Chapter 3
Leadership qualification is the
subject of chapter three. All fields of activity must have leadership norms and
standards, qualifications for moving up, whether it is business or some
profession or any organisation. Even the simplest and smallest of organisations
have leadership norms and standards.
Outline of the chapter
Verses 1-7, the qualification for
highest leadership: the qualifications for pastors.
Verses 8-13, qualifications for
deacons — administrative leadership.
Verses 14-16, authority in the royal
family of God: the authority of the Word, verse 14; the authority of the
pastor-teacher, verse 15; the authority of Jesus Christ, verse 16.
Verse 1 — the principle of
aspiration. Pistoj o(
logoj was
Paul’s favourite hymn. It means “Faithful is the Word.” The hymn has to do with
doctrine and the importance of doctrine. This particular hymn and
fragmentations from it are found in 1 Timothy 1:15; 4:9; Titus 3:8; 2 Timothy
2:11. When we put these together we have to say this has to be the greatest
hymn of the early church. In the first quotation in 1 Timothy 1:15 faithfulness
is related to saving grace. Here is the fragment of the hymn deals with the
communicator of the Word, the pastor-teacher.
After he gives the title of the hymn
he quotes from it:
“If” — the conjunction e)i which introduces a first class condition called a
supposition from the viewpoint of reality. This condition is used when the
writer wishes to assume the reality of his premise. We translate it, “If and it
is true.”
“a man” — the indefinite pronoun tij which is used to represent a certain category of
the royal family of God. This category is top leadership category. It is
covered here from the standpoint of aspiration. Since it is already recognised
that Timothy has the spiritual gift it is going back now and examining his
aspiration.
“desire” is the word of aspiration.
It is the present middle indicative from o)regomai which means to reach out, to aspire to, to seek to attain something
high or great, to seek to attain a place of leadership. The present tense is a
tendencial present, it is used for an action which is purposed or attempted but
right now it is not taking place. The middle voice: the subject acts with a
view towards participating in the results of the action. It is a permissive
middle, it represents the agent as voluntarily yielding himself to the results
of the action or seeking to secure the results of the action in his own
interest. It might be said that this verb comes in at the point at which any
male believer has reached the point of spiritual growth leading to awareness
and aspires to become a pastor.
“the office of a bishop” — the
genitive singular from the noun e)iskopoj from the which we get the
word “Episcopal.” The word e)piskopoj is actually a noun means a
superintendent of a factory, an overseer of a plantation. However, the basic
meaning of the world is guardian. It is used of persons who have a definite
function or a fixed office within a group. The translation “guardian” is the best
here — guardian of the local church. This is one of the many words for the
pastor-teacher and this also is one of the responsibilities of the
pastor-teacher. He is the guardian of the local church: the guardian of the
pulpit, the guardian of the flock. It refers to the pastor of the local church
with emphasis on his policy-making and decision-making function.
“he desireth” — the present active
indicative of e)piqumew. It means to desire or to
long for. The historical present tense is used when a past event is viewed with
the vividness of a present occurrence. So Paul takes Timothy back to his
aspiration days when he came under Paul’s teaching. The active voice: a certain
category of male believer in the local church aspires to the pastoral office
and has the desire for and honourable thing in doing so. Aspiration is related
to having a certain amount of doctrine in the soul. The indicative mood is
declarative for an historical reality.
“a good work” — the word for good is
the objective genitive singular from the adjective kaloj. Kaloj means here “honourable.” The word for “work” is not work at all here,
it is the objective genitive singular from e)rgon
which here means “office.”
Translation: “Faithful is the word,
If anyone aspires to the office of guardian of the local church, he has desired
an honourable office.”
Summary
1. Note that this passage does not
cover the office of guardian of the church from the viewpoint of spiritual gift
— the spiritual gift is pastor-teacher — but from the principle of aspiration.
2. The spiritual gift of
pastor-teacher, the communicating part of the guardian, is sovereignly bestowed
by God the Holy Spirit to certain male believers at the point of salvation.
3. The prerequisite, then, to
aspiration is simply this. Aspiration demands that you have the gift and a
certain amount of doctrine. Aspiration comes as result of spiritual growth, the
consistent function of GAP, the academic discipline of the local church. It is
followed by the individual recognition of possessing the spiritual gift.
4. Possession of the gift is not
enough to reach the pulpit, the office. After aspiration there is still another
stage.
5. One must not only possess the
gift but through maximum doctrine in the soul aspire to the office, and aspiration
becomes the basis for preparing for the ministry.
6. Aspiration becomes motivation for
training, preparation, and provides the self-discipline necessary to attain the
office.
7. This verse 1 recognises that
those who aspire to the office of pastor or guardian of the local church have
previous received the gift at the point of salvation, have previously taken in
a lot of doctrine under the function of GAP, have previously been motivated to
continue until they reach this point. They have endured all of the trials and
testings that God has for them in their preparation.
8. Not all who receive the gift of
pastor-teacher at salvation aspire to attain the office. Lack of aspiration
means lack of doctrine in the soul. It takes doctrine for aspiration. Notice:
Inspiration is not aspiration. Inspiration is a tank full of gas and when you
run out you’ve had it. Aspiration is biblical and doctrinal, inspiration is
emotional. Inspiration is a “preacher boy” walking an isle and saying, ‘God
helping me and in obedience to mother’s prayers I am going into the ministry’!
Inspiration doesn’t mean a thing; aspiration means everything. Aspiration is
the gutting motivation that keeps a person going during his training.
9. Each step of preparation must be
accomplished with large doses of doctrine which identifies the gift, aspires to
the honourable office, motivates the preparation, provides the self-discipline
to complete the preparation for the ministry.
The doctrine of pastor-teacher
1. Definition and concept. Since
every believer is a royal priest it is important to understand the system of
authority which God has ordained for this dispensation. It is the system
whereby God must have the royal family under human authority. There are two
basic systems of authority in this dispensation, the overt authority and the
inner authority. The overt authority is God delegating the authority of
communication of the Word to the pastor-teacher, but the actual authority is
the Word itself. The pastor-teacher is simply authorised by God to communicate
what is found in the scripture. The inner authority is found in the soul of
every believer. it must be subordinated to the higher authority of the
pastor-teacher in the communication of the Word.
2. Nomenclature.
a) The authority of the
pastor is bound up in the noun presbuteroj which is generally
translated “elder.” It should be translated “commanding officer.” And there is
only one. No plurality of elders. The word elder means ‘old man’ or commanding
officer.
b) Poinhnoj kai didaskolouj, the accusative plural from
Ephesians 4:11 — pastor-teacher is the function of the guardian of the local
church or the commanding officer.
c) E)piskopoj which is mistranslated “bishop” — this is the
policy-maker and decision-maker, and it should be translated “guardian.”
d) Diakonoj is often translated “minister” which means a
servant, a waiter. He waits on the flock with Bible doctrine.
3. The purpose of the pastor-teacher
is found in Ephesians 4:12,13 — “For the purpose of training and equipping the
saints [royal family] for combat” — That is the angelic conflict. Remember that
the battleground of this combat is your soul. That means that training and
equipping means to provide doctrine to insulate you against evil and
reversionism; “for the purpose of the vocation of the ministry” — ministers
train potential ministers — “for the purpose of the edification of the body of
Christ [spiritual growth], until we all [the royal family] have attained the
goal of super-grace because of the consistency of doctrine, and the e)pignowsij of the Son of God, with reference to a mature
nobleman, to the standard of maturity which belongs to the fullness of Jesus
Christ.”
4. The function of the
pastor-teacher. Ephesians 3:20,21— a brief statement. The point of these two
verses is that the principle of teaching the Word of God is something that the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself provided for the local church. The public assembly of
the local church is the classroom in this dispensation. The pastor is authorised
to be the professor or communicator and the congregation are students without
portfolio during assembly. The pastor establishes authority by faithful
teaching of the Word of God under ICE principles. You don’t walk in and throw
your weight around, you walk in and establish your weight by your teaching.
Heresies come about by too many lightweights functioning in the pulpit. They’re
light on doctrine, light on exegesis, light on verse-by-verse analysis of the
scripture, and therefore their authority is not established. In every work of
life you establish your authority by your efficiency and professional skill in
the field where the authority should exist.
5. The appointment of the
pastor-teacher. The man who exercises the gift of pastor-teacher was appointed
by God the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation, he did not earn or deserve or
work for it.
6. The principle of right pastor,
right congregation is found in 1 Peter 5:2, “Feed the flock of God among you …
not under compulsion, but voluntarily; not for gain, but for enthusiasm.”
7. The concept of the pastor as the
total product of grace is found in 1 Corinthians 15:10; 1 Timothy 1:12-16.
8. Biblical documentation for the pastor — Ephesians 3:7-13;
Colossians 1:23-29; 1 Timothy 2:24-26; 3:1-9; Titus 1:6-9.
9. In Hebrews 13:7,17 we have two
great passages on the pastor’s authority. Remember that the authority is unique
because it is the only authority not related to the evil of cosmos diabolicus.
10. The reward of the pastor-teacher
is found in Hebrews 6:10; 1 Peter 5:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:19,20; Philippians
4:1.
Verse 2 — The word “bishop” is a
translation of the accusative singular here of e)piskopoj. It looks as though it is in the nominative, but it isn’t because we
are still dealing with the longest accusative of general reference … It goes
with the infinitive e)inai, the infinitive “to
be", and it should be translated “A guardian of the local church.”
“then must be” — the word “then”
is the inferential particle o)un. This is a very strong
inference and therefore it should be “therefore.” This is a post positive
conjunctive inferential particle and therefore it is second, but we will put it
in front: “Therefore the guardian of the local church.” “Must be” — two verbs
here, the impersonal verb dei which connotes compulsion
of duty and the present active infinitive of the verb e)imi. This completes the accusative of general
reference. When you have an infinitive as the verb you often have the subject
in the accusative rather than the nominative because you have a description of
those involved in the action of the verb in a very strong way. While the
infinitive and the accusative with the infinitive is not properly the subject
it does describe the person or persons connected with the subject. Here we have
the guardian of the local church. The pastor-teacher is described as having to
do this, he is duty bound to get involved in this.
“blameless” — this is a part of
that accusative singular of general reference with the verb to be and the
actual substantive itself is quite a long one: a)nepilhmptoj. It means irreproachable or above reproach. It means that the guardian
of the local church must be not in a higher level of conduct but he must be
isolated in a sense from the rest of the congregation because of the nature and
function of his duties. As the guardian of the local church he must have a
maximum amount of time in the Word of God. He must have as quickly as possible
spiritual maturity. This is not a morality word, it is a leadership word for
tops in the profession. The profession here is understanding of the Word, so it
also implies spiritual maturity and compliance with the laws of establishment.
In other words, a minister cannot be a criminal. He must be pro establishment.
That means that all pastor-teachers should political conservatives. They should
also be pro military, pro free enterprise, pro doctrine, and should achieve
super-grace as quickly as possible. This is not a morality word, establishment
takes care of morality. A pastor’s attitude comes from the Word of God, and he
is not a “joiner.” He doesn’t have to join anything. He doesn’t have to lean on
the fellowship of organisations of one kind or another. He must get his
information from the Word and not depend on any organisation.
“the husband of one wife” — miaj gunaikoj a)vdra. This includes the
accusative of general reference from a)nhr plus the genitive singular
of relation of the numeral e(ij plus the genitive singular
of relationship gunh. it can be translated “the
husband of one wife” but it actually means “the man of one woman.” That
allegedly means wife, but it has nothing to do with divorce. Divorce is not an
issue here. The issue at the time this was written was polygamy, so no one can
really be a pastor of a local church and have a number of wives. This is
teaching that you can’t be a pastor and be a polygamist. No man can have a
multiplicity of wives and rule the local church. A man over one wife deals with
a problem which existed in the ancient world.
“vigilant” — nhfalioj means temperate. It is used of someone who drinks
but never drinks too much, never gets drunk.
“sober” — this means sound
mind, the accusative of general reference from the compound noun swfron [swj means sound; frhn means mind]. It means that the pastor must have
good common sense so that the application of doctrine never destroys the
perspective of doctrine, so that whatever advising he has to do it does not get
way out and distort biblical principles, and that it does not lead people into
legalism or any other thing that is false.
“of good behaviour” — kosmioj means honourable. It does not refer to the
behaviour pattern but it refers to the life of the soul in general. We know
this from Plato and Xenephon, both who used this word quite extensively. They
used it for self-discipline — one who disciplines himself and therefore is
regarded as honourable because of his self-discipline. In other words, to be
well-disciplined to the point of being recognised as honourable. Therefore it
should be translated as either “honourable” or “well-disciplined.” The pastor
must be well-disciplined to study and teach, study and teach. This is the way
his honourableness is recognised, his consistency of teaching the Word of God.
Honourable or well-disciplined is the manner in which he establishes his
authority as the pastor.
“given to hospitality” — filocenoj actually means hospitable in the sense of kindness,
generosity in dealing with people. It also connotes concern for members of the
royal family by protecting them from legalism, bullying, false doctrine,
reversionism, and evil. It also emphasises the pastor’s prerogative and
responsibility in protecting the privacy and the freedom of the members of his
congregation. This connotes the idea of live and let live.
“apt to teach” — didaktikoj which means skillful in teaching. This is the
primary function on the guardian of the local church. As the communicator of
Bible doctrine he must be skillful in teaching.
Translation: “The guardian
of the local church therefore must be above reproach, husband of one wife,
temperate, of sound mind, well-disciplined, hospitable [in the sense of live
and let live], skillful in teaching.”
Verse
3 — “Not given to wine.” We have a negative mh
here which is the particle of qualified negation. This is the negative that
leaves the crack in the door. It is in contrast to the o)u or o)uk which is the strong negative that always shuts the
door. The door is not shut in this case. This particle merely denies
subjectivity and it denies with hesitancy, it is the negative which does not
wish to be too positive and it leaves the question open for further remarks or
entreaty. In other words, the negative mh
does not forbid the use of wine but it restricts and qualifies its use. The
Greek word for wine is here a compound noun, paroinoj. It is made up of the preposition para
[beside] and o)inoj [wine], and immediately you
get the picture. It means to be sitting beside your wine; the wine is on the
table and you are sitting beside it. The one who sits beside his wine was the
way it was originally used but it came to mean someone who sits there and drinks
until he becomes quarrelsome or abusive. That is because he has imbibed too
much. Today we would say someone who has a drinking problem. Wine was a very
common beverage in the ancient world, it was never forbidden to believers or
anyone else. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself drank wine. There were
certain restraints which had to be observed because drunkenness is a sin. The
Bible does not command total abstinence from wine. It does command temperance
and judgment in its use. Actually, what we have here is not simply drinking
alone but abusiveness connected with drinking. It should be translated, “Not
abusive drunkenness.”
The doctrine of drinking
1. Drunkenness is always condemned
as a sin — Isaiah 5:11,22; 28:7,8; Proverbs 20:1; 23:20; Romans 13:13; 1
Corinthians 5:11; Ephesians 5:18.
2. Drunkenness is to be avoided in
certain categories of humanity where leadership is involved. Drunkenness is a
double sin when anyone in leadership becomes inebriated and starts to make a
lot of policy decisions. The wrong person in leadership makes the wrong
decisions when under the influence of alcohol. Therefore kings are commanded
never to make decisions and to get involved in heavy drinking — Proverbs
31;4,5.
3. Drunkenness is condemned in
certain Bible characters. All of these Bible characters with the exception of
one were believers: Noah — Genesis 9:21; Nabal — 1 Samuel 25:36,37; Ephraim in
Isaiah 28:1 refers to a lot of believers in the northern kingdom becoming
alcoholics and contributing to the downfall of the nation; Lot — Genesis
19:32-36.
4. Drinking of alcoholic beverages
is condoned under certain circumstances — Proverbs 31:6,7; 1 Timothy 5:23.
Medically speaking, a limited amount of alcohol can be beneficial in three
areas: the brain and nervous system. While moderate and average amounts of
alcohol can act as a sedation, too much has a very toxic effect; the stomach.
Alcohol stimulates the appetite through increasing gastric juices; the
circulation in older people. Prescriptions are given containing alcohol, or a
glass of wine a day dilates the blood vessels and improves the circulation in
old people.
5. The adverse effects of alcohol.
Excessive use of alcohol leads to impulsive and abusive behaviour. The reason
for this is that alcohol is not really a stimulant, it is a depressant, and as
such it lowers the inhibitions, dulls the reflexes, and at the same time as it
lowers inhibitions and dulls the reflexes, it amplifies the mental attitude.
6. The Lord Jesus Christ did turn
water into alcoholic beverage — John 2:1-11. The incident at the marriage feast
at Cana was a case where the Lord Jesus Christ Himself manufactured
miraculously alcoholic beverage, not into grape juice. However, it should be
pointed out that by so doing the miracle neither condones nor condemns
drinking. The miracle was designed not to be a brief on drinking but to focus
attention on who and what Christ was — the unique person of the universe, the
Messiah to Israel. Very briefly, the six water pots were filled with water
(which has an analogy, the water of the Word). The water was then turned into
wine to replace the shortage of wine at the wedding. The wine produces joy in
the human heart — Judges 9:13; Psalm 104:15. The principle is that when the
daily function of GAP converts doctrine into super-grace status this is the
place where God shares His happiness with the believer, and this was the
analogy of the passage. But in the literal function of the passage the miracle
not only focuses attention on the hypostatic union, the uniqueness of Christ,
but at the same time it illustrates the manner in which Bible doctrine in the
soul is converted into capacity for life, capacity for happiness, capacity for
blessing, and so on. But the actual point is that Jesus is not condemning or
condoning drinking. He is certainly not condoning drunkenness. It was alcoholic
beverage. The people who at the wedding feast complimented the host on the fact
that he served his best wine last rather than the usual procedure and custom.
7. Alcoholism is a part of national
disaster — Joel 1:4-6. In Joel 1:4 it is related to economic depression. When
too many people are drinking business judgment goes down, and this contributes
to economic depression. In verse 5 it contributes to frustration of people so
that you multiply psychosis in the land. In verse 6 it is related to military
invasion. In other words, an alcoholic people are easy to conquer and therefore
are quickly invaded by someone who wants their land for some purpose.
8. The conditions under which
drinking is retrained are three: the law of liberty says you have the right and
freedom to drink; the law of love which is directed toward believers says if it
makes someone stumble then you can’t; the law of expediency toward unbelievers
is used when the gospel and drinking become a false issue. You are presenting
the gospel, drinking is a false issue and therefore you don’t drink on that
occasion; the law of supreme sacrifice is directed toward God. When drinking
hinders a specific ministry then you don’t drink. Remember that while our Lord
turned the water into alcoholic beverage at Cana of Galilee He refused a drink
on the cross before He bore our sins. He would not go to the cross and bear our
sins with any possibility that alcohol might have an adverse effect. (The word
“vinegar” in the crucifixion scene is not vinegar, it is wine)
9. Drinking is also related to
reversionism — Jeremiah 13:12-17. Wine is used in the scripture to represent
the entire principle of sublimation involved in rejecting Bible doctrine.
Rejection of Bible doctrine is the rejection of category #1 love.
10. Common sense and the concept of
drinking.
a) Abstinence is a good
thing on the job, in young people, and because of the frustrations and
unhappiness that come from the situation getting out of control.
b) While moderate
drinking is not prohibited by the Word it belongs to those who have the
maturity to handle it, and young people therefore should abstain.
c) Drinking is not for
young ladies on dates with strange men or in an unknown crowd.
d) No one should ever
drink when alone or upset.
e) Never drink with
strangers in strange places.
f) Never drink while
working on the job.
g) Never drink while
operating a motor vehicle, flying an aeroplane, or driving a motorcycle.
Notice that the pastor is not to get drunk and abusive” verse 3 — “Not
abusive, quarrelsome inebriation.” A pastor cannot do his job and drink.
“no striker” — has to do with
punching people, mh
plhkthj.
Obviously this means more than just going around punching people. The principle
behind it is, first of all, the exercise of pastoral authority demands
objectivity and fairness. Punching is usually making a hasty decision or a
reflex decision without having all the facts. The pastor must fulfill a
ministry without intruding upon the privacy of the royal family in his charge
and subjecting them to bullying or coercion. It doesn’t only mean simply
physical bullying, it means legalistic coercion. This has to do with the idea
that the Bible itself must be the director. You must build up doctrine in your
soul and eventually have your own inner dictator. But you can’t be bullied into
a legalistic course of action.
“not greedy of filthy lucre” — just
one word in the Greek, the accusative of general reference from the compound a)filaguroj with the negative: filoj
is love; a)guroj is money. It should be
translated, “not avaricious.” No lover of money. The pastor or guardian of the
local church must not be a lover of money. He must not be greedy of covetous,
he must never be a votary at the altar of Plutoj,
the god of money. In that same regard, no pastor should ever handle the money.
This is an administrative function that he should appoint and stay as far away
from as possible. Love of money brings the pastor under the influence of evil.
The biblical concept of giving is often distorted when the pastor’s love for
money turns him into an extortioner or a con artist, and embezzler, a plunderer
of believers.
