Jam 51-59 3/18/90

DOCTRINE OF GOOD (Part 2)

D. Good Related to Christian Service.

1. Introduction.

a. At the moment of salvation, every believer enters into full time Christian service. But first the believer must go through basic training as a baby believer and learn his spiritual skills.

b. The nomenclature “full time Christian service” does not imply the narrow view of being a pastor, evangelist, missionary, a person involved in some kind of Christian service organization, or a teacher in Bible school.

(1) All believers are in full time Christian service all the time they are in fellowship. The ultimate in Christian service is the execution of the protocol plan of God with its invisible impact.

(2) When you become an invisible hero, your production takes quantum leaps over most other so-called Christian service.

(3) As long as you are in union with Christ, you are in full time Christian service.

c. We all have different spiritual gifts, given at salvation by the sovereign decision of God the Holy Spirit, but we are all in full time Christian service.

d. Full time Christian service means a great deal more than spending a maximum amount of time performing good deeds or functioning in some extensive system of works.

e. Full time Christian service means the execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church Age. Every believer is mandated to execute the protocol plan of God. Execution of the protocol plan of God has a far greater impact than the overt good deeds (witnessing, etc.) that are emphasized. We fulfill the protocol plan of God by consistent perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.

f. The invisible part of fruit-bearing is far more important than the function of producing good deeds and Christian service seen by others. The invisible impact of Christian service glorifies God to the maximum, and is the direct result of executing the protocol plan of God for the Church through post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation.

g. Fruit-bearing begins with the things.

(1) Consistent perception of Bible doctrine from whomever is one’s right pastor.

(2) Consistent metabolization of doctrine, which converts GNOSIS type doctrine into EPIGNOSIS type doctrine.

(3) Wisdom, or the application of Bible doctrine to experience. Not all believers have common sense, but all believers can have wisdom.

h. The key to fruit-bearing or full time Christian service is the performance of divine good. Divine good includes every function of the believer that results in fruit-bearing. This includes the attainment of spiritual adulthood, which becomes the greatest motivation for good deeds in Christian service.

i. As a result of the execution of the protocol plan of God, the believer becomes an invisible hero. The invisible hero has maximum fruit- bearing, maximum production of divine good, and invisible production related to the angelic conflict and human history.

j. Spiritual skills must precede production skills for the production of divine good. If spiritual skills are not produced before production skills, then production skills replace spiritual skills with two results.

(1) The creation of spiritual bullies performing dead works. Spiritual bullies always think they are mature when they are not. They come between the believer and the teaching of the Word of God from their right pastor-teacher.

(2) The creation of spiritual withdrawal. Believers either automatically assume they are losers and can do nothing about it (if they do anything at all, it is dead works), or they use sinful motivation to parlay good into evil.

k. Principles of Fruit-bearing.

(1) Fruit-bearing is never a means, but always a result of spiritual progress and growth.

(2) Therefore, fruit-bearing is the result of spiritual skills, not production skills. Production skills are merely the vehicle by which spiritual skills operate to produce divine good.

(3) The performance of divine good in Christian service is the result of spiritual skills, but never the means. Many think that if you are out doing great things for God, you are a spiritual person. It is the filling of the Holy Spirit and the cognition of doctrine that makes for a great spiritual person, not hustling for God.

(4) The performance of divine good in Christian service is the result of momentum from metabolized doctrine, and not working for God.

(5) In the performance of divine good, it is not what you do that counts, but your status quo as a believer related to the standards of Bible doctrine. The quality of your Christian service is based on status.

(6) Therefore, cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine must precede effective and accurate Christian service, i.e., the performance of divine good.

(7) The development of production skills before spiritual skills results in production skills taking over your life. When production skills take over your life there are at least four major disasters.

(a) You produce dead works to be burnt at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

(b) Failure to execute the protocol plan of God, and therefore, failure to glorify God.

(d) Failure to achieve maximum invisible production in the Christian life.

