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Not all of the doctrines have been harvested yet (915 pages so far). Sometimes a doctrine is taken from NB1, but not NB2 (and vice versa). Sometimes only one doctrine of several has been taken from one of the notebooks. However, most of the doctrines were taken from both notebooks. There are many doctrines which need to still be added to this collection. I should be able to check through some of these and figure out where that has happened.

A. Introduction. In this dispensation only, God has provided forty things for the believer at the moment of faith in Christ. These are grace gifts from God at salvation. You receive these forty things at the very moment of salvation before you have had a chance to do anything! Therefore, you obviously receive these things by grace; you don’t earn or deserve them.

1. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel perspicuous in common grace. Then we receive the divine call, the divine invitation by God the Father to believe in Jesus Christ. When we believe in Jesus Christ, the ministry of God the Holy Spirit makes our faith effective for salvation. Ephesians 1:13, “In whom also, when you heard the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation [common grace]; in whom also, when you believed [efficacious grace], you were sealed by means of the Holy Spirit.”

2. So the first thing given to you at the moment of salvation was the fact that the Holy Spirit made your faith in Jesus Christ valid.

1. The Holy Spirit gave a signature guarantee at the very moment you believed in Jesus Christ. Sealing is the signature guarantee of God the Holy Spirit. He guarantees four things: His ministry in common and efficacious grace, eternal salvation, eternal security, your portfolio of invisible assets.

2. Since the sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit is a guarantee of other things, it is considered a separate ministry from efficacious grace.

3. It is documented in Ephesians 1:13, “In whom also, when you heard the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation [common grace]; in whom also, when you believed [efficacious grace], you were sealed by means of the Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 4:20; 2Corinthians 1:22, “Who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our right lobes as the guarantee.”

1. At the moment we believe in Christ, we receive an inheritance which is eternal. We become the heirs of God. We can’t earn or deserve it.

2. Ephesians 1:14, “Who is the guarantee of our inheritance for the release of your assets for the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:18; Romans 8:17; Galatians 3:29, 4:6-7; Ephesians 3:6; 1Peter 1:4, 3:7; Hebrews 9:15.

3. 1Peter 1:4, “We have an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fades not away, reserved in heaven for those who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.”

4. Hebrews 9:15, “And for this reason, He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions [committed under the first covenant], those who have been called [divine invitation] may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

1. Regeneration is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation whereby He creates a human spirit for the purpose of the imputation of eternal life.

2. At the moment of physical birth, we receive the imputation of human life to our soul. But at the moment we believe in Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit to which God the Father imputes eternal life. Just as we have soul life forever, we have eternal life forever.

3. This is what it means to be “born again.” It is not a physical birth, like Nicodemus thought (Jn 3). It is a spiritual birth accomplished by the Holy Spirit. We did not earn it or deserve it or do anything for it.

4. Once we receive a human spirit, we become trichotomous having a body, a soul, and a human spirit.

1. If you’re going to live with God forever, you must have the life of God, which is eternal life. At the moment of faith in Jesus Christ, God the Father imputes eternal life to our human spirit.

3. Eternal life is imputed to us forever. We don’t earn or deserve it. The unbeliever has soul life, which is everlasting life, in the lake of fire forever. But spirit life is eternal. Eternal life is living in the presence of God forever. Everlasting life is living in the lake of fire forever.

1. If you are going to live with forever, you must be as good as God is; therefore you must have the righteousness of God.

2. This is documented in Romans 3:22; 1Corinthians 1:30; 2Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9.

3. Romans 3:22, “Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.”

4. 2Corinthians 5:21, “He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

1. With the righteousness of God imputed, we are justified, Romans 3:28, 4:1-5, 25, 5:1-2, 9, 8:30; Galatians 2:16, Titus 3:7.

2. Galatians 2:16, “Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no person will be justified.”

3. Romans 3:28, “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.”

4. Titus 3:7, “That being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs on the basis of the confidence of eternal life.”

1. Reconciliation is the work of Jesus Christ on the cross that removes the barrier between God and man.

2. Therefore, with the barrier removed, our faith in Jesus Christ causes us to simply step over the line into eternal salvation. We were reconciled to God at the moment we believed in Christ.

3. 2Corinthians 5:19, “Namely that God, by means of Christ, reconciled the world to Himself by not imputing their sins to them.”

4. Romans 5:10, “For if, while we were enemies [spiritual death], we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more now being reconciled, we shall be delivered by His life.”

5. Colossians 1:20, “And through Him [JC] to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of the cross.”

6. Reconciliation is ratified at the moment of faith in Christ. Colossians 1:22, “Yet He has now reconciled you in the body of His flesh through death [substitutionary spiritual death], in order to present you before Him holy, blameless, and beyond reproach.”

1. While reconciliation is directed toward mankind, propitiation is directed toward God.

2. Propitiation means that God the Father is satisfied with the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. God the Father is only satisfied with one person in history: Jesus Christ, because He remained impeccable throughout the thirty-three years of his life and while bearing our sins on the cross.

3. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we are the beneficiaries of that propitiation. Since God the Father is satisfied with the work of Christ on the cross, and since we believe in Christ who performed it, therefore God the Father is satisfied with us as individuals positionally.

5. Romans 3:24-25, “Being justified as a gift by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God the Father has publicly displayed by His blood as the mercy seat through faith in Christ for a demonstration of His integrity, because of the passing over of previously committed sins, because of the clemency of God.”

a. The blood was sprinkled twice on the mercy seat on the Day of Atonement, once for the priest and once for the people.

b. The mercy seat was constructed of wood and gold. Inside were three items that spoke of the sins of Israel. On each side was a gold cherub: one represented the righteousness of God; one represented the justice of God.

c. When the high priest came into the Holy of Holies twice on the Day of Atonement, he sprinkled blood over the top of the ark or mercy seat. That blood represented the saving work of Christ on the cross.

d. The righteousness of God looked down and was satisfied because Jesus Christ was perfect in His humanity. The justice of God judged those sins, and God the Father was satisfied with His own judgment.

6. Therefore, propitiation means that God the Father is satisfied with one offering only, the efficacious offering of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Unlimited atonement means that Jesus Christ was judged on the cross for all personal sins in the history of the human race, from the first sin of Adam to the last sin committed in the Millennium.

2. Unlimited atonement means that salvation is open to anyone who will believe in Christ. Only those who believe in Christ become the beneficiaries of unlimited atonement.

3. This is documented in 2Corinthians 5:14-15, 19; 1Timothy 2:6, 4:10; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 2:9; 2Peter 2:1; 1John 2:2.

1. Redemption views salvation from the standpoint of our being in a slave market of sin. We are born into the slave market of sin. Jesus Christ paid for our freedom by His substitutionary spiritual death on the cross.

2. Therefore, redemption means that at the moment of our salvation, we are freed from the slave market of sin. We have now been liberated from slavery to Satan and to the old sin nature.

3. While reconciliation is directed toward man and propitiation is directed toward God, unlimited atonement and redemption are directed toward sin.

4. This is documented in Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7; Titus 2:14; 1Peter 1:18-19.

1. At the moment of personal faith in Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit takes every new believer and enters him into union with Christ.

3. 1Corinthians 12:13, “By means of one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks [Gentiles], slaves or free, and we were all made to drink into one Spirit.” 4. Galatians 3:26-27, “You are the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile [no racial distinctions in Christ]; there is neither slave nor free [no social distinctions in Christ]; there is neither male nor female [no sexual discrimination], and we are all one in Christ.”

a. The new racial species of the Jew began when Abraham was circumcised at age 99.

b. The Church Age believer, at the moment of faith in Christ, becomes a new spiritual species. This is never true in any other dispensation.

3. 2Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new spiritual species. The old things have lost their power; behold, new things have come [ten unique factors of the Church Age].”

4. Galatians 6:15, “For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision; but a new spiritual species.”

a. Our Lord’s first royal patent is divine royalty as God, John 1:18, 6:46; 1Timothy 6:16; 1John 4:12; Romans 1:4. These passages indicate He is the revealed member of the Godhead. His royal family is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. His royal title is Son of God, Romans 1:3.

b. Our Lord’s second royal patent is His human royalty, which began at his birth. His title is Son of David. His royal family is the dynasty of David.

c. Our Lord’s third royal patent is the victory of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, 1Timothy 6:15, 1:17; Revelation 17:14, 19:16. His royal title is King of kings and Lord of lords. When God the Father said to God the Son after His ascension, “Sit down at My right hand, and I will make Your enemies Your footstool,” He was speaking to the humanity of Christ, and at that point gave Him His third royal patent. However, our Lord had no royal family. Therefore, the Church Age was inserted into history for the purpose of calling out a royal family of God.

4. Royalty should conduct itself in a certain way, i.e., according to the protocol plan of God. The sooner you learn to function as royalty, the better. We must learn grace and how to function graciously; we do not come by it naturally.

5. Ephesians 1:5, “By means of virtue-love, He has predestined us for the purpose of adoption to Himself through Jesus Christ on the basis of the grace purpose of His will.”

a. In the Roman custom, adoption was the means by which a Roman aristocrat would select someone, often someone other than his own son, to become his heir.

b. Likewise, we are royal family by adoption, not by birth. Since adoption took place at the new birth, we’re royal family by new birth.

1. There is only one thing in life that makes all people equal, and that is what God does for each believer at the moment he believes in Christ.

2. At the moment of our salvation, we are given equal privilege and equal opportunity.

3. The computer asset of election is the expression of the sovereign will of God for the Church Age believer. Equal privilege is provided in the royal priesthood; equal opportunity is provided in logistical grace.

4. The computer asset of predestination is the provision of the sovereign will of God for the Church Age believer. Equal privilege is provided in positional sanctification; equal opportunity is provided in the operational-type divine dynasphere.

a. Positional sanctification is union with the person of Jesus Christ at the moment of salvation.

c. Ultimate sanctification refers to when we receive our resurrection bodies at the Rapture.

2. Positional sanctification makes every believer in union with Christ positionally higher than angels. Hebrews 1-2.

3. Positional sanctification removes all the barriers related to arrogance, prejudice, antagonism, and discrimination. Positional sanctification removes: racial prejudice, cultural differences, social distinctions, personal antagonisms, economic barriers, ideological differences, sexual discrimination, environmental subjectivity, pre- salvation religious prejudice.

1. Only in this dispensation is every believer appointed a priest at the moment of salvation, 1Peter 1:5,9; Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 20:6.

1. At the moment of salvation, each one of us is appointed a royal ambassador. This is unique to the Church Age.

2. 2Corinthians 5:20, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We invite you, on behalf of Christ, become reconciled to God.”

3. Since you are an ambassador, a part of your responsibility is witnessing for Jesus Christ. It is your responsibility to make the issue clear, for God the Holy Spirit is the sovereign executive of personal witnessing.

1. At the moment of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, God the Father indwells every Church Age believer, John 14:23; Ephesians 4:6; 2John 9.

a. It is related to the glorification of His protocol plan, Ephesians 1:3, 6, 12.

1. At the moment of salvation, God the Son comes to indwell the body of every believer; this is unique to the Church Age, John 14:20, 17:22-23; Romans 8:10; 2Corinthians 13:5; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27; 1John 2:24.

b. As the Shekinah Glory, His residence in us guarantees our portfolio of invisible assets.

c. As the depositary and escrow officer, Jesus Christ’s indwelling is the guarantee of the irrevocability of our escrow blessings for time and eternity.

e. It is the basis for assigning #1 priority to Bible doctrine under the principle of occupation with the person of Christ.

1. At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit indwells the body of the Church Age believer, Romans 8:11; 1Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20; 2Corinthians 6:16.

a. To provide a temple for the indwelling of Jesus Christ as the Shekinah Glory.

b. To provide a base of operations for the utilization of His omnipotence in the execution of the protocol plan of God inside the divine dynasphere. Gate #1 of the divine dynasphere is the filling of the Spirit.

1. At the moment of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, we have three categories of divine power available. This is an unprecedented extension to every believer. Available to us is:

a. The omnipotence of God the Father related to our portfolio of invisible assets.

b. The omnipotence of God the Son related to the preservation of the universe and the perpetuation of human history.

c. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit providing the enabling power for the perception of Bible doctrine, and related to the divine dynasphere, the power base for executing the protocol plan of God.

2. The fact that this divine power is available at salvation does not imply that most believers today ever utilize this power. In fact, most believers are powerless and useless through ignorance of Bible doctrine.

Z. The Unique Protocol Plan of God. We enter this protocol plan at the moment of faith in Christ.

1. This occurs for the first time at the moment of salvation through faith in Christ.

2. At the moment we believe in Christ, God the Holy Spirit picks us up and enters us into gate #1 of the divine dynasphere, the filling of the Spirit.

3. The first time the believer sins, he is outside the divine dynasphere. He can only recover through the use of the rebound technique.

1. At the moment you believe in Christ, God the Holy Spirit provides for you at least one spiritual gift.

2. The initial distribution of spiritual gifts in the first generation of the Church Age was made by God the Son, Ephesians 4:7-11.

3. Subsequently, God the Holy Spirit provides the spiritual gifts, based on His sovereign decision. Never complain about your spiritual gift; it is based on the wise decision of God the Holy Spirit.

1. At the moment of your salvation, all judgment is removed. You are never again subject to the Last Judgment or the lake of fire.

2. John 3:18, “He who believes on Him is not judged, but he who does not believe is judged already because he has not believed in the unique person of Jesus Christ.”

3. Romans 8:1, “There is, therefore, now no judgment to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Hebrews 9:27-28.

4. The believer is no longer subject to the Great White Throne Judgment and the lake of fire, due to one simple act of faith in Jesus Christ.

1. At the moment you believe in Christ, you are delivered from the authority of darkness. Colossians 1:13a, “For He delivered us from the authority of darkness.”

2. At the moment we believe in Christ, salvation removes us from cosmic involvement. All unbelievers are in the cosmic system under spiritual death and the control of the old sin nature.

3. For some who are demon possessed, salvation through faith in Christ removes demon possession. For others who are demon influenced, salvation through faith in Christ removes demon influence.

1. At the moment of our salvation, we are transferred into the kingdom of God. Colossians 1:13b, “And He transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

2. Therefore, everything that happened to us before salvation that could be a handicap in our lives has been eliminated. This includes whatever we were and however we failed.

3. Therefore, the only way that anything that happened to you before salvation can be a handicap is if you make it so by ignorance of Bible doctrine and ignorance of God’s policy of grace.

FF. We are a gift from God the Father to God the Son. We are a gift in that we are formed as the royal family of God, John 10:29, 17:2, 6, 9, 11.

1. This concept is found in Romans 2:29; Philippians 3:3; Colossians 2:11; Ephesians 4:22ff.

2. At the very moment we believe in Christ, we are delivered from the power and the authority of the old sin nature.

3. As soon as we choose to sin, we get back under the authority of the old sin nature. But the rebound technique is the means by which we can escape from being under the authority of the old sin nature.

HH. We are given access to God. At the moment we believe in Christ, we start having access to God (in prayer), Romans 5:2; Ephesians 2:18; Hebrews 4:14, 16, 10:19-20.

2. Scar tissue of the soul is a total hindrance to any form of permanent happiness or peace or blessing of any kind. Therefore, that scar tissue must be removed before we have can divine blessing.

3. At the moment we believe in Christ, scar tissue is removed, Isaiah 43:25, 44:22.

4. Through cosmic involvement, the believer can again accumulate scar tissue on the soul.

1. We are the recipients of escrow blessings at the moment we accept Christ as Savior. That is when our escrow blessings become applicable.

2. Billions of years ago, God the Father as the Grantor deposited into escrow greater blessings for us. In His omniscience, He knew we would believe in Christ. So He deposited into escrow greater blessings for both time and eternity.

3. These blessings are irrevocable. We are Church Age believers are the grantees. At the moment we believe in Christ, these blessings become applicable or available.

4. By growing in grace after salvation to spiritual maturity, we receive our escrow blessings for time. Then at the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will receive our escrow blessings for the eternal state.

5. All Church Age believers have equal privilege and equal opportunity to advance to spiritual maturity and receive these greater blessings.

6. However, many believers are losers instead of winners, in that they fail to use these opportunities. They are not consistent in post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. Therefore, their escrow blessings remain on deposit in heaven forever. Since the blessings are irrevocable, they either remain on deposit for losers, or they are distributed to winners.

1. We are instantly on a secure foundation at the moment of our salvation, 1Corinthians 3:11, 10:4; Ephesians 2:20.

LL. We are related to God the Son by Biblical analogy. At the moment of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, the Church Age believer becomes related to God the Son through eight special Biblical analogies or relationships.

2. The Head and the body. As body of Christ, we are in union with the Head, the Lord Jesus Christ.

a. The logical approach, Romans 8:32, “If God [the Father] spared not His own Son on the cross, but delivered Him over to judgment, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?” All things includes a security that neither we nor God can break.

b. The positional approach says that once we are in union with Christ, we can’t break the union.

c. The experiential approach is found in 2Timothy 2:13, “Though we deny Him, He cannot deny us.”

d. The family approach is taught in Galatians 3:26, “We are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” At the point of our salvation, we were born into the family of God; we cannot be unborn from God’s family. Once a son; always a son. You will always be a child of God.

3. There is nothing God the Father, Son, or Holy Spirit can do to cancel our salvation after we believe in Jesus Christ, and there is nothing we can do either. There is no renunciation, no system of sin, no evil, no failure or blasphemy on our part that can ever cancel our salvation.

1. At the moment anyone believes in Jesus Christ, he is guaranteed a resurrection body, a perfect body forever.

2. John 11:25, “Jesus said to her [Martha], `I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall live, even if he dies.’”

3. Dying does not keep us from having a resurrection body; only unbelief in Christ does that.

1. At the moment we believe in Christ, whatever problems we have had in the past, and whatever our inadequacies, God makes available to us problem solving devices.

2. Like the other forty things, we are not aware of these problem solving devices at the point of our salvation. Awareness comes through consistent post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation.

a. The rebound technique is the only way we can recover fellowship with God after we have sinned. We simply name our sins, and according to 1John 1:9, “ If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Rebound is all grace; no human works, human merit, or penance can be added. This is because in rebound, you are simply citing, naming, or acknowledging a sin already judged on the cross.

c. The faith-rest drill mixes the promises of God with your faith. This is how you develop a strong faith by meeting your problems with promises you find in the Bible.

e. Doctrinal orientation is the constant need to put doctrine first in your life and to function under perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.

g. Impersonal love for all mankind is your functional virtue, the only way in which you can handle people problems.

4. Again, these problem solving devices are available at the moment of your salvation, but they are not usable apart from post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation.

1. The believer should be made aware of these forty things as soon as possible after salvation, so that he can express his options for spiritual growth and glorification of God.

2. These forty things which we receive at salvation are the basis for grace orientation, experiential sanctification, execution of the protocol plan of God, and glorification of God in the great power experiment of the Church Age.

3. It is a conclusion compared with some other conclusion or recognized fact, as inferred to be even more certain or inescapable than the two conclusions it combines.

4. A fortiori uses an inferential conclusion as being more conclusive than another reasoned conclusion. In setting up a comparison, it establishes reality in both conclusions as they are inferentially related.

5. A fortiori is a system of argumentation or debate which takes an accepted fact and by comparison produces an inescapable fact and confident conclusion. The phrase is used in argumentation to produce several categories of conclusion.

a. That something does not take place because the causes which alone could bring it to pass operate still more strongly in another case without producing that effect. Classical illustration: the United States should have been destroyed a long time ago; that's a cause which should have occurred. But a stronger cause keeps it from being destroyed: Jesus Christ controls history.

b. That something does take place because causes much weaker than those which operate to bring it about are effective in another case. Illustration: if a weak man is dangerous, it follows, with stronger reason (a fortiori), that a weak and evil man must be more dangerous. Or another illustration: if Shakespeare has avoided obscurities in his sonnets, it follows, a fortiori, that he would do so in his plays for the purpose of immediate effect on the stage and for future appreciation (e.g., Hamlet).

6. A fortiori is the only thing which explains certain passages of Scripture. Unfortunately, not too many pastors understand it.

B. The A Fortiori of Logistical Grace, Matthew 6:28-30. "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not work neither do they spin. In fact, I say to you that even Solomon in all of his glory did not clothe himself like one of these; in fact if God keeps clothing the common grass of the field [and He does] which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not do much more for you, O believer of negative faith-rest?"

1. If God can provide for grass, which gets a lot of pressure (people walk all over it, dogs urinate on it, weather tears it up, dries it out, floods it), can God take care of you? Of course He can; you are much more important to Him than grass. Therefore, you have no right to ever be worried about the necessities of life.

2. The Greek phrase POLLOI MALLON is the sign of a fortiori, meaning "much more."

3. If God clothes the grass, it follows, a fortiori, that He will clothe the believer. If God does not withhold supporting and sustaining grass, it follows, a fortiori, that God will not withhold sustaining you. Is there a blade of grass in the United States? Do you have any clothes on your back?

4. You remember this principle in times of pressure. For you can use this passage in the second stage of the faith-rest drill, and apply it to your desperate situation at the time.

C. The A Fortiori of Deliverance from the Last Judgment, Romans 5:8-9 But the God demonstrates His own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died instead of us. Much more, therefore, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be delivered from the wrath of God through Him.

1. Here is the first principle of having God's perfect righteousness: you do not and cannot ever go to the lake of fire; you can never be judged at the Last Judgment.

2. This implies that those with relative righteousness will go to the Last Judgment. They are not indicted for their sins, but they are condemned because relative righteousness cannot have fellowship with perfect divine righteousness. Unbelievers go to hell because of self-righteousness, not because of sin. All unbelievers depend on their own self-righteousness to somehow get them into heaven; it won't work.

3. If the believer is justified by the blood of Christ, it follows, a fortiori, that the believer will be delivered at the Last Judgment. Justification means having God's perfect righteousness. With perfect righteousness, there's no way you can be at the Last Judgment or go to hell. No one can take perfect righteousness from you, and that is all that is required to go to heaven.

4. If the greater benefit has been given (justification), God will not withhold the less (the avoidance of the lake of fire). 5. A fortiori is the way to apply doctrine in reverse concentration.

D. The A Fortiori of Reconciliation, Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by means of the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be delivered by His life.

1. If we were reconciled to God as His enemies, it follows, a fortiori, that we will be delivered as sons by His life.

2. In other words, if greater benefit has been given (reconciliation), the less (deliverance by His life) will not be withheld.

3. If God can do the greater, it follows, a fortiori, that God can accomplish the less. Greater or less is not a matter of quality but of effort required.

E. The A Fortiori of Temporal Blessing, Romans 5:15 But not as the transgression [Adam's original sin], so also is the gracious gift [First Advent]. For if by the transgression of that one [Adam] the many died, and they did, much more the grace of God, even the gift of grace by one man, Jesus Christ, who has provided super abundance for the many [mature believers].

1. If God provides the greater in justification (imputation of perfect righteousness), it follows, a fortiori, that the justice of God can provide the less, the imputation of special blessings at maturity and thereafter. These special blessings, sometimes called supergrace blessings, glorify God in time.

2. The logistical grace rationale takes you from the point of justification to the point of maturity, linking the two. For all logistical grace is imputed to the perfect righteousness in you.

1. Romans 5:17 For if by the transgression of the one [Adam] the spiritual death ruled through that one [and it did], much more, they who received in life this surplus from grace and the gift of righteousness, much more they shall rule through that one, Jesus Christ.

a. If the justice of God provided the greater at spiritual maturity, i.e., the imputation of special blessings, it follows, a fortiori, that the justice of God will not withhold the less, i.e., eternal blessings and rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ. This parlays special blessing into eternal blessing, and sets up motivation which jumps from time all the way into eternity.

b. The six categories of supergrace blessings in time form the Third Hope (Hope 3), the absolute confidence that I will have great blessings and rewards in eternity ("much more they shall rule through that one, Jesus Christ").

2. All this development is the system of rationale with which Paul starts Romans. If you have God's perfect righteousness, you have logistical blessing. If you have logistical blessing, its purpose is to support you so you can advance to receive special blessing. If you have special blessing in time, that is a guarantee that you will have something even greater in eternity because it's easier to provide; it's the less. The less is always easier to provide, but it's always the greater factor. Eternal blessing and reward glorifies God forever.

G. A Fortiori Rationale for Disaster, Romans 8:31-32. These a fortiori blessing rationales combine into one so that you have the perfect rationale for disaster in Romans 8:31-32 Therefore, face to face with these things, to what conclusion are we forced? If God is for us, who is against us? God, who did not even spare His own Son, but on behalf of all of us He delivered Him over to judgment, how shall He not also with Him in grace give to us the all things?

1. The last phrase, "how shall He not . . ." combines the temporal and eternal a fortiori rationales. Both of these a fortiorii of blessing are administered through the grace policy of God. They are the means of glorifying God, one in time and one in eternity.

2. You will never glorify God apart from these two imputations of special blessings in time and in eternity. You cannot glorify God in time by what you do; God is glorified by what He does! You're not here to do great things for God; you're here to learn and grow. So if you ever do glorify God, it's not because of what you do, what you give up, how righteous or moral you are, or how great people say you are. It's because you have maximum doctrine resident in your soul.

3. So the a fortiori of Romans 8:31-32 is designed to show you that there are only two ways to glorify God:

b. To receive in grace at the Judgment Seat of Christ the imputation of eternal blessing and reward.

4. The one glorifies God in time and is tactical; the other glorifies God in eternity and is strategical. This summarizes the whole purpose for the believer remaining on the earth.

H. The A Fortiori of Israel's Cursing and Blessing, Romans 11:12 Now if their apostasy [big blot out] becomes the riches of the world, and if their failure [loss of client nation status] became the riches of the Gentiles [and it did], how much more will be their fullness.

1. If the justice of God provides the greater in blessing the Gentiles through Jewish apostasy and punishment, it follows, a fortiori, that God will not withhold the less, i.e., greater blessing to the Gentiles in the millennial restoration of Israel. The "fullness" of Israel is their millennial restoration and their continuation and perpetuation as a client nation.

2. This emphasizes the fact that "greater" is not quality or quantity but degree of effort.

3. In other words, it is easier for God to bless the Gentiles when the Jews enjoy their client nation status than during a time when only Gentile nations are client nations. We are blessed today in a wonderful way, but we would be blessed even more as Gentiles if Israel were the client nation today.

4. The greatest blessings will come to the Gentiles during the millennial reign of Christ when the Jews have been restored to client nation status. Zechariah 8:22-23 says that ten Gentiles will grab the robe of one Jew and say, "If you're going to Jerusalem, take us with you."

5. The Millennium is the time of Israel's fullness, which produces much more blessing for the Gentiles under the principle of blessing by association.

7. The Gentiles have maximum blessing in the Church Age through Israel's fall, but will have greater than maximum blessing in the Millennium when Israel is restored as a client nation. Remember a fortiori means greater in degree of effort. It is more difficult for God to bless us Gentiles when the Jews are out under the fifth cycle of discipline. It is easier to bless the Gentiles when the Jews have been restored to client nation status.

8. This is part of an explanation in context as to what happens to a nation that tries to add punishment to God's punishment to the nation Israel. The nation or individual that tries it in anti-Semitism will be utterly and completely destroyed.

9. It is very difficult for God to bless Gentiles in Gentile nations. It is hard to bless a nation, like ours, full of socialism and evil. Gentile nations always malfunction on the outside in missions and always become corrupt on the inside because they are stupid. But change Gentile client nations to a Jewish client nation, and the whole world prospers!

10. The perfect environment of the Millennium could not exist without Israel as a client nation (plus the overthrow of Satan and the restraint of the old nature through the correct function of justice and law enforcement).

a. There has only been one super-race in history: the Jews. Individual Jews are so smart; probably the 100 richest men in the world today are Jews.

b. This fact does not comprise a conspiracy; it is simply the facts that most Jews are smarter. Yet they are under discipline and cursing today which can only be changed to blessing by believing in Jesus Christ.

11. So if the cursing to the nation and the individual Jew today produces blessing for the Gentile, what will happen when Israel is in a state of blessing, as both client nation and individual? It will be super-blessing for the Gentile.

12. So the message to Israel here is: "When you see Gentiles believing and responding to Christ, it is time for you to wake up and believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and the God of Israel. For it is only by emulating the Gentiles' faith in Christ that you can come to blessing, until the Millennium." This is one of the great messages in Romans 11. This is why it is extremely important for the Gentile client nation to provide a haven of protection for the Jews.

1. A fortiori is the super-charger or booster of the plan of God rationale. The a fortiori rationale stimulates the function of reverse concentration as the second stage of the faith-rest drill, which leads to the third stage, reaching a doctrinal conclusion and gaining control of the situation.

2. A fortiori is a shorter and quicker rationale for emergencies where rapid decision and rapid action is necessary. It is therefore both a system of logic, using comparison, and a rationale for the believer under pressure making a correct conclusion.

3. A fortiori compares a previous conclusion of doctrine with another conclusion of doctrine to understand and apply the inescapable certainty of God's grace policy in His perfect plan.

4. A fortiori uses an inferential conclusion as being more conclusive or certain than another recognized face or reasoned conclusion from the past, so that the mature believer gains momentum as he begins to apply doctrine. He makes one conclusion and sees it work under testing, and then he makes another conclusion under another system of testing. Then in time of great disaster, he puts together these proven conclusions.

5. So this rationale relates certainty to certainty and dogma to dogma to give the believer confidence in the plan of God, and to cause the believer to conclude that the only security in life is what you carry in your thinking. In life, every time you apply doctrine in your soul to a situation, there is a decoration for you in heaven.

1. An ambassador does not appoint himself. He is appointed by the nation he represents, the king he represents, the person he represents. As ambassadors we are appointed by God the Father because God the Father was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. Christ is now at the right hand of the Father through ascension and we are now His personal representatives on this earth. Our appointment is a grace appointment at the moment of salvation.

2. An ambassador doesn't support himself. This is not talking about man working by the sweat of his brow, we are talking about the sustaining, the surviving, the protection through catastrophe and disaster as well as in time of prosperity, the fact that we are a part of a spiritual warfare, the fact that we are in the intensification of the angelic conflict, and the fact that we are totally and completely sustained, preserved, protected by God the Father. We are in His plan and cannot be removed from this world as long as God's purpose for your ministry continues.

3. An ambassador does not represent himself. Once you accept Jesus Christ as saviour the door is open to the greatest happiness in the world. That happiness comes from the daily intake of Bible doctrine. That happiness gives the capacity to love God: category #1, capacity to love a member of the opposite sex: category #2, capacity for friendship: category #3. That same doctrine gives the ability to master the details of life, to enjoy them when you possess them and when you lose them to still have inner happiness and stability. As this door is opened we have to remember that our purpose in life has now radically changed. Our purpose in life is to represent the Lord Jesus Christ, to enter into the spiritual conflict which exists in this earth, as well as the historical conflict. And since it is a spiritual conflict we no longer represent ourselves but we represent the Lord Jesus Christ. And since we are His representatives everything is in His hands. Therefore, we have been given techniques, such as faith-rest, in order to put difficulties and problems and pressures in his hands, in order to stay cool under fire, or to have poise when things are difficult. He has provided all of this.

4. He doesn't belong to the country to which he is sent. There is a sense in which we are now the citizens of heaven although we are the citizens of this country. There is a sense in which our highest responsibility belongs to the Lord,. although it is wonderful to know that as in Romans 13 we can enter into the service of our country and do it as unto the Lord under our type, of government.

5. All ambassadors have instructions in written form. We have our instructions in written form - Bible doctrine.

6. An ambassador representing his country does not treat any insult as personal. This has to do with the relaxed mental attitude in the soul from the inhale of Bible doctrine.

7. When the ambassador is recalled from a country that is tantamount to a declaration of war. When we are recalled through the Rapture of the Church then there will be the most fantastic warfare, spiritual and otherwise, during the Tribulation. Ephesians 1391 4/3/91; Ephesians 104 9/1/85; Romans #361 03/12/1978

1. An ambassador is a high ranking minister of state or of royalty sent to another state to represent his sovereign or country. By analogy we are spiritual aristocracy as members of the royal family of God, and Christ is the King who has sent us into a foreign country, the cosmic world.

2. At salvation, every believer enters the royal family of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and at the same time he becomes a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ on earth. Ambassadorship stems from being in union with Christ, caused by the baptism of the Spirit.

3. Each Church Age believer is royal family of God representing the King of kings and Lord of lords during his tenure on this earth.

4. Therefore, two commissions are given the believer at salvation: the royal priesthood, which is a part of the equal privilege of election; and the royal ambassadorship, which is a part of the equal privilege of predestination. We represent ourselves before God and we represent God before men.

5. Ambassadorship emphasizes that every believer is in fulltime Christian service. However, there are different services.

6. Differences of function depends on differences of spiritual gifts, stages of spiritual growth, historical circumstances (prevalence of positive or negative volition), and environment at any given moment.

7. Common functions and services are all commanded by the Scripture, so there is no confusion between what your spiritual gift demands and those functions which are common to all believers, such as witnessing, prayer, and perception of doctrine. Ambassadorship is the fulfillment of the imperatives of production in the Bible.

8. In addition to the mandates of Scripture, there are many avenues of expressing your ambassadorship, such as utilizing the faith-rest drill and virtue-love as a problem solving device with emphasis on spiritual self-esteem. Spiritual self-esteem becomes the maximum expression of ambassadorship, a result of consistent residence in the divine dynasphere under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine.

1. An ambassador does not appoint himself. We are appointed by God Himself at the moment we believe in Jesus Christ. God also gives use the power and ability to handle the job.

2. The ambassador does not support himself. The Church Age believer, as an ambassador for Christ, is provided by logistical grace.

3. The ambassador's instructions are always in written form, so he has no doubt as to what he should do. We have the policies, problem solving devices, instructions, principles, doctrines, and concepts in written form in the Scripture.

4. The ambassador does not belong to the country to which he is sent. Our citizenship and home is in heaven. We are also citizens of a client nation to God.

5. The ambassador does not live in the foreign country for his own personal interest. We live here on earth solely to serve in the interest of our Lord. Therefore, we subordinate all personal interest to the function of our ambassadorship, which includes the attainment and function of the spiritual skills-filling of the Spirit, cognition of Bible doctrine, and execution of the protocol plan of God. Our production skills, which include our ambassadorship, are in place as of the moment of salvation, but are not effective until we develop spiritual skills.

6. The ambassador does not treat any insult to himself as personal. This is the royal ambassador's function in both spiritual self-esteem and impersonal love for all mankind. We tolerate others and hold no grudges. When you are insulted, treated unfairly, or ridiculed, you have tremendous problem solving devices. You have to have the spiritual strength to use these problem solving devices to leave the matter in the Lord's hands.

7. When an ambassador is recalled, his recall is tantamount to a declaration of war. This is analogous to the Rapture of the Church. The Tribulation is analogous to the period of war.

C. The royal ambassadorship is specialized and intensified in the gift of pastor-teacher.

1. All communication gifts (evangelists, apostles, pastor-teachers) become critical and specialized functions of the royal ambassadorship because they communicate spiritual truth. This is why Paul said in Ephesians 6:20, "on behave of which [gospel] I am an ambassador in chains, that in this [proclaiming the mystery doctrine], I might communicate with confidence as I ought to speak."

2. There is a special need for those who communicate doctrine to do so with confidence. That confidence cannot exist unless they are occupied with the person of Christ and have spiritual self-esteem, because they will be faced with constant negative volition from indifferent people. But with spiritual self-esteem the communicator speaks with confidence no matter what the attitude of his listeners.

1. 2Corinthians 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were making His appeal through us. We invite you on behalf of Christ: become reconciled to God.

2. This is the function of every believer who witnesses and is the special function of the believer with the gift of evangelism. We are to witness through verbal communication of the Gospel of the Word of God. We are not to witness only through our lifestyle. That's cowardice.

E. The royal ambassadorship mandates the function of spiritual self-esteem and impersonal love, Philemon 9 Yet for love's sake, I rather appeal to you, since I am such a person as Paul, the ambassador, and now a prisoner of Jesus Christ.

1. Virtue-love is the greatest of all problem-solving devices. When your momentum takes you to personal love for God, you now have spiritual self-esteem. With this spiritual self-esteem comes impersonal love for all mankind. This is the giant step in the Christian life.

2. While personal love for God is the function of our royal priesthood, spiritual self-esteem and impersonal love for man are the function of our ambassadorship.

3. Everything the believer does in life becomes a part of his modus operandi as a royal ambassador. Every believer, therefore, makes a pulpit out of his circumstances in every area of life.

4. Your ambassadorship is basically made up of two factors: how you live, and what you say as a result of what you think. In private, you function under your priesthood; in public, you function under your ambassadorship.

1. The Church Age believer is not only an ambassador to human creatures but to angels as well. You are a royal ambassador being watched right now. Angels observed our Lord, 1Timothy 3:16. They observe and rejoice over the conversion of one person, Luke 15:7-10. Fallen angels are organized to resist and oppose your ambassadorship and your growth in grace, Job 1:6, 2:1-3; Ephesians 6:12.

2. The fact that angels are watching you as an ambassador is found in 1Corinthians 4:9. "For I think God has exhibited us apostles last of all as men condemned to death [last ones into the Colosseum], for we have become an amphitheater to the world, both to angels and to men."

3. Eph 3:10, "In order that the manifold wisdom of God might be made known through the church to rulers and authorities in the heavenlies [angels]."

4. 1Timothy 5:21, "I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His elect angels to maintain these doctrines without bias; do nothing on the basis of partisan strife."

1. While the priesthood of the believer emphasizes the daily function of GAP and advance to spiritual maturity, the ambassadorship of the believer emphasizes the production of the Christian way of life. Each has a different source. As you learn to distinguish between your priesthood and ambassadorship, you will learn to distinguish between the functions of each. The priesthood is the means by which you advance to maturity; the ambassadorship is for the purpose of production and it is not for blessing.

2. This ambassador service can be a function of one's spiritual gift or obedience to a command of the service-function as taught in the Word.

3. Since maximum production involves spiritual maturity, it is obvious that the attainment of spiritual maturity results in maximum effectiveness in the area of your royal ambassadorship.

4. The filling of the Spirit is an absolute necessity in the function of the ambassador.

5. Any Christian service or works apart from the filling of the Spirit is human good, the enemy of the modus operandi of the royal ambassador.

6. Everything the believer does in life becomes a part of his ambassadorship, for in effect the believer makes a pulpit out of his circumstances. Every believer is in full-time service; this is a decision God made at the moment of salvation, not one that you make.

7. The Lord uses ambassadors in business, professions, homes, academic life, and in local churches. Your circumstances are your full- time Christian service whether you work in the military, in labor, or in management.

8. In the Roman Empire, many believers fulfilled their ambassadorship as slaves. They were not to break out of this situation. In application, you don't straighten out society; you serve the Lord. It is not up to us to change society. We do not function in conspiracies or revolutions against our nation.

9. Therefore, believers as ambassadors are the personal representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ.

10. Every believer is in the plan of God and lives his life under the principle of full-time Christian service.

11. The vocation of every believer is representing Christ as a royal ambassador. The avocation of every believer is making a living as per Philemon.

12. Paul was as much an ambassador in prison as when he was a traveling missionary. You always represent Christ.

1. The weeping ambassador expresses the regrets of wrong thinking and the failure of the believer to orient to history. Disorientation to history means distraction from the Christian way of life. Isaiah 33:6-7 And He [Lord Jesus Christ] will be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. Behold their brave men [army of Israel] cry in the streets, the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

a. In this passage, the ambassadors of Israel had made a deal with the Assyrians and assumed they were safe. When the Assyrians prepared to attack, the ambassadors of peace who cut back the military wept bitterly.

c. These ambassadors fail to understand the doctrine that all freedom comes through military victory.

d. Such a person fails to believe that all freedom is purchased on battlefields, not through the empty words of politicians.

e. To maintain that freedom, there must be universal military training, plus the constant development and maintenance of the profession of the military. Luger, Maxim and someone else were all Americans who developed great weapons of war, but are associated with Europe. There must be an officer corps with high standards, an honor code, and higher patriotic motivation.

f. The invader in Isaiah 33 had found the nation Israel unprepared. The ambassadors told the Assyrians they were setting the pace for disarmament.

g. The doves then are ambassadors to the invading nation. They had depended on peace treaties and had announced disarmament rather than military preparation.

h. They had failed to evaluate history in the light of the Word of God and had failed to apply doctrine to history even though they were believers.

i. Therefore, the weeping ambassador represents the failure of believers to think divine viewpoint in the interpretation of history.

2. Prov 13:16-17 Every wise believer acts with knowledge of doctrine, but a fool [believer] spreads foolishness. An evil messenger falls into adversity [the law of volitional responsibility], but a faithful ambassador brings healing. The faithful ambassador is the effective witness for Christ.

1. The person must be saved. Salvation appoints the individual to the status of royal ambassador.

2. There is no appointment to such ambassadorship until the person has believed in Christ. At that point, you are commissioned as an ambassador.

3. Therefore, at salvation the believer becomes a member of the royal family of God and a royal ambassador through the baptism of the Spirit.

4. Ambassadorship automatically enters the believer into full-time Christian service. Romans 12:11 says there are two prerequisites for service of the ambassador: he cannot be negligent in applying doctrine and he must be zealous with reference to the Holy Spirit when serving.

5. The royal ambassador must be fulfilled in the filling of the Spirit. This means alertness with regard to the rebound technique, the grace means of soul control by the Holy Spirit. Only doctrine perceived can be applied to the ambassadorship.

6. So the third prerequisite is the daily function of GAP whereby doctrine is stored in the human spirit and soul.

7. In summary, royal ambassadorship demands salvation, the filling of the Spirit, and the residency of doctrine. Thus, experiential sanctification is its prerequisite.

8. On the negative side, the royal ambassadorship can't function when the believer is in the devil's triangle of sin, human good and evil. All service in the devil's triangle is human good and evil. If we fail to apply doctrine we are in the devil's triangle.

