Grace Apparatus for Perception

True equality

No two people are born equal! Although proponents of socialism and systems of internationalism claim human equality as their goal, equality cannot be achieved either by legislation or selective breeding! It is ever Satan’s purpose to destroy human individuality and freedom. In the devils domain, no equality exists, either at birth or at any time thereafter!

In contrast, through regeneration, God can accomplish in a second what man has never been able to do from the beginning of time. Where man has failed, grace has found a way to bring about equality in the human race. Every believer in Jesus Christ is made ONE with Him and receives at the moment of salvation the same apparatus for spiritual perception a grace means for comprehending Bible doctrine. Because there must be a new birth before this equality can exist, the Lord Jesus Christ explained the necessity and nature of the spiritual birth in His conversation with a religious man:

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit [spiritually alive]. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (John 3:6,7).

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever BELIEVETH in him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:14, 15).

Physically, we are born with neither a human spirit nor the Holy Spirit. At the moment of salvation, through faith in Christ, we receive both (1 Cor. 3:16; 1 Thess. 5:23), and these form the basis for the “grace apparatus for perception” (GAP) a grace system whereby God has made it possible for all believers to learn doctrine and to advance tactically to spiritual maturity. Therefore, it is the divine provision for spiritual growth and advancement. God has provided this way for every believer, regardless of his human IQ, educational background or his, natural perspicacity, to understand and categorize Bible doctrine. GAP is simply a technical term used to communicate the mechanics for the intake of spiritual knowledge and assimilation of doctrine into the soul.

This Grace Plan makes it possible for a believer who may be only a few degrees above a moron to understand the same doctrine as a believer who is a genius. When it comes to comprehension of doctrine, the genius has no advantage over the person of low IQ. The greatest intellect in history can neither conceive of nor design one factor in the grace of God. Christianity is infinitely beyond all that we could “ask or think” (Eph. 3:20). To understand this, it is essential first to distinguish between human and spiritual IQ.

Distinction between human and spiritual IQ

Human IQ (intelligence quotient) is the number assigned to an individual on the basis of dividing his mental age (determined by specialized testing) by his chronological age. The number resulting from the division of these two ages indicates the relative intelligence of that person or his ability to learn.

In contrast to human IQ, spiritual IQ is measured by the amount of doctrine stored in the human spirit and right lobe of the mentality of the believer. Spiritual IQ is indicated in the Hebrew by the noun CHAKMAH, often translated “wisdom.” In the Greek, it is designated primarily by the word EPIGNOSIS, which is usually translated “knowledge,” but actually has a technical connotation of a concept or a category.

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the [full] knowledge [EPIGNOSIS] of his will [sovereign purpose and design] in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (Col. 1:9).

“Filled” (PLEROO in the Greek) means “to fill up a deficiency.” Doctrine in the human spirit fills up the deficiency of the soul. PLEROO also means “to fully possess”; hence, the believer must fully possess doctrine in order to have capacity for life and to function in Phase Two. “In all wisdom and spiritual understanding” refers to the spiritual IQ which comes from EPIGNOSIS. While human IQ uses a combination of faith (the basis by which we begin to learn), rationalism and empiricism, spiritual IQ utilizes faith only, based on the filling of the Holy Spirit.

The exclusion of human IQ from GAP

To consider human IQ to be a factor in learning Bible doctrine not only implies that a low IQ believer would be handicapped in the perception of God’s Word but also suggests that God is unfair. Yet, according to the Doctrine of Divine Essence, God is absolutely righteous and just and therefore impartial.

[That ye] maybe able [EXZISCHUO — to have complete ability] to comprehend [KATALAMBANO — to truly understand; to make one’s own] with [in the company of] all saints [all believers have the same opportunity and ability in the field of spiritual phenomena] what is the breadth, length, depth, and height [ categories of doctrine stored in the human spirit] (Eph. 3:18).

Every believer is designed to respond to doctrine, but not on the basis of human IQ. GAP is a grace system all the way!

The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law (Deut 29:29).

Grace and faith eliminate human IQ as a handicap. First Corinthians 1:19-2:16 demonstrates the failure of empiricism and rationalism in understanding divine phenomena.

But as it is written. Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart [right lobe] of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him (1 Cor. 2:9).

The “eye-ear concept is the system of perception under empiricism, the pursuit of knowledge by observation and experimentation. “Hath not seen” [HORAO] is the verb for “panoramic view.” The physical eye is connected with empiricism. Neither God nor doctrine nor any spiritual phenomena is discernible to the human eye. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Furthermore, empiricism is a meritorious system of perception which requires human ability and is therefore incompatible with the grace of God as far as perception of doctrine is concerned.

The ear is also a means of obtaining knowledge through experience. Since God no longer speaks directly to Homo sapiens, the ear cannot hear God. We frequently bump into someone who thinks he has heard the voice of God. This is either hallucination or imagination. In this dispensation, with the completion of the Canon of Scripture, no one hears the voice of God.

“The things which God has prepared” refer to Bible doctrine — God’s Plan and God’s provision designed in eternity past (Prov. 8). There is no way whereby man’s plans or man’s ability can get into the picture. Doctrine has been prepared “for them that LOVE [present participle of AGAPAO] him.” The present tense indicates a continuous process. Throughout the Church Age there will be those who love God, and therefore they will love His Word. If you love the written Word, you love the Living Word. They go together; they cannot be separated! The participle indicates that this is a principle or law of God whereby the accumulation of doctrine in the human spirit is translated into love for God.

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save [except] the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:11).

In this verse we see the failure of rationalism in grace perception. While empiricism emphasizes sensory perception or experimentation apart from reason or thinking, rationalism relies on reason as the criterion for reality. Under rationalism, one’s knowledge and opinions are based upon what the mind dictates rather than upon what is visible. “Knoweth” (OIDA) is the perfect tense used for the present tense and therefore in this context is human knowledge based on rationalism as a system

of perception.

“The things of a man” are human phenomena. “Spirit” (PNEUMA) has both technical meanings, such as Holy Spirit and human spirit, and general connotations, such as wind, breath and the immaterial part of man. In this verse, PNEUMA is used in its literal sense before it became a Koine Greek word in the New Testament. Since it originally meant “breathings and represented air taken into the human body, the Greeks used it as a human system of perception based upon the function of the “breathing apparatus” of the soul. It carried the concept of inhaling and exhaling information. The only way that PNEUMA is used in this sense in the New Testament is in the case where it is accompanied by a modifier, as in this verse “of man” (ANTHROPOS, the generic term for Homo sapiens). So the mention of “spirit” along with “man” refers to man’s systems of perception. Man has the innate ability to perceive and categorize human information but not divine or spiritual knowledge.

The last phrase of 1 Corinthians 2:11, “except the Spirit of God,” sets up a contrast between the spirit of man and the Spirit of God. Again we have the same word PNEUMA, but there is a difference: the first PNEUMA, with the genitive of “man,” is merely human perspicacity; the second PNEUMA, with the genitive of “God,” refers to the Holy Spirit. The unbeliever comprehends material phenomena through meritorious systems of perception (rationalism and empiricism) based upon his own intellect. The believer understands Bible doctrine (“the things of God”) on a non-meritorious basis through the ministry of the Spirit. The first involves human apparatus; the latter, the grace apparatus. What causes the human system of perspicacity to function? Human IQ! What activates the grace system? The ministry of the Holy Spirit through the filling of the Spirit!

Receptive Comprehension

You may not be aware of the fact that everything you learn goes through a process in your soul. This process is related to the two frontal lobes connected with the mentality of the soul. The essence of the soul includes self-consciousness, mentality with two lobes, emotion, and volition. The left or perceptive lobe is called NOUS (mind) in the Greek and is designed for receptive comprehension that is, to understand various types of data and to assimilate objective information. This is the first target of GAP. The right lobe (KARDIA in the Greek), translated “heart,” is the dominant lobe and contains the following areas: a frame of reference (the antechamber for doctrine); a memory center (the “pump” that circulates doctrine throughout the right lobe); vocabulary and categorical storage (the supply houses for formation and classification of thoughts); a conscience (the norms and standards); and a “launching pad” for application of doctrine to experience.