2. Maximum production in Christian service begins with spiritual adulthood. All good deeds are a result of Bible doctrine in the right lobe, which is required for spiritual adulthood. Spiritual adulthood exists in three categories: spiritual self-esteem; spiritual autonomy; and, spiritual maturity. As a result of the attainment of spiritual adulthood, the production of the believer advances in quantum leaps.

a. Christian service is related to spiritual self-esteem.

(1) Good deeds and Christian service are a result of spiritual wisdom. Wisdom is metabolized doctrine accumulated in the frame of reference, so that it becomes a part of the memory center, so that it establishes a vocabulary and categorical storage, which construct norms and standards in the conscience for both momentum and one’s own personal application of doctrine to experience.

(2) Most people think that the application of doctrine is doing something. But the major area of application of doctrine is decision making. There cannot be good decision making without good motivation. You cannot have good motivation without maximum doctrine in the conscience of the soul.

(3) In spiritual self-esteem, more fruit-bearing or production of divine good results from developing spiritual skills. More fruit-bearing is related to a true personal sense of destiny and grace orientation which avoids wrong motivation, self-righteous arrogance, crusader arrogance, and Christian activism.

(4) Spiritual self-esteem is the status of stabilized, Christ-centered priorities, in which love for God the Father reverses the wrong priorities of putting production skills before spiritual skills.

(5) Spiritual self-esteem qualifies the believer to pass providential preventative suffering, which increases capacity for divine good, especially in the sphere of invisible impact.

b. Christian service is related to spiritual autonomy.

(1) There is a greater production of divine good in the status of spiritual autonomy because the spiritual skills are more highly developed. Furthermore, the mental stability factor is increased. Therefore, the quality and quantity of production both increase.

(2) In spiritual autonomy, you more and greater divine viewpoint Bible doctrine standards. Therefore, you have a greater support system for good decisions from a position of strength.

(3) Spiritual autonomy means that Jesus Christ becomes your best friend, so that dependence on people is replaced with dependence on our Lord Jesus Christ. Putting people before Bible doctrine is not just a wrong priority, it precludes the attainment of spiritual self-esteem and spiritual autonomy, so that the believer will never glorify God by Bible standards.

(4) With the maximum use of the problem solving devices, the believer in spiritual autonomy is able to pass the four momentum tests: people testing, system testing, thought testing, and disaster testing.

(a) The first two categories teach the lessons of never depending on people.

(b) The last two categories teach the importance of Bible doctrine in the right lobe of your soul.

(5) Spiritual autonomy means the believer has right motivation resulting in right decisions and right production. God has provided the right means (divine power and ability) for meeting divine standards in the production of divine good. The production of divine good demands that a right thing must be done in a right way. The right way is always the filling of the Holy Spirit, cognition of doctrine, and the advance to spiritual adulthood.

(6) Personal control of your life in spiritual autonomy means that your life functions under spiritual skills preceding production skills.

(a) Personal control means one life and one priesthood. One life and one priesthood means every believer must take responsibility for his own decisions from his own norms and standards. This means that you cannot help people by giving them your solution from your doctrinal standards in your soul.

(b) Let others learn from their own doctrine. If they have none, then the challenge is for them to learn doctrine. Every believer must take the responsibility for his own decisions.

© Personal counseling causes the believer to depend on your doctrinal norms, your conscience. You may not have good doctrinal norms and standards. Personal counseling causes the believer to depend on you, and not on their own doctrine. He can never solve his own problems; he is walking on crutches.

(d) Spiritual autonomy applies doctrine to self, so that doctrine expands in the life to the point of occupation with Christ. You cannot apply your doctrine to others without destroying that doctrine in your own soul. You cannot apply your doctrine to others and pass momentum testing. People testing is often the temptation to run the lives of others. You cannot transfer your doctrine to others without losing it from your own soul. The only true application of doctrine is pastor to congregation; and then, congregation to self. God did not design Bible doctrine for you to apply it to other people’s lives for them.