Israel 110-112,119 11/3/91; Romans #585 (9:13) Ephesians 1337, Ephesians 266; Anti-Semitism #6

1. An anthropopathism ascribes to God a human characteristic which God does not actually possess, but is used to reveal and explain God's policy toward mankind in terms of human frame of reference by the use of language of accommodation.

2. Accommodation means that human modus operandi is ascribed to God, such as human affection or human sins, so that man can understand divine policy and attitude in terms of his own frame of reference.

3. Unless this doctrine is understood, the believer is going to be in a state of confusion about the doctrine of divine essence.

a. For example, in Psalm 106:45 we are told that God changed His mind or repented, but God is immutable and cannot change His mind. But 1Samuel 15:29 the glory of Israel [Jesus Christ] will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.

b. Psalm 110:4 The Lord [God the Father] has made a solemn promise and will not change His mind. You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.

4. In order to explain divine policy to mankind in terms of human frame of reference, human characteristics are ascribed to God to explain His policy to human beings. An anthropopathism is a human characteristic such as: love, hate, wrath, change of mind, scorn, compassion, longsuffering, remembering. The Greek word ANTHRO means man; "pathism" means a function of the soul with outward manifestation. Hence, an anthropopathism ascribes a human characteristic to God which God does not possess and which is not a divine attribute.

5. The purpose of the anthropopathism is to explain to us in language we can understand the divine attitude, policy, or modus operandi toward a person or persons, so that mankind can adapt to the divine policy or understand the divine policy. We are accommodated so that we can understand divine modus operandi. The anthropopathism is designed for human adjustment, by which a person understands God's policy, God's grace related to that policy, or God's judgment related to that policy.

a. Love. Malachi 1:3; 2Corinthians 9:7, "God loves a cheerful giver." Romans 9:13, "Just as it stands written, `I have loved Jacob but I hate Esau.'"

(1) The anthropopathism of love is an expression of divine motivation, approval, and acceptance. This is not the same as the divine attribute of love-God is love. Love and hate explain God's approbation on Israel and disapprobation of the Arabic peoples.

(2) God does not hate. Hatred is a sin. God "hated" Esau because did not and would not believe in Christ. Hebrews 12:17 For you know that even afterwards, when he [Esau] desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears. When the scar tissue of the soul equals the garbage in the subconscious, you have reached the point of no return regarding believing in Christ for salvation. Therefore, all you can turn to is emotion.

b. Compassion. Psalm 119:71, 75; Lam 3:33; 2Corinthians 4:17; Colossians 1:24; 2Timothy 1:8. God does not have this human characteristic but it helps to explain His grace policies. Psalm 78:38, 111:4, 112:4, 145:8.

c. Longsuffering and Patience. Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Psalm 86:15; 2Peter 3:9.

a. Hatred. Psalm 5:4-6; Malachi 1:2-3; Romans 9:13. God does not sin; therefore, He does not hate. This only explains divine policy-why God is doing what He is doing. Hatred is a sin but is ascribed to God merely to express divine disapproval of Esau in terms mankind can understand. Since man understands hatred as disapproval, he understands divine policy in terms of human frame of reference.

b. Anger and wrath. Numbers 22:22; Psalm 88:16; John 3:36; Romans 1:18, 9:22; Ephesians 2:3; Revelation 19:15; Psalm 5:4, 7:11, 90:11, 103:8, 106:40. These characteristics describe God's holiness and justice directed toward unbelievers.

c. Scorn. Prov 1:26; Psalm 2:4, 59:8, 37:13. To scorn means to ridicule someone. It is unkind and thoughtless, a sinful function. Scorn involves mental attitude sins. Again, these passages use human frame of reference to explain divine policy.

d. Vengeance. Deuteronomy 32:35; Psalm 94:1, 99:9; Isaiah 34:8, 61:2; Jeremiah 51:6; Romans 12:16. We are to leave our court case in the hands of the Supreme Court of Heaven. Vengeance is language of accommodation to express God's policy of perfect justice.

e. Repentance in which God is the subject. Repentance means a change of mind, which in humans is a sign of instability. God is immutable and decreed everything, and therefore, cannot change His mind. So the anthropopathism of repentance of God describes the policy of divine discipline and judgment in Genesis 6:6 Exodus 32:14 1Samuel 15:35 Psalm 90:11-13 Jeremiah 15:6, 26:3,13 Ezekiel 24:14 Amos 7:3-6 John 3:9-10 Zech 8:14.

1. To rightly divide the Word of truth, the believer must distinguish between the divine attribute of love and the anthropopathism of love. This is just as important as distinguishing between dispensations.

2. Love is complete and total from all eternity past as a part of God's infinite being.

3. This means God cannot, will not, and never did fall in love, nor does He maintain love, nor is His love sustained by emotion. God is totally without emotion. God is not a sucker for tears. God is only impressed by what He does for you, not by what you do for Him.

4. Like all divine attributes, God's love belongs to God's being. God is love regardless of having any object of love. Man must always have an object. But there has never been a time when God needed an object for His love.

a. Subjective love toward His own holiness or integrity (justice and righteousness). This is God's subjective love. There never was a time when God did not love His righteousness. When we believe in Christ, the justice of God imputes His righteousness to us and God loves that imputed righteousness in us. So the believer is actually the object of divine love as an attribute rather than as an anthropopathism, but justice is still his point of contact with God. Justice imputes blessing at the Judgment Seat of Christ in eternity just as it does in time at the point of spiritual maturity.

b. Objective love toward the other members of the Trinity. Each Member of the Trinity loves the others.

6. While God is love (1John 4:8), the love of God as a divine and infinite attribute is not understood by the finite mind of man.

7. All creatures are excluded from the attribute of divine love except where divine righteousness has been imputed.

8. The justice of God and faith in Christ is the issue. God loves His own righteousness. Therefore, when it is imputed at the moment of salvation, God's attribute of love is directed wherever divine righteousness goes. You have become the object of God's infinite and eternal love.

9. Because the love of God is perfect, it is totally devoid of human emotion. Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 8:39.

10. The divine attribute of love does not need an object for love; this is in contrast to human love which must always have an object. Divine love is an absolute, while human love is progressive or retrogressive.

D. The Anthropopathism of Divine Love. Most often the love of God is an anthropopathism. This is human love ascribed to God, even though God does not love sin, human good or evil. Love helps to explain the motivation of God.

1. The classical illustration is Romans 9:13 I have loved Jacob, but I hate Esau.

2. John 3:16 Malachi 1:2–3 All the sins of the world would be imputed to Christ. This is explained, to some degree, by the use of “love.” Human love gives; so we understand God giving by means of the motivation of love.

3. God neither loves nor hates in terms of human modus vivendi, but in order to explain the spiritual status of the twins, the anthropopathism of love and hate are ascribed to God. God is neither humanly noble nor humanly sinful. This is only language of accommodation. This explains divine policy. This is understandable to most people.

4. The anthropopathisms of love and hate simply indicate that the omniscience of God knew in eternity past that the free will of Esau would reject Christ as savior and the free will of Jacob would believe in Christ.

a. The anthropopathism of love explains in human terms the fact of Jacob's salvation adjustment to the justice of God through faith in Christ. Esau's failure to believe in Christ is explained by hatred from God. Human characteristics are used so the dumbest of dummies can understand. In the case of Esau, human volition acted independently of the sovereignty of God. In the case of Jacob, he complied with the sovereignty of God.

b. The anthropopathism of hate explains in human frame of reference the fact of Esau's rejection of Christ as Savior or his maladjustment to the justice of God and consequent judgment.

5. The love and hate anthropopathisms express the supreme court of heaven's two judgments in the case of two different people, one a believer and one an unbeliever. God has exercised His right of judgment on the basis of knowing simultaneously in eternity past all the facts of every person in history. The righteousness of God is expressed in the anthropopathism of hatred, i.e., in terms of human frame of reference. John 3:16 2Corinthians 9:7 cheerful giver = big spender

6. While love as an anthropopathism explains divine motivation in terms of human frame of reference, love is not the direct source of blessing from God.

9. Man erroneously concludes in his own self-righteousness that he must do something or say something to please God and receive blessing.

10. Therefore, man builds up a system of working and striving, which eliminates grace and rejects divine integrity.

11. The integrity of God is always the issue. Man's point of reference in time as well as in eternity is always justice. God found a way to bring man into relationship with Himself and bless mankind without compromising any divine attribute.

12. The key is justification which is a function of divine justice, never a function of divine love. Because we deal with divine justice, the most repulsive member of the human race can have the most marvelous blessing. The most repulsive and unlovely person in the human race can receive blessing from God.

13. Through justification, God is free to bring sinful man into eternal relationship to Himself and impute blessing to him in time and eternity.

14. Perfect God has a perfect plan designed for sinful, self-righteous, full of human good, evil people.

15. God loves His own righteousness with an infinite and perfect love. In perfect righteousness divine love for holiness is revealed.

16. Righteousness demands righteousness and justice demands justice. What righteousness demands, justice executes. This is the basis for divine blessing to man; divine love is never the basis. To explain this principle to mankind, language of accommodation ascribes to God human love as an anthropopathism.

a. The anthropopathisms of love and hate in Romans 9:13 do not imply that God is prejudice; for God has perfect, eternal, immutable integrity. God's perfect integrity is maintained by His sovereign will. Therefore, it is a part of His unchangeable or immutable self.

b. God is fair. It is impossible for God to be unfair. No greater demonstration of divine justice exists than was demonstrated at the Cross. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died as a substitute for us. The anthropopathisms of love and hate do not imply any lack of integrity on the part of God, Romans 9:14 Therefore, to what conclusion are we forced? There is no injustice with God, is there? Definitely not! Anthropopathisms do not represent the character of God; they represent the policy of God.

a. Esau rejected Christ. Therefore, he did not possess divine righteousness or regeneration (eternal life).

b. Jacob believed in Christ as his savior. Therefore, he possessed imputed righteousness, resulting in his justification. At the same time, he received through regeneration eternal life.

c. In the language of accommodation, justification and the possession of eternal life is expressed by the anthropopathism of love.

d. In the language of accommodation, condemnation is expressed in the anthropopathism of hate.

e. Since the righteousness of God demands equivalent righteousness and eternal life, the justice of God must condemn the lack of divine righteousness and the lack of eternal life, therefore, the anthropopathism of hate. This explains to human beings in language of accommodation the attitude of God toward those who reject Christ as savior.

f. In grace, God provided all that His perfect righteousness demanded from the human race.

g. At the moment of faith in Christ, God provides by imputation His very own righteousness. Since Jacob had God's very own righteousness, God said, "I love Jacob, but I hate Esau."

(1) If Esau had been accepted through the primogeniture principle of physical birth, then the perfect righteousness of God would have been compromised. But the integrity of God can and does condemn the self-righteousness and unrighteousness of mankind. This condemnation is expressed in the case of Esau, who stood on his own righteousness, as God's hatred of him.

(2) It is impossible for God to compromise His righteousness. Therefore, God cannot be unrighteous in dealing with any person, and He expresses it, not in terms of his character or essence, but in terms of language of accommodation.

h. The fact that Esau rejected Christ and choose the way of condemnation does not reflect on the perfect justice of God but on the wrong decision of Esau. The condemnation of Esau as an unbeliever vindicates the justice of God, being totally consistent with His perfect divine integrity. The issue is obvious: Is God, who inflicts condemnation and judgment on the unbeliever, unrighteous, unfair, or unjust? No! On the contrary, the function of divine justice in condemnation confirms and strengthens divine integrity. There can be no blessing to mankind apart from the integrity or holiness of God.

1. The complexity of a doctrine such as Anthropopathisms is not going to be understood unless other doctrines are understood first. Understanding the doctrine of Divine Essence must precede a consideration of the doctrine of Anthropopathisms. When both are mastered, the believer is forced to a biblical conclusion: in human history, the sovereignty of God and the free will of man coexist by divine decree. In fact, mankind was created to resolve the prehistoric angelic conflict, where creature volition and the sovereignty of God was also an issue.

a. Human volition duplicates the same free will which angels possessed in eternity past. To duplicate the prehistoric angelic conflict, man was created to resolve it. Therefore, mankind had to be tested in the perfect environment of the Garden with only one divine prohibition. Just as there was only one way that Satan could sin, so Adam and the woman could only sin in one way-disobedience to one divine prohibition.

(1) Satan violated the divine prohibition when he said, "I will make myself like the Most High God." Isaiah 14:14.

(2) When in Genesis 3:5, Satan said to the woman, "For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you too will be like God, knowing good and evil." Satan tempted the woman with the idea that God was holding out on her and did not want her to be as smart as He was. So we have an exact duplication, in principle, of the original fall of Satan.

b. Human volition was tested in the perfect environment of the Garden, which duplicated the perfect environment of the holy mountain of God, mentioned in Ezekiel 28:14,16. Perfect mankind in the Garden could only sin through the function of his own free will in opposition to the sovereignty of God. This duplicates Satan's original sin through the function of his own angelic volition in opposition to the sovereignty of God.

c. When man's negative volition originated the first sin and the sin nature in the human race in the Garden, this resulted in instant spiritual death. Therefore, God provided another tree for mankind for his positive volition. That tree is the Cross.

2. In eternity past, the omniscience of God programmed the computer of divine decrees with such facts as to who in history would believe in Christ and who in history would reject Christ. God's knowledge of this fact does not predetermine what man's decision will be. God has declared each person a free agent to make his or her own decision. This is why Jesus Christ is declared to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Matthew 22:32; Mark 12:26; Luke 20:37; Acts 3:13, 7:32.

3. Even though the sins Esau were imputed to Christ on the Cross and judged, Esau rejected Christ as savior and lost his eternal inheritance. Esau's function of free will to repeatedly reject the gospel placed him outside the Abrahamic covenant. When salvation through faith in Christ is rejected, the sovereignty and justice of God has the right to condemn, the right to judge. When a person like Jacob believes in Christ, the sovereignty of God has the right to make him a true Jew, the heir of the unconditional covenants. When his brother Esau rejects Christ, the sovereignty of God has the right to keep him in the status of an unbeliever. The sovereignty of God and the justice of God have a right to deal in any way with one person in grace and another in condemnation. When grace is rejected, there is nothing left but judgment from the integrity of God.

4. The failure of certain human beings to respond to the gospel by believing in Christ does not abrogate the integrity of God. God does not cancel His faithfulness or abrogate His integrity because of human failure.

5. Believers do not relate to God on the basis of anthropopathisms like love and hate, but on the basis of actual divine attributes. For example:

a. The imputation of divine righteousness at salvation is through faith in Christ. It results in instant justification. We become the objects of God's personal love because we possess His righteousness. This is the basis for logistical grace.

b. At the moment of faith in Christ, God the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit and God the Father imputes eternal life to that human spirit. It was the grace of God to which we responded.

1. The resurrection body of Jesus Christ was capable of space travel, and the ascension is space travel - John 20:17.

2. Once arriving in heaven Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. This is called the session of Christ - Psalm 110:1; Romans 8:34; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3,13; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1Peterer 3:22.

3. The ascension and session of Christ formed the basis of victory in the angelic conflict - Hebrews 1:3-13.

4. The ascension and session of Christ began a new sphere of the angelic conflict - Ephesians 1:20-22; 4:7-10. Therefore the believer of the Church Age is involved in the intensified stage of the angelic conflict.

5. The ascension and session of Jesus Christ begin operation footstool, prophesied in Psalm 110:1 and quoted in Luke 20:42,43; Acts 2:33,34; Hebrews 1:13.

6. The second advent of Christ will conclude operation footstool - Daniel 7:13,14; Zechariah 13:2; Colossians 2:15; Revelation 20:1-3.

7. The ascension and session of Christ completes the glorification of Christ in His hypostatic union - Acts 2:33; 5:31; Philippians 2:9; 1Peterer 3:22.

8. The ascension and session of Christ explains the uniqueness of the Church Age and the importance of having a royal family in this dispensation only - John 7:37-39.

9. The ascension and session of Christ is the key to victory in the angelic conflict - Hebrews 1:4.

10. The ascension and session of Christ after resurrection make possible the second high priestly function of our Lord, namely intercession or praying for all members of the royal family on earth - Hebrews 7:25.

a. The ascension is that doctrine of Christology pertaining to the change of residence of Jesus Christ after the resurrection when He went from earth to heaven in resurrection body.

b. The session is that doctrine of Christology 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.

e. These two doctrines form the climax of the strategic victory of Jesus Christ in the angelic conflict.

2. The capabilities of the resurrection body. The resurrection body of Christ was capable of horizontal and vertical travel. In horizontal travel He could go through walls or open doors. The atomic structure of the resurrection body is of such a nature that it passes through walls or closed doors without any trouble. Vertically the resurrection body has unlimited ability to travel anywhere in the universe without any damage to body at all. Our Lord Jesus Christ travelled through the outer atmosphere, the stellar universe, and then entered the third heaven, the throne room of the Father, the abode of God.

a. The first significance has to do with the prophecy of the session. It was so important that it was prophesied in the Old Testament as an integral part of the angelic conflict. The prophesy is found in Psalm 110:1 - "The Lord said unto my Lord," - the first use of Lord is for deity, the second use of Lord is for deity - "Sit down at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." This particular prophecy indicates the strategic victory of angelic conflict, so the session is related to that.

b. The session and the authority of Jesus Christ - Romans 8:34, "Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died, yes rather, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us." The Lord Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father is the only one who has the ability to condemn. We stand or fall through Jesus Christ . He has appointed the scripture as the means of giving us standards whereby as believer priests, members of the royal family of God, we can condemn ourselves, which is what we do every time we use the rebound technique.

c. The session and the ministry of the Holy Spirit - Ephesians 1:20, "Which power [of the Holy Spirit] has been operational in Jesus Christ" - Jesus Christ was indwelt by God the Holy Spirit in His humanity during the first advent, during the time of His hypostatic union on earth - "the Father having raised him from the dead, and having seated him at his own right hand in the heavenlies." The ministry of God the Holy Spirit is related to the death, burial, resurrection and session of the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, since God the Holy Spirit sustained the humanity of Christ during all of these things there is a relationship between the session of Christ and the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. In fact it sets the pattern for the royal family in relationship to the Holy Spirit in the dispensation of the Church.

d. The session and mental attitude - Colossians 3:1,2, "If, therefore, you have been raised in Christ, keep on desiring to possess and endeavouring to obtain the above things" - referring to doctrine - "where Christ is sitting at the right hand of the Father. Keep thinking about above things [doctrine], not things on the earth." Due to the fact that Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father we have the privilege of mental attitude dynamics divine viewpoint, and this of course is related to doctrine.

e. The session and the celebrityship of Jesus Christ - Hebrews 1:3, "Who being the radiance, the flashing forth of the glory, and the exact image of his essence, also sustaining all things by the verbal expression of his power, having himself accomplished purification of sins, was caused to sit down at the right hand of the majesty in high places." In other words, the Lord Jesus Christ is portrayed during the period of His hypostatic union the manifestation of the members of the Godhead, He was deity, He was the exact image of His essence, He sustained all things by His verbal expressions. While He was on earth he held the universe together, He accomplished eternal salvation at the cross, finally entering into the heavens and the very presence of God, and was seated. All of this is related to His celebrityship.

f. The session and the angelic conflict - Hebrews 1:13, "But to which of the angels has he said at any time, Sit down at my right hand until I appoint your enemies the footstool for your feet?" No angel was ever told to be seated at the right hand of the Father, once again the significance of the doctrine of session. Jesus Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father as a man and the moment He was He became superior in His humanity to all angels. As deity He is infinitely superior to all of the angelic creatures, and as humanity He was raised to that high station and at that point He became superior forever to the angelic hosts. Because of this we are members of the royal family of God and in our resurrection bodies we will be superior to angels also. At the present time we are inferior creatures to the angelic hosts but all of that is going to change in resurrection.

g. The session and the priesthood - Hebrews 8:1, "Now the main point on what is being communicated is this: We have such a category of high priest who is sat down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens." In that particular passage Jesus Christ is pointed out to be superior to all Levitical priests of the past and all high priests. They dealt with shadows; He dealt with the reality. They could only offer animal sacrifices; He offered Himself. They never sat down in the tabernacle, and therefore Jesus Christ by sitting down is pointed out to be infinitely superior to all. So the session is used to show the superiority of Jesus Christ as our high priest.

h. The session and the sacrifice - Hebrews 10:12, "But this one [Jesus Christ], when he had offered a unique sacrifice on behalf of sins for all time, sat down on the right hand of God." To indicate that the sacrifice of Christ was totally efficacious and that it is the only way of eternal salvation the Lord Jesus Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father. This demonstrates the principle "it is finished," and indicates the fact that what was finished was totally and completely efficacious, so that anyone at any time in any part of the world who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ immediately enters into the palace forever. The baptism of the Holy Spirit makes every believer a member of the royal family of God forever.

j. The session and strategic victory - 1Peterer 3:22, "Jesus Christ who is at the right hand of god, having gone into heaven after the angels and authorities and powers had been subordinated to him." All angelic forces, evil type, all types of demons, have been subordinated to Him. The Lord Jesus Christ is infinitely superior and has dominion over all creatures. This is demonstrated by the session.

5. The session, therefore, confirms the celebrityship of Jesus Christ. The ascension and session of Jesus Christ completed His glorification and the second person of the Trinity in hypostatic union has received the maximum glory - Acts 2:33, "Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God." Acts 5:31, "He is the one exalted at his right hand the Prince and saviour." Philippians 2:9, "Therefore also, the God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name." As eternal God Jesus Christ is pre-eminent. As the God-Man at the right hand of the Father Jesus Christ is unique, overwhelming. He has the distinction of highest nobility and the most illustrious of all celebrityships. His eminence and prominence defy hyperbole.

6. The strategic victory of the angelic conflict. The ascension and session of Christ form the basis for strategic victory of the angelic conflict. Hebrews chapter one teaches this principle. Furthermore, the ascension and session of Jesus Christ begin a new sphere of the angelic conflict - Ephesians 1:20-22, "Which power has been operational in Christ, the Father having raised him from the dead, and having seated him at his own right hand in the heavenlies, over and above all principality [the super demons], and authority [the commissioned demon], and power [the gifted demons], and lordship [the ruling demon]," - in other words, Jesus Christ is superior and over all of these categories of demons - "and every name that is named [rank and file demons], not only in this age but also in the one to come; and he has subordinated all demons under his feet, and has given absolute sovereignty over all the royal family of God with reference to the Church." And there lies the intensification of the angelic conflict, the demons who have been strategically defeated and are still tactically resisting, and the Church, the royal family of God. 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. The royal family of God is therefore subjected to the most unusual types of pressures throughout this dispensation.

a. Jesus Christ is a resurrection body is seated alone at the right hand of the Father.

b. It is not good that the last Adam should be alone. This is what was said about the first Adam.

c. Therefore the Age of Israel is interrupted and a new dispensation is inserted or intercalated.

d. The Church Age is destined to call out the royal family of God so that in eternity the last Adam will not be alone. And the royal family is the basis for providing a bride for the last Adam.

e. In eternity the palace of heaven will be filled with royal family and/or the Church Age believers.

f. The royal family is formed by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, as mentioned by Jesus Christ in Acts 1:5.

g. For the first time in history, then, God the Holy Spirit actually takes up His residence in the body of every believer. That is because we are royal family of God - 1Corinthians 6:19-20.

a. The ascension and session of Christ abrogates the Levitical priesthood. The Levitical priesthood was a specialised priesthood, they had special holy days related to this priesthood, a lot of special activity, but they did not have the effectiveness that we have today.

b. The Levitical priesthood is replaced by the royal priesthood of the Church Age - 1Peterer 2:9, "You are a chosen race [a race of election], you are a royal priesthood, you are a holy nation, a people of God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light " Cf. Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6. Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father is the new high priest - Hebrews 10:1-10 - and our high priest even makes intercession for us - Hebrews 7:25.

9. The ascension verifies the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross - Hebrews 9:23, 24, "Of necessity, therefore, on the one hand that the copies [or models] of things in heaven be cleansed with shadows; but on the other hand the heavenly realities themselves with better sacrifices than these" - the work of Christ on the cross is superior to animal blood on the altar - "For Christ has not entered into a holy of holies made with hands [the tabernacle], a model of the reality [heaven], but into heaven itself to appear in the presence of God on behalf of us." The Levitical priesthood dealt with shadows; our priesthood deals with realities. However, these realities are not realities apart from Bible doctrine resident in the soul.

10. The ascension and the ultimate defeat of Satan. The ascension and session of Christ begin operation footstool, according to Psalm 110:1, quoted in Luke 2:42 and 43, and quoted again in Acts 2:33,34 and Hebrews 1:13. The quotation of the prophecy in those three passages indicates the fact that operation footstool began with the session of Christ. The second advent terminates operation footstool. Christ will superseded Satan as the ruler of the world at that time - Daniel 7:14 describes that, "And to him was given dominion, glory and sovereignty, that all peoples, nations and languages might serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, furthermore his kingdom is one which shall not be destroyed." Zechariah 13:2, "And it will come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of armies, that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; furthermore I will also remove the false prophets and demons from the land." The removal of demons means that they are bumped off the earth as it confirmed by Revelation 20:1-3. Colossians 2:15 describes the same thing, "Having disarmed demon archons . he made a public display of them, having celebrated a triumphal procession over them by means of him [His victory]."

b. The great power experiment of the Church Age, A.D. 30 - Rapture, an indefinite period of time.

2. The resurrection, ascension and session of Jesus Christ divides the two Christological dispensations.

3. Both the ascension and session of Christ occurred in His resurrection body. His was the first resurrection in all of history.

1. The ascension is that doctrine of Christology pertaining to the transfer of our Lord’s true humanity from planet earth to the third heaven in a resurrection body.

2. The session is that doctrine of Christology pertaining to the glorification of our Lord’s humanity at the right hand of the Father. These definitions presume your understanding of the Hypostatic Union.

3. These doctrines are closely related to and based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If Christ remained on earth, He would have a limited glory, but when He went to the third heaven He became superior to all creation, and therefore had unlimited glory.

4. As a result of the resurrection of our Lord’s humanity, He remained on earth for forty days before His ascension. The ascension of Jesus Christ occurred on day forty in His resurrection body. This period of time demonstrated the capabilities of the resurrection body. The resurrection body can eat food.

5. The ascension and session of Christ are predicated on the capabilities of the resurrection body.

a. It can travel horizontally and vertically at unlimited speed, and is capable of unlimited space travel.

b. Our Lord traveled horizontally during His forty days on planet earth, as well as moving through closed doors.

c. The ascension of Christ demonstrates the vertical travel of the resurrection body, moving with ease through the atmosphere of the earth, the galaxies of stellar universe, and the billions and billions of light years in an instant, and entering into the third heaven, the abode of God.

6. Upon arrival in the third heaven, our Lord was seated at the right hand of God the Father; this is the doctrine of the Session. Then He received His third royal patent and the title “King of kings, Lord of lords, the Bright Morning Star.” Because His third royal warrant had no accompanying royal family, the Church Age was inserted for the calling out of a royal family.

a. This is why this doctrine of ascension and session is the missing link between the resurrection of Christ and the Christian way of life.

b. Something new had to be created to accompany this new third royalty of Jesus Christ, a new royal family. His new royalty had to be a new spiritual species, as per 2Corinthians 5:17.

c. Therefore, the dispensation of Israel was interrupted seven years short of its completion. Then the omnipotence of the Father and of the Spirit was made available to believers. The Day of Pentecost is the day the royal family began with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the first day of the Church Age.

7. So the chronology of events was: 1) resurrection, 2) forty days on the earth, 3) ascension ten days before the Church Age began, and 4) seated at the right hand of the Father. We know the number of days so exactly, because the resurrection occurred on the Feast of the First Fruits. The Feast of Pentecost would occur fifty days later. On day forty, our Lord ascended, and He said the baptism of the Spirit and the beginning of the Church Age would occur very soon (ten days later).

8. Both the ascension and session of Christ were accomplished in His resurrection body. Though coequal and coeternal with God, it was the true humanity of Christ that was seated at the right hand of the Father.

9. These two doctrines of ascension and session combine to form the climax of the strategic victory of Christ in the angelic conflict.

1. “And after He had said these things [announcement of Church Age, Acts 1:5, 8], He was lifted up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently up in the sky as He was going, behold two men [angels] dressed in white stood beside them. And they also said, `Men of Galilee, why do you stand staring into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come in the same way as you have seen Him go into heaven.’”

2. While the angels were still talking our Lord was already in the third heaven. He traveled billions and billions of light years in just a few seconds.

1. After His ascension, His session fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 110:1. “The Lord [God the Father] said to my Lord [God the Son], `Sit down at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’” Jesus Christ had to be seated to resolve the angelic conflict. It was the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. Remember that His deity is omnipresent, everywhere, imminent and transcendent. It was His humanity that was seated at the right hand of the Father.

2. This prophecy is quoted a number of times in the New Testament, Matt 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42-43; Acts 2:34-35; Hebrews 1:13, 10:13. It is quoted so often because it is very important.

3. The strategic victory of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is the key to the importance of the ascension and session of Jesus Christ.

a. The resurrection, ascension, and session all deal with the true humanity of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever.

b. Just as only the humanity of Christ could provide our salvation by receiving the judgment for our sins in His own body, so only the humanity of Christ could be resurrected, ascend, and sit at the right hand of God the Father.

4. The humanity of Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union is now exalted and glorified at the right hand of the Father where His posture is one of being seated.

a. Acts 2:33, “Therefore, [Jesus Christ] having been exalted to the right hand of God.”

b. Acts 5:31, “He is the one whom God has exalted at His right hand as prince and Savior.”

c. Philippians 2:9, “Therefore also, God has highly exalted Him and given Him a title which is above every title, that at the title of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of the Father.”

5. The strategic victory of Jesus Christ in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is related to the award of His third royal patent.

a. His first royal patent is related to His deity. His title is “Son of God.” His royal family is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

b. His second royal patent is related to His humanity. His title is “Son of David.” His royal family is the Davidic dynasty.

c. His third royal patent is related to His resurrection and ascension. His title is “King of kings, Lord of lords, Bright Morning Star.” His royal family is in the process of being completed, made up of every Church Age believer. You are not simply a child of God; you are a royal child of God.

1. The ascension and session is not only related to the Hypostatic Union, but it also to the angelic conflict. The fact that the resurrection, ascension and session is based on the strategic victory of our Lord in the angelic conflict is the subject of Hebrews 1-2.

2. Hebrews 1:3, “Who being the radiance [the flashing forth] of His glory and the exact image of His [God the Father’s] essence, He also sustains all things by the verbal expression of His power, having Himself accomplished purification for sins, He was caused to sit down on the right hand of the Majesty in highest places.” During the entire period of the Hypostatic Union on earth, from the baby in the cradle to the resurrection, ascension, and session, our Lord was still holding the universe together by the Word of His power.

3. Hebrews 1:13, “But to which of the angels did He say at any time, `Sit down at My right hand until I appoint your enemies a footstool for your feet?’”

a. God the Father never said this to any angel, but only to Jesus Christ. It is very significant that God the Father said this to the humanity of Christ in a resurrection body.

b. This means that although we are now inferior to angels in our human bodies on earth, in the future in resurrection bodies we will be totally superior to angels. This was established with our Lord’s session.

4. 1Peter 3:22, “Who [Jesus Christ] is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven after angels and authorities and powers had been subordinated to Him.”

a. With the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all angelic creatures including fallen angels, are subordinated to Him in His humanity! That fact is very important.

b. In His deity, Jesus Christ is the creator of angels. In His humanity, He was made lower than angels. Hebrews 2:7. But now in His resurrection, He is higher than angels in His humanity!

c. Some day in our resurrection body, we will share that same privilege experientially. Being in union with Christ, we are already positionally higher than angels. But in resurrection bodies, we will be experientially and physically higher than angels.

5. Ephesians 1:22, “And He [God the Father] has subordinated all [angelic creatures] under His feet. Furthermore, He appointed Him [Jesus Christ] ruler over all things to the Church.”

b. When our Lord received His third royal patent, He did not have a royal family. Therefore, the Church Age was inserted into history.

c. The Church Age was a mystery age because we have almost infinitely more than any Old Testament, Tribulational, or Millennial saint. We have unique things which are unbelievably fantastic, which have never existed before and will never exist again after the Rapture of the Church.

d. A second Christocentric dispensation had to be instituted to provide a royal family for our Lord’s third royal patent.

e. Furthermore, Israel had rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah and King. Consequently, the messianic kingdom is postponed until the Second Advent of Christ.

f. In the meantime, the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union has been parlayed into the great power experiment of the Church Age.

g. During the Church Age, there are no Jewish client nations to God. The next Jewish client nation will not exist until the Second Advent of Christ.

h. We live in the times of the Gentiles, which means only a Gentile nation can be a client nation to God. At the present time, though staggering, the United States of American is a Gentile client nation to God.

i. During the Church Age, there are only Gentile client nations. The first was S.P.Q.R., “the City and People of Rome.”

j. So the ascension and session of Jesus Christ form the link between the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and the great power experiment of the Church Age.

1. Hebrews 10:12, “But this One [Jesus Christ in contrast to the Old Testament sacrifices], when He had offered one unique sacrifice as a substitute for our sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.”

a. The work of Jesus Christ on the cross is efficacious. When He received the imputation of our sins and God the Father judged them, that settled the sin question for all time.

b. To indicate the efficacy of His sacrifice, our Lord sat down at the right hand of God.

c. In physical death, our Lord’s work was completed. Hence, just before His death He said, “TETELESTAI,” which means “It is finished in the past with the result that it stands finished forever.”

2. So the resurrection, ascension, and session is the verification of the efficacy of our Lord’s saving work on the cross.

3. Furthermore, this efficacious saving work occurred while our Lord was physically alive. He did not die for our sins in physical death; He died as a substitute for us in a substitutionary spiritual death, wherein each and every sin of the human race was imputed to Christ and judged.

a. He died a substitutionary spiritual death for the sins of the world, which provided our salvation.

b. He died a unique physical death in which there was the separation of His soul, spirit, and body.

1. Ephesians 1:18, “That the eyes of your right lobe may be enlightened [post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation] so that you may know what is the hope [hope 2 and 3] of His calling [divine call], what are the riches [divine capitalization of every Church Age believer in eternity past through the provision of our portfolio of invisible assets] of His inheritance in the saints.”

a. The first thing God ever did for us is the means of glorifying Him. In eternity past, God the Father as the grantor deposited into escrow greater blessings for every believer as the grantee.

b. The distribution of those blessings upon the believer’s execution of the protocol plan and advance to spiritual maturity is the means of glorifying God.

2. Ephesians 1:19, “And what is the surpassing greatness of His power to us [maximum availability of divine power to every Church Age believer as a result of the extension of the Hypostatic Union into the Church Age] who have believed, for the working of His superior power [execution of the protocol plan] which He put into operation by means of Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in heavenly places.”

a. Part of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age is the fact that divine power is available to us as never before in history, i.e., the omnipotence of the Father, Son, and Spirit.

b. When Jesus Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father in the session after His ascension, that’s when this plan was put into operation.

c. The protocol plan of God and the availability of divine power to us is unique. The uniqueness of the Church Age is reflected in the fact that it was put into operation at the point of the session of Jesus Christ.

d. As a result of His resurrection, ascension, and session, our Lord Jesus Christ received his third royal patent without a royal family. The royal family is being formed today because of the ascension and session of Jesus Christ.

e. God is perfect; therefore His protocol plan is perfect. A perfect plan from perfect God excludes human power for its execution. A perfect plan from perfect God demands the use of divine power or perfect power for its execution.

f. Therefore, there is no substitute for the utilization of divine power in the execution of the protocol plan.

g. Divine power and human power are mutually exclusive. For the believer to utilize human dynamics and call it the Christian way of life is blasphemy. To the extent that the Church Age believer relies on human power or gets involved in legalism, he has completely failed to fulfill God’s purpose, plan, and objective for sustaining him in this life.

h. The perfect protocol plan of God cannot accept or utilize any form of human power or human ability, or anything that we can do. Anything we can do in our own power is not a part of the Christian life.

i. Only through cognition of Bible doctrine can divine omnipotence be understood and utilized in the execution of the protocol plan. There is therefore no substitute for post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation.

3. Ephesians 1:20, “which [superior power] He put into operation by means of Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in heavenly places.”

b. In His deity, Christ was always superior. However, this superiority refers to the humanity of Christ in a resurrection body, seated at the right hand of the Father.

c. So the session becomes very important, because the power that raised Him from the dead is now delegated to the royal family.

d. In resurrection, the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit restored the human soul of our Lord to His body, and the omnipotence of God the Father restored His human spirit to His body. This divine power that raised Christ from the dead is now available to you only because you are the body of Christ, royal family of God.

e. Divine power was utilized, transferred, and delegated to the Church Age believer; utilized in our portfolio of invisible assets, provided by the omnipotence of God the Father; transferred and delegated inside the operational-type divine dynasphere by the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit.

4. Ephesians 1:21, “Superior to every authority, both human power and authority as well as angelic power and authority, and superior to every title that can be named, not only in this age [Church Age], but in the one destined to come [Millennium].”

5. Ephesians 1:22, “And He [God the Father] has subordinated both angelic and human creatures under His feet [operation footstool]; furthermore He [God the Father] has appointed Him ruler over all things to the Church.”

a. The first phase of operation footstool is the resurrection, ascension, and session of Christ.

b. The second phase of operation footstool is the Second Advent of Christ. At that time, the baptism of fire will remove all unbelievers from the earth, both Jews and Gentiles. Also in this second phase of operation footstool, Satan is sentenced to 1000 years of jail.

c. Another part of the second phase of operation footstool occurs at the end of the Millennium with the suppression of the Gog and Magog Revolution, sponsored and led by Satan, having been just released from prison. Then occurs the second resurrection of only unbelievers and their judgment, followed by the execution of the prehistoric sentence of Satan and all fallen angels.

d. There would be no royal family without the appointment of Christ as prince-ruler over the Church. This means He rules all Church Age believers today, winners and losers.

e. So Christ is the ruler of all creatures, angelic and human, no matter how rebellious. The most rebellious of all creatures today are not demons but born-again believers who fail to fulfill the principle of post- salvation epistemological rehabilitation in the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine under whomever is their right pastor.

1. Hebrews 8:1, “Now the main point on what is being communicated is this: we have such a high priest who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens.”

2. Our Lord was not qualified by birth to be a Levitical priest in Israel. His priesthood, however, supersedes the priesthood of Israel because He is both a king and a priest.

3. Our Lord’s priesthood is patterned after a royal priesthood, that of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was both a king and a priest. Our Lord is the king-priest as a result of His resurrection, ascension, and session.

4. His third royal warrant makes Him Lord and King over all lords and kings. Therefore, our Lord’s entire royal family, Church Age believers, are a part of that priesthood. One of the unique factors of the Church Age is the universal priesthood of the believer.

5. Because you are in union with Christ, you are a king-priest. This means you can directly address God the Father in prayer through Jesus Christ, because He is the greatest high priest in all of history. He is a royal high priest or king priest.

6. Therefore, we pray to God the Father in the name of Christ, and in the effectiveness of the power of the Holy Spirit which is life inside the divine dynasphere.

7. Jesus Christ is the high priest; we are a kingdom of priests. As our high priest, Jesus Christ makes intercession for us right now at the right hand of God the Father.

8. The ascension and session abrogates the Levitical priesthood, replacing it with the royal priesthood, 1Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6, 5:10, 20:6.

1. Colossians 3:1-2, “If therefore you have been raised in Christ [and you have in baptism of the Spirit and current positional truth], keep on desiring to possess the above things [escrow blessings] where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of the Father. Keep thinking objectively about the above things [doctrine], not things on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

2. To “possess the above things” requires the utilization of divine power inside the divine dynasphere, which requires cognition of doctrine, which requires right priorities; doctrine must be first in your life.

3. The desire to possess your very own escrow blessings motivates you to execute the protocol plan. This motivation results in consistent post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation, the daily perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.

4. The fact that the humanity of Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, except for the Rapture of the Church and His permanent move at the Second Advent, is indicative of the fact that He has made the most fantastic system of power available to you!

5. Objective thinking about the “above things” includes cognition of your portfolio of your invisible assets, understanding the protocol plan of God in detail, perception of the unique things related to the great power experiment of the Church Age, especially the ten problem solving devices.

6. The royal family’s mental attitude is to think doctrine, not good and evil. We should have a very strong, positive mental attitude no matter what our circumstances or pressures.

7. This doesn’t mean we can’t learn about fascinating human subjects. They often demonstrate and illustrate many principles. And it’s always a wonderful thing to have a hobby or two in the field of thought, and to pursue that hobby.

8. But when it comes to the Christian way of life, the system of divine viewpoint thought must be based on cognition of doctrine. If we’re going to utilize divine power, we must understand the mechanics for its transfer and for its utilization. Ignorance is a guarantee that you will function on human power all your life.

1. The session is an indication of the authority of Christ. Romans 8:34, “Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died. Yes, rather, who has been raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who intercedes for us.” Jesus Christ has supreme authority over all human and angelic creatures.

2. All of this time Christ holds the universe together by the word of His mouth, Colossians 1:16, “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven or in earth, visible or invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him.”

K. The Session and Spiritual Self-Esteem. Hebrews 12:2-3, “Let us fix our eyes [concentrate] on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such opposition by sinners against Himself, so that you do not grow weary and faint in your souls.”

1. Isagogics: the Bible must be interpreted in the time in which it was written. The noun huiothesía (υἱοθεσία) [pronounced hwee-oth-es-EE-ah] refers to a Roman custom in Paul's time. In the Roman empire the son was placed under slaves and teachers during his minority. At around age 14 he had graduated from a system of intensive training and discipline which was administered by slaves, those who taught him. He was then recognised as an adult member of the family. The ceremony was called huiothesía (υἱοθεσία) [pronounced hwee-oth-es-EE-ah], the word "adoption" in our passage. The basic concept of the ceremony was freedom to function as an adult citizen in the Roman world. This custom is taken by Paul. There is no concept here of adopting someone outside the family, it is recognition of someone inside the family, that they have now grown up.