Doctrine in the NOUS is called GNOSIS (objective understanding). However, GNOSIS cannot be applied to experience. This means that the left lobe is only a staging area in learning doctrine. The thinking of the left lobe is called NOEO, the simple verb for the thought pattern. Two kinds of thinking transpire in the left lobe: PHRONEO, objective-type thinking, and DOKEO, subjective thinking. PHRONEO plus faith transfers doctrine to the human spirit and converts it to EPIGNOSIS (full knowledge). However, if you become hypersensitive over certain principles you are taught, your thinking becomes DOKEO. You understand what was said, but you react or take personal offense, either with regard to the teacher or to the content of the message, and immediately you begin “operation DOKEO.” All this ever accomplishes is antagonism and irritation in the soul and leads to self-induced misery, which eliminates the possibility of utilizing the doctrine you have just learned.

Understanding doctrine is all that is required in receptive comprehension. It is not necessary that you agree or disagree. What is essential is that you maintain an open mind in the filling of the Spirit until all the facts are assimilated. Receptive comprehension demands the accumulation of evidence before judgment is passed. You must give the passage a hearing regardless of your personal prejudices or your negative reflexes.

Receptive comprehensive involves the following factors: availing oneself of Bible teaching; the acceptance of the authority of the one who communicates doctrine; the ministry of God the Holy Spirit converting the content of the message into receptive comprehension or GNOSIS (1 Cor. 2:9-16; 1 John 2:27).

GNOSIS can exist to a large degree in any believer without spiritual benefit, since it has no application of divine viewpoint to this life. To be beneficial, doctrine must be transferred to the human spirit and to the right lobe. Some believers, who appear to be great Christians and who seem to know a great deal of doctrine, are in reality advancing very little in their spiritual status. One type of person in this category is the “Prophecy nut”; he has pinpointed all the personalities of the Tribulation and categorized every event of the future; but he simply has a logjam of prophecy in the left lobe! Only the function of the grace apparatus for perception can break up this blockage. GAP operates on the basis of nine grace provisions for learning doctrine.

Grace provisions for learning doctrine

The Formation and Preservation of the Canon of Scripture (Matt 24:35; 1 Pet 1:23). Every believer in the Church Age has access to God’s Word in written form as a textbook for learning Bible doctrine. In the formation of the Canon, God the Holy Spirit took pertinent information and brought it into the perceptive lobe of the human authors, who, in the filling of the Spirit, understood it; from there, through the function of GAP and within the framework of their own personality and individuality, they exhaled it in writing. This is called THEOPNEUSTOS — “God-breathed” — inhale and exhale (Doctrine of Inspiration — 2 Tim. 3:16). In this way, God’s complete and coherent thought toward man was recorded, so that we now have a completed Canon of Scripture in writing.

Throughout the ages, the Canon has been subjected to fantastic Satan-inspired attacks; yet God has preserved His Word from destruction AND THAT IS GRACE! None of us earns or deserves such grace. The Bible continues to be the world’s best seller and the only book to date which has been translated into over one thousand languages.

Divine Authorization of the Local Church as a Classroom for Learning Doctrine (Col. 2:7; Heb. 10:25). The Church Age is the first period in history where the principle of the local church is divinely authorized. You must remember that prior to this dispensation there were bona fide sacred buildings (the Tabernacle and the Temple), sacred ceremonies (the Levitical offerings and feasts), and the sacred modus operandi of the priesthood in which doctrine was communicated.

With this new dispensation and the completion of the Canon of Scripture, the modus vivendi for believers has radically changed. We now have, under a grace principle, the authorization of the local church for the authoritative communication of Bible doctrine. Why is this so important? All worship is now centered in learning Bible doctrine. Whereas before, Christ was the direct target in the angelic conflict, the believer is now the object of Satanic attack. Bible doctrine is the only garrison for the believer’s soul in this intensified stage of the angelic conflict (Eph. 6:10-17). Therefore, the provision of the local church and its continued existence is vitally important for the protection of the believer! No believer earns or deserves such grace. Believers assembled in the local church are students without portfolio and must submit to strict academic discipline under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

If there is no local church that provides consistent and accurate doctrinal teaching, then the believer must avail himself of other sources. This may be in the form of printed material or information from taped Bible classes. It is up to each individual to discover a method best for him for the daily intake of Bible doctrine.

The Spiritual Gift of Pastor-Teacher for the Authoritative Communication of Doctrine (Eph. 4:11; 1 Tim. 1:11). This spiritual gift, which is restricted to males, includes both authority and ability to communicate doctrine to a congregation in the local church. According to this principle, there is a right pastor for- a right congregation. The pastor-teacher does not receive some type of mysterious “call”; God the Holy Spirit sovereignly bestows this gift at the point of salvation, and no man has ever earned or deserved the right to be a pastor-teacher. This is grace! His gift becomes discernible as he learns doctrine, and it functions through proper preparation.

The spiritual gift of pastor-teacher must be exercised with authority (Tit. 2:15); therefore, monologue, not dialogue is the order of teaching. By dialogue, I am referring to the current method of “sharing,” where you put in a little bit, the teacher puts in a little bit, and you walk out with nothing but “two bits” !Furthermore, except in rare instances, it is not the responsibility of the pastor to counsel. Counseling becomes a crutch or a substitute for the intake of doctrine, which is the ultimate solution to all problems.

The Biblical concept of teaching is set forth in the Greek verb DIDASKO — public teaching of doctrine. Only in the communication of doctrine in a public assembly does the believer have the privacy to learn doctrine, to use it as unto the Lord and advance to spiritual maturity. A local church is a private organization under God, which affords the public a means to come and hear; but the principle of teaching by monologue must be maintained.

Only one time in the history of communication was dialogue used successfully, and that was in the days of Socrates, Aristotle and Plato. Those of you who have read and enjoyed the Platonic dialogues will realize that the success of this system of teaching requires the leadership of a genius. Others who have attempted to imitate these ancient Greeks did not have the ability to handle it. However, this method of teaching tends to subvert authority, and it became a contributing factor in the decline of the Athenian Empire.

The Royal Priesthood of the Believer for the Freedom and Privacy of Reception of Doctrine (1 Pet. 2:9). Each believer is a member of the Royal Family of God and is therefore a royal priest. The royalty of the priesthood demands that the believer, through the function of GAP, achieve the supergrace life, or spiritual maturity, which is the normal status of the believer-priest’s royalty. The priesthood is designed to provide privacy and freedom to attain that objective. It is extremely difficult for believers to realize that they can accept or reject what they hear. The whole purpose of public assembly is that you can hear along with other believers and then make your own decision without interference.

Privacy — live and let live — is a great principle of Bible doctrine. Neither the pastor nor any member of the congregation has a right to tell you how to live your life. The pastor merely transfers the doctrine from the Word to your soul through teaching. As doctrine becomes resident in your soul, it dictates your course of action, and you become spiritually self-sustaining!

“One-on-one’ ‘ teaching is an intrusion on the privacy of the priesthood of the believer. In a “one-on-one” situation, the teacher picks key people for personal instruction. Such a system usually involves a checklist operation: “Have you witnessed today? To how many? Did you pray? How long? Have you read your Bible? Why not? etc. This constitutes bullying and coercion and promotes pseudo-spirituality — a believer’s functioning as unto the personality and requirements of another rather than as unto the Lord. You must live your life before God only! That is why it is not the business of the church to organize programs or to provide a social life.

The Indwelling of the Holy Spirit for the Proper Function of GAP (1 Cor. 2:9-16; 6:19; 1 John 2:27). The grace apparatus for perception operates on the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. This is our fuel — and we will never have an energy crisis! For the first time in history, in the Dispensation of the Church, the Holy Spirit indwells the body of every believer. He functions in the soul to form an apparatus for understanding doctrine (Eph. 3:16). However, merely to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit is not sufficient for the function of GAP. The Holy Spirit must control the soul through the elimination of any type of carnality. Therefore the next point must follow.

The Rebound Technique as the Grace Means of the Filling of the Spirit (Eph. 5:18; 1 John 1:9). “Rebound” is the restoration of the believer’s temporal fellowship with God through confession of sin; therefore, this technique becomes the means of recovery of the filling of the Spirit (Eph. 5:14). Without rebound, you cannot be filled with the Spirit, and without the filling of the Spirit, you cannot develop your spiritual IQ. The rebound technique, leading to the filling of the Spirit, is the grace procedure that triggers the function of GAP. Just as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a gracious gift from God, so the means by which you are filled with the Spirit is a grace function. Confession (HOMOLOGEO) is simply naming your sins. You are not required to feel sorry for your sins nor to agonize or to do penance for them. When you cite your sins privately to God, you are forgiven immediately and that is totally grace!

