosmic two. As the leader of all fallen angels and as the ruler of planet earth, Satan has been able to compile a cosmic system which is a mass of thoughts, opinions, speculations, systems of false doctrines, panaceas, plans, systems of all categories for deceit, policies, and objectives by which Satan seeks to control the world which he rules.  
   
However, although Satan is the ruler of this world, he does not necessarily control the people of this world, that depends upon individual volition. Eph 2:2, “In which sphere [real spiritual death] you formerly walked according to the lifestyle of the cosmic system [world].”  

In the sphere of real spiritual death from birth, all unbelievers reside in Satan’s cosmic system and are influenced by it to some degree, depending upon their adherence to the laws of divine establishment. So human good is a part of Satan’s deception because he wants man to think that God is impressed with human goodness. Human good can be characterized by fanaticism and arrogant concentration without doctrinal inculcation. Fanatics can produce human good.    
   
There are three classifications of human good:  

a.  From the believer living in the cosmic system.  

b.  Human good of establishment orientation. This is really not human good, but   establishment good. An example is the unbeliever who honors the laws of establishment.  

c. Then there is human good of the unbeliever registered in the Book of Works. Human good is a reference to anything produced by man apart from the grace provisions from God.  

Anything God provides in grace for production becomes divine good. Human good and divine good are antithetical and mutually exclusive. This is why knowledge of human good and evil is not needed for a relationship with God.  
   

 

Gen 2:17, “But from the tree of the knowledge of good [human good] and evil [Satan’s evil cosmic system] you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”   

An interesting side point: God told Adam only in Gen 2:17, Eve wasn’t yet made from Adam’s rib.  See: Gen 2:15-22

Lewis Sperry Chafer made this statement that really goes along with our doctrine of human good.  

“The value and delusion of a counterfeit are increased by the nearness of its likeness to the real.”  

 

 

Good $100 bill above, the green "100" in the lower-right turns black when viewed from a different angle.

Notice the above counterfeit $100 is still green in lower right corner at an angle.

Human good is very near and like divine good. Human good can be very deceitful because of  MAT 6:23  “But if your soul-perception is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness or [skotos, your spiritual blindness]!”  

So human good is not just a simplistic doctrine but also a very significant one with very serious repercussions. And this same principle is stated in 2CO 11:13-14, 15, which also has a warning about that which appears to be good overtly but in reality is nothing more than the production of human good.  
   
2CO 11:13-15, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, 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.”  
   
A remarkable passage concerning the extent of the satanic counterfeit and the promotion of human good.  Notice that in verse 13, “false apostles, deceitful workers, are transforming or disguising themselves into the apostles of Christ.” Then in verse 15, they are “servants or ministers of righteousness.” Here are Satan ministers teaching people how to be righteous and humanly good. The purpose of this deception is to imitate the real ministers of Christ and to blind people from the true righteousness of God which is imputed as a gift from God’s grace and cannot be earned or deserved by man. What they do is to gather into their message every available “form of godliness” or really “so-called godliness” and promote the production of human good rather than divine good.  
   
They are promoters of “human good works and righteousness” and they will be very attractive and deceptive since Satan controls them. And why does Satan do this? He does this because he wants to promote creature credit over creator credit. Satan figures that if creatures can impress the creator then he is the greatest creature ever created and therefore should be worshipped as such.  
   
ROM 1:25, For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.  
   
Therefore, these servants or ministers of human vs. divine righteousness will be very well respected in society and their lives will undoubtedly be free from the great scrutiny and temptations that come from the kingdom of darkness toward those who communicate truth. However, it should also be noted that many times these false ministers do not necessarily know the real mission they have. They can be sincere, preaching and teaching the best things the angel of light offers, their energizing power is pleased to reveal unto them. Their gospel and teaching is based on human viewpoint and appeals to human resources. There can be no appreciation of divine revelation in them because they are not filled with the Spirit and 1CO 2:14 says, A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.  
   
They are ministers of righteousness; which message should never be confused with the doctrine of grace. One is directed only at the reformation of the natural man, while the other aims at regeneration through the power of God. They are also usually sincere and full of humanitarian zeal. They are always talking about helping others and doing good etc. However, any counterfeit system of doctrine which would omit the power of God and the grace and knowledge which accompanies that power, is used by the strategy of Satan to force some secondary truth which blinds one from the real truth. By secondary truth I mean something that is true, however, it is not being taught or referred to properly.  

 

 

 

For example, 2CO 7:10 says, For godly sorrow… produces repentance… leading to salvation.  
   
That’s a true statement, however it is not saying that you have to feel sorry for your sins to be saved. It is saying that recognition of your need can lead to repentance toward the person of Christ. So, human good is the production of the believer who lives in the cosmic system and who does not rely on the filling of the Spirit. Therefore, human good is not valid in God’s eyes.  

Point 2. The Source of Human Good is the Area of Strength of the Old Sin Nature.     

All human good in history will be judged because it comes from the same source as sin, i.e., the old sin nature.  
   
ROM 6:6-14 , knowing this, that our old self [the old sin nature] was crucified with Him, that our body of sin [the sin nature] might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to the sin nature; for he who has died [positional truth and being crucified with Christ on the cross] is freed from sin [the bondage of the old sin nature]. Now if we have died with Christ [and we have through union with Him], we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to the sin nature, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let the sin nature reign in your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness [evil]; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For the sin nature shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.
 
We were crucified with Christ as GAL 2:20 teaches, however, although we were crucified with Christ on the cross through positional truth, human good was not judged on the cross so that it could continue along with evil as the issue in the angelic conflict. Therefore, human good was rejected at the cross.  

Human good will have a day when it stands before God and is judged and evaluated by the perfect holiness and integrity of God, for the believers of the Church-age, 1CO 3:11-12, 13, 14, 15; 2CO 5:10. It will be judged or evaluated for

 

Old Testament saints and Tribulational martyrs, at the end of the Tribulation and the Second Advent, DAN 12:3; JOH 5:29; REV 20:4(1)  (2); and then the millennial saints at the end of the Millennium, sometime before the Great White Judgment, REV 20:15.  
   
1CO 3:13, each man’s work will become evident; for the day [Judgment Seat of Christ] will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work.   

2CO 5:10, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed [rewarded or not rewarded] for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good [divine good while controlled by the Holy Spirit] or bad [human good done inside the cosmic system].   
   
DAN 12:3, “And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.  
   
JOH 5:29, and shall come forth; those who did the good {deeds} to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil {deeds} to a resurrection of judgment.
 
REV 20:4, And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.  
   
All of these passages teach that God will evaluate human good someday in the future. Human good continues because Satan still rules until the Second Advent. And Human good will continue in the Millennium to prove that its source is the old sin nature and not the presence of Satan [Satan is locked up for 1,000 years]. Human good is totally divorced from the integrity of God. Therefore, it never accomplishes what it seeks to accomplish. It never fulfills its objectives of improving anything.  
   
Man had relationship with the integrity of God in the garden through creation and divine provisions not through good deeds.

 

 

 

 

Restart Oct 22, 2016   

People are no better in marriage than they are as people.

  People are never the same after marriage; they change either for the better or the worse. Marriage is a problem manufacturing institution which demands the best from every believer.

So in 1CO 7:32 "But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord;"

 1Co 7:33 "but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife,"

 1Co 7:34 "and his interests are divided. And the woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband."

1Co 7:35 "And this I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is seemly, and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord."

1 Corinthians 7:32-35 Commentary by Grace New Testament Commentary (based on using the NKJV):

Because of the fleeting nature of the world, Paul wants the Corinthians to be without care (free from anxieties). The unmarried person cares for the things of the Lord, that is, how he may please the Lord. However, the married person cares about the things of the world, that is, how he may please his or her spouse. The desire to please one’s marriage partner may introduce a potential conflict of loyalties. Single men and women are able to dedicate more of their time to the Lord, while married men and women are committed to certain biblical responsibilities that relate to being a husband, a wife, and parents (cf. Eph 5:22-6:4).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul identifies the virgin as an unmarried woman, who cares about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. Holy both in body and in spirit refers to dedication rather than spirituality. In other words, this single woman is able to concentrate on the things of God without interruption. The apostle is not suggesting that she is more spiritual than the wife, but that her devotion is not preoccupied by any family type responsibility that would characterize a married Christian woman. He is simply writing what is to the profit of the believers in Corinth—both men and women. Thus he does not desire to restrict them by placing a leash (lasso or halter) on them. He is more concerned that that they may serve the Lord without distraction.

  So you see, being married or single is not an issue in having the happiness of God.

  What happens to a lot of single people is that they don't know how to deal with loneliness. When human loneliness comes in we need to deal with it according to doctrine or else depression will set in.

There are four types of depression (i.e., in simplified terms as it relates to biblical principles):

1) Mental attitude depression in which the individual is in a state of sorrow and/or self-pity.

2) Passive depression in which the person becomes very passive [indifferent, docile, showing little or no emotion, unresponsiveness] toward the necessary functions of life with no initiation.

3) Aggressive depression in which the person becomes very violent in his or her reactions.

4) Moody depression which produces a negative, complaining and critical person.

  A believer who allows this depression to go unchecked is making a provision for serious problems down the road.

  The lonely person then becomes a miserable person and looks to others for happiness. In fact, for some believers even Christianity appears to be only another temporary source of relief similar to the world's provision of escapism. That's why the arrogant visitor to the local church demands attention under the false assumption that a so-called "friendly church" will bring happiness. A friendly church cannot make anyone happy.

  Man's loneliness and anxiety is the result of an empty, aimless, meaningless life because of rejection of the PPOG [Predesigned Plan of God]. So an area in which you can have either temporal happiness or God's perfect happiness is in your single or marital status.

 

 

  There are many illusions related to pseudo happiness. An illusion is defined as an erroneous perception of reality, or an erroneous concept or belief. It is actually the condition of being deceived by a false perception or belief. If you have illusions relating to happiness, you must deal with them because if you don't, you will end up with a meaningless life because of rejection of bible truth and the PPOG.

  OBA 1:3 "The arrogance of your heart has deceived you."

  So let's note some of the illusions and misconceptions that people have concerning happiness.

A) The most common illusion relates to the fact that you cannot build your happiness on the details of life: money, success, pleasure, social life, friends, relatives, your health, sex, or status symbols. Now, don't misunderstand this statement. If you have capacity from perfect happiness, you can enjoy these things to the maximum.

  However, they are not a source of happiness, but simply a means of expressing the happiness you already possess.

B) You cannot build your happiness on pleasant environment. This is one of the reasons why people travel; they think a change of environment makes them happy.

C) You cannot build your happiness on people, romance, marriage, friendship, children, or social activity. This is another myth, that people can make you happy.

Popularity relates to other people liking you, happiness relates to you liking yourself.

D) You cannot build your happiness by changing the devil's world through reform crusades, social engineering, violence, civil disobedience, or revolution. Your objective should not be to change the devil's world; instead, you should be a witness for Christ to people. You should be telling them the good news and the importance of bible doctrine, also called bible truth. You can do that on your jobs (during break times), in your neighborhood, at your schools, by bringing them here [church service or bible study], or even sharing doctrine in chat rooms on the Internet.

E) You cannot build your happiness on someone else's unhappiness. If that is the case, you are full of all the sins of the arrogance complex. You're jealous, bitter, vindictive, implacable [can’t be satisfied], angry, full of hatred, self-pity, filled with guilt reactions that motivate you. You malign, gossip, run down, and get involved in revenge modus operandi.

Commentary: The point often over looked is, a believer [a person in spiritual childhood, or adolescence or even spiritual adulthood] can rarely just stop cold turkey being jealous, bitter, vindictive, implacable, angry, full of hatred, self-pity, filled with guilt, etc. The whole point of learning and applying bible doctrine to one’s life is when you are consistent in it, you will gradually and automatically stop or minimize those sins. Those sins will be replaced with the perfect happiness of Christ [God] that can only come from the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). This may or may not be a concept you fully comprehend, it depends on your degree of spiritual growth or maturity, if you have very little or no spiritual growth training, you probably won’t be able to fully comprehend God’s perfect happiness because it isn’t yet developed in your soul and spirit. This is where faith-rest 1, 2, comes in, trust God’s Word as His Word is the expert on the subject, as a believer grows spiritually, he or she will automatically change to the person God intended a child of God to be. MWMStart here on November 19^th, 2016 

Principles related to pseudo happiness:

1) Pseudo happiness depends on involvement with the evil of the cosmic system of Satan, and therefore can only be related to a moment of time, a moment of pleasure, a moment of history, a moment of power, a moment of approbation, or a moment of success.

  The key word here of course is a "moment." Anything you have in a moment, which cannot be perpetuated, is not happiness, and too often it is related to emotion. Many individuals, including believers under the influence of evil, only have fleeting happiness based upon emotion.

  For example, in JOB 21:7, Job is talking to a reverisionistic [1, 2, 3] believer whose name is Zophar and he says: "Why do the wicked still live, why do they continue on and become very powerful?"

  In other words, Job is asking, "Why are you still standing in front of me Zophar! Why does God allow you to live, Zophar?"

  Of course the answer to that is all believers, winners or losers, receive logistical grace support from the grace of God. Remember Mat 5:45 "for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

  Winner and loser believers both have times of happiness in life. In context, Job's friend Zophar is a very wealthy and prosperous man, even though he is very self-righteous, arrogant and filled with inordinate ambition and inordinate competition. This is why Zophar is gloating over the fall of Job...which isn't a fall at all, because Job is being honored by God in evidence testing 1, 2 !

  So in verse 7, Job says "Why do the wicked still live, [as he looks right in the eyes of Zophar] Continue on, also become very powerful?"

Job 21:8 "Their descendants are established with them in their sight, And their offspring before their eyes,"

  They had nice family lives and did not lose all of their children like Job did.

Job 21:9 "Their houses are safe from fear, Neither is the rod of God on them."

  Not on Zophar yet, but it will be!

Job 21:10 "His ox mates without fail; His cow calves and does not abort or miscarry."

  Job is talking about prosperity in an agricultural economy!

Job 21:11 "They send forth their little ones like the flock, And their children skip about."

Job 21:12 "They sing to the tambourine and the harp and rejoice at the sound of the flute [that's their pseudo happiness]."

Job 21:13 "They spend their days in prosperity and suddenly they go down to Sheol [or the grave; whether they are believers or unbelievers, when life is over, they will answer to God accordingly]."

 

2) With pseudo happiness, when you get into serious trouble, you never recall the "good times;" because you've already entered into a state of arrogance and fear. These two mental attitudes guarantee you will never find any happiness apart from the laws of divine establishment for the unbeliever, and the attainment of spiritual adulthood for the believer.

 

3) Pseudo happiness depends on the environment, superficial pleasures of life, material things, status symbols, approbation from society, pleasure, success, social life, sexual activity, stimulation from drug abuse; this false happiness is self-gratification related to the lust pattern of the old sin nature.

And that's why Solomon said it was vain in ECC 2:1 "I said to myself, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.' And behold, it too was vanity [vanity = excessive pride in one’s appearance, qualities, abilities, achievements, etc.; character or quality of being vain]."