2. We must relate the etymology to the isagogics. The word huiothesía (υἱοθεσία) [pronounced hwee-oth-es-EE-ah] comes from the Greek word huios (υἱός, ο, ὁ) [pronounced hwee-OSS] which means adult son, and thesia come from tithêmi (τίθημι) [pronounced TIHTH-ā-mee] which means to appoint or place. Huiothesía (υἱοθεσία) [pronounced hwee-oth-es-EE-ah] means, then, to be appointed an adult son as a member of the family. It refers to one of the 36 things that every believer receives at the moment of salvation, and it has to do with the believer's freedom. At the moment you believe in Christ spiritually you are brephos (βρέφος) [pronounced BREHF-oss], a child on mother's breast. But you are at the same time in union with Christ who is the Son of God, huios (υἱός, ο, ὁ) [pronounced hwee-OSS], and being in union with Him positionally you are huios (υἱός, ο, ὁ) [pronounced hwee-OSS]. You are a child spiritually, experientially, but positionally you are an adult son. This indicates that every believer, no matter how he fails, is still another huios (υἱός, ο, ὁ) [pronounced hwee-OSS] of God; he is in union with Christ.

a. Example of Gaius Julius Cæsar who had three wives. He had no sons as heirs. Daughter Julia married to Pompey. She died in childbirth. Cæsar still had a bloodline in his sister Julia. She had a daughter who married Gaius Octavius. Octavius and Octavia were the sons and daughters. Octavius is the grand nephew of Cæsar. Mark Anthony was overly arrogant, emotional, and Cæsar made certain that he would not rule Rome. Cæsar named Octavius as his heir. Roman adoption often takes place, and the person that you adopt has your power and authority. You recognize the adopted person as having the same power as you. Octavius became the heir and he still had to fight to get there. And his name was Gaius Julius Cæsar Octavius (?). He had a second wife, Julia, she was married thrice. Once for love, but her father forced her to marry someone else and they produced many children. The most famous one of this group was Agrapina. There was a woman that Octavius loved, Drusilla, but she was married to Tiberius Claudius Nero and she had two famous sons by him. Drusis was the second, handsome and charming. Two families closely allied, the Claudians and the Julians. Her next husband adopted the two sons. Germanicus was a great general and Tiberius envied him. He had to go to his brother’s line for an heir, so he adopted Germanicus (a military genius). He had nine children, and they were to be a source of some interest. Caligula had a sister who married into the Hanabarbas, and Agrapina was the sister of Caligula, and they had a sun, Lucius Domicius Hanabarbas. When the adoption system broke down, Caligula was absolutely insane and named no adoptive sons. Adoption was one of the more important words when it came to Roman rule.

b. Caligula did not adopt an heir and someone was chosen at his death. I think Claudius was made ruler. He did adopt a son, Lucius Domicius Hanibarbas, and he was called Nero.

c. Paul uses the word of ultimate genius. Nero, one of the most brutal rulers, came to the throne in the time of Paul. Excessively cruel.

d. Paul was a great genius. He had been wealthy; but he had other supergrace blessings to take the place of it.

3. The mechanics of adoption. Positional truth in Ephesians 1:4,5 gives us the mechanics. By means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit every believer enters into union with Christ. Positional truth is the mechanics of adoption. The word tithêmi (τίθημι) [pronounced TIHTH-ā-mee], the verb from thesis (θέσις) [pronounced THEH-sihs], is fulfilled by the baptism of the spirit - 1Corinthians 12:13. At the moment of salvation every believer is an adult son.

a. Even as He has chosen us for Himself in Him before the beginning of the world that we should be saints [royal family] and blameless before Him; in love, having pre-designed us for the purpose of adoption [which is a part of the salvation ministry of the Holy Spirit] as adult sons for Himself [which includes the power and position of a permanent royalty] (Ephesians 1:4–5)

b. God took all kinds of people and adopted us into the royal family. We are God’s heirs.

4. The time of adoption is the point of salvation - John 3:3,7; 1:12; Galatians 3:26; Titus 3:5. The son is like a slave until he turns 14 and then he will be given a toga and he will be recognized as an adult son. As a slave, that parallels our lives as unbelievers. We only glorify God through reaching spiritual maturity. The mechanics are the believer is put into union with Christ.

a. The son is under the authority of these various tutors appointed by his father and he is, in effect, a slave to them.

b. At age 14, he is given to toga virilus. Rome is how we understand these passages and doctrines.

6. God has a personal adoption of His royal family; and a national adoption (of Israel, with the 4 covenants).

7. The implications of adoption are freedom to have relationship with God and serve Him - Galatians 4:5. Remember that adoption as well as salvation in general gives us freedom toward God, not freedom in the human race. Therefore full time Christian service is nothing more or less than the believer free to have relationship with God - Romans 8:15.

8. There is also a future aspect of adoption - Romans 8:23, the resurrection body, minus the old sin nature, minus human good. In other words, the future aspect of adoption is ultimate sanctification.

9. Israel, as a nation, has a very special adoption. Israel has a future national adoption. Paul will be adopted as a Church Age believer; and as a Jew.

3. The mechanics of adoption. Positional truth in Ephesians 1:4,5 gives us the mechanics. By means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit every believer enters into union with Christ. Positional truth is the mechanics of adoption. The word tithêmi (τίθημι) [pronounced TIHTH-ā-mee], the verb from qesij, is fulfilled by the baptism of the spirit - 1Corinthians 12:13. At the moment of salvation every believer is an adult son.

4. The time of adoption is the point of salvation - John 3:3,7; 1:12; Galatians 3:26; Titus 3:5.

5. The implications of adoption are freedom to have relationship with God and serve Him - Galatians 4:5. Remember that adoption as well as salvation in general gives us freedom toward God, not freedom in the human race. Therefore full time Christian service is nothing more or less than the believer free to have relationship with God - Romans 8:15.

6. There is also a future aspect of adoption - Romans 8:23, the resurrection body, minus the old sin nature, minus human good. In other words, the future aspect of adoption is ultimate sanctification.

The Doctrine of Authority ———do the vocabulary and then insert it into doctrines

1. Definition; Authority is the legal power delegated by God under the laws of divine establishment whereby certain members of the human race have jurisdiction and responsibility for others. Authority exists in both the temporal and spiritual realm under the laws of divine establishment.

2. The principle of authority and the fall. Rejection of authority on the part of the woman contributed to her fall. The woman failed in the garden under two principles of authority. First she failed under the principle of the Word which was taught by Jesus Christ to both of them daily. Secondly, she failed under the principle of the authority of the man who was both divinely commissioned as ruler of the world, as well as the ruler of the woman under category #2 love. Under the original laws of divine establishment Adam was the ruler of planet earth. Not only so, but he was also the ruler of the woman. Both failures are emphasized in 2Timothy 2:11,12. So the first civilization really began with rejection of authority - revolution.

3. There are certain areas of authority in life which are established by God. These authorities are based upon the laws of divine establishment.

a. The first of these is God's direct authority. God's direct authority today is exercised only through the Word, not through dreams, visions, trances, through the hallucinations of those who claim they hear the voice of God, the delusions of those who are looking for some special revelation from God apart from the Bible - it is only through His Word.

c. The divine institutions of which there are four: volition, the authority in the individual usually defined in terms of human freedom; the husband over the wife; the parents over the children; government over people.

d. There is academic authority, regardless of whether it is a public school, a private school, a college, university, a graduate school, a Christian school.

e. Athletics. Coaches ought to be the best disciplinarians in the world. They ought to have the right to remove people from the team, they should have very strict code standards, dress standards, morality standards, anything the coach wants. And he should be backed up to the hilt.

f. In business. The people who invest the money ought to set up the policy for an individual business - not the government and not the employees.

g. In the military. RHIP (Rank has its privileges). The senior officer has authority over the junior officer regardless of any other set of circumstances.

a. u(pakouw means to obey or to be subject to - Matthew 8:27; Luke 8:25; Romans 6:16; Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20,22; 1Peter 3:6.

b. u(potassw means subordinate to or to obey, to be in submission to - Romans 8:20; 1Corinthians 14:32; Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18; James 4:17; 1Peter 5:5.

5. Commandments from God. God has certain commandments directed to the believer for obedience - Deuteronomy 11:27; 1Samuel 15:22; Jeremiah 7:23; 11:4,7. These commandments s

1. Definition: Authority is the legal power delegated by God under the paws of divine establishment whereby certain members of the human race have jurisdiction and responsibility over and for others. Authority exists in both the temporal and spiritual realms of life.

2. The first principle is authority and the fall. One of the reasons for and one of the areas of vulnerability in the original failure of our human parents, Adam and the woman, is rejection of duly constituted authority. The woman fell because she rejected authority. Genesis 3. She failed under two principles of authority. One was a spiritual principle, the other a temporal. The spiritual principle: the authority of the Word as taught by the Lord Jesus Christ. The temporal principle: Authority of the man who was both the divinely commissioned ruler of the world, and therefore was her ruler; and also being her right man he ruled her. The failure of the woman to accept the authority of the man is emphasized in 2Timothy 2:11,12.

c. There is authority under the divine institutions. Each divine institution has an authority. Divine institution #1 is volition related to mentality of the soul. Divine institution #2 - right man, right woman - the authority is in the right man. That is why when a woman responds to her right man she is the glory of the right man. If she doesn't respond then she's anything you want to call her that's bad! Divine institution #3, the family. Parents are the authority. This is where the woman gets into the picture as an authority and as a teacher. Every woman who is a mother is an authority over her children. d) Divine institution #4, nationalism: Government has authority over people.

e. Business has a duly constituted executive. One of the big problems in business today is lack of authority among executives, whether it is a boss or a foreman or a manager, or whatever it is.

a. u(pakouw, u(p means "under"; a)kouw means to listen, to listen under the authority of someone and finally comes to mean to obey, to be subject to. it is found in Matthew 8:27; Luke 8:25; Romans 6:16; Ephesians 6:1; Colossians 3:20, 22; 1Peter 3:6.

b. u(potassw, the military word for authority. tassw means "ranks"; u(po means to be under in the ranks. It comes to mean to be in submission to, to be subordinate to, to be under the authority of. It is found in Romans 8:20; 1Corinthians 14:32; Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18; James 4:17; 1Peter 5:5.

c. peiqw also means, among other things, to obey. Peiqw has different meanings in the verb form, depending on the context. It can also mean to believe, also to have confidence. But one of its basic connotations is obedience. It means to obey in Galatians 3:1; 5:7; Hebrews 13:17; James 3:3.

d. peiqarxew, a)rxew means to rule and so this is a very strong word for obedience usually used in connection with government with the laws of establishment, as in Titus 3:1 obey the magistrates."

5. The commandments from God principle. Every time we have a commandment from God stated in the scripture obviously this is authority. God has certain commandments, for example, which are directed toward believers and demand obedience. Such commandments are found in Deuteronomy 11:27; 1Samuel 15:22; Jeremiah 7:23; 11:4,7. These commandments stem from the omniscience and the sovereignty of God and they are to be executed by the believer through the function of GAP.

6. The scientific laws indicate God's authority over nature. Divine laws have been established in the function of nature and the principle is that nature obeys God. In fact, the obedience of nature far exceeds our obedience because obviously nature has no soul, nature has no volition. Mark 8:27; Matthew 4:41; Luke 8:25.

7. The authority of God over angels. Angels are creatures, super creatures greater than we are by creation. Angelic creatures are subject to divine authority, even the fallen angels and even Satan who is an angelic creature. Mark 1:27; 1Peter 3:22.

a. The pastor is the ultimate authority in the local church, 1Corinthians 16:15,16; 2Corinthians 10:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Hebrews 13:7, 17. Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper..."

b. The authority of the right man over the right woman. It provides great happiness in the realm of category #2 for the right woman. Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18.

c. The authority in business. Principle: Proper authority in business stabilises the economy. Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22.

d. Freedom through military victory is based on authority in the military establishment, Nehemiah 4:13-15.

9. Children and authority. "Children," anyone from zero to 18 or 21, but the word also applies to anyone who is 80 and still living under the parents' roof.

a. The word "children" is a vocative plural of teknon and it is an excellent choice of word because age doesn't make the difference with teknon. Teknon plus the definite article means "the children." And that is even stronger because it means age doesn't make the difference. The word used here is not brefoj, which means baby on mother's breast, it is teknon which is an ageless child.

b. Under the laws of divine establishment the basic authority in life is the parents and the home over the child.

c. Parents, therefore, become basic authority in life. This authority has the responsibility to train the children and orient them to the functions and principles of life.

d. The parents are not only responsible for food, shelter and clothing but they are also responsible for training as well.

e. This training or inculcation of children must include the fundamentals of freedom as well as the basic principles of authority. One depends on the other, these are not separated. Establishment makes it possible to have freedom and without establishment there is no freedom because under freedom you have the right to pursue a course in life, the right to your privacy, the right to property, etc.

f. Respect for authority, for the privacy of others, for the property of others, are basic concepts of life.

g. Add to this respect for law and order, respect for country under the principles of patriotism, instruction of all phases of the laws of establishment.

h. Add to this the responsibility of Christian parents to evangelize their own children. In addition to that parents provide doctrinal teaching, good common sense from doctrine. Deuteronomy 6:6-9; 7:9.

i. All children must be oriented to the local church and they must be taught to recognise the authority of the pastor-teacher. They must be taught to concentrate on his message, not his personality - Hebrews 13:7,17. tem from the omniscience and the sovereignty of God and are executed by the believer through the function of GAP.

10. There is also authority over nature. Divine laws have been established to control nature. Nature, in effect, obeys God - Matthew 8:27; Mark 4:41; Luke 8:25.

11. There is authority in the human realm. The pastor is the ultimate authority in the local church - 1Corinthians 16:15,16; 2Corinthians 10:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Hebrews 13:7,17. For example, the authority of the right man provides great happiness in the realm of category #2 love - Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18. There is the authority in business which stabilises economy. When you have free enterprise and when management and capital has the authority you always and inevitably have great economic blessing and prosperity - Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22. Another area of authority: freedom through military victory is based upon authority in the military establishment - Nehemiah 4:13-15.

a. Authority is defined as the power to command, to judge, or to act by person or person in whom authority is vested.

b. Authority or authorities applies to persons having legal power to make and enforce the law, to make policy, or to make decisions.

c. Authority is also an accepted source of information, as in the case of the authority of the pastor-teacher to provide doctrinal or theological information from the Scripture.

d. Authority can be defined in terms of an expert on a subject. Under the laws of divine establishment, authority is defined as that legal power, delegated by God, whereby certain persons have jurisdiction and responsibility for others.

2. All authority in life is divided into two general categories: legitimate and illegitimate authority.

a. Legitimate authority is established according to Scripture, the laws of the land, or in accordance with established rules, principles, or standards. God has delegated legitimate authority in two categories.

(1) The temporal realm-the laws of divine establishment. There are four basic concepts of establishment freedom.

(a) Freedom is the right of self-determination from human volition apart from violation of law or authority.

(b) Privacy is the right to hold opinions make decisions and engage in actions which do not interfere with the rights of others.

(d) Authority, enforcement of law, which is the guardian of freedom, privacy, property, and life.

(2) The spiritual realm-under spiritual laws for the function of a particular dispensation. Spiritual freedom is the function of the believer while filled with the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere. Spiritual freedom is taught in such passages as:

(a) John 8:32 You shall know the truth [Bible doctrine], and the truth shall make you free [spiritually].

(c) Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Keep standing fast, and do not become entangled again in the yoke of slavery [living in the cosmic system].

(3) Temporal and spiritual freedom relate to the two categories of authorities. The primary purpose of temporal freedom is to be evangelized.

b. Illegitimate authority is illegal, unlawful authority, generally established by unlawful or illegal force, the attainment of power without the lawful right to possess that power. Illegitimate authority is that authority established by Satan through the function of the cosmic system. It is evident in the erroneous seizure of power, the rise of dictators and tyranny throughout history. Illegitimate authority is delegated by Satan as the ruler of this world in three categories: tyranny, false doctrine, and power struggles.

a. God has delegated authority through His mandates in both the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 11:27 1Samuel 15:22 Jeremiah 7:25, 11:4,7 Zech 6:15, and the New Testament.

b. God has authority over nature, and nature obeys God, Matthew 8:27 Mark 4:41 Luke 8:25 Romans 8:20-22.

d. The pastor-teacher and church officers have authority over the congregation in the local church, 1Corinthians 16:15-6 2Corinthians 10:8 1Thessalonians 5:12 Hebrews 13:7, 17 Isaiah 54:17.

e. Government has authority over its people to protect the sanctity of their freedom, property, and human life.

f. The husband has authority over the wife. The husband's authority over his wife provides great happiness in category two love, Ephesians 5:22 Colossians 3:18. This stabilizes that love.

j. Management has authority over labor. Authority in business stabilizes the economy, Ephesians 6:5 Colossians 3:22.

k. Freedom through military victory is based on the principle of the authority of military rank, Nehemiah 4:13-15.

4. Freedom and authority must coexist. You cannot have freedom without authority. Freedom without authority is anarchy. Authority without freedom is tyranny. Freedom includes the right of privacy, the right of self-determination, the right to hold your own opinions, and the sacredness of property and life. Establishment freedom is the heritage of physical birth.

5. It is inevitable that arrogance will challenge any legitimate system of authority. Then tyranny results. This is Satanic in nature. For Satan as the ruler of this world constantly seeks to do everything possible to overthrow the divinely-delegated authority that brings freedom and blessing to individuals and nations.

6. Authority has been an issue since the beginning of the human race. The fall was rejection of authority. The woman rejected the authority of God and Bible doctrine and accepted the authority of Satan. She also rejected the authority of her right man, 1Timothy 2:11-12. Man accepted the authority of the woman and threw his delegated authority away.

a. Self-determination is the authority of your own soul with emphasis on your volition. With freedom to make decisions comes responsibility.

b. Marriage is the authority of the husband over the wife, Ephesians 5:22 Colossians 3:18.

c. Family is the authority of the parents over the children, Ephesians 6:1-3 Colossians 3:20.

b. The existence of privacy as the environment for freedom and self-determination.

c. The right to possess property; to enjoy, benefit, or make profit from things acquired.

d. Authority-the power delegated by God to command, to train, to teach, or to act as an agent for a principle.

e. Human life-man must possess human life to exercise his rights and functions under the concept of freedom.

1. The Greek word HUPAKOUO means to obey, to be subject to. Romans 6:16 Ephesians 6:1 Colossians 3:20 Matthew 8:27 Luke 8:25.

2. The Greek word HUPOTASSO means to be subordinate to. Romans 8:20 1Corinthians 14:32 Ephesians 5:22 Colossians 3:18.

1. Response to authority is a function of human volition. The function of authority is a matter of personal volition. The acceptability of authority in this life is dependent upon human volition.

2. Human freedom provides the option of accepting or rejecting authority in life, both legitimate and illegitimate. While God has delegated legitimate authority in life, these authorities are useless if human volition does not accept them.

3. All legitimate authority in life is delegated by God through two categories of truth: the laws of divine establishment, and the content of Bible doctrine.

4. All illegitimate authority in life is based upon the function of man's arrogance in the cosmic system of Satan. Power lust is one of the motivating factors in arrogance.

5. Arrogance results from the rejection of legitimate authority in life. Such arrogance is the source of evil and psychosis. Rejection of authority causes people to degenerate, either morally or immorally.

a. For example, the wife who rejects the authority of her husband becomes uncontrollable in society.

b. The most awful and awesome mistake people make is the rejection of the authority of their parents. Your attitude toward their authority determines whether you ever grow up or not. Predominant rejection of authority of parents destroys a society.

e. Rejection of all the above authorities means you have the potential of becoming a criminal. It means you will reject the authority of the police officer, the judge on the bench, and of management. Such a miserable person makes those in his periphery miserable.

f. Rejection of authority does carry responsibility, and results in a life of misery, unhappiness, disaster, and no human or spiritual self- esteem.

6. While God has delegated authority in life to such legitimate categories as government, husbands, parents, teachers, coaches, public officers, judges, and management, this authority is useless apart from human consent. You can be bullied into accepting authority, but it does no good in the long run. What makes authority work is human consent, where rational human beings understand the importance of the principle of authority, regardless of whether they like the personality or not.

a. For example, the husband has legitimate authority over his wife. But his authority is useless unless his wife, from her own free will, recognizes and accepts it. Regardless of whether she is motivated by love or something else, she must accept his authority. Personal love does not accept human authority unless the authority agrees with it and does what it wants. But as soon as the authority says "no," then the personal love is gone. Without impersonal love, the woman resents the authority of the man, and therefore becomes an uncontrollable woman.

b. While parents have authority in the home, this authority is useless apart from training and discipline, which eventuates in the child accepting the parents' authority. While young, children must recognize the authority of their parents. As a result, they will develop love and respect for their parents later on. But if you reject the authority of your parents, you will be a misfit in society. You never really grow up until you accept authority.

c. Legitimate government has authority over its citizenry, but that authority is useless apart from human consent. Human consent is expressed in this country by voting for someone you think will do the job. The important factor is the consent of the governed. Apart from human consent, there is revolution, civil war, violence, terrorism, crime, dictatorships, slavery, and other functions of evil.

d. The biggest thing that keeps you from growing up is your rejection of authority, your lack of consent to submit to necessary authority.

7. Therefore, legitimate authority is only effective where human volition responds to it under the principle of freedom.

a. When we choose for legitimate authority, we are blessed both individually and collectively.

b. However, when people through arrogance and power madness gravitate to the cosmic system, they use their volition to make decisions from a position of weakness which has both personal and national repercussions.

c. Every person is a product of their own decisions. Good decisions from a position of strength accept authority and develop capacity for life. Bad decisions from a position of weakness reject authority and fulfill passages dealing with the laws of volitional responsibility, Hosea 8:7, Gal 6:7 Prov 22:8 Colossians 3:25.

8. Believers who gravitate to a life of fulfillment of lust and arrogance have used their free will to ruin their lives. Young people who resist the authority of their parents have developed a habit which will destroy their lives.

a. How does the rise of dictatorship and evil happen? People use their own free will to gravitate to a system of evil power, especially in time of historical disaster. Such small groups as the Bolsheviks and Nazis have controlled millions of people because the people surrendered to them with their own free will, gravitating to a system of power.

b. When people gravitate to the power of the divine dynasphere, they use their own volition to make good decisions for legitimate authority, and inevitably receive divine blessing as they become mature believers.

c. However, when believers gravitate to the power of the cosmic system, they use their volition to make bad decisions from a position of weakness. Inevitably, they give their authority to evil leaders with disastrous consequences.

d. Evil has no authority apart from human consent. We are the products of our own decisions. We are constantly assigning authority to evil people who represent the cosmic system. This is how dictators become oppressors of the people. This explains the rise of terror in the French Revolution, as well as the rise of Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler.

e. In times of Tribulation, the free will of man often chooses for an alleged or apparent strong man. By so doing, man establishes the authority of evil in dictatorship.

f. Therefore in history, disaster is the result of individual and collective decisions of people. People are the products of their own volition.

g. Good decisions from a position of strength place the believer in the directive will of God. The believer is both protected and blessed in the directive will of God. The winners in history never deviate from the divine authority of God's directive will and His mandates, which lead the believer to spiritual maturity, the establishment of a pivot, and the manufacture of invisible heroes.

h. When believers reject authority in childhood and adolescence, they will reject the authority of Bible doctrine, which is tantamount to rejecting God's protection in His directive will. Destruction of the authority of God in your life is a guarantee of a disastrous life.

1. There are three categories of divine sovereignty that function in human history.

a. The directive will of God comprises divine mandates to believers and unbelievers.

b. The permissive will of God in which God permits the function of free will in opposition to divine mandates. The permissive will of God always functions in the face of negative volition.

c. The overruling will of God means that God prevents self- destruction or national destruction because of a pivot of mature believers.

2. The function of the three categories of the will of God is important to understand.

3. Under the directive will of God, God has a plan for believers' lives. In our dispensation, it is the protocol plan. Under the directive will of God, He has a system of order for all humanity, called the laws of divine establishment.

4. Under the permissive will of God, negative volition is permitted, but divine justice provides awesome and painful punishment.

5. Under the overruling will of God, the minority is always right. The minority is defined as the pivot of mature believers whose execution of the protocol plan of God delivers the nation from the fifth cycle of discipline.

6. Human volition can override the directive will of God, resulting in the permissive will of God becoming operational.

a. The minute you disobey any mandate of God or sin, you have overruled the directive will of God, which is not to sin. Therefore, when we sin we come under the permissive will of God.

b. Under the directive will of God, there is no discipline. Under the permissive will of God, there is divine discipline for us. Therefore, the result is suffering under the law of volitional responsibility plus national punishment, illustrated by the five cycles of discipline.

c. The permissive will of God is based on the fact that human volition and human freedom are the means of resolving the angelic conflict. The permissive will of God permits human volition to operate under the concept of human freedom. This volition either makes a nation great or destroys it.

7. When the directive will of God is rejected, the permissive will of God is activated.

a. This explains why rebound is so important, for when we sin, only the use of rebound can put us back under the directive will of God and back into the divine dynasphere.

b. When you're outside the divine dynasphere, you're outside the directive will of God and under the permissive will of God.

8. So when the permissive will of God becomes activated, resulting in divine punishment, the only hope is the overruling will of God.

a. Our nation is now under the permissive will of God because so many people have rejected the laws of divine establishment, rejected every form of authority, and believers have rejected Bible doctrine. So God permits us to be alive and to be punished.

9. The overruling will of God can only be activated in national emergency by the existence of the pivot of mature believers or invisible heroes who have executed the protocol plan of God.

10. The believer is designed to function under the directive will of God. When the believer rejects the authority of God's Word and its mandates, he has destroyed the authority of God in his life and has reverted to the cosmic system and the authority of Satan.

1. While believers positive toward doctrine advance to maturity, execute the protocol plan of God, and become invisible heroes, a positive believer cannot maintain and continue momentum unless he maintains and continues the basis for doing so, which is authority orientation. We believers are the only hope for our nation.

2. Perception of doctrine, the function of post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation is based on a principle of authority. Perception of doctrine is the only way to advance spiritually. Such perception absolutely demands authority orientation. Why were there so many mature believers in Rome? Authority-orientation.

a. There is no way you can read your Bible for yourself and understand and execute God's protocol plan. That's why God has given the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher, Ephesians 4:11.

4. Authority orientation is honor and humility. The greater the authority over people, the greater the responsibility to people. No matter how high we go in life, there is always higher authority that must be recognized in order to perpetuate humility as orientation to life.

1. Freedom is never an isolated entity, but is four interrelated concepts forming one category and single principle. The four concepts which form the one category are freedom, privacy, property, and authority orientation. These provide everyone in a national entity to have the same opportunity for self- determination.

b. Privacy is a principle related to the honor code function of the royal priesthood.

c. Property is sacred under the laws of divine establishment for the function of life.

2. There cannot be an attack on any one of the four concepts or principles without destroying the entire concept of freedom.

a. An attack on property, like socialism or the welfare state, destroys freedom.

b. Slavery or gossip attacks and destroys privacy, and therefore eliminates freedom.

c. Freedom itself is lost through the demon possession of the unbeliever, as well as drug addiction, erroneous thought, demon influence of the believer in the cosmic system.

d. The most subtle attack on freedom originates in either the rejection of establishment or authority in the royal family of God. Under the laws of divine establishment, authority is defined as the legal power delegated by God whereby certain members of the human race have jurisdiction and responsibility for others. Such areas of authority include:

(a) Divine institution #1, your own free will, is the first authority in your life. Decision is a part of respect for the authority in your own soul. Your volition is your authority to make good decisions from a position of strength or bad decisions from a position of weakness.

(b) In divine institution #2, marriage, the husband has authority over the wife.

(d) In divine institution #4, various systems of government have authority over the people they govern.

(a) School authority in both academic and athletic administration, i.e., teachers and coaches.

(b) Economic authority resides in business executives, investors, and management.

(d) Military authority resides in commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers. Rank is absolutely necessary.

a. Temporal freedom is authorized by the laws of divine establishment. It includes your privacy, the sacredness of your property, and your life.

b. Spiritual freedom is authorized by the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, related to life in the divine dynasphere. Only in the divine dynasphere does spiritual freedom really function.

2. Spiritual freedom is related to believers only, and only those believers who reside inside the divine dynasphere, under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine.

3. In fact, all spiritual freedom is confined to life inside your very own palace, the operational-type divine dynasphere.

4. The privacy of spiritual freedom is the universal priesthood of the believer which exists only during the Church Age.

5. The purpose of spiritual freedom is the execution of the protocol plan of God and subsequent glorification of God through the function of the invisible hero.

6. The function of this freedom is related to the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere under two principles.

a. The filling of the Spirit can only occur inside the divine dynasphere. It is mandated in Ephesians 5:18 and Gal 5:16.

b. The perception of Bible doctrine is the ministry of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere, John 14:26, 16:12-14 1Corinthians 2:9-16, 1John 2:27.

7. Spiritual freedom without authority is ignorance of Bible doctrine. The authority for spiritual freedom is the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher in the communication of Bible doctrine.

1. Spiritual authority resides in the Word of God and in its communicator, the pastor-teacher, as well as in deacons to whom the pastor delegates authority. The evangelizt also has authority.

2. Divine authority is stated in the context of the Word of God. This authority is delegated to the pastor-teacher of the local church. The evangelizt has authority over those unbelievers to whom he communicates the Gospel. Delegated authority is given to those with administrative gifts in a church.

3. The pastor-teacher's authority is limited to his own sheep, though his sheep need not be under his face-to-face ministry. This can take place on television, radio or by tapes. Those who do not like this are often people who cannot hold a congregation together.

4. God has provided an umbrella of divine authority over the mechanics of post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation in the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. The Holy Spirit must fill the believer for perception of doctrine.

5. God has also provided an umbrella of human authority over the mechanics of post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation in the teaching function of the pastor in the local church, either face-to-face or non-face to face.

6. The royal family honor code demands authority orientation in the form of academic discipline when the pastor is teaching Bible doctrine.

a. This academic discipline is the authority which the believer imposes upon himself during the teaching of the Word of God so that others may be free to learn without distraction.

b. This academic discipline includes no talking, no unnecessary movement, or anything that would break the concentration of those positive toward Bible doctrine.

c. The royal family honor code recognizes common sense and good manners, thoughtfulness of others, and respect for the Word of God.

7. Inevitably, the issue is the mystery doctrine of the Church Age perceived and metabolized in your soul.

8. This issue demands communication of doctrine from the pastor-teacher and perception by believers. Do not be confused by the pastor’s personality. Hebrews 13:13, 17

a. However, the pastor cannot communicate what he does not know. Therefore, his life must be devoted to studying and teaching the Word of God. What he teaches should be the result of many agonizing hours of study under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. Therefore, you are required to respect and listen to the teaching, at which point you choose whether to metabolize it or not.

b. This means the pastor's personality is not the issue in authority orientation and the function of the royal family honor code.

c. Never permit preoccupation with the pastor's feet of clay or his personality to hinder your perception of Bible doctrine.

d. Hebrews 13:17 Keep obeying those [pastors] who themselves are ruling over you, and submit to their authority. For these same pastors keep watching for the benefit of your souls, as those who have to render an account. Keep obeying them, in order that they may do this accounting with happiness, and not with groaning, for this is unprofitable for you.

e. The pastor is responsible to the Lord and not to the congregation. Therefore, when he gets out of line, he gets double discipline.

f. It is inevitable that certain members of the congregation will become dissatisfied with their pastor. Therefore, they will seek to discredit him, to judge, malign, and slander him. Therefore, in Isaiah 54:17 there is a warning not to tamper with God's communicator, No weapon which is formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and His vindication is from Me,' decrees the Lord.

g. The job profile of the pastor is given in Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 1:23-29; 1Timothy 2:24-26, 3:1-9; Titus 1:6-9; Philippians 2:16-30; 1Peter 5:1-4; Ephesians 3:7-13.

a. 2Corinthians 10:8 For even if I should rub it in about our authority which God gave for your edification, and not to destroy you, I shall not feel ashamed.

b. Hebrews 13:17 Keep obeying those pastors who themselves are ruling over you, and submit to their authority; for these same pastors keep watching for the benefit of your souls as those who have to render an account. Keep obeying them in order that they may do this [accounting] with happiness and not with groaning, for this [failure to accept pastor's authority] is unprofitable to you.

c. 1Thessalonians 5:12 But we request of you, brethren, that you know [respect the authority of] those pastor-teachers who work hard among you [studying and teaching], who have command over you in the Lord, and who give you instruction [admonition].

d. 2Corinthians 13:10 For this reason, I am writing these things while absent in order that when I am present, I may not use severity in compatibility with the authority which God has given to me for the purpose of your edification, and not for the purpose of destroying you.

b. The pastor is responsible to the Lord for the function of his ministry. Therefore, when a pastor is out of line, he receives double discipline from the Lord for his failure (unless believers judge him, and then they get his double discipline).

c. It is inevitable that a certain number of believers will become disenchanted with their pastor-teacher for many different reasons, some legitimate and some not.

d. The temptation will arise, under these conditions, to slander, malign, judge, and to enter into a conspiracy against him.

(2) You are disciplined for the arrogance of assuming you can do a better job of judging the pastor than God can.

(3) Discipline for the sin or sins named in the gossip, maligning, or slander are transferred to you.

f. Since the pastor gets double discipline, triple-compound discipline times two intensifies your discipline beyond anything you can stand.

g. So if for any reason you are dissatisfied, the best advice is to quietly leave that church and find a church to your satisfaction.

h. The congregation of a local church does have a right to change its pastor, but this must be done in compatibility with 1Corinthians 14:40, which says Let all things be done decently and in order." That excludes conspiracy, slander, gossip, maligning, hatred, etc.

a. The job profile of the pastor or minister is found in enough passages so that everyone can understand the role of the pastor; e.g., Ephesians 3:7-13, 4:11-16 Colossians 1:23-29 1Timothy 2:24-26, 3:1-9 Titus 1:6-9 Philippians 2:16- 30 1Peter 5:1-4.

b. The authority of the protocol plan of God is the mystery doctrine of the Church Age recorded in the New Testament epistles.

c. The authority of the pastor as the communicator of the protocol plan is stated directly in the New Testament epistles. The authority of the pastor is established through the faithful teaching of the mystery doctrine.

(2) The positive volition of the royal family of God directed toward the Bible teaching of the pastor.

e. The function of human authority is a matter of personal volition or human consent. The pastor's communication demands a hearing, but he cannot force you to accept or reject it. (See point 3.)

The verb “baptize” and the noun “baptism” are Greek words that are not translated but transliterated. We know the etymology because of the use of the word in ancient Greek literature. They are words which have come down to us through three different Greek languages over a period of 1000 years. Before these words got into the New Testament they were a thousand years old. So we know exactly what they mean. The Greek word for baptize means to identify one thing with another, to identify with “something else.”

Homer, in the IX book of The Odyssey, used the word baptize in his analogy of the spear entering the eye of the Cyclops and with the immersing of hot steel in water by the smith: the steel was identified with the water.

Herodotus used the word baptize in baptizing a new spear in the blood of a pig which had been sacrificed to the god of war: the spear was identified with its intent, to draw blood. When the Spartans went to war they always took an oath to kill the enemy and in doing so they plunged it into the pig’s blood. That was called the baptism of the spear. It was now a warrior’s spear, it had touched blood. So the point of the spear, which is something, goes into something else (pig’s blood) which has been offered as a sacrifice to the god of war.

Euripides used baptize in identifying a sunken ship with the sea. The “something else” was the bottom of the sea. He said the ship was baptized in the sea. Thus, the connotation of the word is always identification with “something else” and that is what baptizo means. It means to put something into something else, and that is all.

We know this because there are seven baptisms found in the Bible. Four of them are dry and three of them are wet, but in each of these baptisms something or someone is identified with something else. That is what baptizo really means. “Baptize” is not an English word, and the only way to translate it is give it it’s proper meaning: to identify, to identify something with something else.

To summarize: Baptizo or baptise means to identify. That is the translation of the noun and “to identify” is the verb. This was true in the days of Homer. Homer used these words in the sense of identification. Then in the days of the great Greek historians of the fifth century BC, Herodotus and Thucydides used it. Euripides used it. And always with great consistency the verb and the nouns have meant identification. They connote identification. Something is identified with something else. Homer talks about the crafty Ulysses putting the sharpened beam into the eye of Cyclops. he says the plunging of the beam made a hissing noise like a man who smelt iron when he dips the iron into the water, and he used the word bapto, identifies it, so that the iron is tempered. So the word has been used extensively so there was never any excuse for a transliteration. The translation should be “identification.”

Baptize means to identify: To be made one with. It means something so identified with something else that its nature or character is changed, or represents a real change that has already taken place.

a. Baptism of Moses — 1Corinthians 10:1,2. The children of Israel are identified with Moses and the cloud as they pass through the Red Sea.

b. Baptism of the cross or cup — Matthew 20:22; 2Corinthians 5:21. Jesus Christ drank the cup filled with our sins — identified with our sin and bore it on the cross. He was made sin for us — 1Peterer 2:24.

c. Baptism of the Holy Spirit — (Believer), 1Corinthians 12:13. The believer at the point of salvation is placed into the body of Christ. He is identified then as a believer, as a Christian — Acts 1:5; Romans 6:3,4; Galatians 3; Colossians 2:12, Ephesians 4:5.

d. Baptism of fire — (Unbelievers), the baptism of judgement on all believers: Battle of Armageddon, Matthew 25:31, 33; 3:11; Luke 3:16; 2Thessalonians 1:7-9.

2. Ritual Baptisms: (Representative Identification) Water is used. Water is symbolic of something else, but the individual is really identified with the water.

a. Baptism of John — Matthew 3:6, 11a. Water is symbolic of the Kingdom of God which John preached. People, when baptized by John were indicating, in effect: “I have previously believed in Christ, I am now symbolizing that identification with His Kingdom by baptism.”

b. Baptism of Jesus. Unique Baptism. Water was used. Jesus Christ was NOT a sinner. Water is symbolic of the Father’s will. Jesus Christ identified Himself with the Father’s will in the execution of salvation — Matthew 3:13-17. We cannot “follow the Lord in baptism” as to His purpose (securing our redemption) but can duplicate the mode of His

c. Baptism of the believer in the Church Age — Matthew 28:9. Water represents the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers are identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. It symbolizes retroactive and current positional truth. It is the ritual of the real baptism of the Holy Spirit. It is thus a picture of Spirit baptism.

i. The person going into the water is identified with the water, and he is saying in effect, “I am identified with Him in His death.”

ii. The person coming out of the water is identified with the air which represents: Identification with Christ in His resurrection; The believer giving testimony to current positional truth — allowing His resurrection life to live through us.

iii. Ritual without reality is meaningless. Water baptism is the ritual (picture) of the real (Baptism of the Holy Spirit). The believer needs doctrine before baptism, i.e. positional truth: retroactive positional truth , current positional truth, experiential positional truth, human good versus divine good. He should understand the difference between relationship and fellowship.

iv. The believer was baptized in the early church very soon after salvation. Reason: Because as soon as the individual was saved he was given a long lesson in Bible doctrine. Immediately upon understanding the basics the individual was baptized. An individual should never be baptized until he understands the doctrine behind the ritual.

1. The verb “baptize” and the noun “baptism” are Greek words that are not translated but transliterated. We know the etymology because of the use of the word in ancient Greek literature. They are words which have come down to us through three different Greek languages over a period of 1000 years. Before these words got into the New Testament they were a thousand years old. So we know exactly what they mean. The Greek word for baptize means to identify one thing with another, to identify with “something else.”

2. Homer, in the IX book of The Odyssey, used the word baptize in his analogy of the spear entering the eye of the Cyclops and with the immersing of hot steel in water by the smith: the steel was identified with the water.

3. Herodotus used the word baptize in baptizing a new spear in the blood of a pig which had been sacrificed to the god of war: the spear was identified with its intent, to draw blood. When the Spartans went to war they always took an oath to kill the enemy and in doing so they plunged it into the pig’s blood. That was called the baptism of the spear. It was now a warrior’s spear, it had touched blood. So the point of the spear, which is something, goes into something else (pig’s blood) which has been offered as a sacrifice to the god of war.

4. Euripides used baptize in identifying a sunken ship with the sea. The “something else” was the bottom of the sea. He said the ship was baptized in the sea. Thus, the connotation of the word is always identification with “something else” and that is what baptizo means. It means to put something into something else, and that is all.

5. We know this because there are seven baptisms found in the Bible. Four of them are dry and three of them are wet, but in each of these baptisms something or someone is identified with something else. That is what baptizo really means. “Baptize” is not an English word, and the only way to translate it is give it it’s proper meaning: to identify, to identify something with something else.

6. To summarize: Baptizo or baptise means to identify. That is the translation of the noun and “to identify” is the verb. This was true in the days of Homer. Homer used these words in the sense of identification. Then in the days of the great Greek historians of the fifth century BC, Herodotus and Thucydides used it. Euripides used it. And always with great consistency the verb and the nouns have meant identification. They connote identification. Something is identified with something else. Homer talks about the crafty Ulysses putting the sharpened beam into the eye of Cyclops. he says the plunging of the beam made a hissing noise like a man who smelt iron when he dips the iron into the water, and he used the word bapto, identifies it, so that the iron is tempered. So the word has been used extensively so there was never any excuse for a transliteration. The translation should be “identification.”