While the Holy Spirit resides permanently in the body of the believer, He functions through the filling or control of the soul of the believer. The complete or mature Christian is designed to have the residency of the Spirit in his body balanced by the residency of doctrine in his soul. The new believer begins the Christian life devoid of doctrine; but it gradually becomes resident in his soul through the function of GAP. The indwelling or learning of doctrine occurs in the left lobe, while the filling or assimilation of doctrine is the function of the right lobe. Through His filling, the Holy Spirit makes doctrine real so that it is transferred into the right lobe and onto the launching pad for application.

In 1 Corinthians 2:9, II, we have seen empiricism and rationalism discarded as a means for the perception of spiritual phenomena. In contrast, verses 10 and 12 establish the principle of the grace means of perception through the filling of the Spirit.

But God {the Father Author of the Plan] hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10).

“Hath revealed” (APOKALUPTO) introduces the system of perspicacity by grace. Under this verb, there is no place for human meritorious perception; APOKALUPTO signifies only grace perception. It actually connotes “illumination” — “to bring to light.” The Plan of God and doctrine have always existed; it is just a matter of transferring them from the Bible to the mind.

There are those who keep a Bible handy so that if they ever get into a jam, they can open it up in a hurry and try to find help. A Bible is not like a medicine cabinet — for emergency action only. The believer must be inoculated in advance against emergencies by a consistent intake of doctrine. God has designed you as a royal priest to be spiritually self-sustaining, and this is achieved only on the basis of inner resources. The Bible is the exterior Source of your inner assets. Doctrine is located forever in the Bible; but it has no value to you unless you take it out of the Bible and make it resident in your soul.

The aorist tense of APOKALUPTO indicates the point of time when you are listening to Bible teaching under conditions of the filling of the Spirit. You have been allotted a certain amount of time on this earth after you are saved. Since every waking moment cannot be spent in listening to the Word of God, we must therefore listen at various points in time. The active voice of the verb indicates that God the Father produces the action through the agency of the Holy Spirit: the filling of the Spirit enables the grace apparatus to function. The indicative mood is the reality of the existence of a grace apparatus for perception entirely apart from human IQ systems.

“ .. . for the Spirit searcheth [ERAUNAO].” This verb has four meanings, which are all pertinent to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit to the believer under perspicacity by grace:

“to examine,” “to tracer “to explore’ and “to investigate.” The filling of the Spirit is necessary for the examination of the text of Scripture to determine the accurate interpretation from exegesis (verse-by-verse analysis). “To trace” indicates that the filling of the Spirit is essential for categorizing the Scripture. Both “examine” and “trace” are primarily the functions of the pastor-teacher. “Explore” and “investigate” are directed toward the student. “To explore” means to go from the known to the unknown. Doctrine is built upon doctrine; therefore, under the filling of the Spirit, doctrine in the human spirit is cycled to the right lobe as a frame of reference for learning more doctrine. When new doctrine comes in, it is explored on the basis of known doctrine. Finally, the filling of the Spirit stimulates an insatiable desire for the investigation of further doctrine!

The Holy Spirit, then, “searches all things” — the entire realm of Bible doctrine. There is no limit to what you can understand with regard to the Word of God. The Word is not to be hidden and known only to a few. The Bible is an open Book, a revealed Book; it is not obscure, nor are its contents just for the clerical hierarchy. It is to be known to all believers! The Holy Spirit searches “the deep things {doctrines] of God.” This is a genitive of possession: spiritual truths belong to God. They become our possession only through the grace apparatus for perception, which is turned on by the filling of the Spirit.

The Provision of the Human Spirit as the Secondary Target of GAP (Job 32:8; 1 Cor. 2:12, 13; Eph. 1:17). The human spirit is the immaterial part of man designed by God to understand, to store and to utilize Bible doctrine or spiritual phenomena. As one of the thirty-six spiritual assets which every believer receives at salvation, the human spirit, along with the Holy Spirit, is the basis of GAP. It is difficult for people to realize that perception of doctrine in the left lobe only is not applicable to experience. The left lobe is simply a staging area for transferring doctrine into the human spirit.

Only when doctrine is stored as residual doctrine in the human spirit does it become usable. Spiritual IQ and Bible doctrine stored in the human spirit are synonymous. You have discernment only to the extent that you have doctrine in your human spirit feeding into your right lobe. Like the left lobe, the Bible itself is a “staging platform” from which doctrine is conveyed into the human spirit.

If doctrine simply goes to the left lobe and stops there, only human merit is involved — understanding by means of human intellect. Doctrine must be transferred to the human spirit on a non-meritorious basis — BY FAITH.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of [out from] God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of [under] God (1 Cor. 2:12).

This verse describes the function of the human spirit in perception. “The spirit of the world” refers to meritorious systems of perception — rationalism and empiricism. God does not use cosmic wisdom to insure the reality of doctrine. You cannot build doctrine on what you see; it must be built on what the Word of God teaches. “We have received . . . the spirit out from God” (“which” is not found in the original). The “Spirit of God” in 1 Corinthians 2:11 is a genitive of possession and is,

therefore, the Holy Spirit. But the “spirit out from God” in verse 12 is the human spirit.

Why did God the Father give us the human spirit? “That we might know the things that are freely given us of [under the authority of] God.” “Know” (present tense of OIDA) is inherent knowledge, and in this context refers to doctrine located in the human spirit. “The things,” again, are spiritual phenomena. “Freely given” is the Greek verb CHARIZOMAI and indicates “grace giving.” The Bible is transmitted to the believer in a manner compatible with grace. Whatever God gives us will always be ours on the basis of grace, for His provision depends on His character never upon the merit of the believer. Therefore, a better translation would be, “the things that are grace-given to us.” Doctrine was graciously provided for the believer “that we might know and have permanent knowledge and doctrine in the human spirit.” The grace system of perception is the greatest privilege of Phase Two, and the mechanics revolve around the Holy Spirit and the human spirit.

Doctrine is provided “under the authority of God.” His authority is vested in the Bible, the local church and the pastor-teacher. Also under His authority is the ministry of the Holy Spirit formulating and preserving the Bible, operating in the local church and in the pastor-teacher for communication, and finally energizing the believer for the function of GAP.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth: comparing spiritual things with spiritual (1 Cor. 2:13).

“Which things” are the doctrinal precepts from the Word of God. “Speak” is the verb LALEO, which means “to communicate doctrine.” It is used for a pastor teaching Bible doctrine. “Words” (LOGOS) is an instrumental plural, and in this context it actually indicates groups of words or categories. Since doctrine is built on doctrine, categories must be developed. You use a familiar doctrine as the basis for understanding a second doctrine; you build upon the two to categorize a third; you use the three towards assimilation of deeper truths. Eventually, you are “rooted and grounded. . . that [you] may be able to comprehend” (Eph. 3:17, 18). The roots are categories of doctrine in the right lobe from the residual doctrine in the human spirit. To be grounded is to lay a foundation of doctrine in the human spirit

“Which doctrines also we communicate by categories” (1 Cor. 2:13). Next, we have the negative side: “not by means of the teaching of man’s wisdom. . .” Man’s wisdom consists of human systems of communication. The grace apparatus excludes human wisdom, human systems of perception in other words, grace excludes all meritorious systems. “But (a conjunction of contrast between human wisdom and grace communication) by the teaching from the source of the Spirit” (literally). This actually constitutes a contrast between human IQ and divine IQ: works IQ (negative); grace IQ (positive). “But which the Holy Spirit teacheth.” God the Holy Spirit is not only our Teacher, but also the Energizer for the operation of the grace apparatus for perception. No matter how high your human IQ, you will never learn spiritual matters apart from the filling of the Spirit.