 

4) Pseudo happiness is superficial [superficial = empty, external, flimsy, frivolous], changeable, unstable, frustrating, and temporary; it's the source of self-induced misery under the law of volitional responsibility [volitional responsibility definition: 1, 2, 3], one’s self-induced misery is tantamount or caused by not living inside the predesigned plan of God or abiding in Christ.

VOLITIONAL RESPONSIBILITY: is the most common and the first cause for human suffering in general.  Our emphasis here is on believers only. Every human being must take the responsibility for his own decisions and his own actions in life.  You must understand that you can never blame others for your misery, your unhappiness, and your suffering.  You take full responsibility yourself, based on your own wrong decisions related to your associations, your activities, your motives, and your functions in life. RMBM

  It's [pseudo happiness] limited to this life, PSA 17:14 From men with Your hand, O Lord, From men of the world, whose portion is in this life [The wicked live their lives with only the pursuit of the pleasures of this world in mind], And whose belly You fill with Your treasure; They are satisfied with children, And leave their abundance to their babes. NASB,  LUK 16:25  "But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. NASB [The standard by which the rich man treated others was applied to him. In this lifetime he lacked compassion, so now there was no compassion for him].

  It is short, JOB 20:5 "The triumphing of the wicked is short, And the happiness of the godless momentary?"

  Pseudo happiness is uncertain, LUK 12:20 "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?' NASB

  It is vain, ECC 2:1 I said to myself, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself." And behold, it too was futility. NASB; ECC 7:6 For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool; And this too is futility. NASB [ in other words, Burning thorns will provide quick flames, little heat, and a lot of noise, just like the sudden outbursts of laughter among fools; there is more noise than substance.]

  It [pseudo happiness] is derived from wealth, PSA 52:7; power, PSA 37:35; worldly prosperity, PSA 17:14; gluttony, ISA 22:13; drunkenness, ISA 56:12; vain pleasure, ISA 5:12; successful oppression, HAB 1:15.

5) The belief that marriage, sex, success, prosperity, wealth, and social life can make someone happy is a myth. No one can make someone else happy. Some people think of marriage as a state of happiness, while others think of being single as a state of happiness. In fact, foolish people get married because someone promises to make them happy forever, or because they want to leave the environment of an unhappy home and not fully realizing it they will just be transferring their unhappiness into their own new unhappy nest. This is the "both sides of the fence" syndrome. Both the poor and the rich, the single and married, are unhappy, looking to the other side of the fence for happiness.

Start here on November 19^th, 2016 

6) Unhappy people take their unhappiness with them wherever they go, even if they cross over to the other side of the fence, whether it's poor or rich, single or married. Those believers who reject Bible doctrine cultivate unhappiness, and always take it with them. Unhappy people complain constantly because their desires are not being met. In reality, if you really want to experience happiness, you don't need to add riches to your life but you need to have certain desires removed, [the consistent daily intake of bible truth and you consistently applying it to your life will automatically at various points of your spiritual growth eliminate pseudo happiness and replace it with the perfect happiness of God].

 

7) The arrogance of unhappiness assumes that people, success, prosperity, promotion, romance, marriage, friendship, attention, approbation can make you happy. However, in reality, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, only Bible doctrine [bible truth] in your soul can make you happy; i.e., reception, retention, recall of Bible doctrine.

Only the provision of God's grace policy can really make you happy, and that demands the three "R"s:

A) Reception is consistent perception of Bible doctrine.

B) Retention is the metabolization of doctrine, converting gnosis [knowledge only] to epignosis doctrine [knowledge converted into wisdom ready for application].

The meaning of  the Greek word “Epignosis” (article by Robert Picirelli published in the: The Evangelical Quarterly): The picture of epignosis in the Prison Epistle is: In Colossians 1:9, Paul prays that his readers be filled with the “knowledge” of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understand; in 1:10 the prayer continues with the request that they increase in the “knowledge” of God: in 2:2, he “agonizes” for his readers to come to full understanding of the “knowledge” of the mystery of God; and in 3:10, the readers are said to have put on the new man who is renewed in “knowledge”.  In Ephesians 1:17, Paul prays that his readers be granted a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the “knowledge” of God; and in 4:23 he desires to build up the church to a unity of faith and the “knowledge” of the Son of God.  In Philemon 6, Paul desires that Philemon have

 

 

“knowledge” of every good thing in Christ.  In Philippians 1:9, his prayer is for love to abound in all “knowledge” and perception.  We note that epignosis, in these places, is almost invariably associated with such words as wisdom, understanding, perception; and with a prayer that the reader abound [flourish, overflow, thrive], be filled, increase, be built up, or be effectual in his particular quality.  In these passages, the object of epignosis is God, God’s will, the mystery of God, the Son of God, or “every good thing in Christ.

In other locations in scripture, epignosis means different things; in the New Testament, not all uses of the word epignosis mean the same thing.

C) Recall is the application of doctrine to whatever your circumstances may be, to whichever side of the fence you are on. The day you can look over on the other side, and be glad you're on your side of the fence, is the day you begin to apply this point.

 

8) For example, look at Satan himself. He was the most beautiful, successful, attractive creature genius of all time and eternity past. He had a maximum amount of power over millions or even perhaps billions of angels. Yet Satan, right now as the ruler of this world, is bored, miserable, frustrated, and very, very unhappy!

  All the things that you think will make you happy have not made Satan happy, and he has them all!

  Satan as the ruler of this world has certain ways to provide pseudo happiness. One is to provide temporary happiness to certain believers and unbelievers who carry out his will of evil and perform human good. This is why the wicked prosper.

  Satan's system of evil provides certain stimulus for human emotions. He has stimuli designed to make you think you are happy. His system rewards people who follow his precepts. This pseudo happiness is related to reversionism, the interlocking systems of arrogance (his cosmic systems one [1, 2] and two [1, 2, 3]), and the function of evil in the soul (in other words, when you operate out of fellowship with God [you have unconfessed sin in your life], you are in Satan’s cosmic system of evil, hence, you are committing evil

 

 

 

whenever you do deeds, even good deeds [quenching the Spirit] when you are out of fellowship because you are no longer residing in or functioning inside the Predesigned Plan of God).

  However, since this pseudo happiness depends on involvement with evil, it can only be related to this life. This type of pseudo happiness involves pushing for a better environment, superficial pleasures in time, the details of life, promotion, and the saturation of the lust pattern of the old sin nature. This pseudo happiness is the temporary triumph of evil in the human soul, 2SA 1:19-20.

Reversionism is an act of reversing or turning in the opposite way, or a state of being so turned. As believers, we were designed to execute the predesigned plan of God. But in reversionism we turn the other way and cannot be distinguished from our pre-salvation status. We are believers thinking human viewpoint. Reversionism is the act of reverting to a former state, habit, belief, or practice of post-salvation sinning. Reversionism is a reversal of your priorities, your attitudes, your affections, the object of your personal love accompanied by the destruction of your impersonal love, and the change of your manner of operation and personality. RMBM

  So, Satan is the greatest genius of all created beings. However, while he has the ability to provide pseudo happiness, he doesn't have the ability to maintain it for you. He can't give logistical grace support 1, 2, 3 to human prosperity. Therefore, pseudo happiness quickly evaporates in time of historical disaster or divine discipline. The children of Israel were happy when they rejected the manna from heaven and asked God for quail, and in their happiness notice what happened, NUM 11:33 "While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very severe plague."

Job 15:21 "Sounds of terror are in his ears, while at peace the destroyer comes upon him."

  The Jews had pseudo happiness as they rejected Bible doctrine and notice what happened to them in JER 25:10 "Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp."

Jer 25:11 "And this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years."

  So, pseudo happiness quickly evaporates in time of historical disaster. Pseudo happiness is also quickly wiped out by boredom, frustration, and the frantic search for happiness. The believer who has anything related to pseudo happiness is miserable with what he has. Pseudo happiness doesn't sustain mankind, but destroys both his perspective and his eternal future.

 

 So, happiness is an individual state of the soul and actually has nothing to do with associations in life.

  Unhappy people seek happiness through the control of their environment, including persons in their environment like family, friends, and loved ones. They do this in one of two ways:

1) By causing those around them to have a guilt complex or a guilt reaction for alleged or real neglect.

2) By arousing pity from others in their state of self-pity.

  Self-pity is a monstrous thing! If you're dating someone who is obsessed with self-pity, move away from them like the plague! The attention that comes through pity is the worst attention you can receive. Pity is the flattery that the failure craves so that he or she may preserve their excuses and their self-esteem. In fact, self-pity occurs in the life of the believer who loses intimacy with TLJC [The Lord Jesus Christ].

_____________________

  So the arrogance of unhappiness, or pseudo happiness, not only seeks to dominate and enslave, but also has wide emotional swings. It is one of the many reasons for neurosis and psychosis in believers.

 

  Establishment happiness is the temporal happiness of the unbeliever who lives by establishment principles. This happiness is derived from submitting to the laws of divine establishment, which are designed to remove arrogance and fear from the life, and to replace them with a genuine humility. This results in a capacity for life and the attainment of human honor and integrity. This explains why so many unbelievers are happier than many believers; living in the laws of divine establishment can provide happiness for them.

  Establishment is for believer and unbeliever alike; however if a believer just lives under establishment happiness and rejects the plan of God, he will be under divine discipline and therefore will not experience establishment happiness.

  Under establishment happiness, the unbeliever moves beyond morality to a place of limited virtue, becoming a person of honor. The unbeliever can achieve this happiness through enforced and genuine humility from the laws of divine establishment.

 

 

The key to happiness in the unbeliever is having a fantastic humility. For example, the unbeliever can marry a woman with whom he has total compatibility (i.e., compatibility of both soul and body), and at the same time he can work in some job or profession which he enjoys. ECC 9:9 mentions these two areas of life, marriage and work, as the basis for which unbelievers can have a genuine short-term happiness compatible with their capacity.

ECC 9:9 "Enjoy life [establishment happiness] with your right woman [right kind of woman]  whom you have loved all the days of your life of vanity which God has given you under the sun, for this is your reward in life [establishment happiness], and [enjoy] your occupation in which you are working under the sun." (again, this “establish happiness” is for the unbeliever)

  This successful marriage and happiness in your occupation is a blessing from God even to the unbelievers. In this passage, note that both the woman and the job are said to be a gift from God. When it says ECC 9:9 "Enjoy life with your right woman whom you have loved all the days of your life of vanity which God has given you under the sun," it is not saying that God has given you the life of vanity, but the right woman and the occupation. The doctrine of right man / right woman is illustrated throughout the Bible. It is taught very clearly in GEN 2:18-25 Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."  Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.   The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.   So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.  The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.   The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."   For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.   And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” ECC 9:9, 1CO 7:17 “Only, as the Lord has assigned to each one, as God has called each, in this manner let him walk. And so I direct in all the churches,” PRO 18:22 “He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the Lord., 19:14, Pro 5, 31, just to name a few passages.”

  So again, ECC 9:9 "Enjoy life [establishment happiness] with your right woman whom you have loved all the days of your life of vanity which God has given you under the sun, for this is your reward in life [establishment happiness], and [enjoy] your occupation in which you are working under the sun."

  A "life of vanity" refers to the life of the unbeliever. Whatever kind of life it is, it's very short-term. As flawed as the unbeliever is, God has provided for him a system in which he can have happiness in marriage. Note that God gives life even to the unbeliever. There are rewards in this life for certain unbelievers who have virtue and honor based upon establishment principles. The type of work is not specified here; it can be any job he enjoys. This explains why some unbelievers are very happy, but remember it is very short-term. Beyond the grave they will first face Torments in Hades, and then spend eternity in the Lake of Fire.

  So two things can make an unbeliever happy: a successful relationship in marriage, and his occupation in life. Happiness in these two areas comes to the unbeliever who has developed honor and integrity from the laws of divine establishment. Note what is not mentioned: social life, pleasure, emotion, stimulation, etc. This happiness is the unbeliever's reward for compliance with the laws of divine establishment; however, it is not a reward for the unbeliever's morality, which carries with it the sting of arrogance. Once a person becomes arrogant about his morality, he enters into self-righteousness and crusader arrogance, and becomes the unhappiest of all people because he is judgmental.

  The tragedy of establishment happiness is that there is no perpetuation of this happiness beyond the grave, which brings it to a screeching halt (if not terminated before then). But even when perpetuated to the grave, establishment happiness cannot be perpetuated beyond time.

  And eternity is a long, long time. (let’s use the vapor that comes out of a a coffee pot as an illustration of time and eternity; the length of time that the bursts of vapors come out of the coffee pot as it is peculating, is analogous to our human life on earth compared to eternity. If one puff of vapor, the time the vapor remains vapor which is a very short time, maybe a second or two, is analogous to the length of a human life within eternity. James 4:14 which says: “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”)

  However, all too often, establishment happiness becomes a victim of circumstances. Certain adverse circumstances are stronger than establishment happiness and can wipe it out. So establishment happiness cannot even survive tragedy or any real adversity; it is a restricted and temporary happiness. It is vulnerable to environment and circumstances. For example, a man may be very happy with his wife. But if she becomes unhappy and leaves him, his reward in life is gone. If a man loves and enjoys his job or profession, this can also be lost. Therefore, establishment happiness is dependent upon cognition and compliance with establishment principles, according to Rom 13.

  Where establishment does not exist, establishment happiness does not exist. This is not a reference to morality or self-righteousness. Morality is merely the bottom step in establishment;

 

 

 

honor and integrity are higher. The result of obedience to the laws of divine establishment is not a happiness associated with pleasant things, but a happiness associated with important things.

  Under the laws of divine establishment, establishment happiness is possible when one's children turn out well. Look at PRO 23:24-25 "The father of the virtuous children will be happy [establishment happiness]. Therefore, he who brings forth a wise son will be happy. Let your father and your mother be happy. Let her who gave birth to you be happy." When one's children have virtue and integrity, this gives the parent or parents a measure of prosperity.

  Again however, establishment happiness is a temporary happiness which does not sustain anyone under pressure or carry over into eternity. For example, you could be very proud that your children turned out well, and then something may go wrong and your establishment happiness would disappear in a moment. This leaves nothing but scars and emotional hangovers. Establishment happiness doesn't last!

 

  The most important happiness found in the word of God is perfect happiness which is the possession of God's Happiness, or +H.

1)    For example, establishment happiness is dependent happiness; perfect happiness is independent happiness. Establishment happiness is dependent on circumstances; perfect happiness is independent in the soul of any believer who has attained any stage of spiritual adulthood. It begins at spiritual self-esteem, continues at spiritual autonomy, and becomes the most fantastic thing in life at spiritual maturity.

2)     

Spiritual self-esteem is cognitive self-confidence and the beginning of effective function of the ten problem-solving devices of the pre-designed plan of God for the Church. It is that virtue of God’s plan whereby the believer’s confidence is based on Bible doctrine; and the believer’s respect for self is linked to grace-orientation. Spiritual self-esteem is the believer’s dependence on God’s grace provision for stabilizing self and integrating self into God’s plan for the Church-age believer, EPH 3:12. Spiritual self-esteem is the foundation for the stability of the Christian life, and it is the believer's dependence on God's grace provision for stabilizing self and integrating self into the predesigned plan of God. This is the first stage of spiritual adulthood.