(e) The only dependence in the Christian life is dependence on God’s Word and the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. When believers begin to control others lives, they create a false dependency.

(f) It is the pastor’s responsibility to expose the dead works of dependency on others, Eph 5:11. “Also, you members of the congregation, stop participating in the useless deeds of darkness [dead works and evil], but instead, even you pastors, expound and expose it.”

(g) Personal control of your life in spiritual adulthood means avoidance of gossip, slander, maligning and judging others. It means refraining from interfering in the lives of others.

(h) You cannot control and maintain the spiritual lives of others and at the same time control and maintain your own spiritual life. You cannot create dependence in others without destroying your own dependence on Bible doctrine.

(i) There are ten taboos in creating dependence in others.

i. You shall not counsel others.

ii. You shall not tell others how to run their lives.

iii. You shall not tell others how to conduct their marriage.

iv. You shall not tell parents how to rear their children.

v. You shall not malign or criticize parents to children or children to parents, wives to husbands or husbands to wives.

vi. You shall keep your nose clean by keeping it out of other people’s business.

vii. You shall not establish yourself as an expert in interpersonal relationships of life; for you are not.

viii. You shall recognize your own limitations.

ix. You shall regard the opinions of God over your own opinions.

Ÿ You shall learn the virtue of silence.

(7) Once you reach spiritual autonomy, you have learned that you cannot give your doctrine to others, because they do not have your frame of reference, your conscience, or your problem solving devices.

(a) Spiritual autonomy encourages other believers to make Bible doctrine their number one priority rather than trying to control others.

(b) You cannot barrow someone else’s doctrine and use it effectively in your own life. You have neither the frame of reference, the conscience, or the problem solving devices of the other believer. You are dependent on what you have learned from the Word of God.

(8) Spiritual autonomy is spiritual independence. It is the status of being spiritually self-sustaining through the metabolized doctrine in your own soul, so that you can address problems related to yourself, and so that you can handle adverse circumstances as they occur in your life.

(9) Spiritual autonomy is the status of having only one dependency: consistent Bible teaching resident in your soul which has been accumulated from exposure to your right pastor. Spiritual autonomy does not make a role model out of the pastor. It’s not the man, it’s the message.

(10) Spiritual autonomy is the status of knowing your own limitations, your own dependence on Bible doctrine, your own personal love for Jesus Christ, a love which you cannot really share with others. Other believers do not have your frame of reference or capacity to love our Lord Jesus Christ. Each believer has their own personal love for Jesus Christ based on their own doctrine in their own soul.

c. Christian service is related to spiritual maturity.

(1) The characteristics of the spiritually mature believer include:

(a) All of the characteristics of spiritual self- esteem and spiritual autonomy, plus maximum production of good deeds and Christian service.

(b) This greater production follows the principle that spiritual skills precede production skills in the performance of divine good. If spiritual skills are not taught first, then production skills take over and produce only dead works. Spiritual maturity produces maximum divine good because spiritual skills are fully developed and used to the maximum capacity.

(d) The mature believer has maximum production from his or her spiritual gift, royal priesthood, royal ambassadorship, invisible impact, and will be properly related to the laws of divine establishment.

(e) The mature believer has maximum occupation with Christ.

(f) The mature believer functions under objective reality and unique humility, which means he or she makes a role model out of Jesus Christ, and not out of people

(g) The mature believer is free from the pitfalls of blind and subjective arrogance. Hence, leadership replaces manipulation and control of others.

(h) The mature believer lives a life of maximum effectiveness, maximum content and capacity for life, maximum problem solving capabilities, maximum grace orientation to life, maximum use of his or her spiritual gift, maximum production of divine good, maximum invisible impact in human history and the angelic conflict.

(2) Spiritual maturity includes the production of both visible and invisible divine good.