“ .. . comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” “Comparing” (SUGKRINO) is a compound verb. KRINO means “to judge or discern”; SUG is from the preposition SUN, meaning “with.” “To discern with” eventually came to mean “to combine facts with other facts so that they make sense”; “to teach or to interpret by combining knowledge,” The key here is “to combine,” but from the combination is derived a comparison; hence, the word “comparing” means “to combine to teach.” We are to combine categories (classification of doctrines) with exegesis (verse-by-verse analysis) in the teaching of Bible doctrine. “Spiritual-things” (PNEUMATIKOS) is an accusative neuter plural and refers to Bible doctrine — spiritual phenomena.

To understand the use of the last word “spiritual” in 1 Corinthians 2:13, we must analyze the structure of the Greek form. It is the same word PNEUMATIKOS, but it changes from the accusative to the dative case, which has been ignored in the English translation. Furthermore, it is the dative neuter plural, which is quite interesting. If this were any other gender but neuter, it would result in endless confusion; but in the dative neuter plural, PNEUMATIKOS refers to the grace apparatus for perception, which is a grace mechanical system. By combining exegesis with categories, the pastor-teacher directs the communication of doctrine to the grace apparatus of each individual believer, and the doctrine is converted to EPIGNOSIS. Since both occurrences of the word PNEUMATIKOS are in the neuter, they refer to something in the believer that combines with the doctrines being presented. In other words, spiritual phenomena are being communicated, and these doctrines are an exact match for the grace apparatus inside the believer! Doctrine combines only with the grace apparatus, not with human ability, human IQ or any system of human perception.

The reason why PNEUMATIKOS is used both times in the plural form is that spiritual phenomena include more than one doctrine; furthermore, since there is more than one believer, there is also more than one apparatus for perception. Obviously, the believer himself is not in view, because that would require the masculine form of PNEUMATIKOS.

God’s Grace in the Human Anatomy. The structure of the human anatomy is, in itself, a gracious provision. Certain non-meritorious activities of the human body provide the ability to think and to concentrate. The operation of the frontal lobes depends on two principles: the inhale of oxygen and the intake of food. First, there must be oxygen in the blood for the function of the brain, which is simply a matter of inhale. Air has a number of chemicals in a stabilized condition. When a column of air from inhale strikes the epiglottis, it closes the trap door of the esophagus and opens the trachea. As the trachea opens, the air travels down into the main stem bronchus, then to a left and right branch of the bronchus into the lungs. From there it moves into the primary, the secondary and tertiary bronchi, and winds up in little sacks, called “alveoli” (there are literally thousands of these in the lungs), where the oxygen is extracted and CO² is exhaled. At that point, the oxygen is diffused across the cells of the alveoli into the blood. As the oxygenated blood circulates through the brain, the human being is able to think.

But that is not all — the ability to eat food is also a grace gift! At the risk of offending the nutritionists, let’s take some foods that are generally considered to be detrimental to the health. Suppose we begin with a bag of potato chips and several slices of French toast smothered in syrup; add to that a huge plate of spaghetti with tomato sauce, a dozen sugar cubes in a cup of coffee loaded with cream, six or seven “Baby Ruths” and several carbonated beverages! This time the epiglottis operates in reverse motion. As all these foods — even those detrimental to our health and weight — begin their

course into the stomach, the trachea closes off and the esophagus opens up. The carbohydrates, lipids and proteins in the stomach are changed into glucose and fructose — the simple sugars — which are easily absorbed. These simple sugars are carried by the blood into the brain where they circulate through the two lobes and provide the energy for their function. Only God could so design the human body. No wonder the Psalmist exclaimed, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psa. 139:14)!

The brain is composed of multiplied billions of neurons (microcircuits which print information) with their myriad nerve fibers, afferent, efferent and interconnecting, upon which the function of the brain depends. Unlike other body cells that utilize the energy of the fatty acids and keto acids, the neurons can use only glucose, mannose and fructose (sugars). Nutritious or non-nutritious, all food goes through the same process — AND THAT IS GRACE!

Both oxygen and sugar are essential for neuronic function. It makes no difference whether you are moral, immoral, amoral, religious, irreligious or non-religious, your capacity to think and even your survival depend on God’s grace. You will have to admit that God has a fantastic sense of humor because He has provider the energy and the ability for you to think even anti-Christian and anti-God thoughts as well as mental attitude sins! God permits such activity as a part of the angelic

conflict.

Provision of Divine Laws of Establishment. These are principles set up by God for the orderly function, protection, survival and perpetuation of the human race during the period of the angelic conflict (Gen. 10:5, 32). Under these laws, the government is responsible for the protection of the freedom and privacy of the local church. This religious liberty is the primary function of freedom, and includes the right to accept or reject Jesus Christ as Savior, the right to be an atheist or an agnostic, or be a member of an apostate denomination, without persecution or interference from governmental agencies or any individual. A second law which is also pertinent is freedom through military victory. The military functions both to defend our freedoms and to destroy our enemies (Dent. 20; Neh. 4:14). Third, there must be the proper function of law — the judge in the courtroom and the police force to maintain law and order within the framework of the national entity (Dent 21:18-23). A fourth law essential to the function of the grace apparatus for perception is the principle of human authority which exists in every facet of life, such as academic, military, athletic, parental, business, etc. Those who reject other authorities in life will also reject the authority of the pastor-teacher.

The mechanics of GAP

STAGE 1: OPERATION “ICE.” This is the means by which the pastor-teacher communicates the Word of God to his congregation. “Operation ICE” demands that the pastor have the spiritual gift as well as adequate preparation in order to use his gift with maximum benefit.

“I” stands for isagogics: the historical background of the Bible. Isagogics recognizes the basic principle of interpretation: the Bible must be interpreted within the framework of its own historical setting. A pastor must be a detective in order to reconstruct the life, the customs and the idioms of the times during which the Bible was written as they relate to the Word and the usage of the Word. In the ancient world, the meaning of a word was determined by its usage; today it is also determined by etymology, extant literature, etc.

“C” stands for categorical teaching: the organization of principles of doctrine based on the comparison of Scripture with Scripture to determine doctrinal classification. A Biblical subject may be taught in a number of passages, and these concepts are pulled together for your consideration. Each one will augment the others. Tracing a subject through Scripture in order to compile complete information about that subject is categorical teaching.

“E” stands for exegesis: the analysis of each verse within its context, emphasizing grammar, syntax and etymology of words from the original languages (Hebrew, Chaldean, Aramaic and Koine Greek). Exegesis is absolutely essential in order to determine exactly what concept the writer was trying to convey and what he actually communicated through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Every passage must have an exegetical approach, not simply to the verse itself, but also to the other verses in the context. Often a verse will seem to have one interpretation; but when it is taken within the framework of its context, it means something quite different.

Stage 1 is the responsibility of the pastor-teacher; the following stages are the responsibilities of those who have accepted his authority.

STAGE 2: OPERATION GNOSIS. When doctrine enters the left lobe through the teaching of the Word, it is called GNOSIS — knowledge understood objectively. This stage is parallel to receptive comprehension, but Operation GNOSIS approaches the subject from the standpoint of result. GNOSIS occurs simultaneously with Stage I, if and when you concentrate on what is being taught. At this point, you may agree or disagree. The danger here is in becoming tangled up with subjectivity and rejecting doctrine. You may be afraid that if you agree with what is being taught, it will cramp your style; or you may hear information entirely new to you and assume it is wrong even before you have fully understood it. Occasionally, rejection of doctrine is the result of failure to be filled with the Spirit; but more often it is related to some personality hang-up, such as inability to submit to authority or a sour-grapes attitude toward someone with superior knowledge. In such cases, Bible teaching never even becomes GNOSIS.

GNOSIS must be achieved by means of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Without the filling of the Spirit, comprehension of doctrine is not possible, except for certain principles that apply to both the believer and the unbeliever, such as those related to the divine institutions. An unbeliever can understand the concepts of nationalism and freedom as well as the proper function of marriage and the family. However, GNOSIS in the mind of a believer, based on reception comprehension, is of no greater value than GNOSIS in the mind of an unbeliever based on rationalism.

Even though it is doctrine, GNOSIS cannot be applied to experience!

Prerequisites for GNOSIS include three basic factors under the ministry of the Holy Spirit:

(1) Positive Volition (Luke 8:18). Your attitude toward doctrine is extremely important. Positive volition means that you must have the objectivity to set aside any distracting feature about the communicator his speech, dress or personality; it also means that you have enough objectivity for capacity to comprehend and to concentrate on the teaching.