 

Spiritual autonomy is a continuation of contentment or +H (sharing the happiness of God) as a major problem-solving solution. In spiritual autonomy the believer has become spiritually self-sustained having maximum personal love, including impersonal love for God and impersonal unconditional love for all mankind. It is the second stage of spiritual adulthood.

 

Spiritual maturity is the third and final stage of spiritual maturity. It is accomplished by the believer who has advanced in the spiritual life by executing the predesigned plan of God in his or her own dispensation [in our case, it’s the church age]. This high ground of spiritual maturity is attained after the believer passes many tests of undeserved suffering and the various momentum tests. Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with sinless perfection, which cannot ever be realized in this life, but is characterized by virtue developed by an attitude of perseverance despite many failures. The mature believer has attained to the measure of the fullness of Christ, EPH 4:13. The life of the mature believer is also known as the super-grace life, JAM 4:6.

 

2) Perfect happiness or divine happiness is the monopoly of the believer in spiritual adulthood. It only belongs to those few believers who reach the three stages of spiritual adulthood.

3) However, relatively few believers have this perfect happiness because it requires consistent perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine and the advance to spiritual adulthood, especially maturity.

  This requires something that no lazy-minded person can do, and that is to concentrate on anything for very long. Now, this is why our Lord said in JOH 8:31 "Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, [then] you are truly disciples of Mine;'"

Joh 8:32 "and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

  In JOH 8:31 "If you abide in My word," the word "abide" is the aorist-active-subjunctive of the verb meno, which looks like meinete in the Greek, meaning "to stay in a given place, to continue, to dwell, to endure, to be present, to remain, to stand, not to depart, or to last." This is an excellent definition of persevering as a disciple of Bible doctrine.

Joh 8:31 "If you abide [stay, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, and not depart, or last] in My word, [then] you are truly disciples of Mine;"

  You see, relatively few believers have this perfect happiness because it requires consistent perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine and the advance to spiritual adulthood, especially maturity. It takes work and discipline to keep coming to Bible class and study God's word on a daily basis. And that's why our Lord said in JOH 8:31 "If you abide in

My word, [then] you are truly disciples of Mine." The word "disciple" is interesting because it's where we get our word discipline. It's the noun mathetai which is the plural of mathetes, and it means "a learner, a pupil, a disciple, a person who directs their mind toward something taught by someone."

  That's why there were the disciples of Moses, JOH 9:28; the disciples of the Pharisees, MAR 2:18; the disciples of John the Baptist, JOH 3:25; the disciples of Paul, ACT 9:25; and of course the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ, MAT 16:21.

  Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament in volume four on page 416 says this word denotes a "direct dependence of the one under instruction upon an authority superior in knowledge." This is why God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and to build up the body of Christ, EPH 4:11-12.

  This means that if you know more doctrine than the one who is teaching you God’s Word, it may be time to find a new teacher. When Isaiah used this word, he used it for those who were students of the Word of God.

Isa 8:16 "Bind up the testimony, seal the law [the doctrine] among my disciples."

Isa 50:4 "The Lord [master] God has given me the tongue [educated through suffering] of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple."

  The word actually means the existence of a personal attachment which shapes the whole life of the disciple, or an intense dedication and devotion to something [in this case the word of God].

  So in JOH 8:31 "Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you abide in My word, [then] you are truly disciples of Mine;"

Joh 8:32 "and you shall know the truth [the doctrine], and the doctrine shall make you free."

  Relatively few believers have this perfect happiness because it requires consistent perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine and the advance to spiritual adulthood, especially maturity. It requires something that no lazy-minded person can do, and that is to concentrate on anything for very long. Most believers can't concentrate on doctrine long enough to learn the plan of God, and they are easily distracted and discouraged.

4) Perfect happiness or God's happiness carries over into the eternal state. Especially if you pass evidence testing, perfect happiness remains in perpetual status quo under three circumstances.

EVIDENCE TESTING is Satan's cross-examination of every witness presented by God in the historical trial of all fallen angels. Only mature believers have the capacity to be presented as witnesses. In human history, man's thoughts, motives, decisions, and actions are entered as evidence, exhibits, precedents, and arguments in Satan's appeal trial.  Every believer who attains spiritual maturity is an argument or witness for the Prosecution against Satan.

  A) Living as a mature believer.

  B) Dying as a mature believer.

  C) The eternal state, where you will have a far, far greater happiness than believers who are losers but also in resurrection bodies.

  Remember that there are degrees of life after death. The capacity of the mature believer for the most fantastic eternal rewards is built into the perfect happiness the mature believer has.

  Perfect happiness, or sharing the happiness of God, can be defined as the happiness of the humanity of Christ during the great power experiment of the hypostatic union. It is the only happiness that does not change with disastrous or difficult circumstances in life.

HYPOSTATIC UNION: The person of the incarnate Christ are two natures, inseparably united without mixture or loss of separate identity, without loss or transfer of properties or attributes, the union being personal and eternal. Since the incarnation, Jesus Christ is true humanity and undiminished deity in one unique person forever, this is called the hypostatic union.

 

  With the perpetuation of the great power experiment of the hypostatic union into the Church-age, perfect happiness is further defined as divine happiness resident in the soul of the Church-age believer who utilizes his portfolio of invisible assets and divine omnipotence [the Holy Spirit’s help when filled with the Spirit] to attain spiritual maturity.

Portfolio of invisible assets are composed of primary, secondary, and personal assets. The primary assets include equal privilege and equal opportunity under election and predestination [the Predesigned Plan of God for your life]. The secondary assets include volitional assets, which are achieved through good decisions made from positions of strength, and the assets of undeserved suffering. The personal assets are the proper function of every believer’s spiritual gift.

  In spiritual maturity, perfect happiness reaches its peak; there is nothing like it in this life! When the positive believer fulfills the PPOG beginning in spiritual adulthood, he attains the ultimate in perfect happiness by utilizing two categories of divine power:

1) The omnipotence of God the Father related to portfolio of invisible assets.

2) The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit related to the filling of the Spirit, the perception of Bible doctrine and the execution of the PPOG.

  Perfect happiness results from the constant perception of Bible doctrine inside the PPOG. This is a perpetual happiness for every category of existence after salvation. That's why Paul will say to us in PHI 1:21 "For me living is Christ and dying is profit."

  He had this perfect happiness in living, in dying, and in the eternal state waiting for the resurrection.

  It's important to note that opposition from Satan and persecution by other believers in the cosmic system only intensifies the believer's perfect happiness.

  You will never realize how happy you are until you go through certain problems and find out that your happiness has not been taken away.

  The perfect happiness of God is not manifested by laughing and joking around about your problems and taking them lightly; but manifested by contentment, peace, composure, tranquility, and being unmoved by the evil around you.

  Happiness is not an absence of problems but the ability to deal with them.

Begin January 21, 2017 *

Biblical descriptions of the three happiness categories:

A) A perfect description of pseudo-happiness is given in LUK 11:27, 28. The woman in this context spoke of happiness, but she was not happy, nor did she understand happiness. She was an unhappy person trying to control her environment.

  She attempted to put our Lord down using the false propaganda of women's liberation.

In LUK 11:27 "And it came about while He said these things [in context, He was speaking about the angelic conflict and the absurdity of self-reformation], one of the women in the crowd raised her voice but shouted, and said to Him, 'Happy is the womb that carried You, and the breasts at which You nursed.'"

 

 

LUK 11:28 "But He said, 'On the contrary [Wrong!], happy are those who keep hearing and retaining the Word of God.'"

  This woman had no class or manners; she was rude and interrupted our Lord. She interrupted to draw attention to herself, because she was jealous, vindictive, and ambitious. She expressed the false doctrine of motherhood; she said that Mary was only happy because she was carrying a baby in her womb. Since she was a student of the Old Testament, she knew that there is no human life in the womb, so she added the phrase "the breasts you have sucked."

  Here she tried to prove that woman is superior to the man. In other words, she is saying, "You may be a great public speaker, Jesus, but you too were once a little baby and a happy mother is the reason why you are here, and the only people who are really happy are mothers who nurse so that their baby can live.

  "And the only reason why any man is great like you Jesus is because a woman brought you into the world!"

  You see, you've got to get a picture of this woman. In the midst of hundreds and perhaps even thousands of people, she yelled out her personal opinion, and tried to put our Lord down and elevate Mary.

  In other words, she was saying, "You're a mere man!"

  So, to put Him down, she was pointing out to everyone that this was merely a man from a womb.

  Our Lord was perfect and an aristocratic gentleman, so His answer to this arrogant woman, who was not a lady, came from the perfect gentleman!

  His first word in verse 28 was "Wrong!" [On the contrary] He shouted this right back, and then He went on to explain what real perfect happiness really is. Our Lord taught that perfect happiness is associated with doctrine, not with all the things we associate with happiness. Our Lord gave the perfect definition of perfect happiness.

Luk 11:28 But He said, "Wrong, blessed [happy] are those who hear the word of God, and observe it." [corrected translation]

  Hearing refers to consistent reception of doctrine. Observing refers to retention of doctrine, converting gnosis [knowledge obtained but not believed] to epignosis [wisdom = the mind of Christ imputed into the soul & spirit] doctrine by positive volition.

  Our Lord could have made an issue out of any of the things she brought out, but He only made an issue of doctrine. He did not make an issue of her arrogance or her cosmic viewpoint on women, but of the Word of God. There is no happiness in life for the believer apart from Bible doctrine, which must come first in his or her life.

 B) Establishment happiness is found in PRO 29:18 "Where there is no revelation [establishment], the people are unrestrained. But happy [establishment happiness] is that person who keeps the Law [laws of divine establishment]."

 C) Perfect happiness is found in 1JO 1:4 "In fact, we write these things that our happiness may be brought to completion." [corrected translation]

  John got this message from the upper room discourse. Whatever perfect happiness is, it comes through the communication of doctrine, and it is a process which has to be completed.

    He [John] has this happiness because he has utilized his portfolio of invisible assets and divine omnipotence [of the Holy Spirit] to learn doctrine and attain spiritual maturity.

Portfolio of Invisible Assets: The invisible assets are those divine assets provided by God the Father in eternity past for the execution of the pre-designed plan of God in the believer’s life. God the Father found the way for His justice to provide perfect fantastic blessing to His righteousness without any compromise of His essence. The invisible assets are composed of primary, secondary, and personal assets. The primary assets include equal privilege and equal opportunity under election and predestination. The secondary assets include volitional assets, which are achieved through good decisions made from positions of strength, and the assets of undeserved suffering. The personal assets are the proper function of every believer’s spiritual gift. It is our invisible assets that we need to utilize to make our calling and election sure, or an experiential reality, 2PE 1:9-11. In your portfolio of invisible assets God provided everything necessary for the function in life, dying, eternity, growing in grace, and the execution and fulfillment of the predesigned plan of God.

  In spiritual maturity, perfect happiness reaches its peak; there is nothing like it in this life! Perfect happiness is a perpetual happiness for every category of existence after salvation.

  Relatively few believers have perfect happiness or the happiness of God because it requires consistent dedication and devotion to studying the Word of God.

  It requires concentration on the will of God and the plan of God. That's why we are told that the same happiness that TLJC had in His humanity while on this earth is the same happiness that is available to us.

  The relationship between our Lord's perfect happiness and the Church-age believer's perfect happiness is given in JOH 15:11 "I have taught you these things, in order that My happiness [perfect happiness] might be in you, and that your happiness may be full or completed." [corrected translation]

  The phrase "may be full" is aorist-passive-subjunctive of the verb pleroo, which has four basic meanings:

1) To fill up a deficiency. We are all deficient of the happiness of God and need doctrine in the soul to give it to us.

2) To fully possess. The believer must be fully possessed by the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine before he can be fully possessed by the happiness of God

3) To fully influence. The believer is fully influenced by Bible doctrine so that he can have capacity for happiness.

4) To fill with a certain quality. The filling of the Spirit and doctrine resident in the soul is the highest quality with which the believer can be filled.

  In His thirty-three years on earth until His resurrection, ascension, and session, our Lord had perfect happiness. He acquired perfect happiness through His residence in the predesigned plan of God, and if you remain in God's plan for your life on a consistent basis, you will eventually experience the perfect happiness of God.

  In this dispensation of the Church, we have the potential for the same perfect happiness that our Lord Jesus Christ had. This happiness sustained Him during the most intensified form of human suffering ever, when He was judged for our sins upon the cross.

  For we read in HEB 12:2 "Be concentrating on Jesus [occupation with Christ], the author and perfecter of our doctrine, who because of His exhibited happiness He endured the cross, having disregarded the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." [corrected translation]

 BEGIN REVIEW ON 3-18-17 Our Lord attained perfect happiness while living inside the PPOG [predesigned plan of God] for His life which allowed Him to have happiness in His humanity, and that same perfect happiness can be attained by us. There is nothing that even comes close to it on planet earth. It is one of the greatest of all objectives in the Christian life.

 

 When Jesus Christ was being judged for our sins on the cross, He demonstrated the fact that the mature believer with perfect happiness can endure anything in life. This is one of the reasons for the extension of the great power experiment of the hypostatic union into the Church-age. Therefore, the power that sustained our Lord on the cross, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the PPOG [God the Holy Spirit did not abandon / forsake Him when He was on the cross], is now available to us as members of the royal family of God.

  With this availability of divine power, every Church-age believer can attain the same perfect happiness which carried our Lord through a type of suffering beyond human imagination. Notice in JOH 15:11, the words "in you" teaches that happiness resides in the individual. This happiness "becomes completed or fulfilled," meaning it develops in stages. spiritual self-esteem [confidence in doctrine] is only the beginning of perfect happiness. By advancing through providential preventative suffering [suffering for blessing] to spiritual autonomy [one is spiritually self-sustained having maximum love for God and impersonal unconditional love for all mankind], perfect happiness becomes stronger. By advancing through momentum testing [undeserved suffering from people testing, thought testing, system testing and disaster testing] to spiritual maturity, perfect happiness reaches its peak. When you pass evidence testing, then you have the perfect happiness that will exist forever and ever; in living, in dying, and in the eternal state forever.

EVIDENCE TESTING: Evidence testing is Satan's cross-examination of every witness presented by God in the historical trial of all fallen angels. Only mature believers have the capacity to be presented as witnesses. In human history, man's thoughts, motives, decisions, and actions are entered as evidence, exhibits, precedents, and arguments in Satan's appeal trial.  Every believer who attains spiritual maturity is an argument or witness for the Prosecution against Satan.  ANGELIC CONFLICT, 1, 2.

   RESTART MARCH 18, 2017 & Apr 29.  Perfect happiness is one of the most phenomenal of all the things the believer can ever experience. This is the one "thing" you can take with you when you die, for perfect happiness resides in your soul, which you do take with you.

  The execution of the PPOG through the utilization of available divine power is the only means of attaining perfect happiness. PRO 3:13 "Happiness belongs to the person who finds wisdom [bible truth, doctrine], even to the person who gains understanding [of that wisdom]."

