The time period when Jesus was born and had His earthly ministry.
1st and 2nd Advents of Jesus
When Jesus first came to walk on this earth, that was the 1st Advent. When He returns to destroy the nations who are about to invade Israel, that will be the 2nd Advent.
This is when a foreign nation comes in and rule over the country which is under discipline. These stages of discipline were devised primarily for nation Israel, but there is some application to us today.
This is the stage of discipline God brings upon Israel when the people are removed from the land and taken into slavery by some foreign power.
A contract made between God and Abram.
This is the period of time in history where God works through believers in nation Israel. God also worked through the Abraham and those descended from him until nation Israel was established.
The time period during which Jesus Christ walked upon this earth. This dispensation acted as a hinge between the Church Age and the Age of Israel.
This is when a man of wealth selects someone outside of his own family to take control of the family fortune. In such a case, the man of wealth either lacks natural heirs or his natural heirs are a bunch of layabouts and degenerates.
Before man was created, God had created angels, and some of these angels sinned against God. This conflict, which we cannot see, is a conflict that we are a part of, and our spiritual lives in particular are directly to the Angelic Conflict. See the Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict.
During human history, there is another conflict being played out and tied to human history, which is call the Angelic Conflict. This began with the fall of Satan and has flowed into our own lives since Satan tempted the first woman to sin against God. The two primary objectives of Satan with respect to man are (1) to keep people from believing in Jesus Christ and (2) to keep believers from growing spiritually and participating in the production of divine good.
Before man was created, God created billions of angels. Satan sinned against God and a third of the angels went with Satan (these are known as the fallen angels). Satan has been sentenced to eternity in the Lake of Fire, but this sentence has not been carried out yet, presumably because Satan has lodged many objections. Man was created in order to resolve the Angelic Conflict.
The angelic conflict is the result of prehistoric creatures being in opposition to God. It
began with the independence and rebellion of the one who was the Messiah's angel,
Satan, and it continues throughout human history until the end of the Millennium. The
angelic conflict answers many basic questions about life, such as - "Why was man
created? Why sin? Why is there chaos on earth? Why is there so much suffering?
Why did our Lord Jesus Christ have to go to the cross?"
The Angelic Conflict is an invisible war which is taking place which involves God, the elect angels and the fallen angels. Man was created to resolve the Angelic Conflict.
There is a great unseen war which is going on between fallen and elect angels. This has been going on since the fall of Satan known as the Angelic Conflict. We, as having volition, will resolve the Angelic Conflict.
Before man was created, God had created angels, and some of these angels sinned against God. This conflict, which we cannot see, is a conflict that we are a part of, and our spiritual lives in particular are directly to the Angelic Conflict.
The angelic conflict is an intense war on the part of the fallen angels to further their cause by producing a creature incapable of being saved-part angel and part man, killing the humanity of Christ, inducing Christ to sin, somehow keeping man from accepting Christ as Savior, and causing sweeping Christian apostasy.
Prior to the creation of man, there were billions of beings created called angels. A third of these angels fell by sinning against God and were sentenced to death. Satan appealed this sentence and we are now in the appeals phase of this conflict.
An anthropomorphism simply assigns human actions characteristics to non-human things and events (in this case, God) in order to better explain something (in Psalm 20:2, this better explains God’s sustenance and faithfulness).
An anthropopathism is taking an easily understood emotion or action that man has or does and attributing that emotion or action to God, to explain God’s thinking and action in language of accommodation. One might view this is somewhat of a shortcut when speaking about God.
This is the assignment of human feelings, passions or characteristics to God, attributing to Him feelings or characteristics which He does not possess. This often helps to explain God’s actions in human terms.
This is where a person rebels against societal norms and standards, to the point where, if society classifies some as right, he questions it; if society classifies something as wrong, he does it. He looks at other people who adhere to these rules with disdain and sees them as inferiors. A great many filmmakers suffer from this sort of arrogance. They attempt, in their films, to continually push the envelope when it comes to societal mores. Because they question society’s conventions, they see themselves as superior and insightful to those who abide by them. However, from time to time, they we latch on to an axiom of counter-culture morality and display it with great self-righteousness (such as, tolerance).
A type is a person, thing or circumstance which looks forward into the future and finds its fulfillment in an antitype, which may be a person, thing or circumstance. Example: Moses striking the rock and from it flows waters of life is a type; Christ being judged on the cross for our sins and from Him flows living waters is the antitype.
This is the science which shows Christianity and the Bible to be logical and reasonable.
See interlocking systems of arrogance below.
Arrogance Complex (Also known as the interlocking systems of arrogance)
The interlocking systems of arrogance refers to many clusters of sins which have a tendency to interlock with one another. That is, a believer who goes into interlocking systems of arrogance through one gate (or entrance), is likely to interlock with another cluster of sins if he remains out of fellowship. We have simple examples of this in life. A person might begin to smoke marijuana, which is illegal. Some time later, he may become involved in anti-authority actions, extreme liberal philosophy and politics, and break more and greater laws. He may involve himself with a woman with the same weaknesses, and they become involved in sexual arrogance together (his norms and standards being wiped out by his changing mores). He enters in the gate of smoking marijuana which makes him vulnerable to a number of other clusters of sins.
The idea of atonement is not full and complete forgiveness, but a covering over of the sins committed. Psalm 65:3: When iniquities prevail against me, You [God] atone for [or, cover over] our transgressions. Atonement is a temporary measure. Sins are temporarily covered over.
In authority arrogance, the individual fails to make the most difficult transition of temporal life, which is going from the authority in the home to freedom in life. The home is organized humility. The parents' authority is enforced humility, and the child's response to enforced humility produces genuine humility. Rejection of overt authority in life results in rejection of inward authority of the soul, and that destroys your own self-discipline.
Biblical inspiration may be defined as human authors wrote as moved by the Holy Spirit,
so that, without waving their human intelligence, their vocabulary, their personal
feelings, their literary style, their personality, their environmental influences or their
individuality, they recorded God’s complete and connected message to man with perfect
accuracy in the original languages of Scripture, the very words bearing the authority of
divine authorship.