A. Baptize means to identify: To be made one with. It means something so identified with something else that its nature or character is changed, or represents a real change that has already taken place.

a. Baptism of Moses — 1Corinthians 10:1,2. The children of Israel are identified with Moses and the cloud as they pass through the Red Sea.

d. Baptism of fire — (Unbelievers), the baptism of judgement on all believers: Battle of Armageddon, Matthew 25:31, 33; 3:11; Luke 3:16; 2Thessalonians 1:7-9.

2. Ritual Baptisms: (Representative Identification) Water is used. Water is symbolic of something else, but the individual is really identified with the water.

i. The person going into the water is identified with the water, and he is saying in effect, “I am identified with Him in His death.”

The first use of the word “cup” is in Matthew 26:39 (The Cross). The cup contained the sins of the world. Jesus Christ was sinless — 2Corinthians 5:21. The Father judged those sons — Isaiah 53:4-6.

Christ drank from the cup — John 18:11. Drinking from the cup is a picture of the judgement of God’s wrath. which fell upon the Son when He drank (when He bore the sins of the world). God’s wrath is against sin but the sins were poured out upon Christ who drank the cup to the bottom (bore the sins of the whole world), therefore the Father’s wrath was poured out upon Him.

The Father rejected human good for future judgement. The individual chooses human good for divine good (the cross). The work of Christ on the cross was divine good. If one rejects divine good (Christ’s work) they stand on their own merit (human good). Anyone standing on human good will have a cup from which he will drink, containing the wrath of God.

Jesus Christ deliberately drank from the cup: volition of His humanity. He received the judgement for our sins.

The alternative: Either accept Christ drinking the cup for you on the cross, or accept the wrath of God on yourself. If you reject the cross, then the alternative is the wrath of God.

In the Tribulation Jesus Christ becomes the judge and He pours out His vials (drinking cups) of judgement on religious unbelievers — Revelation 16.

When He comes, second advent: Unbelievers will drink the cup because they did not accept His drinking cup for them.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit did not occur in the Old Testament or in any previous dispensation — Acts 1:5, future tense. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was prophesied by John the Baptist — Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16. The mechanics for the baptism of the Holy Spirit is given in 1Corinthians 12:13. The Holy Spirit enters the believer into union with Christ at the moment of salvation. It happened the first time on the Day of Pentecost.

The unification of believers is dependent upon the baptism of the Holy Spirit (this only occurs at the moment of salvation). The implication of the baptism H/S are given in Galatians 3:26-28. Principle: All social distinctions are destroyed. The principle of retroactive identification is brought out in Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit begins the Church Age — Compare: Matthew 16:18 (Says the Church is future); Acts 1:5; 2:3. Key verses: Acts 11:15-17 — says the baptism of the Holy Spirit took place on the Day of Pentecost. 1Corinthians 12:13, “one body”: the body of Christ, Colossians 1:18.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the basis for positional truth — Ephesians 1:3-6. It is not an experience, it is NOT speaking in tongues or ecstatics. The aorist tense of 1Corinthians 12:13, once and for all, plus the phrase “we all” (all who believe), not just some.

— we are actually looking at the ritual related to this spiritual circumcision. “Buried” is the aorist passive participle from the compound verb sunqaptw. Sun means “with,” qaptw means to be buried. It should be translated “Having been buried with.” It is an aorist tense: point of salvation. Passive voice: you received this burial, you didn’t bury yourself.

“with him” — we have the locative of a)utoj, a pronoun used here for Jesus Christ. It is in the locative form to indicate union with Christ — “Having been buried with him” or “in him.” This is the positional truth of Romans 6.

Then we have a prepositional phrase, the preposition e)n plus the instrumental of baptisma. Baptisma is in the instrumental case — “Having been buried in him by means of the baptism.” There is a definite article here.

We have to remember that baptisma which is a noun, baptizw which is a verb, and baptw which is a verb, are all words which have come down to us through three different Greek languages over a period of 1000 years. Before these words got into the New Testament they were a thousand years old. So we know exactly what they mean. The worst thing that ever happened to the Christian church in the English speaking world is when these words were transliterated. For example, baptizw is transliterated “baptise.” But it isn’t a translation. Only a translation tells us what is going on. It is legitimate only to transliterate the proper names of people and geographical locations, and so on — rivers, mountains, cities; but it is never legitimate to transliterate a verb like baptizw. It should be translated. That has not been done and that is a part of the great problem. Baptizw or baptise means to identify. That is the translation of the noun and “to identify” is the verb. This was true in the days of Homer. Homer used these words in the sense of identification. Then in the days of the great Greek historians of the fifth century BC, Herodotus and Thucydides used it. Euripides used it. And always with great consistency the verb and the nouns have meant identification. They connote identification. Something is identified with something else. Homer talks about the crafty Ulysses putting the sharpened beam into the eye of Cyclops. he says the plunging of the beam made a hissing noise like a man who smelt iron when he dips the iron into the water, and he used the word baptw, identifies it, so that the iron is tempered. So the word has been used extensively so there was never any excuse for a transliteration. The translation should be identification.

Baptisms (by Dr. George E. Meisinger)
Chafer Theological Seminary
cts@school.com

When one hears the word "baptism," it is natural to assume water baptism. In many people’s minds water and baptism are inseparable.

The word "baptism" comes from the Greek word baptizo. In the fourth century B.C., Aristophanes used the term of dipping or plunging a cup into a bowl of wine to draw out the wine.[1]

Polybius in the second century B.C., used baptizo to describe a sunken ship, obviously immersed.[2]

The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) uses the term to describe a Syrian general, Naaman, who plunged himself (baptizo) seven times into the Jordan River (2Kings 5:14). In these three instances, whatever or whoever was "baptized" was immersed.

The term, however, was also used metaphorically without involving water. For example, in a papyrus dated about 150 B.C., the individual "baptized" was overwhelmed or flooded, not by water, but by calamities.[3]

To be baptized in the ancient world, then, was to be engulfed by something, whether wine, water or trouble. The term emphasizes the notion of "submerge," or "immerse."

If we ask what meaning "baptism" has, we find help in an ancient custom that employed the term baptizo. Before going to war, Spartan soldiers took their spears and swords and plunged (baptized) them in blood.

The Egyptians had a custom when a crocodile dragged a person into the Nile and drowned him. When his body was recovered, the priests embalmed the remains, arrayed it in beautiful robes and placed it in a sacred sarcophagus. They treated his body "'as one who is more than an ordinary being.' A man drowned in this way was called one who had been 'immersed' [baptized]."[4]

What do we learn from the Spartan and Egyptian usages of the term? The Spartan's immersion was to identify their weapons with their intended purpose, which for them was warfare. A similar situation exists for the Christian. His baptism publicly identifies him with God's purpose for his life, which for them is to glorify God (1Corinthians 10:31).

The Egyptians believed that the immersion of the drowned man identified him with special status. He was no longer ordinary, but extraordinary. So it is with Christians. Their baptism identifies them with their new extraordinary place in the plan of God: they are sons of God, royal priests, and raised to newness of life.

It is likewise with the various New Testament baptisms: Each act of baptism identifies the individual with something suggested by its context.

Of the eight baptisms that follow, the first five involve no water, that is, no one got wet. The final three baptisms involve water. Yet in all cases the baptisms identified those baptized with something.[5]

In this passage the apostle speaks of Israel (“our fathers”), all of whom were baptized unto Moses, the Pillar of Cloud and the sea. Because Moses was God's appointed leader, by baptism unto Moses they were identified with Moses and God’s purpose for Israel through Moses. The cloud spoke of the Lord and divine guidance. The sea, which God parted, spoke of divine omnipotence. Thus, the baptism of Israel identified the Jews with God's omnipotent plan for Israel, under Moses, between the Exodus and entrance into Canaan. By the way, no Israelite got wet!

The "cup" refers to Jesus Christ's suffering on the cross for the sins of the world. Jesus Christ identified with our sins in that God "made Him who knew no sin to be [a sin-bearer] for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2Corinthians 5:21; cp. 1Peterer 2:24). Being our sin-bearer, Christ was immersed in our sin and died, paying the penalty for our sin and guilt. He drank the cup of our suffering for us. We could also call this the baptism of the Cross.

3. The baptism of fire (Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16-17; cp. Isaiah 4:1-6; 2 Thessaloni-ans 1:7-10).

This fire speaks of divine judgment that destroys the chaff (unbelievers) in Israel. These unbelievers will be identified or immersed with fire or divine judgment at Christ's second coming. God removes them from the earth at that time (Matthew 24:37-41; cp. 25:31-46). Three parables deal with the baptism of fire: (a) The wheat and the tares (Matthew 13:24-30), (b) the good and bad fish (Matthew 13:47-51), and (c) the wise and foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).

In this baptism, which takes place for every believer at the moment of faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit identifies each Christian with the body of Christ (1Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:26-28; Colossians 1:18; 2:12). This identification makes each one a "new creation" in Christ (2Corinthians 5:17), thus granting him a new, perfect, and eternally right relationship with God.

Noah's ark speaks of how the baptism of the Spirit perfectly delivers a believer from judgment. Peter shows that Noah's experience of full deliverance in the ark was a type of the baptism of the Spirit. The ark speaks of God's perfect provision for all who place their trust in Jesus Christ. Noah was a believer and, therefore, placed in the ark, identified with it, and thus delivered from the judgment of the flood. The believer who trusts Jesus Christ is placed in the ark of positional truth and, consequently, delivered forever from eternal judgment.

This is the first of the three baptisms that involve water. John immersed believers in water. The water spoke of their faith in John's message concerning the coming Messiah and of their repentance from sin because they were now in the kingdom of the regenerate. After Pentecost (Acts 2), John's baptism was inadequate because it was limited to the time of Christ's earthly ministry. For that reason, Paul later rebaptized John's disciples to identify them with the new Church Age and its distinctives (Acts 18:25-26; 19:3).

John the Baptist immersed Jesus Christ in water. The water spoke of God the Father's will for His Son. By His baptism, Christ testified to His willingness to fulfill God's will for His life. This was a unique, never to be repeated baptism.

8. The baptism of believers (Matthew 28:19; Acts 16:14-15, 33; 18:8; 19:5; 1Corinthians 1:13-17).

Immersion in water symbolizes, or gives testimony to, a Christian’s immersion into union with Christ by the Holy Spirit. This further identifies us with Christ's death and resurrected life (cp. Romans 6:1-14). What believers' baptism portrays is a deduction derived from details of the baptism of the Spirit. More follows in a moment.

There was a time when baptism was a great troubling issue in the church. For example, after the Reformation, there was a group of believers called the Anabaptists who believed that one should only baptize people after they had become Christians. Thus if one had been baptized before trusting Christ as his Savior, they baptized him again after he became a Christian.

That is why people called them Anabaptists: ana means "again." There were many who took exception to that! They believed that if they had baptized someone before his salvation, it was sufficient. They believed it so strongly that widespread hostility broke out against the Anabaptists and many were martyred for their convictions:

In later centuries heated conflicts broke out among some believers about whether one should be baptized by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion. Most denominations believe that immersion is acceptable, but some also think that you may merely pour or sprinkle water on the person being baptized. One thing remains clear, however, in spite of all of the fuss that people have generated over the centuries, the New Testament commands baptism.

In keeping with our study under #8 above, when a Christian is baptized in water, he testifies to his identification with Christ. God baptizes the believer by the agency of the Holy Spirit into union with Christ (1Corinthians 12:13), thus making him a part of the body of Christ, the Church (Colossians 1:18). In this way the believer is identified or associated with the Head of the body, Christ Himself, and with the rest of the body, his fellow believers.

To develop the symbolism of water baptism further, we may say that as a believer is immersed in water, he signifies his identification with Christ's death on the Cross and how that washed away his sins through faith in Christ (Colossians 2:12, 20; 3:3; cp. Acts 22:16; 1Corinthians 6:11; Revelation 7:14). As he comes up out of the water, he signifies his identification with Christ's resurrected life and how he may now walk in "newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4; Colossians 2:12; 3:1).

Salvation is by grace through faith alone in Christ alone. Thus, baptism does not save anyone, or help to save anyone. Man can do nothing by way of good works to acquire or maintain eternal life (Romans 4:4-5; 11:6; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5).

1. Acts 8:12-13. "When they believed [i.e., 'after' they believed] . . . they were baptized." The sequence is first faith, which saved, then water baptism.

2. Acts 10:44-48. The sequence is clear: Peter preached, the Holy Spirit fell on those who heard the word (and believed) "then Peter answered . . . and ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ." Note that he ordered or commanded, thus did not make water baptism optional for those who had believed.

3. Acts 9:17-18; 22:6-16, esp. 16. The sequence of events is (a) Paul was born-again in Damascus following a challenge from Ananias (Acts 22:16), (b) the Holy Spirit then filled him (Acts 9:17), and (c) finally Ananias baptized Paul with water (Acts 9:18; 22:16).

4. Romans 4:1-4, 10-11. This passage gives us an extraordinary illustration of how ritual follows inner spiritual reality. Abraham first believed then God imputed righteousness to Abraham while he was still uncircumcised. Then he was circumcised. In fact, the Lord did not have Abraham circumcised until 25 years after he was declared righteous (cp. Hebrews 11:8; Acts 7:2-4 and Genesis 12:1-3 with 17:9-19).

The Didache (ca. A.D. 150)[7] does not allow for baptism until the reality precedes the ritual. It claims that "instruction precedes baptism."[8]

Josephus, a first century historian, states "that the washing (with water) . . . [was] not in order to the putting away of some sins . . . [but presupposed] that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness."[9]

What about those too sick to baptize? Or a dying man who believes on the street following a fatal car accident? What about the repentant thief on the cross next to Christ who put his faith in Him (Luke 23:29-43)? Also Scripture declares Zaccheus (Luke 19:9) and Cornelius (Acts 10:7) to be saved before they were baptized.

It does not contribute to our salvation. God gives each new convert at least 33 things at the moment of salvation that place him in perfect and eternal relationship to God (Hebrews 10:14). One cannot improve upon such perfection with or without water.

It does not make one more spiritual. A Christian achieves spiritual status only through walking by means of the Holy Spirit and through growth in God's Word, not through water.

Water baptism has no magic in it and imparts no mystical or spiritual potential. It confers no grace to those who are baptized, that is, it does not guarantee to them heaven, spiritual success, forgiveness, a greater potential to become saved at a later age, nor secure the removal of sin, whether the sin nature, imputed sin, or personal sin. Water baptism is a picture or symbol of an already existing inner reality.

In a word, "yes!" But why? John baptized Jesus Christ and we are to imitate Christ to fulfill the standard of righteousness as He did (cp. Matthew 3:15).

Christ baptized others through His disciples (John 3:22, 26; cp. 4:1-2), showing His approval. In the Great Commission, the resurrected Christ commanded His followers to baptize those they disciple, just days before the Church dispensation began (Matthew 28:19-20). In obedience to Christ's command, the apostles commanded the newly converted to be baptized (Acts 2:38).

The New Testament church practiced water baptism as an integral tradition of the present age (Acts 19:4; 1Corinthians 1:13-17). In 1Corinthians 1:13-17 (cp. esp. 1:17 with 4:15) a clear-cut distinction is made between the Gospel and baptism. Paul led all of them to Christ through the gospel, but only baptized the few mentioned in chapter 1. He delegated the baptizing of the rest to his evangelistic team members, e.g., Sosthenes and Timothy (1Corinthians 1:1; 16:10).

The fact remains that though he did not emphasize baptism, he did in fact baptize. It is one thing to say that Paul did not emphasize baptism, but it is non sequitur to say that because he chose to delegate the ritual we should not baptize. Paul did baptize some, and since he thought it important enough to do that, we may assume he, as Christ before Him, delegated the rest to others!

By the way, throughout the centuries a baptism service has been a time of rejoicing, not a chore to be endured, or to be gotten over as quickly as possible.

Let me illustrate a positive attitude regarding baptism.[10] At a large church in Elkton, Maryland, a visitor came to a Sunday morning service. During the message he listened with great interest and at the conclusion of the service the preacher gave his usual appeal for people to believe in Christ for eternal life and forgiveness. This visitor showed that he wanted to believe in Christ.

The custom of that church is to baptize new believers on the spot. Consequently -- and I quote the preacher now -- "When he came into the baptistry, I dropped him into the water and out again to walk in the newness of life. He came up out of the water clapping his hands and shouting, `Hot dog, Hot dog, Hot dog.’

"Our people roared with laughter. I quickly asked them for silence as I explained that this . . . man had not been around the church and didn't know about ‘Amen, Praise the Lord, and Hallelujah.’ His word was ‘Hot dog,’ and he was praising the Lord with the only vocabulary he knew."

The point is that baptism is not only necessary as a fulfillment of righteous living, but a time of rejoicing as the new believer thus testifies to his faith in the Savior. This expression of faith should also be a catalyst of joy to those observing.

Three ways of baptizing exist in the Christian world today: sprinkling, pouring, and immersion. Does the New Testament show that the first Christians followed one or the other?

The primary usage of baptizo is to "immerse" or "dip." There are other Greek words for pouring (ekxeo)[11] and dipping (bapto).[12]

The verb "to baptize" is often used with prepositions (eis and en) whose primary meanings are "into" and "in" that denote to immerse completely.[13]

Circumstances attending the administration of baptism further denote immersion. For example:

· "Coming up out of the water" (Mark 1:9-10). We best explain this as coming up out of the water that had immersed the new convert.

· John baptized near the city of Salim "because there was much water there" (John 3:23). Other places also had much water, e.g., the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13, 16). The best way to explain the mention of “much” water is that more than a pitcher full of water was used to accomplish baptism. Why? Immersion was practiced.

· When Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch, "they both went down into the water." When done "they came up out of the water" (Acts 8:38-39). This, again, we best explain by an immersion.

Immersion is the best mode to picture our identification with Christ's death and resurrection (Romans 6). Going completely down into the water speaks of our death and burial with Christ (Romans 6:3-4). Coming up out of the water speaks of our resurrection with Christ unto newness of life (Romans 6:5b, 8, 11b).

Early church history: The Didache allowed pouring but only if no other means were available. It draws a clear distinction between pouring (ekxeo) and immersion (baptizo). Historian Philip Schaff says immersion was the original form,[14] and Martin Luther preferred it.[15] John Calvin says that immersion was the custom of the ancient church, though he thought the mode inconsequential.[16]

Proselyte baptism and John the Baptist's baptism were immersion. It does not make sense to claim that the church practiced something different without sound evidence that they did. Application: if you have not been baptized since believing in Christ, you should be immersed. If, however, someone poured or sprinkled you after your new birth, that is acceptable. Scripture does not command the mode, but does the act! If one has a choice in the matter, though, it is best to follow the New Testament pattern.

Baptism is for Christians who have believed and want to bring forth fruit in keeping with their repentance (deduction from Matthew 3:8). They also want to fulfill the process of discipleship for their lives (Matthew 28:19) and accept Christ's authority and thus are obedient (Acts 2:38).

Note that though Paul did not emphasize baptism in his ministry, that is, he did not always do it himself, yet he still did do it, or had others do it for him. And he did it as late as the 5th decade of the first century in both Corinth and Ephesus (1Corinthians 1 and Acts 19).

See Chart number two in the appendix that provides an overview of the historical occurrences of water baptism in the first century.

If we should baptize only those who believe, what does this mean for "infant baptism?"[17] Many parents rightfully want the best for their children, thus they have them baptized where this is practiced. Yet there are at least 7 reasons for not baptizing infants and for parents to wait until a later time:

1. There is no evidence in the New Testament of someone baptizing a baby. To do it, therefore, is to practice it without biblical precedent or teaching.

2. Sometimes appeal is made to "household baptism" (whole families baptized) as a reason for baptizing babies. This, however, is not valid because the texts show that those baptized had believed, something a baby cannot yet do (Acts 11:14 & 17-18; 16:31-34; 1Corinthians 1:16 cp. with 16:15).

3. Others appeal to the Lord's blessing of little children (Matthew 19:13-15), insisting those acts justify baptizing infants. Yet blessing and baptizing are different. To bless is to seek God's benefits for! To baptize is to perform a ritual that pictures an already existing inner spiritual reality.

4. Some people appeal to 1Corinthians 7:14, which says that children are "holy" or "sanctified." Yet sanctification and baptism are two different things. What the passage does say is that God regards the children of a mixed marriage (believer + unbeliever) to be legitimate (as opposed to illicit).

5. Some attempt to create an analogy between circumcision and baptism, appealing to Colossians 2:11-13. This too cannot stand because:

· Circumcision and baptism are concerned with separate ages: Israel and the Church. For Israel circumcision was a sign of their national relationship with the Lord. For the church baptism is a sign of identification with Christ's death and life.

· Circumcision and baptism involve different covenants, that is, on the one hand, the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants and, on the other hand, the New Covenant. Under the Mosaic Covenant the Lord commanded to circumcise 8 day old boys. Under the New Covenant, we should baptize all who believe, whether old or young, male or female (Acts 8:12).

· God gave the sign of circumcision only to Abraham's descendants, thus Jonah did not ask the Assyrians to be circumcised. Nor did Elisha seek to circumcise Naaman, the Syrian.

6. There is an implication in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Here Christ commands Christians to make disciples by baptizing and teaching converts. You cannot "make disciples" of babies for they cannot be taught, thus it is senseless to baptize them.

· By symbolism, i.e., you would not bury one physically before his death, so similarly you should not bury one symbolically in baptism before his identification with Christ's death.

· By history: the Didache did not allow for infant baptism for it claimed that "instruction precedes baptism." Historically, it appears, infant baptism arose because of the erroneous teachings of sacramentalism [that baptism confers a special or mystical grace] and baptismal regeneration [that forgiveness requires water baptism].[18]

· By attempts to rationalize its existence. Many advocates claim that the power of infant baptism is not tied to the exact moment of administration, but looks forward to the child's later years. They sometimes say that baptism becomes effective when the child's "dawning" intelligence awakens to what took place. The Bible does not claim that any type of power exists in water baptism itself. Furthermore, the Bible portrays baptism as taking place after the "dawned intelligence" has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

· It is a subtle deception for it promotes a false security about salvation. It blurs the fact that the only means of salvation is faith alone in Christ alone. Thus, it works against one's voluntary act of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

· It warps sound theology because infant baptism minimizes the complete sufficiency of faith in God's promises to effect salvation (cp. 1Peterer 1:23).

· Infant baptism promotes a type of legalism because some groups that practice it exclude the infants of parents whose faith is nominal or insincere. Church leaders then may arrogate to themselves the ability to discern how sincere parents are, or to fathom their motivation--something only God can do (1Corinthians 4:5).

· Though infant baptism is not directly prohibited in the New Testament, it is better to carry out baptism as Scripture shows. Follow the Word; do not invent something not there.

· One should not employ infant baptism for "infant dedication" because (1) it has no precedent in the Word, and (2) it adds a different and biblically foreign meaning to baptism.

Paul rebaptized a group of John the Baptist's disciples, who were probably true believers (Acts 19:1-4). In fact, there is no reason to suppose that if they had died between their conversion under John and before their baptism by Paul that they would not have gone to heaven.

Prior to their encounter with Paul, however, they had not been baptized by the Holy Spirit and thus added to the Body of Christ, the Church (1Corinthians 12:13; Colossians 1:18).

Paul’s concern in Acts 19 was that they receive the Spirit and thus be identified with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection (cp. Roman 6:1-14). Then Paul’s water baptism would take on a new meaning for them, matching their new inner reality and position in Christ.

The implication is that rebaptism should be done if it's a case of being rebaptized as a Church Age believer. Of course, we are no longer in a transitional period such as those in the book of Acts. So what is the principle? Since the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a once-for-all-event, baptism should be done once-for-all after you have been born again.

As the enthusiastic convert who cried out "hot dog!" we should seek not only to "fulfill all righteousness," but also to rejoice at a baptism service. A baptism is foremost of all a symbol of one's new position in Jesus Christ and how through faith the Spirit identifies him with Christ's death and resurrection.

1. The big genuflex is the interim event between the Rapture and the Judgment Seat of Christ. Therefore, it is both the glorification of the Father's plan and the recognition of our Lord's battlefield royalty which was bestowed at His session. This will be the happiest moment of a person’s life.

2. At this time, the entire royal family is present, and they confess to the battlefield royalty of Jesus Christ. In opera, it is difficult to sing from a kneeling position; but this will be possible in a resurrection body.

3. This explains the phrase "every tongue shall confess to God. ." What is confessed is the fact that our Lord's royalty demands the resurrection of His royal family. We must have a resurrection body as He does because we are His family.

4. In resurrection body the entire royal family will identify the Head of the family, Jesus Christ, to the glory of the Father. In our moment of greatest happiness we will be talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Our greatest moment of happiness will be thinking and talking about our Lord.

5. This explains the relationship between Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:9-11. Therefore, also, the God the Father has exalted Him (Jesus Christ) to the maximum and He has bestowed upon Him the rank which is above every rank, in order that in the presence of Jesus (rapture of the church) every knee of heaven will bow, both the ones on earth (those who are raptured) and believers under the earth (those who died before the rapeture); and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord resulting in the glory of God the Father. The big genuflex is the moment of maximum +H which is perpetuated forever. It is followed by the Judgment Seat of Christ. We make that happiness meaningful by receiving our eternal rewards and decorations. However, you won't lose this fantastic happiness at the Judgment Seat of Christ even if you receive no reward, due to your failure in life. Our happiness is perpetuated forever. Imputation #7 is the reward, a blessing for the mature believer only.

6. Bob would love to be able to do something with this when you have all of the human good built up, and the human good will be burned. Bob would want us to suffer a bit if we wasted out time on human good; but then, he is not in charge.

1. Divine royalty. He is coequal with the other members of the Trinity. His title is "Son of God."

2. Jewish royalty. Mary is descended from Nathan; Joseph from Solomon. His title is "Son of David."

3. Battlefield royalty. The first and second royalties combine to form a third royalty at the cross. At the cross, our Lord received the judicial imputation of our sins, which provided salvation for all mankind, and was the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. This victory plus His resurrection, ascension, and session is the basis for our Lord's battlefield royalty. This unique royalty establishes Christ as the ruler of both regenerate man and elect angels forever. His title is "King of kings and Lord of lords."

4. This new battlefield royalty explains several passages in Revelation where Christ returns with the bride to be acknowledged by all; e.g., Revelation 19:12. And His eyes are like a flame of fire and on His head are many crowns, having a royal title that no one understood but He Himself.

5. Our Lord's new royal title is revealed in Scripture, Revelation 19:16, And He has a royal title which has been written on His robes and on His thighs, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

1. We can understand the confession of the royal family immediately following the Rapture based on the concept of Christ's battlefield royalty, for we will be in total awe of Him. We will have complete appreciation for the event. Before the Judgment Seat of Christ, we genuflect to the Lord Jesus Christ. We relate this to our very existence.

3. This moment will be the fulfillment of all our doctrine, and the realization of the purpose of our new birth. We will each personally praise the strategic victory of the angelic conflict and relate it to our very purpose for living, Romans 14:11.

4. Acknowledgment of the strategic victory precedes acknowledgment of the tactical victory. Strategy always precedes tactics.

5. Our praise of our Lord's strategic victory is our recognition of what Christ accomplished from the cross to the session.

6. The tactical victory will then be recognized at the Judgment Seat of Christ by the imputation of eternal rewards to all mature believers who will glorify Christ forever, Isaiah 53:4,11-12. Blessing and rewards which glorify Christ fulfill prophesies in the Old Testament. Isaiah 53:12b, "Then He will distribute the spoil to the great ones."

7. Christ was willing to suffer on the cross that we might share in the plunder of His victory. The big genuflex, our acknowledgment of Christ in eternity, will be the greatest moment of worship in history, full of great singing.

R. B. Thieme, Jr. Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

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A. Definition. Blessing by association is the overflow of divine blessing imparted to the mature believer. It is one of the categories of blessing which go through the grace pipeline to the mature believer. Every mature believer has people associated with him, believers or unbelievers, who receive blessing as a result of their association with him. This is one of the reasons why the wicked prosper.

1. Direct blessing from God goes to the person in association with the mature believer.

2. Indirect blessing from God occurs because the mature believer provides the blessing from his own prosperity. In fulfillment of Romans 12:13, he "contributes to the needs of the saints." The mature believer gives of his time, wealth, success, love, personality, and whatever the category of his prosperity might be.

a. A local church can make or break you. If the pastor is a jackass, you've had it. Local churches and Christian service organizations are destroying the objective of the Christian way of life, and have done more to distract believers than anything else.

b. Programs are distractions and do not cause spiritual growth. You are blessed by Bible doctrine communicated from the pastor. You are also blessed by association with someone else in the congregation.

c. When you get sucked into "improving the world," "social action," or "getting involved," then you lose out on being a blessing by association to others. Stay away from reform movements. You only save the country by taking in doctrine and reaching maturity.

2. Loved ones are a periphery of blessing, to include your husband or wife, children, mother or father. One mature family member blesses the entire family. You coast uphill when someone in your periphery cracks the maturity barrier. Any relative in your family can be blessed by your advance to maturity.

3. Professional life periphery includes your school system, coaches, teachers, students, administrators; hospital system; business associates; military organization; or any service organization.

4. Business association periphery includes a partnership, corporation, an investor, labor, or management.

5. Social periphery includes friends. However, be careful that you don't run around with the wrong crowd and get led astray. You will find your friends among like-minded believers. Stick with them. Watch out; don't run with unbelievers, because they are going in a different direction.

6. Geographical periphery includes your neighborhood, city, county, state, or nation.

D. The Heritage Aspect of Blessing by Association. When the mature believer dies, he is still a blessing by association to those left behind after his death. Those left behind are taken care of throughout their lifetime by God, even if they are antagonistic to Bible doctrine or are unbelievers. God continues to bless the bereaved loved ones, friends, and relatives.

E. Blessing by association overflows into historical impact. See the doctrine of the Pivot.

F. Blessing by association overflows into objectivity of the Christian life. Romans 12:14, "Keep on speaking well of those who persecute you and do not curse them."

G. Blessing by association is related to the rapport of the royal family of God, Romans 12:15.

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1. Spiritual blessings. These include sharing the perfect happiness of God and occupation with Christ as maximum category one love (toward God), which is greatly intensified in supergrace and ultra-supergrace. Many blessings accompany the believer's maximum love for the Lord Jesus Christ. The supergrace believer has great capacity for life, love, happiness, and blessing, and total appreciation for grace. He also receives the tremendous ability to face undeserved suffering in life with no complaining. For the supergrace believer, the intensification of spiritual blessings comes when he wears the shroud of maximum, unremitting, undeserved suffering to glorify God in the angelic conflict, and this suffering will not terminate until he departs this life. In the midst of it all, he still has perfect happiness, the "peace which surpasses all comprehension," PHI 4:7. The supergrace believer also has the ability to correctly interpret contemporary history, to evaluate current events in the light of the Word of God. He is free from slavery to the circumstances of life, and he adaptable to changing circumstances. The mature believer shines in time of historical disaster. He has grace orientation, freedom orientation, authority orientation, common sense, and a total sense of security, whether in prosperity or disaster.

2. Temporal blessings. These include material wealth, either received or acquired, as well as physical health. The supergrace believer can have professional prosperity, including a great influence on others, leadership dynamics, success, promotion, and recognition in one's sphere of life. Abraham had the privilege of receiving one of the greatest titles in the Bible, "friend of God." Moses was a successful ruler. Paul was the greatest communicator of all time. Jeremiah was the greatest prophet of all time. In supergrace, the believer will have the ability to assume responsibility and authority without emotional inspiration or false motivation. The supergrace believer can also have great social prosperity and great friends, as well as sexual prosperity with one's right man or right woman. In mental prosperity, the ability to think and concentrate increases. This gives the believer a greater capacity for life and a great deal of interest toward what is happening in everyday life. Every day will be meaningful. God will also grant cultural prosperity, which is maximum enjoyment of drama, art, literature, music, history, etc. Establishment prosperity includes enjoyment of freedom, privacy, and protection of life and property from criminals and reprisal.

3. Blessings by association. Those around a mature believer are blessed by their association or relationship with that person. There are two categories of blessings here. They are blessed either directly by God or indirectly from the supergrace believer as a result of the overflow of his supergrace blessings. These peripheral areas of blessing by association include loved ones, business life, social life, and the local church. There are also geographical blessings to the supergrace believer's city, state, and nation.

4. Historical blessings. The mature believer carries his generation, 2TI 1:5. He stabilizes his generation and even future historical generations. The ebb and flow of history does not disturb the tranquility or impact of the mature believer. He is the MAT 5:13-14 believer, "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world." The supergrace believer is on the winning side of history, whereas the reversionist is caught up in the disasters of history and swept along with them, Ephesians 4:14, "As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming." The supergrace believer rides the crest of the wave of blessing. He rises above historical disaster.

5. Undeserved suffering. Only in time do we have the opportunity to glorify God under pressure, disaster, and undeserved suffering to prove to Satan and the fallen angels that Bible doctrine can handle any situation. God gives us the ability to handle suffering and turn suffering into blessing, Romans 8:28, Deu 23:5. A mature believer knows when he is under divine discipline or undeserved suffering. The former is unbearable; the latter is bearable. The supergrace believer's ability to handle undeserved suffering glorifies God and becomes evidence against Satan in his appeal trial. Undeserved suffering is also used by God to keep our eyes on Him and our focus on eternity, Revelation 2:10,2CO 12:9-10. Undeserved suffering also teaches us the value of Bible doctrine, Psalm 119:67-71. We read in Psalm 119:67, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Thy word." Here, the psalmist is living in disastrous conditions and still says, "I keep Your word." God in wisdom deals with us as perfectly as only He can. He allows suffering, heartache, and disaster in our lives to draw us closer to Him.

6. Dying blessings (dying grace). Every believer has a choice in time between staying positive to Bible doctrine and receiving dying grace, or turning negative to doctrine and dying the sin unto death. For the supergrace believer, the curse of death with its pain and fear is removed. Hebrews 2:15. It is the greatest experience in life. The perfect happiness of the supergrace believer in time is exceeded only by his happiness in dying grace, 2Timothy 4:6-8. The mature believer has the best of life, greater blessing in dying, and better than the best for all eternity. As Psalm 116:15declares, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones."

7. Surpassing grace blessings at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Surpassing grace is the optimum in spiritual achievement. It is the point of maximum blessing and reward, and the ultimate in glorifying Jesus Christ. "Surpassing" connotes something beyond supergrace and beyond time. Surpassing grace is the status of special blessings and rewards in eternity for the believer who has broken the maturity barrier in time.

1. Blood speaks of the WORK of Christ on the cross; blood represents the judgement of our sins while Christ was bearing them on the cross (spiritual death).

2. The phrase “blood of Christ” is a representative analogy to animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, demonstrating the fact that the work of Jesus Christ was presented by means of these blood sacrifices — Hebrews 9:22.

3. The physical death of the animal is analogous to the spiritual death of Christ.

4. Every animal sacrifice spoke of Jesus Christ. John 1:29, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.”

5. The animal hadn’t done anything wrong. The animal was judged. In his judgement, the animal died physically.

6. Jesus Christ hadn’t done anything wrong. He was judged (for us). In His judgement the sins of the whole world were poured out on Him. In His judgement He died spiritually. No blood involved — Matthew 26:46.

7. Jesus Christ bled from His hands and His feet, and from His face where He had been beaten up — literal blood.

8. After He died physically they ran a spear into His side and blood and water (serum) came out, (John 19:34) indicating he was truly dead spiritually. He did not bleed to death. His throat was not slit like the animal sacrifices.

9. Jesus Christ said, after His work (spiritual death) was finished, “It is finished,” and then He said, “Father into thy hands I dismiss my spirit.” He dismissed His spirit but He did not bleed to death.

10. The bleeding of the animal (his judgement) is analogous to the spiritual death of Jesus Christ (His judgement for us). The judgement of the animal was physical death. The judgement of Christ for our sins was spiritual death.

11. The analogy is between the physical death of an innocent animal and the spiritual death of the sinless humanity of Jesus Christ.

12. There has to be a meeting of the two sides of the cross and that meeting is in the phrase “the blood of Christ,” which refers to the penalty of sin being paid — judgement for sin.

13. In the Old Testament the mercy seat was covered with the blood of the animal which had been judged by physical death.

14. The teaching of the death of Christ (Spiritual death — His judgement, Isaiah 53:9) before it occurred was by use of the blood sacrifices.

15. The significance of the blood in the death of Jesus Christ is that it relates to millions of people who were saved in the Old Testament as it relates to us — they are saved just as we are.

16. It sets up an analogy (Christ bearing our sins) between those who anticipated the cross historically and those who look back at it.

17. One must understand the entire significance of the person and work of Christ. On the cross He bore our sins, and made provision for our forgiveness and cleansing. This was through Christ bearing our sins, those sins being judged. The blood of Christ expresses this.

18. There is no need to offer animal sacrifices any more, because Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is once and for all.

19. It is apostasy to “plead the blood,” or to ask that the “blood cover us.” One does not “claim the blood,” instead one claims promises.

20. In revelation 12:11 “overcoming by the blood of the Lamb” refers to a Tribulational person accepting Christ as personal saviour, not “by” but “because of” the blood, and being protected because they have entered the plan of God.

21. The blood of Christ (His work on the cross) keeps on cleansing: 1 John 1:7,9.

a. When you believe in Christ, you are cleansed, and released from the penalty of sin through the person and work of Christ.

b. When you confess your sin as a believer, you are cleansed (Christian way of life).

1. This is the accusative singular of the direct object of ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah].

2. The church here refers to all believers of the Church Age, the royal family of God, a kingdom of priests.

4. Because of the baptism of the Holy Spirit the believer of this dispensation has a very perfect and very intimate relationship with Christ. This is called positional sanctification.

5. Therefore the church and/or the royal family occupies a very unique place in the angelic conflict.

6. There was no royal family until Christ was glorified at the right hand of the Father.

7. The royal family is directly related to the strategic victory of Christ on the cross, and all the way from the cross to His session.

a. Positional sanctification is described under two biblical words: ‘saint’ and the phrase ‘in Christ.’ These two words are used to designate the Church as the royal family of God in this dispensation.

b. Two words which form another concept: ‘body’ and ‘bride.’ This nomenclature relates us to the angelic conflict. The body is the Church on earth during this dispensation, the intensified stage of the angelic conflict. The bride is the Church in heaven after the Rapture. These two designations are very important and they cover many concepts of doctrine.

c. The English word ‘church.’ The Greek word, again, is ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah]. Five different meanings of ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah]:

i. The Attic Greek use, since this word first in the Classical Greek of Athens where it was used for the assembly Athenian citizens convened to conduct the affairs of state. The ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah] was all of the citizens of Athens coming together to make a decision.

ii. It was used in Old Testament usage for the assembly of Israel — Acts 7:38. Whenever in the New Testament the Old Testament assembly was mentioned ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah] was used. Every time Moses hauled the people together to chew them out during the period of the Exodus, whenever they were together, they were called ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah]. In other words, ‘assembly’ which is the literal meaning of ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah].

iii. Whenever Jews came together in a synagogue they were also known as ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah] or an assembly — Matthew 18:17.

iv. Under Hellenistic culture and the governments that grew out of the Alexandrian empire we have the assembly of a Hellenistic city state, as in Acts 19:25. Again, the citizens are called ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah].

v. The one found in the epistles of the New Testament and often in the book of Acts in its technical sense. There are two technical concepts. The most important, and the one that we find in Ephesians 5, is the universal church. Ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah] is used for the Church universal, that is, for all believers on the earth today — Ephesians 1:22,23; 5:25-27. It actually refers to the residence of the royal priesthood. The second technical use is the local church, the classroom for the royal priesthood — 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1Thessalonians 1:1; Revelation 2:3.

2. Dispensational orientation. ‘Mystery’ is the concept here. The dispensation of the Church is the mystery age. According to Romans 16:25,26; Ephesians 3:1-5; Colossians 1:25,26 the mystery refers to the fact that all doctrine pertaining to this dispensation was unknown in Old Testament times, never revealed. Starting with the baptism of the Holy Spirit and going all the way to the Rapture, and everything in between — the whole concept of the royal family, members of the family of God but royal family, the universal priesthood, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Spirit, the indwelling of Christ, are all doctrines pertaining to this dispensation only and they simply were not known in the Old Testament. The first reference to the Church was the prophesy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 16:18. So this is why we have the word ‘mystery’, something previously not understood but now known to those who are believers.

a. The Church Age interrupts the dispensation of Israel seven years short of its completion. The Church Age is an interrupting dispensation.

b. The reason for the interruption of the Jewish Age is the glorification of Jesus Christ as a part of the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. Therefore the Jewish Age must be interrupted in order to call out a royal family identified with Christ forever. Once Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father He is alone there. He in King of kings, Lord of lords. He is our high priest, He is the last Adam. ‘Not good that Adam should ever be alone.’ Jesus Christ said this about the first Adam; God the Father says this about the last Adam. So the last Adam isn’t alone because He has us, His very own royal family.

c. The Church Age did not begin in Abraham’s tent. This was taught by covenant theology; this is the reformed theology system which came from John Calvin, John Knox, and others who started the Church in Abraham’s tent. We know this from the very statement of Jesus Christ for the Church was future when He said in Matthew 16:18, “I will” — future active indicative of oikonoméō (οἰκονομέω) [pronounced oy-kohn-ohm-EH-oh] — “build my Church.”

d. The Church Age begins with the baptism of the Holy Spirit by which the royal family is formed. This is something that happens to us at the moment that we believe in Jesus Christ. Acts 1:5; 1Corinthians 12:13; Acts 2:1-3 which doesn’t mention the baptism cf. 11:15,16 which does mention it.

a. The Church Age terminates with the resurrection of the Church, called technically the Rapture — 1Corinthians 15:51-57; Philippians 3:21; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 John 3:1,2.

b. By comparing the original text of Colossians 2:15 with Revelation 19:6-8; Zechariah 13:2 plus 1Thessalonians 3:13, it is concluded from the original languages that the body of Christ will be completed when the number of believers in the royal family is equal to the number of demons operating under the command of Satan today. This is predicated on the fact that the believer bumps one demon when he returns with Christ for that glorious victory of the second advent.

c. At the time of the Rapture of the Church it is transferred by resurrection to heaven. That means that the living believers go up, they are changed in the moment of a twinkling of an eye. The body is completed and therefore it becomes the bride. The bride goes through a period of preparation in heaven while the Tribulation runs its course on earth.

d. The preparation of the bride for the second advent is threefold. i) Every believer of the royal family receives at the same time a resurrection body — the dead believers and the live believers on earth — 1Corinthians 15:51-57; ii) The removal of the old sin nature in compatibility with ultimate sanctification — Philippians 3:21; iii) The destruction of all human good accumulated during the believer’s life on this earth. It is burned — 1Corinthians 3:15.