  Wisdom is metabolized doctrine being applied to your experience. You gain perfect happiness through gaining understanding about what life is truly all about. The only thing you can take with you wherever you go is what resides in your soul. This tells us that happiness depends upon the way that you think. Therefore, perfect happiness is more of a mental attitude toward life than it is the result of acquisitions or accomplishments.

  Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances. Abraham Lincoln said, "People are just about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Unless we make up our minds to be happy no matter what the circumstances of our lives may be, we will never find happiness.

  It is the way we think and act as we travel the road of life that determines whether or not we will be happy. The journey through life has its ups and downs, and none of us can be happy all the time. However, if we don't find at least some happiness along every mile of that road, then we will not find the fullness of happiness at the end of the journey. If we do not find happiness daily with our walk with TLJC and our relationship with God, we need to change our attitude, instead of pinning our hope on finding happiness later on. Happiness is found along the way, not at the end of the road.

  True happiness is to enjoy the present, without depending upon the future change of circumstances.

  We may think that if we just had more possessions and a different status, or fewer problems, we would be happy, but we wouldn't. It is foolish to look forward to the day when we will have no major problems to make us unhappy, because that day will never arrive in our lives. Some people even think that they need to identify and eliminate the causes of their unhappiness. But, no matter how many perceived causes of our unhappiness are eliminated, we will still be unhappy unless we change our attitude, and begin to develop the happiness of God through doctrine resident in the soul.

  Point 4. Perfect Happiness Must Be Related to the Essence of God.

  Happiness is actually a form of energy, an energy beyond human imagination or understanding. God's perfect happiness is an energy that is available to us!

  However, if you're going to enjoy happiness, you need to understand the omniscience of God.

  God's omniscience knows all the sin and evil, all the cruel and vicious things in angelic and human history. This means that He has always known all the thoughts, decisions, motivations, and actions of every person in history. Yet none of this has ever caused God to lose His happiness for a moment. Therefore, nothing can destroy or change the happiness of God. It's impossible for God to be unhappy. Neither the failure of angels nor members of the human race has ever given God even a second of unhappiness.

  If you are ever going to have the happiness of God, you must deal with the issue of guilt and condemnation from your own failures. Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be happy and content with what you have. You can't go through life having the happiness of God thinking that at the end of the tunnel, there's a God waiting to condemn you. No one could have any happiness if they think that every thought and action is being monitored by a judgmental God.

  The road to happiness involves finding the courage to take responsibility for our own mental attitude and to use the divine solutions available to us.

  We are commanded to be joyful and happy because our Lord has borne our sorrows. With this in mind, don't just be familiar with this passage but notice it in relationship to having the happiness of God. Stopped 3-18-17

Isa 53:3 "He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him."

Isa 53:4 "Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted."

Isa 53:5 "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being [fell] upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed."

Isa 53:6 "All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him not on us."

Isa 53:7 "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth."

  He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief so that we need not be. You see, our own personal sins and limitations are the things that make us sorrowful. However, He had no sins and limitations; He was not sad for His sake, but for ours. He was a man of sorrows so that we could be men and women filled with happiness. He was acquainted with grief so that we could be filled with joy. He bore our griefs and carried our sorrows so that we could bear His happiness and rejoice within ourselves. He was pierced through for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities so that we would not be condemned for any personal sins. As verse 6 says, the Lord has caused the iniquities of us all to fall on Him so that they would not fall upon us.

  So, if we remain guilty and condemned after understanding what He did for us, it is because we do not accept what He did for us. And if we suffer because of this, we deserve to

suffer because all we need to do is believe what He did on our behalf. That's why happiness is a commandment (we’ll cover this in a few pages).

  God's happiness is also related to His personal, perfect, and complete sense of destiny. If you have a sense of destiny ^{[1, 2, 3,]} and know where your life is going, you will be relaxed and able to stay on the road to happiness. Happiness and a sense of destiny always go together. Happiness is essentially a state of going in the proper direction with all of your heart, without regret or reservation. Therefore, it is impossible for the spiritually mature believer who is executing the predesigned plan of God to be unhappy. No power in this world can make him unhappy.

START 5-27-17 Psa 16:11 teaches three ways in which God shares His perfect happiness with us.

PSA 16:11 "You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever."

  The happiness described here as belonging to God is now the potential for any Church-age believer who reaches spiritual adulthood.

  "You will make known to me the path of life" means that the first principle in gaining perfect happiness is cognition of Bible doctrine [reception, retention, and recall]. You will never have God's perfect happiness in this life unless you learn first, then apply. God's perfect happiness is related to thought; thought energy is the key and basis for all of God's perfect happiness.

  However, although God's perfect happiness is available to all believers, if you reject Bible doctrine you'll never have a personal sense of destiny, let alone have perfect happiness.

  "In Your presence is the fullness of happiness" is the thrust of this point. In the presence of God is perfect happiness or the fullness of happiness. God is perfect, eternal ², infinite, immutable, just, righteous, omnipotent, love ^{2, 3}, omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign, and  veracity and God's perfect happiness is characterized by all these divine attributes.

  God has made this same perfect happiness available to us. For the Church-age believer, there is the potential while alive on earth to experience this fullness of happiness.

  "At Your right hand there are pleasures forever" means that pleasure is the monopoly of God, and it follows the possession of God's perfect happiness; it does not precede it.

  Pleasures in life are fleeting and do not sustain anyone's happiness. They are wonderful and stimulating for a few moments only. They are not a source of blessing and cannot carry you through adversity. However, true pleasure is the monopoly of God. At the right hand of God the Father is the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has given a fantastic heritage of pleasures forevermore.

  This means not only eternal pleasure, but also perfect happiness in life! This happiness will sustain you in dying as it did in living. This same happiness and virtue-love will give you fantastic capacity for life, and no set of circumstances can ever get you down.

    RESTART MAY 27, 2017 So, perfect happiness is attained by any believer who executes the predesigned plan of God, NEH 8:10b, "Do not be grieved; do not be unhappy. For the happiness of the Lord is your strength."

  In the dynamics of spiritual adulthood the happiness of the Lord is the strength of spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity. You'll need this strength because if you stick with the plan of God, you're going to have opposition.

  That's why you cannot depend upon people for your happiness. In fact, it's true that some people cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.

  Happiness is not the absence of discomfort. Our first mistake is trying to erase all in our lives that is uncomfortable, unpleasant, or painful; that's impossible. Adversity is inevitable in life.

  In fact, since we're in the book of Psalms, look at PSA 38:19 "But my enemies are vigorous [and] strong; And many are those who hate me wrongfully."

Psa 38:20 "And those who repay evil for good, They oppose me, because I follow what is good."

  Opposition is the highest decoration for the spiritually mature believer. It is made up of all the people who oppose you, and the more opposition you have, the greater happiness you have.

  Wearing this decoration of maximum pressure is the greatest of all blessings, and as NEH 8:10 says, "The happiness of the Lord is your strength."

And let me show what type of individuals will oppose you:

2Ti 3:1 "But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come."

2Ti 3:2 "For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,"

2Ti 3:3 "unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,"

2Ti 3:4 "treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God"

2Ti 3:5 "holding to a form of godliness,[these are the types who will oppose you] although they have denied its power; and avoid such men as these."

 2Ti 3:6 "For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak or silly women [which according to the Greek means males and females who are emotional and silly] weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,"

 2TI 3:7 "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

 2Ti 3:8 "And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose doctrine, men of depraved mind, rejected as regards the faith."

  So you're going to have opposition if you stick with the plan of God. In fact, the most exciting happiness is the happiness generated by forces beyond your control.

 

Point 5. Divine Mandates to Happiness.

  Since God possesses perfect happiness, He desires to share His perfect happiness with us, and so He mandates that we have His perfect happiness. We as members of the royal family of God therefore have the potential for realizing His perfect happiness. God will keep you alive long enough to attain that perfect happiness, provided you are faithful in the perception [intake and application] of doctrine. The ultimate objective of the predesi [gned plan of God is to provide for you perfect happiness.

  Consequently, perfect happiness is attained in the three stages of spiritual adulthood, and is a part of glorifying God in the Church-age. You cannot glorify God unless you possess perfect happiness. Since the acquisition of perfect happiness is related to spiritual adulthood and the glorification of God in the pre-designed plan of God for the Church-age, such happiness is a command!

  You are ordered and commanded by the Word of God to have happiness. If you do not have God's perfect happiness this is an act of disobedience on your part.

PSA 97:12 "Be glad [happy] in the Lord, O righteous ones, and give thanks for the memory of His holiness."

  A believer who has the happiness of God developing within will be able to give thanks in all circumstances of life. As you begin to have perfect happiness, thanksgiving becomes a moment-by-moment attitude of your soul.

1Th 5:16 "Rejoice or be happy always;"

1Th 5:17 "pray without ceasing or continually;" [meaning, praying regularly or all throughout the day; it doesn’t mean that we’re to do nothing but pray]

1Th 5:18 "in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

1Th 5:19 "Do not quench the Spirit [rely on your own human power, e.g., doing good deeds out of fellowship with God and expect a reward];"

  Until you can give thanks for everything, both the blessings and adversities of your life, you have not yet come close to having perfect happiness.

Phi 3:1 "Finally, my brethren, keep on having happiness in the Lord. To be writing this same mandate [command] to you, on the one hand, is not tedious, while on the other hand, it is a safeguard to you."

 

 

 Some of the recipients of this letter may have been annoyed because Paul had commanded them to be happy before. Paul had the audacity, even in writing Scripture, to repeat. However, inculcation and repetition is the only way to learn doctrine. Repetition is the only way to learn to do something automatically. The more things you can do automatically, the greater your life will be.

  The greatest experience of security in this life is to attain perfect happiness. Once you have God's happiness in your soul, it is the ultimate of security, the basis for spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity. This is security for you because, when you get under pressure, you will think the right thing, do the right thing, and apply the right doctrine because you have repeatedly learned to do the right thing under normal circumstances.

Spiritual self-esteem is cognitive self-confidence and the beginning of effective function of the ten problem-solving solutions of the pre-designed plan of God for the Church. It is that virtue of God’s plan whereby the believer’s confidence is based on Bible doctrine in your soul; and the believer’s respect for self is linked to grace-orientation ^{1, 2}. Spiritual self-esteem is the believer’s dependence on God’s grace provision for stabilizing self and integrating self into God’s plan for the Church-age believer, EPH 3:12. Spiritual self-esteem is the foundation for the stability of the Christian life, and it is the believer's dependence on God's grace provision for stabilizing self and integrating self into the predesigned plan of God. This is the first stage of spiritual adulthood.

 

Spiritual autonomy is a continuation of contentment or +H (sharing the happiness of God) as a major problem-solving solution. In spiritual autonomy the believer has become spiritually self-sustained having maximum personal love, including impersonal love for God and impersonal unconditional love for all mankind ². It is the second stage of spiritual adulthood.

 

Spiritual maturity is the third and final stage of spiritual maturity. It is accomplished by the believer who has advanced in the spiritual life by executing the predesigned plan of God in his or her own dispensation [in our case, it’s the church age]. This high ground of spiritual maturity is attained after the believer passes many tests of undeserved suffering and the various momentum tests. Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with sinless perfection, which cannot ever be realized in this life, but is characterized by virtue developed by an attitude of perseverance despite many failures. The mature

 believer has attained to the measure of the fullness of Christ, EPH 4:13. The life of the mature believer is also known as the super-grace life ^{[1, 2]}, JAM 4:6.

 

PHI 4:4 "Keep on having happiness in the Lord at all times; once more I repeat the command, keep on having happiness."

  This is a command in the present tense because perfect happiness is the only happiness in the world you can have at all times, wherever you are, no matter what your circumstances.

  Perfect happiness which you attain in time you carry with you into the eternal state. Perfect happiness is not something you attain in the eternal state, although there is happiness and blessing for all believers there. Perfect happiness must be developed here in time.

  It is designed for living and dying now! But in order to fulfill the command for happiness, you can't be hypocritical and fake it. To obey the command to "keep on having happiness in the Lord at all times" is something we cannot do on our own any more than we can do anything on our own for salvation. All we can attain on our own, independently of the plan of God and the power of Bible doctrine, is the momentary happiness or establishment happiness. This divine command can only be executed through residence, function, and momentum inside the PPOG in the attainment of the three stages of spiritual adulthood.

Neh 8:10 anticipated this, "Do not be grieved, for the happiness of the Lord is your strength."

  So in PHI 4:4, hearing this twice-repeated command and knowing how to execute it are two different things. There are a number of things you first must learn to execute God's plan. Yet Christians want instant solutions and miracles, implying that God is disorganized. We must first learn His plan and His solutions to have His perfect happiness. If we refuse, we will be miserable in spite of what we possess or what environment we have.

  For example, the woman in the Garden had everything in perfect environment including a perfect, wonderful husband. Yet she wanted more than a perfect husband, more than a genius, more than perfect sex, more than perfect environment. You can never get enough of the things you don't need, because the things you don't need can never satisfy. She was bored with perfect everything...but what more could she want? She had everything in life that would make a normal woman happy; she had a beauty that never changed and perfect health as she came from the hand of God. Yet her conversations indicated that she was not satisfied with what she had. This immediately indicates that she didn't have perfect happiness, because contentment is a synonym for perfect happiness.

  Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have. In fact, unhappiness is in not knowing what we want, and then killing ourselves to get it. The key phrase of the woman's unhappiness in the Garden is "I want more!" She was bored with perfect everything including a perfect intellect. What more could she want?

  She had everything in life that would make a normal woman happy, yet her conversations with the serpent indicated that she was not content with what she had. Whoever does not regard what he has as most sufficient wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world. This principle was taught in the Garden of Eden to us, and it was taught in the gospels by our Lord.

Mar 8:36 "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?"

Commentary - Mark 8:36-37 “8:36 "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?    8:37 "For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” NASB & NKJV

Jesus uses an illustration within a question to reason why He should be followed. “What will it profit a man if he gains (lit., ‘to acquire by effort or investment’) the whole world, and loses his own soul?” The word soul (psyche) is the same Greek word translated life (psyche) in v 35 and should be rendered life in v 36. English translators intend for the word soul to mean that a person will lose his soul in hell. However, the context is clearly a discipleship/rewards context.

Jesus takes the best-case scenario for His illustration. A man who gains the whole world is one who has lived for himself and has been successful in amassing great wealth. However, what profit will these vast riches be to him in eternity if he has lived only for himself? Such profit is worthless in eternity. He will leave all his wealth behind. As a believer he will enter eternity with a loss of the fullness of life he could have had. [in other words, he will have accumulated little or no rewards during his time on earth for eternity but will retain his or her eternal life since they believed in Christ in time; if he or she fit this scenario, they will be a loser believer.]

Christ’s second question in v 37 relates to this analogy. At the point the man enters into eternity, “what will a man give in exchange for his soul (psyche, ‘life’)?” What can he give to redo his life? His life is over and nothing can compensate for such a loss. Again, this relates to abundance in the life to come as a reward, and not deliverance from hell. A person should follow Christ because, although it is costly, he will preserve his life unto eternal reward and life enhancement. GNTC

 

 

 

 

 

 

  In fact, to be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness. We know the woman wanted more because her conversations with the serpent indicated this. That's why in GEN 3:1 the serpent "said to the woman, 'Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?'"