“but patient” — the only way that
any man ever stays in a local church. This is an adversative conjunction which
sets up a contrast between negative and positive qualifications. The word is e)pieikhj and it does not mean patient, it means to be fair
and reasonable. A pastor must be fair and reasonable in all of his dealings
with his flock. His leadership authority demands the exclusion of prejudice. He
must rule in all cases on the basis of facts and doctrinal principles rather
than on personal antagonisms or personality conflict.
“not a brawler” — this doesn’t
really refer so much to fighting as it does to being contentious. This is a)maxoj and it means he must not be contentious. He must be
very careful not to allow his prejudice to in any way cause him to use his
authority to hurt people.
“not covetous” — not greedy for
money. Again, “not avaricious” and it really comes at this point at the end of
the sentence. There is one word that is not actually found here.
Translation: “Not abusive,
quarrelsome inebriation, not a bully; but fair or reasonable, not contentious,
not avaricious.”
“Not avaricious” is at the end,
there is no word for covetousness.
In verses 4 & 5, the minister in
relationship to his family. The whole principle is, if a pastor cannot rule his
family he cannot rule the local church. The family is merely a test in that
direction.
Verse 4 — “One that ruleth” is the
present middle participle from proisthmi. This word means to govern,
to manage, to rule, to be the head of something. The descriptive present tense
describes what should now be going on. It is the pictorial present, it
represents the pastor’s government or rulership of his family as in the process
of occurrence. The middle voice is the indirect middle emphasising the pastor
as the agent producing the action. The participle is an imperative. A pastor
who cannot run his family cannot run the church.
“well” — the adverb kaloj means “in the right way”; “household” includes
anyone under the roof, including wives, children, servants, relatives; anyone
attached to the household.
“having” — the present active
participle of e)xw is “holding” here. The
present tense is customary present, it denotes what should habitually occur.
The active voice: the pastor must control his children. The participle is
circumstantial. The “children” are the children during their period of
minority. A pastor has no control over his children after they have become
adults. The absence of the definite article emphasises the quality of the
pastor’s children.
“in subjection” — e)n plus the locative of u(potagh, “in subordination.” A pastor must use his disciplinary activity to
produce respect. A pastor who cannot rule his family cannot rule the
congregation of the royal family of God.
Translation: “He should be ruling
his own household in the right way, holding children in subordination,
associated with all respectfulness.”
Principles
1. The proper use of authority and
discipline produces respect from the recipients.
2. Respect leads to subordination to
the authority of the leader in the organisation whether family, local church,
or business.
3. A leader does not have to possess
the love of his subordinates but it is absolutely essential to possess the
respect of his subordinates.
4. Those who lack respect must be
eliminated or disciplined or both.
5. Generally, how a minister handles
his family is the index as to how he will handle his congregation.
6. The pastor who cannot control his
family cannot control the congregation.
Verse 5 — “For” is the post positive
use of the particle de and here means “In fact.”
“if” is the conjunctive particle e)i introducing a first class condition. This is a
supposition from the viewpoint of reality. The protasis is assumed to be true
and here it is a fact that if the pastor cannot rule his family he cannot rule
a church.
“am man” — tij is the indefinite pronoun used for a category
(pastors); “know not” is “do not know” — o)ida;
“how to rule” — poisthmi; “his own household,”
literally; “how” — the interrogative particle o(j
introduces a rhetorical question. The question demands, by the way, a negative
type answer.
“take care of” — the future middle
indicative of e)pimelomai which means to take care
of. This is the deliberative future which is a rhetorical question handling a
problem of uncertainty. The idiom for the rhetorical question takes place in a
direct assertion here. “How can he take care of the church of God” — this
demands a negative answer: He cannot.
Translation: “In fact if anyone
(pastor-teacher) does not know how to rule his own household, how can he take
care of the church of God?” Answer: “He cannot.”
Verse 6 — “Not a novice.” This is
one of the most disqualifying factors with those who have the gift of
pastor-teacher. A man who has the gift of pastor-teacher and does not have any
spiritual growth in his life is never qualified to take the pastorate. The word
for novice is neofuton which is a compound noun.
It is compounded from neoj, meaning new, and fuw which means to plant. It means a new plant. This is
where we get the English word “neophyte” and it is a good translation. This
refers not only to new believers but to immature believers. In connection with
the pastor it refers specifically to immature believers. The pastor of the
local church cannot be spiritually immature. He cannot lead people past his own
maturity and if his own maturity is nil then no one will ever mature in his
church.
“lest” is a negative purpose clause
made up of the conjunction i(na plus the negative mh. It is correctly translated “lest.”
“being lifted up with pride” — the
aorist passive participle from tufow which means to be blinded
or conceited. It comes to be blind conceit. Tufow
indicates where a lot of men go astray in the pastorate; they have blind
arrogance. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the
believer in blind arrogance and it takes his stance in this field of
reversionism and gathers it up into a single whole or one entirety. The passive
voice: immature believers receive the action of the verb. Not only those aspiring
to the pastorate but all immature believers have some phase of blind arrogance.
And if time elapses without spiritual growth blind arrogance is inevitable. In
other words, the only way that blind arrogance can be offset is the daily
function of GAP which moves you up.
The phrase “being lifted up with pride” can be translated, “let having
received blind arrogance.” This is a circumstantial participle as well as
having antecedent action to the main verb. The main verb comes up on the next
word,
“he fall” — the word for “fall”
here, however, is a compound — e)mpiptw which means to fall into,
to get involved in. This is a culminative aorist viewing the event of blind
arrogance in its entirety but picking it up from the standpoint of its existing
results. Obviously blind arrogance is a trap for the immature believer of the
royal family, to fall into something indicates that. The active voice indicates
that only immature believers fall into this trap. The potential subjunctive
indicates the fact that if you GAP it daily then you won’t fall into this
particular problem.
“into the condemnation of the devil”
has to do with divine discipline. The prepositional phrase “into the
condemnation” — e)ij plus the accusative of krima, it means a judgment where all the facts are in and
the judge has the facts and makes a correct decision. As God is the judge
Himself condemnation then means He is following through with discipline. The
devil is related to this, the objective genitive of diaboloj, one of the many words for Satan, plus the definite article indicates
several things. This means slanderer and this is one of the great functions of
Satan, he is a slanderer of believers.
Translation: “Not a neophyte [which
is an new/immature believer], lest having received blind arrogance he might
fall into the condemnation of the devil.”
Summary
1. The greatest occupational hazard
of the new or immature believer is blind arrogance. This is dealing with the
leadership characteristics of the pastor at the point of aspiration, however
this has application to all.
2. Blind arrogance not only hinders
and frustrates spiritual growth by systems of legalism and pseudo spirituality
but it takes a limited or negative view toward Bible doctrine communicated from
the pulpit of the local church.
3. Blind arrogance guarantees that
the individual so infected will be influenced by evil rather than by doctrine.
4. Blind arrogance follows the
pattern of the Satanic fall of Lucifer. The result in the royal family is
reversionism and the accompanying stages of discipline.
5. One of the best areas for
summarising blind arrogance is Matthew 19:27-20:34.
6. Blind arrogance neutralises the
purest and highest type of authority given by God in human history.
7. The authority of the pastor-teacher
or the guardian of the local church is the only authority in all of human
history that is not related to cosmos diabolicus.
Verse 7 — “Moreover” is a post
positive enclitic conjunctive particle used in a transitional sense here, de. With this we have a continuation of the concept of
blind arrogance, immaturity. etc.; “he must” — the impersonal verb of
compulsion dei denoting what is fitting.
The adjunctive kai means “also”; “have” —
present active infinitive of e)xw. The present tense is a
customary present for what may be reasonably expected to occur. The active
voice: the pastor of the local church produces the action of the verb. The
infinitive is the infinitive of intended result used for fulfilling a
deliberate qualification, therefore a blending of purpose and result. “a good
report” — usually blind arrogance means that people who are normal, people who
are squared away, people who are clear thinkers and have good common sense do
not care for those who are involved in arrogance. The accusative direct object
of marturia means “reputation.” It does
not mean witness. And with kaloj it means noble or
honourable reputation. “And he must also be having an honourable reputation.”
This means
1. This relates the pastor to the
community in which the local church is located. It doesn’t mean that he has to
get involved in community activities.
2. By honourable reputation, then,
is meant what the pastor must be to outsiders in the community. He must be pro
establishment. He must be a supporter of the local police, a supporter of the
military establishment, a patriot. He must have good financial credit. He must
be free from liberal or criminal activities.
“of them which are without” — the
preposition a)po plus the ablative plural of
the definite article used as a demonstrative pronoun, plus an adverb, e)cwqen. It should be translated, “from those outside [of
the local church],” anyone who is not a member of the local church or in the
local church where the minister is the guardian or pastor.
“lest” — i(na mh, “in order that” with the negative; “fall into” — e)mpiptw: “in order that he not fall into” is what this is
saying. The aorist tense is a culminative aorist, it views the blind arrogance
of the pastor in its entirety, it emphasises the existing results. The existing
results are falling into the reproach and snare of the devil as the ruler of
this world. The active voice: the immature pastor becomes a pastor influenced
by blind arrogance and he produces the action of the verb. The subjunctive mood
goes with the negative purpose clause.
“into reproach” — a prepositional
phrase, e)ij plus the accusative of o)neidismoj, and it should be correctly translated “into
disgrace”; “in order that he might not fall into disgrace,” meaning under the
influence of evil which is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world. Many
pastors fall into disgrace by advocating evil systems such as gun legislation,
government interference with business, or government interference with
anything.
“snare” — pagij refers to reversionism; “of the devil.”
Translation: “And he must also be having an honourable
reputation from those outside [of the local church]; in order that he might not
fall into disgrace [under the influence of evil] and a snare [reversionism] of the
devil.”
The doctrine of GAP
1. Definition. GAP is the acrostic
representation for grace apparatus for perception and it is the doctrine which
deals with the assimilation of doctrine, the means of spiritual growth. it is
the system which God provided in eternity past long before the human race
existed whereby every believer is able to understand divine revelation, whereby
every believer is able to understand the content of the written Word, and
whereby in the past before the canon was completed people (prophets, priests)
were able to understand and communicate to the people. So it is God’s grace
provision for spiritual growth and advance. God has found a way for every
believer, regardless of human IQ or educational background, to perceive and
assimilate Bible doctrine.
2. There are three basic systems of
perception.
The first is rationalism. It uses
reason as the source of knowledge, making it superior to and independent of any
sensory perception. Reason becomes a norm or criterion for reality and rationalism, then, is the adherence to the
supremacy of reason in matter of belief, conduct, and perception. Subjection of
Bible doctrine and scriptural interpretation to the test of human reason is the
rejection of dogmatic authority and many of the trends in modern Christendom
today are taken from rationalism. A perfect illustration is neo-evangelicalism.
Another is neo-orthodoxy, and another is existentialism.
Empiricism is the second system of
meritorious learning. It is learning by observation or experimentation. We call
it the scientific method. Reality lies in the senses relaying their
observations to the brain for conclusions. Key words are experience, observation,
experimentation. If I can smell it and come to a conclusion, taste it, observe
it, and so on, then draw conclusions from that.
The third system is faith: learning
by accepting the authority of the criterion. Reality of the unseen is a system
of thinking but it is non meritorious. All of us in beginning our life learned
everything by faith. There is no way that we could prove anything, there is no
way that rationalism or empiricism could come into the picture. Faith is
building knowledge on the basis of an absolute authority or axiom whether it is
God exists or one plus one equals two.
Faith as a system of perception has
been gradually eliminated from academic life. The attempt has been made to do
so in such subjects as the new history, the new math, and so on. The validity
of faith depends on the criterion of the object of faith. In salvation the
object of faith is Jesus Christ. This is the validity of faith.
In the function of GAP faith is the
system of perception. The object of faith is Bible doctrine as taught from
pulpits, never on the outside. In other words, a bona fide pastor teaches with academic
discipline and that is the only way people learn. There is no such thing as a
self-taught believer. No pastor is a self-taught believer, all learn Bible
doctrine from someone else.
3. The distinction between spiritual
and human IQ. IQ is not an issue in learning Bible doctrine. Grace eliminates
the whole IQ system and substitutes a non-meritorious system of perception.
4. The exclusion of human IQ from
GAP is very important. Human IQ has often been considered a factor in learning
doctrine and this would imply that low IQ believers are handicapped and cannot,
and some of the greatest believers in history are low IQ types who stuck with
it and stuck with it and stuck with it — persistence, motivation, the ministry
of God the Holy Spirit, faithfulness in taking in the Word, is what counts — 1
Corinthians 1:19-2:16.
5. The grace provision for learning
doctrine includes:
a) Formation and
preservation of the canon of scripture. The canon of scripture is under
constant attack. All of these attacks are destroyed because “greater is he that
is in you than he that is in the world.” The 20th century believer, therefore,
has the Bible intact, preserved in the original languages of Hebrew, Chaldean
and Greek, so that the meaning of any given passage can be determined and
communicated by those so qualified.
b) The divine
authorisation of the local church as the only classroom. The Bible is the text
book, the local church is the classroom, and only in the classroom of the local
church can the royal family learn doctrine and grown up. The royal family of
God [Church Age believer] is assembled, therefore, in a classroom and the only
right of the congregation in assembly in the function of worship is
concentration. The local church must assemble, therefore, under the principle
of strict academic discipline. The pastor has the absolute authority to teach
in monologue compatible with his spiritual gift and function. The pastor is the
ruler of the local church, the deacons are administrative under him. As doctrine
is transferred from the written page to the individual in the congregation this
inner residency of doctrine becomes a dictator, and this dictator or command
post must be developed so that when you step outside of the local church you
can move into any situation in the world and take your orders from your own
soul. This is the objective which is accomplished when you reach the
super-grace life. The local church continues to be the classroom during the
Church Age, surviving all attacks to replace it.
c) The right pastor. The
spiritual gift of pastor provides authority and ability to communicate doctrine
in the local church by means of monologue. The spiritual gift is sovereignly
bestowed by the Holy Spirit. Then comes the point of aspiration, and eventually
comes the point of fulfillment of the gift. Preparation begins after aspiration
and goes to the point of taking one’s first church, and preparation can include
many things. It must include spiritual growth, it must have anything from
academic, military, and other functions which produce self-discipline as well
as good steady habits.
d) The royal priesthood
of the believer. This is the only dispensation which actually has a formal
classroom called the local church, and organised classroom. The reason for it
is because everyone in this dispensation is royal family and everyone knows that
royalty is much more difficult to teach than anyone else. So royalty demands
certain things. The royal priesthood gives us the greatest opportunity to learn
because our priesthood means privacy and freedom in the perception of doctrine.
Even though we are gathered together in a public place we still have our
privacy, we still have our freedom to receive and to function under the
principles of GAP. But each believer must have doctrine resident in his soul
for growth. To ensure privacy and to avoid bullying and give every believer a
chance to learn doctrine he enters the congregation of the local church for
instruction. Therefore his identity, his talent, his ability, his success are
not the issue and they are obscured. Here he concentrates as a novice, learning
doctrine and advancing to the high ground. The criterion for these things,
then, is doctrine and forgetting about what you were all day, moving in a
sitting down under the ministry of the Spirit concentrating and taking in the
Word of God. Therefore the creation of a public relations image or getting
involved or social action or working around the church or improving your
personality or observing certain religious and legalistic taboos is not the
objective. All of these things are no substitute for doctrine resident in the
soul. Every royal priest through the function of GAP must construct his own
altar. (Service begins after that altar is constructed)
e) The ministry of God
the Holy Spirit. The aristocracy of the believer’s priesthood is always related
to who and what the Holy Spirit is. The ministries of the Holy Spirit at
salvation remind us of the fact that He has a very definite part in phase two.
His primary objective in controlling our souls is the intake of the Word of God
and then the proper utilisation of that doctrine.
f) At the point of
salvation we receive a human spirit in order that we might have a repository
for doctrine as it is processed into the right lobe of the soul. The Spirit
bears witness with our spirit — Romans 8:16,17.
g) The provision of the
laws of divine establishment. Under the laws of divine establishment national
government is responsible to protect the privacy and the freedom of the local
church. This is the first function of freedom and it is known in our
governmental documents as religious liberty. Under this principle there is
separation of church and state. There is another law which is pertinent here
and that is the fact that this freedom is maintained through military victory.
Military victory guarantees the perpetuation of freedom for the function of the
local church. Also there is the internal function of law: the judge on the
bench, the police officer on patrol. These are also part of the reason why we
have freedom. This is protection from crime, protection of privacy, property
and life.
h) The principle of
grace in human anatomy whereby we are able to have brain cells, oxygen, the
blood flow through the body, etc.
6. The principle of receptive
comprehension.
7. The actual mechanics of GAP.
8. The primary result of GAP:
spiritual maturity resulting in glorifying God as part of the tactical victory
of the angelic conflict. The results are best expressed in terms of synonyms.
a) The language synonym
— chakmah on the Old testament; e)pignwsij in the New.
b) The theological
synonym — James 4:6, “more grace.” This is “greater grace” or
super-grace.” c) The priestly synonym
of the altar of the soul — Hebrews 13:10. This is the one related to our
service.
d) The building synonym,
the ECS — Ephesians 4:12,16.
e) The time synonym:
redeeming time. God provides the believer one day at a time and the capital for
the purchase of time is Bible doctrine which is resident in the soul. The
purchase of time with doctrine has two directions: toward God — Ephesians
5:16,18; toward the unbeliever — Colossians 4:5.
f) Central control
synonym, the dictator of the soul. Inner residency of doctrine sets up its
norms and standards and actually sets up a central control centre — Ephesians
6:10.
g) Military synonyms for
the results of GAP in maturity: Putting on the full armour from God — Ephesians
6:11-13; Following the colours to the high ground — Hebrews 12:1,2; The
establishment of a command post of the soul — Colossians 2:5-8.
h) A crucifixion
synonym: Take up your cross and follow me. Taking up your cross is the actual
attendance at your local church in spite of distraction or opposition. “Follow
me” is the daily function of GAP eventuating in spiritual maturity.
i) The chemical synonym
of sodium chloride: we are the salt of the land. Salt is used here as a
preservative.
j) A sanctification
synonym: godliness — 1 Timothy 6:3-6; 2 Peter 1:3.
9. There are other results of GAP:
a) Reversion recovery
including the removal of scar tissue of the soul, freedom from the influence of
evil, cancellation of divine discipline.
b) The glorification of
God in the angelic conflict through the attainment of the super-grace status of
spiritual maturity. The attainment of super-grace results in super-grace
blessings, paragraph SG2, and it also results in great blessings in
eternity, paragraph SG3. All of these blessings come totally apart
from the Satanic system.
c) It equates the royal
status of the believer with the function of his priesthood. The normal function
of the royal priest begins at the point of spiritual maturity or the point
where the altar of the soul is established.
d) It leads to
occupation with Christ and other capacities for life. Inner residency of
maximum doctrine results in capacity for love, category #1 love toward God. You
cannot love God unless you know God, you cannot know God apart from the
inculcation of doctrine. This same residency for doctrine gives capacity for
love in other categories, capacity for happiness, capacity for life, capacity
for blessing.
e) It provides maximum
influence in history. Super-grace believers have maximum impact on the thinking
of their own generation. Super-grace believers are the basis for preserving and
blessing everything with which they associate, whether it is family, business,
organisations, cities, states or nations.
f) It provides the basis
for a bona fide production. The super-grace believer is qualified for Christian
service. He produces divine good in contrast to human good. He is insulated
from evil and pseudo Christian activity.
g) It becomes the basis
for eternal reward or paragraph SG3. Paragraph SG3
depends on seizing and holding the high ground and this can only be
accomplished by the continuation of the function of GAP after reaching
maturity.
Verse 8 — “Likewise” is an adverb, o(sautoj to indicate a parallel situation between deacons
and pastors when it comes to qualifications. It means likewise or in the same
manner and, again, it is simply an adverb of similarity. It sets up a
similarity of qualification in all categories of leadership in the local
church, whether pastors or deacons. Therefore this will be something of a
repetition in part when we get into this passage.
“deacons” is the masculine
accusative plural of general reference from diakonoj. It is a transliteration here. Actually, the word means a waiter or a
minister and it is used in many ways in scripture. The noun, therefore, is very
diversified. It means to render service or administration, to be a deputy in
the field of the local church in spiritual service. A deacon is a church
administrator, he is under the authority of the pastor. The pastor is the
primary policy maker. This does not mean that deacons cannot make policy but
they make policy in the sphere of administration. We have here a word which
means many things which have to do with administration and the function of
business. The word originated in our use here in Acts 6:1-5. The word “to serve
tables” is the present active infinitive of the verb diakonew from which we get “deacon.” The cognate is diakonoj.
The absence of the definite article
in our passage in front of diakonoj calls attention to the
quality of these administrators. That is the way it should always be: high
quality in the field of administration. The masculine gender calls attention to
the fact that this office is office is open only to male believers. The plural
number indicates that a local church has a multiplicity of administrators, but
one pastor. The accusative case is a part of the accusative of general
reference which goes back all the way to verse 2. It should be translated: “In
the same manner deacons must be.”