The is known as the verbal, plenary view of inspiration.
Friends and relatives and associates of a spiritually mature believer receive some overflow of blessing from that believer.
Carnality is the opposite of spiritually. A person who is carnal has sinned, and is therefore out of fellowship with God. When such a one names his sin or sins to God, he is restored to fellowship and he is spiritual once again.
This is a format where the first passage can be matched to the final passage; the second passage can be matched to the second-to-the-last passage, etc. It is called a chiasmos (or, chiasmus) based upon the letter chi (Χ). Many times, this structure can be used to find the key element of the psalm or to rearrange the psalm.
A chiasmos (also spelled chiasmus) is the way that some portions of the Bible are organized. It takes its name from the Greek letter chi (χ). The first section matches with the last, the second with the second-to-the-last, etc. It is called a chiasmss, because the inverted parallelism looks like a chi (actually, half a chi) when one sees it from its organizational standpoint.
A chiasmos organizes a passage, so that there is a parallel with the beginning of the chiasmos with the end of it; the second portion of the passage finds its match in the second to the last portion of the passage; etc.
This is a psalm where the first passage can be matched to the final passage; the second passage can be matched to the second-to-the-last passage, etc. It is called a chiasmos (or, chiasmus) based upon the letter chi (Χ). Many times, this structure can be used to find the key element of the psalm or to rearrange the psalm.
A Christophany is an appearance by Jesus after the resurrection
The period of time in history where God works through the body of believers, also known as the church.
An operation sponsored or conducted by governmental departments or agencies in such
a way as to assure secrecy or concealment. A clandestine operation differs from a
covert operation in that emphasis is placed on concealment of the operation rather than
on concealment of the identity of the sponsor. In special operations, an activity may be
both covert and clandestine and may focus equally on operational considerations and
intelligence-related activities.
Client-Nation, is a national entity in which a certain number of spiritually mature Christians (the salt of the earth) have formed a pivot sufficient to sustain the nation and through which God specifically protects this nation so that believers can fulfill the divine mandates of evangelism, communication and custodianship of Bible doctrine, providing a haven for Jews, and sending missionaries abroad. The United States is a client-nation to God. A client nation must have freedom: Freedom to seek God, freedom to use one’s own volition and self-determination to succeed or fail, freedom from anarchy and tyranny, freedom for evangelism, freedom for believers to hear Bible teaching without government interference and, therefore, to grow spiritually, and freedom to send missionaries to other nations.
A genealogy where the patriarch is named along with several of his sons and several of their sons. Generally, this is only for 3 or 4 generations.
To compartmentalize means to put or divide into (compartments, categories, etc.), especially to an excessive degree. Compartmentalization arrogance takes this concept to the nth degree.
Conspiracy arrogance results in a conspiracy to overthrow the purpose, policy, or authority of an organization.
The term "cosmic system" refers to Satan's plan and process for controlling the world, and his attempt, using his organization of fallen angels, to counteract the plan of God in all respects.
A person’s viewpoint is confused with the thinking of Satan, who thinks in terms of human viewpoint, lies, and legalism. This is exactly the opposite thinking of the gospel, Bible doctrine, and the laws of divine establishment.
Cosmic thinking is the way that Satan thinks; it is the opposite of thinking like God thinks.
Those military, paramilitary, political, economic, psychological, and civic actions taken by a government to counter the activities of rebels, guerrillas, etc.
One of the most prevalent theories in Christianity; that God has replaced Israel with the church and that the promises made to Israel have been spiritualized and made to the church instead. This is a false theory.
The general idea is that man has a relationship to God based upon covenants, or contracts, which is not disputed by theologians. Covenant theology takes this one step further and says that the entirety of the Bible can be interpreted within the framework of covenants, which position is disputed.
This is the incorrect interpretation of Scripture that Israel failed so many times before God that God finally just gave up on them and transferred all of His promises over to the church. Many churches and denominations hold to this theology. The over-arching view opposed to this is dispensationalism.
Criminal arrogance seeks to solve problems by violence and/or by criminal actions. The modus operandi of a person in criminal arrogance is criminal behavior. Believers are susceptible to this kind of arrogance just as unbelievers are.
Crusader arrogance is the self-righteousness arrogance that tries to straighten the world from its error and mistakes. A person places his personal standards above the law or any form of establishment or authority. When criminal arrogance interlocks with crusader arrogance, there is terrorism or revolution.
A national entity which is a client nation to God is under both God’s protection and His discipline (much like the individual believer). As a nation moves further and further from God, God may impose disciplinary measures on that nation, which include economic disaster, illness, civil unrest, military defeat, and even invasion which may include a slavery or dispersion of the people. These cycles are found in Lev. 26. Although these warnings are designed for Israel, all client nations to God may face similar downward historical trends.
A covenant (contract, agreement) which God makes with David which include the
promise that David would have a Son Who would rule over Israel forever and that Israel
would occupy a huge chunk of land (today, the equivalent of Israel, Jordan, Syria and
Iraq, as well as portions of the Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia). This covenant is
eternal and unconditional.
Being involved in a set of sins which are both addictive and can become very time consuming. In many cases, such sins can take over a person’s life.
Spending a significant portion of your life pursing this or that degeneracy sin—whether it is the use of drugs, alcohol, chasing women, and/or having sex (with either gender). All of this takes time and planning out of your life, which takes valuable time from your place in God’s plan. This can be applied to any addictive sin (e.g., gambling).
We all face personal disasters (disease, loss of loved ones) and many of us face natural (hurricanes, floods, tornadoes) and national disasters (violence, terrorism, war). When we apply Bible doctrine from our souls to such a crisis, our spiritual growth is accelerated.
An over-arching view of God’s relationship to man; that God has, at different times in history, used different entities (Israel, the church) to move His plan forward. Sometimes an era is defined by God’s use of these different entities.
The over-arching theological view that God has slightly different programs from one era to the next. All of His promises to Abraham and to Israel will be fulfilled, even though God has temporarily set the Jewish race aside as His representatives here on earth.