  You see, he's trying to make her focus in on something she doesn't have and she is not to possess, because the serpent knew that she was discontent and frustrated.

Gen 3:2 "And the woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;"

Gen 3:3 "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.'"

  The serpent said in effect, "You don't seem to be happy; is there anything you can't have?" She said, "Yes, God has said we cannot eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil." Then she added something God had not said, "You cannot eat from it or touch it lest you die." In other words, the woman lacked something in her capacity to hear clearly and objectively what the divine prohibition involved. She developed a fear; she was afraid that even if she touched the tree she would die. You cannot have fear without having arrogance, and she was developing arrogance. Her combination of arrogance and fear caused her to want something more.

  Adam didn't understand this; he was his magnificent self: attractive, wonderful, kind, intelligent, successful, and a great lover.

  And we know this because of what Paul says to us in 1TI 2:14 "And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression."

  So, no matter what the woman had, it wasn't enough; she kept wanting more.

  One of the secrets of happiness is to admire without desiring. You can admire something or someone without having to have it! You can discover happiness by limiting your desires, rather than in attempting to satisfy them. She lived in perfect environment, yet she didn't have perfect happiness as a problem-solving solution, so she began looking around.

  So Satan began to use this prohibition. "Do you know why God has forbidden that tree?"

  He said to the woman in GEN 3:4 "You surely will not die!"

Gen 3:5 "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."

  What Satan said merely reflected his own fall. He was Lucifer [FYI: the name Lucifer isn’t in the original Greek, in the 5^th century, some translators decided to gave Satan a name, the original only call him Son of the Morning], Son of the Morning, the most beautiful creature that ever came from the hand of God. He was beautiful and magnificent, and had a perfect personality and genius. He was the ruler of all the angels; he sat at the right hand of the throne of God; he was the anointed cherub, the highest class of angels. But he also wanted something more! There was nothing more he could have that he didn't already have, but he was not happy. Therefore, one day he decided that he wouldn't be happy until he replaced God! He considered God to be a challenge!

   When people are not happy and have no spiritual self-esteem or self-esteem, they feel threatened. Within them is a combination of two things, arrogance and fear, which always go together. In fear, you feel challenged by this or that, and in your arrogance, you want to overcome that fear by seizing the thing that threatens you. So Satan made it clear that the woman was threatened by the tree, called the Tree of Knowledge. This woman had perfect intellect; she had knowledge of all things around her because her husband was the ruler of the world. But this was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, a knowledge she did not possess. For this reason, theologians have made the mistake of calling this state of perfection "The Age of Innocence."

  Adam and the woman were not innocent, but there were some things they did not have to know because they were in perfection.

  So Satan [Son of the Morning]  made his point, "There is something you're lacking. There is more to be had; of course you're not satisfied. That's because God has been unfair to you. God has withheld something from you; He has withheld the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Do you know why? God is afraid." STOPPED 6-24-17

  It was Satan who was afraid. Satan also possessed the knowledge of good and evil and he was miserable. Another interesting principle here is that before we set our hearts too much on anything, we should examine how happy are those who already possess it. Arrogance plus fear leads to great instability no matter what you have. In fear and arrogance you will always feel threatened by something in life, even if you're in perfect environment. So Satan ascribed to God his very own fear, although God is perfect and has never been afraid. And we see this in the human race; people ascribe [to credit or assign] to others their own weaknesses and flaws; even though in reality, the accused ones don't share their flaws. Some people cannot identify with others unless the others are as weak as they are. Therefore, they accuse others of being arrogant when those people are actually humble, or they accuse others of fear, when they themselves are afraid. So, the story of Adam and the woman shows why love and happiness have eluded the human race in general down to this very moment.

You only have two chances at love and happiness:

A) As an unbeliever, you can have establishment happiness including human self-esteem and humility.

B) As a believer, the only hope for love and happiness in your life that is real and meaningful is to attain virtue-love and perfect happiness as problem-solving solutions. [if you don’t have the perfect happiness of God, that’s a problem; a problem that one may not even be aware of, the solution is to feed your soul and spirit with spiritual food which is bible doctrine (truth), understand them, believe them all and live them (apply them to your life) while you still can].

  With perfect happiness, no matter what your circumstances, your happiness continues to exist, and you equate living with dying (Phi 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.), and adversity with prosperity. Happiness and love are meaningless as a state of happiness. We all say at certain times that we are happy or in love, but we are really talking about being in pleasant or enjoyable circumstances. But without perfect happiness, there is always the same problem: no matter what you have, you will want more! As long as there's something more that you must have, you aren't happy. You have to find happiness in yourself before you can find it with someone or something. Accumulating more and more of anything can't make you happy; these things are just temporary stimulation. This explains drug addiction; a person who experiences some high the first time he tries a drug will spend years trying to reproduce that same first high. Happiness is derived from tranquility, not by taking drugs and tranquilizers but by developing a proper, disciplined, efficient life with regular habits, especially the habit of the daily intake and application of God’s Word so you can ultimately acquire the perfect happiness of God.

  Marriage is a divine institution ordained by God. However, He didn't ordain it as a system of happiness, but as a system of relationship. Whether you are happy in any relationship or not, whether it is marriage, business, social life, or friendship, you will never have happiness or love by simply being in some state that you now associate with happiness.

  Yet most people think, "If I could just....I would be happy." We associate so many things with happiness that are really not happiness at all. We mix up stimulation, sex, and animated conversation with happiness. Happiness is actually a problem-solving solution. It is a status quo [normalcy, the state or fact of being the way things usually are], but one that never looks over the horizon and wants more. And due to the Fall of Adam and the woman, God in His matchless grace designed something that can overcome the best or worst of environments, that can handle prosperity and adversity, that can cause you to live or die with great capacity, and that can give you the capacity to handle being alone or in a crowd. There is no problem in life too great for what God has given to you as a part of your portfolio of invisible assets, the problem-solving device of perfect happiness!

 Point 6. The Mechanics for Attainment of Perfect Happiness.

  The Holy Spirit is the source of our sharing God's perfect happiness because He is the actual teacher of Bible doctrine [when a believer is taught by a pastor-teacher combined with accurate scripture references that support what is being taught, the Holy Spirit’s convicting or convincing ministry will make the truth clear to the believer that is in fellowship, another reason why the term “by means of the Holy Spirit is used]. Therefore, perfect happiness is said to be by means of the Spirit in ROM 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and prosperity and happiness by means of the Holy Spirit."

  In other words, the spiritual part of our life, the predesigned plan of God, goes way beyond our normal functions of eating and drinking. In that sense, we have a dual life, a natural life and a spiritual life. The spiritual life has nothing to do with the foods we eat or the beverages we drink. That's why Paul said in Col 2:16 "Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink."

 

 

The Bible never teaches against the engagement of alcoholic beverages in moderation. In fact, TLJC participated in eating certain foods and drinking alcoholic beverages in moderation and that is why He was called a drunk in LUK 7:34 "The Son of Man has come eating and drinking; and you say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man, and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and prostitutes [sinners]!'" (corrected translation)

  The problem is that today we have a phenomenal amount of alcoholism and so pastors have to be very careful and encourage those who have the predisposition toward alcohol to live a life of abstinence for practical reasons and for health reasons. However, that does not mean that the pastor should become academically dishonest and take passages out of context and not teach the whole realm of doctrine.

  For example, we are told that the Lord made wine to make glad the heart of man, PSA 104:15 "The Lord made wine which makes man's heart glad." Now, that is not grape juice! No matter how much grape juice you drink, it will not make your heart glad.

  Solomon said in ECC 9:7 "Go then, eat your bread in happiness, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works."

  Moses said in DEU 14:26 "And you may spend the money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household."

  As far as foods are concerned 1TI 4:4-5 says "For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer."

1 Timothy 4:3-5 (commentary from GNTC)

³ forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; ⁵ for it is ²sanctified by the word of God and prayer. NKJV

 Paul cites two examples of this false teaching: unbiblical restrictions regarding marriage and food.

The Bible regulates and restricts marriage in many ways. But it is not guilty of forbidding [people] to marry. Paul himself elsewhere encourages people not to marry (1 COR 7:25, 26, 27), but he does not forbid it.

The OT Law had many restrictions as to what foods would be eaten. The NT only restricts the eating of food in its blood and of drinking blood. Besides that, all plants and animals may be eaten (Gen 9:3). The false teachers commanded people to abstain from foods.

Both of these faulty prohibitions are forms of asceticism, which involves following man-made rules in an effort to become godly. Paul refutes only the second, most likely because the first form of asceticism was not much of a problem in his day, but the second already was.

Foods are to be received with thanksgiving. Formal giving of thanks that is not representative of a truly thankful heart is a dead ritual.

Why does Paul mention the word of God and prayer as two elements involved in sanctifying foods? (In Christianity not only should the Christian be set apart, but also his food should be.) This could refer to the reading or quoting of the Word of God before or during prayers of thanksgiving for food. This may have been a practice in Paul’s day. Or it may simply be that God said in His Word that all things are good for food under the New Covenant. Thus the Word of God sets all foods aside as good.

People who practice asceticism often report feeling much closer to God, and those who observe them are often impressed with their piety. However, what is not based on God’s Word is counterfeit and does not produce actual godliness. GNTC

  START 8-19-17  Now, there are a lot of believers today who think that they're spiritual if they don't ever touch alcohol or eat certain foods, and if you do, they think that you have completely gone over the edge.

  So Paul says ROM 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and prosperity and happiness by means of the Holy Spirit." In our spiritual life, we can have the righteousness of virtue, prosperity, and perfect happiness all by means of the Holy Spirit. First comes righteousness, which is virtue from perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine; then comes prosperity when you reach spiritual adulthood. Finally, throughout spiritual adulthood, you enjoy perfect happiness. All this is accomplished by the Holy Spirit who is the teacher of Bible doctrine. That's why all three of these principles including happiness are said to be the fruit or the production of the Holy Spirit, GAL 5:22 "The fruit of the Spirit is virtue-love, happiness, prosperity."

  Happiness here refers to three categories of perfect happiness. In spiritual self-esteem, perfect happiness begins; in spiritual autonomy, perfect happiness continues; and in spiritual maturity perfect happiness peaks out. Part of the great power experiment of the Church-age is perfect

 

happiness produced by God the Holy Spirit as in 1TH 1:6 "You also become imitators of us and of the Lord [by fulfillment of the predesigned plan of God through your utilization of divine power], having received the Word in much pressure [affliction, oppression] with happiness from the Holy Spirit."

  We are to imitate two people; one is the only invisible hero of the great power experiment of the hypostatic union [from the moment of the incarnation, Jesus Christ is both fully man and fully God], Jesus Christ, and the other is Paul or any other great invisible hero of the great power experiment of the Church-age. We are to imitate them by imitating the copybook [pattern] in PHI 3:17, which comes by receiving the Word consistently.

  PHI 3:17 "Brethren join with others in following me, and select those who walk according to the pattern you have in us."

  As we have noted, when you begin to be consistent in learning Bible doctrine, there is much pressure...that's why it says, in 1TH 1:6 "having received the Word in much pressure [affliction=in pain, distress or grief or misery, oppression by authority or power in a burdensome, cruel or unjust manner] with happiness from the Holy Spirit."

  Having perfect happiness in the midst of pressure is due to being sustained by the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the PPOG. The same power that sustained Jesus Christ during those last three hours on the cross when He was being judged for our sins is now available to us in the Church-age.

  This power is used in three categories to attain perfect happiness:

1) The omnipotence of God the Father [God’s infinite power] is used to attain perfect happiness through the perception of our portfolio of invisible assets [The invisible assets are composed of primary, secondary, and personal assets. The primary assets include equal privilege and equal opportunity under election and predestination. The secondary assets include volitional assets, which are achieved through good decisions made from positions of strength, and the assets of undeserved suffering. The personal assets are the proper function of every believer’s spiritual gift.] and using those assets.

2) The omnipotence of Jesus Christ is used by knowing He gives us a day at a time and is faithful in sustaining our life so we can attain perfect happiness.

3) The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit is used to attain perfect happiness because God the Holy Spirit is the teacher of Bible doctrine; Joh 14; 1CO 2:9-16; 1CO 2:2-4.

1 Corinthians 2:9  but just as it is written, "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him."  2:10  For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.  2:11  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.  2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,  2:13  which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.  2:14  Â¶ But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.  2:15  But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.  2:16  For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.

COMMENTARY by GNTC: 1 Corinthians 2:9-16

2:8-9. If the rulers of this world understood God’s wise plan and how it involved the centrality of Jesus Christ and His cross, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. If they had known God’s wisdom, which comes by way of the Cross, they would not have put Christ to death. Paul quotes from an OT passage, probably a free rendering of Isa 64:4, to illustrate this. His point is that there is no way of understanding open to mankind—“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered in the heart of man”—that can offer him any notion of the great things which “God has prepared for those who love Him.” Only the believer can ultimately know God’s plan by revelation. This is divine wisdom.

2:10-11. God has revealed these things of His great mystery to the believers through His Spirit. All these things come from God; thus no personal pride should exist. The Sprit, the third person of the Trinity, searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. The word search conveys the meaning of examine. Nothing is excluded from His searching, even the depths of God. Paul then gives an illustration to clarify this point. He asks, For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? The spirit of the man stands for the person or self-consciousness. The spirit of the man relates to that which dwells in every person (Prov 20:27). Just as human wisdom needs the human spirit to comprehend it, spiritual truths about God can be known only through the Holy Spirit who knows the things of God.

2:12. Paul and others have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God. All believers have received the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation (Rom 8:9). Because of this, the believer might know the things that have been freely given to them by God. For a small minority of believers in the first century, like some of the apostles

and those under their authority, the Spirit revealed the content of God’s Word (2 Peter 1:20-21). For all other believers, the Spirit helps them interpret God’s Word and make meaningful application. This latter work of the Spirit is called illumination.

2:13. The Holy Spirit leads Paul and others not in words which man’s wisdom teaches. In other words He did not lead them into human philosophy or reasoning but into words which He teaches. The Spirit teaches by comparing (interpreting or combining) spiritual things with spiritual things. Because of the ambiguity of the Greek text, these words could be translated interpreting spiritual truths to spiritual persons or combining spiritual truths with spiritual words. The last translation seems to be more justifiable by context. The spiritual truths that come from God are combined with the spiritual words of the apostles and those under their authority to convey God’s revelation.

2:14-15. Acquisition of spiritual truth requires spiritual receptiveness. Paul points out that the natural man (psychikos, “an unregenerate person, a person without the Spirit”) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God. The verb receive can be translated welcome. The unsaved person can understand, but he does not welcome spiritual truth, the things of God’s Word, because they are foolishness to him. He refuses and rejects these things. Because he does not have the Spirit of God, neither can he know the things of the Spirit of God. Why not? Because they are spiritually discerned. The verb discern means “to examine,” “to judge,” or “to estimate.” The unbeliever does not have the ability to evaluate spiritual things. Opposite the natural man is he who is spiritual. The term spiritual (pneumatikos) describes the mature believer who judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. The spiritual Christian cannot be judged by the unbeliever or the carnal believer (cf. 3:1-3) in spiritual matters.