(3) Spiritual maturity has maximum use of the problem solving devices. Therefore, you understand and address all problems related to self. Your momentum has carried you to the point of having a fantastic wisdom in the right lobe of your soul, so that you can make application to all interpersonal relationships, as well as application to other experiential problems.

(4) Spiritual maturity means you can handle the greatest system of suffering: evidence testing. There are two categories of evidence testing.

(a) Relationship with God test, Mt 4:1-11.

(b) Relationship to life test, Job.

3. See the Doctrine of Christian Service.

E. Divine Good and The Protocol Plan.

1. For the production of divine good in the protocol plan of God, spiritual skills must precede production skills.

a. This is because divine good is based on God’s perfect norms and standards. It is, therefore, impossible for the believer to perform divine good in the energy of the flesh, that is, in the status of carnality.

b. This is because production skills without spiritual skills can only perform dead works and evil or both.

c. Spiritual skills include: the filling of the Holy Spirit, cognition of Bible doctrine, and the execution of the protocol plan of God. This is the sequence in which spiritual skills come to the believer through the grace of God.

d. Baby believers do not need to get involved in works, but need to learn doctrine until they have advanced beyond babyhood. It is rare for any baby believer to understand and use the rebound technique. Therefore, any good deed or Christian service performed by the baby believer is rarely, if ever, divine good.

e. If spiritual skills are not learned first, then production skills will supercede and blot out spiritual skills. The inevitable result is lack of growth in the baby and adolescent believer.

f. The first purpose of the filling of the Spirit is perception of doctrine, not the production of divine good. Even if the filling of the Spirit is understood along with rebound, the major purpose of the filling of the Spirit is being ignored by the “after doctrine” crowd.

(1) The primary purpose of the filling of the Holy Spirit is to learn Bible doctrine from one’s own right pastor before becoming involved in doing any kind of good deeds and the function of Christian service.

(2) While the filling of the Spirit is the source of performance of divine good, it must not and cannot be divorced from spiritual growth. The filling of the Spirit is the status for the circulation of metabolized doctrine in the right lobe of the soul.

(3) The first purpose of the filling of the Holy Spirit is so that the Holy Spirit can teach the human spirit, in order that the believer has cognition of doctrine. Cognition of doctrine is the second spiritual skill.

2. There are three stages of spiritual growth and spheres of visible production in the protocol plan of God: spiritual babyhood; spiritual adolescence; and, spiritual adulthood. There are also three stages of spiritual adulthood: spiritual self-esteem; spiritual autonomy; and, spiritual maturity.

a. To execute the protocol plan of God the believer must pass through all three stages of spiritual adulthood.

b. In spiritual babyhood, the filling of the Holy Spirit should be for one purpose: to learn Bible doctrine, so that you combine the first and second spiritual skills for your first production. 1 Pet 2:2, “As new born babies, desire the pure milk of the Word [basic doctrines], so that by it you may be caused to grow up as a result of salvation.”

(1) Your first objective in the Christian life is to grow up spiritually, not to go out and produce good works. The emphasis is on learning, not working.

(2) Believers who do not learn the rebound technique never recover the filling of the Spirit and have no capability of learning doctrine and growing up spiritually.

(3) The first result of salvation is spiritual growth; not the function of works, good deeds, or Christian service. If you start with works, your spiritual life is ruined.

(4) Spiritual growth combines the first two spiritual skills.

(5) To avoid dead works, new believers must be trained in the spiritual skills before they are exposed to the challenge of good deeds and Christian service.

c. The second stage of growth is spiritual adolescence in which there is still limited production of divine good.

d. It is the third stage of spiritual growth which has the fantastic results in the production of divine good.

e. In each stage of spiritual adulthood, there is produced an increased increment of divine good. But all increments of divine good are visible. The increase of function is due to the increase of growth.

3. Maximum fruit-bearing or divine good includes both visible and invisible divine good.

a. You produce visible divine good as you continue to grow to spiritual autonomy, but you do not produce invisible divine good until you reach spiritual maturity. Only the mature believer, the invisible hero, produces invisible divine good through the execution of the protocol plan of God. This is the third spiritual skill.