(2) Recognition of the Authority of the Pastor-Teacher (1 Cor. 16:15, 16; 1 Thess. 5:12; Heb. 13:7, 17). The Bible teaches that the human authority in the local church is the pastor. You are commanded to OBEY and to SUBMIT to his authority. The authority of the pastor-teacher is not to be misconstrued in any way as tyranny; rather, it is his right and privilege to communicate Bible doctrine. The believer who submits to the authority of the pastor and accepts academic discipline is the

one who truly learns doctrine! Pride, which rejects authority and dogmatism, is the greatest hindrance to learning.

(3) Concentration (Mark 4:23; Luke 11:28; 2 Pet. 1:19). Concentration is more than prolonged focus on the message; it includes good manners, poise and alertness in the assembly. Concentration is affected not merely by your attitude toward the speaker but also by your attitude toward other people in the congregation. For example, there may be some people in the congregation against whom you harbor antagonism or resentment. When they are within your visual periphery, you

may begin to think about them and become angry. Or it might be the reverse. When you see someone whom you love, your concentration on the message is disrupted, and you lose its continuity. All such distractions must be handled by self-discipline (2 Cor. 10:5) and by a relaxed mental attitude, which is another byproduct of the filling of the Spirit. There are certain subjects which may be more fascinating to you than others. One of your greatest accomplishments will occur when you develop enough objectivity to sit tight, no matter what is being taught. What you may consider the duller subjects are still a part of the entire package: all Scripture is profitable, and your human spirit has a place for storing them. Consequently, the filling of the Spirit accomplishes that which is humanly impossible.

The NOUS (left lobe) is the “hearer” lobe. The residence of doctrine in the left lobe leaves the believer in the status of being simply a HEARER of the Word but not a DOER of the Word (Jas. l:21-25). To be a doer of the Word, doctrine must be resident in the right lobe via the human spirit. Therefore, the next objective is to transfer GNOSIS (knowledge comprehended only) to the human spirit.

STAGE 3: OPERATION EPIGNOSIS. Before doctrine can be utilized for spiritual growth, divine production or Christian dynamics, GNOSIS must be converted to EPIGNOSIS: knowledge understood must become knowledge fully possessed. EPIGNOSIS is doctrine in the human spirit and/or in the heart or right lobe. This is the critical stage and the decisive point in the assimilation of doctrine. Agreement or disagreement is the basis of the third stage of GAP.

Once you comprehend the doctrine, volition becomes an issue. You must make a decision. You can go negative and say, “I don’t believe it and will not accept it.” There are primarily three reasons for negative volition: (1) no frame of reference for the doctrine; (2) personality involvement, such as love or loyalty for someone else who taught it differently; (3) conflict with your background.

When an individual goes positive and believes the doctrine taught, that positive volition must always express itself in a non-meritorious way, compatible with grace — by means of faith-rest, When it is believed, Bible doctrine is automatically transferred from the left lobe to the human spirit, where it becomes EPIGNOSIS. It is now usable doctrine.

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge [GNOSIS] that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God (Eph. 3:19).

“To know” (GINOSKO) indicates the entire process of GAP — the experience of exposing yourself to doctrine. GINOSKO is more than just knowing it; it includes the necessary concentration as well as the filling of the Spirit. The only way to appreciate the love of Christ is to respond to the teaching of doctrine (John 14:21, 24); but you will never fully grasp God’s love on the basis of GNOSIS. You must have a perception greater than GNOSIS — that “which passeth [surpasses] knowledge.”

What surpasses GNOSIS? EPIGNOSIS! EPI means “over” or “beyond”; GNOSIS, “knowledge.” “Over or beyond” knowledge is Bible doctrine stored in the human spirit This passage is not saying you cannot understand the love of God because it passes knowledge; it is saying YOU CAN UNDERSTAND God’s love because He has provided EPIGNOSIS — the full categorical knowledge and understanding of God! Doctrine in the human spirit and in the right lobe becomes capacity to love Christ, or occupation with Christ the first characteristic of the supergrace life.

The result of EPIGNOSIS is “that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” The “fulness of God” begins with the “edification Complex” in the soul. “Edification” (OIKODOME) means “the act of building up” or “the act of erecting a structure”; and the only way to have building material for a grace structure in the soul is through EPIGNOSIS. With the completion of the edification complex, the believer who continues to function under GAP moves into the supergrace life. For the believer, this is the normal status quo, where he can have the capacity to receive and utilize the superabundant blessings which God the Father has provided as part of the Divine Decrees.”

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge [EPIGNOSIS] of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power (Eph. 1:17-19).

In His matchless grace, the Father of glory provides all the ingredients for the function of GAP. The “spirit of wisdom” refers to the accumulation of Bible doctrine in the human spirit, “from the source of revelation by means of EPIGNOSIS.” “The eyes of your understanding” is literally “the perception of your right lobe (KARDIA — heart).” As a result of the transfer of doctrine from the pages of Scripture to the soul and spirit, you receive enlightenment. But notice, the transfer is made BY FAITH — “to us-ward who BELIEVE!’ God’s greatness and power are revealed to us through the function of GAP.

“His power” (DUNAMIS) is God’s omnipotent ability to provide unlimited grace, which takes us to supergrace “Working” (ENERGEIA), or operational power, refers to the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in the function of GAP. “Mighty” (KRATOS), ruling power, describes doctrine resident in the Canon — the rule for the Christian way of life while the last “power” (ISCHUS), endowed or inner power, in dictates doctrine in the right lobe through the process of GAP.

When doctrine has been transferred by faith to the human spirit, you begin to be a “doer” of the Word; you are in the area of divine production. Through EPIGNOSIS, you possess what James calls “the engrafted word” (Jas. 1:21). In the Greek, this word actually means “impregnated.” In other words, GNOSIS cannot produce; “pregnancy can result only from EPIGNOSIS. The human spirit is comparable to the womb, and cohabitation is the illustration. Once doctrine is in the human spirit, conception takes place; and when pregnancy occurs, there are “children.”

Conception in the human spirit leads to four categories of children: (1) the frame of reference children (basis for learning advanced doctrine), which are born through the cycling of EPIGNOSIS into the right lobe. (2) The application children the exhale out the left bank of the soul toward God (worship, prayer, etc.) and from the right bank toward man (relaxed mental attitude, divine good, etc.). (3) The eyesight children: EPIGNOSIS gives sight to the soul (perception of spiritual phenomena). (4) The edification complex children: grace orientation, mastery of the details of life, relaxed mental attitude, capacity to love in all three categories (God, opposite sex, friends), and inner happiness.

STAGE 4: OPERATION HEART. “Obviously, doctrine is not just to be stored in the human spirit and left there. It must be cycled from the human spirit to the heart’s frame of reference (Isa. 37: 31). From there, the doctrine is available for application. Now any subject that is learned by human ability or human perspicacity can be applied directly from the left lobe. It may be necessary to reach over to the right lobe for information from the frame of reference or memory center.

For example, you may have learned certain facts in medical school which you have not had occasion to use since; but you can run them through your memory center, bring them over to the left lobe through a system of “wiring” between the two lobes and apply them in a certain medical situation. So it is possible to learn natural phenomena, to store the information in the frame of reference and to cycle it from the memory center back to the left lobe for pertinent applications. This is a function of human IQ. However, Bible doctrine that is located only in the left lobe cannot be applied to life.

EPIGNOSIS in the human spirit sets in motion the mechanics of “operation heart.” The first doctrine that enters the frame of reference in the right lobe (where it is stored as a basis for learning more advanced doctrine) creates a “vacuum pump” which draws EPIGNOSIS from the human spirit into the frame of reference and memory center (2 Pet. 1:12-15). Two “valves,’ one at each end of the memory center, process the doctrine. The top valve conveys doctrine to the vocabulary and categories (SUNESIS in the Greek); the bottom valve, to the norms and standards (SUNEIDESIS).

Vocabulary is one of the most essential factors in life; it is the tool with which you think and communicate your thoughts in both the human and spiritual realms. You cannot think beyond your vocabulary. Therefore, in order to assimilate any technical subject, a specialized vocabulary must be developed. For example, “rebound” is a vocabulary word; but as a category, it covers the entire concept of the recovery of fellowship with God and the filling of the Spirit. The vocabulary of doctrine is not merely a matter of semantics; it is a matter of great systems of thought found in the Word of God!