“grave” — the accusative plural
of general reference of the word semnoj, which means “worthy of
respect, honourable.” It is a reference to the fact that deacons must have
advanced in spiritual growth. There is a good reason for that. Generally with
men who serve as deacons, until they serve as deacons the are in Bible class
about every night. It is important that these men be mature spiritually. The
reason for that is obvious. The
pastor is the policy maker of the local church and as a policy maker he must
make decisions and the administration of his policy doesn’t belong to the
pastor — he makes the policy and the policy is based upon his study and understanding
of the Word. But the deacons must be administrators to carry out the grace
policy of the pastor. Therefore they must have enough divine viewpoint to
recognise grace policy when they see it and to carry it out vigorously in
compatibility with their spiritual gift. Therefore it is imperative that they
be exposed to the teaching of the pastor so they know what his teaching is, and
therefore there is no lapse between his teaching and the policy which they
should understand. This means that a deacon must be under the influence of
doctrine and never under the influence of evil It further implies that the
deacon must never be in a state of reversionism. His continued positive
volition toward doctrine is the subject of the next verse. No one must be more
positive toward doctrine than the deacon administrator of the local church. In
that sense he must lead the way in exposure to the teaching of the Word and his
own personal spiritual growth. His administrative function must line of with
the grace concepts which are taught from the pulpit and they must be compatible
with the policies of the pastor as the ruler of the local church.
“not double-tongued” — mh dilogouj, to say one thing and mean another. No one can ever be effective in
administration when they say one thing and mean another. This word comes to
mean deceitful, hypocritical in speech. The deacon must have integrity of
character rather than be a phony and be influenced by evil opportunists. So we
would translate this in modern English, “not given to double-talk.”
Administration in the local church demands honesty, honour, integrity of
character.
“not given to wine” — they can’t be alcoholics. They can drink
but they can’t be going around constantly under the influence of alcohol. This
doesn’t forbid drinking, it forbids drunkenness. “Be guarding against much
wine.” “Not given to” is a present active participle of prosexw plus the negative mh.
Prosexw means to turn one’s mind
to, to pay attention to, to give heed to; but here with the negative mh it means to guard against. The present tense is a
customary present for what may be reasonably expected to occur. The customary
present has linear aktionsart. The active voice: the deacon produces the action
of the verb, namely being very moderate in his drinking. The participle is
imperative and it should be translated, “be guarding against.” Too much wine
here means excessive to the point of drunkenness.
No one in leadership responsibility,
whether spiritual leadership, government leadership, business leadership, or
professional leadership, should ever be a slave to alcoholic beverage.
Leadership cannot afford to be a slave to anything except its responsibility.
There is one slavery for leadership and that is slavery to responsibility.
No great leader in history has
perpetuated his leadership when he becomes addicted to alcoholic beverage. The greatest illustration of
this is Alexander the Great whose genius was never realised to the maximum because
he died from alcohol abuse at age 32; he simply drank himself to death. The
limitation on wine drinking demonstrates that self-discipline and concentration
so necessary to succeed and assume leadership responsibility in any field of
life is there.
“not greedy of filthy lucre”
— mh a)isxrokerdeij e)xontaj, “do not have a fondness
for dishonest gain.” It is the pastor who cannot be a slave to money but the
deacon cannot be a slave to dishonest gain. Every believer has a right to make
money but it cannot be dishonest, that’s all. “Dishonourable gain” is the noun a)isxrokerdiej which means dishonourable or indecent or
dishonest profit. Dishonest business practice or cheating in business to make
an abnormal profit eliminates a man from serving effectively in deacon
leadership. Under the laws of establishment dealing with economy and free
enterprise any man in business has a right to legitimate profit, but this is
talking about illegitimate profit because of an abnormal love for or slavery to
money. Dishonesty in business automatically disqualifies a properly gifted
believer from serving as a deacon in a local church.
Translation: “In the same
manner deacons must be worthy of respect, not given to double talk, be guarding
against much wine [not a slave to alcohol], not be having an eager desire for
dishonest profit.”
Verse 9 — spiritual
qualifications. “Holding the mystery of the faith in pure conscience” is not
correctly translated here. The word “holding” is the present active participle
of e)xw which means to have and to
hold. The present tense is the present tense of duration, the retroactive
progressive present to denote something begun in the past and continuing into
the present time. That is, in the past every deacon should be a student of the
Word, should be taking in the Word consistently, and this means that he should
continue to do so. The active voice: every deacon produces the action through
his own daily function of GAP. The participle is an imperative participle — “be
having and holding.” This is a reference to consistent and daily function of
GAP whereby the deacon continues to maintain his spiritual life and continue
his growth. The deacon must be under the influence of doctrine to avoid
reversionism as well as the influence of evil policies in his function.
“the mystery” — a beautiful
way of emphasising Church Age doctrine, the accusative singular direct object
from the noun musthrion. This word refers to the
entire realm of Church Age doctrine from the baptism of the Spirit all of the
way to the Rapture of the Church.
“of the faith” — the genitive
singular of pistij. This is a genitive of
apposition. It refers to doctrine, the body of what is believed by the royal
family. “Be having and holding the mystery, even the doctrine.” The genitive of
apposition is translated “even the doctrine.”
The doctrine of the mystery
1. Etymology.
The noun musthrion was originally a Classical Greek word and it denotes the secrets and
the doctrines of the ancient Greek fraternities. They had many doctrines and
principles which they kept to themselves. One had to be initiated into the
fraternity to know these things. They were called secrets or mysteries.
From this we also have another
Classical Greek noun, musthj, which was someone being
initiated into the fraternity. The initiation was a concentrated period of
learning doctrines and once they mastered the doctrines they had a ritual by
which they were inducted into the fraternity.
There is also a verb that goes with
this called muew. It is derived from the
Attic verb meaning to initiate or to instruct, or to teach doctrine. The doctrines
of the fraternities were not known to outsiders, only to those who were
initiated into the fraternity.
The Lord Jesus Christ first used
this word in His ministry on earth and gave it the meaning which herein after
would be used throughout the New Testament, with some refinements. Jesus used
this noun when talking to the disciples. The disciples were confused sometimes
because our Lord talked in parables and therefore they would ask Him the
meaning of a parable after He had taught it publicly. Matthew 13:11 — “… to you
it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” The
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven have to do with Church Age doctrine. It was
unknown to the Old Testament writers, it was unknown at this time to the
disciples, but once the Church Age began they would have a great deal of
revelation in this field. But then Jesus makes it clear that He spoke in
parables for this reason: “but to them it has not been given.” So by using a
parable Jesus could teach a lesson to the people on the outside and at the same
time use this parable to expatiate coming things of the Church Age.
The same principle is found in Mark
4:10,11 — “And as soon as Jesus was alone, those around Him [the twelve] began
asking Him about the parable. And He began saying to them, To you it has been
given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside,
they get everything from parables.” So the point was that Jesus used the
parable in order to teach something to the people on the outside but at the
same time to begin to open up a new subject. A whole system of doctrine was
about to be formed on earth, a system of doctrine that dealt with a new
dispensation; a system of doctrine that had never once been written in the Old
Testament canon, a system of doctrine that had been completely and totally
unknown to any person in Old testament times. Something absolutely new was
about to exist, and therefore Jesus Christ used the parable system to introduce
it.
2. Definition of “mystery”: Generally
speaking, the word “mystery” refers to Church Age doctrine which was not
revealed in Old Testament times but after our Lord’s resurrection, ascension
and session it was made known to the royal family of God, primarily through the
epistles of the New Testament. There is very little Church Age truth in the
Gospels, almost none at all except for the upper room discourse in John
chapters 15, 16, and part of 17. Outside of that and an occasional reference in
the book of Acts most of the doctrine of the mystery is found in the epistles.
The leading proponent of the mystery is the apostle Paul himself.
3. The relationship of mystery
doctrine to the divine decrees. The divine decrees actually encompass God’s
foreknowledge, omniscience of everything that would ever happen, and the divine
plan is inserted into all functions of life. The divine decrees was really a
meeting in eternity past between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. The three members of the Trinity pulled together a perfect plan for the
human race, anticipating every problem that would ever exist and providing not
only every need but every blessing. Your blessings, in other words, existed
long before you did!
The mystery as a Church Age doctrine
was a part of the divine decrees in eternity past. This means that when the
Church Age was intercalated or inserted we then had the age of the calling of
the royal family of God. It is called the age of the body, the Church Age. When
this royal family is completed there will be a resurrection — 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18. This is the time when the body of Christ is converted into the bride.
And it is a great time for Israel because although under adverse circumstances
things will get very bright when our Lord returns. When He returns He returns
with His own royal family, a family that had to be formed and a family that
could not be formed without the interruption of the Jewish Age. The insertion
of the Church Age after the session of Christ means that there has be doctrine
to explain it all. There is no doctrine in the Old Testament that even comes
close to explaining anything about the Church Age, therefore an entire new
system of explanation has to come into existence, it has to be revealed. That
is why we have a New Testament, that is why the canon of scripture was not
completed with the finishing of the book of Malachi. And that is why it takes
the epistles of the New Testament to clarify what this age is all about, and to
keep us out of the Jewish Age. God says, in effect, stay out of the business of
Israel. 1 Corinthians 2:7 — “But we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden
plan [for the royal family only], which God predestined before the ages to our
glory.” In other words, this verse has a great deal to say. Paul is saying in
effect that he is now communicating to the Corinthians the doctrine of the
mystery. It is God’s wisdom, it is in a mystery form, it was hidden from the
past, and God did predestinate these things. And then he adds, “to our glory.”
Why to our glory? The intake of Church Age doctrine is the means by which we
glorify God and become honourable members of the royal family of God. In
Ephesians 1:8,9 we have a similar type phrase: “From which grace he [God the
Father] caused to super abound toward us by means of all doctrine and divine
viewpoint, having made known to us the mystery” — the mystery is no longer
obscure, it is ‘made known, it is a part of the canon of the New Testament, it
is communicated by pastor-teachers — “of his will, according to the standard of
his good thinking from which he [God the Father] pre designed it in him.” In
other words, the whole thing was pre designed around the baptism of the Holy
Spirit or being in union with Christ.
4. There is also a relationship of
the mystery doctrine to the first advent of Christ. Not only is the mystery
doctrine related to eternity past but it is also related to the incarnation. 1
Timothy 3:16 — “...great is the mystery doctrine with reference to godliness.”
In the first advent our Lord went to the cross and provided salvation. Then He
was resurrected, then He ascended and was seated at the right hand of the
Father. This is His strategic victory of the angelic conflict. Now we have the
interruption of the Age of Israel and the Church Age is now in progress. In this
there must be something complementary to our Lord’s strategic victory. Right
now our Lord is seated at the right hand of the Father, there must be something
to complement His being seated there. As a matter of fact there is something.
We are ambassadors. Being ambassadors for Christ on the earth as believers
makes us something very special. We are the representatives of the Lord, we are
all in full time Christian service. How can we as ambassadors complement the
strategic victory of Christ on the cross. The answer is by tactical victory.
The greatest part of our full time Christian service is the daily function of
GAP and the spiritual growth which takes us to super-grace. Then the Lord
complements us. When we reach super-grace He gives us great blessing. He
provides in time these things when His ambassadors reach the high ground of
super-grace. When they establish a command post we have the tactical victory of
the angelic conflict which complements the strategic victory of the angelic
conflict. This is a part of the mystery doctrine.
5. There is also a relationship of
mystery doctrine to the Church Age. The Church Age is the dispensation of the
formation of the royal family of God. The session of Christ caused the dramatic
interruption of the Jewish Age. A new dispensation, a new family of God, a
royal family of God, demands explanation. The explanation is in the form of
mystery doctrine. The intercalation or the insertion of the Church Age and the
formation of the royal family of God demands that we understand, that we
orient, to the dispensational situation. So in Ephesians 3:2-6 we have such a
summary. Also we should notice that the Church Age with its distinction between
Jew and Gentile which existed in the Age of Israel has been removed by the
formation of the royal family of God. This was signified when our Lord died on
the cross and the veil in the temple that separated the holy place from the
holy of holies was torn from the top to the bottom, indicating the fact that
all royal family of God are in the holy of holies. We live in the holy of
holies forever and ever. By positional truth we are in the holy of holies now,
though the holy of holies is in heaven. In reality we are a heavenly people and
our eternal home is the holy of holies.
6. The divine blackout of the
mystery doctrine in the Old Testament is very important to understand. It
cannot be overemphasised. The strategic victory of Christ and the dramatic
interruption of the Age of Israel with the insertion of the Church Age calls
for briefing. In effect, mystery doctrines are the briefing for the royal
family of God. We must understand why we are here. We must understand what
constitutes glorifying God, what is the true victory, and in the intensified
stage of the angelic conflict we should understand these things in detail.
These doctrines which belong exclusively to the royal family of God in the
Church Age were not previously revealed. While the Old Testament prophets were
aware of many future things — the incarnation, the death of Christ, His
resurrection, His ascension, His session — when you come to the day of
Pentecost, the baptism of the Spirit, the beginning of the formation of the
royal family of God, there is not one word. This means that Church Age doctrine
as found in the New Testament is absolutely unique, and there has to be some
nomenclature to describe this unique doctrine. The unique Church Age doctrine
is therefore called by the title “mystery.” So we have in Romans 16:25,26 a
statement of the blackout of Church Age doctrine in the Old Testament . Cf.
Colossians 1:25,26.
There are ten Church Age doctrines not found in the
Old Testament:
a) The existence of a royal family
of God. Throughout the Old Testament it was simply: When you are born again the
Holy Spirit regenerates you and makes you a member of the family of God.
Regeneration has always been a ministry of the Holy Spirit since the beginning
of human history. But in the future certain people, when they were born again,
would be born again royalty instead of simply born again family of God. This
was never known in the Old Testament. The interruption of the Jewish
dispensation before the second advent of Christ to call out a royal family was
unknown. The strategical victory of resurrection, ascension, session at the right
hand of the Father was known to the Old Testament, but the fact of an
intercalation, and insertion of another dispensation in order to call out the
royal family was entirely unknown. The fact that the royal family of God would
be composed of Jews and Gentiles (believers) was blacked out in the Old
Testament. So there is no royal family of God information in the Old Testament.
The only royal family the Old Testament recognised were historical royal
families like the royal family of David.
b) The baptism of the Holy Spirit
and positional sanctification. This is illustrated by Noah in the ark but no
doctrine. Noah in the ark is an historical fact. When you get to the Church Age
and find out that every believer is entered into union with Christ by the baptism
of the Spirit, then you need illustration. You can illustrate from human life
or you can illustrate from the Old Testament for these are written as
illustrations. This is one of the uses of the Old Testament. Every believer in
this dispensation lives in the holy of holies but believers avoided the holy of
holies in the previous dispensation because they knew they would die the sin
unto death.
c) God the Holly Spirit actually
indwelt the body of every believer. God the Holy Spirit had never indwelt
anyone’s body until the day of Pentecost. God the Holy Spirit controlled the
souls of certain people — like Saul, David, the writers of the Old Testament in
writing down those portions of revelation that God wanted preserved forever. So
there was a ministry of God the Holy Spirit to a very few believers, and more
could have had this ministry by asking. But indwelling of the body was unheard
of, unknown, totally without precedent. The fact that the Holy Spirit indwells
the body is emphasised in 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19,20.
d) The indwelling of Christ.
Obviously there was no indwelling of Christ in the Old testament. Primarily
Christ revealed Himself in the Old Testament times as an angel, the angel of
Jehovah. This was the greatest of all the theophanies. Here we have something
that was never revealed before, the fact that the God-Man, Jesus Christ, would
indwell every member of the royal family of God. This is special fellowship
with the royal family, it is accomplished when God the Son indwells members of
the royal family.
e) A new contract. The old contract
is called the Mosaic law. It was a very excellent contract, its establishment
principles are still pertinent and have been revealed in many ways. But the
worship system for believers and the system of communicating doctrine has
changed. Doctrine is no longer communicated by those who have the gift of
prophecy and by Levitical priests, a specialised priesthood. Now all doctrine
is communicated by a pastor-teacher known as the guardian of the local church.
So a new contract is necessary. When you have a new royal family and at the
same time give them a universal priesthood a new contract is necessary. So the
new contract or the new covenant to the Church was something never revealed in
the Old Testament. Jeremiah wrote about a new covenant but it was a new
covenant to Israel to be fulfilled in the Millennium. But the new contract to
the Church was never revealed in Old Testament times.
f) A new priesthood. The fact that
every believer is a priest is absolutely revolutionary, it is a very startling
change. In the Old Testament they only knew of specialised priesthoods, the
Levitical priesthood, the family priesthood. There was no such thing as every
believer being his own priest. This is a brand new doctrine. But the
interruption of the Age of Israel abrogates the old covenant, abrogates the
specialised Levitical priesthood. Now every member of the royal family of God
is his own priest under the high priesthood of Jesus Christ. This universal
priesthood of the believer was never revealed before.
g) The new ministry of God the Holy
Spirit. For the first time in all of history the royal family of God is
commanded to be filled with the Spirit, a command which was never given before.
The Holy Spirit was given to special people in the Old Testament, given to
Moses, given to others writers of the Old Testament, those who made the
priestly garments and manufactured the tabernacle, etc. But we now have a new
ministry which was never revealed in the Old Testament, the ministry of God the
Holy Spirit controlling the soul of every believer, and when not in control the
Spirit is said to be grieved or quenched. Be filled with the Spirit is a
command in the New Testament. Walk in the Spirit is a command for the New
Testament.
h) Eventually there would be a
completed canon of scripture which would radically change divine revelation
from God to man. Until the canon of scripture was completed there were certain
systems of revelation in the Old Testament. For example, there were voices,
there was teaching by angels, dreams, visions, trances. All of these things
were used by God to communicate doctrine in the Old Testament and there was no
reference to the fact that the time would come when God would no longer speak
in dreams, visions, or trances; where angels would no longer come down and
personally communicate doctrine, where the phrase, “Thus saith the Lord” would
no longer be used. All of these things are a reminder of the fact that the
canon of scripture is closed and God only reveals Himself through the written
page and no other way.
i) A new type of service. Always
before in the Old testament certain people were called into service. The
general run-of-the-mill people were evangelised but very rarely did the common
man have any kind of a service. But a new type of service exists for the first
time in human history, a type of service which was totally unknown to the Old
Testament types. For the first time in human history every believer from the
moment of his salvation to the end of his life is in full time Christian
service. He is an ambassador, a royal priest, he is in service. This was never
found in the Old Testament. This service depends on the function of GAP and
resultant maximum doctrine resident in the soul.
j) The completion of the Church Age
before the Age of Israel is completed.
7. Mystery doctrine is only
understood by the function of GAP — Colossians 2:2; 1 Timothy 3:9.
8. The communication of mystery
doctrine. The pastor or the guardian of the local church is the communicator to
the royal family of God. The local church is the place of communication and in
the assembly of the local church we have strict academic discipline as the
means of fulfilling this function. 1 Corinthians 4:1.
9. The Rapture is a part of the
mystery doctrine — 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52.
“in a pure conscience” — this is a
prepositional phrase, e)n plus the instrumental of
the adjective kaqaroj.
Kaqaroj is
translated “pure” which is a good translation if we understand that pure means
flushing. We also have the noun suneidhsij. A pure conscience is a
conscience which has been cleansed of all of the evil doctrines which have to
do with norms and standards. Evil has been flushed out of the conscience. Any
phase of apostasy has been flushed out of the conscience. When the believer
follows the colours to the high ground he is consistent in the function of GAP,
and as he establishes a command post in the soul he has actually gone through a
process not only of growing up spiritually but of flushing out the conscience
from all forms of legalism and evil, false norms and standards. To be
continually influenced by doctrine as you go through life means to change your
norms and standards to conform to God’s .A pure conscience can reside in an
impure person (that describes all of us), but we must have pure norms and
standards. Pure norms and standards refer to divine norms and standards
residing in the soul. With divine norms and standards in the human conscience
the believer is qualified to use the administrative gift of deacon if he is a
male and has a spiritual gift. This passage can also be translated, “With a
pure conscience be having and holding the mystery, even doctrine.”
The doctrine of the conscience
1. Definition and etymology.
Conscience is a compound noun, suneidhsij, composed of sun,
a preposition meaning “with” and o(ida, meaning to know. And it
means to know with. In other words, the conscience is a concentrated system of
knowledge which is located categorically in your right lobe. The English word
“conscience” is the Latin translation of suneidhsij. Conscience is simply the Latin con
which means “with” and cienta which
means to know. It is exactly the same as suneidhsij. Both words mean joint knowledge, cognisance, therefore to be conscious
of certain things in life as being right or wrong, good or bad, black or white,
on the basis of knowledge. Conscience is knowledge that provides your norms and
standards of life. Your conscience is the sum total of all the norms and
standards that you have in your soul. All normal persons have norms and
standards and these are related to their cognisance of life.
2. The location of the conscience.
The conscience is a repository for norms and standards of life. Since the norms
and standards are related to cognisance of life the repository is located in
the right lobe of the mentality of the soul. Romans 2:14,15 — Gentiles who had
never heard of Moses, the Old Testament, seen a Jew, heard a Jew, didn’t know
the Hebrew language, had no contact with Israel at all, did by instinct the
things of the law. The Gentile could do it because in his own Gentile language
he had developed a vocabulary and categories, and in the process of doing so he
had developed norms and standards. So by instinct means that he had these norms
and standards totally apart from divine revelation and totally apart from the
Mosaic law.