(1) Dead works do not glorify God.

(2) To avoid dead works, the believer must be consistent in post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation.

(3) To get involved in works as a believer in childhood or adolescence means the performance of dead works and the failure to glorify God.

(4) Beyond doctrine, there is nothing but dead works. Therefore, when any pastor or believer seeks to involve you in some form of works without doctrine, it is the blind leading the blind, and both fall into the ditch of dead works.

(5) There is no excuse for any believer to fail to execute the protocol plan of God.

b. Two categories of maximum divine good are produced in the status of spiritual maturity: maximum visible divine good; and, maximum invisible divine good.

c. There is no invisible divine good in the life until the believer executes the protocol plan of God. Visible divine good can be performed on a limited basis in spiritual childhood, and as you grow spiritually, you have much more visible divine good. But the greatest divine good you will ever perform is invisible, and the dividing line is spiritual maturity.

d. Up to the point of spiritual autonomy all divine good is visible and formed by the filling of the Holy Spirit and cognition of doctrine.

(1) The quantity of visible divine good increases with spiritual growth from perception, metabolization and application of doctrine.

(2) The quantity of visible divine good advances from more fruit-bearing in spiritual self-esteem to much more fruit-bearing in spiritual autonomy.

(3) Maximum production of divine good is reserved for the status of spiritual maturity. In spiritual maturity, believer has executed the protocol plan of God, glorified God as an invisible hero, and utilized all three spiritual skills. In spiritual maturity, the believer has added a new dimension to the production of divine good; and the new dimension is invisible impact. Add to this maximum performance of divine good in the following visible categories:

(a) Christian service in the function of one’s spiritual gifts.

(b) Christian service in the function of your royal priesthood.

(d) Christian service in the function of the laws of divine establishment.

(4) Maximum production of divine good comes from maximum metabolized doctrine in the right lobe of the believer’s soul.

e. The invisible and the visible combine in a magnificent way, so that when you stand in a resurrection body before Christ at the Judgment Seat of Christ, you will have fantastic escrow blessings that will last forever.

F. Divine Good and Cognition of Doctrine.

1. What is the precedence for divine good? At salvation we have a precedence for divine good, Eph 2:10, “We are His creation, having been created in Christ Jesus for good of intrinsic value deeds, which God has prepared in advance, that we should walk by means of them.”

a. As a new spiritual species, we can produce what no unbeliever could ever produce in the field of works or good deeds; a spiritual production far beyond any system of good deeds the world has ever known.

b. The new spiritual species is created to use grace provision from God for the production of divine good. But the production of divine good comes after you reach spiritual maturity.

c. Divine good production is the only legitimate system of works in the protocol plan of God. Human good can be performed in relationship to the laws of divine establishment, and such human good is acceptable to God; but it does not meet divine standards. Only what God has provided for us in grace meets divine standards; and He has provided for us the Holy Spirit, Bible doctrine, and the protocol plan.

d. All divine good that will ever be performed in the history of the human race was prepared by God in eternity past. Why?

(1) Because knew every thought, decision, or action that we would ever make. God provided everything in advance in grace, so that we could meet divine standards and have a unique production as believers.

(2) Our portfolio of invisible assets, prepared for us by God the Father in eternity past, included everything necessary for the performance of divine good. This portfolio excludes human good and human works which are dead works, and often evil.

(3) God, in grace, made it possible for us to use our self- determination to choose His Word, to grow in grace, and to fulfill His plan.

e. Precedence was established at salvation through the exclusion of human good and dead works. This exclusion at salvation is carried into the protocol plan.

(1) 2 Tim 1:9, “Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not on the basis of our works, but according to His own purpose in grace which He gave us in Christ Jesus from all eternity past.”