5. Synonyms for Christ and the Church are seven. Each one of these synonyms teaches an entire doctrine:

a. The last Adam [Christ] and the new creation [the Church] — 1Corinthians 15:45-47; 2Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15.

b. The head and the body — Ephesians 1:22,23; 2 :16; 4:4,5; 5:23; Colossians 1:18,24.

e. The chief corner stone and the stones of the building — Ephesians 2:20; 1Peterer 2:4-8.

f. The high priest and the royal priesthood — Hebrews 7:25; 10:10-14; 1Peterer 2:5,9; Revelation 1:6.

g. The Groom and the bride — 2Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:6-8.

a. Members of the royal family of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, leading to positional sanctification, called by the title of nobility ‘saints.’ This is the only group of believers who are members of the royal family of God forever.

c. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit for every royal priest. Every believer is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit.

d. The indwelling of the person of Christ for fellowship as long as you are growing. If you stop growing and turn into a reversionist He leaves you and starts knocking on the door, as per Revelation 3:20.

e. Instructions to the royal family in writing, the completed canon of scripture. When it comes to the royal family God speaks through His Word.

f. We have a supernatural way of life for the royal family with a supernatural means of execution. This is experiential sanctification. Execution through the filling of the Spirit and the intake of Bible doctrine.

g. Every member of the royal family of God is an ambassador representing Christ on earth.

7. The objective of the Church Age believer is to be filled with the Spirit consistently, to function daily under the principle of GAP so that he reaches the supergrace as quickly as possible. Supergrace is the normal function of the priesthood as well as the spiritual circumstances which glorify God. Supergrace is the tactical victory of the angelic conflict, therefore on to supergrace!

A. Biblical Nomenclature: The Meaning and Usage of Ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah].

1. Ekklêsía (ἐκκλησὶα) [pronounced ek-klay-SEE-ah] was first used in Attic Greek for an assembly of citizens convened to conduct the affairs of state. It is so used in Acts 19:25,32 for the assembly of the Ephesians to handle the problems of their city-state. It was also used for citizens who gathered in the city to conduct business, Acts 19:30.

2. It was used in the second century B.C. translation of the LXX in the Old Testament connotation for the assembly of Israel, Acts 7:38.

3. It was used for the assembly of Jews in their synagogue, as in Matthew 18:17. The issue of discipline in the church is not taught here. This has nothing to do with the church today; this applied to the Jewish synagogue.

4. It is used for the Church universal, composed of all members of the royal family of God, i.e., all believers in this dispensation of the Church Age, Ephesians 1:22-23, 5:25-27; Colossians 1:17-18.

5. It is used for occasions when a group of believers in a particular geographical location got together, even as few as two or three. Such a group was called a local church, as in 1Corinthians 11:18, 14:19, 28, 34-35; Philippians 4:15; 1Thessalonians 1:1; 2Thessalonians 1:1; Revelation 2-3. These local churches mentioned were under the authority of pastors, whether the pastors were absent or present. Whether the pastor teaches face to face is not the issue; his authority may come in some other form of communication. The type of teaching does not determine whether or not the organization is a local church.

6. You are “Church” as a member of the royal family of God in this dispensation.

7. Jesus Christ is the ruler of the Church. It is you as an individual that He rules or does not rule, depending upon your volition. He is your ruler. But whether He is allowed to function in your life as your ruler depends upon whether you understand the apply the pertinent mystery doctrine. If you understand this doctrine, you have the basis for submitting to the authority of Jesus Christ as the ruler of the Church. If you are advancing in the spiritual life and living inside the divine dynasphere, then you have accepted the authority of Jesus Christ as the ruler of the Church. But the majority of Christians have rejected our Lord’s authority as the ruler of the Church.

8. Jesus Christ has delegated authority for the communication of doctrine in the local church to the pastor-teacher. If believers have rejected the authority of Jesus Christ over their personal lives, they will obviously reject the authority of any pastor who communicates the Word of God, the mind of Christ. Without knowing doctrine, we cannot accept the authority of Jesus Christ.

9. A technical study of believers between Pentecost and the Rapture, who at salvation enter into union with Christ through the baptism of the Spirit, comprises the rest of this study of the doctrine of the Church. You are the Church universal.

1. Jesus Christ is called the last Adam as the ruler of the Church, and the believers, the Church universal, is called the new spiritual species, as found in 1Corinthians 15:45-47; 2Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15. This “new creation” is important because it focuses attention on the Church during the intensified stage of the angelic conflict.

2. In the head and the body analogy, Christ is the head and the royal family of God is the body. This speaks of Christ’s authority. The body emphasizes our differences in personality and spiritual gifts, Ephesians 1:22-23, 2:16, 4:4-5, 5:23; 1Corinthians 12; Colossians 1:17-18,24, 2:19.

3. The shepherd and the sheep analogy is found in John 10; Hebrews 13:20; 1Peter 5:4. This analogy connotes the security and great blessings that come to us as members of the royal family of God. The analogy is apropos, for like us, sheep have no sense of direction, cannot fend for themselves, are helpless, and therefore need the guidance, sustenance, and protection of the shepherd. The sheep must be guarded and fed by the under-shepherd, the pastor of the local church.

4. The vine and the branches analogy is taught in John 15:1-6. Jesus Christ is the vine; we are the branches. This analogy is used for union with Christ, i.e., positional truth and/or positional sanctification. The vine always represented stimulation. The production of the branches is your advance to maturity.

5. The concept of Christ as the chief cornerstone, and the stones of the building as the Church was first taught by Christ in Matthew 16:16-18 when He told Peter, “You are blessed, Simon, Son of Jonas. And on this rock [petra (πέτρα) [pronounced PEHT-ra], giant rock, Lord Jesus Christ] I will build my Church [royal family of God]. Therefore, your name is now Petros (Πέτρος) [pronounced PEHT-ross] [part or chip of a rock].” This reference to Christ as the chief cornerstone is found in Ephesians 2:20; 1Peter 2:4-8. Peter recognized that Christ, not the Church, is the rock. The Church didn’t even exist in Matthew 16. Christ is the link between the two walls, Israel and the Church. He is the ruler of both.

6. The analogy of the high priest and the royal priesthood is found in Hebrews 7:25, 10:10-14; 1Peter 2:5,9; Revelation 1:6. Only when the God-Man ascended and was seated could Jesus Christ be a high priest. Every believer in union with Christ is a royal priest.

7. The groom and the bride analogy is found in 2Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:6-8. This eschatological analogy speaks of the future of the Church as royal family of God. This will not be fulfilled until the Second Advent at the wedding feast of the Lamb. It takes seven years for the bride, the Church, to be prepared before the Judgment Seat of Christ. There will be no local churches in the Millennium.

8. The King and the royal family of God analogy is taught in Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 2:10. Jesus Christ is the royal king and we are His family.

9. From each of these analogies, certain things are taught about your personal life as a Church Age believer.

1. The Church universal, synonymous with the royal family of God, is composed of all Church Age believers. You enter the Church universal at salvation through the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the resultant positional sanctification by which the royal family of God is formed and by which equal privilege is given to every believer.

b. The power which God gives to the Church is the omnipotence of God the Father related our portfolio of invisible assets and the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit related to the divine dynasphere.

2. The local church is an assembly of believers in a specific geographical location under the teaching ministry of their right pastor, either face to face, or through some other system of communication. The local church has a policy and an administrative system based on doctrinal principles. This is why there are deacons and other administrative authority in a local church.

1. The Church is called the mystery age, Romans 16:25-26; Ephesians 3:1-5; Colossians 1:25-27. The Church was not known in the Old Testament. No Church Age doctrine was written or orally taught in Old Testament times, because the Church Age is a unique dispensation since believers are entered into union with Christ.

2. The extent of the Church Age is from Pentecost until the Rapture. The Church Age continues until the royal family is completed; then the Rapture occurs.

1. The Church began in 30 A.D. on the Day of Pentecost; not in Abraham’s tent, as per the covenant theology of Shedd or Hodge.

2. The Church was future from the time of Christ’s ministry. When in Matthew 16:18 Christ said “On this rock [Jesus Christ], I will build My Church,” He used the future active indicative of Oikonoméō (οἰκονομέω) [pronounced oy-kohn-ohm-EH-oh].

3. The Church actually began on the Day of Pentecost around 30 A.D., as the Lord had prophesied. In Acts 1:5, Jesus said, just before He ascended, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit a few days from now.” Specifically, “a few days” referred to ten days. Our Lord remained on earth for forty days after the resurrection. According to the Jewish feast calendar, the Day of Pentecost began fifty days after the resurrection, represented by the Feast of the First Fruits. So there was an interval of ten days after the ascension before the Church Age began.

4. The first occurrence of the baptism of the Spirit is the day the Church Age superseded the dispensation of Israel. By comparing Acts 11:15-16 with Acts 2:1-3, we establish the fact that the baptism of the Spirit occurred for the first time on the Day of Pentecost. The baptism of the Spirit is also taught in 1Corinthians 12:13.

5. The Jewish Age was interrupted seven years short of its completion when the Church Age began. The Tribulation, which follows the Rapture, is the end of the Jewish Age. This dispensation is divided into three parts:

c. The Tribulation, Daniel’s 70th week, from the Rapture of the Church to the Second Advent of Christ.

6. On the Day of Pentecost the baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred. The disciples were speaking in tongues as a warning of the coming of the fifth cycle of discipline in fulfillment of Isaiah 28:11. The gift of tongues continued until 70 A.D. when it was cancelled (1Corinthians 13:8).

7. The times of the Gentiles is defined as the period from 70 A.D. until the Rapture when only Gentile nations can be client nations to God.

8. The Church Age terminates with the Rapture or resurrection of the Church, when all the royal family receive their resurrection bodies, 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1Corinthians 15:51-57; Philippians 3:21; 1John 3:1-2. The Church and Israel never function simultaneously on the earth.

1. The Church Age is the only dispensation in which believers are classified as royal family of God. The royal family of God is formed through the baptism of the Spirit which is absolutely unique; it never occurred before the Day of Pentecost, and will never occur again after the Rapture. The baptism of the Spirit has replaced water baptism, especially in the post-Canon period of Church history.

2. The Church Age is the only dispensation in which every believer is indwelt by all three persons of the Trinity.

a. The indwelling of God the Father is related to the glorification of His plan, and it guarantees His ministry to every Church Age believer, which began in eternity past when the omnipotence of the Father formed your portfolio of invisible assets. Therefore, God the Father indwells you to establish a link between His provision of your portfolio of invisible assets in eternity past and the present availability of your portfolio of invisible assets to you as the Church. As the author of our portfolio of invisible assets, as the Grantor of our escrow blessings, as the mastermind of the protocol plan of God for the Church Age, as the designer of the divine dynasphere; God the Father indwells us in order that these might become a reality. His presence guarantees their availability.

(2) As the guarantee of the availability of divine omnipotence to every Church Age believer.

(4) As both our depositary and escrow officer, Christ’s indwelling guarantees that when you reach spiritual maturity you will receive the conveyance of your escrow blessings for time. This also guarantees future and greater escrow blessings at the Judgment Seat of Christ after the resurrection.

(5) As perpetual motivation for momentum when facing the various categories of suffering and pressure in this life, especially the three categories of suffering for blessing related to our advance to spiritual maturity.

(6) As the basis for assigning #1 priority to relationship with God over relationship with people. Not only is Jesus Christ the ruler of the Church, but the ruler actually indwells us as a steering mechanism.

(7) As the basis for assigning top priority to the utilization of divine power in the divine dynasphere rather than human power in the cosmic system.

(1) To provide a temple in our bodies, in order that Jesus Christ as the Shekinah Glory may indwell us.

(2) As a base of operations for the execution of the protocol plan of God, the utilization of divine omnipotence.

3. The Church Age is the only dispensation in which divine power is available to every believer, i.e., the omnipotence of the Father and the Holy Spirit.

4. The Church Age is the only dispensation in which every believer is both a royal priest and a royal ambassador.

b. As an ambassador, you represent God to man. You are a walking, one-man army as Church, God’s representative on earth.

5. The Church Age is the only dispensation where every believer has a detailed portfolio of invisible assets. No such portfolio ever existed before or after the Church Age. As a part of that portfolio of invisible assets, you have a spiritual gift, unique to the Church Age.

6. The Church Age is the first dispensation in which there is a completed canon of Scripture. We have our instructions in writing.

7. The Church Age is the only dispensation in which there is no prophecy. Only two prophecies relate to the Church Age: its beginning and end, the Day of Pentecost and the Rapture. But in between, no prophecy exists.

a. The Church Age operates under historical trends. Historical trends teach that certain things are categorized as apostasy, but times of apostasy do not indicate the Rapture is near. The Rapture can occur at any time. “No man knows the day or the hour.”

b. Historical trends is the only explanation for what occurs daily during the Church Age. This is the only dispensation in which prophecy is not a crutch. Prophecy is not needed to understand current trends. Only doctrine is needed. The New Testament describes various historical trends.

1. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union of Christ during the First Advent overflows, becoming a complete and total dispensation in itself.

2. As established with Christ on earth, the pattern continues. Available to us is the omnipotence of God the Father related to our portfolio of invisible assets and the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit related to enabling power inside the divine dynasphere.

3. We also continue to benefit from the omnipotence of God the Son who holds the universe together for the perpetuation of human history.

4. The new spiritual species of 2Corinthians 5:17 is designed for spiritual living inside the divine dynasphere.

5. Because of unprecedented provision and delegation of divine power to every believer, every believer has equal privilege and equal opportunity.

1. Circumcision was designed by God as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant — Genesis 17:10-14. It was both an operation and at the same time a ritual. The ritual emphasised both the principle of establishment in the law plus the spiritual value of doctrine — Romans 2:25. Abraham was circumcised long after his salvation and after he was given the covenant — Romans 4:11. Moses almost died the sin unto death because he had failed to circumcise his younger son — Exodus 4:24-26. No Jew could partake of the Passover without first being circumcised — Exodus 12:48. The Jews were placed under the 5th cycle of discipline for lack of circumcision of the soul to accompany this ritual — Jeremiah 6:10; 9:25,26.

2. Circumcision consists of the operation of cutting away the foreskin of the male phallus. The ritual indicated dedication of the male sexual organ to the right woman and no one else. It was definitely set up in contrast to the phallic cult of the Gentiles — Leviticus 12:2,3.

3. The ritual of circumcision has no significance in the Church. It only intrudes as a false standard on the wrong side of the barrier — 1Corinthians 7:18,19; Galatians 5:2,3; Ephesians 2:11.

4. Circumcision became a rallying point for legalism, therefore — Acts 15:1, 24; Galatians 6:12,13.

5. Circumcision was used to designate the Jews by race and by nation — Galatians 2:8; Colossians 4:11; Titus 1:10; Ephesians 2:11. The ritual portrayed the laws of divine establishment found in the Mosaic code.

6. The ritual of circumcision is used as an illustration of retroactive positional truth in Colossians 2:11.

7. Circumcision is also used to illustrate or portray scar tissue of the soul, emotional revolt, and other aspects of reversionism — Jeremiah 6:10; 9:25,26; Ezekiel 44:7; Acts 7:51.

8. Circumcision is used to portray the function of GAP — Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4.

9. Circumcision is used to portray the ECS — Romans 2:28,29; Philippians 3:3. This is a spiritual connotation.

1. Circumcision was established as a sign of the Abrahamic covenant. Genesis 17:1-14. Circumcision is an operation on the male phallus in which some useless skin is removed. This principle is carried into the ritual which emphasised the sanctification of the Jewish nation as a part of God’s plan for the previous dispensation. Only the males had to be circumcised in Genesis 17 because only the males were responsible. Women are designed to be responders, they carry no authority except as parents. The ritual as it began in Genesis 17 was designed to set apart the Jewish nation of Israel as a part of God’s plan as God’s representative in the previous dispensation. Abraham was circumcised after his salvation and after receiving the covenant. It was on the reception of the Abrahamic covenant that we actually have the right of circumcision administered for the first time, Romans 4:11.

a. In the history of Israel there are some very dramatic moments in the field of literal circumcision. Literal circumcision represented to the Jews their responsibility before the Lord to maintain and to disseminate Bible doctrine and the principles of establishment. Moses had ignored this with regard to his own children and almost died the sin unto death for his failure to have his youngest son circumcised. Exodus 4:24-26.

b. Circumcision was a recognition of the role of Israel under God’s grace and therefore it had great significance. Under the command given the child was circumcised on the eighth day. he had nothing to say about it. Being circumcised on the eighth day had two concepts, the coagulation of blood and the principle of grace. The child neither earned nor deserved nor worked for it, nor did his volition enter into it in any way. Therefore circumcision was of great importance in orienting to the grace of God. No Jew could partake of the Passover without circumcision. Exodus 12:48.

c. The Jews were placed under the fifth cycle of discipline for lack of circumcision of the soul to accompany this ritual, Jeremiah 6:10; 9:25,26. So the ritual of circumcision had both physical and spiritual connotation. At its inception we see the spiritual connotation.

2. Definition. Circumcision consists of the cutting away of the foreskin of the male phallus. The ritual indicated dedication of the male sex organ to the right woman, and no one else. It was in direct contrast with the phallic cult of heathenism which the Jews found in the land. Leviticus 12:2,3. This was the physical significance of the ritual of circumcision. It recognised that Israel would be blessed of God not only through spiritual principles but Israel would be blessed in the fact that a maximum number of Jewish males would find the one designed for them and live in great blessing. The [national, not personal] happiness of a nation and the stability of a nation depends upon a maximum number of males within that nation finding, under God’s grace, their right woman. And when a maximum number of right man, right woman marriages are made that nation is stabilized, happy, and blessed.

3. The ritual of circumcision has no significance in the Church Age. By this time in our history a maximum number of people everywhere realise the value of circumcision and have followed the principle, but when males are circumcised today it has no spiritual significance in their life, 1Corinthians 7:18,19; Galatians 5:2,3.

4. Circumcision early in the Church Age became a rallying point for legalism — Acts 15:1, 24; Galatians 6:12,13.

5. Circumcision was used originally to designate the Jews by their race and by their nation, Galatians 2:8; Colossians 4:11; Ephesians 2:11; Titus 1:10. Under this phraseology the Jews are often called the circumcised.

6. Circumcision is used to portray retroactive positional truth, Colossians 2:11. Remember there are two categories of positional truth. We are identified with Christ in His death. At the point of salvation we are entered into union with Christ as He died on the cross. Bearing our sins and taking our place He rejected human good. Human good is outside of the pale of the work of Christ on the cross. He rejected human good. Human good, therefore, is equivalent to the portion of the foreskin removed in circumcision. Human good is dead and circumcision is dead, useless skin. We are also identified with Christ as He is seated at the right hand of the Father. This is current positional truth. Circumcision relates to retroactive positional truth. Therefore in portraying retroactive positional truth the ritual circumcision removes that which is unnecessary, useless. The removal of the unnecessary useless portrays what is not necessary in the Christian life. Therefore the spiritual significance of circumcision comes into focus. Today we have a spiritual circumcision whereby grace eliminates legalism — what is useless. Grace eliminates the talent of man, the ability of man, the energy of man, the plans of man. All of these form the legalistic package.

7. Circumcision is also used to portray scar tissue, emotional revolt, and reversionism, Jeremiah 6:10; 9:25,26; Ezekiel 44:7; Acts 7:51.

8. Circumcision is used to portray the function of GAP. Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4.

9. Circumcision is used to portray the ECS with entrance into the supergrace life. Deuteronomy 30:6; Romans 2:28:29: Philippians 3:3.

1. A civilization begins a period of human history with believers only, or with innocent persons only, and terminates with a cataclysmic judgement. In the cataclysmic judgement the entire population of the world is destroyed, except for believers, and believers begin the next civilization. So a civilization is like a dispensation in that it is a period of history, but it has different termini with the exception of the Millennium.

2. Each civilization has its own climate, its own environment and characteristics within the species - that is, man has a different life span in each civilization, weather is different in each civilization, animals are different; but each species remains, there is no transmutation. We have the pre-diluvian civilization — the civilization before the flood. It started with two people, man and woman in innocence; it terminates with a cataclysm, the flood. The second civilization is called the post-diluvian civilization. It begins with eight believers - Noah plus seven. It includes the Age of Israel, the Church Age, the Rapture of the Church, the Tribulation and the second advent. So it begins with believers only and it ends with the baptism of fire by which all unbelievers are removed from the world and cast into fire. Then the third civilization is the Millennium, the reign of Jesus Christ for a thousand years. it begins with believers only. These are the “wheat”; the tares are removed. This is perfect environment at the end of which there is another great cataclysm, the destruction of the universe, the removal of the unbelieving population of the Millennium which is cast into the lake of fire with the devil and his angels. The final civilization is the eternal one — believers only.

3. The first civilization is called antediluvian or pre-diluvian. It began with Adam in innocence and concludes with the universal flood which destroyed all the population of the earth but eight people.

4. The second civilization is post-diluvian. It began with Noah’s family — all believers — and concludes with the second advent judgement of the baptism of fire. In this manner all of the unbelievers on the earth are removed at one time. That is the fulfilment of Matthew 25 — “Two shall be in the field; one shall be taken, the other left.” The earth will be repopulated by the believers who remain.

5. The third civilization is the Millennium which begins with Tribulational saints who survive the Tribulation — they are alive at the second advent — and it concludes with a rebellion led by Satan personally: the Gog and Magog revolution, at the end of which is the last judgement and the earth is destroyed by fire.

6. The fourth civilization is eternal in nature, it has no end. Therefore it is believers only in resurrection bodies. It begins with the new heavens, the new earth and the new Jerusalem. It has no termination, there will never again be unbelievers in a civilization.

7. Each civilization begins with a divine blessing and terminates with a divine judgement, except the past which has no termination and there is no end to divine blessing for believers in resurrection bodies.

1. A civilization is defined as an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry and government have been reached.

2. Biblically a civilization is a period of history which begins with God’s grace provision and deliverance of believers and terminates with maximum degeneration of mankind to a point of self-destruction. To prevent the destruction of the human race the supreme court of heaven destroys by cataclysmic judgment the entire unregenerate and degenerate category of the human race. Man left to his own devices is self-destructive. If God did not interfere, the human race would have been long gone from this earth.

a. Without parents teaching children values, it is inevitable that over a period of years there will be degeneration that reaches a peak in self-destruction. The biggest contribution to degeneracy is the failure of parents to teach children in the home.

b. As people learn the wrong things in the educational system, the government changes from a system of protecting your freedoms to a system of destroying your freedoms. Believers are either in the pivot of mature believers preserving their nation or they are in degeneracy contributing to the self-destruction of the nation.

3. A civilization from the divine viewpoint is compatible with God’s plan in the creation of the human race to resolve the prehistoric angelic conflict. The prehistoric angelic conflict terminated with the trial of Satan and all fallen angels. The sentence of the supreme court of heaven was pronounced—the lake of fire forever. Satan appealed the sentence and God granted an appeal trial. The appeal trial is human history; for God created man to resolve the prehistoric angelic conflict. Man has one thing in common with the angels—volition. The fall of man paralleled the fall of Satan (in both cases there was negative volition toward God).

4. A civilization begins with believers only and terminates with cataclysmic judgments that remove all unbelievers from the earth. It is the starting over again of the human race. It begins with believer’s only and ends with a divine judgment, which destroys the entire population of the world except believers.

5. Each civilization has its own climate, environment. Human beings and animals have different characteristics but always remain within their own species. All the changes occur within the species. For example, horses may very in every civilization, but a horse is still a horse.

a. A lifeboat is defined as a ship’s boat, both readily available in an emergency and able to rescue and maintain people from a sinking ship. The lifeboat analogy recognizes the fact that in human history God has rescued and maintained certain believers during a cataclysmic divine judgment from the supreme court of heaven.

b. On several occasions, God has prevented the self-destruction of the human race by a catastrophic judgment, in which most of the human race is destroyed. During this catastrophic judgment certain believers are preserved to go into the next civilization. Operation Lifeboat occurs at the end of each biblical civilization and is analogous to the preservation of a remnant of believers as a cadre to enter into the next biblical civilization and expand the human race once again. The purpose of this preservation is to continue and resolve the issue of the prehistoric angelic conflict.

i. No further perpetuation of the human race is necessary for the believer who enters the eternal state civilization in a resurrection body.

ii. The Rapture of the Church is in the pattern of the termination of civilizations, but is not a termination point. All believers depart the earth in direct contrast to the Second Advent which terminates the postdiluvian civilization.

i. The pre-diluvian civilization, terminated by the flood. Noah and his family were preserved.

ii. The postdiluvian civilization, terminated by the baptism of fire. All believers are preserved at the Second Advent.

iii. The millennial state civilization, terminated by the Great White Throne judgment. All believers are preserved to go into the eternal state.

e. Civilizations emphasis the self-destructive tendencies of mankind coming to a crisis point, so that the supreme court of heaven must interfere in order to protect the human race from total self-destruction.

1. The antediluvian civilization (before the flood) goes from Adam to the flood.

2. The postdiluvian civilization (after the flood) goes from the flood to the Second Advent.

3. The millennial civilization goes from the Second Advent to the termination of history.

e. There is power lust temptation from the sin nature converted by human volition into degenerate forms of government.

3. The compartmentalization of the human race through languages, nations, attitude toward Christ, and attitude toward Bible doctrine slows down degeneracy or isolates it to a specific geographical location and prevents it from spreading to other geographical locations, so that the ship of the human race remains afloat. However, when degeneracy reaches a saturation point, the human race is in jeopardy of complete and total self- destruction. The supreme court of heaven then has to operate on the cancer with a cataclysmic judgment. This results in operation lifeboat.

4. Each civilization terminates with a catastrophic and cataclysmic divine judgment, which destroys the cancer of degeneracy in the human race and provides mankind the opportunity of continuing life on this earth as the extension and conclusion of the prehistoric angelic conflict. The judgment of the supreme court of heaven accomplishes two things at the end of each one of these civilizations. It removes the cancer of degeneration which threatens the human race with self-destruction and it preserves a cadre of believers to repopulate the earth and perpetuate the issues related to the prehistoric angelic conflict.

c. All believers of history who survive the last judgment and enter into the eternal state.

1. This civilization began with Adam and the woman in the Garden of Eden in a state of perfect environment. There volition was tested by one tree in the garden. The only way they could sin was through negative volition to God’s command. The origin of sin is volition, not temptation. Temptation is not a sin. This civilization carries through their fall, regeneration, and the denying of perfect environment to them. Perfect environment was denied to them as a result of the fall, because mankind in the state of sin has no capacity for perfect environment. All values were established in the home through the teaching of parents.

2. In this civilization brothers and sisters married without any genetic problems. The animals were different. This is when dinosaurs existed. Weather was different. There was no bacteria. People lived for 700-800 years. The women were breathtakingly beautiful.

3. This civilization degenerated due to the angelic infiltration of fallen angels who had sexual relations with the females of the human race, producing a super race of heroes, who were the subject of mythology. Genesis 6:2ff cf. Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7; Psalm 29:1, 89:6, where the Hebrew phrase BENI HA ELOHIM refers to angels. The world was filled with the NEPHILIM, the half angel half human creatures. This was Satan’s strategy to destroy true humanity on the earth and prevent the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. This super race was characterized by two things: degeneracy and self- destruction, and negative volition and spiritual death.

4. Since human beings are self-destruction, and true humanity on the earth was in jeopardy, God administered the great judgment of the universal flood which destroyed the half human half angelic creatures plus all unbelievers. Only eight believers still existed on the earth, Noah and his family. The other believers had already died.

2. The universal flood introduced bacteria into the human race. This started infections which led to shorter life spans. Noah’s grape juice was changed to wine by the action of fermentation, the first time this had ever occurred. (Because Noah did not know the effects of fermented wine the first time he got drunk was not a sin.) The earth was repopulated but the life span was reduced.

3. This civilization terminates with the Second Advent of Christ and the first fire judgment—the baptism of fire, in which all unbelievers who survive the Tribulation are cast into fire.

4. There are at least six dispensations in the postdiluvian civilization: the age of the Gentiles, the age of the patriarchs (from Abraham to Moses), the dispensation of Israel (from Moses to Christ), the dispensation of the hypostatic union (from the virgin birth of Christ to the ascension), the dispensation of the Church, the Tribulation.

a. Restraints on degeneracy in this civilization are twofold: the impact of invisible heroes (winner-believers) and the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit, 2Thessalonians 2:6-7.

b. The Church on earth during this dispensation has a part in this restraining ministry on degeneracy by believers becoming invisible heros, members of the pivot of mature believers. Once the Church is removed by the Rapture, the restraining ministry of the Holy Spirit is also removed, both through the Church and independently of the Church. Restraint of degeneracy during the Church Age can be related to the person of God the Holy Spirit and to the believer who uses the spiritual skills to execute the protocol plan of God. Both restraints are invisible to mankind.

c. In the seven years of the Tribulation, the same concept of degeneracy that occurred in the antediluvian civilization from demonism will occur.

d. This civilization ends with the judgment of all unbelievers at the Second Advent. Believers go into the lifeboat of the millennium. Unbelievers are taken off the earth by the sinking ship of the baptism of fire, the judgment of God which places all unbelievers of the Tribulation into the fire of Hades (which is not the same as the lake of fire during the eternal state).

1. This civilization begins with believers (the Tribulational saints) who survive and continues for a thousand years.

2. It is a time of perfect environment on the earth. Israel will be restored as a client nation on the earth. Jesus Christ will rule the earth while Satan is imprisoned. The royal family will rule with Christ. All animals will be tame. There will be world peace. There will be universal prosperity for all. The perfect environment of the first civilization will be restored.

3. At the end of this civilization Satan is released from prison and starts a revolution (the Gog revolution) against Christ in which all unbelievers revolt against the perfect rule of our Lord. Our Lord puts down the Gog revolution by force. This proves that environment and prosperity is not the solution to man’s problems. There is no substitute for relationship with God through regeneration. This civilization terminates with the second fire judgment—the Great White Throne or Last Judgment, in which all unbelievers are resurrected and cast into the Lake of Fire forever. This also includes the judgment of Satan and all fallen angels and the entire destruction of the universe, 2Peter 3:10.

1. This period begins with all believers in resurrection bodies after the Last Judgment and continues without end.

2. A new universe, a new earth with perfect environment, and a new Jerusalem are created.

3. The eternal state has no terminating judgments; for human history is completed and the divine purpose of human history is accomplished.

4. Believers will live forever in resurrection bodies in a state of indescribable happiness and blessing.

1. Each civilization begins with divine blessing because God provides only the best. But each (except the last) ends with disaster brought on by man and his apostasy.

2. The dispensations interpret history from the standpoint of spiritual life and the challenge to believers at any given time. Civilizations interpret history from the standpoint of their culture, their society, and their government.

R. B. Thieme, Jr. Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

1. A civil government and policy based on the laws of divine establishment. That includes free enterprise.

2. The function of evangelism under the principle of freedom. We who evangelise must recognize the freedom of others. Freedom means privacy. Our job is to clearly present the gospel but we do not force people to accept Christ. We leave people with the information; they must use their volition, and it is wrong on the part of Christians to pressure people.

3. The establishment of local churches which are autonomous. To the extent that local churches form into denominations you are destroying the client nation principle. Denominations become the enemy of client nations. Autonomous local churches: neither connected with other churches to form denominations or spheres of influence, nor involved in any movement which seeks to unite church and state. One of the things that hurt England more than anything else was the fact that Henry the Eighth established his own church and made it part of the state.

4. A vigorous and dynamic Bible teaching to believers which emphasises the protocol system in the plan of God.

5. Missionary activity to other nations under the indigenous principle of not interfering with foreign governments but providing both gospel and Bible teaching for people in the nation. No missionary has the right to interfere with the government and become involved in the politics of the nation where he goes.

Spiritual Dynamics 907 8/25/96; Special: Higher Purpose of Freedom 2-10, 7/16/95; Romans 3/20/77; David 6/30/77

1. A client nation is a national entity under the patronage of God, assigned the responsibility for the formation, preservation, communication, and fulfillment of the canon of Scripture.

a. Before Israel became a nation, custodianship of the word of God involved divine revelation apart from Scripture. But since Israel has become a nation, it is involved in the authorship, custodianship and dissemination of the written Word.

b. Additional custodianship was assigned to Israel in the formation of the New Testament, since all except two writers were Jews.

c. During the time of the formation of the New Testament, the client nation changed from Judea to the Roman Empire, in 70 A.D.

2. In Ex 19:4-6, we have a reference to the client nation concept, “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if hearing, you will obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all peoples, for all the earth is Mine; then you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation to Me. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

a. Deuteronomy 7:6, “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

b. Deuteronomy 26:18-19, “And the Lord has today declared you to be His people, a people for His own [a treasured] possession, as He promised you; therefore, you are to keep all His commandments; and that He will set you high above all nations which He made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a holy people to the Lord your God, as He has spoken.”

3. There are two categories of client nations to God in human history: the five Jewish client nations of the Old Testament with a specialized priesthood and the Gentile client nations during the dispensation of the Church with a universal priesthood. No Gentile nation of the Old Testament was a client nation to God. The Gentile client nation category follows exactly the same pattern as Israel with some dramatic differences related to the uniqueness of the Church Age, both in grace provision and in spiritual life.

4. A client nation is a synonym for a priest nation. The name “priest nation” is used for Israel because it had a specialized priesthood. The term “client nation” is used for any Gentile nation that performs the same functions during the Church Age. In Roman history, a client was someone dependent on another family. Instead of calling a Gentile nation a priest nation as such, the believers in the Church Age are a holy priesthood and a royal family of God, 1Peter 2:4-5, “And coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected by men, but elect and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house [compare Hebrews 3:6] as a result of a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through the agency of Jesus Christ.”

a. Israel was always called a holy nation. The Church is called a holy priesthood. Why? Because in the Church Age, every believer is a priest.

b. Jesus Christ tested and proved the prototype spiritual life. We offer up spiritual sacrifice by the fulfillment of the three stages of the adult spiritual life. God does not want sacrifices and offerings; He wants the sacrifice of the spiritual life. The spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God are the four spiritual mechanics of the spiritual life.

c. 1Peter 2:9, “But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out from darkness into His marvelous light.” The idea of an elect race comes from the Greek phrase in 2 Cor 5:17 KAINE KTISIS, which means, “a new spiritual species.” “Therefore, if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new spiritual species; old things have lost their power, behold, new things have come to pass.” The new things that have come to pass are the four spiritual mechanics, the four spiritual objectives. In the privacy of your priesthood, you have the option or the option to fail as far as the spiritual life is concerned.

d. The royal priesthood is related to positional sanctification; for our Lord is a king-priest from the line of David. Believers in Christ are royal family of God, and this is the key to Gentile client nations in the Church Age.

5. A client nation to God is a nation under divine protection, because it has a large pivot of mature believers. These mature believers have blessing by association to those around them and historical blessing to their nation. A client nation is destroyed by the reversionistic believers who “spin-off” from the pivot of mature believers by their rejection of Bible doctrine. As the pivot shrinks, the nation loses its client nation status with God and undergoes the five cycles of discipline. Only a remnant of positive believers had impact through the spiritual life of Israel in the Old Testament.

B. The most important client nation and the key to all client nations is found in the history of Israel as a priest nation.

1. God directs and controls historical activity on the basis of client nations. A client nation is responsible to do five things.

a. The theocratic kingdom, B.C. 1441-1020, from the Exodus until the prophet Samuel. The theocratic kingdom ended when the Jews said, “We want to be like other nations.”

c. The Northern Kingdom from Jeroboam to Hoshea, B.C. 926-721. In 721 B.C. the fifth cycle of discipline was administered by the Assyrians under Sargon II.

d. The Southern Kingdom from Rehoboam to Zedekiah, B.C. 926-586. The fifth cycle of discipline was administered by the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar.

e. After the Northern and Southern Kingdoms were destroyed, while no Jewish client nation was operational as such, Jews outside of the client nation filled in the gap to Gentile nations as they had been responsible before to do so. No Gentile client nation exists in the Old Testament, only Jewish client nations. Then Judah became a client nation again from B.C. 516 until 70 A.D. Chaldea and the Persian Empire were not client nations between B.C. 586-516.

(1) In 458 B.C., after the fifth Jewish client nation was operational, we have the return of Ezra. The entire Old Testament canon was discovered and Ezra led a great revival back to Bible doctrine

(2) In 445 B.C., Nehemiah returned with a group of people to rebuild the walls and to organize the military to defend this client nation.

1. There were periods of apostasy in Israel in the Old Testament. Apostasy in a client nation is always a cancer. If it grows long enough, that client nation dies under the fifth cycle of discipline. In every case of Jewish apostasy in a Jewish client nation status both the clergy and the politicians of Israel are indicted along with the negative volition of the people.

a. Jeremiah 6:13-14, “For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for profit, furthermore from the prophet even to the priest everyone manufactures lies. In fact they allege to solve problems of My people, saying, `Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.”

b. Ezekiel 13:10-16, “It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, `Peace!’ when there is no peace. Now when anyone builds a wall [the political lies of politicians], behold, they cover it with whitewash [the false solution to the problems of the client nation]; so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall. A flooding rain will come, and you, O hailstones, will fall; and a violent wind [fifth cycle of discipline] will break out. Behold, when the wall has fallen, will you not be asked, `Where is the plaster with which you have plastered it?’ Therefore, thus says the Lord God, `I will cause a violent wind to break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath. So I shall tear down the wall [the political lies] which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare; furthermore when it falls, you will be destroyed with it. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Therefore I will spend My wrath against the wall and against those who have plastered it with whitewash; then I will say to you, `The wall is gone along with its plasterers, along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and saw visions of peace for her where there is no peace,’ declares the Lord God.”

(1) Good decisions of national leadership result in greater options for greater decisions. Bad decisions destroy freedom options and enslave the nation, so that the client nation status is destroyed from within in the first three cycles of discipline. A nation that is not prepared for war is not prepared for peace.

(2) Mankind always has been and always will be the product of their own volition, not their environment. We blame environment, which is part of the arrogance skills.

(3) The doctrine of man’s sin nature and total depravity plus the function of Satan’s cosmic system requires that people in a client nation periodically will have to make great sacrifices for freedom.

(4) Political solutions are useless without spiritual solutions. What makes political solutions great is the invisible heroship of a pivot of mature believers. Political solutions are temporal; spiritual solutions are eternal. Political solutions relate to the power of man; spiritual solutions relate to the power of God. Political solutions are often erroneous and destructive to a nation, while spiritual solutions offer hope to a nation and eternal life to individuals in that nation. Political solutions are mortal and subject to corruption; spiritual solutions are eternal and compatible with the immortality of the soul. Political solutions grope in darkness of spiritual death, but spiritual solutions live in the light of eternity and the fantastic divine revelation in time. Political solutions are related to the first birth of mankind and his spiritual death; spiritual solutions are related to regeneration through faith in Christ—the second birth of mankind and his eternal relationship with God. Spiritual solutions never include violence or coercion, but a change in the soul through Bible doctrine.

d. People become self-righteous, arrogant legalistic, and reversionistic, Hosea 4:1-7; 8:7, and are destroyed for lack of Bible doctrine. Rejection of Bible doctrine leads to destruction of the client nation. Everything depends on your attitude toward Bible doctrine.

2. The fifth cycle of discipline was administered to various Jewish nations, which discontinued their function as a priest nation. The Northern Kingdom fell to Assyria in 721 B.C. The Southern Kingdom fell to the Chaldean Empire in 586 B.C. Judea was conquered by Rome in 70 A.D. Israel will not be a priest nation again until the Second Advent.

3. When Israel was being disciplined as a client nation from 586-516 B.C., there was no Gentile client nation. The remnant according to the election of grace went to Gentile client nations as representatives of a non-operational client nation. The same thing happens during the Tribulation—there is no client nation. Individual Jews are used by God to evangelize the Gentiles from 586-516 B.C. and during the Tribulation. The Persian and Chaldean empires were not client nations to God.

4. When the Roman Empire fell in 476 A.D., God had already used the Goths as His client nation during the fourth century. Scotland and Ireland were client nations during the fifth and sixth centuries. The Franks were a client nation during the eighth and ninth centuries; the Vikings were during the tenth century. Germany under Luther, and Switzerland under Calvin were client nations during the sixteenth century. Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus, and the Huguenots during the seventeenth century were client nations. Brandenberg-Prussia under the Hohenzollerns were a client nation during the eighteenth century. England was the same during the reign of Victoria in the nineteenth century. And the United States of America has been a client nation from 1776 until the present. These are just a few examples. (See the Doctrine of the Pivot for the geopolitical advance of the pivot in the Church Age.)

5. Jesus Christ, who controls history, knows where positive volition will be in each generation. And He makes sure that the current client nation goes to that area of the world with missionary activity. This insures that Gentile nations will continue as client nations until the Rapture.

6. Ignorance of Bible doctrine destroyed the Jewish client nations, and the same ignorance of doctrine destroys the Gentile client nations, Ephesians 4:18-19. Scar tissue of soul has had the same effect, 2 Cor 13:5.