2:16. Paul appeals to Isa 40:13 to show that the believer is not subject to judgment when it comes to spiritual issues because the spiritual believer possesses the mind of Christ (cf. Rom 8:6-8). Biblical spirituality is a mindset, a way of viewing life, which comes from welcoming the things of God by means of His Word.

  If you want this perfect happiness, it only requires daily decisions from the right scale of values. Your number one priority must be Bible doctrine. You must be motivated to come and hear it under the ministry of the Holy Spirit. If you listen, learn, advance, and grow [by living the Bible Doctrine you learn], you will eventually or inevitably be happy for all time and for all eternity.

  God's happiness belongs "naturally" to the new spiritual species [your human spirit which you did not have before you believed in Him]; it is a happiness that only the new

 

spiritual species can have. It is a happiness designed for both prosperity and adversity. It is a happiness that gives the most fantastic capacity for life, whether you have little or much [poor or filthy rich], whether you are great [CEO] or insignificant [ditch digger]. Remember that all human distinctions mean nothing now as a result of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and being in union with Christ. A new spiritual species refers to believers in the Church-age belonging to the royal family of God. The baptism of the Spirit made you royal family of God since the day you believed in Jesus Christ.

2Co 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ [and he is as a believer], he is a new [spiritual] species. The old things have lost their power; behold, new things have come."

  You are "in Christ" by the baptism of the Spirit; at the moment of your salvation you were entered into union with Christ. The adjective kaine means new; the noun ktisis means species.

  The old things that have lost their power over us are genetic, environmental, and volitional handicaps; human dynamics, personality, talent, and works and flaws.

  The "new things" that have come refer to your portfolio of invisible assets, the ten unique characteristics of the Church-age, and the ten problem-solving solutions of the PPOG.

The unique characteristics of the Church age.

1.   The Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

2.   This is the dispensation of the unique PPOG.

3.   There is the Unique Equality in the PPOG – the Equal privilege and the Equal opportunity.

4.   The Unique Portfolio of Invisible Assets.

5.   The Two Unique Royal Commissions for every Church-Age Believer, Royal priesthood, and the Royal ambassadorship.

6.   The doctrine of the Church Age as the unique mystery doctrine of the new things that have come.

7.   The body of the Church Age believer being indwelt by each person of the Trinity.

8.   The Unique Availability of Divine Power.

9.   Every believer is now qualified to live as a member of the Church-age and become an invisible hero.

 

Pro 3:13 "Happiness belongs to that person [believer] who finds wisdom even the person who gains understanding [of doctrine]." The word blessed is esher and it means happiness.

  That's why it is translated like that in PRO 3:13 "Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding;"(NKJ)

Pro 3:13 "Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gets under-standing,"(RSV)

Pro 3:13 "The man who knows right from wrong and has good judgment and common sense is happier than the man who is immensely rich!"(TLB)

Pro 3:13 "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, And the man that getteth understanding."(ASV)

  Even the King James has it like that, PRO 3:13 "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding."(KJV)

  So PRO 3:13 "Happiness belongs to that person [believer] who finds wisdom [perceived, understood and believed bible doctrine]."

  The word wisdom or chakmah refers to the three "R"s: reception, retention, and recall of Bible doctrine; i.e., perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. The Hebrew word chakmah means wisdom that comes from doctrine, i.e., the application of metabolized doctrine.

  PRO 3:13 "Happiness belongs to that person who gains understanding [experiential understanding of applied bible doctrine to your life]."

 The Hebrew word for understanding is bin, which refers to the perception and metabolization of Bible doctrine. So this verse actually includes perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine.

1Jo 1:4 says the same thing, "And these things we write that our joy may be brought to completion."

Joh 15:11 "I have taught [i.e., how to attain God’s perfect happiness in time] you these things in order that My happiness [perfect happiness of the humanity of Jesus Christ] may be in you and that your happiness may be fulfilled."

  Note that happiness is to be "taught;" perfect happiness comes through the perception of Bible doctrine; it does not come through something you enjoy. You can endure anything with perfect happiness, as Jesus Christ has proved, HEB 12:2, "who for the happiness that was set before Him endured the cross."

  He didn't endure the cross because He liked it [obviously], but because He had perfect happiness. Just think of it, the greatest suffering in all of history occurred on the cross, when Jesus Christ, perfect humanity, received the imputation and judgment for every sin in human history. Yet, He stayed on the cross because of His perfect happiness.

  If God's happiness is in you, such passages as this will be a reality to you, PHI 4:13 "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

  Perfect happiness is the ultimate problem solver. You can endure anything with perfect happiness, as well as having the most wonderful capacity for life and for death. When you have perfect happiness in you, it doesn't come from doing what you like to do but from liking what you have to do.

  Therefore, your happiness can only be fulfilled, as a Church-age believer, through the execution of the predesigned plan of God, through advancing to spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity. At spiritual maturity you have at your disposal the two greatest problem-solving solutions in history: virtue-love [unconditional impersonal love for all mankind] for the interaction with people, and perfect happiness [contentment to the max.] for your own life. Because of that there is no pain, adversity, tragedy, or difficulty greater than perfect happiness in your soul!

  Now, in JOH 15:11, when the Lord said "I have taught you these things in order that My happiness may be in you," our Lord's "happiness in you" is spiritual self-esteem and spiritual autonomy. "His happiness fulfilled" is spiritual maturity.

  Perfect happiness is not only a problem-solving solution, but it is the great principle of contentment in this life. With perfect happiness, it makes no difference whether you are living or dying, in adversity or prosperity. If you have perfect happiness, you have the stabilizer for any situation in life.

  Now, in 2JO 1:12 "Although having many doctrines to write you, I do not wish to do so with paper and ink. I will pay you a visit, and I anticipate coming to you and teaching face to face that our happiness might be fulfilled."

  "Our" happiness means the happiness John will have as the communicator, and the happiness the believers will have as they receive his teaching of Bible doctrine.

  Reception [metabolized doctrine], retention [metabolized doctrine is retained in the soul for when it’s needed], and recall of Bible doctrine [the soul and human spirit are the store house so you can use your renewed mind of Christ, just as He did] add up to the growth of your perfect happiness, the greatest problem-solving solution related to yourself. We will see this in ROM 14:22 "The doctrine which you have [metabolized doctrine], have it according to your own norms and standards before God. Happiness belongs to that person who does not condemn himself in what he approves."

  John says 2JO 1:12 "Although having many doctrines to write you, I do not wish to do so with paper and ink. I will pay you a visit, and I anticipate coming to you and teaching face to face that our happiness might be fulfilled or complete."

  The happiness of a pastor is made complete by the communication of doctrine to his congregation, and by their reception, retention, and recall of doctrine which results in their own happiness. Note that in the 2Jo passage, John will bring certain believers to spiritual maturity and perfect happiness by teaching them face to face. However, in 1JO 1:4 "And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete," he will bring other believers to spiritual maturity and perfect happiness through non-face-to-face teaching [recordings and/or written]. Both means are legitimate for the communication of doctrine resulting in the reception, retention, and recall of doctrine in the souls of believers, eventuating in their perfect happiness.

  Perfect happiness depends on Bible doctrine in the soul. It is something you think, not something you do. However, God has to share His thoughts with you before you can share His happiness; when the thinking of God becomes your thinking, then you will begin to share God's happiness. So your perfect happiness is determined by the amount of Bible doctrine in your soul. However, even though you have doctrine in the soul, you must be determined to be happy in whatever situation you may be in. For we all have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our disposition and frame of mind, not our circumstances [God is not going to just inject you with His thinking, i.e., the mind of Christ, that is the responsibility of the spiritually growing believer with the help of the Holy Spirit, it takes self-disciple, tenacity, persistence, etc. to grow spiritually].

  We must apply the doctrine we have learned and make the right decisions; action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action. Happiness, like character, must be cultivated. It is not a thing to be attained and then to be let alone or it will die down and eventually disappear. There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do.

  So happiness is the ability to take all the bumps and bruises of day to day life with an open mind and heart. Our perspective and attitude have everything to do with our own happiness. If we want to be happy, we will be happy [however, it is acquired only by the means of the Holy Spirit’s teaching you through the intake and application of bible doctrine (attaining and using the mind of Christ daily); your cost for this happiness is the time you devote to the hearing/reading, correctly understanding the doctrine which is made clear by the Holy Spirit, believing what you’ve learned, understood and then applying it to your daily life meaning you will actually live what you’ve learned until you go home to be with the Lord].

 

 

Point 7. God's Happiness is Related to the Three stages of spiritual adulthood.

There are three stages of spiritual adulthood.

1)    Spiritual self-esteem:

Spiritual self-esteem is cognitive self-confidence and the beginning of effective function of the ten problem-solving devices of the pre-designed plan of God for the Church. It is that virtue of God’s plan whereby the believer’s confidence is based on Bible doctrine; and the believer’s respect for self is linked to grace-orientation. Spiritual self-esteem is the believer’s dependence on God’s grace provision for stabilizing self and integrating self into God’s plan for the Church-age believer, EPH 3:12. Spiritual self-esteem is the foundation for the stability of the Christian life, and it is the believer's dependence on God's grace provision for stabilizing self and integrating self into the predesigned plan of God. This is the first stage of spiritual adulthood.

 

2)    Spiritual autonomy

Spiritual autonomy is a continuation of contentment or +H (sharing the happiness of God) as a major problem-solving solution. In spiritual autonomy the believer has become spiritually self-sustained having maximum love for God and impersonal unconditional love for all mankind. It is the second stage of spiritual adulthood.

3)    Spiritual maturity

Spiritual maturity is the third and final stage of spiritual maturity. It is accomplished by the believer who has advanced in the spiritual life by executing the predesigned plan of God. This high ground of spiritual maturity is attained after the believer passes many tests of undeserved suffering and the various momentum tests. Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with sinless perfection, which cannot ever be realized in this life, but is characterized by virtue developed by an attitude of perseverance despite many failures. The mature believer has attained to the measure of the fullness of Christ, EPH 4:13. The life of the mature believer is also known as the super-grace life, JAM 4:6.

  There is a certain progression of perfect happiness at each stage of spiritual adulthood. God's happiness begins at spiritual self-esteem. As it gains momentum, perfect happiness continues in spiritual autonomy, and it is completed in spiritual maturity, where it reaches its peak in the top floor of the edification complex of the soul.

EDIFICATION COMPLEX OF THE SOUL

The edification complex of the soul is technical nomenclature found in the epistles of the New Testament for the attainment of the various stages of spiritual growth. As doctrines are accumulated by the daily perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine, a structure is being built in the soul. The foundation of the edification complex is Christ and the various floors that are built upon Him include grace orientation, mastery of the details of life, relaxed mental attitude, capacity to love in all three categories, and the penthouse, which is sharing the happiness of God, EPH 4:14, 15, 16.

  Occupation with the Lord and confidence in the Lord is the basic definition of perfect happiness in spiritual self-esteem.

Psa 128:1 "How happy is every believer who is occupied with the Lord."

Psa 146:5 "Happiness belongs to the one whose confidence is in the Lord."

  However, a more detailed explanation is given in 2CO 12:10 "For this reason I find contentment [beginning of perfect happiness] in weaknesses [providential preventative suffering or suffering for blessing], in insults [slanders or people testing], with distresses [pressures or thought testing], in persecutions [system testing], in difficulties or stresses [disaster testing] on behalf of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Preventative suffering has two categories:

1. Providential preventative suffering is short-termed suffering from the sovereignty of God for the benefit of the believer. [like Job]

2. Punitive preventative suffering is related to sin. It punishes the guilty and warns the tempted believer to resist the temptation and avoid the sin or the flaw.

 

  Providential preventative suffering at spiritual self-esteem [confidence in God’s Word / Bible Doctrine] puts you in a state of weakness because there is no human solution to the problems. The solutions must be divine solutions which comes from your own soul's resources of Bible doctrine. The four types of testing mentioned here are warm-ups in spiritual self-esteem in order to advance to spiritual autonomy and face momentum testing. In principle, the four parts of providential preventative suffering cover the whole scope of problem solving in life.

  You pass these tests by having the beginning of perfect happiness. There will be enough happiness in your soul at spiritual self-esteem for you to be happy in all categories of providential preventative suffering! Therefore suffering can be just as great a blessing as any prosperous circumstances.

  The phrase "on behalf of Christ" means that the glorification of our Lord demands that the believer pass providential preventative suffering and advance to spiritual autonomy, thus increasing his perfect happiness. Being "strong when weak" refers to the utilization of divine power for momentum in the PPOG. To be "weak" means you must make maximum use of divine power, the basis for blessing in the midst of testing. You don't try to intrude on God's solutions with your own ability, human power, human ingenuity, attitudes, or concepts. Providential preventative suffering brings you to the point where you realize life and the devil are stronger than you, and that you won't be able to solve your problems independently of the PPOG. Your strength comes from the use of any of the problem-solving solutions we’ve been studying for the past year and a half. In this case, perfect happiness in its beginning form, i.e., contentment, is used. The word translated "content" in verse 10 is the present-active-indicative of eudokeo which is eudoko meaning means "to think well of, to approve, to be content or happy."

  Now, it often takes a lot to make many of you weak [to the point where you are dependent upon the use of divine power rather than staying in your old comfort zone of falling back to human power], especially if you're high-spirited and strong-willed. However, until you know you're weak, you will never be strong [begin using divine power inside the PPOG]. To the extent that you have illusions about your so-called strong points, you are depriving yourself of the blessings of grace. True strength comes from using divine power to match your weakness, rather than using human power to hold at bay God's grace provision for you.

  Perfect happiness in spiritual autonomy is documented in HEB 13:5.

Heb 13:5 "Let your lifestyle be free from the love for money, being content [+H] with what you have. For He Himself has said [DEU 31:6], 'I will never leave you nor will I ever forsake [abandon] you.'"

  There is nothing wrong with money; it is necessary to live. However, if money becomes your master, you become a pitiful slave to money. Money was not designed to bring happiness. If you already have capacity for perfect happiness, you can handle the accumulation of money without becoming a slave to it. So your lifestyle is to be free from the love for money.

  However, if your life is free from money you won't live long. The objective is to have money as your slave and perfect happiness as your master. If you are content with what you have, you have a measure of perfect happiness. In spiritual autonomy, you no longer think you want more, more, more! You realize in HEB 13:5, "He Himself has said [DEU 31:6], 'I will never leave you nor will I ever forsake [abandon] you.'"

  This promise is God's guarantee to you from the day of your salvation, based on God's perfect integrity. He will never leave or forsake you. This promise assures you of both temporal and eternal security. God will never leave you in life, nor forsake you in dying. However, this doesn't prevent God from disciplining you or allowing the law of volitional responsibility to function.

Rom 14:22 "The doctrine which you have [metabolized doctrine], have it according to your own norms and standards before God. Happiness belongs to that person who does not condemn himself in what he approves." This verse refers to the status quo of the believer in spiritual autonomy, who has doctrinal norms and standards in his soul, resulting in right priorities. Therefore, he has God's perfect happiness.