A period of time wherein God’s plan for that period of time is very specific and different from other periods of time. That is, the rules for the Church Age are different than rules for the Age of Israel.
A dispensation is a period of time in which God has a specific plan for spirituality, evangelization, judgment, and the writing, preservation and dissemination of His Word. The Greek noun which is occasionally translated dispensation does not mean this exactly; although it has come to mean a specific period of time as defined by God. The Greek noun is oikonomia (οἰκονομία) [pronounced oy-koh-nohm-EE-uh]; which specifically means the administration or management of a household. The idea is, those administering God’s household here on earth change from time to time. Strong’s #3622.
A reference to the different game plans which God has for various periods of time in history.
A Dispensation is a period of human history expressed from Divine viewpoint (God's point of view). Dispensations give us the Divine outline of human history.
A dispensation is a period of human history expressed in terms of divine revelation. God programmed human history as a series of five unique dispensations or ages: The Age of the Gentiles (from the creation of Adam to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt), the Age of
Israel (from the Exodus to the First Advent of Christ plus the seven years of the Tribulation), the Age of the Hypostatic Union (Christ’s life on earth, from His birth to His ascension), the Church Age (our present age which will end at the Rapture—also known as the Exit Resurrection), and the Millennium (the one thousand year reign of Christ). Consecutive dispensations reflect the unfolding of God’s plan for mankind and constitute the divine viewpoint and theological interpretation of history.
Also known as the Age of Israel, the Jewish Dispensation, the Age of the Jews, etc. This was the time period between Abraham and Christ. During this time, nearly all of the Old Testament was composed (Job and the first dozen or so chapters of Genesis may have been written prior to the Age of Israel). God worked through individual Jews and corporately through the nation Israel.
This was a very short dispensation when the God-man, Jesus Christ, was on this earth. There were aspects of the Jewish Age and the Church Age which were true at this time. Jesus Christ test drove the spiritual life for us in the Church Age; His power was based upon the power of the Holy Spirit, just as ours is. Even though many of the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were still occurring, they were in the background. What Jesus said and did took precedence over all Old Testament ritual.
The time that Jesus was in bodily form on this earth. This formed somewhat of a hinge between the Age of Israel and the Church Age.
A distich [pronounced DIHS-tihk] is a couplet or pair of verses or lines, usually read as a unit., which fit well together into a psalm. The book of Proverbs is chapter after chapter of distichs.
The Divine Decree of God refers to his eternal, holy, wise and sovereign purpose. God simultaneously comprehended all things that ever were or ever would be. He comprehended every event that would ever take place, along with its causes and interaction with other events, and he knew in eternity past every decision mankind would ever make.
The Decree of God is His eternal and immutable will with regard to all future events, and the precise manner and order of their occurrence (Eph. 1:11: Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose Who works all things after the counsel of His will). The word ‘Decree’ refers to the eternal plan by which God has rendered all of the events of the universe as certain. This includes past, present and future angelic and human history. The Decree of God is the chosen and adopted plan of God for all of His works. It is His eternal purpose according to the counsels of His own will whereby, for His own glory, He has foreordained all that will ever come to pass.
This is thinking the way that God thinks about things, generally in relationship to man’s relationship to other men.
This is good which is completely in accordance with the plan of God. In order for a person to do acts of divine good, they must be in fellowship and be thinking Bible doctrine. As a result, that which they do is divine good and moves the plan of God forward.
That which the believer produces while filled with the Holy Spirit. A mature believer will produce more divine good and more efficiently than an immature believer.
A divine institution speaks of the absolute social structures that have been instituted by
God for the entire human race—for believers and unbelievers alike. The term divine
emphasizes the fact that they have their origin in God. These are social structures that
have been built into creation and into the nature of man by God. These divine
institutions provide protection, perpetuation, orderly function, survival and blessing of
the human race, and allow for the teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
These are the things which God gives to the believer in the Church Age at the point of salvation. We have the ability to comprehend with all saints the nature of the plan of God and our place in it. We have the power of God the Holy Spirit (think of this as having power tools as opposed to having regular tools and no strength). We have the ability to grow spiritually and to make a difference in this world with the assets that God has given us.
God’s thinking.
A doctrinal rationale is when you take doctrine that is in your soul and you come to a conclusion concerning the circumstances in your life, so that you are able to depend upon God’s promised provisions instead of spending time in worry or fear.
The believer, in his mind, puts together some doctrinal principles and/or verses which deal with his current problem, and he depends upon these principles.
This is taking information from the Word of God and developing a logical rationale as to how God will deal with you in certain circumstances. For instance, we know that God must provide for our needs while we are here on this earth, so that we do not need to worry about what we should eat or what we should wear. God knows about these things and made provision for them in eternity past.
You understand, from Bible doctrine, the thinking, character and actions of God, and are able to apply God’s essence and function to your day to day life.
Documentary Hypothesis simply asserts that the Pentateuch was not authored by Moses but written 1000 years after Moses by several authors who wrote portions here and there and then other men have performed extensive revisions and editing after them.
This is the concept that the Scriptures were written by men concerning actual historical events; and by God the Holy Spirit, Who, at times, has a purpose in recording that particular event, often using it as a prophecy or as a type to be fulfilled by our Lord. Therefore, there is a literal understanding of Psalm 41:9 (Even this man I believed to be looking out for my welfare and prosperity—a man whom I trusted; a man who took meals with me—his heel has been lifted up against me.), as well as an application of this verse by Jesus to His betrayal by Judas.
Individually edification refers to the spiritual growth of the positive believer, and/or momentum in the Christian way of life. Hence, the individual connotation edification complex refers to the execution of the protocol plan of God and the subsequent manufacture of the "invisible hero," resulting in the glorification of God.
The Edification Complex of the Soul is an illustration developed and named by R. B. Thieme, Jr. It is a “building” which is constructed within the soul to illustrate spiritual growth and what sorts of things have been attained by a person who is spiritually mature.
"Edification" in the Greek is oikodomê (οἰκοδομη), which means a building or structure. The edification of the soul is accomplished by a building, or Edification Complex, that is constructed in the soul of the believer through the metabolization of Bible Doctrine.