D. The restoration of Israel as a priest nation will occur at the second Advent and continue throughout the millennium, Isaiah 49:5-8. Israel today and in the tribulation is not a client nation. There is a testimony from 144,000 Jews during the tribulation exactly like the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity, but there is no client nation during these two periods.

1. The pivot is the remnant of mature believers who have reached maximum adjustment to the justice of God by their positive attitude toward Bible doctrine. If there is a large pivot, the nation is delivered from historical disaster. It there is a small pivot, then only the pivot is delivered, while the nation is destroyed.

2. The size of the pivot in historical disaster determines the outcome of that disaster.

3. The spinoff is the reversionistic believers. The larger the spinoff, the greater the disaster and destruction of the nation.

4. When judgment falls on a nation, the pivot is still secure because of their adjustment to the justice of God. If a mature believer dies during historical disaster, it was just his time to go home, not a matter of discipline.

5. The principle of deliverance depending upon the size of the pivot is derived from the fact that mature believers are a blessing by association and have historical impact.

7. Therefore historical disaster separates those adjusted to the justice of God from those who are maladjusted. Since the spinoff is always composed of those who are maladjusted, they are disciplined and destroyed by the historical disaster.

F. The principle of the client nation solves certain problem passages in Scripture.

1. 2Samuel 8:18, “And David’s sons were priests.” David was from the tribe of Judah, therefore not qualified to be a priest. But because Israel was a priest nation the verse is telling us that all David’s sons were believers, and therefore, priests, as in the sense of Ex 19:6. Believers are priests in a priest nation.

2. In Ex 19:5-6, the phrase “My special possession” is a synonym for client nation.

2. Israel will be restored as the client nation to God at the Second Advent. Then it will function as His representative nation on the earth for the entire Millennium.

3. There is never a permanent Jewish client nation to God until Jesus Christ provides such a thing at the second Advent. Client nations are definitely an issue in the spiritual life.

1. In every generation of U.S. history, there has been the ingredients of the client nation: evangelism, Bible teaching, missionaries, and pro-semitism.

2. The USA as a client nation is reflected in our Constitution’s purpose, which limits the federal government’s authority.

3. We still have all the ingredients, but things are getting worse. We have a pivot of mature believers, but the spinoff is large and getting larger. Evangelism is a lot of lip service. Bible doctrine is rarely taught properly or accurately. Reversionism has destroyed most missionaries.

4. After the Rapture, there will be no client nation; therefore, there will be no nation for refuge for the Jews. The only thing we are doing right at the present is providing a haven for the Jews.

5. When the Church is taken out of the world at the Rapture, so is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in providing blessing by association and historical impact by restraining evil, 2Thessalonians 2.

1. Jesus Christ is warning the Jews of the removal of Judea as a client nation. Mature believers are to know from the intake of Bible doctrine that Judea will be destroyed. By practical application of this passage the pivot was delivered. Someone always gets hurt in historical disaster: 1,100,000 were killed, 97,000 taken captive.

2. The “times of the Gentiles” refers to the fact that from 70 A.D. until the Rapture, Tribulation and Second Advent, only Gentile nations will be client nations to God. In the Tribulation only individual Jews will be evangelists, there will be no Jewish client nation.

3. When the fifth cycle of discipline came in 70 A.D., it ended the function of any Jewish nation as a priest nation until the Second Advent of Christ. There will be no Gentile client nation during the Tribulation since all believers are taken to heaven before this period of great historical disaster.

4. Gentile client nations should have a maximum number of mature believers for a pivot, maximum evangelism within their own nation, maximum missionary activity to other nations, and they are to provide a haven for the Jews.

5. The client nation is characterized by being pro-semitic. No Gentile nation can be a client nation to God without providing a haven for the Jews during the “times of the Gentiles.” Anti-semitism automatically eliminates any nation from being a client nation to God.

6. During the tribulation, there will be a Jewish nation, but it will not be a client nation. There will be a great evangelistic thrust by 144,000 Jews and the return of Moses and Elijah. But Israel is not restored as a client nation until the Second Advent.

7. When the Rapture occurs, there is no pivot, no believers, and no client nation. That is why angels, Moses, and Elijah, in addition to the 144,000 Jews are used during the tribulation for the evangelization of the world.

8. In the meantime, we have the “times of the Gentiles,” which began in 70 A.D. and continues until the Second Advent.

1. Romans 11:25, “For, brethren, I do not wish you to be ignorant of this mystery [Church Age doctrine], lest you become presumptuous [wise in your own estimation], that a partial hardening has occurred to Israel until the full measure of Gentile nations has come in.”

2. The word translated “Gentile nations” is the Greek word ETHNOS. This word means Gentiles and Gentile nations. The full measure of the Gentile nations is all the Gentile client nations from the fall of Israel in 70 A.D. until the end of the Church Age.

3. The full measure of Gentile nations refers to the times of the Gentiles with one slight difference. The times of the Gentiles goes from 70 A.D. until the second Advent. The full measure of the Gentiles has to do with the fact that there will always be Gentile client nations until the resurrection of the Church. The difference is the tribulation, during which there is no Gentile client nation and Israel is not yet restored as a client nation.

1. Moses made a prophet gesture in relationship to Israel as God’s covenant people. This gesture may be classified as the doctrine of the fading glory in contrast to the spiritual life of the Church Age which may be classified as the doctrine of the unfading glory.

2. Ex 34:29-35, “Now it came to pass when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in his hands that Moses did not know that the skin of his face was shining because he had been talking with Him. So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. So Moses called to them. Then Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned to him; then Moses spoke to them. And afterward all the sons of Israel came near, and he commanded them everything that the Lord had spoken to him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. Now whenever Moses went in face-to-face with the Lord to speak with Him, he took off the veil until he came out, and whenever he came out and spoke to the sons of Israel what had been commanded, the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. So Moses would replace the veil over his face until he went in to speak with Him.”

a. Moses put on the veil after speaking God’s word to the people so that Israel could not see the fading glory of the Mosaic Law. Moses understood that Israel must hear the message and not associate the message with the fact that the Mosaic Law is a system of fading glory. Israel was not to understand at that time that all five of the Jewish client nations to God would sooner or later fail because of rejection of Bible doctrine. As soon as Moses entered the tabernacle he removed the veil and kept it off until he was finished listening to the Lord and speaking to the people of Israel.

b. The prophetic gesture of Moses provides the historical background and interpretation for the unfading glory of the unique spiritual life of the Church Age. The unique spiritual life of the Church Age believer is an unfading glory. There is no fading glory in the spiritual life of the Church Age. If the spiritual life is rejected, there is a veil over the soul called scar tissue of the soul. People do not do what the word of God says because there is a veil over their soul.

3. 2 Cor 3:13-18, “And not as Moses, who kept on putting a veil over his face to prevent the sons of Israel from gazing at his face while the radiance was fading away, but their thinking was hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is only removed by Christ. For until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil covers their heart; but whenever it [the Jewish heart] has turned face-to-face with the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Spirit is the Lord [deity of the Holy Spirit]; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom [spiritual freedom]. But we all, with an unveiled face looking into a mirror to produce a reflection—the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory [the prototype spiritual life] to glory [the operational spiritual life], as it were from the Spirit of the Lord.”

a. When Moses pulled down the veil over his face, the Jews pulled a veil down over their hearts. The phrase “their thinking was hardened” means they rejected his teaching and had scar tissue of the soul. They were free to succeed or fail. They chose to fail. Is there a veil over your heart when you hear doctrine taught? To the extent that you neglect doctrine you are presumptuous. If you think that the learning of the world is more important than doctrine, you are presumptuous. The same thing that happened to the Jews in their client nation is happening to believers in client nation USA—their thinking is hardened.

b. There could be no Gentile client nations until the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so that any born again Jew could be part of a client nation that is not Israel. The full measure of the Gentiles does not exclude the Jew at all.

c. They had fading glory. You have unfading glory. You have greater responsibility than anyone in the five Jewish client nations to God. You have a spiritual life that has an unfading glory. If God severely disciplined the Jews who had a spiritual life with fading glory, what will he do to us if we reject a spiritual life with unfading glory?

d. We are face-to-face with the Lord when we hear the teaching of the word of God contained in the New Testament canon. The unveiled face belongs to the positive believer who is consistent in the function of the four spiritual mechanics.

e. Metabolized doctrine in your soul creates a mirror into which you can look and see what you are really like, James 1:23-25. This allows you to evaluate yourself without any help from anyone else. There is another reflection which is seen in the mirror of Bible doctrine—the reflection of the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union, the glory of the Lord. You have the opportunity of having the unveiled soul with all of its glory, becoming of member of the pivot of mature believers in the client nation, and so preserving the client nation.

1. Mankind does not possess the power to perpetuate or guarantee peace on the earth. There will always be wars and rumors of wars until Jesus Christ returns, Matthew 24:6-7. Therefore, beware of politicians who reject and diminish the military, Ezekiel 13:10-16. Beware of the liberal clergy, who manufacture lies about world peace, Jeremiah 6:13-14.

2. The supreme court of heaven can punish Israel without any help. Anti-semitism is a guarantee for destroying a national entity. God does not need any help in His discipline of Israel. Anti-semitism is Satanic, Revelation 12. Anti-semitism results in liability to personal and national discipline from the supreme court of heaven. Genesis 12:3.

3. All failure of client nations to God includes both the spiritual and establishment principles, Hosea 4:1-6. The failure of believers to execute God’s plan and purpose results in a shrinking pivot of mature believers and the rejection of establishment principles.

4. The Fantasy Notion. Politicians seeking power with utopian plans destroy a national entity. The utopian concept came into history in 1516, when Sir Thomas Moore wrote a book called Utopia, a state of political and social perfection. Utopianism involves the dreams and schemes of an imaginary, divorced from reality status of political and social perfection. Hence, utopianism is the Satanic concept of the millennium brought on by the work of mankind rather than by the work of God. This is the warning of Ezekiel 13:10-16. Utopianism not only rejects the biblical eschatology of the millennium but ignores the total depravity of mankind and the need for regeneration and establishment principles delineated in the Scripture.

5. God has ordained nationalism in the human race to protect it from self-destruction, Acts 17:24-27.

6. Utopian socialism is an economic system based on the premise that if capital voluntarily surrendered its ownership of means of production to the state and the workers, unemployment and poverty would be abolished. This is tantamount to redistribution of wealth and is totally disastrous. The Bible does not teach any such things. The word of God teaches that you must always have capitalism and free enterprize. Capitalism is the only economic system that creates prosperity.

c. He controls history through the pivot of mature believers in the client nation.

d. He controls history through the utilization of the wrath of man to praise Him, Psalm 76:10.

e. He controls history through the preservation of Israel against all anti-semitism functions both Satanic and sin nature conspiracy.

f. He controls history through the preservation of planet earth during the course of human history. He not only created the universe. Hebrews 1:10, but He holds the universe together by the word of His power. Hebrews 1:3. By the control of history, Jesus Christ provides freedom for the function of human volition.

g. He controls history through the second Advent, which terminates the last and greatest world war of history.

2. You cannot legislate hope; for hope is the monopoly of God and demands relationship with God.

3. Therefore, government cannot give you hope; for hope is a confident relationship with God.

4. Hence, hope is for Gentile client nations to God of the Church Age and that hope always depends on believers executing the unique spiritual life which has impact on the nation through blessing by association.

5. As goes the spiritual life of the believer so goes the blessing of God for the client nation.

6. In recognition of the doctrine, “as goes the believer, so goes the client nation,” hope becomes a technical monopoly of the royal priesthood.

7. Only those believers who execute the unique spiritual life of the dispensation of the Church constitute both blessing and deliverance to the client nation to God in any given generation.

8. Therefore, hope in the client nation is related to the pivot of mature believers who execute the spiritual life of the Church to become a vehicle of blessing by association.

1. We have communicators of doctrine in the Old Testament and New Testament. The voice of God is now in writing. We do not hear the voice of God, not since 96 A.D. on the isle of Patmos. In the Old Testament, the voice of God was heard by those who had the gift of prophet. Also men were taught by angels. Then the written word of God was communicated. The Old Testament communicator received his information from three sources: God, angels, and the Canon. Those who claim to have heard the voice of God are kooks and weirdos. Only those with the gift of communication heard the voice of God; and there were teaching angels as well. Once the Old Testament was completed, that was an accurate location of Bible doctrine.

2. Until Moses there were no communicators. Moses was as unique to the Jewish age as Paul was to the Church Age. Moses and Paul started out in very different ways; but they became expert communicators. Moses was the military hero of Egypt; and saved the Egyptians 4x from an invasion of the Ethiopians. Moses was a genius in writing, administration and music. Thutmose II used the administrative system set up by Moses when he (Thutmose II) came to power. No one ever starts out as a communicator. Moses had both the office and gift of prophesy. Those with the office of prophet were official communicators of doctrine only. Those with the gift of prophesy did something else but also communicated doctrine and received direct revelation from God, e.g., Daniel, David, Solomon. When Aaron took his place, that frustrated Moses and he finally pushed Aaron aside and took over.

3. During the time of the early church, circa 30-96 A.D., Paul had two sources: God directly and the Old Testament Canon. He became the greatest source of doctrine in the New Testament. There was also the temporary spiritual gift of knowledge (gnosis) which was academic knowledge of the content of doctrine which would be contained in the New Testament Canon before it was written.

4. After the Canon is closed we have only one system, the pastor- teacher. The pastor-teacher has two sources: his pastor-teacher, and the education to dig out information from the Canon itself.

5. In the Tribulation there will be a new system. The 144,000 Jews will teach the word of God; Moses will be resuscitated along with Elijah to teach doctrine; and angels will teach again.

B. The three types of communicators to this point have been prophets, Apostles and pastor-teachers. In the Tribulation there will be Moses and Elijah brought back and angels and the 144,000.

C. The communication system at present is not direct from God; it comes through the pastor-teacher.

1. You can't read the Bible for yourself and get what God intended for you to fully understand. You are in a playpen until you hook up with your right pastor. How would you like to learn how to perform a brain operation by reading a book?

2. A pastor-teacher has a spiritual gift sovereignly bestowed by the Holy Spirit at salvation. It is not earned or deserved. The spiritual gift provides both the authority and ability to communicate. All types of personalities have the gift and not all are eloquent, but they do communicate and you do understand. Everyone has a right pastor-teacher. Even the extremely shy person. Not everyone with the gift of pastor-teacher is eloquent. This gift was given to many people. They may have some peculiarities.

3. Baptism doesn't help communicate doctrine, only the Lord's table does this, which is why it is the only ritual left in the Church Age.

D. You discover the gift of pastor-teacher by persistent study of God's Word. Through growth it becomes apparent to you that you possess the gift. Also accompanying spiritual growth, you have a lot of discipline. You try a lot of things at which you're good and never succeed. You learn by a lot of knots on the head.

1. Presbutês (πρεσβύτης) [pronounced pres-BOO-tace] means old man, elder; a title for authority, commanding officer. Only one man has the authority; there is no such thing as plurality of elders in a local church, or assistant pastors.

2. Poimên (ποιμήν) [pronounced poy-MANE] POIMENAS means shepherd; connotes provision; pastor. Those who receive the doctrine are students under strict academic discipline.

3. Epískopos (ἐπίσκοπος) [pronounced ep-IS-kohp-oss] means to look over the situation, the guardian of the system. It is an administrative term in the sense of policy making. He is the overseer.

4. Diakonos (διάκονος) [pronounced dee-AK-on-oss] means servant; administrative function of serving the Lord. This is originally meant to be a waiter.

5. Leitourgos (λειτουργός) [pronounced li-toorg-OSS] means sacrifice at the altar. There is unique sacrifice involved in the communication of doctrine. A pastor's sacrifice means that he can never be quite human. He doesn't live a normal life. The demands of study and communication preclude normal living. For example, Paul as an ultra supergrace believer should have had a billion dollars, but he couldn't enjoy it since he had no time. The pastor-teacher is chained to the Bible; therefore, he lives a sacrificial life. Generally a communicator will always be historically obscure. He forgoes success in some other normal realms of life. He doesn’t have the time or the opportunity; being chained to the Bible. Bob’s father said, “You are a failure, no matter how you succeed.”

F. The Purpose of a Communicator, Ephesians 4:11-12, 13, 14-17. And He gave some Apostles [the top communication gift in those days] and other prophets, and others evangelists [a specialist; he gets the attention of his audience] pastor-teachers; For the purpose of training and equipping saints [the royal family] for combat; for the purpose of the vocation of the ministry, for the purpose of the edification of the body of Christ; until we all attain the goal, because of the consistency of doctrine and the full knowledge of doctrine of the Son of God, with reference to a mature noble man, to the standard of maturity which belongs to the fullness of Christ, in order that we no longer be childish ones [immature ones] , being tossed here and there by waves, being carried by every wind of false doctrine by the dice playing of men cheating, face to face with their cunning methods of deception; but by teaching doctrine in the sphere of love [the filling of the Spirit, the concept of impersonal love] may cause to grow up by all things of doctrine with reference to Him who is the absolute Chief [Jesus Christ] Christ, through Whom all the body, being joined together [in union with Christ] being taught categorically through every joint of supply according to the operational power in measure, one pastor for each part which causes growth in the body resulting in an edification complex belonging to self in love. This therefore, says Paul, I explain and make an emphatic demand by means of the Lord that you all no longer continue walking just as the gentiles [reversionistic types] keep walking by means of nothingness in their minds that I should be a minster of Christ Jesus to the gentiles.

1. If no one is saved because of the work of the evangelist, then there is no need for the gift of pastor-teacher. Therefore, evangelists are more important than pastor-teachers.

2. If there are no pastor-teachers doing their job, then there are no believers with momentum glorifying Christ.

3. Bob was lucky to be in a Baptist church at first, because that has given him all of his illustrations.

4. No such thing as evangelizing in a church; an evangelist meets people on a neutral ground.

5. God is not going to change the system just because some evangelists don’t know the gospel. God honors that gift, even if they get a few things wrong. No matter, people are going to be saved.

6. The first thing a missionary does is scour up converts. You are an oddball to them; you don’t look right, you don’t smell right; and you make many linguistic errors which they make fun of.

7. The evangelist is named before the pastor-teacher, because there need to be believers first. No believers then the pastor-teacher has no one to teach. You cannot have a church without believers.

8. Bob was a kid in Florida; and he walked by the tent where Gypsy Smith was an evangelist and Bob was spellbound. He came home and said where he had been, and his father laughed for 30 minutes. His mother quietly told him that he could go back and he did.

____________________________________________________________________ R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

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1. Definition: A conscience is a norm or standard residing in the right lobe of the mentality of the soul. The conscience is located in the heart or the right lobe of the soul - Romans 2:15; Titus 1:15.

2. The conscience establishes norms for both human and divine relationship - Acts 24:16.

3. The conscience also has a part which is designed to establish concepts of wrong or right. The conscience, therefore, convicts of wrong or evil - John 8:9.

4. The conscience establishes norms for morality, for laws of establishment, for relationship with God - Romans 2:15.

5. False norms and standards in the conscience produce legalism or self-righteousness - 1Corinthians 8:7.

6. The law of liberty and freedom, and certain superseding laws for the believer - love, expediency, supreme sacrifice, are also related to the function of the conscience - 1Corinthians 10:24-29.

8. Human happiness in the field of neutral H, which is legitimate happiness, is based on compliance to the standards of one's own conscience - 2Corinthians 1:12. No person is a happy person who is violating his own standards.

9. Norms and standards reside in the conscience for the communication of doctrine - 2Corinthians 4:2. By having these norms and standards in the conscience we avoid intellectual dishonesty as well as academic snobbery.

10. The function of GAP builds up the divine standards in the human conscience - 1Timothy 1:5,19; 3:9.

11. The conscience can be distorted or destroyed by negative volition toward doctrine. Great destruction of the conscience is wrought by blackout of the soul and scar tissue of the soul.

12. Conscience establishes norms and standards for serving God - 2Timothy 1:3; Hebrews 9:14.

13. Conscience containing doctrine is the basis for meeting the exigencies of life, handling all the problems of life during maltreatment, misunderstanding, and is directly related to capacity for life - 1Peter er 2:19; 3:16.

a. There are certain things that feed the conscience, like the original environment. Environment is no way of explaining away your failures, your maladjustments in life, your bad personality. But it is true that your original norms and standards are based upon your early environment. We also acquire a conscience from our early environment, whatever it may be. For this reason a stabilized early environment gives you your first great thrust in life which is a good strong conscience. So the environmental factor is a contributor to the conscience whether it is good or bad. These norms and standards are standards you carry for life, and unless there are some radical changes you pretty well have the same norms and standards that you had when you left school. Bible doctrine can change that, it si the greatest factor in adding dynamics to conscience, but outside of that there isn't much hope. As a generation is influenced in the elementary high school stage of its life that is the way the generation will shape up or ship out, and the only thing that will ever change it is a radical disaster whereby a maximum number are destroyed in a shocking manner and the survivors have to undergo a complete change of norm or standard to survive.

1. The Greek word for conscience is suneidêsis (συνείδησις) [pronounced soon-Ī-day-sis], which means to know with a norm or standard. To have a norm or standard and be conscious of that norm or standard in thinking, motivation, decision making and action.

2. The English word conscience comes from the Latin word CONSCIENTIA, meaning joint knowledge; hence, to know with preconceived standards. There is no reference to the conscience, as such, in the Old Testament.

a. Suneidêsis (συνείδησις) [pronounced soon-Ī-day-sis] is defined by Kittel's Theological Dictionary as, "percipient and active self-awareness, which is threatened at its heart by the disjunction of acknowledgement and perception, willing and knowing, judgment and action."

b. Conscience is that mental faculty by which one distinguishes between right and wrong, and urges the individual to do what he recognizes to be right and to restrain him from doing that which he recognizes to be wrong.

4. The conscience is a sense or consciousness in the right lobe related to either moral or spiritual goodness of one's thoughts, motives, decisions, and actions. Therefore, conscience is a faculty, a power, or a principle conceived in the right lobe to determine the quality of one's thoughts, intentions, decisions, and actions.

5. In the conscience of the believer, the norms, standards, and priorities must originate from Bible doctrine. The conscience stores norms, standards, priorities, and values in life.

a. The conscience is the place for the norms and standards that are developed from Bible doctrine. The only thing that makes a Christian conscience work is Bible doctrine.

b. The conscience extrapolates from doctrine the norms and standards for life. You have to know something to have a conscience. When you know something you develop standards. Whatever you learn in the right lobe becomes a part of your norms and standards.

c. You must have vocabulary and thought to establish norms and standards. The conscience must be built on a vocabulary that begins with one word: no, or don't .All consciences are built with negative words which forbid doing something. So the conscience of man is first established by negatives, although eventually there are explanations in both positive and negative terms.

d. The preconceived norms, standards, and priorities of the believer must originate from Bible doctrine. This is the only possible way for the believer to have a conscience that honors God.

7. Scripture: Romans 9:1, 13:5; 1Corinthians 8:7; 2Corinthians 4:2, 5:11; Titus 1:15; Hebrews 9:14.

8. While the Old Testament does not have a word for conscience, it does tell how conscience worked in the Old Testament. Romans 2:14-15, "The law printed [written] in your hearts [right lobes], their conscience confirming the testimony and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending themselves."

a. All normal persons develop some form of norms, standards, priorities, and concepts of life in the right lobe of the soul.

b. Believers develop divine norms, standards, and priorities in the right lobe through perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.

a. It is the most basic attribute of the soul related to self-consciousness, and is located in the right lobe of the soul.

(2) These standards set up your own personal honor code. They must recognize authority to have freedom, privacy and property.

c. Everyone has a system of norms, their conscience; e.g., giving your word, not welshing on an obligation, the fact that all women are ladies.

d. Honor is more important than anything else. A society without standards is no society at all. The Roman Empire destroyed itself because it rejected its own standards and the better standards of Christianity.

e. You were born into an aristocracy of honor as a believer. You have to develop new standards now. Your first standard should be recognition of authority, so that all of us may have freedom.

f. Your standards don't make you spiritual or advance you to maturity; God's standards do.

g. People have the right to learn their own standards and make their own decisions. No one has the right to superimpose their standards on anyone else. Privacy means you are allowed to hold any opinion until you grow up spiritually. You have the privacy to take in doctrine without anyone setting standards for you.

h. As you learn doctrine your norms and standards will change. At every stage of spiritual growth you have a consolidated conscience so that you regulate your own life on the basis of your own standards.

B. False standards of legalism produce a weak conscience. 1Corinthians 8:7, "Not all men have this knowledge [about food offered to idols], but some being accustomed to idol worship until now [when saved] eat the food as if it were sacrificed to idols, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled."

1. Some of the best food in Corinth had been offered to idols and then sold as the choicest meat in the temple market. Food is food and meat is meat. So it was alright to eat that food, once you sanctified it.

2. But for those with an idolatrous background and a weak conscience, eating food offered to idols was very offensive. The one with the weak conscience has legalistic norms and standards in his conscience from his religious background.

3. So there is a conflict between those with a strong conscience and those with a weak conscience. A strong conscience has Biblical standards from metabolized doctrine. A weak conscience lives by standards acquired from its background, which may or may not be good, or which may be distorted in the spiritual life. Eating is a physical issue, and has nothing to do with the spiritual life.

4. The weak conscience assumes he's strong, because legalism always assumes it is strong. Yet legalism is really weak. The invasion of guilt into the conscience is one of the biggest problems in legalism, and becomes motivation for legalistic believers.

5. So the conscience is a very sensitive thing. It can be erroneous in its concepts apart from doctrine. If doctrine does not feed the conscience, instinct will. And instinct develops legalism in a hurry.

1. Paul had a balanced conscience regarding establishment and the principles of Bible doctrine, or theology. The norms and standards located in the conscience are directed toward both God and man, but primarily toward mankind until you become aware of the existence of God and what He has done for you.

a. Acts 23:1, "Then Paul, looking intently at the Sanhedrin, said, `Brethren, I have conducted myself as a citizen with a good conscience before God up to this day.'"

b. Acts 24:16, "In view of this, even I myself keep on practicing to maintain even a blameless conscience, both before God and before men."

2. You must have a balanced conscience in order to have a blameless conscience. Paul had two sets of norms and standards from Bible doctrine. He had one set related to God and one set related to man. True strength is to develop your standards toward both God and man from the Biblical standards of doctrine.

3. Paul's conscience before God originated from the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. His conscience before people originated from Codex Three of the Mosaic Law plus everything he had learned related to Bible doctrine of the Church Age.

1. Believers in two categories of extended carnality have destroyed their conscience: extended carnality, resulting in life in Satan's cosmic system; extended carnality, resulting in the believer's involvement in the three stages of Christian degeneracy.

a. 1Timothy 1:19-20, "keeping doctrine [faith] and a good of intrinsic value conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck regarding their doctrine [faith]. Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme."

b. Tit 1:15, "To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving [those who reject doctrine], nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled."

c. 1Timothy 4:1-2, "But the Spirit explicitly states that in latter periods of time [the dispensations of the Hypostatic Union, the Church Age, and the Tribulation], some believers will become apostate from doctrine, paying attention to deceitful spirits and concentrating on doctrines from demons [cosmic involvement] by means of hypocrisy of liars [false teachers], seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron."

2. False teaching sears the conscience like a branding iron. It destroys the conscience. This searing refers to scar tissue of the soul and cosmic involvement.

3. A great deal of your strength comes from having the proper norms and standards in the conscience of your right lobe. Therefore, it is important to understand how apostasy can destroy the conscience.

1. The Bible has something to say about the conscience and dead works. The conscience is purified from dead works to serve God as a result of believing in Jesus Christ according to Hebrews 9:14, "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit [omnipotence of the Holy Spirit] offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

2. There is no work we can perform for salvation; salvation is by grace. Therefore, our conscience must be purified from dead works. Dead works are human works, like faith plus anything for salvation. At the moment of salvation, the new believer has the potential for the purification of his conscience; the conscience can be purified from dead works by avoiding dead works through the filling of the Holy Spirit. All dead works will be burned at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

3. In other words, anything performed outside of the divine dynasphere is dead works. Dead works are from a bad conscience seared with legalism. Christian service that involves dead works is not Christian service at all. The great power experiment of the Church Age and the execution of the protocol plan of God demands the use of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere.

4. Divine omnipotence and human power are mutually exclusive. Serving God and fulfilling His plan cannot be accomplished by human power. Human power destroys the conscience and results in dead works. Legalism cannot execute the plan, purpose, or will of God in the Church Age.

5. Serving God means the utilization of divine power and the cognition of Bible doctrine, which establishes the norms and standards for the right lobe.

6. Under the Levitical offering, the animal sacrifices were involuntary offerings. But the impeccable humanity of Jesus Christ was a voluntary sacrifice for the sins of the world.

1. The conscience is a vehicle for the problem solving devices of the protocol plan of God.

2. If the norms and standards respond to guilt, then you have a weak conscience. For example, if you rebound and still feel guilty, you have a weak conscience.

3. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Christian moral degeneracy, then the conscience is weak and can only identify with dead works.

4. However, the application of Bible doctrine to life is made through the mechanics of the problem solving devices; they also enter the conscience.

a. The norms and standards of the conscience make the proper application of rebound. The believer simply names his sins to God, and because he has a strong conscience, he knows they are forgiven immediately. Therefore, there is no battle with guilt, no penitence, no self-flagellation, no trying to make it up to God. Rebound applied to the conscience removes guilt.

b. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has a problem solving device related to grace orientation, 2Corinthians 1:12. "Now this is our boast [esprit de corp], the testimony of our conscience, that we have conducted ourselves in the world and especially in relationship to God, both in holiness [filling of the Holy Spirit] and godly sincerity [motivation from Bible doctrine], not in fleshly wisdom, but in the grace of God."

(1) There a conflict in the conscience of the believer in adolescence between the motivation of Bible doctrine and the problem of fleshly wisdom. Believers hallucinate spiritually. They assume they have reached spiritual adulthood when they are really in adolescence. These believers can never handle the lust problems of the sin nature.

(2) The conscience is related to the grace of God in Paul's conduct toward the Corinthian believers.

(3) Grace orientation as a problem solving device expresses itself through the norms and standards of the conscience constructed from Bible doctrine. There is no grace orientation apart from the norms and standards of Bible doctrine established in the soul.

(4) Grace orientation in the soul includes conscience. Conscience is the basis for grace function in the Christian life.

(5) Grace orientation related to the conscience is also taught in 1Peter 2:18-19, "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only for the good and gentle masters, but also for the unreasonable ones; for this is grace, if for the sake of conscience toward God, anyone bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly."

(a) Though originally addressed to slaves, this verse came to refer to anyone who is under the authority of someone else. Some people in authority are perverse, but you are just as responsible to submit to their authority. You serve them and do your best job as unto the Lord.

(b) A conscience loaded with doctrine bears up magnificently under unfair treatment. Such a believer has a strong conscience. Instead of guilt entering the conscience to destroy it, you have grace orientation and keep on making the right application. The weak believer complains and rejects authority, and so becomes a loser.

(c) So it is very important to have a conscience based on EPIGNOSIS doctrine so that you can handle unjust treatment in the same manner that you handle fair treatment.

(d) Military training can be counted on to provide unjust and unfair treatment from authority. To learn to submit to unfair authority is necessary for proper function under the abnormal circumstances of combat.

c. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has a problem solving device related to doctrinal orientation, 2Corinthians 4:2, "But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame [false norms and standards], not walking in craftiness or watering down the Word of God, but by the unveiling of doctrine [cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine], commending ourselves to every person's conscience in the sight of God."

(1) The "things hidden because of shame" are the previous false norms and standards in the conscience related to guilt or some other form of arrogance. This is how people justify wrong doing.

(2) The weak conscience is crafty. The weak conscience waters down the Word of God.

(3) The more doctrine you learn, the more doctrinal standards you have in your conscience.

(a) You cannot have a good conscience, if you do not know Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine is the center of all spiritual skills.

(b) Paul is here saying that there is a legitimate modus operandi that goes with the spiritual life. You will build up norms and standards related to it from Bible doctrine, and at the same time set aside false norms and standards related to legalism.

(c) By learning and using doctrine without trying to run other people's lives, you commend yourself to other people's consciences in the sight of God.

(d) The conscience of the believer must be formed from the norms, standards, and priorities obtained through cognition of Bible doctrine. No one has a strong conscience until they reach spiritual self-esteem.

(4) 1Timothy 3:9, "Holding the mystery of the doctrine with a clear conscience." You acquire a clear conscience by having doctrinal norms and standards.

(5) The conscience of the believer must be formed from norms and standards obtained through cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine.

d. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has problem solving devices related to virtue-love, 1Timothy 1:5, "But the objective of our instruction is virtue-love from a pure right lobe and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

e. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has a problem solving devices relate to perfect happiness. This happiness and tranquility is applied through the conscience.

f. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has a problem solving devices relate to a personal sense of destiny.

g. When the norms and standards of the conscience are formed from Bible doctrine, the believer has a problem solving devices relate to occupation with Christ. 1Peter 3:15-16, "but sanctify the Lord Jesus Christ in your right lobes [occupation with Christ], and always be ready to make a defense to anyone who asks you to give an account for the confidence that is in you with grace orientation and respect [occupation with Christ]. Be having a good conscience, so that in the things in which you are slandered, those who malign your intrinsic good in Christ may be put to shame."

(1) Note the source of occupation with Christ is epignosis doctrine in the right lobe. You handle slander through epignosis in the right lobe.

(2) If you have a strong conscience, you will leave it in the Lord's hands. Then it will go to the supreme court of heaven. They will be put to shame without you ever trying to defend yourself or answer back.

(3) Occupation with Christ extends into the conscience and becomes the ultimate in problem solving devices. Any of the various problem solving devices can enter the conscience and solve the problem. You will never be occupied with Christ until you have a strong, doctrinally oriented conscience.

h. The problem solving devices only work through a strong conscience. Through a weak conscience, the believer distorts the problem solving devices.

G. The believer's conscience demands that he submit to establishment authority. Romans 13:5, "Therefore, it is necessary to be in subordination, not only because of wrath [law enforcement], but also for conscience sake."

1. In other words, the Christian doesn't refrain from criminal activity because he's afraid of going to jail, but because, with a strong conscience, his norms and standards refuse to let him even consider any criminal activity.

2. The conscience in the soul is far stronger than any fear of punishment from law enforcement.

H. Conscience as a motivator. 2Timothy 1:3, "I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my ancestors did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers, day and night."

1. So your conscience has something to do with your effectiveness in prayer. Paul's conscience demanded that he pray for certain people, and he did so. Paul didn't pray for people because he liked them, but for conscience sake, which is the strongest possible motivation.

2. Since the conscience is located in the right lobe of the soul, the norms and standards of the conscience are built on EPIGNOSIS doctrine, not on GNOSIS doctrine.

1. You've learned from your entire background and, therefore you have certain norms and standards. These are non-essential applications.

2. From a standard you make application. You have a right to those standards and applications as long as it does not contradict essential doctrine.

3. An essential doctrine will come along and knock out one of your past norms and standards.

4. You have to allow for the privacy of individual standards which are non-essential. And you don't correct people. You simply tolerate others. You don't try to get others to agree to your non-essential standards. If you don't get doctrine in your human spirit, you'll not get it in your soul.

a. To the human spirit as building material for your edification complex of the soul,

6. There is a relationship between your conscience and your perception of doctrine, between your intake of doctrine and your spiritual growth.

a. The mature believer has an edification complex of the soul growing out of the human spirit and a doctrinal conscience growing out of his soul.

b. Maximum doctrine feeds into the human spirit and builds your edification complex of the soul. It also feeds into the soul from which you build your conscience.

c. Every application you make in life you have to make from your own conscience. The source of all application of doctrine is your conscience. You don't operate on someone else's norms and standards.

1. The word “covenant” is mistranslated throughout the Old and New Testaments by the word “testament.” Either time you find testament it is either the Hebrew word berith or the Greek word diaqhkh. There is no such thing as testament in the Bible. A testament is a will, it goes into operation when someone dies. The covenants which are found in the Bible are not in any way related to death, they are related to life. The do not have to wait for someone to die physically and when physical death is ever related to any of them it is only incidentally and has nothing to do with the actual covenant itself. Furthermore, many of the covenants are dependent upon the death of Christ on the cross but they depend upon His spiritual death for effectiveness. This all adds up to the fact that the word “testament” is a misnomer, a mistranslation, a misapplication, in fact a misfire all the way around. The commonly-accepted word Testament as found in the scripture always leads to misunderstandings with regard to the Word of God.

a. A covenant is favourable disposition made by party of the first part [always God] in favour of party of the second part which can be either regenerate humanity or a combination of regenerate and unregenerate mankind. All of the covenants are made in favour of Israel in our subject here, with one exception. God the Father is party of the first part and either the regenerate of Israel or the entire nation of Israel is party of the second part, depending upon which subject we are discussing.

b. Since neither of the biblical words refer to will and testament it is absolutely necessary to understand that all covenants are related to grace, and that the so-called distinction between conditional and unconditional covenants is also a slight misnomer.

c. God is party of the first part in these covenants and inasmuch as God cannot die, inasmuch as God possesses eternal life and it is impossible for Him to die, none of the covenants are a testament for the simplest reason ion the world: they all depend upon the promises or the word of the party of the first part who is God.

d. These covenants become effective on the basis of the Word of God, not the death of God. Relating death to God is blasphemous and represents a failure to understand His eternal nature and character.

e. While the new covenant, for example, does depend upon the spiritual death of Christ on the cross providing redemption, reconciliation and propitiation it is not activated because of His physical death.

g. Both berith in the Hebrew and diaqhkh in the Greek require a compact between two parties, with one party favouring the other.

h. All biblical covenants are made between God and man as the two parties involved, and always with God favouring man.

i. Each dispensation contains one or more covenants. The dispensation of the Gentiles contains the Adamic and Noahic covenants, whereas Israel contains the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Mosaic, Davidic covenants. The Church Age contains the New covenant to the Church. The Millennium contains the New covenant to Israel.

j. While some covenants to Israel have been classified as unconditional and others conditional this is a misnomer.

k. All covenants to Israel are gracious promises and provisions on the part of God, party of the first part, toward Israel as the undeserving party of the second part. Always Israel as party of the second part, whether believer or unbeliever, is in the position of being undeserving. Even, therefore, the Mosaic Law [covenant] is a gracious covenant.

2. General classification. There are really five basic covenants to Israel: the Abrahamic, the Palestinian, the Mosaic, the Davidic, the New.

3. The covenants of the Messianic line should never be confused with the covenants to Israel, except that on some occasions it is the same covenant. The Messianic line starts with Adam and goes all the way through to the end of time. Therefore the five covenants of the Messianic line:

a. The Adamic covenant — Genesis 2:15; 3:15. In its Messianic paragraphs it indicates that the seed of the woman, the humanity of Christ, will come from the seed of Adam. This leads to the biblical dissertation in the New Testament (covenant) in which we have the first and last Adam.

b. The Noahic covenant — Genesis 6:18; 8:21-9:17 — depicts the seed of the woman, the humanity of Christ, coming through the line of Noah and specifically through Seth.

c. The Abrahamic covenant, which while being a covenant to Israel is also a Messianic covenant, depicts the seed of the woman, the humanity of Christ , coming from the line of Abraham’s descent, and specifically through Judah.

d. The Davidic covenant: The seed of the woman, the humanity of Christ will come from the line of David, specifically through Bathsheba’s children, Solomon and Nathan.

e. The New covenant to Israel depicts the fact that the seed of the woman, the Lord Jesus, will return to the earth to reign for a thousand years (as well as forever), at which time the nation Israel will be restored and both the New covenant to Israel and the Davidic covenant will be fulfilled. In fact, the Abrahamic, the Palestinian, the Davidic and the New covenants to Israel will all be fulfilled. Only the Mosaic code is abrogated because the Mosaic covenant was a form of government without the reign of Jesus Christ, and both the first advent of Christ as well as the second advent of Christ abrogates the Mosaic covenant in different spheres.

4. The first of the covenants to Israel is called the Abrahamic covenant. It is a grace covenant as are all of them.

a. The Abrahamic covenant as an unconditional grace covenant depicts God as party of the first part making a favourable disposition to Abraham and to his progeny through Isaac and Jacob as party of the second part.

b. Part of the disposition of this covenant promises both a new race and, from that new race, a new nation — Israel.

d. It includes the promise of real estate or geographical location which eventually is expanded into a separate covenant — Genesis 13:14-16; 15:18-21.

f. The covenant pertains to the seed of Abraham through the line of Isaac — Genesis 22:15-18.

g. The covenant was reconfirmed to Isaac in Genesis 26:3,4, and to Jacob in Genesis 28:13,14.

h. The covenant was the basis of forming the new nation after their deliverance from slavery — Exodus 6:2-8.

i. Remember that you never understand the Jew until you understand the covenants or the contracts that God has made with him; and that God of His own will was the initiator as party of the first part, and the Jew was always the beneficiary and recipient, often without even being aware that all of these benefits were accruing to him regardless of what kind of a person he was. They are all grace covenants.

a. Unlike all of the other covenants this one has party of the second part unbeliever mingled with believer — all Israel.

b. Unlike all other covenants it has both a spiritual and an establishment paragraph.

c. Therefore this covenant is classified as the national heritage covenant. The national heritage is spiritual and traditional from the laws of divine establishment. The Jews have the greatest national heritage of any nation that ever existed because their spiritual heritage is the basis of our very salvation. Their laws of divine establishment kept the Jews from ever having dark ages. Even the Greeks had 400 years of dark ages during the Dorian invasion. The Romans were born out of dark ages, and the Romans were still crude and rude when they were a powerful nation. They only came out of it by their contact with the Greeks.

d. The recipients of the Mosaic covenant, or party of the second part, is Israel — Exodus 19:3; Leviticus 26:46; Romans 3:19; 9:4.

e. This covenant was definitely and emphatically not given to the Gentiles — Deuteronomy 4:8; Romans 2:12-14. Nor was it given to the Church. It is a national covenant; the Church is not a nation — Acts 15:5, 24; Romans 6:14; Galatians 2:19.

f. The Mosaic covenant is classified under three categorical paragraphs: 1. The commandments, which are called in the KJV the moral code. These define human freedom in terms of the laws of divine establishment and they describe the basic principles of freedom in the birth of the nation Israel. 2. We have the biblical word “ordinances” to describe the spiritual code which provides a complete Christology for Israel emphasising the fact that believers are designed to function under establishment and doctrine resident in the soul. This is the spiritual heritage of Israel. 3. The judgements or the establishment code. The laws of divine establishment include the basis for freedom, privacy, taxation (tithing), military service, health and sanitation laws, diet and quarantine laws, criminal law.

g. Keeping the law was never a way of salvation, it was the means of living in the nation Israel. Under the principles of doctrine and establishment it was also the basis for national freedom as well as national prosperity.

h. This covenant was the authorising agent for the Levitical priesthood as well as for military and governmental offices. It was also the authorising agent for legislation and the judicial functions of the nation.