**

  The believer in spiritual autonomy does not feel threatened by the criticism of legalism. He knows he's doing the right thing even while being maligned and judged as the victim of jealousy, bitterness, arrogance, implacability, and all the revenge motivation related to envy. The believer in spiritual autonomy doesn't copy those he admires, nor is he bullied into any legalism. The result of having one's own norms and standards before God is the increase of perfect happiness in life. We go through life in self-condemnation if we violate our norms and standards or if we are victimized by legalism and society's standards. A lot of people approve of their lifestyle and do not condemn themselves because of arrogance. However, this phrase doesn't refer to those who don't condemn themselves simply because their arrogance and ignorance have replaced any norms and standards they might have had. The believer in spiritual autonomy has doctrinal norms and standards and yet, because of perfect happiness, no longer condemns himself.

1Pe 3:14 "But if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are happy [+H in spiritual autonomy].

Isa 8:12b "Therefore, do not fear what they fear, and do not let yourself be intimidated."

  To suffer for righteousness' sake is a reference to momentum testing, suffering for blessing to those in spiritual autonomy. People aren't happy in suffering unless they are in spiritual adulthood, the place of perfect happiness.

1Pe 4:14 "If you are reproached because of the person of Christ [and you are in spiritual autonomy], you are happy because the Spirit of glory and of God refreshes you."

  In momentum testing, others will reproach you. This phrase specifically refers to people testing. "The Spirit of glory" is a specific reference to the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit functioning inside the PPOG. Refreshment in disaster is perfect happiness in your life.

Jam 1:2 "Consider it all happiness [perfect happiness in spiritual autonomy], my brethren, when you encounter various testings."

  You can't consider adversity happiness until you have the happiness of God. And until you have perfect happiness, you can't use it to handle suffering. The "various testings" refer to the four parts of momentum testing.

Perfect happiness is documented in spiritual maturity, PHI 4:11-13.

  Our corrected translation of PHI 4:11-13 reads, PHI 4:11 "Not that I speak with reference to need, for I have learned to be content [+H] in whatever circumstances I am."

PHI 4:12 "In fact, I have come to know how to be humbled and I have come to know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I have been initiated, both how to be filled, how to be hungry, how to be prosperous, and how to suffer need."

PHI 4:13 "I have the power to attain all things through Him [God the Father] who makes me strong."

 

Point 8. Why Contentment is Synonymous with Happiness.

  It's interesting that our Lord was never married, never had any children, and never became wealthy or successful from the human standpoint, yet He was perfectly happy and totally content. He was ridiculed and endured greater pressures than we will ever know; yet all those years He always had perfect happiness. He did not have the things that people associate with happiness in our day and age, like a good marriage, a healthy family, a good job, a lot of money, a nice home, etc. Yet He served as an example to us of what it means to have perfect happiness and perfect contentment.

  In JOH 3:29 "He who has the bride is the bridegroom [a reference to TLJC]; but the friend of the bridegroom [a reference to John the Baptist], who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly [has great inner happiness] because of the bridegroom's voice. And so this happiness of mine has been made full."

  According to human viewpoint of life, John the Baptist had a tragic life. He had the type of ministry not associated with fun and happiness but with tremendous opposition, even though he was always right. It is very frustrating to be right but never be recognized as being right even once. That was the "tragedy" of his life. But John says at the end of verse 29, "and so this joy [inner happiness] of mine has been made full or brought to completion."

  John was one of those rare individuals in his generation who had reached spiritual maturity. John was a man who lived the spiritual life from salvation to his death. When he said in verse 29, "this joy of mine has been made full or complete," he recognized Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the God-man, the only source of salvation. Then he added in JOH 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease."

  This is the antithesis of human viewpoint living. Think of how many people you know, friends, loved ones, peers, other believers, who do not live with that statement in view.

Joh 3:30 "He must increase [in my life], but I [my human viewpoint and fleshly thinking] must decrease."

  Inner happiness is inside of you that you can take with you through any set of circumstances in life. Even if you are alone, like John the Baptist was, you are perfectly happy. In fact, the problem of loneliness is the easiest problem to solve for the mature believer. If you are in a crowd, you are happy. Whether in pleasant or adverse circumstances, you are happy. If you are alive and healthy or dying, you have perfect happiness.

  Perfect happiness for the believer is described in PHI 4:11-13.

Phi 4:11 "Not that I speak with reference to need, for I have learned to be content [+H] in whatever circumstances I am."

Phi 4:12 "In fact, I have come to know how to be humbled and I have come to know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I have been initiated, both how to be filled, how to be hungry, how to be prosperous, and how to suffer need."

Phi 4:13 "I have the power to attain all things through Him [God the Father] who makes me strong."

  Once you reach spiritual maturity, you have an entirely new and refreshing system of thinking, and you never think in terms of needs. We all continue to have needs, but they will become less and less important to you as you advance through the different stages of spiritual adulthood. This is because you finally come to realize that God has known your needs all along. And in effect, once you reach spiritual adulthood, needs become inconsequential so you don't have to spend your time thinking about them. Of course, as an organized believer, you still plan for them. But your needs aren't nearly as important to you once you reach spiritual adulthood, resulting in an improved prayer life that doesn't focus on all your needs. As long as your needs have number one priority in your life, it's impossible for you to reach spiritual adulthood.

  Notice what Paul said in PHI 4:11 "Not that I speak with reference to need, for I have learned to be content [+H] in whatever circumstances I am."

  Happiness is something you learn, not something you have, want, or anticipate. You must learn how to live in adversity and prosperity. As in verse 11, to learn to this contentment take a lot of repetition of Bible doctrine, especially mystery doctrine concerning the uniqueness of the Church-age.

  Contentment is actually a synonym for perfect happiness, as in other passages, such as 1TI 6:8 "If we have food and shelter, with these we shall be content."

  The point is, when you have perfect happiness, what more do you need? Perfect happiness is all you need to sustain you, even when you're in adversity and have needs. If you have the happiness of God, you don't really need anything beyond food and shelter.

  One of the greatest signs of prosperity is maximum use of perfect happiness. Think of the people you know who have a lot more money and possessions than you do, but they are miserable in most cases! Or if they are not miserable, they're just putting on a facade of happiness; it's just a front for a frustrated life.

  Prosperity from maximum use of perfect happiness comes from going through the valley of momentum testing, passing the different tests, and advancing to spiritual maturity.

Psa 84:5 "How happy is the person whose strength is in the Lord; In whose heart is on pilgrimage!"

Psa 84:6 "Passing through the valley of Baca, they make it a spring, The early rain also covers it with blessings."

  Baca means weeping and it speaks of going through adversities and difficulties and trials and heartaches; yet here it says perfect happiness can make those situations a spring or a place of blessing!

  And that's the same thing Paul is saying in PHI 4:11 as you pass the different tests in your advance to spiritual maturity.

  In HEB 13:5 "I will never leave you nor forsake you," the faithfulness of our Lord is the reason for us to be content with such things as we have. This refers to temporal security which is freedom from worry, fear, anxiety, etc.

  So Paul goes on to say in PHI 4:12 "In fact, I have come to know how to be humbled."

  This is something we all must learn, because by nature none of us are humble. Humility means objectivity. Humiliation is associated with arrogance; but being humbled is associated with spiritual growth and understanding God's grace. Humility comes with the organized life of the believer in spiritual adulthood. And what we don't learn from Bible doctrine, we will learn from adversity and undeserved suffering.

  Suffering is a great teacher to the wise, but is bitter for those who resist Bible doctrine.

  Suffering provides maximum opportunity to apply metabolized doctrine to life.

  So, one of the hardest things to learn in life is to be humble. However, God will provide this lesson for us through doctrine and suffering. You cannot be great without humility. Humility is the fantastic spiritual dignity that carries with it perfect happiness.

Phi 4:12 "In fact, I have come to know how to be humbled and I have come to know how to live in prosperity."

  You must also learn how to be happy in prosperity; yet very few prosperous people understand this. It is difficult for prosperity to successfully work in anyone simply because of arrogance. Arrogance destroys capacity for life and especially capacity for prosperity.

  Then Paul goes on to say, PHI 4:12 "In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret or I have been initiated,"

  The Greek word here memuemai means to be initiated into a fraternity, to learn the secrets of that fraternity, and to endure the testings of that fraternity. The Church is the fraternity, and we are initiated through learning Bible doctrine and enduring in suffering for blessing.

Phi 4:12 "In any and every circumstance, I have been initiated, both how to be filled, how to be hungry, how to be prosperous, and how to suffer need."

  Both categories, "How to be prosperous and how to suffer need," are necessary for the advance to spiritual maturity and the fulfillment of the PPOG.

  Paul attained the fantastic point of having God's perfect happiness in every possible circumstance through maximum use of divine power.

  PHI 4:13 "I have the power to attain all things through Him [God the Father] who makes me strong."

  "I have the power" is a reference to the availability of divine omnipotence for the execution of the PPOG. It is a reference to the same power available to us in the great power experiment of the Church-age as Christ used on the cross. He was able to remain perfect, though judged for all the sins of the world, because He was sustained by the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit and because He had perfect happiness, the greatest of all problem-solving devices.

  Your strength depends on you learning that God's power, in three categories (omnipotence of the Father, omnipotence of the Son, and omnipotence of the Spirit), is available to you. It's important for you to attain perfect happiness through the perception of doctrine. Utilizing the perfect happiness of God is the only way to die and the only way to live. Perfect happiness actually equates living with dying for the believer. In any and every circumstance, the believer who has advanced to spiritual adulthood has perfect happiness.

  That's why Paul said in PHI 1:21, "For me, living is Christ and dying is profit."

  In PHI 4:13 "I have the power to attain all things," "all things" refer to the three stages of spiritual adulthood, the great problem-solving devices, and the mature believer's tremendous invisible impact on history.

  Perfect happiness is increased at each stage, but the believer must continue to learn and apply doctrine. Every believer has the same opportunity to attain the same spiritual adulthood and perfect happiness and invisible impact.

  The source of this power is the Father in PHI 4:13, "I can do all things through Him." "Through Him" in the original Greek is en plus the instrumental of agency which expresses the personal agency of God the Father.

  The same power available to our Lord in the dispensation of the hypostatic union is now available to us.

Phi 4:13 "I have the power to attain all things through Him [God the Father] who makes me strong."

  The word for strength is the present active participle of endunamoo which is endunamounti which can be translated either "through Him who makes me strong," or "through Him who pours the power into me." God the Father makes this power available to us.

 

Principles concerning happiness and contentment:

1) True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, and to rest satisfied with what we have. The person with true happiness needs nothing more to make him happy.

2) The greatest blessing a person can experience, the perfect happiness of God in the soul, is within our reach. The wise person is content with who he is and what he has, without wishing for anything else.

3) Happiness is actually the absence of the striving for happiness. For many individuals, contentment consists not in adding more fuel, but in taking away some fire. There is no end of craving and desiring things when you are a carnal believer.

4) While dreams and goals that we eagerly pursue bring little happiness when we achieve them, most of our pleasures in life come from unexpected sources.

  And that's because God knows what will really make us happy, not us!

  The book of Proverbs was basically written by Solomon, but the 30th chapter of Proverbs was written by a man named Agur.

  As Agur watched Solomon he realized that Solomon was rich beyond belief. Solomon got trapped into accumulating more and more riches, so he kept marrying foreign wives to bring in more treasure and more treasure, until he brought Israel into idolatry and ruined his own life.

  So Agur commented, as a result of watching Solomon, PRO 30:7-9 "Two things I asked of Thee, Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, Lest I be full [rich] and deny Thee and say, 'Who is the Lord?'"

He said "Don't give me too much, I'll tend to deny you! I'll become totally self-sufficient!"

  Having things to look forward to is a major source of happiness, and most of us receive more gratification from the anticipation of things than we do from actually acquiring them. Once we achieve a long sought goal, instead of feeling satisfied, most of us turn our attention to the next item along our road of desire.

5) Some people are obsessed with the desire to possess enough wealth and status to guarantee them happiness. This is a foolish notion. There is not enough wealth and status in the entire world to make even one person happy if that person cannot be happy without it. If we want to be happy we must accept the fact that happiness is a journey, not a destination. It is a journey with no regrets, guilt, shame and embarrassment because there is in clarity of mind. Happiness is a method of life; it is more of a way of travel than a destination.

Rom 14:22 "Happiness belongs to that person who does not condemn himself in what he approves."

  Freedom from guilt and condemnation is thrilling and fulfilling and absolutely essential to mental health and happiness. For any man to be happy it is necessary for him to be mentally faithful to himself.

6) True courage means to bear difficulties, heartaches and pain without letting it spoil your happiness. Remember that no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. It is wise for us to forget past troubles because there are always new ones to replace them.

7) Contentment is natural wealth; luxury is artificial poverty.

William Shakespeare said "My crown is in my heart, not on my head, Nor decked with diamonds and Indian stones, Nor to be seen: My crown is called content: A crown it is, that seldom kings enjoy."

  To expect anything from this world is to expect to be fed by an illusion. Every path we follow in this world leads to exactly the same place: frustration and disappointment. Nothing here is permanent, and the only way a believer can find a contented and fulfilling life is through Bible doctrine.

 

Point 9. The Concept of Self-Contained Happiness.

  Most people have become slaves to a system of dependency which says in effect happiness or unhappiness depends on the circumstances of life. People believe that pleasant circumstances bring happiness and adverse circumstances bring unhappiness. Therefore, happiness has become very fragile because people are depending on something or someone else to make them happy.

  For most people, an instant change of circumstances means a rapid transition from happiness to unhappiness. People are dependent on overt circumstances for entertainment and subsequent happiness. That's why stability in society is disappearing because there is a lack of self-contained happiness.

  Self-contained happiness is that contentment or delight, that active or passive state of pleasure and satisfaction, that rest without stress, which is resident in a person at all times regardless of the circumstances of life.

  Self-contained happiness depends on the believer providing his own happiness through his own right priorities and consistent perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine. Self-contained happiness is similar to sharing the happiness of God. You are responsible for your own happiness, and nothing outside of you is responsible for that happiness. If you are unhappy, look to yourself rather than to entertainment, social life, romance, etc. Self-contained happiness is inner happiness and it goes with you as a constant companion. Therefore, you can rise above your circumstances. You are not dependent upon circumstances, pleasure, or pleasant things for your happiness, because you are sharing the happiness of God.

  Self-contained happiness does not depend on someone else making you happy by their presence, approbation, attractiveness, attention, or love for you. Your basic happiness and contentment must depend on divine viewpoint, so that if their approbation, attention, or love turns to disapproval, you remain in a state of contentment.

  Self-contained happiness is a fantastic dimension of the Christian way of life. It has capacity for appreciation of the love, kindness, thoughtfulness of others. It has the ability to cope with all the categories of adversity, such as rejection, disappointment, antagonism, maligning, judging, slander, hatred, conspiracy, and all other interaction problems with others.

  Self-contained happiness is a Biblical subject as part of the predesigned plan of God for the Church-age. Self-contained happiness is related to the filling of the Spirit and cognition of Bible doctrine through the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. Self-contained happiness is mandated as one of the believer's problem-solving devices.

Phi 3:1 "Finally, my brethren, keep on having happiness in the Lord."