We build within our own souls a structure based upon doctrine from the Word of God. This structure gives us the very framework from which our lives are defined, guided and made content. More info is found here (there is a second part to this lesson as well):
http://www.gracedoctrine.org/word/Doctrines/Edification%20Complex%20of%20the%20Soul,%20Part%201.htm
This is an illustration of building a structure in the soul; this structure indicates spiritual maturity.
An ellipsis means that there is an intention gap left in the writing (or speaking), and the
reader fills in this gap himself. This omission arises not from any want of thought, or
lack of care, or from accident, but from design, in order that we may not stop to think or,
or lay stress on, the word or thought omitted, but may dwell on the other words which
are thus emphasized by the omission.
Emotional arrogance is where you allow your emotions to dominate your life, and you will set aside truth (in any of the 3 categories) in order to satiate your own emotions.
The emotional revolt of the soul is the condition of the soul when the soul’s self-consciousness makes decisions because it has yielded itself to a strong emotional state.
Enforced humility emphasizes the function of the particular authority within the societal organization. This one causes people some problems because here is where the teeth of authority begin to be felt. Because mankind is inherently sinful, when God delegated responsibility and authority in the realm of Divine Establishment, he also had to include the means to compel obedience.
Enforced humility is when you are forced to obey the proper authorities. Whether it is
a parent standing over you with a switch
or the police car behind you, you bend your
behavior to what is expected, even though your volition desires to do just the opposite.
Genuine humility is, you choose to do those things required by authority.
Epistemological rehabilitation is the perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine to your own experience (2Cor. 6:11-12). The end result is the renovation of one’s thinking (Rom. 12:1–2).
God places certain blessings into escrow for us, so that, when we perform certain actions, these blessings are released to us. The parallel is to the of the purchase of a house where everything is placed in escrow until the buyer and seller have performed certain functions, which then transfers the house from the ownership of the seller to the ownership of the buyer.
Time is an invention of God, and we find ourselves within the concept of time. However, prior to God inventing time, there is, what we call, eternity past, a time and place, if you will, before time and place existed. It is here when God made the Divine Decree (above).
Evil is the thinking, strategy and plan of Satan. Evil may include sin and human good.
The word “Evil” has a distinct technical and categorical meaning in the Word of God. It
is not simply a generic word referring to anything that is bad or sinful. The word “Evil”
refers specifically to the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world. Evil is the modus
operandi of Satan from the time of his fall throughout the angelic revolution and down
to the point when be became the ruler of the world.
This definition is probably right out
of R. B. Thieme, Jr.’s notes.
Faith-Rest is taking the promises from the Bible and mixing them with faith. This approach to life is characterized by a moment-by-moment tranquillity, happiness, and stability, even when you are in the midst of pressure, adversity, and disaster.
Faith-rest is placing your trust in God, in His Word, in His promises or in Bible doctrine, and you step back and allow God to keep His Word, or fulfill His promises, or vindicate the doctrine which is in your soul.
The 4th stage of national discipline is when a foreign country comes in and both taxes and rules over the priest nation to God.
The 5th stage of national discipline involves complete loss of personal and national sovereignty, the destruction of the family and the nation. Offerings to God are unacceptable. Nations which have undergone this destruction have experienced slavery, cannibalism, and the assimilation of its surviving citizens into other cultures.
The fifth cycle of discipline involves complete loss of personal and national sovereignty, the destruction of the family and the nation. Offerings to God are unacceptable. Nations which have undergone this destruction have experienced slavery, cannibalism, and the assimilation of its surviving citizens into other cultures.
A flying column is a force of troops equipped and organized to move swiftly and independently of a principal unit to which it is attached. It is also a very mobile military organization which engages in guerilla tactics.
GAP is an acronym for grace apparatus for perception. The idea is, God has made it possible for all believers, no matter what their IQ, to take in doctrine and to understand doctrine. Any believer, no matter what his or her IQ, can grow spiritually; and their spiritual growth is never hampered by their IQ (although, some high IQ types may try to over think a doctrine or find some clever way to justify some personal sin or failing, and fail to grow in that area).
This is a short and clever reference to the generation of the Exodus. I was going to try to represent this as Gen Ex, but that looked too much like I was just naming the first two books of the Bible. At least with Gen X, most understand that we are speaking of a specific generation. Gen X stands for generation exodus; the generation of adults who left Egypt. Their children with them and the children born in the wilderness will be called the generation of promise.
These are the Israelites who will actually go into the Land of Promise and take it (which process is described in the first half of the book of Joshua). They were under the age of 20 at leaving Egypt in the exodus and some of them were born in the desert-wilderness, either as sons of Gen X-ers or as sons of the generation of promise.
Quite obviously, it would have been cooler to refer the second generation as GOP, but that designation may not have as easily contributed to your understanding of the 2nd generation.
Genuine humility denotes the positive response to authority by the one under authority. Whereas in Enforced Humility we looked at humility from the standpoint of the one in authority, we now look at humility from the standpoint of the one under authority. If a person is properly oriented to authority, and has cultivated the habit of humility, his expression of humility will be genuine-not forced.
A word or phrase added in by way of explanation by a later author (or copyist). I include in this those people who might relay this narrative verbally.
A gloss is simply taking the name of a place in one era and identifying it with the same place under a new name in a later era, so that the reader knows where the area is.
Grace is all that God has done to bring fallen and sinful man into a just, perfect, and eternal relationship with Himself, without compromising His divine attributes and totally apart from human merit and works.
Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind on the basis of the work of Jesus Christ
on the Cross. Grace is undeserved mercy and unmerited favor from God to us. Grace
is the title of God's plan and His policy for mankind. Orientation is defined as
familiarization with a particular person, thing or field of knowledge. To orient means to
set right by adjusting to facts or principles; to put oneself into correct position or relation
or to acquaint oneself with the existing situation. Grace orientation, therefore, means
to become familiar with God's grace plan and grace policies by adjusting to the facts
and principles found in the Word of God, which puts you in correct relation to God and
others. You will never be grace-oriented until you understand that your personal sins
don't condemn you. Adam's original sin, which was imputed to you at birth, is what
condemns you (spiritual death). This means that God's grace was operational when He
imputed Adam's original sin to you, because condemnation must precede salvation.