Titus 1:15 — “To the pure all things
are pure.” This means that if you set up norms and standards and you say
certain are pure things are not you have set up standards. The reason you
consider things are pure is because you learn the word “pure,” it is in your
vocabulary. Eventually, if you get enough vocabulary in other areas you get to
categorical purity and it is inevitable that you will set up standards called
purity. Once you set up standards and comply with it, then anything that agrees
with that standard is pure. So to the pure all things are pure. Purity for the
believer is Bible doctrine dealing with what is right and what is wrong, not
only spiritually but at the same time morally and establishment.
“but to those who are defiled” — the
perfect passive participle of miainw — “and unfaithful nothing
is pure.” This is in the perfect passive participle to indicate something else,
that it is not the person who is defiled but the soul filled with defilement
[of evil].
3. The conscience and the function
of GAP. Obviously there is no way to line up with God’s plan for your life and
to be blessed by God until your norms and standards are divine norms and
standards. And God has to get a way by which He can do it. The only way we can
have God’s norms and standards is to learn God’s Word, to transfer God’s Word
from the page of the Bible to the right lobe. You have to have doctrine in your
frame of reference, in your memory centre. You have to have a new vocabulary
for doctrine, you have to have categorical doctrine. From this it is inevitable
that you will set up norms and standards, and those norms and standards are
your conscience. The function of GAP provides divine norms and standards for
the human conscience. One of the characteristics of maturity is to possess a
conscience with a maximum number of divine norms and standards. This is based
upon maximum doctrine resident in the soul. The conscience is related to the
communication of doctrine in 1 Timothy 1:5.
4. The apostles of apostasy and
teachers of evil possess a distorted conscience — 1 Timothy 4:1,2. No man can
teach doctrine who has a branded conscience. If his conscience is branded with
evil, with legalism, with all the forms of reversionism and apostasy, there is
not way that he can teach the Word of God. He is blinded to doctrine to the
extent that his conscience has been seared with a hot branding iron of
reversionism and evil.
5. Legalism has a false conscience —
1 Corinthians 8:7. Legalism is any rejection of grace, any system or
do-it-yourself kit by which you seek the approbation of God. Legalism is
salvation by works, spirituality by works.
6. The standards of conscience have
directions — Acts 24:16 gives us two, but there are several directions. “A
blameless conscience.” Conscience has standards directed toward God, directed
toward people.
7. The super-grace believer
possesses a conscience which is compatible with the whole plan of God’s grace —
2 Corinthians 1:12. The super-grace believer has a conscience which is divine
viewpoint, it is compatible with grace, it is therefore compatible with God’s
attitude toward everything in history. The conscience therefore is very
effective. It is a conscience of testimony, and this means high esprit decor.
The conscience testimony is experiential sanctification, doctrinal discernment,
freedom from the influence of evil, and by the grace of God having a manner of
life in this world.
8. The communicator of doctrine must
appeal to the conscience of his congregation. It is the teaching of the Word
that straightens out the conscience, that shapes up the conscience, that tears
the conscience to bits and reforms it with the correct norms and standards. 2
Corinthians 4:2 — “But we have renounced the hidden things of shame — “ That
is, false doctrine, apostasy, and evil — “not walking in craftiness, or
adulterating the Word of God, but by the unveiling of doctrine commending
ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.”
“In the sight of God” means the
pastor is responsible to God for his ministry. “Commending ourselves to every
man’s conscience” is the pastor so teaching the Word that true norms and
standards are built and false norms and standards are destroyed. All pastors
must depart from that which is false. The “shame” is false doctrine, apostasy
and evil. “Not walking in craftiness”: a pastor must never teach the people
simply what they want to hear, cater to the people. That is being crafty. It is
the pastor’s responsibility to unveil doctrine as found in the Word of God.
9. Conscience is the basis for
spiritual and establishment type service.
a) The believer’s
conscience demands that he submit to establishment type authority.
b) This means that the
believer is patriotic, pro military, pro free enterprise, pro law enforcement,
anti-communistic, anti-welfare state, anti-liberal. Doctrine resident in the
conscience establishes the basis for being patriotic. Romans 13:5.
c) The principle is true
also of spiritual service. As born again believers we have not only temporal
service in establishment but we have spiritual service as members of the royal
family of God living on earth. 2 Timothy 1:3. Prayer is a spiritual service and
an effective prayer warrior has a clear conscience. Hebrews 9:14. One of the
worst things that can happen to our conscience is to be bogged down with dead
works. 1 Corinthians 10:24-29 — the law of freedom or liberty and the
superseding laws of love, expediency, and supreme sacrifice, all are related to
the function of the conscience where doctrine is resident.
10. The conscience is related to
unjust suffering. Unjust suffering, persecution, various types of maltreatment,
are related to your conscience as a believer. A conscience inculcated with
doctrine is the basis for enduring maltreatment and misunderstanding without
defending ourselves. 1 Peter 2:18,19.
Verse
10 — the deacon must pass the adversity test. “And let these also” — the
adjunctive use of kai plus the post positive
conjunctive particle de. With this we also have a
nominative masculine plural demonstrative pronoun o(utoj.
It calls attention with special attention on deacons who are qualified to serve
in the local church. O(utoj is what is called the
immediate demonstrative pronoun in contrast to another Greek demonstrative, e)kainoj. Both have very definite functions. E)kainoj is called the remote demonstrative, something far
away from the context is being referred to. But the immediate demonstrative
emphasises something near at hand — the deacons here. “Moreover these [deacons]
also.”
“first” is used here in its temporal
sense, prwtoj. First in point of time is
what it means. That is, before serving as a deacon the individual man should
qualify by passing an adversity test or two. Why? Because every deacon has
special adversity after he gets into the office.
“be proved” — the present passive
imperative of the verb dokimazw. This is an assayer’s term.
It means to be tested and to be found approved. It means to pass the test, to
qualify for the diaconate by passing the adversity test. The present tense is a
tendencial present for action which is anticipated but not actually taking
place at the time that Paul writes. The passive voice: the believer to qualify
for deacon must receive the action of the verb. That is, he must face adversity
and pass it by the use of doctrine resident in his soul. The imperative mood is
not the imperative of command but the imperative of commission for a manifest
inclination on the part of one who is the object of the command, thus involving
his consent as well as the command connotation.
“Moreover these also must be tested
first.” This means that every deacon has to be combat tested before he gets the
diaconate. Pressure, disaster, suffering, combined with the proper use of
doctrine resident in the soul, applied, produces spiritual victory and it
produces a qualifying step toward serving as a deacon.
There are several things that a
deacon should do. He should be able to control his household, he should be able
to control his wife.
“then” is an adverb, e)ita, meaning afterwards. After they have passed an
adversity test or two.
“let them use the office of deacon “
isn’t quite correct. The word diakonew means to serve as a deacon,
they are not using the office. In fact, the office is using the deacon. The
present tense is a futuristic present, it denotes an event which has not yet
occurred but is regarded as so certain once the believer passes the adversity
test that it may be contemplated as already coming to pass. The active voice:
the believer who passes the adversity test fulfills the action of the verb by
serving in an administrative capacity as a deacon. The imperative mood is a
command to those who have the proper administrative gift and have qualified in
other categories.
“being” is the present active
participle of e)imi, the verb to be, the status
quo verb. The present tense is retroactive progressive denoting something which
has happened in the past — being irreproachable regarding establishment, law
and justice, and having passed the adversity test. The active voice: the deacon
must qualify as well as pass the adversity test. The participle is conditional
and it should be translated, “if they are blameless.”
“blameless” — the predicate
nominative masculine plural from the compound noun a)negklhtoj. The a means negative; e)gkalew means to be accused, and it was used technically
not to be arraigned in court, not to be charged before the law, and therefore
it means to be unaccused before the law or to be blameless or irreproachable
under establishment. it should be translated, “if he is irreproachable from the
standpoint of establishment.” This means that to qualify for a deacon the male
believer must be free from criminal activity.
Translation: “Moreover these also
must be tested; then afterward serve as deacons, provided that they are
blameless under the laws of establishment.”
Verse 11 — “Even so” is the adverb w(sautoj. This adverb is used to connect things together and
here to qualify the deacon’s wife with special emphasis at this point. It is
translated “In the same manner” or “Likewise.” This adverb refers back to verse
2, to dei e)inai. Dei is the impersonal verb of
duty, compulsion of duty, and e)inai is the present active
infinitive of e)imi, and these two words must
be added in the translation: “Likewise, wives of deacons must be.
“wives” — the accusative plural of
general reference from gunh and it acts as the subject
of dei e)inai. “grave” — this word
doesn’t mean too much any more. This is an accusative plural of general
reference from the noun semnoj, it means “worthy of
respect, honourable.” It is a reference to the fact that the wife of a deacon
must have some advance in her own spiritual growth. This means that the wife of
a deacon must be under the influence of doctrine and not under the influence of
evil. She must not be indifferent to the Word of God or negative toward it. It
further implies that the wife of the deacon must not be in any phase of
reversionism. Just as with the deacon, so also with his wife. Both must
consistently function under the principle of GAP, both must persist in positive
volition toward Bible doctrine. Worthiness of respect or honour comes from the
intake of doctrine for all of us. Her worthiness must therefore come from the
consistent function of GAP, following the colours to the high ground of
super-grace, establishing a command post of inner residency of Bible doctrine.
This is the first function connected with anyone’s wife, in fact any woman.
“not slanderers” — the negative mh plus the accusative plural of diaboloj. Diaboloj in the singular is used for the devil, it
means to slander. Here it means “not malicious gossips.” It means to slander or
to be guilty of the various sins of the tongue. Deacons’ wives must avoid the
sins of the tongue.
“sober” is another accusative plural
of general reference from the word nhfalioj. It means to be temperate
in the use of wine.
“faithful in all things” — the
adjective pistoj which means
faithful-dependable.
“in all things” — e)n plus the locative of paj.
Translation: “Likewise wives [of
deacons] must be honourable, not malicious gossips, not lushes, faithful in all
things.”
The key here and the thing that
causes the most problem is the area of the sins of the tongue.
The doctrine of the sins of the tongue
1. Category and definition.
a) Sin is defined as
transgression of the law of God.
b) A known sin is a
transgression or violation of divine law by cognisance.
c) An unknown sin is
also a transgression of divine law. You don’t know what you’re doing and you do
it.
d) Whether the sin is
known or unknown in both cases volition is involved — you wanted to do it and
you did it.
e) The difference
between a known and an unknown sin is the matter of cognisance of divine law or
an understanding of the biblical doctrine of hamartiology.
f) Whether the divine
law is known or not human volition is involved in transgressing any law of God.
g) All sin, therefore,
combines the function of the old sin nature’s area of weakness with human
volition. Sin does not become a reality without the volition being involved.
h) There are three
categories of sin in the human race: i) the imputation of Adam’s sin directly
to each member of the human race. This occurs at birth. ii) inherent sin or the
perpetuation of the old sin nature through physical birth, causing a person to
be physically alive while at the same time to be spiritually dead. iii)
Personal sin. This does not occur at birth, the first two do. Personal sin
occurs some time after birth. The acts of personal sin which do occur after
birth all occur after birth and before physical death.
i) Three categories of
personal sin exist in the human race: i) Mental sins such as envy, jealousy,
pride, vindictiveness, implacability, hatred, guilt reaction. ii) Verbal sins
such as gossip, slander, maligning, judging, lying. iii) Overt sin, such as adultery,
murder, stealing, drunkenness.
j) All personal sins
originate from the old sin nature.
k) This means that
verbal sins originate from the old sin nature, activated by human volition.
l) Human volition is
involved in all sins.
m) The instrument of
verbal sins is that portion of the anatomy known as the tongue — James 3:6. The
tongue is so placed in the structure of our anatomy as that which contaminates
the entire body.
2. Out of the list of the seven
worst sins three are the sins of the tongue — Proverbs 6:16-19.
3. Verbal sins and reversionism.
a) Verbal sins are
motivated by mental attitude sins, especially pride, jealousy, bitterness,
vindictiveness, implacability, hatred, and pettiness — Psalm 5:8,9.
b) The verbal sin of
judging is a sign of reversionism — James 4:11.
c) The same concept is
found in James 5:9.
d) Verbal reversionism
causes the believer to fall under very heavy discipline — James 5:12.
e) Verbal reversionism
produces treacherous and unreliable people — Psalm 12.
4. The sins of the tongue produce
triple compound discipline. Because other sins are always related to verbal
sins they have an intensified type of discipline that generally does not go
with other types of sins. The triple compound concept is made up basically of
three principles. The motivator for verbal sins — mental attitude sins. Mental
sins lead to verbal sins, and that is divine discipline twice. Verbal sins
always mention the sins of others. The difference between gossip and slander
used to be that you picked your victim and you mentioned sins that you imagined
about him. In other words, he really didn’t commit them. In slander you knew
his sins and spread them verbally. Both are sins, so there is discipline there.
In verbal sins you mention the sins of others, real or imagined. When you
mention them whatever divine discipline exists for those sins it is also poured
on you at the same time. So you get discipline for mental sins, discipline for
verbal sins, discipline for the sins you mentioned in verbal sins. Matthew
7:1,2.
5. God protects the super-grace
believer who is the victim of verbal sins — Job 5:19-21.
6. The congregation and the tongue.
a) Control of the tongue
plus avoidance of verbal sins is a sign of spiritual maturity in the
congregation — James 3:2.
b) Verbal sins can
destroy an entire congregation of the local church — James 3:5,6.
c) Since the sins of the
tongue can destroy an entire congregation of believers it is the solemn
responsibility of the pastor to warn against this category of personal sin — 2
Timothy 2:14-17.
d) Troublemakers in the
congregation are characterised by sins of the tongue. This principle is found
in Psalm 52:1,2.
e) Separation from those
guilty of the sins of the tongue is commanded in Romans 16:17,18.
7. The blessing from avoidance of
the sins of the tongue is mentioned in Psalm 34:12,13.
Verse 12 — the marital and family
standards for the deacon. The words “Let be” is the present active imperative
from e)imi. The present tense is a
customary present denoting what habitually occurs or should be expected to
occur. The deacon produces the action. This is the imperative mood of command.
With this is the vocative plural of diakonoj and it should be translated “deacons.”
“husbands” — the predicate
nominative plural from a)nhr, often used in the sense of
manly man, noble man.
“of one wife” — genitive singular of
relationship from the numeral e(ij, plus gunh — “deacons keep on being husbands of one wife.”
What does this mean?
1. The Bible must be interpreted in
the time in which it was written.
2. This phrase applies to the
heathen practice, as well as a Jewish practice, of polygamy.
3. This phrase by interpretation
prohibits polygamy for deacons.
4. Polygamy is not God’s order or
God’s plan.
5. While the harem was permitted in
the Old Testament it was never condoned by the Word of God.
6. This is not the interpretation,
but by way of application there is the concept of divorce here. However, it
should be emphasised that deacons can qualify to function in that office as
divorced persons under the following conditions: i) Former wife is dead —
Romans 7:1-4; ii) Divorced for adultery — Matthew 5:32; iii) Divorced for
desertion — 1 Corinthians 7:15; iv) Divorced before salvation — Isaiah 44:22.
The Bible never condones divorce for
incompatibility. You can get divorced before the law, but when the Bible uses
the word “divorce” it means the right to remarry.
“ruling” — present middle participle
from proisthmi. The word is compounded
from pro, meaning before or in
advance of, and i(sthmi which means to stand. It
means to be in advance of the troops, to be the head of the troops, to govern,
to manage, to rule. It should be translated “they should be ruling” because
this is a participle used as an imperative. And this is a descriptive present
representing what should now be going on, or a pictorial present depicting the
deacon’s government or rulership of his family as in the process of occurrence.
The middle voice is the indirect middle emphasising the deacon as the agent
producing the action of the verb rather than participating in its results.
“their children” — the objective
genitive plural as well as the possessive genitive plural of teknon. Teknon is used here for a child
under age [before they have reached adulthood] under the control of their
parents.
“and their own houses” — the
objective genitive twn
i)diwn o)ikwn which
refers to the deacon’s family and household. There may be a mother-in-law there
too!
“well” — the adverb kaloj, meaning right, well, free, and so on.
Translation: “Deacons keep on being
husbands of one wife, they should be ruling well their children and their own
household.”
Note that this verse relates the
deacon to several divine institutions. The first is the divine institution of
freedom of his own volition: he should be able to do this. The second divine
institution is marriage: he should rule his wife. The third divine institution
is family: he should rule his children. So it becomes important for local
church leadership to understand divine laws of establishment and observe them.
Furthermore the deacon cannot exercise authority in the local church when he
can’t handle and exercise authority over his own family. Also, the objective
genitive plural of i)dioj connotes privacy in
freedom. The deacon who cannot rule his own household is not qualified to
exercise authority in the local church.
The deacons blessings and rewards
are of a special nature.
Verse 13 starts out with a post
positive particle gar used as an explanatory
conjunction — “For.”
“they that use the office of deacon”
— this is not correct. Diakonew means to serve as a deacon.
The constative aorist gathers the action of the verb into its entirety. The
active voice: the deacon produces the action of the verb — serving. The
participle is circumstantial, it also has antecedent action to the main verb.
“For they who have served as deacons
honourably [kaloj again]” or “the who have
served honourable as deacons.”
“purchase” — the present middle
indicative of peripoiew which does not mean to
purchase here at all, it means to obtain or to acquire, to gain for one’s self.
The present tense is a perfective present which approaches the kindred perfect
tense, it is used to denote the continuation of existing results but
emphasising the present reality of those existing results. The middle voice is
a direct middle, it refers the results of the action directly to the agent with
reflexive force. The subject or the agent works with a view toward
participating beneficially in the outcome. Therefore in this case he participates
and becomes the beneficiary by paragraph SG2 as well as SG3.
The indicative mood is declarative for the reality of the fact that the
super-grace deacon receives paragraph SG2 in time and SG3
in eternity.
“to themselves” is literally “for
themselves.” It is a dative plural from the reflexive pronoun e(autou.
“a good degree” — the adjective kaloj plus the noun baqmoj,
and it should be translated “a noble rank” or “a profitable standing,” meaning
that the super-grace deacon will receive and enjoy a special paragraph SG2
in time and have special decorations under SG3 in eternity.
“and much boldness” — the word poluj means “much” and with the noun parrhsia it means “much confidence.”
“in the faith” — e)n plus the instrumental of pistij, there is no definite article. The absence of the
definite article emphasises the high quality of doctrine. It should be
translated, “in doctrine.” The deacon with maximum doctrine in his soul is
considered, therefore, high quality. This is an instrumental so it should be
“by means of doctrine.”
“which” — the instrumental of
association from the definite article. This is personal association in which
Christ supplies the means of fellowship with God as royal family. It should be
translated, “associated with being in Christ Jesus.”
Translation: “For they who have
served honourably as deacons have acquired for themselves a noble rank, and
much confidence by means of doctrine [resident in the soul] associated with
their being in Christ Jesus.”
Note
1. The emphasis on doctrine in the
soul is always the key. The deacon by serving doesn’t get SG2, he
gets it by doctrine in the soul; but his SG2 paragraph has special
things that relate to his serving as a deacon.
2. These blessings belong to the
deacon serving as a deacon in super-grace status.
3. Every male believer serving as a
deacon in the local church should be spiritually mature.
4. No deacon can effectively use his
administrative gift apart from super-grace status and spiritual maturity.
5. Therefore it takes balance of
residency in the soul [filling of the Spirit plus maximum doctrine] to
effectively and honourably function as a deacon in the local church.
We now come to the subject of
authority. In this verse we have the authority of the Word. In verse 15 we have
the authority of the pastor. In verse 16 we have the authority of Christ. The
reason we have this transitional three verses is to prepare for the fourth
chapter where we will see apostasy rearing its ugly head, and we will see some
defenses against the attacks of apostasy. The defense against apostasy is the
Word of God. The counter attack against the apostasy is the pastor-teacher
communicating the Word. So in the sense this is a transitional paragraph. The
transition pulls together the dissertation on leadership in chapter three and
the dissertation upon the Satanic attack of apostasy in chapter four.
Beginning now with the principle of
authority in the royal family of God: verses 14-16.
Verse 14 — the authority of the Word
of God. “These things” — the nominative neuter plural from the demonstrative
pronoun o(utoj which calls attention to
doctrine with special emphasis on the Bible. “These things [doctrines]” and
application which we have had so far in this book.
“write I” — present active
indicative of grafw. This verb brings up the
subject of the formation of the canon of scripture, specifically the New
Testament portion of the canon. The present tense of grafw is a pictorial present, it presents to the mind the
events of inspiration in the process of occurrence. When Paul wrote the canon
of scripture was in the process of being formed. It should be translated, “I am
writing.” This is also a static present to indicate that Bible doctrine in the
canon of scripture written once perpetually exists. This letter was not lost,
it was reproduced on a very limited scale in the first century and by the
present time it has been reproduced literally millions of times in the printing
of Bibles. The active voice: Paul as the human author of the epistle produces
the action of the verb under the concept of verbal plenary inspiration. The
indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal idea from the viewpoint
of absolute dogma.