Emotion is not designed to think but to respond to that which resides in the heart. Emotion is the stimulation of energy without thought. You “feel” with emotion; you think with vocabulary! The Biblical usage of “heart” must never be confused with emotion; it is always connected with the thinking mechanism of the body. The heart is the authority of the soul.

As you put together the technicalities of a theological vocabulary and are able to categorize them, your norms and standards begin to comply with divine norms and standards. The new conscience results in divine viewpoint When doctrine affects all areas of the right lobe, then it is relayed to the “launching pad” for application to experience (SOPHIA divine wisdom). SUNEIDESIS plus SUNESIS equals SOPHIA. Every correct application you make in your Christian life will be made on the basis of your frame of reference and memory center drawing the necessary information from your categories and conscience. This is the dynamics of the Christian way of life. It is what you think that counts (Prov. 23:7).

Function of the frame of reference

(1) The frame of reference is the basis for the comprehension of more advanced doctrine, when such doctrine is taught. You cannot understand advanced doctrine until you have mastered basic doctrine. Doctrine is built on doctrine (Isa. 28:9,10).

(2) The frame of reference processes and constructs a “command post” in the soul so that doctrine becomes the dictator of the soul and the means of becoming spiritually self-sustaining.

(3) The frame of reference establishes a new conscience, which is compatible with God’s norms and standards (Rom. 9:1). These norms and standards are stored in the conscience. The Ten Commandments (basic morality) are a bona fide conscience in both the believer and unbeliever. Therefore, when your new conscience is formed, there is an overlap — some of the old standards will remain. They are not contrary to the principle of grace.

(4) Through the function of GAP, the frame of reference forms the basis for a new vocabulary and new concepts of life, which are called “categories.”

(5) The frame of reference produces the divine viewpoint of life by means of SOPHIA (divine wisdom).

(6) The frame of reference resolves the problems of the subconscious and neutralizes guilt reactions. Adjacent to your right lobe is the subconscious “pocket.” Suppose, for the sake of illustration, you had an abortion years ago. You developed a guilt reaction, which eventually influenced other areas of your soul. In the area of volition, you made decisions WHICH were legalistic. Your emotion reacted, and you began to attend church, where you amassed enough points in the program so that your guilt complex was suppressed into the realm of the subconscious. In the course of time, you married your right man, and this prosperity helped you to completely forget your guilt complex. Then one day your husband lost his job, the children all came down with hepatitis, and you had an automobile accident! In other words, you suffered one catastrophe after another. Immediately, latent guilt reactions manifested themselves. You began to think, “God is punishing me for what I did fifteen years ago.” He is not! God keeps short accounts. A guilt complex is a terrible sin!

Another time your guilt complex may surface is at night when you dream. During the day you may have been worried in your conscious mind by a matter totally unrelated to your guilt complex; but it opens the lid for guilt reaction in the subconscious mind and binders you from sleeping soundly. Then the problem that really bugs you materializes from your subconsciousness and causes nightmares. You become so disturbed that every time you have any suffering or pressure, you

associate it with that which originally gave you the guilt complex.

Once doctrine is cycled into your right lobe, you form norms and standards of grace, and these eradicate the guilt complex from your conscious mind. They also empty the subconscious area, and you begin to sleep soundly. Whether you have a relapse into “operation guilt complex” depends on whether or not you continue taking in and applying doctrine. In Ephesians 4, particularly verse 23, we see the function of GAP resulting in the development of the frame of reference and the part it plays in handling both conscious and subconscious mental attitude sins. Although this process is not clearly evident in the English, in the Greek it becomes quite obvious.

And be renewed [restored] in [by means of] the Spirit [by means] of your mind (Eph. 4:23).

Restoration is achieved initially by rebound; but the continuative particle “and” with the present tense and the passive voice of “renew” indicate that in addition to the points of time when the rebound technique becomes necessary, it is also essential to continue the function of GAP in order to garrison your soul against reversionisess and to move on to supergrace. “By means of the Spirit’ is a reference to the Holy Spirit, who energizes the function of GAP. “By means of your mind” is a

rare use of the ablative of means, and when accompanied by the implication of origin or source, indicates that the mind (NOUS) is both the means and the source of cranking up GAP.

(7) The frame of reference provides an alarm system to detect the false teaching and erroneous doctrines of the myriad cults and religious con artists of this age. Such discernment is vital during the intensified stage of the angelic conflict.

(8) The frame of reference develops soul capacity and discernment to detect important relationships in life, such as that of right man or right woman.

(9) The frame of reference provides the “furniture” of the soul whereby God is able to share His happiness with the believer.

(10) The frame of reference is the basis for mental attitude dynamics, which lead to the production of divine good. This includes proper communication in witnessing, correct content of prayer, accuracy in other functions assigned to the believer.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us (Eph. 3:20).

“Ask” (AITEO) is the ordinary word for request or prayer; this word indicates the fact that we have the right to petition God for certain needs or desires. However, a new believer or a believer minus doctrine has no ability to make proper requests of God. He simply bases his requests on human concepts. Effective prayer is dependent on doctrine in the frame of reference. A person may not yet know the doctrines of the baptism and the indwelling of the Spirit and, lacking the necessary frame of reference, he asks for the Holy Spirit; but he is wasting his time praying for that which he already possesses. The same is true with the filling of the Spirit We do not receive the filling by asking; this occurs automatically through rebound. But with doctrine in the human spirit, cycled into the right lobe for frame of reference, prayer exhaled toward God has spiritual content and becomes meaningful. “The power that worketh in us” includes both doctrine and the ministry of the Spirit operational through the function of GAP.

(11) Finally, the frame of reference serves to motivate the proper function of the priesthood and enables the believer to reach and maintain the supergrace life, which is the normal status of the royal priesthood.

STAGE 5: OPERATION GLORY. This is the establishment of the “command post,” altar (Heb. 13:10) or edification complex in the soul (Prov. 24:3, 4; Eph. 4:12, 24; Col. 2:7) through the accumulation of doctrine, whereby the believer reaches maturity or supergrace. At this point, the royal priest glorifies God (Eph. 3:14-21).

Summary of the results of GAP

First of all, GAP removes “scar tissue from the soul and makes possible reversion recovery. When a believer is negative toward Bible doctrine and consequently ignores the rebound technique, then scar tissue (hardness of heart) develops on the left bank of the soul, and he loses the capacity to love God. This opens up a vacuum (MATAIOTESS) into the soul through which doctrines of demons (1 Tim. 4:1) can infiltrate the left lobe. The result is the blackout of doctrine in the left lobe and subsequent spiritual subjectivity. That means that mental attitude sins, sins of the tongue and overt sins will then produce scar tissue on the right bank. When the effects of the blackout on the left lobe reach the right lobe, all “valves” freeze because no doctrine is being fed into the vocabulary, conscience or launching pad. When any believer builds a maximum amount of scar tissue on the soul, he moves into reversionism and is subject to the sin unto death.

After the initial utilization of rebound, only the inhale and exhale of Bible doctrine can knock the scar tissue off the soul. The exhale from the left bank provides both the capacity and the expression of “Category One” love toward God and is the basis of fellowship with Him in time. The exhale from the right bank of the soul toward man provides the capacity and expression for “Categories Two and Three” love (toward right man or right woman and friends).

Second, GAP equates the royal status of the believer with the function of his priesthood. The normal function of the priesthood begins at spiritual maturity.

Third, GAP leads to the attainment of the supergrace status, which glorifies God and is a part of the tactical victory of the angelic conflict. Here is the area of occupation with Christ, capacity for life and enjoyment of the tremendous blessings God capacity for life and enjoyment of the tremendous blessings God provides for each believer. God is the Host, and we are His guests in cosmos diabolicus (Satan’s world). The supergrace capacity is the “cup” in the soul. When God shares His perfect happiness by pouring into our cup. He is glorified.

Fourth, because GAP leads to occupation with Christ, the believer possesses maximum Category One love.

Fifth, GAP provides the basis for maximum production of divine good in contrast to cosmic human good.