This is just another part of God's ingenious grace plan of salvation.
That which is done when out of fellowship, but is not sin. These acts are often in accordance with Satan’s strategy and plan, thought by some to be good. Giving your time or money to a global warming organization would be an example of human good. All human good will be burned at the Judgment Seat of Christ (1Cor. 3:11–15).
Human good is what does not move the plan of God forward. This is anything done in the power of the flesh. This means that (1) a person is not in fellowship or (2) they are not thinking Bible doctrine. It is possible for the exact same act to be divine good on one day and human good on the next (such as, tossing a $20 bill into the offering basket when it comes around).
This is what is produced by the area of strength in the sin nature. Human good might be deficit neutral (e.g., giving money to your church when out of fellowship) or create a deficit in the life of an unbeliever (e.g., an unbeliever who spends his life fighting for social and economic justice).
Acts which society may see as being good, but things which have no eternal value. For instance, a person may want to give one of Al Gore’s carbon credit companies money to pay for “carbon usage,” and then Al sends out one of his minions to go plant a tree. There are people who would praise this as a great act of self sacrifice, but it means nothing to God.
Man’s thinking apart from Bible doctrine.
In the person of Jesus Christ since His physical birth [incarnation], there are two natures, undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. These two natures—human and divine—remain distinct and are inseparably united without mixture or loss of identity, without loss or transfer of attributes. This means that the Lord Jesus Christ is just as much God as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and at the same time He is also just as much human as you and I. He is undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. This union is known as the hypostatic union.
The two natures of Christ maintain their complete identity while being joined in personal union forever. The characteristics of His human nature belong to the human part of Him; the characteristics of His divine nature belong to the God part of Him. Each nature has its own attributes that adhere to that nature. In other words, there is no mixture of the two natures. He is never half-God and half-man or half-man and half-God..
Iconoclastic arrogance is idolizing a person, which person is then mentally destroyed by the admirer's own disillusionment because a flaw in that person is discovered.
This is also known as the feet of clay syndrome. One person builds up this great, unrealistic image of a second person, often out of arrogance. This often happens in love, where one person or the other is unable to really see or understand the sin nature of the one they love. Suddenly, the person who built up this image sees the feet of clay in the other person, and they are angry and they, in arrogance, smash this image.
Loving others on the basis of your own character and not on the basis of their failings and shortcomings. This is called agape love in the Bible.
God the Holy Spirit so supernaturally directed the human writers of Scripture, that without waving their human intelligence, individuality, literary style, personal feelings or any other human factor, His own complete and coherent message to man was recorded in perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture, the very words bearing the authority of divine authorship. The literary style of the human author would include a variety of literary devices and figures of speech. Furthermore, there is nothing in the definition of inspiration which precludes the human authors or even God the Holy Spirit from making use of literary devices.
The sins committed require extensive discipline. Instead of delivering the discipline all at once, God delivers the discipline in several parts (installments).
Our sins and often our addictions can be so great, that God cannot simply discipline us and we start from zero again. God has to, on several occasions subsequent to confessing our sins to God, make us face the results of our sins, to the point where we choose God over our addiction. This is how David was cured from his sexual addiction.
Because of the quality of David’s soul, God will only be able to turn him around by
putting David under great pressure 4 times, each of which relates back to his sins of
2Sam. 11. This will be covered in greater detail under David’s Soul and the Harsh
Discipline of God (this represents an update from R. B. Thieme, Jr.’s 1980's era
Doctrine of Installment Discipline
).
When you have sinned, and God begins to discipline you, you go through 3 stages: (1) warning discipline (God lets you know that you have sinned and you need to get back into fellowship); (2) intensive discipline (God increases or intensifies the discipline to a point where, it really, really hurts); (3) the sin unto death (God begins the process of removing you from this world because you refuse to rebound).
The 1st and 2nd advents of Jesus Christ was taught as one whole event. However, intercalated between these two events is the Church Age.
The interlocking systems of arrogance refers to many clusters of sins which have a tendency to interlock with one another. That is, a believer who goes into interlocking systems of arrogance through one gate (or entrance), is likely to interlock with another cluster of sins if he remains out of fellowship. We have simple examples of this in life. A person might begin to smoke marijuana, which is illegal. Some time later, he may take other drugs (this is why marijuana is often called a gateway drug). He may also become involved in anti-authority actions, extreme liberal philosophy and politics, and break more and greater laws. He may involve himself with a woman with the same weaknesses, and they become involved in sexual arrogance together (his norms and standards being wiped out by his changing mores). He enters in the gate of smoking marijuana which makes him vulnerable to a number of other clusters of sins.
The interlocking systems of arrogance refers to many clusters of sins which have a tendency to interlock with one another. That is, a believer who goes into interlocking systems of arrogance through one gate (or entrance), is likely to interlock with another cluster of sins if he remains out of fellowship.
Also known as the arrogance complex. The interlocking systems of arrogance refers to many clusters of sins which have a tendency to interlock with one another. Entering into this complex is more than carnality and it is different from reversionism. This doctrine is covered in much greater detail in 2Sam. 11 (HTML) (PDF).
Documentary Hypothesis simply asserts that the Pentateuch was not authored by Moses but written 1000 years after Moses by several authors who wrote portions here and there and then other men have performed extensive revisions and editing after them.
The JEPD theory is also called Documentary Hypothesis and Form Criticism. This is
the theory that there were originally two manuscripts which were interwoven to make the
Law of Moses. The writer of one manuscript favored the name Jehovah and the other
favored the name Elohim. A priest later took these two manuscripts and wove them
together, throwing in a lot of pro-priest stuff. Another writer came along later and wrote
Deuteronomy. The basis of this theory is, historians did not believe that writing existed
during the time of Moses. So, if writing did not exist, then Moses could not have written
the Law. If Moses did not write it, then someone else wrote it. After that, they went
bonkers with this theory. Even though archeologists have discovered writing which
predates Moses, this theory persists in hundreds of seminaries throughout the world.