“unto thee” is the dative of
indirect object from the personal pronoun su.
The personal pronoun refers to Timothy who is the original recipient of this
epistle. By now, of course, we are all recipients. This is a dative of
advantage by application because it is to our advantage to study this
fascinating epistle of application.
“These things I am writing to you.”
The doctrine of inspiration
1. Definition: God so supernaturally directed the writers
of scripture that without waiving their human intelligence, their
individuality, their literary style, their personal feelings, or any other
human factor, His complete and coherent message to man was recorded with
perfect accuracy in the original languages of scripture, the very words being
the authority of divine authorship.
2. The mechanics of inspiration.
The principle is found
in 2 Timothy 3:16 — “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” This is an
incorrect translation. There is no verb to give, there is simply the
substantive qeopneustoj which means “God-breathed.”
Qeoj refers to God, pneustoj is a substantive meaning breathe. This means that
the mechanics are found in this one word.
The mechanics: The inhale and exhale
are both involved in breathing. The inhale deals with the source, God the Holy
Spirit, third person of the Trinity. It is God the Holy Spirit who communicates
to human authors the complete and coherent message both for that generation in
which it was written and all generations of history. While the writers of
scripture had other messages for their generation and did a lot of preaching,
it isn’t written down. What is reduced to writing is what God wanted reduced to
writing. Only what God wanted and which is pertinent to all generations was
actually recorded. This concept of inhale is taught in 2 Samuel 23:2,3; Isaiah
59:21; Jeremiah 1:9; Matthew 22:42,43; Mark 12:36; Acts 4:24,25; 28:25.
The exhale is reducing the Word to
writing. In the exhale the human writer of scripture wrote down in the language
in which he thought — Hebrew, Chaldean, or Greek — the divine message to man.
In writing the scripture they did not waive their human intelligence, their
vocabulary. The words were expressed through their own personality. Their
writing was recorded with perfect accuracy in the languages of scripture and
then preserved by God right down to this moment. This, of course, will continue
forever.
3. The writers of scripture. There
are two kinds: those who were the human authors of the Old Testament and those
who were the human authors of the New Testament. The Old Testament writers were
all prophets. They had to be a prophet to write. No one wrote an Old Testament
book without being a prophet under one of three categories: the unique prophet,
the office of a prophet, or the gift of prophecy. The difference between the
gift and the office: the office was a prophet or a communicator who was like a
pastor today, the gift was anyone in life who was a believer and given the gift
of prophecy to write. For example, David was not a prophet, he was a general
and a king. Therefore when you come to David’s writings they are in the third
category. David had the gift of prophecy but he did not have the office of a
prophet. The office of a prophet in David’s day went to Nathan and Gad, they
were actual communicators of the Word of God.
In our English Bibles the Old
Testament is scrambled in certain parts, but there is a very clear delineation
in the Hebrew Old Testament.
For example, the unique prophet
wrote the Torah. The Torah refers to the first five books of the Old Testament.
They were written by the unique prophet, Moses. There were several other unique
prophets in history, e.g., Jeremiah. The last of the unique prophets was the
Lord Jesus Christ but the most famous of the unique prophets was Moses. What is
a unique prophet? A unique prophet has both the gift and the office of
prophecy.
The second section of the Old
Testament canon is called Nebijim
which means prophets. Those who had the office of prophet are the writers of
this section. Joshua wrote the book of Joshua, he had the office of prophet.
Samuel wrote the book of Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel up to his death. He had the
office of prophet. What Samuel did not write was written by Nathan and Gad who
wrote both Kings and Chronicles. Then we have Isaiah. Jeremiah had the office
of prophet but he was also unique. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Habbakuk,
Zechariah, Malachi were all men who wrote. In the second section of the Hebrew
canon you have everything from Joshua through Malachi.
The third section is called the Kethubim which means writings. This
section was written by those who had the gift of prophecy but did not have the
office. This includes David, Solomon, Job, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah. None of
these men had the office of prophet.
The New Testament writers are not
based upon the concept of prophet, that is Old Testament communication. The New
Testament writers wrote as those who had the gift of apostleship or one closely
associated with an apostle. Mark was associated with Peter, Luke was associated
with Paul.
4. The problem of the pre-canon
revelation. The scripture was not reduced to writing until the days of Moses
but there were already 2000 years of human history by the time we get to Moses.
So what about revelation before they had Bibles? Pre-canon revelation from God
still came through the Holy Spirit. We know this from 2 Samuel 23:2; Ezekiel
2:2; 8:3; 11:1,24; Micah 3:8; Hebrews 3:7. The Holy Spirit used elect angels
for teaching. There was a great deal of angelic teaching prior to the time of
Moses and the beginning of the canon of scripture. God the Holy Spirit Himself
used dreams, visions, and trances. God the Father also came into the picture:
voice, verbalised divine revelation. So that no one ever lacked divine
revelation before the canon of scripture was started and during the process of
the completion of the canon of scripture. No one has ever lacked doctrine from
Adam and Eve in the garden right down to the present day. The only things that
keeps the believer from doctrine is his own negative volition.
5. Once the canon of scripture began
there were four categories of Old Testament revelation. God the Father and the
spoken Word; dreams, as in Genesis 15:12; 31:10-13; Numbers 12:6; Daniel 10:9.
A dream is divine revelation involving a sleeping state; a vision — you’re wide
awake and ecstatic: Isaiah 1:1; 6:1; 1 Kings 2219. A trance means to be wide
awake and super stimulated. The most common way of teaching was angelic
teaching and while the canon was being formed angels were very busy —
Deuteronomy 33:2; Psalm 68:17; Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19.
Once the canon begins to be formed
it provides its own nomenclature. The word “canon” is not the artillery piece.
This is the Greek word kanwn which means a rule or a
ruler, or a norm, or a standard. This became the commonly accepted theological
nomenclature for the Bible or any portion of the Bible.
6. There are within the canon of
scripture certain descriptions. The most common to us is Hebrews 4:12. The
canon of scripture, then, is known by the Word of God. This relates the Bible
to God the Father. In 1 Corinthians 2:16 the canon is referred to as the mind
of Christ. This relates the Bible to God the Son. In Hebrews 3:7 the canon is
called the voice of the Spirit. This relates the Bible to God the Holy Spirit.
No one in the Trinity is left out in descriptive terms for the canon of
scripture.
7. The origin of scripture. All
scripture originates from God. In the mechanics, God the Holy Spirit. But God
the Father spoke in the Old Testament: “Thus saith the Lord.” God the Son
taught on earth, and God the Holy Spirit is the one who communicated to human
writers. So that the Trinity is the source of the scripture. Perfect source
means perfect book. No scripture originates with human volition, human design,
or human purpose — 2 Peter 1:20,21.
8. The value of the canon of
scripture is found Psalm 138:2 — God has placed the highest possible value on
the scripture.
9. The extent of inspiration. What
does the scripture cover? What does God accurately discuss with us?
a) It deals with the
otherwise unknown past. What was the universe like before man was here? How did
the universe come into existence? What caused the universe to change? All of
these details are found in the first chapter of Genesis, and occasional references
in books like Isaiah. So that we know all that is necessary and all that is
accurate from the Word of God. Furthermore, there were very few records that
came through the flood, but we have a totally accurate picture of the early
civilisation called the antediluvian civilisation. The only accurate record of
the antediluvian civilisation is contained in the first nine chapters of the
Bible. The post-diluvian civilisation and the problems pertaining to it is also
found in Genesis 9-11. The “unknown past” is not unknown. Whatever God wanted
us to know we have in detail in these 11 chapters.
b) The Bible is not an
historical textbook but the Bible is the only accurate book on ancient history.
It contains many historical citations which are related to doctrine. All of
these historical records in the canon are accurate and provide background for
the communication of doctrine under isagogics. Furthermore, when the Bible
makes an historical reference that reference is accurate. If there is a
contradiction between modern historical interpretation of the ancient world and
what the Bible says, the Bible is always right.
We earn something else from this
concept of the canon of scripture. We learn when we get an actual historical
fact about which we know something, and we see how the liberal history
professor deals with it, and then we see how the Bible deals with it, we learn
how to correctly interpret history.
c) Objective type law.
The Bible is the only book that teaches the true meaning of law. The Bible
contains a complete and correct definition of law. First of all, law must have
an incorruptible judge. The Bible teaches this principle. There must be bona
fide evidence brought into the trial and the Bible has a clear delineation of
the principles of evidence, the laws of evidence. Hearsay is completely
eliminated and there must be at least two or three witnesses. The law must deal
with certain subjects. It must deal with property, the life and the privacy of
individuals. Objective type law is a part of God’s plan for mankind. It is a
part of the establishment of a nation. Law is designed by God to make sure that
the human race will survive throughout the entire course of this phase of the
angelic conflict. In the Bible God has provided all true basis for law.
d) Dictation. Some
portions of the Word of God simply contain direct quotations from God. The
doctrine of inspiration guarantees that such commands and quotations are
properly recorded in the exact way that God spoke them or in the exact way that
God wills them to be recorded. However, remember that dictation carries no more
weight than any other portion of scripture, it is merely another vehicle for
bringing in the divine viewpoint.
e) There is an area in
the scripture which we must call devotional literature — the Psalms, Proverbs.
By devotional literature is meant man in relationship to God, practical
application, man in relationship to man, man in relationship to materialistic
things, man even in relation to animals; all of these things form an area of
scripture. Devotional literature means that God uses the relationships, the
problems, the pressures, the prosperity, the failures, the happiness, the
sadness of certain believers to reveal principles, provisions, and blessings of
the grace plan.
f) Prophecy. Inspiration
involves both the selection of the prophetic material and their complete
accuracy. Many of the things that were once prophesied in the Old Testament
have been fulfilled, but there are many unfulfilled prophecies dealing with the
second advent, the Millennium, the destruction of the universe, the creation of
the eternal state.
g) The recording of that
which is false — false doctrine or lies. The scripture records lies, untrue
statements, blasphemies, even false viewpoints. Inspiration does not sponsor
these things but it guarantees their accuracy. When Satan said to the woman,
“Thou shalt not die,” that is what Satan really said. The scripture guarantees
that is what he said but the scripture does not condone what he said.
Verse 14b — “hoping” is the present
active participle from the verb e)lpizw. Hope in the Bible means a
sense of expectation or a confidence in expectation. Here is has the concept of
a sense of expectation. The present tense is a descriptive present which
indicates what is now going on. The active voice: Paul is producing the action.
The participle is a concessive participle denoting a sense of concession. It
should be translated, “though hoping” in the sense of expectation. “Though
expecting” would be a good translation.
“to come” — the aorist active infinitive
of e)rxomai. This is correctly
translated, except that the constative aorist contemplates the action of the
verb in its entirety, and it takes Paul’s hope to come and gathers it into a
single whole. In other words, even though Paul anticipates being with Timothy
very shortly. This was an anticipation which did not take cognisance of the
fact that already Romans were on the lookout for the apostle Paul. Therefore
Paul was not going to see him and the writing was more important than the
seeing. The active voice: Paul produces the action. The infinitive expresses a
purpose. With the concessive participle it indicates this is what he wants to
do and everything seems to be clear for the moment, it just didn’t work out
that way.
“unto thee” — proj plus the accusative singular of the personal
pronoun su. This is one of the cases
where it means face to face with — “face to face with you.”
“shortly” — this is an adverb, and
in the original text we have a prepositional phrase, e)n taxei, the instrumental of taxoj.
The word means speed and with the preposition e)n
it should be translated “with speed.” It comes to mean “without delay.”
Translation: “These things I am
writing to you, though expecting to come face to face with you without delay.”
Verse 15 — the authority of the
pastor is given. The big thing is the authority of the Word, he puts it in
writing, it is a part of the canon of scripture. Once it is a part of the canon
of scripture you can’t read it or memorise it and grow spiritually. The
principle is that pastor-teachers are designed by God to communicate the Word.
“But if” — the post positive
conjunctive particle de used as an adversative
conjunction to anticipate the alternative, plus the conjunction e)an used to introduce a third class condition. The
conjunction which introduces a third class condition must have a subjunctive
mood in the verb of the protasis.
“I tarry long” — he put it is the
third class condition for the simple reason that he was becoming aware of the
fact that maybe he wouldn’t get to Ephesus after all. The word for tarry is not
a Pentecostal word! This is just an old English word which means to delay. It
is here a present active subjunctive of bradunw and it means to delay. The present tense is a tendencial present for
an action which is purposed or attempted though not actually taking place. The
active voice: Paul produces the action of potential delay. The subjunctive mood
is potential to form the third class condition. Because the subjunctive is used
in the protasis uncertainty is implied in the aposdasis. This is the
intransitive use of the verb and it can be translated, therefore, like a
passive voice which makes better English.
Insert at this point the word grafw, as per verse 14. “But if I am delayed I write” is
what he is saying.
“that” — the conjunction i(na used for a final clause, denoting objective, goal,
purpose. “In order that” is the correct translation.
“thou mayest know” — the perfect
active subjunctive of o)ida.
O)ida in
itself is a perfect used as a present, but this is the perfect use of o)ida and it is a consummative use presenting a
consummate process which makes it quite different from the culminative aorist
in that the process is emphasised along with the results. In the consummative
perfect it is not merely the process which is denoted but a consummated
process. Consummation implies results — “in order that you may know.” The
active voice: Timothy will GAP the epistle with the implied results of
transferring doctrine into his soul. The subjunctive is potential implying a
future reference and contains the element of contingency based on Timothy’s
function of GAP with regard to this epistle.
“how” — the interrogative particle pwj used as a particle of determination. It determines
how something should happen. It can be translated “how” or “in what way.”
“thou oughtest” — impersonal verb of
duty, dei — “how one ought.”
“to behave thyself” — present middle
infinitive of a)nastrefw
which means
to function or to conduct one’s self. The present tense is a customary present
for habitually occurs or may reasonably be expected to occur after Timothy
takes in the epistle. The middle voice is something of a problem here,
therefore a few principles:
The middle voice is that use of the
verb which describes the subject as participating in the results of the action.
It differs from the active voice. The active voice emphasises the action but
the middle voice emphasises the agent producing the action. The middle voice
relates the action of the verb more intimately to the subject than the active
voice. This is what we call a direct middle which refers the results of the
action directly to the agent with reflexive force. “But if I am delayed, I
write in order that you may know [by GAP] how one ought to conduct himself.”
“Himself” — the reflexive translation comes from the direct middle. The
infinitive of intended result which indicates the fulfillment of a deliberate
plan, a blending of purpose and result. Where? The place where no one knows how
to conduct himself, “the house of God.” The church was called the house of God
because they met in houses.
“in the house of God” is a
prepositional phrase — e)n plus the locative of o)ikoj, plus the possessive genitive of qeoj. The possessive genitive means that whenever a
group of believers meet together having a pastor-teacher, under the authority
of that pastor-teacher, that is a house of God. The local church is referred to
by this phrase, the local church which is the only authorised classroom for
spiritual growth in this dispensation. God has ordained and authorised the
local church as the means of attaining all spiritual objectives related to the
angelic conflict. No matter how the local church fails in any generation it has
never been superseded by any outside organisation, and never will be. The local
church is here to stay until the Rapture. Even though there are abuses in the
local church from time to time, even though the local churches often suffer
from apostasy or sometimes just from weakness [sometimes a local church is
afraid to stand as a local church so they must associate themselves with
another local church]. The local church does fail, but the failure of the local
church is something that God knew would happen from time to time — form
denominations or break down and become apostate — but God never called or
authorised any outside organisation to take the place of the local church.
The organisation outside of the
local church which claims to provide spiritual growth automatically qualifies
itself under the title “evil.” Many service organisations are service
organisations but somewhere in their service they make a transition and they
declare themselves causing or producing spiritual growth. When they declare
that, that is the end; they have no moved into the sphere of evil. All
spiritual advance comes from the teaching ministry of the local church. This is
not to imply that all local churches advance believers spiritually. There must
be a solid teaching ministry, a consistent teaching ministry.
Summary
1. Basic worship is the daily
function of GAP.
2. This is accomplished in the house
of God, known today as the local church, and it is accomplished under strict
academic discipline.
3. God has ordained the authority
for the local church.
4. The absolute ruling authority is
the pastor-guardian of the local church.
5. His authority is established by
consistent studying and teaching from the pulpit.
6. The administrative authority is
vested in the board of deacons, but policy-making is the function of the pastor.
This does not mean that deacons are not in the policy-making business but their
policies must comply with the overall principles of grace as delineated in the
messages from the pulpit.
7. There is no plurality of elders.
The only place where you have a plurality of elders is in a city where there
are numerous local churches. An elder is the pastor, and you have one elder per
local church.
8. All other facets of worship must
conform to and be standardised by policy from doctrine resident in the soul.
9. Maximum doctrine resident in the
soul under the filling of the Spirit produces other forms of worship. Such as:
the giving of money, the word of praise or testimony, singing, the observation
of the communion service or the Eucharist. There are worship forms and they
comes as a result of basic worship — GAP. Basic worship is always being filled
with the Spirit and listening to doctrine.
10. For the congregation worship
consists basically of concentration on the teaching of the Word, good manners
and silence while the pastor is speaking, poise so as to maintain concentration
when others are disturbing, submission to the authority of the pastor in his
teaching function.
11. Timothy is an epistle on the
function of the local church.
It is already apparent that Timothy
was not in control of the local church at Ephesus.
“which” is a nominative feminine
singular qualitative relative pronoun w(stij.
The house of God falls into a categorical concept and this relative pronoun is
to indicate this — “which category.”
“is” — the present active indicative
of e)imi. The present tense is a
static present for a condition which will always exist. The active voice: the
house of God, the local church, produces the action of the verb. The indicative
mood is a declarative indicative for the statement of an absolute dogma in the
field of ecclesiology.
“the church of the living God” — the
nominative feminine singular of the noun e)kklhsia. This is used here for the local church. We have the ascriptive
present active participle of zaw. The participle of this
verb in the ascriptive sense is used as an adjective and is correctly
translated “living.” Then we have with that the possessive genitive of qeoj, God Himself possesses the local church. The local
church is in the devil’s world but it is God’s property.
Remember that this passage is
describing the local church, the place of discipline and authority, not the
church universal. Church is also used for the royal priesthood but here it
refers to a specific geographical location, a group of people assembled
together. We should also note that discipline and authority are the foundation
principles for learning doctrine in the local church. Learning doctrine is
necessary for the spiritual growth of the royal family of God. It should also
be noted that the pastor receives from God the only authority in human history
which is not related in any way to cosmos diabolicus. Therefore guardianship of
the local church carries the highest type of authority in the intensified stage
of the angelic conflict.
Translation: “But if I am delayed, I
write in order that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the house
of God, which category keeps on being the church of the living God.”
The doctrine of the Church
1. Nomenclature and definition. The
church goes by a number of names:
a) The royal family of
God or positional sanctification. The Church is called the royal family, and
every believer is in union with Jesus Christ.
b) We have two words
which relate to the Lord Jesus Christ as our prince ruler. In relationship to
the person of Christ the Church on earth is called the body of Christ, the
Church in heaven is called the bride of Christ. Therefore quite frequently have
the words body and bride. Body = the Church on earth in this dispensation;
bride = the Church in heaven after the Rapture.
c) But by far the most
common word we find throughout the epistles of the New Testament. It is a very,
very old noun, e)kklhsia. It is a noun which is
taken from Classical Greek or Attic Greek. (The correct terminology for
Classical Greek is Attic Greek. Attica was the state in which Athens was
located)
The first use of this word in the
Attic Greek is when occasionally the citizens of the city would gather together
in the amphitheater to conduct business. They had a democracy and they only
proved that democracy doesn’t work.
The second use of the word e)kklhsia came in the second century BC when the Old
Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek — the Septuagint. When it came
to certain words where the Jews would gather together and assemble the
translators translated “assemble” in the Hebrew into the Greek word e)kklhsia. So when you get to the New Testament, e.g., Acts
7:38 you actually have an historical record of the Jews’ assembly, the assembly
was called e)kklhsia. You can see that
translating this word “church” doesn’t really make sense. If there is one word
in the English language that there is no excuse for, no basis for, no reason
for, it is the word “church,” because e)kklhsia does not mean church, never did mean church, it means assembly. The
idea to use the word “church” came from Romanism.
There is a third use of e)kklhsia in which the second use is brought into New
Testament times. Prior to the first advent of Christ and during the first
advent of Christ the Jews had a word which they called for their assembly. They
called it from the Greek word sunagwgh which also means assembly.
From that it is translated into our English, synagogue. Matthew 18:17 — the word
is used for the assembly of a Jewish synagogue. It has nothing to do with the
church, it is a Jewish synagogue assembling.
A fourth use of e)kklhsia came into existence. In the time of our Lord and in
the time of the writing of the New Testament there were some leftover fragments
from the Hellenistic monarchies. When Alexander died his kingdom was broken up
into various monarchies: the Seleucid kingdom, the Egyptian empire under the
Ptolemies. Here and there were little fragments of these monarchies still in
existence during the course of the Roman empire, and one of them is mentioned
in Acts 19:25. Under Hellenistic culture and government the assembly of the
government in the Greek city state was called e)kklhsia.