Sixth, GAP is the basis for the maintenance of supergrace to the point of surpassing-grace rewards in eternity (the special blessings which God has designed for believers who have attained supergrace status in time).

Seventh, GAP becomes the basis for the preservation of the national entity and maximum evangelism in every generation.

The grace apparatus for perception in Jesus Christ

Who hath directed {measured] the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him (Isa. 40:13)? “Spirit” is the human spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 40 presents Christ in His humanity. During the Incarnation, Jesus functioned by means of GAP, erected an edification complex in His soul and lived a perfect supergrace life. How do we know? From Luke 2, we understand that Jesus took in a vast amount of doctrine at an early age:

And the child grew [kept on growing physically] and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom [had doctrine — SOPHIA — in His human spirit]: and the grace of God was upon him [doctrine converts to grace in the soul] (Luke 2:40).

And Jesus increased in wisdom {continued to learn and apply doctrine] and stature [physical development], and in favour [grace] with God and man (Luke 2:52).

In His humanity, Jesus Christ possessed that same grace apparatus given to every believer. As we function daily under GAP, doctrine is converted into grace in the soul and constructs the edification complex by which we move into supergrace. We return to the Isaiah passage, which anticipates this.

“ .. . or being his counsellor, hath taught {instructed] him?” The verb “hath taught” is a hiphil (causative) stem in the Hebrew, meaning “hath caused him to be taught or instructed.” Jesus was taught doctrine; He stored this doctrine in His human spirit; and as a result, He possessed maximum spiritual IQ.

Now Isaiah 40:13 is quoted in 1 Corinthians 2:16 to show that the same grace apparatus for perception belongs to us.

For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may [fit., who shall] instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).

Note a slight change in the quotation: Isaiah states, “For who hath measured the spirit of the LORD?” Paul reiterates, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord?” Why did Paul make that change? By inspiration of the Spirit, Paul was authorized to paraphrase and thus to interpret the Old Testament quotation for us in order to make it clear that Isaiah had reference to the human spirit of Christ and the measure of His spiritual IQ. By his use of the phrases “to know” (instead of “to measure”) and “the mind” (instead of “the spirit”), the grace apparatus mentioned in Isaiah 40:13 comes into clear focus in 1 Corinthians 2:16.

The quotation from Isaiah challenges anyone to know or to evaluate the mind of the Lord. “Who” continues the argument begun in 1 Corinthians 2:15. “Who is qualified to know the Lord’s mind?” The answer is the believer. Why? Because he has the grace apparatus with which to understand the mind of Christ. “To know” (GINOSKO) means “to know from experience of perception.” The unbeliever cannot know the mind of Christ; he operates under human systems of perspicacity.

“Who shall instruct him [Christ]?” As God, Christ is not subject to authority; yet in His humanity, He learned doctrine under the authority of human teachers. “But we keep on having (ECHO — ‘to have and to hold’) and holding the mind of Christ.” The “mind of Christ” is the written Word — Bible doctrine. He thought doctrine in eternity past; we keep on having it in writing forever!

The Bible is related to each Member of the Trinity. In Hebrews 4:12, it is said to be the “Word of God” (the Father); in 1 Corinthians 2:16, the “mind of Christ”; and in Hebrews 3:7 and 4:7, the “voice” of the Holy Spirit. The WORD of the Father, the MIND of Christ, and the VOICE of the Holy Spirit can be taken from the written page and transferred into the believer’s human spirit through the staging areas so that he can have everything he needs in order to possess happiness, blessing and peace in this life!

The grace apparatus for salvation

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14).

The “natural man” is literally the PSUCHIKOS man, meaning the Adamic man, unrenewed through the new birth (John 3:3, 5). PSUCHE means “soul,” not “natural.” Whenever you have the suffix IKOS, it is an exclusive suffix; therefore, PSUCHIKOS means “pertaining to the soul, to the exclusion of the human spirit.” The spiritless or Adamic man is the unbeliever (male or female), who is born, not only with the imputation of Adam’s sin, but also has inherited his old sin nature.”

The unbeliever is dichotomous, possessing only a soul and a body. We are born without a human spirit and are therefore spiritually dead (Rom. 5:12; Eph. 2:1). We have no ability in ourselves to take in or to understand spiritual phenomena. The unbeliever “receiveth not” literally, cannot embrace the things of the Spirit of God. The doctrine here is specifically the Gospel that he cannot embrace. Why the Gospel? It is the Gospel which the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit reveals

to the unbeliever. But when the unbeliever views spiritual truth from his human IQ — rationalism and empiricism — he regards it as foolishness. However, since he is not able to understand doctrine, he is actually in no position to judge it as being foolishness.

“Neither can he know them”: he is incapable of understanding doctrine because he is spiritually dead. He has no human spirit and therefore no apparatus for perception or understanding. Neither does the believer who fails to transfer doctrine from the left lobe to the human spirit fully understand doctrine. That is one reason why in 1 Corinthians 3, the believer is said to imitate the unbeliever. Although such a believer possesses eternal life, as long as his human spirit remains empty, experientially he is no different from the unbeliever.

He is unable to recognize spiritual phenomena “because they are spiritually discerned.” Now we have an ablative of PNEUMATIKOS, which means that understanding comes from the source of the spirit, and refers to the human spirit. “They are discerned from the source of the human spirit.” Since the soulish man, the unbeliever, does not have a human spirit, how does he understand enough of the Gospel to be saved? According to the theological principle of “common grace,” God the Holy Spirit acts in lieu of the human spirit and illuminates the Gospel to the unbeliever.

And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me [rejection of Christ]; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more [if we do not believe, we are condemned]; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged [Satan defeated at the Cross] (John 16:8-11).

Let us see exactly what occurs. Someone communicates the Gospel or some portion of the Gospel to an unbeliever, such as 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4: “Christ died [spiritual death] for our sins according to the scriptures . . . he was buried, and . . . he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” This information enters the left lobe where it becomes GNOSIS. Now, as the Holy Spirit sheds light on the message of salvation, He makes it comprehensible so that it is transferred to the right lobe and becomes EPIGNOSIS.

For if after they [unbelievers] have escaped the pollutions of the world through the KNOWLEDGE [EPIGNOSIS] of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ . . . (2 Pet. 2:20).

When the unbeliever hears and understands the Gospel by means of EPIGNOSIS, then volition must express itself. Positive volition toward the Gospel is expressed by the exhale of faith in Jesus Christ. It is no accident that the Bible repeats this time after time: “BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). “Whosoever BELIEVETH on him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15). “These are written that ye might BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that BELIEVING ye might have life through his name.” (John 20:31). To be saved, the unbeliever responds to the EPIGNOSIS Gospel in his right lobe.

For with the heart [right lobe] man BELIEVETH unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession [acknowledgment] is made [expressed] unto [relative to] salvation {that which is believed] (Rom. 10:10).

Just as anyone can possess eternal life through exercising faith in Christ, so anyone who has believed in Him can learn Bible doctrine by exercising the grace apparatus for perception!

APPENDIX

DOCTRINE OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT

1. Definition: The human spirit is that immaterial part of man designed by God to store and utilize spiritual phenomena.

a. In original creation, man received the human spirit along with the human soul (Gen. 2:7). “Breath of lives’ (literally) includes both soul and spirit.

b. The human spirit is not the same as the soul; distinguished in the Bible (Heb. 4:12).

2. Variations in the spiritual status of mankind.

a. Original man was trichotomous (Gen. 2:7).

b. At the time of the Fall (Gen. 3:6) both Adam and the woman suffered immediate spiritual death (Rom. 5:12). This entailed the loss of the human spirit plus the acquired permanent residence of the old sin nature in the soul.

c. From the time of the Fall, the unbeliever is dichotomous (1 Cor. 2:14; Jude 19).

d. The believer is trichotomous, possessing body, soul and human spirit (1 Thess. 5:23).

e. Hence, the believer receives the human spirit at the point of salvation simultaneously with the indwelling of doctrine and what is taught (Matt. 15:9; Eph. 4:14; Col 2:22;l Tim. 1:10; 4:1, 6, 13, 16; 2 Tim. 3:10, 16; 4:3; Tit. 1:9; 2:1, 7, 10).

h. Greek word DIDACHE means “act of teaching” or what is taught (Matt. 7:28; 22:33; Mark 1:22, 27; Acts 2:42; 5:28; Rom. 6:17; 1 Cor. 14:6; 2 Tim. 4:2; Heb. 6:2; Rev. 2:14,15,24).

i. Greek LOGOS often used for doctrine (Heb. 6:1).

