The doctrine of GAP

1. GAP means grace apparatus for perception. Perception means to understand, to know, to be cognisant of doctrine. This is a system of grace inculcation. Therefore we must first of all recognise a fact: no two of us have the same amount of perspicacity, humanly speaking. Spiritual; IQ is the amount of Bible doctrine stored in the human spirit and in the right lobe. It’s stored under the noun in the Hebrew, chakmah, and by the Greek word e)pignwsij. The distinction between human and spiritual IQ is the subject of 1 Corinthians chapter two.

2. Human IQ is never a factor in the function of GAP — other wise God would be unfair. In other words, low IQ is never a handicap in learning doctrine. For this reason every believer in the Church Age has received all the grace help necessary: a) The indwelling of the Holy Spirit; b) The activation of the human spirit at the point of salvation; c) A right pastor-teacher to communicate Bible doctrine.

3. The perceptive lobe, the left lobe, is called the mentality of the soul — nouj. It is generally translated “mind.” The left lobe is the process area for all types of knowledge, whether it is doctrine or any form of human knowledge. In our study of GAP it is the staging area for Bible doctrine. It is also area for all types of knowledge. This lobe is where you first hear doctrine. Remember that gnwsij means to understand or to record in your left lobe what is taught. It doesn’t mean you agree or disagree. It doesn’t mean anything except objective understanding. It is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to take what is taught and make it objective information in your left lobe. You don’t have to agree or disagree, you simply understand it. The danger is to let it hang there. Any doctrine that you understand and hangs in your left lobe can never be applied. Doctrine must be on the launching pad and the question is, how does it get there?

Volition must go into action with regard to this doctrine. Getting doctrine from the left to the right lobe is accomplished by positive volition [pistij, faith] which transfers that doctrine out of the left lobe and into the human spirit as e)pignwsij. But there must be doctrine in the frame of reference, and the doctrine in the frame of reference acts as a vacuum and sucks doctrine from the human spirit into the right lobe. The vacuum pump is constructed on the basis of doctrine. You build doctrine on doctrine, that is why you have to learn basic doctrines first. Once you get basic doctrine in the right lobe then the primer starts the vacuum pump, and the vacuum pump pulls the e)pignwsij into the right lobe. It only pulls up into the right lobe that for which you have a frame of reference. Once it does that, then it goes into your vocabulary. Then from vocabulary you begin to get concepts or categories, and your norms and standards begin to change and they comply with divine norms and standards. All of these feed into the launching pad and that is where you become a doer of the Word. A doer of the Word isn’t a worker, a doer of the Word is a believer with doctrine in the launching pad. 4. Therefore the grace provision for learning Bible doctrine.

a) The formation and the preservation of the canon of scripture. That takes up the doctrine of canonicity and the doctrine of inspiration.

b) A classroom for learning doctrine. The classroom is called the local church. The local church was not designed for raising money, strawberry festivals, and fellowship. The local church was designed to be a classroom, with one teacher and with students without portfolio.

c) The spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. This is a divinely authorised communicator, and there never was and there never will be a pastor who earned or deserved the right to speak. This gift is sovereignly bestowed to many different types of males. No woman ever had the gift and never will have, the pulpit belongs to certain born-again males.

d) The priesthood of the believer for privacy and reception. If you are really going to take in doctrine on an objective basis you must have privacy of the priesthood to do it.

e) The indwelling of the Holy Spirit for the function of GAP — 1 Corinthians 2:9-16; 1 John 2:27. However, the believer must be filled with the Spirit for this to occur — Ephesians 5:18.

f) Grace provision for the filling of the Spirit through the rebound technique.

g) The human spirit as the first target for GAP — Job 32:8; 1 Corinthians 2:12.

h) The provision of the divine laws of establishment whereby the nation protects the freedom and the privacy of the local church.

i) The anatomy of grace whereby certain non-meritorious functions of the body make it possible to think and to concentrate.