The fifth and last use of e)kklhsia is the technical one, the theological use. It is
the one that we have under the misnomer called “church.” The technical use in
Christianity is e)kklhsia. However in the technical
use we have a breakdown of the two different uses. E)kklhsia or church is used for all believers on the earth — Ephesians 1:22,23;
5:25-27; Colossians 1:17,18. The universal church is simply believers anywhere
and everywhere — royal family. So all of us are church in the sense of
universal church. And the royal family since the first century is located in
heaven and on earth so we have the word church applying to believers in this
dispensation whether they are in heaven or whether they are on earth. The word
which has been abused most of all is the concept of the local church, what we
have been calling the classroom for the royal priesthood. This is located is a
specific geographical area and is made up of at least two or three gathered
together in His name — 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; Revelation
chapters 2 & 3 actually mention local churches. The local church is in view
in 1 Timothy 3:15, the house of God which is the church is the local church in
contrast to universal church.
Note concerning the local church
a) It is made up of believers only —
the assembly of believers only. The local church is not a house of
evangelisation, though that does occur. The benefit is primarily for believers
only.
b) Dispensational orientation. This
is the mystery age — Romans 16:25,26; Ephesians 3:1-5; Colossians 1:25,26.
Under the concept of the doctrine of the mystery the church was never known
before this dispensation. Therefore, dispensationally it is an inserted age,
and intercalated. The reason for this is that when Christ died on the cross
bearing our sins, the objective for the first advent, and then was resurrected,
ascended and seated at the right hand of the Father, something new was in
heaven: royalty in heaven in a resurrection body. But the problem is one
royalty in heaven with a resurrection body, the only member of the human race
in a resurrection body. Therefore there has to be a royal family formed, and so
the Age of Israel in which the death, burial, resurrection and ascension
occurred, was dramatically interrupted on the day of Pentecost. On that day God
began to call out the royal family or the church. Therefore, any person who
believed in this dispensation immediately was baptised by the Holy Spirit into
union with Christ — because we are royal family of God. The Church Age will
continue until its conclusion when the royal family is completed, and then you
have the Rapture of the Church in which all royalty will have resurrection
bodies. Royalty has its privileges and our privilege is to have a resurrection
body before any person who was born again in Old Testament times.
c) The beginning of the Church Age.
This is very important. We must remember once again that the Jewish Age was
halted, interrupted, seven years short of its completion. The Jewish Age will
not be completed until the Tribulation. God never mixes Israel and the Church,
the Rapture occurs before the Age of Israel resumes. The reason for the
interruption is the calling out of the royal family of God and the
intensification of the angelic conflict. The Church was future from the time of
Christ’s ministry, very easily provable from the future tense of o)ikoidomew in Matthew 16:18 when the Lord said to Peter, “On
this rock (Jesus Christ) I will build my church.” The Church would be built on
the acknowledging of Christ. Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God.” This is the future tense, the Church wasn’t in existence then. The
beginning of the Church Age began on the day of Pentecost, roughly AD 30. It
begins with the baptism of the Holy Spirit by which the royal family of God was
formed — Acts 1:5 it was prophesied. The baptism of the Spirit is not an
experience, it is God the Holy Spirit entering each one of us into union with
Christ — 1 Corinthians 12:13. The day of Pentecost brought in the new
dispensation with a great spiritual party in which the whole realm of spiritual
gifts were exercised — apostleship, tongues, evangelism, miracles, etc. By the
time the end of Acts comes along the party is over and many of the gifts which
were temporary are no more. The baptism of the Spirit occurred on the day of
Pentecost. The Lord predicted it in Acts 1:5. The fulfillment is declared in
Acts 11:15,16.
d) The termination of the Church
Age. The Church Age terminates with the resurrection called the Rapture of the
Church. The celebration at the end of the Church Age is going to be much
greater than the celebration at the beginning. It will be the greatest party of
all time. There are many passages on this: 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 which
emphasises the resurrection body we will possess; Philippians 3:21 which
emphasises the fact that we will have a body exactly like that of Jesus Christ;
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 which emphasises the reuniting of loved ones; 1 John
3:1,2 which emphasises royal family relationship forever. All of these passages
tell us something about the termination of the Church Age and the great
resurrection which will occur at that time.
e) Synonyms. The Church is such a
fantastic doctrine, so great in its perspective, so wonderful in aspect that it
demands the use of many doctrinal synonyms in order to bring out all of its
beauty and facets.
i) The last Adam and the
new creation. The last Adam emphasises the royalty of the Lord Jesus Christ and
His rulership of the world. The new creation is the royal family made up of
believers. This particular synonym is found especially in Corinthians and
Galatians — 1 Corinthians 15:45,47; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15.
ii) The head and the
body is the manner in which the authority of our Lord as the King of kings over
the Church is described. Christ is the head, we are the members of the body.
Being members of the body emphasises our difference in personality, our
difference in spiritual gifts — Ephesians 1:22,23; 2:16; 4:4,5; 5:23. It is
also the subject of the book of Colossians and is found as a great passage in 1
Corinthians 12.
iii) The Shepherd and
the sheep. This is one is used first in the Gospels, in John 10 prophetically,
but it is found in Hebrews and Peter. This is not one that Paul uses, this is
one which is used by the two greatest of the old apostles, John and Peter.
Jesus Christ is the shepherd and we as members of the body of Christ of the
Church are His sheep. John 10; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 5:4.
iv) The vine and the
branches — to emphasise royal familyship and to indicate why they had that
great party on the day of Pentecost. It is found only in John 15. There is a
very strong relationship between vine stem and its branches. They are actually
integrated together and this emphasises the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
v) Christ is the chief
cornerstone and we are the stones of the building — Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter
2:4-8. Christ is the founder of the Church, the head of the Church, and we are
the stones in the building, we are in union with Christ.
vi) The high priest and
the royal priesthood, a functional synonym — Hebrews 7:25; 10:10-14; 1 Peter
2:5,9; it is found three times in Revelation, beginning in 1:6.
vii) The groom and the
bride, the future of the Church as royal family — 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians
5:25-27; Revelation 19:6-8.
f) The uniqueness of the Church Age.
The Church Age is absolutely different, absolutely unique from any other
dispensation or function. The members of the royal family of God through the
baptism of the Spirit and positional sanctification are royalty forever in
union with Christ. The universal priesthood of the believer makes every member
of the royal family at the same time a royal priest. The Church is a kingdom of
royal priests with the Lord Jesus Christ as the high priest and the supreme
ruler. His representative on earth for the function of the priesthood is the
pastor-guardian of the local church. We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
as the sign of royal family of God. We have the indwelling of the person of
Christ for fellowship. We have instructions of the royal family all reduced to
writing so that all divine revelation is now on the written page. We have a new
classroom, a new means of growth, a new means of communication. We have
supernatural way of life. Every person who is a believer in Christ has a life
full of meaning, purpose and definition. We are the personal representatives of
the Lord on the earth, and therefore we are called His royal ambassadors.
g) The objective of the Church Age
believer, then, is balance of residency, following the colours to the high
ground, seizing and holding the super-grace life until one is taken by the
beautiful principle of dying grace. We move by GAP to the high ground. There we
establish a command post of doctrine resident in the soul. There God provides
something, a paragraph SG2 which was designed for us in eternity
past. There for the first time we understand paragraph SG2 in terms
of spiritual blessing: occupation with the person of Jesus Christ, having the
very happiness which God Himself possesses, the inner utilisation of Bible
doctrine in such a wonderful way. We at the same time have temporal blessing:
wealth, success, promotion, prosperity, material prosperity, sexual prosperity,
social prosperity, leadership prosperity, technical prosperity, professional
prosperity. Then we have dying blessing. God takes us over this high golden
bridge, we have a permanent change of station from time to eternity. In other
words, dying is a greater blessing even than living. Then on the other side we
have paragraph SG3, our decorations, our rewards, our castles,
everything that we have that is used for our eternal blessing and reward. But
this is only true of super-grace believers. For those who neglect doctrine,
instead of this they go through three stages of divine discipline. And then
there is the worst of all, the low crawl through ground glass for a few miles
into eternity; in other words, the sin unto death, and then they are minus SG3
— minus SG2 in time, minus SG3 in eternity, minus dying
grace as a transition. This is not the way to go and your attitude to doctrine
determines into which category you fall.
So the Church Age, then, becomes the
most dramatic of all dispensations. It is more meaningful to every individual
believer than any other dispensation ever has been or ever will be.
Verse 15c — “the pillar.” The word
for pillar or column is stuloj. The pillar or column which
was used in ancient construction as the basic system for supporting the
building. It was the relationship between the foundation and the roof of the
building. You cannot have a roof sitting on nothing! The pillar or column was
the support of the building in the ancient world, it was both a decoration as
well as a support. The roof supported by the pillars is analogous to the
super-grace believer, the spiritual support that comes from doctrine. The
pillar is the doctrine, the foundation could be analogous to salvation. In
order to have the roof or the super-grace life we must have a doctrinal
support, so the pillar is doctrine.
“and ground” — the word ground is e)draiwma and it means foundation.
“of the truth” is incorrect. This is
a genitive of apposition and should be translation “even the doctrine.” We have
the noun a)lhqeia which means doctrine. The
genitive of apposition indicates that Bible doctrine in the foundation must
extend to the pillars. We are saved by responding to doctrine; we believed in
Christ. We understood about Christ from the gospel, the gospel is salvation
type doctrine, the simplest type: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved.” Therefore we started that way and we must continue that way.
Once you lay the foundation of salvation you must continue the same way.
The royal family must continue to
live on doctrine, so after the foundation up go the pillars to support
everything. The pillars not only supported the roof but they supported walls as
well. The pillar, therefore, is extremely important.
Translation: “But if I
am delayed, I write in order that you may know how one ought to conduct himself
in the house of God, which category keeps on being the church of the living God
that is pillar and foundation, even doctrine.”
The real key to the local church is
the fact that doctrine is taught. This is the real secret, this is the pillar
of the local church, this is the excuse for the existence of the local church.
The local church is a classroom and this is where the pillars which support the
entire thing, doctrine, is transferred from the page of the book into your soul.
That gives us, then, the authority
of the Word of God. Now we come to the authority of Christ as we conclude this
chapter.
Verse 16 — “And without
controversy.” We actually have for this phrase an adverb derived from a noun, o(mologoumenwj. The adverb is taken from the verb o(mologew and it means “by consent of all,” “confessedly.”
Everyone is in agreement on this, this is something to which everyone
subscribes.
“great is” — the nominative neuter
singular of megaj is now referring to a
specific type of doctrine. It is in the neuter and refers to doctrine; plus the
present active indicative of e)imi, the verb of absolute
status quo, the verb to be.
“the mystery” — the whole doctrine
as comprising the Church Age. The Church Age was not known to the Old
Testament, neither was its doctrine. It’s doctrine is now very important to us:
the whole concept of the royal family, its relationship to God, following the
colours to the high ground, the great blessings that come to us, how God is
glorified by our being blessed, all of these things are a part of that mystery.
“of godliness” — e)usebeia. The whole objective of Church Age doctrine is to
bring us to e)usebeia. The problem is, just how
dose one become godly? You don’t have to be self-righteous, austere, an
ascetic. You do not have to be any religious type that you have ever formed in
your mind. This is not what godliness is. Godliness is the balance of residency
in the soul that comes from putting up some pillars — doctrine in the soul.;
the roof — super-grace. Godliness is on the roof. In other words, when you as a
believer have balance of residency in your soul between the filling of the
Spirit and maximum doctrine in your soul, that is godliness.
At this point we have to stop
because the way in which godliness was accomplished is about to be emphasised.
Godliness was accomplished in a very difficult way. It is easy for us. In fact,
it is so easy that it is almost shocking to realise that all you have to do is
to continue to take in the Word. Our consistent function in GAP is involved in
godliness. There is nothing else we have to do, there is nothing else we can
do. It is a wonderful grace system, it is the reason why we have the local
church, it is the reason why the gift of pastor-teacher is distributed to
certain men. Jesus Christ had to do something to make all of this possible. He
did something to give us salvation. When it comes to doing the Lord Jesus
Christ has to do the doing. We simply respond to what He does. In salvation
Christ went to the cross, He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. He did
all of the work. The same thing is true in the pillar concept. We have our
foundation, that’s salvation. Now the pillar has to go up. The pillar is the
daily function of GAP, following the colours to the high ground of super-grace.
This, again, is provided for us. Everything that Christ did in coming in the
first advent not only provided salvation but provided the system whereby we go
from zero to the high ground. You are going to be on that roof because of what
happened in the first advent. so this passage interrupts the principle that
great is the mystery doctrine of godliness to tell us how it was provided for
us.
It begins with the phrase, “God was
manifest” — not the way it is in the Greek. There is, first of all, a relative
pronoun o(j instead of qeoj. O(j refers to the Lord Jesus
Christ as the God-Man. It should be translated, “He who.” It is referring to a
specific member of the Godhead, the Lord Jesus. Christ is the antecedent of
this relative pronoun. With it is the aorist passive indicative of the verb fanerow which means to be manifest, to be revealed, to be
made known. In the passive voice it means to become visible as well as to be
revealed. Here it means to become visible. Jesus Christ is God — essence box.
All of His essence is invisible, it cannot be observed. Furthermore this
essence makes it possible for Jesus Christ to become our saviour: eternal life
cannot die; sovereignty is not subject to death, etc. So Jesus Christ in His deity
is invisible God. Invisible God has to become visible. To do so He becomes a
member of the human race with a body, a soul, and a human spirit. He becomes,
as it were, the last Adam. “He [Christ as eternal God] who became visible.” The
aorist tense of the verb to become visible is a constative aorist, it
contemplates the incarnation in its entirety from the virgin birth all of the
way to the ascension. The constative aorist gathers into one entirety the
action of the verb. The passive voice: Christ receives the action of the verb
by becoming true humanity. The passive voice, therefore, emphasises the
hypostatic union by which the Lord Jesus Christ became the unique person of the
universe. The indicative mood: this is the declarative indicative for a dogmatic
and unqualified assertion of doctrine.
“in the flesh” is the preposition e)n plus the instrumental of sarc and it refers to the fact that He became true
humanity. So we have so far, not God was manifest in the flesh but “he [Christ]
who became visible by means of the flesh.” By means of humanity Christ became
visible. This is a reference to the hypostatic union.
The doctrine of the hypostatic union
1. Definition: In the person of
Jesus Christ are two natures inseparably united, without mixture or loss of
separate identity, without loss of transfer of properties or attributes, the
union being personal and eternal.
2. Scripture: John 1:1-14; Romans
1:2-5; 9:5; Philippians 2:5-11; 1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14.
3. The incarnate person of Jesus
Christ includes His deity. By this is meant the fact that Jesus Christ when He
became man did not erase His deity, did not surrender His deity. The incarnate
person of Christ includes the fact that Jesus Christ is God. he is coequal and
co-eternal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. The incarnation does not
diminish His divinity, He is undiminished deity. In other words, Jesus Christ
in the incarnation continued to be — essence box. Jesus Christ continues to be
God. he always was God, always will be, and again, immutability: He cannot
change the essence of His deity.
4. The incarnate person of Christ
was also true humanity. Jesus Christ is bona fide humanity with a body soul and
human spirit, minus the old sin nature, minus the imputation of Adam’s sin; and
He lived a life of impeccability free from personal sin. Through the virgin
birth Jesus Christ avoided both the imputation of Adam’s sin and spiritual
death by the old sin nature. So the incarnate person of Christ includes perfect
humanity. Jesus Christ is God. He is the God-Man forever. Therefore Jesus
Christ emerges absolutely unique because He is God, therefore infinitely
superior to humanity. Jesus Christ is perfect humanity therefore superior to
sinful humanity. Jesus Christ is different from God in that He is humanity;
Jesus Christ is different from humanity in that He is God.
Jesus Christ is not angelic, He is
not the God-Man-Angel; the reason being that He came into the world to resolve
the angelic conflict and He came as a man because man was created to resolve
the angelic conflict. Since man was created to resolve the angelic conflict it
is the man Christ Jesus who does so.
5. The two natures of Christ are
united without transfer of attributes. In other words, the attributes adhere to
their corresponding natures. The attributes of deity remain the attributes of
deity. As God Jesus Christ is sovereign but He does not transfer His deity to
His humanity. The attributes of His humanity remain the attributes of humanity.
The continue to adhere to their corresponding natures. The deity of God cannot
be changed — immutability; the humanity of the Lord Jesus is not changed. The
infinite cannot be transferred to the finite. To rob God of a single
characteristic of His essence would destroy His deity, and to rob the humanity
of Jesus Christ of a single attribute of His humanity would destroy His
humanity. There is no destruction of His deity, there is no destruction of His
humanity, each remains in status quo in this union of the God-Man.
6. No attribute of deity was changed
by the incarnation. In fulfilling the purpose of the first advent certain
attributes of deity were used but this does not imply that they were either
surrendered or destroyed, as per the false doctrine of Kenosis. The true
doctrine of Kenosis as taught by the Word of God says that the Lord Jesus
Christ, during the period of His incarnation, voluntarily restricted the
independent use of certain divine attributes in keeping with the Father’s plan
for the first advent. In other words, during the period of the incarnation
Jesus gave up the independent exercise of certain divine attributes in living
among men with man’s human limitation. But none of them were changed at any
time.
7. Therefore the union of divine
essence and the human nature of the incarnate Christ are considered hypostatic
and personal. The word “hypostatic” comes from the Greek word u(postasij. It means to stand under, taking one thing upon
one’s self. Jesus Christ took upon Himself true humanity, as per Hebrews 1:3,
and this is where we get the term “hypostatic union.” Hypostatic actually
refers to the entire person of Christ as distinguished from His two natures,
divine and human. When we say that this is also personal it refers to the
emergence of a unique person. Jesus Christ is unique. As God He is co-equal
with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, as man He is superior to all mankind,
different from man in that He is also God.
8. There is a false interpretation
of the hypostatic union. False interpretations try to get around scriptures
dealing with this subject. The imply that deity possessed humanity. Just as the
deity of Christ indwells us, so the deity of Christ indwelt the humanity of
Christ. That is false. Furthermore, the union is more than harmony or sympathy.
This is called modern Gnosticism. The scripture says it is a personal union.
The two natures, divine and human have been combined into one hypostasis or
essence forever. It is personal and it is eternal.
9. Therefore Jesus Christ the
God-Man has one hypostasis, one essence forever. The attributes of both the
divine and human natures belong to the person of Jesus Christ. The
characteristics of one nature are never attributed to the other. This means
that during the first advent Jesus Christ could be simultaneously both
omnipotent and weak. He could be both omniscient and ignorant. As God He is
omniscient but as a baby in the cradle He had to grow up and He had to grow in
grace, He had to GAP it all the way to super-grace. The first chapter of John
deals with His super-grace status in His humanity. However, the ignorance of
His humanity was quickly overcome by Hs daily function of GAP and His entrance
into super-grace — Luke 2:40, 52; John 1:14.
10. The necessity for Jesus Christ
becoming human. Four reasons:
a) The matter of
salvation — Philippians 2:7,8; Hebrews 2:14,15. In the deity of Christ
sovereignty is not subject to death, even the death of the cross; eternal life
cannot die; His omnipresence cannot reduce itself to one point; His
immutability, none of this can be changed. So as deity He cannot go to the
cross. He had to become not only true humanity but He had to be perfect
humanity — free from the imputation of Adam’s sin (virgin birth); freedom also
from personal sin. Whoever redeems man must be a free man on the outside.
b) The concept of
mediatorship — John 9; 1 Timothy 2. A mediator must bring together two
estranged parties: God and man. There is a barrier, there must be a way of
drawing them together. Whoever acts as the mediator must be equal with both
parties. Jesus Christ is God, therefore He is co-equal with the Father and with
the Holy Spirit. But He had to become humanity in order to be equal with man
and to bring together God and man. Jesus Christ is God and man, and therefore
He is qualified to bring together both God and man. He is equal with both
parties and brings them together. But He was not the mediator until He became
true humanity.
Another factor involved is that
Jesus Christ had to true humanity be a high priest, for a priest is always a
man, a member of the human race representing man before God. Jesus Christ is
God but as God He is not qualified to be a priest. He had to become God-Man,
and as God-Man He is the royal high priest and therefore He is the prince ruler
of the Church and we become a kingdom of priests. This is taught in Hebrews
7:4,51428; 10:5, 10-14.
Then He had to become King under the
Davidic covenant of 2 Samuel 7 and Psalm 89. The Lord Jesus Christ could not
fulfill the Davidic covenant to Israel until He became a man, and He had to
become a man in the line of David, which he did. So the Davidic covenant is
fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ and therefore Jesus Christ is the ruler of
Israel forever.
11. Everything verbally communicated
by Christ during the incarnation came from one of three sources. Either it came
from His deity or His humanity or His hypostatic union. E.g. the deity of
Christ: “Before Abraham existed in time I existed eternally.” In other words,
when He said that He was not speaking of His humanity. His humanity was born in
time long after Abraham. He preexisted Abraham. But then on the cross in John
19:28 Jesus said, “I thirst.” Deity doesn’t thirst, deity cannot thirst. Only
His humanity could thirst and therefore that came exclusively from His
humanity. Sometimes He spoke from His hypostatic union: “Come unto me all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,” was a salvation
invitation. It was an invitation He could not give as God, an invitation He
could not give as man, it was an invitation He could only give as the God-Man.