6. The real estate covenant (Palestinian). God has a piece of real estate promised out under this covenant to Israel.

a. God as party of the first part made a favourable grant of land to party of the second part, the nation Israel in the Millennium. This grant does not become effective until the Millennium.

b. The geographical boundaries of this grant are described in four passages, one of which is rather obscure: Genesis 15:18. The reason it is obscure is that it is more than Abraham could see. So we have Numbers 34:1-12; Deuteronomy 30:1-9; a confirmation in Joshua 1:3,4. In effect, the entire Middle East belongs to Israel in the future.

a. Party of the first part, God, makes a gracious disposition to party of the second part, David. The subject is rulership of Israel, the perpetuation of the Davidic dynasty.

b. This is part of David’s promotion. His dynasty under the rule of Jesus Christ will last forever.

c. The Davidic perpetuation of the monarchy will continue under two separate increments. He will rule over the southern kingdom for 400 years — BC 1004 to 586. He will rule approximately 72 years over the northern section — BC 998-926.

d. In addition to this David’s progeny in the person of Jesus Christ will rule Israel forever, and rule under the boundaries of the real estate/Palestinian covenant.

a. This is known as the New covenant to Israel in distinction to the New covenant to the Church.

b. The Mosaic covenant was abrogated by the death, burial, resurrection, ascension and session of Christ which also interrupted the Jewish Age and inserted the Church Age.

c. The session of Christ calls for the formation of the royal family of God which was accomplished on the Day of Pentecost by the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

d. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the mechanical means of forming the royal family of God.

e. The New Covenant to the Church authorises the royal family priesthood in the inserted dispensation.

f. The dispensation of the Church and the abrogation of the Mosaic covenant was anticipated in the prophecy of Jeremiah which acts as a link between the Mosaic covenant and the Millennium. In other words, the Mosaic covenant was in operation during the Age of Israel, and with the cross, resurrection, ascension, and session the Mosaic covenant is abrogated. But there must be a link since Israel goes on in the Millennium and forever. So the Mosaic covenant is abrogated and a new covenant is set up in the Millennium called the new covenant to Israel. The abrogation of the Mosaic covenant sets up a new covenant in the inserted area, the Church Age, but that anticipates the next point.

g. In Jeremiah 31:31-34 the New covenant to Israel is revealed. This New covenant confirms the fulfillment of the Abrahamic, Palestinian, and Davidic covenants in the Millennium.

h. Therefore God as party of the first part provides a legacy for restored Israel in the Millennium, party of the second part.

i. The New covenant to Israel replaces the Mosaic covenant for the function of Israel’s priesthood in the Millennial temple. This function is authorised by the New covenant to Israel, no longer the Mosaic covenant — Ezekiel 40:40-48.

j. The blood of Christ is the basis for the spiritual legacy of Israel in the Millennium as well as the eternal state.

k. This New covenant to Israel is activated when David’s greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ, comes again to the earth and establishes His Millennial reign. It is coterminous, then, with the Davidic covenant fulfillment.

9. The covenant of Israel’s dispersion. This is known as the new covenant to the Church. This time God as party of the first part makes a grace disposition in favour of party of the second part, all members of the royal family during the insertion dispensation or the Church Age. The New covenant to the Church is a spiritual legacy to the royal family of God and it also supersedes the Mosaic covenant. It authorises a new priesthood from the royal family which operates positionally in the real holy of holies. This New covenant ratified by God the Father is valid because of the blood of Christ and His efficacious spiritual death upon the cross provides the basis for entrance into this royal family and royal priesthood. So the mediator to the Church, then, is Jesus Christ.

Verses 1-7, David’s desire to build a temple. That is the background for the Davidic covenant. Verses 8-17, the Davidic covenant.

1. Before the Davidic covenant can be revealed to David the ark must be returned to the tabernacle. The tabernacle must be completed by have the ark and the mercy seat in the holy of holies. This is accomplished in chapter six.

2. With the tabernacle completed David must desire a permanent residence for the sacred furniture portraying the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, he must desire to build a temple.

3. David must be refused permission to build a temple and given and given a greater and more enduring contract — the Davidic covenant.

4. Just one woman. Michal, must be eliminated from the Davidic covenant and the Davidic family.

The Davidic desire to build a temple. Of all things it comes out of another party in which David had a conversation with Nathan. Therefore in verses 1-3 we have a dialogue between king David and the royal chaplain, Nathan.

Verse 1 — “It came to pass” is the qal imperfect of hajah, indicating the beginning now of a new trend after the study of Michal.

“when the king sat in his house” — it should be translated “that the king dwelt [ki jasahab] prosperously in his castle.”

“and the Lord had given” — the hiphil perfect of the verb nuach. In the qal stem this verb means to breathe or to take a breath. In the hiphil stem it means to cause to rest, to give rest. This rest is the peaceful interlude after the first two wars. This is a time of relaxing between wars. It is a prosperous time because David has just won two wars: against the Jebusites and against the Philistines.

“round about” is literally, “on every side”’ “from all of his enemies” — referring to the Jebusites, the Philistines, and Michal as a domestic enemy now out of the picture. David is enjoying a totally peaceful interlude. Translation: “Now it came to pass that the king was living prosperously in his castle, and Jehovah had provided a peaceful interlude for him on every side from all his enemies.”

1. Here is one of those periods of prosperity which comes in the life of every supergrace believer. Every supergrace believer will have peaceful interludes or periods of great prosperity.

3. David passed the prosperity test by occupation with Christ. In other words, during this time he didn’t neglect Bible doctrine. He had all this fun and doctrine too.

4. It was David’s occupation with Christ in time of great prosperity which inspired him to initiate plans for the building of a temple to replace the tabernacle.

5. In the previous chapter — 6:15 — the ark of the covenant had been returned to Jerusalem. Verse 17 says, “So they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tabernacle which David had pitched for it. Therefore David offered burn offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.” Notice at this time that David did not go beyond the brazen altar, he was not qualified to do so. 6. At this time the tabernacle was located in Jerusalem, but until the return of the ark it had been incomplete having only the altar, the laver, and the furniture of the holy place. The furniture of the holy of holies was missing.

7. So when David relocated the tabernacle next to castle Zion the holy of holies was empty. That means that they could not celebrate the feast of atonement. Now all of that has been changed by the return of the ark of the covenant.

8. Since boyhood with the sheep David had learned his doctrine from the tabernacle. An incomplete tabernacle was something he couldn’t stand. Now that the tabernacle was nearby, next to his castle, David in time of prosperity was thinking about it. In fact, never did a day pass without David seeing the tabernacle from the battlements of his castle, and never did a day pass without David thinking about Bible doctrine and the tabernacle as the source of his own original learning of doctrine. It is obvious now why David is passing the prosperity test.

Elijah 41; 1985 Ephesians 505, 602ff; Anti-Semitism 9 11/22/89; Israel 11ff 5/23/91

1. The covenants to Israel are God’s gracious promises and provision for Israel as the new racial species called the Jew, as a client nation to God, and to the born again Jews as the possessors of eternal life.

2. Covenants are defined in the Old Testament Scriptures in terms of favorable disposition. God, as party of the first part, made a favorable disposition to Israel as party of the second part. By very definition, a covenant is a disposition made by one party (God) in favor of another party (Israel). So a covenant or contract cannot be a conditional covenant because it is an agreement between two parties with the first party favoring the second party. The primary issue is favor or grace. Therefore, “conditional” or “unconditional” is very secondary in consideration. The key to the covenants to Israel is based on two doctrines: the Jews as a new racial species and Israel as a client nation to God.

3. The Jew had to believe in Jesus Christ in order to qualify to receive the blessings of the unconditional covenants. The Jew cannot enter their spiritual heritage until they first believe in Jesus Christ. All the covenants to Israel have an eternal life clause based on the fact that Israel has a future in both time and eternity. Being born racially a Jew is not enough to benefit from these covenants. Spiritually dead persons cannot inherit eternal life or benefit from these unconditional covenants. Those who benefit from these covenants must have eternal life.

4. Covenants to Israel cover two dispensations when Israel is a client nation to God: the Jewish Age and the Millennium. These contracts apply to both dispensations.

5. A covenant to Israel must never be confused with a will or testament, which depends on the physical death of the testator for inheritance. Therefore, both “Old Testament” and “New Testament” are inaccurate terms (they should be called old and new covenants), even though the New Testament depends upon the perfect, efficacious sacrificial, substitutionary spiritual death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

6. The Hebrew word is BERITH; the Greek is DIATHEKE. These words refer to a covenant, not a testament, in which two parties are involved. One party favors the other party. Since God is party of the first part and is infinite, eternal, and cannot die, and since the humanity of Messiah is resurrected, the will/testament concept must be eliminated. The party of the second part is regenerate Israel. God’s covenants to Israel must be kept separate from other covenants found in the Old Testament.

a. The unconditional covenants include: the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic, and New Covenants to Israel. All unconditional covenants have an eternal life clause based on the fact that Israel has a future both in time and in eternity. Unconditional covenants are given to Israel in three categories.

8. The key to the covenants to Israel is Jewish client nation status. There is no reason or purpose for the New Covenant to Israel apart from the client nation interpretation. Client nation Israel falls into four categories: United Israel, divided Israel, Judea, and restored Israel of the Millennium.

9. So the covenants to Israel can be defined as the sovereign disposition of God whereby He establishes a declarative compact with Israel, obligating Himself in grace to bless Israel.

10. In the case of the Mosaic Law, special blessing is provided for Israel if they fulfill certain conditions, and they are punished if they fail.

11. The covenant theory of Reformed theology is a system of interpretation using covenants for theological systems and not Biblical systems.

a. No where in the Bible is the term covenant applied to the idea that there is a system of interpretation which considers that all God’s purposes are worked out on the basis of covenants.

(1) The covenant of redemption - a prehistoric agreement between the members of the Trinity. The idea of a bargain between God the Father and God the Son is blasphemous. It implies that they did not trust each other; that God did not have enough virtue to depend on the other members of the Trinity.

(2) The covenant of works - made by God with Adam in the Garden of Eden. In this covenant, God put Adam under probation, offering eternal life to Adam, if he passed the test. This rejects the omniscience of God.

(3) The covenant of grace - after the fall of man, God made a covenant with the elect, and Christ represents the elect. They say that God promises to give His Holy Spirit to those ordained to eternal life, in order to make them willing and able to believe in Christ. There is no Biblical basis for this at all. This is the false doctrine of common and efficacious grace.

c. Covenants belong to Israel; they are not a part of the Church Age. There is no New Covenant to the Church. God does not deal with the Church on the basis of covenants.

12. The content of the promises located in the covenants to Israel have six categories.

a. There is a time category. Under this category, we have God’s promises for Israel in history and God’s promises for eternity.

b. There is a grace and law category. Under grace and law we have two categories: conditional promises in the Mosaic Law and unconditional promises.

c. There are covenants given to individuals—the Abrahamic and Davidic covenant. David was promised that he would have a son that would rule Israel forever.

d. There is a land category. There are two concepts here: the land given to Israel in the Millennium, which is the Palestinian covenant, and the land given to regenerate Israel in the eternal state, such as the new Jerusalem.

(2) The New Covenant to Israel is fulfilled beginning at the Second Advent with regenerate Jews only.

f. The Old Testament category. The Mosaic Law provided for Israel a new racial species, a client nation to God, a spiritual heritage for true or regenerate Israel.

B. The Client Nation Interpretation of the Covenants to Israel. There are five covenants to Israel; four unconditional and one conditional.

1. The Abrahamic Covenant defines the race for client nation Israel. Abraham became a Jew at age 99; circumcision was the sign. Genesis 12:1-3, 13:15-16, 15:18, 22:15-18, 26:3-4; Exodus 6:2-8.

2. The Palestinian Covenant defines the land for client nation Israel. Genesis 15:18; Numbers 34:1-12; Deuteronomy 30:1-9; Josh 1:3-4. This is the real estate of the client nation.

3. The Mosaic Law defines the policy for client nation Israel (both spiritual and temporal policy). This is the one conditional covenant.

4. The Davidic Covenant defines the dynasty for client nation Israel, 2Samuel 7:8-16; Psalm 89:20-37.

5. The New Covenant defines the restoration of the client nation Israel at the Second Advent and its millennial modus operandi, Jeremiah 31:31-34. This part of the contract is not operational until the Second Advent.

1. These deal with how the Messiah came into the world in Hypostatic Union. They have some overlap with the covenants to Israel.

2. Covenants with God did not begin with the Jew, but with Gentiles (the first two). So there was a time when Gentiles had a monopoly, but they failed. Because of their failure, God brought in a new racial species, Israel. Because of their failure, culminating during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, God brought in the new spiritual species in the Church. We too have failed in almost every generation to understand the protocol plan of God.

3. The Adamic Covenant. Genesis 2:15, 3:15, says that the seed of the woman, the humanity of Christ, will originate from Adam’s seed. No angelic infiltration will destroy the human race. Salvation is a part of this contract.

4. The Noahic Covenant. Genesis 6:18, 8:21-9:17 says that the seed of the woman, the humanity of Christ, will come through Seth, and his son Noah, and his son Shem.

a. Genesis 6:18, “I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark.” This is an interesting twist, for until God gave Noah a covenant, Noah wouldn’t even enter the ark.

b. In the post-diluvian part of the covenant (after the Flood had subsided), God promised never again to destroy the human race by a flood. This is a promise to the entire human race, and that never again in human history will the population of the earth be reduced to eight people. This promise was given twice; first in Genesis 8:21-22, then again in Genesis 9:9-16.

c. One of the greatest parts of the Noahic Covenant, even reiterated for this dispensation, is capital punishment. This is one of the great protections of the human race.

5. The Abrahamic Covenant. Genesis 12:1-3, 13:15-16, 15:18, 22:15-18, 26:3-4; Exodus 6:2-8, says that the seed of the woman, the humanity of Christ, will descend from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

6. The Davidic Covenant says that the seed of the woman, the humanity of Christ, will descend from the tribe of Judah through the family of David, 2Samuel 7:8-17; Psalm 89:20-37. The two lines of our Lord originated from David and Bathsheba. Their son Solomon’s line, given in Matthew, ends with Joseph, the legal but not real father of our Lord’s humanity. Solomon’s line had the Coniah Curse and so was cut off from being the source of the Messiah. Nathan’s line, found in Luke, ends with Mary, the source of the true humanity of Christ.

7. The New Covenant to Israel, Jeremiah 31:31-34; Romans 11:27; Gal 4:4; Hebrews 8:8-12, 10:15-17, says that the seed of the woman, the humanity of Christ, will return to the earth at the Second Advent to restore Israel from the fifth cycle of discipline, to rule and bless client nation Israel throughout the Millennium, and to make them a blessing by association as taught in Zech 8:23.

2. In the Age of Israel, there were four contracts: Abrahamic, Palestinian, Mosaic, and Davidic.

3. The Church Age does not have a covenant. Hebrews 9:15 says Christ is the mediator of a new covenant. In effect, this is simply saying that the salvation of people in the New Testament is exactly the same as the salvation of people in the Old Testament. The covenant is the blood of Christ. In the Old Testament, the blood of Christ was portrayed through animal sacrifice. In the New Testament, the blood of Christ is portrayed historically by unlimited atonement, reconciliation, redemption, propitiation, imputation, justification, i.e., the complete doctrine of soteriology. Only in this sense is there a “covenant” in the New Testament. Divine promises to the Church are not in the form of covenants, but are in the form of our portfolio of invisible assets, provided by God the Father in eternity past.

4. In the Millennium there is a New Covenant to restored Israel. Certain things exist in this covenant that did not exist in the Old Testament covenants. For example, the Sermon on the Mount is a part of the New Covenant to Israel and will be fulfilled in the Millennium.

1. This is a grace paragraph in which God made a favorable disposition to Abraham and to his seed as party of the second part.

2. The Abrahamic Covenant defines the Jewish race as the citizens of the first and last client nation in history. There must be racial vigor or population vigor in a client nation. There must be thought, where living and dying are based on principle and not just on trying to survive.

3. Like all covenants related to client nation Israel, Abraham and his spiritual seed are the beneficiaries of blessing and logistical support from the justice of God. Abraham’s spiritual seed is patterned after Abraham’s own salvation in Genesis 15:6. “Abraham believed in the Lord and it was credited to his account for righteousness.” Our vigor depends on our spiritual life, not our race. Abraham believed that what God had promised (that he and Sarah would have a son), God was able also to perform. The demonstration of his faith was submission to the ritual of circumcision.

4. Abraham became the father of a new race which would become the client nation Israel. Therefore, in setting up the contract, a specific people were involved.

5. The original presentation of Abraham’s paragraph included both race and nation, found as a three-point principle in Genesis 12:1-3. This passage warns us against anti-Semitism.

6. The real estate promise is given for the first time in the Abrahamic Covenant. Genesis 13:14-16; 15:18-21. This is to prove that the people of a client nation must have a piece of geography on which to operate as a client nation. Without the spiritual factor in your generation, your real estate or genes don’t even matter.

7. This covenant was confirmed in sequence to those to whom it would pertain—to Isaac in contrast to his brothers in Genesis 26:3-4.

8. The covenant was confirmed to Jacob instead of his twin brother Esau in Genesis 28:13-14, 35:12.

9. The covenant was the basis for the divine deliverance of the Jews from slavery in Egypt and the establishment of a client nation. Exodus 6:2-8. Here we see how Moses applied this covenant to the situation for their deliverance.

10. The Jewish descent in the Abrahamic Covenant is based on the miracle of the revival of the sexual ability of Abraham and Sarah. The mechanics of the Abrahamic Covenant demanded at its very inception reaching spiritual maturity (for sexual prosperity). Genesis 17:1-17, Romans 4:16-21.

11. The new racial species and client nation are brought together in this Covenant in Genesis 17:8, and circumcision is the ritual of confirmation and acknowledgement of God’s grace. Genesis 17:9-14.

12. The ultimate in blessing in this covenant is declared in Genesis 22:15-18, where Abraham offered his son Isaac, only to receive him back. This taught both individual blessing imputed to the mature believer and blessing by association as a client nation for other nations to be blessed.

1. It is better to call this the Real Estate Covenant, because “Palestinian” means land of the Philistines. They occupied certain parts of this designated land, but they represent uncircumcised Greeks, the great sea people.

2. God as party of the first part made a favorable land grant to Israel as His client nation forever. Israel will again be a client nation in the Millennium and forever. God will give Israel more than they could ever conquer or hold in Old Testament times. This covenant guarantees the entire Middle East as a land grant to Israel forever. It includes all of the Middle East to the Euphrates river, all of Turkey, and half of Egypt and Ethiopia.

3. This land will never be fully occupied by Israel as a client nation until the Second Advent of Christ in His millennial reign.

4. The grant was first proclaimed by God to Abraham as the father of the Jewish race in Genesis 13:14-15; 15:18. It is mentioned in indefinite terms. “The land which you are seeing I will give to you and to your seed forever.” The word “forever” means that racial Jew must become the regenerate Jew to inherit this promise.

5. The land grant was confirmed to Isaac as the second generation of the new racial species, using geographical boundaries understood at that time, in Genesis 26:3-4.

6. It was reconfirmed to Jacob as the third generation of the new racial species in Genesis 35:12.

7. The land grant was reiterated to Moses as the father of the Jewish client nation in Exodus 6:2-8.

8. Therefore, Moses described in detail the geographical boundaries of this land grant in Numbers 34:1-12.

9. Moses prophesied the fulfillment of the land grant in the Millennium in Deuteronomy 30:1-9.

10. To encourage the Jews to enter the land, the land grant was reconfirmed to Joshua in Josh 1:2-4. This was to give Joshua the motivation to conquer all he could.

11. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel confirm the fact that this land grant will not be fulfilled to client nation Israel until the millennial reign of Christ, relating it to the New Covenant to Israel, Jeremiah 31:31-34 cf. 32:36-44; Ezekiel 11:16-21, 36:21-38.

12. In summary, its modern geographical boundaries follows. The northwestern border of the land will be the Mediterranean Sea, including all of Turkey, because of the phrase “land of the Hittites.” The southern border will be the Nile river (the Red Sea will dry up), eastern Africa (Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia) and all of Saudi Arabia. The eastern border will be Transjordania and Iraq. The Euphrates river is the northeastern border. That is the entire Middle East.

13. In application, you cannot have a client nation without property or property without the sanctity of that property. Freedom means the sanctity of property and your right to own and increase your property. God says that property is necessary for spiritual function. Where there is no personal property, you have tyranny. Property must be sacred in a client nation. When people lust for property which is not theirs, then the client nation collapses with no modus operandi because freedom is gone.

14. In the past, the Jews owned certain property; God has promised them different property in the future. In the past, Israel only owned what property it could conquer by military establishment. The military must maintain that ownership of property; today we use the police for this function.

G. The Policy Covenant to Moses—the Mosaic Law, the Torah, or the Client Nation Code.

1. This is the divine covenant to the client nation Israel. It is a conditional covenant and addressed to the believer and unbeliever alike. It denotes a policy in every realm of life in client nation Israel, including freedom, establishment function, and spiritual function.

2. The recipient of the Mosaic Law is client nation Israel only, not any individual believers. Exodus 19:3; Leviticus 26:46; Romans 3:19, 9:4. (There has never been a nation of all believers.)

3. The Mosaic Law was never given to the Gentiles, because in the Old Testament no Gentile nation could be a client nation (except during the seventy years of the fifth cycle of discipline). Deuteronomy 4:8; Romans 2:12-14.

4. The Mosaic Law was never given to the Church, Acts 15:5,24; Romans 6:14; Gal 2:19. We have a much higher way of life than the Mosaic Law.

5. Jesus Christ, the God of Israel, is party of the first part. Every citizen of client nation Israel in the past is party of the second part, both believer and unbeliever.

6. As the divine policy for client nation Israel, the Mosaic Covenant was divided into three parts.

a. Codex One is called the commandments or decalogue. This is the freedom code which defines freedom in terms of morality, privacy, property, and authority. The basic heritage of the client nation is freedom, a necessity for self-determination, so that evangelism, spiritual growth, and missionary function can follow.

b. Codex Two is called the ordinances, the spiritual code. This is the ritual plan of God for Israel. The spiritual heritage includes a complete christology and soteriology taught through ritual and oral communication which includes the sacred furniture, the structure of the tabernacle and temple, the delineation of the holy days, the modus operandi of the Levitical priesthood, and the function of the Levitical offerings. Essentially, the spiritual heritage of Israel is Jesus Christ, the God of Israel, Emmanuel, the Messiah, the Shekinah Glory.

c. Codex Three is called the judgments or the establishment code. It is a compilation of the laws of divine establishment or the code for civilization. It was for believers and unbelievers alike in Israel. Every principle related to the modus vivendi of a client nation is included in it.

(1) It includes the divine institutions, such as freedom of self-determination, marriage, family, and nationalism.

(2) It includes the sacredness of life and property, freedom through military victory, the separation of the state and business, the legitimacy of profit motivation, and a system of tax laws called tithing.

(3) The judgments also included diet, health, sanitation, quarantine, universal military training, criminal law, capital punishment, and civil law. It included in criminal law apprehension, trial, and the laws of evidence and punishment.

(4) It rejects socialism, the welfare state, or any implication that men are born equal. Equal opportunity does not imply equality.

(5) It also rejects civil disobedience, revolution in any form, the use of violence against establishment authority, and anti-Semitism.

(6) The Mosaic Law came directly from God and was not in any way influenced by the laws of Hammurabi, which were so inferior that they cannot even be compared with God’s laws. (The only possible reference to Hammurabi in the Bible is under his other name, Amraphel, the King of Shinar, in Genesis 14:1; even that is speculation.)

7. The Mosaic Law established both the policy and blessing patterns for a client nation to God.

b. It authorized the tabernacle and temple as sacred buildings for worship. Hebrews 9:1-6.

c. It authorized Levitical sacrifices to communicate salvation as the work of Christ on the cross, and to make it possible to evangelize. Hebrews 9:12-13.

d. It authorized the blood of animals as the dedication of shadows. Hebrews 9:18-22 cf 10:1.

a. It could not provide salvation through its system of works, and it could not justify, Romans 3:20-28; Gal 2:16; Philippians 3:9.

f. So the purpose of the law was to set up modus operandi for the client nation, not to provide spiritual heritage. It was a vehicle by which spiritual heritage and freedom could be perpetuated.

a. It was fulfilled by Jesus Christ during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, Matt 5:17; Romans 10:4.

b. It was set aside as the policy for client nation Judah when the fifth cycle of discipline was administered in A.D. 70.

10. Although the Mosaic Law is not a part of the protocol plan of God for the Church Age, it still has certain legitimate functions in every dispensation after the Age of Israel. It defines morality for believers and unbelievers alike; this is illustrated by Romans 13. Morality is not a part of the Christian way of life except as a base. It is virtue which is the issue in the Christian life, not morality. Morality is very easily corrupted by arrogance and becomes moral degeneration.

11. The Mosaic Law also provides a pattern for the modus operandi for Gentile client nations in such fields as taxation, military policy, economic growth, jurisprudence, public health, and so on. It defines lawlessness, rebellion, and criminality as well as sinfulness, 1Timothy 1:8-11. This passage explains the present purpose of the Mosaic Law, that is not the Christian life but it is for all people in the human race.

12. The animal blood of the Levitical offerings portrayed the blood of Jesus Christ in the New Covenant to Israel; for no Jew can benefit from the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic, or New Covenants to Israel apart from the possession of eternal life. All the promises are eternal in nature and they require eternal life to benefit from them.

13. The Church celebrates the blood of the New Covenant in the Eucharist, emphasizing the fact that salvation is the same in every generation, and that salvation is not a part of the mystery doctrine for the Church Age. Mystery doctrine really defines what we do after salvation.

14. Since the Mosaic Law has no application to Israel during the times of the Gentiles, what is the purpose of the Mosaic Law in the Church Age?

a. It is a pattern for Gentile client nation function. It teaches about freedom, and that freedom can only be maintained through a strong military. It distinguishes between taxation and confiscation. It tells how government should operate in a client nation. It teaches free enterprise.

b. It is written for the believer’s instruction, Romans 15:4. Although it is not a part of the Christian way of life (see the doctrine of Precedence), we learn so much about life in general from it.

d. It is used as a divine standard to establish the reality of the universal sinfulness of mankind and man’s need for a savior. It establishes not only the existence of the old sin nature, but it also defines authority. The person who rejects authority inevitably becomes involved in many kinds of sin which produce his own unhappiness and suffering under self-induced misery. So the Mosaic Law teaches man’s need to submit to human authority in order that the old sin nature does not destroy humanity, Romans 3:20; Gal 2.

1. This covenant is given in 2Samuel 7:8-17 and Psalm 89:20-37. “I will establish his seed forever.”

2. Party of the first part, God, made a gracious disposition to party of the second part, David. This is the divine promise to David that he would have a son [the Lord Jesus Christ] who would rule Israel forever. It is the promise of the perpetuation of the Davidic dynasty.

3. While the Davidic line continued for about seventy-two years in the Northern Kingdom from 998-926 BC, and for over 400 years in the Southern Kingdom from 1000-586 BC, this was not the fulfillment of the covenant.

a. The virgin birth of the humanity of Christ, classified as the First Advent, which we call the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

b. The final fulfillment occurs at the Second Advent of Jesus Christ in His millennial and eternal reign. The Son of David will rule not only for the last 1000 years of human history, but forever and ever.

5. The Davidic Covenant defines the ruling family, the eternal authority of the client nation Israel under the rule of Christ.

6. Jeremiah 22:28,30 declares the curse on Coniah. Josiah was king; his second son was made a vassal to Nebuchadnezzar after the fourth cycle of discipline at the battle of Carchemish. As a reversionist he destroyed copies of Scripture. In Jeremiah 36:29-31 his death was prophesied (Jehoiakim). His son was Coniah, who in 597 B.C. ruled for three months and ten days. He was made a prisoner for thirty-six years.

7. The curse of Coniah said that Coniah would never have a son to sit on David’s throne in fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant.

8. This curse was fulfilled with the virgin birth, when Joseph (Solomon and Coniah’s line) became the legal but not the real father. Matthew traces Solomon’s line of the genealogy of Christ through Joseph. Luke traces Nathan’s line of genealogy of Christ through Mary. 1Chronicles 3:5 cf Luke 3:23-38. The virgin birth was necessary because our Lord had to be born as Adam was created—minus the sin nature.

9. The Davidic Covenant cannot be fulfilled without the bodily physical resurrection of Christ, 2Timothy 2:8; Romans 1:3-4; Acts 26:6-8.

10. The Church Age presented a problem in the fulfillment of this covenant, but it was solved by the ascension and session of Christ which now allows for the Second Advent.

1. The basic Scripture for this covenant is Jeremiah 31:31-34. “`Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, `when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant I made with their fathers [Mosaic Law] in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,’ declares the Lord. `But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days [Tribulation],’ declares the Lord. `I will put My law within them and on their right lobes I will write it; and I will be their God and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother saying, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know Me [in the Millennium], from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the Lord, `for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’”

a. This is an unconditional covenant, not conditional like the Mosaic Law. This covenant confirms and guarantees the fulfillment of all of the unconditional promises of God.

b. Being a husband to Israel is an analogy to the faithfulness of the Lord to the Exodus generation. The Lord was always faithful to them; they went apostate.

(1) During the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, the New Covenant is fulfilled in the provision of a savior. The New Covenant cannot be fulfilled to any Jew unless he has eternal life. The point of the cross fulfills this salvation requirement. This is taught in Isaiah 61:1.

(2) During the Millennium and the eternal state. This is taught in Isaiah 61:2-11, 59:20-21, quoted in Romans 11:26-27.

d. While the Mosaic Law was written in stone during the dispensation of Israel and later on paper, it will be written on the right lobes of Jewish believers in the Millennium. Furthermore, the millennial interpretation of the Mosaic Law is the Sermon on the Mount, which will be fulfilled at that time also.

e. Only two dispensations speak of both the least and the greatest having the same privileges and opportunities: the Church Age, where the least and the greatest have identical portfolio of invisible assets, and in the Millennium all will know the Lord.

f. All the national failures of Israel are forgiven, and Israel is restored as a client nation to God during the 1000 year millennial reign of Christ.

2. The New Covenant to Israel is an eternal covenant, Ezekiel 16:60. Therefore, the Jewish recipients of this covenant must have eternal life to be beneficiaries. To have eternal life, they must have believed in Jesus Christ as He was revealed in the Old Testament, or as He is presented by the 144,000 Jewish evangelists during the Tribulation, or as He is presented in the Millennium.

a. The historical Jews of the Old Testament who believed in Christ as He was revealed to them.

b. The eschatological Jews of the Tribulation and Millennium who believe in Christ.

4. As the book of Romans teaches, all Israel is not true Israel. To be true Israel, you must be born again.

5. So the guarantee of the salvation part of the New Covenant is fulfilled in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

6. The covenants to Israel guarantee Jewish monopoly and privilege in the dispensation in Israel, the privilege of evangelism in the Tribulation, and again becoming the client nation to God in the Millennial reign of Christ. These monopolies and privileges exist for true Jews in the Millennium and eternal state. This is guaranteed by the New Covenant to Israel.

7. However, certain radical changes have occurred in Jewish monopoly as a racial species. That monopoly has been superseded by the creation of a new spiritual species in the Church Age, when there are no covenants. Every Church Age believer is a new spiritual species having equal privilege and equal opportunity, there being no more human distinctions among believers by means of the baptism of the Spirit. So during the Church Age the past Jewish monopoly during the dispensation of Israel no longer exists.

8. The book of Hebrews was addressed to Jewish believers of the Church Age. It teaches about the future of their ancestors and progeny after the Church Age, but it also teaches that God has something far better for Jews who believe in Christ during the Church Age.

a. Hebrews 7:22, “Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.” The guarantee of the New Covenant to Israel is our Lord Jesus Christ, here called a “better covenant.”

b. We know that the better covenant refers to the New Covenant because the guarantee of the saving work of Christ on the cross is called the blood of Christ in Hebrews 8:6-13. Verses 6-7, “But now He [Jesus Christ in Hypostatic Union] has obtained a more excellent ministry by so much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on the basis of better promises [than in the Mosaic Law]. For if the first covenant [Mosaic Law] had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.” Keeping the Mosaic Law could not provide eternal salvation.

c. What follows in Hebrews 8:8-12 is a quotation from Jeremiah 31:31-34. This means that “better covenant” in Hebrews 7:22 and 8:6-7 refers to the New Covenant to Israel.

d. The fact that the Jews have a better covenant in the future will be the basis for evangelism in the Tribulation and in the Millennium where the covenant is functional. Jews in the Tribulation will survive with hope and motivation from this doctrine.

e. Hebrews 8:13, “When He said, `A new covenant,’ He made the first [the Mosaic Law] obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.”

9. The New Covenant to Israel is based on the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. Hebrews 9:14-16, “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit [omnipotence of the Spirit in the prototype divine dynasphere] offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant [Mosaic Law], those [Jews] who have been called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

(2) Anything you add to the filling of the Spirit for spirituality, which is an absolute.

b. In the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, our Lord became the mediator of a new covenant. Jesus Christ made it possible for the New Covenant to be fulfilled because He became the mediator between God and regenerate Israel by His death on the cross.

c. The eternal inheritance is the fulfillment of the Abrahamic, Palestinian, and Davidic Covenants to regenerate Israel, both in the Millennium and in the eternal state. Only those Jews who believe in Jesus Christ and have eternal life are beneficiaries of this eternal inheritance—the New Covenant. A spiritual heritage demands a spiritual birth.

10. Hebrews 10:5-14 is a description of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union with emphasis on our Lord’s sacrifice for sins on the cross. In Hebrews 10:15-17, this sacrifice for sin during the First Advent is related to the New Covenant to Israel; for there Jeremiah 31:33-34 is quoted. This passage also says to those Jews who have believed in Christ for salvation, “they have not come to Mount Sinai [Mosaic Law], but they have come to Mount Zion.”

11. Mount Zion represents the New Covenant to Israel. Hebrews 12:22ff. Those Jewish believers who are the eternal recipients of the New Covenant are described in Hebrews 12:23-24, “To the assembly of the first born [true Israel] whose names are written in heaven, you have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of the righteous men made perfect [through justification by faith in Christ]; you have come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant which speaks of better than that of Abel.”

a. Abel was murdered by his brother Cain, who used Abel’s sacrificial knife to spill Abel’s blood. Genesis 4:10 says “the blood of Abel cries out from the ground for vengeance from the murder.” Cain’s punishment was banishment.

b. In the same sense, the blood of Christ cries out from the ground for a better doctrine. Verse 24 could be translated, “ . . . which speaks of a better doctrine than that of Abel.” The better doctrine is the salvation of all mankind. In this context, the emphasis is on the salvation of the Jews so that they can participate in the New Covenant to Israel.

12. Therefore, in Hebrews 13:20 is written the phrase, “the blood of the eternal covenant,” which is used in connection with Israel.

13. When our Lord instituted the Eucharist the night before He was crucified, on the Passover Day of A.D. 30, He made a specific reference to the New Covenant to Israel in Luke 22:20. “And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, `This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant of My blood.’”

a. This indicated that Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Levitical offerings. All the animal blood shed under the Levitical offerings was designed to portray Jesus Christ as Savior so that Jews could believe in Him. This was a reference to the New Covenant to Israel.

b. The Eucharist is the only ritual which belongs to the Church, and it doesn’t belong to Israel. Yet the New Covenant which belongs to Israel is mentioned in this Church Age ritual.

d. Furthermore, while the New Covenant was known to Israel and recorded in the Old Testament, the mystery doctrine of the Church Age was unknown to Israel but now revealed to the Church, Romans 16:25-26; Colossians 1:25-27.

e. However, in every dispensation of human history, salvation is always the same and is always clearly revealed in every dispensation. The “new covenant” is mentioned in this passage to demonstrate this fact.

f. You cannot be a member of the royal family of God in the Church Age until you believe in Jesus Christ. No Jew can be a recipient of the New Covenant unless he believes in Jesus Christ. So salvation and the blood of Christ is a part of every dispensation in human history. So the blood of Christ is related to the New Covenant and to the Church.

g. So in order for people to understand, especially since His audience was strictly Jewish as He initiated the Lord’s table, our Lord mentioned the New Covenant so that it would be clear that salvation is always the same and is always revealed.

h. While the New Covenant was known to Israel and recorded in the Old Testament, the mystery doctrine of the Church Age was unknown.

i. Salvation through the blood of the New Covenant is the same as salvation through the blood of the Old Covenant, the Mosaic Law. Under the Mosaic Law, the Jews remember salvation through the blood of the animal sacrifices which taught about the saving work of Jesus Christ. Under the blood of the New Covenant, Church Age believers are saved through faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ. We look back to the cross; they looked forward to the cross.

j. The New Covenant to Israel both looked forward and looks backward to the cross. Therefore, it is sometimes used in salvation passages in a Church Age context.

k. While the plan, purpose, and will of God for believers differs in every dispensation, salvation is always the same—personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is therefore the same in every dispensation.

l. However, after salvation, God has a different plan and a different purpose and a different expression of His sovereign will in different dispensations. This is why the Mosaic Law can never answer the question: After salvation, what? Yet millions of Church Age believers since the Reformation have erroneously used the Mosaic Law for the Christian life.

m. In the Old Testament, salvation was taught through the blood of animal sacrifices. In the New Testament, salvation is taught through the blood of Christ which is His saving work on the cross. In the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, the blood of Christ is used to communicate redemption, propitiation, and reconciliation. Since salvation is the same in every dispensation, the blood of Christ is represented in the Eucharist by the cup. Soteriology and Christology is not a part of the mystery doctrine, but taught in every dispensation.

n. When we drink from the cup, we remember what our Savior did for us on the Cross. Drinking itself portrays faith, because drinking is a non-meritorious function as is faith. 1Corinthians 11:25: “In the same way, the cup also, after supper, saying, `This cup is the new testament [covenant] of My blood. Keep on doing this, as often as you drink it, in memory of Me.’”

a. There is only one “New Covenant” and it refers directly to Israel. Therefore, it is called the New Covenant to Israel. There is no New Covenant to the Church, for there are no covenants in the Church Age. Covenants belong to Israel. The baptism of the Spirit in the Church Age eliminates any covenants from the Church Age.

b. So many Old Testament references are found to the New Covenant that it could not be a part of the Church Age. Everything about the Church Age was a mystery and not revealed in the Old Testament.

c. Principal Old Testament references to the New Covenant to Israel include Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 16:60; Isaiah 59:20-21 (quoted in Romans 11:26-27); Isaiah 61:2-11; Hosea 2:14-23.

d. The doctrine for the Church Age is mystery doctrine, defined in Romans 16 and Colossians 1:25-27, not revealed in the Old Testament. Since it was not revealed, it is obvious that there can be no such thing as a New Covenant to the Church.

e. The New Covenant to Israel is found extensively in the book of Hebrews as an explanation of this; e.g.. Hebrews 7:22, 8:6-13, 9:1, 9:11-22, 10:15-20, 10:28-29, 12:18-29, 13:20-21.

f. To indicate that the Church is not under the Mosaic Law, a contrast is established between the Old Covenant (Mosaic Law) and the New Covenant to Israel. A major contrast is between legalism which came as a distortion of the Law, and salvation by grace through faith.

g. Therefore, the New Covenant is used in relationship to the Church to establish a contrast between salvation by works and salvation by grace through faith in Christ.

h. Since the Church did not have the old covenant (Mosaic Law), and the New Covenant was called new before the First Advent and the Church existed, therefore the New Covenant applies to Israel in the past and in future, but does not apply to the Church except in the presentation of the Gospel.

15. In reality, the New Covenant is a series of promises to disciplined and dispersed Israel that they will be restored as a client nation to God at the Second Advent. Furthermore, the restored client nation Israel will continue in the Millennium and in the eternal state forever.

16. The Old Covenant or Mosaic Law was abrogated by the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, Matt 5:17; Romans 10:4. (This is another reason why the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union must be regarded as a separate and distinct dispensation.) When our Lord was judged for our sins on the cross, the Mosaic Law was finished and out! Christ fulfilled Codex Two, but Codices One and Three have never been abrogated or set aside. They function for all client nations in history and will again in the Millennium.

17. The removal of Israel as a client nation to God in August of 70 A.D. through the administration of the fifth cycle of discipline resulted in the times of the Gentiles, Luke 21:20-24, which now runs coterminously with the Church Age. The times of the Gentiles, prophesied by our Lord, is when only Gentile nations can be client nations to God until the Rapture of the Church.

18. The removal of Israel as a client nation means the removal of the Mosaic Law. The setting aside of the Mosaic Law, called the Old Covenant, demands a New Covenant for Israel; something that will guarantee eternal life for the Jew in the Tribulation and the Millennium.