The Satanic purpose of this theory is to question whether Moses wrote the Torah
(Moses’ authorship is attested to in both the Old and New Testaments; and by Jesus).
If Moses did not write the Torah, then the Bible is filled with inaccuracies, meaning it
cannot be the Word of God. Josh McDowell deals with this theory in great detail in his
book, More Evidence Which Demands a Verdict revised and reprinted in The New
Evidence that Demands a Verdict.
The period of time which includes the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob); the nation Israel; and the Tribulation (which takes place at the end of the Church Age).
At the end of the Tribulation, believers will be gathered together and God will test their production with fire. Their human good and evil will be burned; the divine good which they create will remain.
Justification represents that aspect of salvation whereby God qualifies man to have eternal life based on the imputation of God's absolute righteousness based upon faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus voluntarily restricted the use of His Deity when it was not a part of God the Father’s plan.
During the dispensation of the hypostatic union, the doctrine of kenosis tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily restricted the independent use of His divine attributes in compliance with the Father's plan for the Incarnation and the First Advent. This means that Jesus Christ did not use the attributes of His divine nature to benefit Himself, to provide for Himself, to glorify Himself, or to act independently of the plan of God for the Church-age by any compromise of the spiritual life.
Since the world appears to be made up of mostly unbelievers, God must have some kind of plan for the unbelievers while they are alive. These are called the laws of divine establishment, and they are applicable to both believers and unbelievers. These are the laws which protect the freedom of a nation, and allow for evangelism and for the teaching of the Word of God.
These are laws which are devised by God for the human race (for believers and unbelievers alike). The more aligned a country is with these laws, the greater freedom and prosperity that country will enjoy. Furthermore, there will be greater evangelism and Bible teaching which takes place. The further a country strays from these law results in greater tyranny and unhappiness among its population.
These are the laws, principles and morality which God has designed to perpetuate every society or government in such a way that freedom to evangelize, freedom to teach doctrine and the freedom to send out missionaries are maximized.
These are the laws by which all men ought to be governed. Much of the Mosaic Law is divine establishment law.
These are natural laws which apply to people and nations, which cause a nation to be preserved and a people to be perpetuated. These laws are designed for believers and unbelievers alike.
The laws of divine establishment are a system of laws and principles which provide for the preservation as well as for the prosperity of the human race. These laws apply to both believer and unbeliever alike.
A linear genealogy follows one particular line for 5 or more generations. Very rarely is more than one son named in any generation.
Logistical grace is defined as what God has planned for us, the Divine support he gives us, His Divine provision, and his Divine blessing. The result is, we as believers in Jesus Christ are able to execute the plan of God just as logistical support on the battlefield allows an army to defeat the enemy. God does not give us logistical grace because we are nice people or really good Christians; God gives us logistical support because we are believers and He gives this to us for a purpose.
Logistical grace is Life support is provided for every Church Age believer. This explains
how and why we are alive at any given moment. The only reason we are alive is
because of logistical grace. We do not earn it nor do we deserve it. There is no set of
spiritual works which we can accomplish to keep ourselves alive. For all intents and
purposes, this is food, shelter and clothing. The principle was explained by Jesus in
Matt. 6:25-33.
Logistical grace is the divine planning, divine support, divine provision and divine blessing which are designed by God to keep the believer alive so that we can properly execute or fulfill God's plan.
Logistics is the science of the movement, supplying, and maintenance of military forces in the field.
Momentum testing represents a variety of different tests (people testing, system testing, disaster testing, thought testing) which result, ideally, in accelerated spiritual growth.
The Hebrew text of the Old Testament, passed down for many hundreds of years.
Negative volition is resistance to Bible doctrine on the one hand, or indifference to Bible doctrine on the other hand, based on arrogant preoccupation with self. Arrogance preoccupation with self has many aspects, such as a personality conflict with the teacher of doctrine, or self-pity in interaction with people in the congregation. In this state, you are not antagonistic to doctrine, but simply distracted from it by your own status quo of arrogance. For the believer, this is the most damaging arrogance of then all.
Occupation with Christ is a mental attitude by which a Christian believer views all things in life with the Lord Jesus Christ in mind. Occupation with Christ is love for the Son, the 2nd Person of the Trinity, therefore it is the expression of love for God. The Bible commands us to love God, with all our heart, soul and mind. Being occupied with Christ is a great part of our love for God. Therefore, this concept is one of the most important spiritual functions in the Christian life.
Organizational humility focuses on the social structure inside which humility is fostered and developed. All human societies have social structures. No matter how different the cultures are, they are all divided into social structures that exist on different levels.
This is loving a person (or an object) because of their attractiveness to you. Obviously, God is always deserving of our personal love, and people gain our personal love from time to time.
A person so in tune with the will of God (by means of knowledge of doctrine), that they understand their reason for being alive and they execute the plan of God almost as if God were whispering into their ear what to do (God does not whisper into anyone’s ears today).
Every believer, as a member of the body of Christ and the Royal family of God, has a destiny. This starts at the moment of belief, at the moment of salvation.
Phase I is salvation; phase II is the believer’s life in time, and phase III is eternity (all believers spend eternity with God).
Those people in a national entity who are growing spiritually or who have entered into spiritual maturity.
A pivot it is 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.
In nearly any nation, there will be believers and there will be mature believers (which is called a pivot. If these groups are large enough, a nation will be preserved and, in most cases, greatly prospered. If the pivot is small, or if there are very few mature believers in this pivot, then that nation will go down. The concept of a pivot of believers preserving a nation is found in Gen. 18:22–33 Matt. 5:13.
Believers with doctrine influence a society. A good example of this is the Roman Empire, which began as being very opposed to Christianity, but which became strongly influenced by Christianity. As the Christian Tertullian observed: "We are but of yesterday, yet we fill your cities, islands, forts, towns, councils, even camps, tribes, decuries, the palace, the senate, the forum; we have left you the temples alone." This was accomplished without an armed insurrection against Rome.