3. Doctrine bequeathed to Royal Family of God as their spiritual legacy in the dying words of Christ (Psa. 31:5; Luke 23:46).

4. Existence of this legacy in Old Testament times (Psa. 138:2).

a. God the Father attaches the highest importance to doctrine because it expresses who and what Christ is.

b. God the Father attaches the highest honor to the Person and work of Christ on the Cross.

5. Preexistence of Bible doctrine to the human race (Prov. 8).

6. Believer’s attitude toward doctrine the basis for blessing or discipline (Prov. 8:33-36).

7. Doctrine resident in the soul the basis for the distribution of supergrace blessings (Isa. 53:12).

8. Doctrine is the basis for the distribution of surpassing-grace blessings in eternity (Heb. 11:9, 10, compared with Heb. 11:13; Jas. 1:25 compared with Jas. 2:12, 13).

9. Reality of doctrine over empirical knowledge (2 Pet. 1:12-21).

10. Destruction of a nation through lack of doctrine (Hos. 4:1-6).

11. Bible doctrine is part of the principle of living grace for

Phase Two.

a. Under living grace, God provides temporal and spiritual factors to keep the believer alive in time.

b. Temporal factors include food, shelter, clothing and other necessities.

c. Spiritual factors are in the realm of academics: a Textbook the Word of God; a classroom the local church; a communicator the pastor-teacher (Eph. 4:11-13; Col. 1: 25-29; Heb. 13:7, 17).

12. Advancement and vindication of the Plan of God through Bible doctrine (Isa. 53:10; Rom. 3:4).

13. Balance of residency established in the soul of the believer through the communication of doctrine by the pastor-teacher.

a. Balance of residency based on the fact that believers in the Church Age comprise the Royal Family of God.

b. Doctrine is transferred from the written page of the Bible to the soul of the believer under the function of GAP (2 Cor. 2).

c. The purpose of this transfer is to establish in the soul of the believer a balance of residency.

d. As a badge of royalty, the body of every Church Age believer is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit.

e. When the believer is filled with the Spirit in compliance with Ephesians 5:18, a residency of the Third Person of the Trinity is established in the soul of the believer.

f. Since the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God, the filling of the Spirit creates a vacancy of residency in the soul.

g. This vacancy is filled by the daily function of GAP, which creates a balance of residency necessary for the function of

the Royal Family of God on earth.

14. The importance of consistency in the function of GAP (Heb. 10:25, 35, 36; Col. 2:6, 7).

a. Every believer has a “paragraph’’ of supergrace blessings in the Divine Decrees promised by God in eternity past.

b. Consistency is the secret of growing up spiritually and

of taking the higher ground of supergrace status.

c. Hence, the believer must function under GAP daily!

15. Results of doctrine resident in the soul.

a. Produces confidence for Phase Two (Job 5:24-27; 2 Cor. 5:6-8; Heb. 10:35).

b. Orients believer to the Plan of God (Isa. 26:3, 4; Rom. 8:28).

c. Causes divine viewpoint in the right lobe and therefore mental attitude dynamics (Isa. 55:7-9; 2 Cor. 10:5).

d. Produces stability of soul (Jas. 1:8).

e. Basis for divine guidance and execution of the will of God (Rom. 12:2,3).

f. Leads to maximum capacity to love God and occupation with Christ (Eph. 3:19; Phil. 3:10; Heb. 12:2, 3).

g. Enables believer to attain and hold supergrace status (Phil. 3:12-14).

h. Means of attaining surpassing-grace blessings for eternity (Heb. 11:9, 10, 13; Jas. l:25 compared with Jas. 2:12, 13).

16. Synonyms for Bible doctrine resident in the soul.

a. Crucifixion synonym: taking up the Cross and following Christ (Matt. 10:38; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23; 14:27).

b. Priestly synonym: construction of an altar in the soul (Heb. 13:10).

c. Building synonym: edification complex of the soul (Eph. 4:12,16).

d. Theological synonym: more or greater grace, a synonym for supergrace (Jas. 4:6).

e. Military synonyms:

(1) Putting on the full armor from God (Eph. 6:11, 13).

(2) Following the colors to the high ground of supergrace (Heb. 12:1,2).

(3) Establishment of the “command post” in the soul (Col. 2:5-8).

f. Language synonyms:

(1) Hebrew noun CHAKMAH.

(2) Greek noun EPIGNOSIS.

(3) Greek verb EPIGINOSKO.

g. Time synonym: redeeming the time.

(1) Toward God (Eph. 5:16-18).

(2) Toward unbeliever (Col. 4:5).

h. Chemical synonym: salt used for maximum doctrine resident in the soul which results in supergrace status (Matt 5:13; Mark 9:50; Luke 14:34a; Col. 4:6).

i. Central control synonym: having your own control system rather than being a drone (Eph. 6:10).

THE MARRIAGE OF GRACE AND FAITH

1. Grace and faith are like the right man and right woman in Category Two love (1 Cor. 11:7). Grace is analogous to the right man and faith to the right woman.

2. Hence, grace is the initiator and faith is the responder.

3. Just as there is one right man for the one right woman, so grace is the only match for faith.

4. Grace and faith meet at the Cross. Grace and faith “marry” in salvation (Acts 16:31). Just as marriage is the framework for Category Two love, so salvation is the framework for grace and faith (1 John 5:4, 5).

5. At the Cross, faith responds to grace and results in salvation (Eph. 2:8,9).

6. As in marriage, faith in Phase Two continues to respond to grace (2 Cor. 5:7; Col. 2:6). The faith response is both inhale of GAP and the exhale of the faith-rest technique.

7. Conclusion: we are saved by faith; we live by faith (2 Cor. 5:7; Col. 2:6; Heb. 11:6).

8. Faith excludes both human merit and works. Works is the wrong woman. Works is the harem with which faith will not coexist (Eph. 2:9; Tit. 3:5). Neither will grace tolerate works. Faith is the only bride acceptable to grace. Hence, faith must come alone to the Cross (John 20:31). Grace as the right man rejects harem of works (Gal. 2:16). Faith is the only true responder to grace.

9. Since faith is the only true responder to grace, faith is a part of the grace apparatus for perception.

a. For the Old Testament saints, faith was the basis of intellectual comprehension (GNOSIS) in the left lobe (NOUS) and the transfer of the doctrine to the human spirit as EPIGNOSIS (Heb. 4:2; Heb. II).

b. For the Church Age believer-priest, faith is the basis for transfer of doctrine from the left lobe (GNOSIS) to the human spirit as EPIGNOSIS (Eph. 3:17).

10. Since grace and faith become one at the Cross, they live together in Phase Two (Christian life). Divorce occurs when the believer switches to legalism.

11. In GAP all systems of works-perception are excluded. Works is to grace what scar tissue is to the lungs of the soul. This is why doctrine in the left lobe cannot be applied to experience. Only human IQ information is applied from the NOUS; but doctrine must be transferred from the NOUS to the human spirit before it can be applied or utilized.

12. The marriage of grace and faith in Phase Two demands production. This is the subject of James. Human reproduction is based on the sex apparatus. Spiritual production is based on the union of grace and faith. Doctrine is the seed; but just as human seed only conceives in the womb, so doctrine only conceives in the believer’s human spirit.

13. For conception and production of divine good, faith transfers doctrine (seed) from the NOUS to the human spirit, where conception is called EPIGNOSIS.

14. Therefore, perception only becomes conception by means of faith. Faith, therefore, is the key to GAP.

15. Conception of the seed of doctrine in the human spirit results in four categories of children:

a. Frame of reference progeny. Doctrine in human spirit is cycled into the right lobe as frame of reference; hence doctrine is built upon doctrine.

b. Application children. Exhale of doctrine out right and left banks of the soul is comparable to application in faith-rest.

c. The edification complex children (completed floors of the superstructure in the soul).

d. The divine good children (bona fide production in the Christian’s life).

16. This explains how man becomes the image and glory of God (1 Cor. 11:7).