(2) Tit 3:5, “He saved us, not on the basis of our good deeds which we have done in righteousness, but on the basis of His mercy by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.”

2. All divine good is related to cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine.

a. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that teaches the human spirit, when Bible doctrine is communicated by the gift of pastor-teacher. The result is spiritual phenomena (PNEUMATIKOS in the Greek).

(1) The Holy Spirit then sends PNEUMATIKOS to the left lobe of the soul, where it becomes doctrine which is understood academically (GNOSIS in the Greek).

(2) As soon as the believer believes that doctrine, the Holy Spirit transfers it over to the right lobe of the soul as metabolized doctrine (EPIGNOSIS in the Greek).

(3) The Holy Spirit puts the doctrine into the frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary and categorical storage, conscience, the momentum department, the wisdom department or the launching pad.

(a) When you combine the doctrine in categorical storage and the conscience, you deal with yourself on the basis of doctrine.

(b) You deal with yourself on the basis of either doctrinal norms or carnal norms and standards. If you deal with yourself on the basis of carnal norms and standards, you will never have spiritual self-esteem; and you will react to the lack of spiritual self- esteem by trying to bully others through legalism, or look for someone to compliment you.

b. 2 Tim 3:16-17 tells us what Scripture is: “All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for training in virtue; that the man of God may be complete, capable [and proficient, equipped] for every good deed.”

(1) You will never reach spiritual self-esteem until you can take reproof and correction from the Word of God.

(2) The only training in virtue that counts with God is the training in virtue you receive from doctrine.

(3) Only Bible doctrine can complete us as a believer.

(4) The last thing expected of the believer is works. It is the result of Bible doctrine circulating in the soul. The day you are not doing enough for God is the day Bible doctrine takes second place in your scale of values.

c. Tit 2:7, “In all things, show yourself to be an example of good deeds, by soundness of doctrine, dignified.” Titus was to show himself as an example of good deeds, not by hustling for God, but by soundness of doctrine.

d. Col 1:9-10, “For this reason also, since the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with metabolized doctrine [EPIGNOSIS] of His will by means of all wisdom and spiritual understanding, in order that you might walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing God in all things, bearing fruit in every good work, constantly growing by means of metabolized [EPIGNOSIS] doctrine from the source of God.” It is inevitable that if you put doctrine first, you will have maximum fruit-bearing in your life.

3. God provides in grace the basis for the performance of divine good. 2 Tim 2:21, “Therefore, if any person has cleansed himself from these things [cosmic involvement, evil, and Christian degeneracy], he has become a vessel for honor because he has been sanctified [experiential sanctification], useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work.” Note that the last thing we do is perform good works. Why? You cannot perform good works until you are prepared through the filling of the Spirit and cognition of doctrine. Both are grace procedures.

4. Since the believer must have wisdom, or application of metabolized doctrine for the production of divine good, there must be a point at which the doctrine that circulates in the right lobe begins to perform what is significant.

a. Rom 16:19, “For the report of your obedience has reached all of us; therefore, I am rejoicing over all of you, and I want you to be wise in what is [divine] good, and innocent in what is evil.” You will never be innocent in what is evil if you put works, service, deeds before doctrine.

b. 1 Thes 5:15, “See that no one repays evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all mankind.”

5. Good deeds or divine good must be motivated by impersonal love for all mankind, by personal love for God the Father, by occupation with Christ, by a life of tranquility, by understanding what is a personal sense of destiny. These problem solving devices must be in categorical storage, constantly on red alert to be moved into the conscience to make a good decision. Rom 12:9-21, “Your love must be without hypocrisy. Despise the evil; adhere to the good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; make it a matter of honor to give precedence to others; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit [a soul full of doctrine], serving the Lord; rejoicing in confidence, persevering in pressure, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, pursuing hospitality. Speak well of those who persecute you; speak well and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be thinking the same thing [Bible doctrine] toward each another; do not be thinking in terms of arrogance, but accommodate yourself to the humble [do not be a snob]. Stop being wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil. Respect what is honorable in the sight of all men. If possible, as much as it depends on you, live in harmony with all persons. Stop practicing revenge, beloved, instead give place to the punishment from the justice of God, for it stands written, `Punishment belongs to Me, I will repay says the Lord.’ `But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for by doing this you will pile coals of fire on his head.’ Stop being conquered by evil, but conquer evil by means of good.”