The norms and standards of believers in Jesus Christ began to filter into the society. Abraham and his people represented a positive influence on the surrounding areas; Lot and his family had almost no influence whatsoever.
Things which are true of us positionally at the point of salvation. Such as, we are in Christ; because of this, we share His eternal life, His destiny, His righteousness. We may not act very righteous, but his righteousness is imputed to us as a part of positional truth.
A nation which represents God to the world.
A nation which represents God on earth. The United States is such a nation today, although there are attempts at all levels to stop this.
A priest nation is a nation through whom God works. The Word of God will be preserved in a priest nation (and even written in a priest nation); and evangelization will occur both within that priest nation, and men will be sent out to evangelize (like Jonah).
Progressive revelation simply means that God reveals Himself progressively. As we read about God and His decree in the Bible, it is not revealed to us all at once. Although we find suggestions of the Trinity in Gen. 1, it is not until the New Testament that the concept of the Trinity is revealed well enough to more fully comprehend it. God’s grace and judgment, and what He would do about sin, is first mentioned in Gen. 3; further elaborated on when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his firstborn (by Sarah); and fulfilled by the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Progressive revelation means that, each additional truth builds upon, expands, and better explains that which was already taught. New revelation does not supercede, replace or nullify previous revelation, but builds upon that which is past and that which is foundational.
Propitiation means satisfaction or appeasement, specifically towards God. Propitiation
is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross by which He appeases the wrath of God who
would otherwise be offended by our sin and demand that we pay the penalty for it. The
concept of propitiation is often associated with the idea of a substitutionary atonement.
Psychopathic arrogance is total divorcement from all reality. It is a result of bad decisions, not genetics. It is intense concentration on self. Emotions take precedence over reason.
The plan of God rationale, the rebound rationale
This is where you gather a few doctrines which give you confidence in God, God’s plan, and what is gong on around you. Because these rationales are in your soul, you are able to withstand certain pressures. For instance, the plan of God rationale means, all that is in your life is a part of the plan of God. Now, obviously, when you sin, you take yourself out of God’s will, and that is a separate consideration; but when you are filled with the Spirit and advancing spiritually each day through the intake of Bible doctrine, then you are able to evaluate difficulties in your life as being a part of the plan of God. Since these things are a part of the plan of God, then God has given you the wherewithal to endure these difficulties.
The rebound rationale means that, no matter what sin you have committed, you name that sin to God, and you are completely and totally forgiven in time for committing that sin. Therefore, you re-enter the plan of God. Because of the rebound rationale, you do not go back to past sins from 5 or 10 years ago and lament these great sins.
Rebound (Restoration to fellowship with God)
In the New Testament, this is naming your sins to God, so that you are both restored to temporal fellowship with God and are then filled with the Spirit of God. In the Old Testament, naming your sins to God would result in a restoration of fellowship and, in some cases, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit once again (the Holy Spirit was not given to all Old Testament believers).
You get out of fellowship by sinning. You get back into fellowship by naming your known sins to God. God then forgives you for the sins which you named and any other sins which you also committed (1John 1:9). This process is known as rebound.
The act of naming one’s sins to God. You get out of fellowship by sinning; you get back into fellowship by naming those sins (privately) to God.
Temporal restoration to fellowship with God by naming your sins to Him.
Redemption is the saving work of Christ whereby He purchased our freedom from the slave market of sin by means of His death on the cross.
Redemption is the purchase of something. In the Bible, this generally refers to Jesus purchasing us with His blood (i.e., by means of His spiritual death on the cross).
Jesus Christ, by His blood on the cross, has purchased us.
When a believer gives into the lusts of his soul continually, this can change that believer’s soul. Often the result is addictive behavior where a pleasurable addiction takes over the soul. God’s harsh discipline first guides such a believer to restoration to fellowship and then it continues as blessing to cure that addiction.
The Revealed God (or, the Revealed Lord)
We all come to a time of God-consciousness where we understand the concept and possibility of the existence of God. At that point, we face 2 great questions: (1) do we want to know this God and (2) are will willing to believe in God as He has revealed Himself or do we make a god in our own image and worship that?
Getting out of fellowship through sinning, and then remaining out of fellowship for a long time. Often, such a believer reverts to his behavior as an unbeliever. This is called reversionism. This is going further than simple carnality, which is being out of fellowship.
Spiritual decline brought about by rejection of Bible doctrine. This is a reverting to one’s sin pattern before salvation. Sometimes, one develops a sin pattern after being saved.
Either a believer who reverts back to his unbelieving ways; or an unbeliever who, when faced with establishment thinking, returns to ideas he may have rejected in the past (like a dog returning to his vomit).
A state of being or a set of actions where a person reverts back to a former state, habit, belief, or practice of sinning. Reversionism is the status of the believer who fails to execute the plan of God for the Church Age. He returns to his pre-salvation modus operandi and modus vivendi.
The believer reverts back to his sinful habits as an unbeliever with great regularity. This can also refer to a person who is an unbeliever who once embraced divine establishment and now rejects it.
A believer who has reverted back to his unbelieving ways.
The concept that God has provided for almost all people out there the perfect partner (of the opposite gender, of course). This relationship is the basis for much of our enjoyment of life, for believers and unbelievers alike.
Sanctification is a technical theological term for the status quo of the royal family of God in three phases of the plan of God. The term means to be set apart to God for a special purpose. We, the royal family of God, are set apart to God in three ways (at salvation, in our lives, and in the eternal state).
Scar tissue is what develops on the soul as a result of negative volition toward God and/or Bible Doctrine. The heart becomes hardened toward God.
Scar tissue of the soul is also called hardness of the heart, the uncircumcised heart, and
stubbornness of heart. It is a divine judgment of the soul that restricts capacity for life
and love. Unlike divine discipline that produces temporary suffering with no lasting side
effects, scar tissue of the soul leaves a debilitating loss of capacity for life or love.