That was given on the basis of the fact that He would go to the cross and die
for our sins in hypostatic union. So it is the God-Man who is the only saviour
and every salvation invitation He ever gave during His earthly ministry was
actually spoken from His hypostatic union.
Verse 16b — “justified in the
Spirit” is not a correct translation. The word “justify” is the aorist passive
indicative of the verb dikaiow. It means to vindicate, to
be treated as just, or to be justified. A better translation here means to be
vindicated. The aorist tense is a constative aorist, it contemplates the action
of the verb in its entirety. The entirety begins with the virgin birth which
brought the last Adam into the world without either the imputation of Adam’s
sin or the acquiring of an old sin nature. Furthermore it takes into
consideration that Jesus Christ lived an absolutely perfect life while on
earth, and all of this is gathered up into one entirety which begins with the
virgin birth and goes to His resurrection, ascension and session at the right
hand of the Father. This is the constative aorist gathering into one entirety
the first advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. The passive voice: Jesus Christ as a
result of this perfection received vindication. His vindication was received
through the Holy Spirit. The indicative mood is declarative for dogmatic
reality: the impeccability of Christ and the sustaining ministry of the Holy
Spirit to the humanity of Christ, making this impeccability possible.
Next is a prepositional phrase, e)n plus the instrumental of the noun pneuma. Pneuma refers to the Holy Spirit. In the
instrumental case it means “by means of the Spirit.” Actually there is no
definite article here. The absence of the definite article emphasises the high
quality of the noun referred to. The noun refers to God the Holy Spirit in His
deity, co-equal with the Father and with the Son. It should be literally
translated, “He was vindicated by means of the Spirit.” What does this actually
mean?
The doctrine of the
sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit to the incarnate Christ
1. Definition. During the period of
the first advent (the time of the incarnation on earth) the humanity of Christ
was sustained in a very personal way by the presence, indwelling and filling of
God the Holy Spirit. This ministry of God the Holy Spirit to the incarnate
Christ went from the cradle, to the grace, to the resurrection, to the
ascension and the session. So the sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit
encompasses the period of the first advent, the period of the incarnation of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
2. The prophecy of the Spirit’s
ministry to the incarnate Christ. There are three passages in Isaiah. The first
is in Isaiah 11:1-3:
“Then a root shoot will spring from
the stump of Jesse [the stump of Jesse refers to the Davidic line. Out of this
stump will come a root shoot which will be the basis of a great tree. It is a
reference to the first advent of Jesus Christ], and a Branch from his roots
will bear fruit [the bearing of fruit is a Millennial reference to the Lord
Jesus Christ on the earth. he will be the ruler of all the earth then]; then
the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon him [the sustaining ministry of the Holy
Spirit — indwelling of His body and the filling of His soul], the Spirit of
wisdom and understanding [God the Holy Spirit makes it possible for the
humanity of Christ to GAP it quickly to super-grace, as per Luke 2 and John
1:14], the Spirit of counsel and power [Jesus Christ always said the right
things in the power of the Spirit], the Spirit of knowledge and occupation with
the Father [the Lord Jesus was occupied with the Father’s will every moment He
spent in the incarnation], and he will delight in occupation with Jehovah the
Father; and he will not judge by what his eyes see, nor will he make a decision
by what his ears hear [there is no human viewpoint in our Lord during the first
advent].”
Remember that this is a prophecy of
what it would be like when Jesus Christ came into the world. He would be
sustained by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would give Him wisdom and
understanding, He would reach super-grace in His humanity. He would be great in
the field of counsel, the great power from the Spirit. He would have knowledge,
He would be occupied with God the Father, with His plan. He would delight to be
occupied with the Father’s plan and He would not in any way be tricked by
empiricism.
The second prophecy is found in
Isaiah 42:1 — “Behold my servant, whom I sustain; my chosen one, in whom my
soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to
the gentiles.” Notice a very clear reference to the fact that when He comes the
Father delights in Him, He is the chosen one, and when the Father says, “I will
put my Spirit upon him,” this again is a total ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
By total ministry God the Holy Spirit is related to the body of Jesus Christ by
indwelling, He is related to the soul of Jesus Christ by filling.
A third prophecy is found in Isaiah
61:1a — “The Spirit of the Lord [God the Holy Spirit] is upon me, because
Jehovah the Father has anointed me [Christ] to bring good news to the humble
[grace oriented].”
So we do have prophecies with regard
to this very special ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
3. The sustaining ministry of the
Holy Spirit and the virgin birth. Matthew 1:20 — “But while he [Joseph] was
pondering this, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream,
saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to retain Mary as your wife; for
that which has been conceived in her is from the source of the Holy Spirit.”
So at the point of the virgin birth
we already see a sustaining ministry. This means that the Holy Spirit is the
agent of conception in the virgin birth — verse 18, “… she was discovered to be
with child by means of the Holy Spirit.” The conception of Christ originated
with God the Holy Spirit and this fulfills the phrase in Psalm 40:6 which is
quoted in Hebrews 10:5 by our Lord in the cradle when He said, “A body you have
prepared for me.” God the Father planned His human body, God the Holy Spirit
was the agent of conception of that human body. The Holy Spirit is the agent in
the execution, then, of the hypostatic union. Here is the beginning of that
fantastic sustaining ministry. Apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit the
virgin could not conceive, there could be no pregnancy apart from His agency.
In this way Jesus Christ was born without the imputation of Adam’s sin, He was
born without an old sin nature, therefore He was like the first Adam and
consequently is called the last Adam because He did not have an old sin nature
or the imputation of Adam’s sin. He lived His life different from the first
Adam in that He lived a perfect life without ever once committing a personal
sin.
4. Once Jesus Christ comes into the
world as true humanity there is the total ministry of the Holy Spirit to the
humanity of Christ.
John 3:34 — “For he whom God has
sent speaks the words of God [Jesus Christ spoke doctrine]; for he does not
give him the Spirit by measure.” In other words, the Holy Spirit was never
measured out to the Son. “By measure” describes the ministry of God the Holy
Spirit to human beings in the Old Testament. “By measure” goes to men like
Moses, Elijah, any of the writers of the Old Testament, David. It is said for
the first time in human history that the Father did not give the Holy Spirit to
Jesus Christ by measure. This means a total ministry. Summary:
a) When it says in John
3:34 that the Holy Spirit was not given by measure to the incarnate Christ this
means that not only does the Holy Spirit indwell the human body of Jesus Christ
[this makes Him spiritual royalty] but the Holy Spirit filled or controlled the
soul of the humanity of Christ. A total ministry is a ministry to the body and
the soul. This is the total sustaining ministry of God the Holy Spirit to
royalty, i.e. this is the manner in which it was accomplished. The scripture
calls that being filled with the Spirit or walking in the Spirit, and today it
is also called putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.
b) Jesus Christ in His
humanity was born royalty. He is the son of David by birth, He is Jewish
royalty by birth.
c) Spiritual royalty is
a different factor, it is being totally sustained by God the Holy Spirit; which
means, again, the indwelling of His body, by the filling of His soul. So
spiritual royalty must be distinguished from human royalty. Christ was born
human royalty, He is the son of David. Christ at the same time was spiritual
royalty because from birth the Holy Spirit filled His soul and indwelt His
body. So there were two kinds of royalty that belonged immediately to the baby
in the cradle: by birth and by genealogy the son of David and true royalty of
Israel — Jewish royalty; and He had spiritual royalty.
d) There was no
spiritual royalty in the Old Testament — many times royalty but no spiritual
royalty. Therefore the Holy Spirit did not have a total ministry to any Old
Testament believer. The Holy Spirit did not indwell the body of any Old
Testament believer. He was given out by measure to sustain the souls of certain
Old Testament believers.
e) The glorification of
Christ by means of the session at the right hand of God the Father has
instituted royalty of a spiritual nature.
f) Therefore the Age of
Israel was interrupted so that the royal family of God could be formed.
g) This is accomplished
by the means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in this dispensation whereby
each one of us at salvation is entered into union with Christ by agency of the
Holy Spirit. Identification with Christ is the basis of our royalty.
h) The believer of the
Church Age therefore is royal family of God.
i) Christ as King of
kings and Lord of lords is true royalty. Therefore both His body is indwelt and
His soul filled by the Holy Spirit.
j) This is why believers
in this dispensation as royal family of God have both the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit and are commanded to be filled with the Spirit. (We are never
commanded to be indwelt, that is automatic at salvation; we are commanded to be
filled).
k) The total ministry of
the Holy Spirit to Christ has been continued in this dispensation of the royal
family of God.
5. The Holy Spirit was related to
the baptism of Jesus Christ — Matthew 3:13-17. The reason the dove is used is
because it speaks of the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit; the vigour, the
power, the dynamics. At the beginning of the ministry of our Lord there was a
special demonstration in which Jesus Christ through baptism dedicated Himself
to going to the cross. Therefore the Holy Spirit came to Him again in a special
way and God the Father expressed His delight in the decision so recorded in
that baptism.
6. The Holy Spirit, therefore, was
related to the public ministry of our Lord.
a) Jesus quotes the
prophecy of the Spirit’s sustaining ministry — Isaiah 42:1 in Matthew 12:18. In
that same context Jesus indicates that His miracles were performed not in His
own deity independently of the Father but through the sustaining ministry of
the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 12:28 — “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of
God, then has the kingdom of God come upon you.” So we see a principle: Our
Lord performed His miracles, had a dynamic spoken ministry, all of which was
accomplished in the power of God the Holy Spirit.
b) The same principle is
brought out by a second passage — Luke 4:14,15,17,18,21. We have here a series
of verses which demonstrate that the sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit was
involved in the verbal ministry of our Lord.
7. The sustaining ministry of the
Holy Spirit was discontinued when Christ was being judged for our sins on the
cross — Matthew 27:46. When Jesus said this He was quoting from the prophetic
Psalm of the cross, Psalm 22:1. The first vocative was addressed to God the
Father, the second vocative was addressed to God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy
Spirit sustained Christ in getting to the cross, but once Jesus Christ began to
bear our sins then the Father forsook Him and the Holy Spirit forsook Him.
Psalm 22 answers the question. The reason they forsook Him is because He who
knew no sin was made sin for us, He bore our sins in His own body on the tree.
In Psalm 22 He says, “I am a worm and no man.” The word for “worm” is a worm
that was crushed in order that its blood might be used for the famous crimson
dye of the ancient world, and Christ was being crushed for our sins that we
might be royalty forever, that we might wear the crimson robes of royalty, as
it were. So the Holy Spirit could not and did not sustain Him when He was made
sin for us.
There was a break, then, in the
sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit. For three hours on the cross our Lord
was being judged for us. This was His saving work and He had to accomplish the
saving work alone. He was totally alone on the cross, he was not sustained by
the Holy Spirit. But immediately after this was completed and He spoke those
last words, He again was sustained by the Holy Spirit.
8. However, the Holy Spirit did have
a part in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ — Romans 8:11. The
indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of resurrection. The Holy Spirit
indwells us not only as a sign of royalty but also as a guarantee of
resurrection. The Holy Spirit sustained Christ on a post resurrection trip to
Tartarus to announce to the incarcerated angels the strategic victory of the
angelic conflict — 1 Peter 3:18,19.
9. The sustaining ministry of the
Holy Spirit is transferred to the royal family of God.
a) Just as the Holy
Spirit sustained the humanity of Christ during the incarnation, so no He
sustains the believer, the royal family of God during our life in this earth.
b) Christ was sustained
as royalty; we as Church Age believers are also sustained as royalty. The only
difference: Christ was perfect royalty, we are sinful royalty.
c) The strategic victory
of Christ, culminating with His being seated at the right hand of the Father,
demands the tactical victory of the royal family on earth during the
intensified stage of the angelic conflict.
d) The total ministry of
the Holy Spirit, which never occurred before Christ, includes both the
indwelling of our human body and the filling of our human soul.
e) This is the ministry
of God the Holy Spirit to royalty only.
f) This ministry of the
Holy Spirit to the royal family of God demands the balance of residency in the
soul between the filling of the Spirit and maximum doctrine in the soul. We
gain or lose the Holy Spirit’s filling by means of carnality but we never lose
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. When we lose the filling of the Spirit we
lose part of the total and therefore we are not sustained experientially, we
cannot GAP it, there are many things we cannot do, no spiritual function is
possible. So in order that the filling of the Spirit might have an outlet of
expression the minus doctrine with which we begin our Christian life must
become a plus and it must become a maximum plus. When we are in super-grace or
mature this is the place of dynamic impact for the Lord Jesus Christ on earth.
g) This is why Paul
wrote to the Galatians in 4:19, “My children in whom I am again in labour until
Christ is formed in you.” Christ formed in the royal family is the balance of
residency which is achieved by the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to the soul.
We start out with the filling of the Holy Spirit and we emphasises the filling
of the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit always indwells) because the only way we
can learn doctrine, the only way we can assimilate doctrine, the only way that
GAP can function, is under the filling of the Spirit or the Holy Spirit
controlling the soul. Therefore the primary function of the Holy Spirit in
filling with a new believer is to get doctrine from the written page of the Bible
into the soul of the believer, and this is accomplished through the ministry of
the filling of the Spirit. GAP only functions through the filling of the
Spirit. So the filling of the Spirit is not outward but inward until we begin
to mature. So a new believer filled with the Spirit doesn’t show you anything.
The only thing the filling of the Spirit can do for him is to get the minus
into a plus as quickly as possible so that he can begin to show some signs of
royalty.
h) Therefore we have a
command. If the Holy Spirit is the key to the balance of residency then the
command of Ephesians 5:18 becomes important — “Be filled with the Spirit.”
Galatians 5:16 — “Walk by means of the Spirit.” This command, therefore, is
imperative to gaining the balance of residency or spiritual maturity.
i) The sustaining
ministry of the Holy Spirit is then transferred from the resurrected, glorified
Christ at the right hand of the Father, to the royal family of God on earth.
j) The believer is
commanded to avail himself of this sustaining ministry of the Spirit — Romans
13:14 is such a command.
10. The royal family’s glorification
of Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
a) The purpose of the
sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age is to glorify Christ —
John 7:38,39. Christ is talking about the transfer. He has the total ministry
of the Holy Spirit, He is looking down the line to when the Church Age begins.
These “rivers of living water” are the sustaining ministry of the Holy Spirit
for the Church Age believer. The Spirit was not yet given, there was no total
ministry of the Spirit to the Age of Israel.
b) John 16:13,14, a
similar type statement. “But when He, the Spirit of doctrine, comes” — this is
a title of the Holy Spirit in communicating doctrine — “He will guide you into
all doctrine [truth]; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever
He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come [mystery
doctrine, Church Age]. He [the Holy Spirit] shall glorify me [Christ]; and He
will take of mine [doctrine] and disclose it to you. ” This is the prophecy of
the balance of residency.
c) It is the present
ministry of the Holy Spirit, then, to glorify Christ. He accomplishes this
through the teaching of doctrine, the establishment of the balance of
residency, and then the multitude of expressions that come from maturity or the
balance of residency.
d) The balance of
residency of the soul causes the believer to be a letter of commendation,
written by the Holy Spirit, and read by men of our generation — 2 Corinthians
3:1-13.
e) The letter of
commendation principle is the royal family in super-grace status or spiritual
maturity.
f) At the point of
super-grace there exists in the soul of the believer a balance of residency
between the filling of the Spirit and maximum Bible doctrine resident in the
soul.
g) At this point Christ
is formed in the believer, as per Galatians 4:19.
h) At this point the
indwelling of Christ becomes a reality — Ephesians 3:16,17.
i) So the Holy Spirit
accomplishes His ministry of glorifying Christ in the believer through the
balance of residency in the soul.
j) This is tantamount to
spiritual maturity through prolonged and consistent function of GAP.
k) The fulfillment of
the transitional ministry of the Spirit and its results in the life of the
believer are found in Philippians 1:20-21, verses which belong only to the
super-grace believer. Super-grace blessing is great; dying grace blessing is
greater. Surpassing grace blessing, then, becomes greater than the
greatest.
“seen of angels” — the aorist
passive indicative of o(raw means careful scrutiny and
observation. He was observed by angels. The aorist tense is a constative
aorist, it gathers into one entirety angelic observation of the incarnate
Christ from the cradle, to the grave, to the resurrection, to the ascension and
session. The angels saw it all. The entire first advent of Christ, then, is
gathered into one entirety in the action of this verb. Angelic observation of
the first advent is a part of the angelic conflict since the first advent broke
Satan’s back — specifically the cross. The first advent terminated in the
strategic victory of our Lord at the right hand of the Father. After the
session of Christ everything else is tactical victory and mop-up. The passive
voice: Christ received the action of the verb, i.e. being observed by angels
during the entire course of the first advent. The indicative mood is
declarative for the triumph of Christ in the angelic conflict. His strategic
victory of the first advent produces tactical victory in the second advent. The
second advent is merely a tactical victory, the strategic victory has already
been accomplished. “By angels” is e)n plus the instrumental
plural of a)ggeloj — “observed by angels.”
The doctrine of the angelic conflict
1. The Bible reveals the
existence of a higher category of creatures known as angels living throughout
the universe. This higher category of creatures we call simply “angels” — Psalm
8:4,5; Hebrews 2:6,7; 2 Peter 2:11. In Psalm 148:2-5 we have a significant
statement, they are created beings, creatures which came from the hand of God.
Even as we are creatures which came from the hand of God by creation they were
created too. They are superior to us categorically at the present time but they
are created beings. There are two general categories of these angelic creatures
which are found in the scripture. First of all there are angels that are saved
and have been saved for a long time. They are called “holy” in Mark 8:38,
“elect” in 1 Timothy 5:21. In contrast to these elect or saved angels there are
unsaved angels which fall into two sub categories: fallen angels — those in
prison as a result of Genesis 6:1-9, described 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6 where the
word “hell” is a mistranslation. They are presently incarcerated and that means
that they will not be operative until the end of the Millennium at which time
they will be loosened for a little revolt and then cast into the lake of fire
forever; operative fallen angels, the second category, are often known as
demons — Mark 5; 1 Timothy 4; 1 Corinthians 10.
2. The unsaved or the fallen
angels in the past before human history began were sentenced to the lake of
fire — Matthew 25:41. The sentence has not been carried out. In their judgment
God pronounced the sentence that they would live forever in the lake of fire.
Obviously Satan appealed immediately. In order to resolve the appeal God
created an inferior creature called man and gave him one thing in common with
the angels — free will. This free will or volition is the issue. Man was
created in perfect environment with only one test for his volition, one tree
was forbidden out of all the trees in the garden. The reason why man was
created in the first place was to resolve the angelic conflict and to resolve
this appeal of Satan and to demonstrate that God is fair in casting his
creatures, Satan and the fallen angels, into the lake of fire; just as He will
be fair in casting His creatures, unsaved mankind, into that same lake of fire.
3. During the course of human
history, then, the case is under appeal. Satan is the chief of the unsaved
angels, he has appealed the case on their behalf. In objecting the sentence he
impugned the character of God. This is a deduction based on the lapse of time
between the passing of the sentence and the execution of the sentence. It is
also based upon the title of Lucifer the son of the morning. He received the title
in the Greek, diaboloj, which is translated
“devil.” It means slanderer, enemy, adversary. His objection can be
reconstructed. He said, “How can a loving God cast His creatures into the lake
of fire.” The defense: The answer to this objection by Satan is found in the
character of God Himself. It is impossible for God to be unfair, unjust, or
ever to be wrong. So a new creation was necessary to reveal the principle that
different attitudes bring out different characteristics of God. For example,
salvation doesn’t bring out everything in the essence of God, but it brings out
His sovereignty, His love, His eternal life, His immutability. On the other
hand judgment manifests other characteristics of God: His sovereignty, His
righteousness, His justice, His omniscience, His omnipresence. Faithfulness
brings out His immutability, love, and veracity.
4. The pattern of angelic
negative volition is expressed in two ways: Satan’s original sin of negative
volition — Isaiah 14:12-14; the angelic rejection of Christ which is possibly
alluded to in Hebrews 2:2.
5. The creation of man
resolves the angelic conflict and answers the appeal of Satan. To resolve the
angelic conflict and inferior creature, mankind, is placed on one planet,
possessing one thing in common with the super creatures, angels, namely free
will — the bona fide function of creature volition. Psalm 8:3-5; Hebrews 2:7.
6. Human volition, then, is
tested in exactly the same pattern as angelic volition. i) Angels began in
status quo innocence; mankind began in status quo innocence. ii) Angels sinned
— the negative volition of Satan; mankind sinned — the negative volition of
Adam. iii) God provided salvation for angels in eternity past; God provided salvation
for mankind in time or human history. iv) Angels, therefore, are divided into
two categories — Hebrews 2:2: saved or elect, fallen or lost; mankind is
divided into two categories — John 3:36: believers and unbelievers, saved and
lost.