G. The Judgment of Good Deeds.

1. God judges all forms of unbeliever good deeds at the Last Judgment.

a. At the Last Judgment, those who stand there will be judged, not on the basis of their sins, but of their good deeds. Rev 20:11-14, “And I saw a great white throne and He who was sitting on it, from whose presence the earth and heaven have vanished, consequently, no place was found for them. Then I saw the dead, the great ones and the insignificant, standing before the throne. Then the books [the book of works] were opened; first another book was opened, which is the book of life; then the dead were judged from the things which had been written in the books on the basis of their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, also death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; then they were judged, each one on the basis of their deeds. Then death, even Hades, were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death.”

b. Those who believe in Christ do not face this judgment, Jn 3:18. The perfect righteousness of God is imputed to them for salvation.

c. Those who do not believe in Christ or add works to salvation by faith alone are judged, not for sins, but because of their works which are evil, Jn 3:19. All the good deeds of all the human race do not add up to the perfect righteousness of God.

d. Your sins were already judged by God; they will never be mentioned again in judgment.

2. God evaluates all believer’s good deeds at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

a. Both Heb 6:1 and 9:14 teach that the believer can produce dead works. Dead works occur when the believer is out of fellowship. Divine good is produced when the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit.

b. 1 Cor 13:3 illustrates dead works, “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned [martyrdom], but I do not have virtue-love [which comes from the filling of the Holy Spirit], I am nothing.”

c. One way to spot dead works is through the modus vivendi of fanaticism. Fanaticism is generally motivated by some form of arrogance which causes the good deeds to become human good parlayed into evil. Fanaticism is often a sign of self-righteousness, arrogance, legalism which leads to moral degeneracy, or crusader arrogance. Fanaticism is often zeal without knowledge. Fanaticism is excessive enthusiasm without motivational virtue. Fanaticism can be irresponsible arrogance without functional virtue produced through the execution of the protocol plan of God. Fanaticism is arrogant concentration without doctrinal inculcation. Fanaticism is arrogant motivation, misguided zeal, inordinate ambition, humorless bigotry, distortion and misapplication of doctrine. Fanaticism produces human good.

d. The believer’s good deeds are evaluated as to whether they were divine good or dead works. 2 Cor 5:10, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; each one of us that we may be rewarded for our deeds on the basis of what he has done, whether [divine] good or worthless [dead works].”

e. Salvation is the foundation on which the believer builds good works, 1 Cor 3:11-15. “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it will be revealed by fire; in fact, the fire itself will test the quality of each believer’s work. If any believer’s work which he has built on it [the foundation of salvation] remains, he shall receive a reward. If any believer’s production is burned up, he shall suffer loss [of escrow blessing rewards for eternity]; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire.”

(1) Gold, silver, and precious stones refer to divine good.

(2) Wood, hay, and straw refer to human good or dead works.

(3) The day is a reference to the Judgment Seat of Christ.

3. What is the responsibility of the pastor, when it comes to the subject of good deeds and works?

a. It is the responsibility of the pastor-teacher to communicate Bible doctrine, so you can grow up spiritually. He is to teach doctrine, not motivate you to go out and work, work, work.

b. Eph 5:11 says that the pastor has the responsibility of teaching how good is parlayed into dead works and evil, so that you can avoid it. “Also [you members of the congregation] stop participating in the useless deeds of darkness, but instead [you pastors] even expose and expound it.”

c. Through faithful teaching of Bible doctrine, the pastor communicates spiritual skills, so that production skills result.

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