  Self-contained happiness begins at the point of spiritual self-esteem, continues with growing force when you attain spiritual autonomy, and is stabilized and perpetuated as a means of coping with everything in life once you reach spiritual maturity.

Phi 4:4 "Keep on having happiness in the Lord at all times. Once more I repeat this mandate: keep on having happiness."

  Self-contained happiness is the greatest problem-solving device related to self; for it does not depend on health, success, pleasure, approbation, sex, social life, money, or anything else for its function.

1Ti 6:6 "But godliness [life in the PPOG] is a means of great profit when accompanied by contentment."

  Contentment is self-contained happiness.

 1Ti 6:7-8 "For we have brought nothing into this world, and it is obvious that we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and shelter, we shall be content with these."

  Self-contained happiness enhances all other problem-solving devices.

  It enhances the faith-rest drill in PSA 146:5 "Happiness belongs to the one whose confidence is in the Lord."

  It enhances occupation with Christ in PSA 128:1 "How happy is everyone who is occupied with the Lord, who walks in His ways."

  A believer living in self-contained happiness is on the road to glory, the glorification of God through the execution of the PPOG for the Church.

  Occupation with the Lord emphasizes Bible doctrine as the number one priority in life. Sharing the thinking of Christ as well as the happiness of Christ is the key to happiness which will give you the ability to cope with any adversity in life.

  Self-contained happiness not only motivates personal love for God but the function of impersonal love for all mankind.

  Self-contained happiness is a part of the great virtue of the Christian way of life. Self-contained happiness emphasizes grace-orientation. So when you're happy within yourself, you're able to treat others correctly. Remember MAT 19:19 "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

  Self-contained happiness is not only a problem-solving device in itself, but it contributes to the poise that goes with a personal sense of destiny.

Heb 13:5 "Let your lifestyle be free from the love of money and be content with what you have; for He himself has said, 'I will never leave you, nor will I ever forsake you.'"

  Self-contained happiness is a problem-solving device in adversity.

Jam 1:2 "Consider it all happiness, my brethren, when you encounter various testings."

  Self-contained happiness means refreshment from God from the inner resources of Bible doctrine.

1Pe 4:14 "If you are reproached because of the person of Christ, you are happy, because the Spirit of glory and of God refreshes you."

1Pe 3:14 "But if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are happy. Therefore, do not fear what they fear, and do not let yourself be intimidated."

  When you let yourself be intimidated by anything or anyone in life, you lack self-contained happiness. Self-contained happiness overcomes fear and intimidation.

1Jo 1:4 "In fact we write these things that our joy may be brought to completion." Joy is brought to completion by entering the door of hope on God's agenda.

  Self-contained happiness is the endowment of Bible doctrine.

Col 1:10-11 "That you might in a manner worthy of the Lord, bearing fruit in every good of intrinsic value achievement; in fact, growing by means of metabolized doctrine from God. Because you have been endowed with all divine power from that superior power of His glory, resulting in all endurance and patience associated with self-contained happiness."

 

Point 10. The Characteristics of Happiness.

A) Perfect happiness is tranquility of soul.

B) Perfect happiness is a problem-solving device preventing stress in the soul.

C) Perfect happiness is contentment of soul.

D) Perfect happiness is capacity for life, love, appreciation, gratitude, and thanksgiving.

E) Perfect happiness is never feeling threatened by adverse circumstances, by people, or by evil scenarios.

F) Perfect happiness is the invigoration of happiness.

  This is the stimulation and enthusiasm in life from right priorities, metabolized doctrine circulating in the soul and freedom from garbage in the subconscious.

G) Perfect happiness is having a true sense of security, like assurance regarding eternal security, eternal life, freedom from fear, worry, doubt, and apprehension.

  So, as a part of God's grace policy, God has found a way to share His happiness with the believer, a happiness which never depends on people or circumstances, a happiness which works for the believer in both prosperity and adversity.

 

Relationships in Happiness:

1) Perfect happiness is related to the function of perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine, PRO 3:13.

2) Perfect happiness is related to grace function in the life, or the function of the royal family honor code, PRO 14:21. You are happy when you live and let live. When you despise the sins of others you make yourself miserable.

3) Perfect happiness is related to spiritual maturity, PSA 146:5, Pro 16:20, 28:14.

4) Perfect happiness is related to supergrace prosperity, PSA 128:1-4.

5) Perfect happiness is related to ultra supergrace, 1PE 3:14; 1PE 4:14.

6) Perfect happiness is related to the conscience of the mature believer, ROM 14:22.

  If you persevere with your spiritual advance in spite of the criticism of others, you will enjoy perfect happiness. However, you will lose that happiness if you allow their criticism to distract you from your dedication to Bible doctrine.

7) Entrance into the plan of God at salvation is the beginning of grace function and happiness from God, PSA 9:14. Eternal salvation and eternal security are often associated with happiness.

8) Perfect happiness is related to the believer's recovery from carnality and reversionism, PSA 51:12.

9) Perfect happiness is related to Bible doctrine in the soul of believers, NEH 12:43.

 

 

Review

 

The concept of God's perfect happiness (+H), John 15:11, These things I have spoken to you so that My joy [happiness] may be in you, and that your ^bjoy [happiness] may be made full. (NASB).  In other words: "I have taught you these things that My happiness or contentment might be in you, and that your happiness might be fulfilled." Part of the legacy of the Lord for the Royal family is that we might have the same happiness that He had in His Deity and humanity. His happiness (+H) comes through the perception of doctrine: "I have taught you these things."

The source of +H is taught in Proverbs 3:13, How blessed [happy] is the man who finds wisdom And the man who gains understanding. NASB. Happiness belongs to the person who finds wisdom, even to the person who gains understanding.

Wisdom is the application of metabolized doctrine.

Understanding refers to perception and metabolization [believing & understanding] of doctrine.

1 John 1:4, And these things we write, so that our state of happiness might be completed. [corrected translation]

 

1 John 1:4 And these things we write to you ^kthat ¹your joy may be full. NKJV - John and the other apostles are delighted when those they have led to Christ, or nurtured in the faith, are true to the faith. If the present letter succeeds in encouraging the readers to “let that abide in [them] which [they] heard from the beginning” (2:24), the joy of the readers will be full.

 

True joy is gained through knowing Christ and God the Father through the apostles. Churches today need to respect for the importance of divine truth, along with a rejection of doctrinal error. GNTC

 

The mandate [command with impowerment] for +H [Perfect Happyness of God], Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my beloved and ^alonged-for brethren, ^bmy joy [happiness] and crown, so ^cstand fast in the Lord, beloved [NKJV]. In other words, keep on having happiness in the Lord at all times. Once more I repeat the command: Keep on having happiness.

 

Philippians 4:1  Paul closes this section by reaffirming his affection for the Philippians and reminding them that, since they are citizens of heaven now and will be glorified there with Jesus someday, they should be firm in their commitment to Christ. GNTC

Happiness is related to Grace Orientation, Psalm 31:7  I will be glad [happy] and rejoice in Your mercy, [NKJV] in other words, I will rejoice and be happy in Your grace.

Jesus Christ has always had +H, 1 Timothy 6:15 which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed [happy] and only ⁵Potentate, the King of kings [^MT of the ones ruling] and Lord of lords [^MT of the ones exercising lordship], [NKJV]  He who is the happy and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

 

1 Timothy 6:15, 16: God will manifest the return of Christ in his own time. This will happen at a specific point in time that Jesus declared was known only to the father (see Acts 1:6, 7). The last half of v. 15 and all of v. 16 form the doxology of praise to the Lord Jesus. Immortality may also be translated “without death.”  Jesus is God and therefore can never die. Nelson Study Bible Notes.

Jesus Christ used +H at the Cross, Hebrews 12:2, fixing our eyes on Jesus [looking unto Jesus], the ¹author and ²finisher of our faith, ^dwho for the joy [happiness]  that was set before Him ^eendured the cross, despising the shame, and ^fhas sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [corrected translation] So, be concentrating on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our doctrine, who because of His exhibited happiness, He endured the cross, having disregarded the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

This happiness reaches its peak in Occupation with Christ, Psalm 128.1 Blessed ^ais every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways. [NKJV]  How happy is the believer who is occupied with the Lord.

Like Occupation with Christ, +H equates adversity with prosperity, and living with dying, Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. [NKJV]   For me living is Christ, and dying is profit.

 

Philippians 1:21-22 - Paul considers his life to be the very person of Christ (cf. Gal 2:20). But if he is executed, he knows he will instantly be with the Lord. For Paul, this is the better prospect. But he knows that if God chooses to spare him, his life and ministry will be fruitful. For that reason it is difficult for him to state a preference. GNTC

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Problem Solving Solution Number Ten: Occupation with Christ.

 

Occupation with Christ is the highest of the problem-solving solutions in the Christian life.

These problem-solving solutions are used in undeserved suffering for the attainment of Spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is arrived at through combining the three stages of Spiritual adulthood [spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, spiritual maturity] with suffering for blessing.

Spiritual self-esteem plus providential preventative suffering [undeserved suffering] equals Spiritual autonomy.

 

Preventative suffering has two categories:

1. Providential preventative suffering [undeserved suffering]: this is short-termed suffering from the sovereignty of God for the benefit of the believer.

“Therefore I am well content with weaknesses [preventative suffering, like Pauls condition and my own], with insults [slander and people testing], with distresses [thought testing], with persecutions [system testing], with difficulties [disaster testing], for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2Cor 12:10 - NASB).  This all comes with consistently abiding in Christ all the way to spiritual maturity and beyond.

GNTC: 2 Corinthians 12:10 - Because of this perspective Paul is able to take pleasure in infirmities [feebleness, frailty, unhealthy or debilitated state, a defect in personality or weakness of will], reproaches [taking on or expressing blame, criticisms], in needs [the lack of being supplied his needs], in persecutions [being verbally abused, ill-treated, treated cruelly], in distresses [anxiety or mental suffering]. He knows that all these things are for Christ’s sake. Paul could take pleasure in all these things because he had learned that when he was weak, then he is strong. His personal weakness is overshadowed by Christ’s strength.

2. Punitive [punishment] preventative suffering: this is related to sin. It punishes the guilty and warns the tempted believer to resist the temptation and avoid the sin or the flaw.

Spiritual autonomy plus momentum testing equals Spiritual maturity.

 

Spiritual autonomy is a continuation of contentment or +H (sharing the happiness of God) as a major problem-solving solution. In spiritual autonomy the believer has become spiritually self-sustained having maximum personal love, including impersonal love for God and impersonal unconditional love for all mankind. It is the second stage of spiritual adulthood.

 

Momentum testing is the grace gift of God under the category of invisible assets known as undeserved suffering. Momentum testing is for the believer who has achieved the first stage of spiritual growth, spiritual self-esteem, and has passed providential preventative suffering [underserved suffering]. Because of this the believer has advanced to the second stage of spiritual growth known as spiritual autonomy and it is here that the believer has gained enough wisdom to have the capacity to pass momentum testing. There are four categories to momentum testing, which are; people testing, thought testing, system testing and disaster testing.

Spiritual maturity plus evidence testing equals glorification of God to the maximum during life on this earth under the Pre-deisigned Plan of God.

 

Spiritual maturity is the third and final stage of spiritual maturity. It is accomplished by the believer who has advanced in the spiritual life by executing the predesigned plan of God in his or her own dispensation [in our case, it’s the church age]. This high ground of spiritual maturity is attained after the believer passes many tests of undeserved suffering and the various momentum tests. Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with sinless perfection, which cannot ever be realized in this life, but is characterized by virtue developed by an attitude of perseverance despite many failures. The mature believer has attained to the measure of the fullness of Christ, EPH 4:13. The life of the mature believer is also known as the super-grace life, JAM 4:6.

 

Evidence testing is Satan's cross-examination of every witness presented by God in the historical trial of all fallen angels. Only mature believers have the capacity to be presented as witnesses. In human history, man's thoughts, motives, decisions, and actions are entered as evidence, exhibits, precedents, and arguments in Satan's appeal trial.  Every believer who attains spiritual maturity is an argument or witness for the Prosecution against Satan.

Occupation with Christ is the ultimate problem-solving solution. It prevents the outside pressure of adversity from being converted into the inside pressure of stress in the soul.

 

Occupation with Christ is the tenth and greatest problem-solving solution and one of three problem-solving solutions related to virtue-love. Occupation with Christ is the maximum function of perception, metabolization, and application; i.e., learning doctrine on a daily basis so that you advance to spiritual adulthood, becoming conformed to the image of Christ. Occupation with Christ is defined as personal love for God the Son caused by perception, metabolization, and application, which manifests the fact that the mystery doctrine of the Church-age has been and continues to be the #1 priority in your life.

There are three stages of spiritual adulthood.

1) Spiritual self-esteem is cognitive self-confidence.

 

Spiritual self-esteem is cognitive self-confidence and the beginning of effective function of the ten problem-solving devices of the pre-designed plan of God for the Church. It is that virtue of God’s plan whereby the believer’s confidence is based on Bible doctrine; and the believer’s respect for self is linked to grace-orientation. Spiritual self-esteem is the believer’s dependence on God’s grace provision for stabilizing self and integrating self into God’s plan for the Church-age believer, EPH 3:12. Spiritual self-esteem is the foundation for the stability of the Christian life, and it is the believer's dependence on God's grace provision for stabilizing self and integrating self into the predesigned plan of God. This is the first stage of spiritual adulthood.

 

2) Spiritual autonomy is cognitive independence.

 

Spiritual autonomy is a continuation of contentment or +H (sharing the happiness of God) as a major problem-solving device. In spiritual autonomy the believer has become spiritually self sustained having maximum love for God and impersonal unconditional love for all mankind. It is the second stage of spiritual adulthood.

3) Spiritual maturity is the status of invisible heroship and the maximum function of occupation with Christ.

 

Invisible Hero: The purpose of the great power experiment of the Church-age is to manufacture invisible heroes.  The Old Testament had visible heroes but the Church is the dispensation of invisible heroes who are the product of Bible doctrine, especially the mystery doctrine of the Church-age, and the filling of the Holy Spirit. The invisible hero is the believer who advances to spiritual maturity, executes the pre-designed plan of God, and glorifies God to the maximum by receiving his escrow blessings for time and eternity. The invisible hero has the privilege of going through evidence testing as a star witness for the prosecution in the angelic conflict and he will be labeled “winner” at the judgment seat of Christ.

 

Occupation with Christ is the tenth and greatest problem-solving solution and one of three problem-solving solutions related to virtue-love. Occupation with Christ is the maximum function of perception, metabolization, and application; i.e., learning doctrine on a daily basis so that you advance to spiritual adulthood, becoming conformed to the image of Christ. Occupation with Christ is defined as personal love for God the Son caused by perception, metabolization, and application, which manifests the fact that the mystery doctrine of the Church-age has been and continues to be the #1 priority in your life.

Ephesians 3:17, So that Christ may be at home in your right lobes through doctrine when you have been rooted and established in virtue-love [personal love for Christ]. Christ is at home in your hearts [thinking] through doctrine.

 

 

The following link is an additional gospel message describing

how one can receive God’s free gift of eternal life: Ticket to Heaven

was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.