7. Two tests are instituted for man’s volition. The first test is
called innocence. Under perfect environment mankind is prohibited the use of
one tree — Genesis 2:17. This is a volitional test. Hence, in the status of
innocence man could only sin in one way. Man could not lie, steal, commit
adultery, think evil thoughts, be guilty of the sins of the tongue. There was
only one way to sin. He could only sin by negative volition, by eating of one
tree forbidden to him, the tree of the knowledge of God and evil. Not good and
sin but good and evil. Man did not know the difference between absolute good
and the policy of Satan which is evil. The penalty of sin is spiritual death —
Genesis 2:17; Romans 5:12; 6:23. When man finally got around to sinning through
negative volition he didn’t die physically because the wages of sin is death
but not physical death. The wages of sin is spiritual death. He didn’t die
physically immediately but he died spiritually. So the wages of sin is death —
spiritual death, separation from God, no fellowship with God, no relationship
with God.
The second test is
sinfulness. After the fall of man salvation is promised to the human race —
Genesis 3:15. Such salvation involved Christ dying twice on the cross — Isaiah
53:9; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21. The issue is now positive volition
instead of negative volition. Positive volition expressed in a non meritorious
manner compatible with grace — Ephesians 2:8,9. The mechanics of positive
volition: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
8. Man’s entrance into the
plan of God through faith in Christ destroys the devil’s appeal and resolves
the angelic conflict. This is the cake and everything else becomes the icing —
the super-grace life, and so on. The issue: Will man, inferior to angels,
equipped with the same free will, choose for or against the plan of God, i.e.
operation grace. The solution: If in all of human history even one member of
the human race accepts Christ through faith the angelic conflict is resolved —
Hebrews 1 & 2; Colossians 2:14,15. This is interesting because of the
principle involved. Once Adam and Eve accepted Christ as saviour He could have
stopped it right then and there. But this has been going on for 6000 years and
we are saved also. He sort of rubs the devil’s nose in it! The work of the Lord
Jesus Christ on the cross is all of the merit and all of the efficacy, and man
merely responds to this and believes in Christ.
This brings up the issue of
angelic observation. Why do we have angelic observation? Angels learn through
the conversion of the sinner that the free will of man does not necessarily
choose against God and for Satan as the fallen angels did before human history
existed when millions of angels said no. Other millions of angels said yes.
Eventually the angels were divided, and that was it. This explains, for
example, the rejoicing of elect angels over one sinner who repents. He doesn’t
repent of sin, sinner is the subject, sinner is a title of the human race from
birth to salvation. We are all sinners — Romans 3:23. We do not repent about
sin, we repent about the work of Christ on the cross. By repentance the Bible
means a change of mind. We change our minds about Christ, we recognise that He
is the only saviour, and we believe in Him. Angelic observation, according to
Luke 15:7,10, has to do with that critical moment when any one of us accepts
Christ as saviour.
9. The results of the
angelic conflict. Phase one is salvation. It takes place in a second of time
when you believe in Jesus Christ. Phase two: Believer in time. Phase three:
Believer in eternity. The results are related to the three phases of the plan
of God.
Phase one, salvation:
Regenerate mankind is positionally higher than angels because of union with
Christ. We are royal family. When we accept Christ there is the baptism of the
Holy Spirit and we enter into union with Christ and that puts us positionally
higher than angels. Christ is higher than angels, He is seated at the right
hand of the Father. We are in union with Christ, we are higher than angels
positionally — Hebrews 1:4-14.
Phase two is the
believer in time. Through suffering regenerate mankind uses doctrine, is
occupied with the person of Christ, uses doctrine resident in his soul — the
inner resources. This maximum function of faith-rest produces a glorification
of the Lord — Romans 5:2-4; 1 Peter 1:7,8. At the same time we become
experientially better than angels through reaching the super-grace life.
Phase three: the
believer in eternity. Regenerate mankind is physically superior to angels by
means of his resurrection body exactly like that of Christ.
10. Through the fall of man
Satan gained control of the world but not necessarily control of mankind. We
have several issues involved here. The issue of human volition or free will
makes man a free agent in the devil’s world. Satan is the ruler of this world
but man is a free agent. Man can choose between the plan of God — operation
grace, or the plan of Satan — operation evil. The issue: Salvation through
faith in Christ frees mankind from Satanic control and domination. The
exception, of course, is reversionism, the believer influenced by evil, the
believer in apostasy. After salvation the more the believer GAPs it the greater
his freedom and capacity to operate independently of cosmos diabolicus and at
the same time to glorify and serve the Lord. Remember again that the ruler of
this world is Satan — 2 Corinthians 4:4; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; Ephesians
2:2.
11. The doctrine of
angelic observation. Angels observed the Lord Jesus Christ during the course of
His first advent on the earth — 1 Timothy 3:16. Elect angels observe and
rejoice over sinners who believe in Christ or utilise the grace of God. Fallen
angels are organised under Satan’s command to resist and oppose the believer —
Job 1:6; 2:1-3; Ephesians 6:12. Obviously then, fallen angels must observe and
find weaknesses and seek to attack. Angels observe believers — 1 Corinthians
4:9; 6:3; 11:10; Ephesians 3:10; 1 timothy 5:21; 1 Peter 1:12. We are under
angelic observation constantly. The reason for this is because we are royal
family of God. God the Son was under angelic observation and now that He is at
the right hand of the Father the observation has switched to us. We are in the
middle of the intensified stage of the angelic conflict.
Verse 16c — “preached unto the
Gentiles.” This is not quite correct, it is the aorist passive of the verb khrussw Khrussw really means a proclamation from a
representative of the king. A representative in this case is generally called
an herald. This means a proclamation by a herald. The word “preached” is a very
poor translation when you realise that the herald was generally some nobleman
representing the king and spoke as having the authority of the king. This is
the way it is with the pastor-teacher on earth. In his study, his exegesis of
the Word, and in his communication he is authorised by God for this office —
first by spiritual gift, then by recognition and aspiration, then by
preparation and finally by function. When you put all of these things together
you have the highest spiritual authority which exists today. So the word
actually means communication with authority. The aorist tense is a constative
aorist, it fulfills the prophecy that Christ would be a light to the Gentiles,
as per Isaiah 42:6; 49:6; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47. Since the Lord Jesus Christ is
making the proclamation — khrussw, He is the herald of God the
Father — and He is now seated at the right hand of the Father this
responsibility belongs to the pastor-teacher. In this case the passive voice of
the verb refers directly to Jesus Christ during the period of His incarnation.
He received proclamation by several categories of herald. He was proclaimed by
apostles, then by prophets, evangelists, and today pastor-teachers — all
communicating royal priests. The indicative mood is declarative for reality of
the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ during His incarnation and thereafter when
the Church Age began was so proclaimed — by heralds.
“unto the Gentiles” is the
preposition e)n plus the locative plural of
e)qnh, and it means “among the
nations.” This means that after His strategical victory at the right hand of
the Father the Age of Israel was interrupted. Ten days after our Lord was
seated at the right hand of the Father the Jewish Age came to a halt. It was interrupted
in order that a royal family might be called out. The age of the royal family
is called the dispensation of the Church. And He was proclaimed among the
Gentiles during this age and, of course, this is a continuous process in the
nations, it exists today. The word “nations” is preferable to Gentiles in this
particular case because the word “nations” represents the principle of the laws
of divine establishment whereby there is freedom to evangelise, whereby local
churches are free to be formed, and the preaching in the local churches is accomplished
under the protection of the national entity where the local church exists.
“believed on in the world” is not
quite correct. The word “believed on” is the aorist passive indicative of pisteuw. The passive voice does not lend itself to good
translating into English, so we translate this, “he became the object of
faith.” The aorist tense is a culminative aorist viewing saving faith in its
entirety but regarding it from the viewpoint of existing results. When a person
believes in the Lord Jesus Christ the result is eternal salvation, and the
culminative aorist sees the individual believing in the Lord Jesus Christ,
regarding it from the viewpoint of its existing results which is eternal
salvation. The passive voice: Christ receives faith in Himself for salvation.
The indicative mood is a declarative indicative for absolute dogmatic reality
that salvation always has been, always will be, by personal faith in Jesus
Christ alone. Christ became the object of faith. He is the only saviour, you
have to believe in Him for salvation.
The doctrine of faith
1. Definition. There is no such
thing as blind faith, all faith has an object which can be seen by the
individual. Blind faith is a meaningless phrase that people have dug up. Faith
is never blind, it is always looking at an object. The object it sees and
trusts in may be good or may be bad but it is there. It is an object. So faith
is a non meritorious system of perception in contrast to rationalism and
empiricism which are meritorious systems of perception. it is the non
meritorious system that counts — faith; when the object is Christ, when the
object is Bible doctrine.
2. Greek etymology. There are five
words that have almost the same base.
a) Pistij — it has an active meaning and a passive meaning.
The active meaning means faith, faithful, or reliable. The passive meaning:
what is believed or doctrine. The body of doctrine. So pistij means both faith and doctrine, the context
determines. It is used technically in the New Testament epistles for doctrine
resident in the soul.
b) Pistoj, an adjective. It means dependable, inspiring
trust, believing.
c) Pisteuw, a verb. It means to believe, to be convinced of
something or someone.
d) Pistow means to show one’s self faithful, to feel
confidence in something.
e) Peiqw, a verb. Different meanings depending upon the
tense. In the present tense it means to obey. In the aorist tense it means to
believe. In the perfect tense it means to have confidence.
3. Hebrew etymology. There are ten
of them.
a) Amen, which is used in Genesis 15:6 and means to use something as a
foundation, to use God as a prop or a foundation is the meaning in the hiphil.
Its use in Genesis 15:6 is where Abraham’s salvation is declared. Abraham
believed in the Lord and it was credited to his account for righteousness.
From this root there are five other
Hebrew words:
b) Emun, a noun which means faithfulness.
c) Emunah, a feminine noun which means truth or steadiness.
d) Amen, meaning truth.
e) Omen, another noun, very close to Amen, which means faithfulness or dependability.
f) Batach, a wrestler’s term for a body slam, used for the faith-rest
technique — Psalm 37:3; 91:2, etc.
g) Chasah — a rabbit is being chased by a wolf and the rabbit runs
into a little crack in the rock and the wolf can’t get to him. So obviously
this means to hide in the cleft of a rock and take refuge from danger.
h) Jachal, found in Job 13:15 — “Though he slay me, yet will I trust
in him.” This means to trust God in pain, in pressure, or in disaster. It is
used in Lamentation 3:21,24.
i) Qawah, represents a little string that you can snap by grabbing it
with your hands and pulling. You can break it. But when you wrap that little
thread into a great rope then it can’t be broken. So it means to weave the
thread of our life, easily broken in itself, into a great rope which cannot be
broken. It means to bind or twist the strands together, it is the strongest
word for faith and is generally mistranslated “wait” — like “they that wait upon
the Lord shall renew their strength.”
4. Some biblical definitions of
faith as far as the word is concerned which means having revelation about the
unseen and believing that revelation, as in Hebrews 11:1 or 2 Corinthians 4:18.
5. The grammar of the verb.
Grammatically the verb to believe is a transitive verb. A transitive verb is
one that has a subject and has an object. The object is either implied or
stated. This means that whenever we believe in something there is an object.
When we believe in Christ there is the unique object, the only saviour, Jesus
Christ Himself. Since faith is non meritorious perception the whole value or
efficacy of faith lies in its object. For salvation, if you believe in Christ
you have eternal life. So the point is, there is only one saviour, Jesus
Christ.
6. Classification of the objects of
faith. The plan of God is divided into three parts: phase one, salvation; phase
two, the believer in time; phase three, the believer in eternity. Faith is only
involved in phases one and two. In eternity we will see Him even as we are
seen, we will know Him even as we are known. In phase one the object of faith
is Jesus Christ the only saviour — Acts 16:31. In phase two the object of faith
is the Word of God or Bible doctrine — 2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 4:1-3; 11:6.
7. The concept of faith.
a) All the believing in
the world secures nothing but condemnation from God.
b) However, the tiniest
bit of faith in Christ secures eternal salvation.
c) Therefore the
efficacy of faith lies in the object of faith. For salvation, Jesus Christ; for
spiritual growth, Bible doctrine.
d) Since Christ did all
the work for salvation on the cross the only way we can respond when the work
is already finished is to believe because that is the only non meritorious
system of perception.
e) Therefore faith is
nothing we do but a channel whereby we appropriate what God has done for us.
8. After salvation faith develops in at least five ways.
a) The primary
development of faith is the balance of residency in the soul. The Holy Spirit
indwells the body of every believers. That is the escutcheon of the royal
family of God. We start out with the filling of the Spirit. We lose it
periodically when we sin. We rebound and we recover it. But we start out minus
doctrine and this minus must become a plus. Therefore the first key to
developing faith is the intake of Bible doctrine — Romans 10:17, “Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
b) A second way of
developing faith is the filling of the Spirit. However, the filling of the
Spirit only produces faith as it has doctrine resident in the soul — Galatians
5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is faith.”
These two together form the function
of GAP and the spiritual exercise which is necessary for temporal
sanctification. The filling of the Spirit plus the daily function of GAP
resulting in doctrine in the soul = experiential sanctification. Once you are in
progress — the filling of the Spirit plus the function of GAP — it is going to
be tested. You are going to have tests in your life. It is just like the
filling of the Spirit and the function of GAP is nourishment. We eat and we
have energy and are mostly very well nourished, but nourishment produces energy
and energy must be used in exercise. Even though you eat and eat you do not get
big and strong, you get big and fat! Therefore it is important to exercise, to
take nourishment and through the channel of exercise produce something that is
presentable.
c)
The function of the faith-rest technique. How do we put muscle on our faith?
How do we develop spiritual muscle? We take the doctrine we have learned and
use it in pressure, use it in adversity, use it in some disaster situation.
This is called the faith-rest technique — Hebrews 4:1-3. We find the charge of
the flea and we shoot down fleas with scripture — when we start. Every time a
flea charges us we whack him down with the Word of God. We don’t know much yet,
that is why our calibre is only for shooting fleas.
d) The testing that comes
as we take in large amounts of doctrine. But as we begin to take in more
doctrine and take in more doctrine then we get some real tests — the charge of
the elephant. To knock the elephant down we have to have a large calibre. When
the real test comes it takes the big chunk of doctrine to knock these disasters
down. So we have 1 Peter 1:7,8.
e) The principle of
occupation with Christ is the final manner in which we face every exigency of
life and demonstrate the greatest possible power. This is the principle that
belongs to the super-grace believer only — Hebrews 12:2. This is maximum faith,
faith in its greatest power.
9. The victory of faith — 1 John
5:4,5. The utilisation of doctrine in the soul under super-grace status is
found in Romans 4:17-21. Here is the amalgamation of non meritorious positive
volition with Bible doctrine provided for us by God in eternity past and
recorded under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to human writers in time.
“in the world” — He was the object
of faith in the world, e)n plus the locative of kosmoj. Kosmoj is the title for planet earth under the
concept of Satan as the ruler. We are in Satan’s domain, having the Word as our
object, and believing in the Lord in this world. That’s the thing that breaks
Satan’s back in the angelic conflict.
“and was received up” — the aorist
passive indicative of the compound verb a)nalambanw. A)na means “up” here, lambanw means to take. He was taken
up. This is a reference to the ascension.
The doctrine of the ascension
1. Definition.
a) The ascension is that
doctrine of Christology pertaining to the change of residence of Jesus Christ
after His resurrection.
b) The session (session
means seating) of Christ is the doctrine of Christ pertaining to the
glorification of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union being seated at the right
hand of the Father.
c) These doctrines are
closely related to and based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
d) Both the ascension
and session of Christ were accomplished in resurrection body.
e) These two doctrines
form the climax of the strategic victory of Christ in the angelic conflict.
2. The capabilities of the
resurrection body.
The resurrection body of
Christ was capable of both horizontal and vertical travel. This includes
unlimited space travel. It includes the fact that horizontally Jesus Christ
could walk through walls or closed doors or anything, and that vertically He
could travel anywhere in space. In fact, the resurrected body of Jesus Christ
traveled through three heavens in His trip to the right hand of the Father.
3. The historical account of the
ascension is found in Acts 1:9-11.
4. The significance of the session
of Christ:
a) The prophecy of the
session — Psalm 110:1.
b) The session and the
authority of Christ — Romans 8:34.
c) The session and the
ministry of the Holy Spirit — Ephesians 1:20. The seating of the Lord Jesus
Christ at the right hand of the Father brings about the first advent of the
Holy Spirit who comes to form the family of God on earth. He indwells us; He
enters us into union with Christ through baptism; He seals us at salvation; He
gives us spiritual gifts; He regenerates us.
d) The session and
mental attitude — Colossians 3:1,2.
e) The session and the
celebrityship of Christ — Hebrews 1:3. Jesus Christ is the only celebrity of
the Church Age.
f) The session and the
angelic conflict — Hebrews 1:13. The angelic conflict has been won
strategically, the tactical victories are in the process.
g) The session and the
royal priesthood — Hebrews 8:1.
h) The session and the
sacrifice — Hebrews 10:12. His session indicates the efficacy of His sacrifice
and the fact that Christ is the only saviour.
i) The session and
occupation with Christ — Hebrews 12:2.
j) The session and
strategic victory — 1 Peter 3:22.
5. The session confirms the
celebrityship of Jesus Christ. The ascension and session of Christ complete His
glorification and He is now the unique person of the universe. He is in
hypostatic union forever because of the resurrection. He is different from God
in that He is man; He is different from man in that He is God — Acts 2:33;
5:31; Philippians 2:9. As eternal God Jesus Christ is preeminent. As the
God-Man seated at the right hand of the Father Jesus Christ has unique and
overwhelming distinctions. He is King of kings, Lord of lords; He is royalty
forever, and that is why we have the dispensation of the Church: for the
formation of a royal family to accompany Him forever.
6. The strategic victory of the
angelic conflict. The ascension and session of Christ formed the basis for the
strategic victory of the angelic conflict — Hebrews chapter one. Furthermore,
the ascension and session of Christ begin a new sphere of the angelic conflict
— Ephesians 1:20-22 tell us that we live in the intensified stage of the
angelic conflict. The dispensation in which we live is much more intense than
the Tribulation even. The same concept is amplified in Ephesians 4:7-10. This
means that the Church Age is the dispensation of the intensified stage of the
angelic conflict.
7. The ascension and the royal
family of God. Jesus Christ in His resurrection body is seated alone at the
right hand of the Father. He is alone in a resurrection body. No one else has
been resurrected since our Lord. Jesus said about the first Adam, “Not good
that man should be alone.” God the Father says, “Not good that Jesus Christ,
the King of kings and Lord of lords, should be alone.” The Age of Israel, then,
was stopped, interrupted, and a new dispensation was inserted or intercalated.
The Church Age is designed to call out the royal family of God so that the last
Adam will not be alone. That is why our dispensation is completed before the
Age of Israel. The royal family is formed by something that never occurred
before the Church Age and will never occur after the Rapture. Jesus prophesied
when he said, “John baptised with water, but you shall be baptised with the
Holy Spirit not many days hence.” For the first time in history God the Holy
Spirit actually takes every believer at the point of salvation and enters him
into union with Christ. This could not occur until Christ was glorified, says
John 7:37,39.
8. The ascension also deals with our new priesthood. The ascension
and session of Christ abrogated the Levitical priesthood. When God the Father
stopped the dispensation of Israel the Mosaic law was abrogated, the Levitical
priesthood was replaced by the royal priesthood. So now you and I and all
believers are not only royal family but are royal priesthood forever — 1 Peter
2:9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6. Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ at the right
hand of the Father is a royal priest, a new priesthood has been founded, and we
are in it forever.
9.
The ascension verifies the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross as
he was bearing our sins — Hebrews 9:23,24. The day of atonement in the Old
Testament was a portrayal of this.
10. The ascension and ultimate
defeat of Satan are related subjects. The ascension and session of Christ began
operation footstool. The second advent will terminate operation footstool.
Christ will supersede Satan as the ruler of this world when he returns — Daniel
7:14; Zechariah 13:2; Colossians 2:15.
Translation: “And by consent of all,
great is the mystery doctrine with reference to godliness: the one Christ who
became visible by means of the flesh [hypostatic union], the same one was
vindicated by means of the Holy Spirit, he was observed by angels, he was
proclaimed among the nations, he became the object of faith in the world, he
was taken up into the place of glory.”
Principles
1. This is why the royal family has
godliness or balance of residency as its objective in time.
2. This is why Bible doctrine is so
important to the royal family.
3. Bible doctrine transferred from
the Word to the soul of the believer is the means of accomplishing the
objective of godliness — experiential sanctification.
4. The glorification of Christ
brings the Age of Israel to a halt.
5. The dispensation of Israel has
been interrupted. The Church Age, the dispensation of the royal family of God,
inserted.
6. Because Christ was taken up into
the place of glory there now exists a royal family of God on earth as a
preliminary to the second advent and the overthrow of Satan as the ruler of the
world.
7. When the royal family [the body
of Christ] is completed it is resurrected [Rapture of the Church] and the Age
of Israel then resumes.
8. When Christ returns to terminate
the Age of Israel He will be accompanied by the royal family or the Church Age
believer.
Conclusion: Godliness becomes the
reminder to Satan as the ruler of this world that he has no control over those
believers who have maximum doctrine in his domain.