However, since it is part of the soul's immaterial essence like emotion, it has no known
physical properties. However, it does restrict the capacity of the soul. It blocks Spiritual
light, which leads to affinity to the Cosmic System as well as soulish and physical
ailments. Psychosis and psychopathic personality are examples of scar tissue of the
soul. Although behavior can be altered by psychotherapy and psychiatric drugs, the
only cure for such problems is the divine solution, which requires Rebound and
application of Bible Doctrine.
A Greek translation made of the Old Testament somewhere between 300–100 b.c.
Sexual arrogance is preoccupation with sex and self-gratification. It is preoccupation with the body to the exclusion of the soul.
This is the point where sexual desire overrides all else in a person’s psyche. It overrides reason, compassion, protocol. Just as the drug addict might be willing to do nearly anything for a fix; so the sexually addicted will be willing to do and even risk anything in order to fulfill their lusts. For the sexual addict, the object of his sexual lust is simply an object; his sexual lust does not indicate any sort of love is involved; not even like.
Shock troops are a group of soldiers trained specially for carrying out a sudden assault.
Every believer has a weakness (or, weaknesses) in his (or her) sin nature. When this is placed above Bible doctrine, that is arrogance.
When a believer stays out of fellowship for an extended period of time and consistently acts against the plan of God, God may remove him from this life painfully using discipline that will result in his death.
When a believer continues to sin without rebound and without responding to warning discipline, God will often remove that believer from this life with the sin unto death. This is not a particular sin, but usually a series of sins, which may includes acts of human good and evil.
This is not a particular sin, but the point at which harsh discipline is no longer working on the believer, so God takes the believer out of this world in a very painful way. For more information, see http://gracebiblechurchwichita.org/?page_id=539
We illustrate the doctrine of redemption, is by picturing yourself being sold as a slave in a slave market. You are unable to purchase yourself, as you do not have the wherewithal to purchase yourself. A slave does not have the money to purchase himself (he lacks the coin of the realm, so to speak). Only someone who is not inside of this slave market (a non-slave) can purchase you. No fellow slave can look you over and say, "I'd like to purchase this one." This is because he is in the same boat that you are in. He cannot purchase himself and he certainly cannot purchase you. Jesus Christ does not have a sin nature and He has not committed any personal sins, so that He can purchase us from the slave market of sin.
This concept is actually based upon the real historical example, where God purchased the Israelites from Egypt, and brought them out of bondage.
The proper theological term for the study of salvation.
Often, during a time of national crisis, God promotes one man who, for all intents and purposes, carries his nation on his shoulders. God protects and even prospers a nation based upon the spiritual Atlas of that day. We have historical examples of Israel under Moses, Joshua and David (among many others) and Rome under Paul. In the Church Age, there can be many people who function as spiritual Atlases in any given period of time.
The life that God expects for us to lead. An unbeliever cannot lead a spiritual life.
A national entity which is a client nation to God is under both God’s protection and His discipline (much like the individual believer). As a nation moves further and further from God, God may impose disciplinary measures on that nation, which include economic disaster, illness, civil unrest, military defeat, and even invasion which may include a slavery or dispersion of the people. These cycles are found in Lev. 26. Although these warnings are designed for Israel, all client nations to God may face similar downward historical trends.
God set up a series of stages that He would go through to discipline the nation Israel, which stages are laid out in Lev. 26. See the Doctrine of the Cycles of Discipline.
This is when a nation is controlled and/or taxed by an outside entity.
The fifth cycle of discipline involves complete loss of personal and national sovereignty, the destruction of the family and the nation. Offerings to God are unacceptable. Nations which have undergone this destruction have experienced slavery, cannibalism, and the assimilation of its surviving citizens into other cultures.
This is a term and doctrine, developed by R. B. Thieme, Jr., which indicates a stage of spiritual maturity that some believers attain. Essentially, this is our first stage of spiritual growth and it is based upon the words greater grace as found in James 4:6.
This is a term originated by R. B. Thieme, Jr. to indicate that a person is in spiritual maturity.
A synonym for spiritual maturity. The idea is, God pours out grace and more grace upon the believer.
The is a treaty or contract made between the sovereign ruler of a nation and the people in another location. Often, this contract would demand taxes or some form of remuneration, which brought them both protection from the sovereign and from other foreign powers. It would be the sovereign who proposed the details of the contract.
The science of determining the best reading for any given passage.
A Theophany is an appearance by God, the Revealed Lord, before the incarnation of Jesus.
A type is a preordained representation wherein certain persons, events, and institutions
of the O.T. stand for corresponding persons, events, and institutions of the N.T. Types
are pictures or object lessons by which God has taught His redemptive plan. They are
a shadow of things to come, not the image of those things (Col. 2:17 Heb. 8:5 10:1).
The Mosaic system, for example, was a kind of kindergarten in which God's people
were trained in divine things and taught to look forward to the realities of things yet to
come.
Persons and events often foreshadow future persons and events. The real person or event in the past is called a type; and that which follows it as an historical parallel is it antitype.
A type is a person, a thing or an act which looks forward to Jesus or to Jesus on the cross. For instance, Isaac’s birth was the type; our Lord’s birth was the antitype, which was the fulfillment of the type.
A type is a preordained representation wherein certain persons, events, and institutions
of the O.T. stand for corresponding persons, events, and institutions of the N.T. Types
are pictures or object lessons by which God has taught His redemptive plan. They are
a shadow of things to come, not the image of those things (Col. 2:17 Heb. 8:5 10:1).
See the Doctrine of Typology (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).
Most of the time, a type is an incident, a person, or a symbol of some sort in the Old Testament which generally represents Jesus Christ (the antitype) in the New.
The believer who has reached the first stage of spiritual maturity (supergrace) and has moved forward from there.
That place in the angelic conflict where God places mature believers under maximum testing and pressure. This would include Job, Paul and Moses. 2Tim. 2:10 3:11-12.
Robert McLaughlin does not speak of the continual pressure aspect of this final stage of spiritual development. “Ultra-supergrace is the most advanced stage of spiritual maturity related to time, history, and the angelic conflict. Once the believer breaks the maturity barrier through the daily perception, metabolization, and application of bible doctrine, he moves into different spheres of spiritual maturity.”