19. So the New Covenant to Israel guarantees to Israel the fulfillment of their unconditional covenants.

20. Jeremiah calls this a New Covenant because it’s in direct contrast to the Mosaic Law. It’s on a higher plane than the Mosaic Law as illustrated by the Sermon on the Mount. The New Covenant is defined in terms of regeneration.

21. The New Covenant replaces the Mosaic Law for the function of Israel’s priesthood in the millennial temple, Ezekiel 40-48.

22. The New Covenant emphasizes the fact that God has not cast off Israel because of the formation of the royal family of God or because of their failures and dispersion. Jewish failure in the past doesn’t mean God has abrogated His covenants, Romans 11:1, 27; Gal 4:4; Hebrews 8:8-12, 10:15-17. All Jewish believers of the Old Testament, Tribulation, and Millennium will be blessed under this New Covenant.

23. Through the New Covenant, God as party of the first part guarantees the future of Israel as party of the second part. However, all Israel is not Israel. To be true Israel and to be under the unconditional covenants, the Jews must personally believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The only exception is the Jew who believes in Christ during the Church Age and then, through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, is no longer a Jew but becomes royal family of God.

24. All ministers of the Church Age are advised that their competency does not come from the Mosaic Law but from God. 2Corinthians 3:5-6, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter [Mosaic Law] but of the Spirit. For the letter [Mosaic Law] kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

a. Pastors are not adequate in themselves, and do not have the gift because of any natural talent or ability. The gift of pastor-teacher does not depend in any way on any form of natural ability. Even the great Paul recognized that all his own abilities were inadequate.

b. Anything the pastor teaches which may be a blessing to you comes from the Holy Spirit and from the Word of God.

c. Being “ministers of a new covenant” refers to the pastors’ communication of the Gospel. The Gospel is the same in every generation and dispensation. So the New Covenant here refers to the blood of Christ.

d. While the minister of the Church Age must teach believers the mystery doctrine of the Church Age which was unknown in the Old Testament, he must also teach the Gospel of the blood of Jesus Christ which was known in the Old Testament, will be known in the Tribulation and the Millennium, and which must be emphasized at the present time.

e. Furthermore, no Jew qualifies for the New Covenant to Israel apart from salvation through faith in Christ. So when the New Covenant is mentioned, it’s not surprising to find so much reference to salvation. The Jews of the Old Testament, Tribulation, and Millennium cannot enter into the New Covenant apart from salvation through faith in Christ. Of course, the Jews of the Church Age are no longer Jews but royal family of God.

1. The Jewish monopoly during the dispensation of Israel caused several factors: the creation of a new racial species when Abraham was age ninety-nine, and the promise to Israel in the form of the unconditional covenants.

2. The Jew as a new racial species in the Old Testament had a spiritual monopoly which existed until Jesus Christ was rejected as Messiah during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. The rejection of Messiah as the King of Israel during the First Advent plus His strategic victory on the cross set aside all the covenants.

3. The baptism of the Spirit makes every Jew and every Gentile equal as members of the royal family of God. The new spiritual species is the basis for the utilization of 100% available divine power.

4. Both Jews and Gentiles failed with covenants from God, so that in the Church Age there is no covenants. Instead, we have the baptism of the Spirit and the unique factors of the great power experiment of the Church Age. We have something far greater than covenants.

1. The covenant theory of reform theology is not in any way related to the Biblical covenants in this study.

4. The covenant theory of reform theology is a system of interpretation in using a covenant for a theological system, not for a Biblical system. (Not all theologies are Biblical.)

5. Nowhere in the Bible is the term covenant applied to the idea that there is a system of interpretation which considers that all God’s purposes are worked out on the basis of the three covenants of covenant theology.

a. The Covenant of Redemption was allegedly a prehistoric agreement between God the Father and God the Son in which each agreed to do certain things, along with the Holy Spirit in the end.

b. The Covenant of Works was allegedly made by God with Adam in the garden of Eden when man was in a state of perfection or innocence.

c. The Covenant of Grace is the way God deals with man after the Fall of man. This includes the entire period of human history, from the fall of man until the end of time.

6. Hence, no dispensational distinctions are made at all. This is where all the foul-ups come from; e.g., post-millennialism, etc. This system has resulted in terrible legalism right down to this day.

7. The presupposition of a bargain between the members of the Godhead, especially between God the Father and God the Son in eternity past, so that they entered into a covenant of redemption is not provable from Biblical theology. Furthermore, the idea of a covenant or bargain between God the Father and God the Son is blasphemous and unthinkable, as if they did not trust each other or were lacking in eternal and infinite virtue. “We will sign this pact; you do your part and I’ll do my part.” Yet see how close it is to the truth. It is true that the Father sent the Son. But the Father did it from His love - not a part of a covenant, but a part of His problem-solving devices which are infinite and eternal in nature. (Recall the three categories of divine Love.) John 3:16 doesn’t teach a covenant at all. Jesus Christ came into the world and went to the cross under problem-solving devices in His humanity inside the prototype divine dynasphere, the precedent for our function in our operational divine dynasphere.

8. The covenant theory assumes that God made a covenant with Adam in the Garden, called the Covenant of Works. In this covenant, God put Adam under probation, offering eternal life to Adam if he passed the test and didn’t eat from the tree. The Bible doesn’t say that. It is philosophical, heretical speculation. This theory also says that Adam was threatened with death if he failed the test. This theory rejects the omniscience of God as always knowing that man would violation the divine prohibition and enter into the state of real spiritual death.

9. The covenant theory further assumes that under the Covenant of Grace, God made a covenant with the elect. In this covenant, God freely offers life and salvation to sinners by means of personal faith in Jesus Christ. This is their one correct view, recognizing that for all time, salvation is always the same: by grace through faith in Christ as the only way of eternal life. But by failing to distinguish between dispensations, they foul up everything else applying to after salvation. They add works and call it the Christian life.

10. This theory says that God promises to give His Holy Spirit to those who are ordained to eternal life, to make them willing and able to believe in Christ. This is the Calvinistic view of efficacious grace. This does injustice to the doctrine of pneumatology.

11. While the Covenant of Grace is generally correct regarding the saving work of Christ and faith in Him for salvation, it does not answer the question: “After salvation - what?”

12. Kaiper was a great theologian and prime minister in Holland. In all his fantastic writings, only the salvation portions are accurate. Typical of covenant theology, he writes very little about the Holy Spirit. This theology does not distinguish between the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to Israel and His ministry to the Church, which is unlimited, and that in the Tribulation and Millennium. No wonder the Christian life is not understood, making no distinctions like this. Never before have believers been indwelt by the Holy Spirit, not had a divine dynasphere. Only in this dispensation does the Holy Spirit give spiritual gifts.

13. The Covenant of Grace does not distinguish between dispensations but lumps everything together and therefore obscures the protocol plan of God for the Church Age. It makes no dispensational distinction and has no understanding of the mystery doctrine, saying there was no mystery doctrine to those in the Old Testament.

14. There is no distinction between Israel and the Church. There is no understanding of the First Advent and the Incarnation as a separate dispensation.

15. Covenant theologians are therefore forced to the erroneous conclusion that the basic Christian way of life is keeping the Mosaic Law, a part of the Grace Covenant, and generally accepts this untenable position as God’s plan for us today.

16. Terrible confusion results in which covenant theology, therefore, cannot interpret a great portion of the Gospels, including the Sermon on the Mount, the Upper Room Discourse, the Olivet Discourse.

17. Furthermore, tithing, Sabbath observance, etc. are included in the Christian life, and are in opposition to the concept of the mystery doctrine.

18. Most covenant theologians are amillennial; a few are postmillennial. They are confused about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. They have a tendency to make human works and so-called Christian service a part of the Christian way of life.

1. Spiritual death - Ephesians 2:1; Romans 5:12; 6:23; 1Corinthians 15:22. Spiritual death is a judgement on the human race at the point of birth. It is being born into the devil's kingdom as citizens. We are born spiritually dead and related to the devil's kingdom and we continue that way until we believe in Jesus Christ at which point this thing is broken. This means that when grace found us we belonged to Satan's kingdom because we were born with spiritual death. Therefore the participle in verse is not only ascriptive but it is linear aktionsart. It is a status that continues and can only be broken by a new birth, and therefore the necessity for the new birth. The new birth breaks spiritual death. Spiritual death is not only separation from God but it is the penalty of sin, and it is totally the penalty of sin. Physical death is not the penalty of sin and it does not have anything to do with the penalty of sin. The only way that physical death is related to the penalty of sin is that since we are born spiritually dead it is inevitable that eventually we will all die. The first use of spiritual death in the Bible is in Genesis 2:17.

2. Physical death - Matthew 8:22; 2Corinthians 5:1-8; Romans 8:38,39; Philippians 1:21. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body.

3. The second death is the perpetuation of spiritual death into eternity - Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:12-15. It refers to the final judgement of the unbeliever in which the unbeliever is cast into the lake of fire forever. So it follows the general concept of separation but it is the eternal lake of fire.

4. Operational death - James 2:26. "Faith without production is dead [non-operative]." This is a reference to the believer's failure to produce divine good, the failure of the believer to reach supergrace, the failure of the believer to GAP it consistently; it is the failure of the believer to get an accumulation of doctrine that leads to the ECS, occupation with Christ, supergrace capacity, supergrace blessing .

5. Positional death - Romans chapter 6 is the major passage of discussion. It is also found in Colossians 2:12, 20; 3:3. At salvation we are entered into union with Christ through the baptism of the Spirit. The baptism of the Spirit has two aspects. We are in union with Christ as Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. We are also in union with Christ as Christ died on the cross - current and retroactive positional truth. Positional death is retroactive positional truth or identification with Christ in His death. We are identified with Christ in His death because at the cross Jesus Christ rejected human good. He bore our sins in His own body on the tree but He rejected human good. Retroactive positional truth is simply our rejection of human good through identification with Christ on the cross.

6. Temporal death - Romans 8:6,13; Ephesians 5:14; 1Timothy 5:6; James 1:15; Revelation 3:1; Luke 15:24,32. It refers to the believer out of fellowship through sin. It is simply carnality or the perpetuation of carnality in reversionism. Temporal death just means that death is used to show that when you and I sin we are out of fellowship, we are dead to God in the sense of being out of fellowship. The prodigal son was still a son but he was dead to his father - "This, my son, was dead but now is alive." He was out of fellowship, now he is back in fellowship.

7. Sexual death which is the inability to copulate - Romans 4:16-21; Hebrews 11:11.12.

1. 1. Spiritual death was the penalty of sin, and was so given as the warning to mankind in the garden. Genesis 2:17, "dying you will die." "Dying" refers to spiritual death at birth or the fall of man; "you shall die" refers to physical death. The origin of spiritual death was the original sin of man in the garden.

2. The penalty was imposed at the fall of man and is perpetuated in the human race through the imputation of Adam's original sin to the genetically-formed old sin nature after birth, simultaneously with the imputation of human life. The old sin nature is transmitted through the twenty-three male chromosomes which fertilize the female ovum. We are not condemned by our personal sins.

3. Spiritual death occurs at the moment of physical birth. The entire human race is born physically alive and spiritually dead because of the two imputations which occur at birth.

a. When biological life emerges from the womb, God creates soul life and imputes it to biological life. This is when we become a human being. Life does not begin at copulation, but when God imputes the spark of life after birth.

b. Simultaneously, the sin nature emerges from the womb and there is the imputation of Adam's original sin to the old sin nature. This causes spiritual death.

c. From birth the status of the human race is spiritual death. Ephesians 2:1, "And you, being dead in your transgressions and sins," (not "because of your transgressions and sins") .Personal sins are only a sign that you are spiritually dead.

4. Rom 5:12, "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death [spiritual death] through that sin, so [spiritual] death spread to all men because all sinned [when Adam sinned]."

a. This means we are born physically alive and spiritually dead, so that if we die before reaching accountability, we automatically go to heaven. Adam made a decision for the entire human race. Our sins are not imputed to us, but to Jesus Christ on the cross.

(1) The condemnation of mankind is not based on personal sin, but on imputed sin. Mankind is not condemned by the imputation of his personal sins, but by the imputation of Adam's original sin to the genetically-formed old sin nature. Condemnation is based on our personal sins; they are the result of spiritual death. Condemnation is based on imputed sin.

(2) Personal sin is the result of imputed sin at birth. Hence, personal sin is the result of spiritual death.

(3) Personal sin is not the means of spiritual death, but the result of spiritual death, i.e., the result of having an old sin nature.

a. Real spiritual death. This was the actual spiritual death of Adam, who made the decision for the entire human race. We are all really spiritually dead at the moment of physical birth.

b. Substitutionary spiritual death. This occurred on the cross, when our Lord bore our sins in His own body and were judged. Our personal sins were never imputed to us for condemnation, but to Jesus Christ as our substitute, 1Peter 2:24, 3:18; 2Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 53:6; Romans 5:8.

6. The solution to spiritual death is stated in Romans 6:23. "The wages of sin is death [spiritual death], but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." We obtain spiritual death at the moment of physical birth. Spiritual death is resolved at the moment of spiritual birth or regeneration. Being born-again solves the problem of spiritual death.

7. Jesus made a paronomasia out of spiritual and physical death in Matthew 8:22, "Follow Me; let the [spiritually] dead bury their own [physically] dead."

8. Spiritual death is the subject of 1Corinthians 15:22, "For as in Adam all die [spiritual death], so also in Christ shall all be made alive."

a. No member of the human race, born of woman, is condemned on the basis of personal sins. Personal sins are the result of being spiritually dead.

a. Spiritual death means the status of dichotomy. We have a soul and no human spirit. Therefore, we cannot understand the gospel or anything about God.

b. Spiritual death means the status of total depravity. Total depravity means we are in either moral or immoral degeneracy in the status of sin.

c. The status of total separation from God cannot be ignored. The status of total helplessness to do anything about it brings in the issue of the grace of God.

d. The Holy Spirit can make faith alone effective for salvation. Anything added to faith in spiritual death means no salvation. Faith plus anything else is salvation by works, which eliminates the work of the Holy Spirit in efficacious grace.

1. While spiritual death occurs at physical birth, positional death occurs at the second birth, the new birth or regeneration.

2. Positional death occurs through the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation. The believer is identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. Romans 6:1-14

3. Positional death, also called retroactive positional truth, is the believer's identification with Christ in His death. For just as Christ rejected human good and evil on the cross, so positionally we have done the same. Therefore, we must avoid them by residence and function in the divine dynasphere.

4. Positional rejection of human good and evil as the policy of Satan is part of the believer's residence inside the divine dynasphere at salvation, Colossians 2:11-12. Positional rejection is the basis for experiential rejection.

5. Positional death is the subject of Romans 6:1-5. "Therefore, what are we to continue? Are we to continue under the sin nature that grace might increase? Emphatically not! We who have died to the sin nature, how shall we still live in it? Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His [spiritual] death? Therefore, we have been buried together with Him through baptism into His death, that as Christ has been raised up from the dead to the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life. So if we have become intimately united in the likeness of His death, not only this but also we shall be intimately united in the likeness of His resurrection."

6. Retroactive positional truth or positional death is identification with Christ in His death. Positionally we have died to sin, human good, and evil. Now we must do so experientially.

a. Two things happened in the spiritual death of Christ on the cross: He was judged for the sins of the world; and He rejected human good and evil.

b. Therefore, human good and evil are still a part of the angelic conflict as far as their judgment is concerned.

c. By rejection of human good and evil on the cross, Jesus Christ rejected Satan's policy for the rulership of this world.

7. Positional death is related to God's gift of the divine dynasphere. Inside the divine dynasphere we are filled with the Holy Spirit and cannot sin. Therefore, to make a decision to sin, the believer has to leave the divine dynasphere. We can only sin outside of the divine dynasphere. All personal sin places us inside the cosmic system. Inside the cosmic system of Satan we produce human good and evil.

8. Positionally the believer is dead to human good and evil. Experientially the believer does commit sin, human good, and evil. But rebound only deals with sin, not human good and evil.

2. The carnal death of the believer is the subject of the phrase in Ephesians 5:14, "Therefore, it says, `Wake up, you sleeper. Stand up out from the acts of sin."

a. The temporal death of the believer, which describes the believer out of fellowship with God. This might be described as the status of committing an occasional sin with some elapse of time in between sins.

b. The cosmic death of the believer. This is the believer involved in either cosmic one or cosmic two or both.

c. The fragmented death of the believer, which is the believer involved in either moral or immoral degeneracy.

4. 1Corinthians 3:1 describes carnality. "And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual persons, but as to carnal persons, even as to babies in Christ."

5. Carnal, temporal, cosmic, or fragmented death refers to the function of the believer's volition in converting temptation from the sin nature into sinfulness.

a. Whether the believer knows he is being tempted or not is never the issue. The issue is that you wanted to do that sin and you did it; therefore, ignorance is no excuse.

b. The believer cannot sin inside the divine dynasphere. Therefore, the decision to sin is made outside the divine dynasphere.

c. The decision to sin automatically places the believer inside the cosmic system. Living inside the cosmic system classifies that believer as living in temporal or cosmic death.

d. For the believer, cosmic involvement through sin is always cosmic death. When in the cosmic system, you are in cosmic death.

e. James 1:15, "When lust has become pregnant, it gives birth to sin. Furthermore, when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death." Lust is temptation trying to penetrate the soul.

a. Temptation is not a sin, but the act of volition which follows. When you say "yes" to the temptation, the old sin nature controls your soul.

b. The sin nature dwells in the cell structure of the body and the Holy Spirit indwells the body. The question is: Who is going to control the soul?

c. The believer's decision to sin automatically gives control of the soul to the sin nature. And the believer's decision not to sin gives control of the soul to the Holy Spirit.

a. Jam 1:15, "Then when lust has become pregnant it gives birth to sin. Furthermore, when the sin is born [completed], it brings forth death."

b. 1Timothy 5:6, "But that widow who constantly indulges in wanton pleasure has died while she is living."

c. Rev 3:1, "I know your production, that you have a reputation that you are living, but you are dead."

d. Romans 8:6, "For the mindset of the flesh [old sin nature] is death [cosmic death], but the mindset of the Spirit is life and prosperity."

e. Romans 8:13, "For if you are living according to the flesh [old sin nature], you must die [cosmic death], but if you through the Holy Spirit are putting to death the production of the flesh, you live." When you say "no" to temptation you are in the divine dynasphere, which is life.

f. 1John 3:14, "We know that we have changed our residence from the realm of death [cosmic system] to [the Christian way of] life."

8. The believer who is positive to Bible doctrine understands how to recover from carnal death and keep moving, and does so. The negative believer continues under the control of the sin nature and is in the status of death while he lives. The negative believer eventually becomes a loser of his escrow blessings.

9. The believer who spends his life in carnal death usually dies physically from maximum divine discipline, the sin unto death. 1John 5:16; Psalm 118:17-18; Acts 5:1-10; Revelation 3:16.

1. This can be classified as operational death or "dead works," according to Hebrews 6:1. "Therefore, graduating from the elementary teachings about Christ, let us advance to maturity, not laying again the foundation of a change of mind about dead works and faith toward God."

2. Dead works include all facets of Christian service performed outside the divine dynasphere.

a. Dead works is analogous to human good. Dead works are all the function of human good apart from the filling of the Holy Spirit.

b. Works produced in the cosmic system are dead. Morality is virtue only when produced inside the divine dynasphere. In the cosmic system, works are legalism, self-righteousness, and arrogance and parlayed into evil.

c. This category combines the arrogance of Christian service with the function of human good. There is no momentum from Christian service; Christian service is always a result.

d. Dead works can include the function of crusader arrogance combined with the modus operandi of cosmic panaceas. Dead works include all Christian activism.

e. Dead works refers to the production, Christian service, or good works of the believer performed when he is inside the cosmic system.

f. Anything related to the cosmic system is outside the plan of God, including production performed inside the cosmic system, 1Corinthians 13:1-3.

g. The believer in moral degeneracy can perform hundreds and hundreds of acts of Christian service, all of which are dead works.

3. All works, production, and Christian service of the believer in the cosmic system is dead, and will be burned at the Judgment Seat of Christ, 1Corinthians 3:12-15. All Christian production will be evaluated at the Judgment Seat of Christ, Romans 14:10; 2Corinthians 5:10.

1. Sexual death in the male refers to inability to copulate and procreate. Sexual death in the female refers to inability to procreate.

2. This category of death is only used in relation to Abraham and Sarah, as found in Romans 4:17-21 and Hebrews 11:11-12.

1. Physical death is defined as separation of the soul from the body so that the person no longer lives on planet earth. The soul never dies, it lives forever.

2. After death, the soul of the believer resides in an interim body until the Rapture, at which time it leaves the third heaven, goes to the second heaven and receives a resurrection body.

a. The soul of the unbeliever leaves the body and goes to Hades. There it remains in torments until the end of time. Then it is resurrected, brought before the Great White Throne, judged, and cast into the lake of fire, providing eternal agony.

b. Death is always God's victory. God gives this victory to all believers through our Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Physical death cannot separate the believer from God, Romans 8:38-39. Nothing can separate us from divine love.

4. Physical death is a matter of the sovereign decision of God, based on His perfect knowledge of all the facts, Psalm 68:19-20. No matter how you feel, when the Lord decides to take you, that's it. It is blasphemous to question His decision.

5. God can and does prolong physical life, Psalm 102:19-20, 23-24; 118:18; Prov 14:27.

6. God also delivers the believer from death, Job 5:20; Psalm 33:19, 56:13; 116:8.

7. The believer who attains spiritual maturity departs under dying grace, Psalm 23:4. Psalm 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones." This is not necessarily freedom from pain, but pain is negated as a factor.

8. Resurrection is victory over death. Whatever the failures or glories related to your death, we all revert to the principle of divine impersonal love in resurrection. Resurrection supersedes whatever you were in dying. Therefore, it is victory for all believers, 1Corinthians 15:54-57. There is no victory for the grave because all believers will have a resurrection body. The victory of physical death is for believers only.

a. Death means no appointment with judgment. Hebrews 9:27. The first appointment is physical death; the second, for the lake of fire, is cancelled.

b. Death means being face to face with the Lord, 2Corinthians 5:8; this implies an interim body.

c. Death means the end of pain, Revelation 21:4. There is no mourning, crying, or pain in the interim body. Believers who die the sin unto death don't lose out until the Rapture. They have a ball in the interim body.

f. Death means realization of eternal life, John 11:25, 10:28, 20:31; 1John 5:11-12.

g. Death means waiting for the resurrection in an interim body, John 11:25; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18; Job 19:25-26; Philippians 3:21; 1Corinthians 5:51-57.

10. For the believer whose momentum carries him to spiritual maturity, death is going to be profitable forever. Philippians 1:20-21, "For me living Christ, dying profit."

11. For the believer who spends his life in the cosmic system, death is horrible. However, better an end with horror than horror without end. The believer living in the cosmic system dies under maximum discipline of the sin unto death, 1John 5:16; Revelation 3:16.

a. God's timing, manner, and place of death is related to the whether we execute this spiritual life or not.

b. God's decision as to the time, manner and place of our death is always based on the integrity and love of God.

c. Every believer's death is always God's victory, 1Corinthians 15:55- 57. The word "victory" refers to the death of the winner believer. The word "sting" refers to the sin unto death.

d. Living is Christ and dying is profit for the winner believer, Philippians 1:21. In life we are guarded by the power of God, 1Peter 1:5. This is our wall of fire protection.

e. In all matters of life and death, God's timing is perfect, because God is perfect. For the winner believer, dying is the most wonderful part of life. Dying for the loser believer is most awesome and horrible time in life.

f. In dying, God's decision glorifies God and at the same time brings the greatest blessing in life to the dying person. For the believer who has harmonious rapport with God through his spiritual life dying is far better than any blessing in living.

1. The second death is for unbelievers only. It is the final judgment of those who reject Christ as Savior. It is eternal separation from God and final judgment in the lake of fire. It is part of the second resurrection.

2. It occurs at the end of the Gog revolution at the end of the Millennium. It is the final judgment of all unbelievers. Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 20:12-15.

3. Each unbeliever is judged according to his good deeds which add up to unrighteousness. The unbeliever is cast into the lake of fire because of rejection of Christ. He is not judged for personal sins since these were already judged on the cross.

1. This refers to the manner of death for the believer who rejects rebound and stays in the cosmic system. It is dying a horrible death with maximum pain, suffering and agony.

d. Transfer from time to eternity by surpassing grace blessing for Old Testament believers, for example, Enoch. Hebrews 11:5.

4. No believer suffers after the sin unto death because he is in an interim body, Revelation 21:4.

5. David's discipline is an example of Old Testament sin unto death, Psalm 32, 38.

6. Military disaster is a part of the sin unto death, 1John 5:16; Jeremiah 9:13-16, 44:12.

7. Depression, famine, and criminal violence is a part of the sin unto death. Philippians 3:18-19, "whose termination of life is ruin."

8. Revelation 3:15-16 describes the sin unto death as a lukewarm believer, whom the Lord is about to vomit out of His mouth.

9. The sin unto death is God's last punishment for the believer who lives out his life in the cosmic system.

1. There are three verses of scripture where the deity of Christ is presented as a syllogism [a logical progression in which the subject of the first sentence becomes the object of the second sentence, whereas the object of the first sentence becomes the subject of the second sentence, and the two are placed together in the third sentence], 1Peterer 1:2; 2Corinthians 13:14; Matthew 28:19. The syllogism is the Trinity is eternal. Christ is a member of the Trinity, Christ is eternal.

2. The outstanding scriptures dealing with the deity of Christ, John 1:1-3; 8:58; Micah 5:2; Romans 9:5; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8-10; 1 John 5:20.

3. The pre-incarnate work of Christ. This necessitates His preexistence. His preexistence obviates the concept of deity. For example, Christ created the universe, not all at one time. The heavens and the earth were created instantly; man was created on the sixth day of restoration, long after the heavens and the earth were created. The angels were created some time between the creation of the universe and the creation of man. Animal life was created in three different sections. Every act of original creation is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:10.

4. The doctrine of divine decrees. Jesus Christ had a definite part in the doctrine of divine decrees. He is so identified with the doctrine of divine decrees as to be God. For example, whenever the divine decrees is mentioned and Jesus Christ is mentioned in connection with them, He is mentioned as God. Therefore, once again, there are certain passages where the decrees are mentioned where Christ is mentioned, and Christ is identified as God. For example, Psalm 2:7-9; 22:1-6; 40; 110. In other words, Jesus Christ is so identified with the doctrine of divine decrees as to be God.

5. The Christophanies also indicate the deity of Jesus Christ. There are the Christophanies or the theophanies, there are synonymous terms because the only person in the Godhead who has ever been manifest, old Testament or incarnation, is always Jesus Christ. We are dealing with one special Christophany here. Jesus Christ often came as a man. He was the one who wrestled with Jacob. He also came as the burning bush to Moses. But we are talking about a specific Christophany which indicates that Jesus Christ is God, Jesus Christ appeared as an angel. As such in the Old Testament He is called the angel of Jehovah. He is also called Jehovah.

a. The angel of Jehovah is identified as Jehovah in the following passages: Genesis 16:7-13; 22:11-18; 31:11-13; 48:15,16; Exodus 3:1ff Cf Acts 7:30-35; Exodus 13:21; 14:19; Judges 6:11-23; 13:9-20. In all of these passage find Jesus Christ mentioned in context as the angel of Jehovah. That isn’t conclusive until in the same context the angel of Jehovah is also called

b. However, the angel of Jehovah is distinguished from Jehovah. Why? Because the angel of Jehovah is always Jesus Christ. Take the word elohim which is plural. As a plural word translated “God” in the Old Testament it refers to the entire Trinity. Whenever one or more persons are going to be mentioned we have the word Jehovah. It is used for God the Father, it is used for God the Son, and it is used for God the Holy Spirit. However it is only the Son who is the angel of Jehovah, it is only the Son who is ever a theophany or Christophany. Jesus Christ is the only person of the Godhead who ever is manifest to man or to creatures in the form of a creature, or in some other form like the burning bush, the pillar of fire at night, the cloud by day. But He is still God. Jesus Christ is the angel of Jehovah, but since He is also Jehovah the passage will say somewhere in it, “Jehovah said,” indicating that the angel of Jehovah is Jehovah and that Jehovah is the angel of Jehovah, and that this is a theophany and that this is God. Obviously when some other member of the Godhead is involved in some other operation where the angel of Jehovah is functioning it will say, “Jehovah said to the angel of Jehovah.” Why? Because the Father is Jehovah too, and the Father isn’t a Christophany or theophany but He is talking to a Christophany or a theophany. Genesis 24:7,40; Exodus 23:20; 32:34; 1 Chronicles 21:15-18; Isaiah 63:9; Zechariah 1:12,13. The angel of Jehovah is distinguished from Jehovah.

c. The angel of Jehovah is the second person of the Trinity. Two form of argument: 1. Jesus Christ is always said to be the visible God, the only member of the Trinity who is ever visible — John 1:18; 6:46; 1Timothyothy 6:16; 1 John 4:12. After the incarnation of Christ the angel of Jehovah never appears again.

6. The tetragrammaton [means four letters]. This is the sacred name of God, JHWH. The Jews never pronounced that name, they always said “Adonai.” So when you come to something like that you can use the vowel points of Adonai, the vowel points of the verb to be. So we have two different theories. We started out by using Jehovah. Then someone came along and said no, that is Yaweh. The tetragrammaton is used for the Father and used for the Son and used for the Holy Spirit. The principle: Jesus Christ is called Jehovah in the following passages: Isaiah 9:6,7; 40:3; Jeremiah 23:5,6; Zechariah 12:10.

7. Certain characteristics are ascribed to deity. These characteristics are specifically ascribed to Jesus Christ. So we recognise the deity of Christ from the doctrine of divine essence. The essence box is simply describing the characteristics of God, sovereignty, absolute righteousness, justice, love, eternal life, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability, veracity. All of these attributes are ascribed somewhere in scripture to Jesus Christ. For example, eternal life, Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; John 1:1; 8:58; Colossians 1:16,17; Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 1:11. For example, righteousness and justice [holiness] which is ascribed to God the Son, Luke 1:35; John 6:69; Hebrews 7:26. Love, John 13:1,34; 1 John 3:16. Immutability. Hebrews 13:8. Omniscient, Matthew 9:4; John 2:25; 1Corinthians 4:5; Colossians 2:3; Revelation 2:23. Omnipotent, Matthew 24:30; 28:13; 1Corinthians 15:28; Philippians 3:21; Hebrews 1:3; Revelation 1:8. Omnipresent — Matthew 28:20; Ephesians 1:23; Colossians 1:27. Any one of these scriptures proves the deity of Christ.

1. Jesus Christ is eternal God. As a member of the Trinity, He always existed. There never was a time when He did not exist.

2. He is coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Spirit, Colossians 1:15. In eternity past, Jesus Christ had the same essence as the Father and Spirit.

3. In time He still had the same functions of deity, but He also became true humanity. Therefore, He is unique.

1. A syllogism is a logical formula consisting of two premises and a conclusion, a major and minor premise plus a conclusion, derived from deductive reasoning.

2. Following this formula: the Trinity is eternal. Christ is a member of the Trinity. Therefore, Christ is eternal.

2. John 1:1-3, “In a beginning which was not a beginning there existed the Word [Jesus Christ].”

D. The preincarnate work of Jesus Christ indicates He was God. He is the creator of the universe, John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:10. He had to be God to preexist all other creatures.

E. The doctrine of divine decrees proves the deity of Christ. Christ is identified with the divine decrees so as to be God, Psalm 2:7-9, 22:1-6; 40; 110.

F. The Hebrew word JHWH is one of the titles for Jesus Christ. The Jews never pronounced the word. Instead they said Adonai, which means deity. Elohim (plural) refers to the Trinity. JHWH is used for Jesus Christ in Isaiah 9:6-7, 40:3; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Zechariah 12:10.

2. Perfect righteousness and justice = holiness, Luke 1:35; John 6:69; Hebrews 7:26.

3. Love, John 13:1, 34; 1John 3:16. 4. Eternal life, Isaiah 9:6; Micah 5:2; John 1:1, 8:58; Colossians 1:16-17; Ephesians 1:4; Revelation 1:11.

4. Omniscience, Matthew 9:4; John 2:25; 1Corinthians 4:5; Colossians 2:3; Revelation 2:23

8. Jesus Christ did not suppress His deity in the incarnation; this is the false doctrine of kenosis. Instead, He gave up the independent use of His divine attributes.

c. As the angel of JHWH. Genesis 16:7-18, 22:11-18, 31:11ff. Christ is said to be the angel of JHWH in Genesis 24:7, 40; Exodus 23:20, 32:34; 1 Chron 21:15-18; Isaiah 63:9; Zechariah 1:12-13. Because Christ is always the visible member of the Trinity, He never appears as the angel of JHWH after the First Advent, John 6:46, 1:18; 1Timothy 6:16.

3. The First and Second Advents. Philippians 2:6 “who though He existed in the essence of God, He did not think equality with God a gain to be seized.”

1. No two people are born equal. They have different talents, ability, mentality, circumstances, genes, and environment.

2. After the new birth, we still have different gifts or spiritual status. Therefore, all of us are still different.

3. It is impossible to make people equal. We have equal rights to advance under freedom as far as we can go. But there will always be someone who is prettier, stronger, smarter, etc.

4. The only basis for equality is to have everyone be zombies. The worst thing a society does is lower itself to the lowest common denominator, so as not to make the weirdos feel weird. Christian weirdos call this Christian love.

5. You are to stay within your own standards. Never depart from your personal standards to make someone else feel better. You can come into Berachah will all the different standards you want. Bob wore jeans to ride horses and to shovel the stuff they don’t need.

6. There is no law of love where standards are concerned. We must have different standards and are entitled to our different standards as long as we don't violate the law.

7. You are not inferior because your standards aren't as high as someone else's. Being inferior or superior is not the issue.

8. The differences between us as provided by the Lord are spiritual gifts. The pastor has authority but isn't better than anyone else.

9. All healthy nations have different people with different standards. This means competition, prosperity, influence, and a lot of normal things in life.

10. Stamping everyone from the same mold is anti-God, and is what fundamentalist Christians are doing today. Some believers are closer to maturity than others; therefore, we cannot all be or act alike.

11. A Houston pastors organization wanted to do an exchange of teachers once a month. Bob would fight such a person to the death to keep them from teaching at Berachah.

12. Only arrogant people want to be equal. If you are free from arrogance you don't care if there are people better than you; you're delighted for them. And you don't gloat over those who are inferior to you. You don't need to prove you are inferior or superior to anyone else.

1. The absolute status says that you are either in fellowship or out of fellowship. Believers are different because some use rebound and some do not. Some sin more frequently than others.

2. The relative status says that no two believers have the same stage of spiritual growth. Positive or negative volition to Bible doctrine determines these differences.

C. Differences in the Function of the Old Sin Nature. Believers have different areas of weakness or strength in the trends of their old sin nature. There are different kinds of human good trends. There are different areas of overt sinning. We are different, yet we are told to "love" one another. You do this by starting with a relaxed mental attitude toward all. We are so different that it is amazing that we can all sit together for an hour and a quarter without getting up and slugging one another.

D. Differences in Spiritual Gifts. At salvation each believer has a spiritual gift, but the spiritual gifts are all different. Certain gifts no longer exist, such as tongues, healing, and miracles. The gift we have determines how much authority we have or lack of it. Your spiritual gift automatically functions at a certain point in your spiritual growth. It doesn't function if you're not growing spiritually. If we are positive toward doctrine, God will provide the doctrine. No equality even in dying blessing.

1. The imputation of divine blessing in time depends on maximum Bible doctrine in the soul. So it depends on your attitude toward doctrine.

2. We all have equal opportunity, because we have the imputation of God's perfect righteousness and logistical grace.

3. There are six categories of blessings (see the Doctrine of Escrow Blessings), and variations exist in each of these. They are tailor-made for each individual. Spiritual blessings are uniform, but the others vary greatly. All mature believers get dying grace in different ways.

4. As long as our relationship with the Lord is right, we don't have to worry about what our temporal blessings are going to be. Because the Lord will give us the best blessings compatible with our perfect happiness. You may be poor all your life in maturity because God blesses you with different things.

5. There is no such thing as equality. Two people can be occupied with Christ and still not be equal. Yet God knows best how to bless each one.

6. There are greater differences among believers than there are among unbelievers. This is the basis for being content and getting adjusted to reality. Differences are always there, so you simply adjust to the reality of the situation and don't crack up because others are better off.

1. No two believers have the same set of circumstances in life. You should be able to look at anyone else's life and say, "I have what God wants for me and I am delighted with it."

2. Never envy other believers because their circumstances appear to be better. God assigns circumstances. Don't fight it. It will make you subjective all of your life.

4. You are allowed to improve your own barnyard and to maintain your momentum. This will keep you objective all through your life.

5. People are constantly motivated by envy and think, "I should have more than they do." Be content with what you have!

6. No two believers have the same amount of time between salvation and death. God gives you enough time regardless of how healthy or unhealthy you try to stay.

R. B. Thieme, Jr. Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

1. Demon possession was the basis for capital punishment in Israel. Leviticus 20:27. So serious was demon possession that capital punishment was prescribed by God for this practice.

2. The methods of demon possession. There are five methods and these are the methods which are also used by believers in getting into contact with demons.

a. Idolatry, 1Corinthians 10:19-21. Wherever idolatry is practiced today there are demons behind the idols.

b. Drug addiction. Users of drugs are all liable to demon possession in the case of unbelievers, or demon influence in the case of those who are born again - Galatians 5:20 farmakeia.

d. Mental attitude sins carried to the extreme. Many cases of neurosis and psychosis are cases of demon influence, Mark 5, where the demon-possessed individuals had all of the characteristics of psychosis.

e. Religious sensitivity training, Isaiah 8:19. This is designed to turn the body and soul over to some higher type of power, i.e. demons.

3. Demons are the gods of nations, Psalm 96:5. Often the rulers of nations are demon possessed.

4. The firstborn judgement included the judgement of demons. Exodus 12:12; Isaiah 19:3.

5. Therefore the Jews, to be protected from this type of religious infiltration, were prohibited from making sacrifices to demons. Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17.

6. Child sacrifice was inspired by demons, Psalm 106:37-39; Psalm 109:7 Satan can blind by religion; in verse 9 he can shorten life (when God permits it); verse 8, he can remove people from authority (when God permits it); verse 4, God occasionally permits demons to kill someone in a painful way; verse 10, demons can persecute children; verse 11, demons can remove wealth; verse 12, demons can turn people against people; verse 13, demons can cut off human posterity up to the second generation (when God permits). Demons are related to many diseases. There is physiologically-induced illness, there is psychosomatics or the soul inducement to illness, and there is demon induced illness. In Job 2:6-8 Satan produced illness in Job. Satan uses demons to produce disease, Acts 10:38; Luke 13:16; Matthew 12:22. Certain diseases are specified as being demon induced: deafness, dumbness, paralysis are caused by demon possession in certain passages. This doesn't mean that everyone who is deaf and dumb is demon possessed. Matthew 9:32,33; 12:22; Mark 5:5; 9:17,18. When demons are the cause of a disease, whether it is a mental or a physical disease, the disease is healed instantly when the demons are cast out. Many people attribute such healings to "divine healers" (there are none) or they attribute them to someone else who is merely in league with the devil. This is why Satan often pulls demons out of people for a miraculous healing, Matthew 10:1; Mark 1:32,34; 6:13; Acts 8:7; 19:12. In other scriptures where demon possession does not involve illness we then have the natural causes of healing or God can intervene and heal.

7. The Canaanitish nations were destroyed for demon activity. Deuteronomy 18:9-12. One of the signs of a nation going into the fifth cycle of discipline is the revival of demonism in that nation.

8. The practice of necromancy is a sign of negative volition toward doctrine. It can result in the sin unto death as in the case of 1Chronicles 10:13,14.

9. Demonism can eventuate in the fifth cycle of discipline, Isaiah 29:4; 47:1-15.

10. Evil is associated with the rule of demonism, as in the case of Mannaseh, 2 Kings 21:2-16; Jeremiah 27:6-10.

1. Demon influence is demonization of the soul and personality of the believer or unbeliever living in the cosmic system. There are degrees of demon influence. It depends on how long you reside in the cosmic system without the use of rebound. Demon influence is thought transference of demon doctrine to the believer or unbeliever in the cosmic system.

2. Demon influence is the invasion of the soul, especially the mind, emotion, and self-consciousness of the soul. The result is the invasion of the human personality of the believer or unbeliever who lives in the cosmic system.

3. Demon influence is the infiltration of Satanic thought. It isn't expressed in terms of evil, but in terms of improving this world, doing nice things for your fellow man, and supporting crusades.

4. Demon influence is the invasion of the soul with thought that is false thinking, i.e., the policy and principles by which Satan operated prior to the creation of man and afterwards as the ruler of this world.

5. The unbeliever is protected from both demon influence and demon possession by the laws of divine establishment. The believer is protected from demon influence by Bible doctrine only! Only the truth can keep false thinking and false doctrine out of the soul. If the believer only understands the laws of divine establishment, that gives him some protection. But the greatest victims of demon influence are believers, a result of the genius plan of Satan to distract them from the protocol plan of God.

1. Cosmic one emphasizes preoccupation with self, having twelve gates or categories of arrogance.

3. When the believer gets outside of the operational-type divine dynasphere, he inevitably enters gate #1 of cosmic one and gate #1 of cosmic two.

a. Gate #1 of cosmic one is the whole system of prehistoric sins, which are connected to arrogance.

b. If the sins of arrogance are allowed to continue, it is inevitable that the believer in cosmic one will become an abnormal person. And once this abnormality sets in, there is a system of locked-in arrogance that totally rejects truth or distorts truth by hallucination.

4. So the believer out of fellowship can commit either prehistoric or historic categories of sins. Many of the prehistoric categories of sins are related to human sacrifice and the various functions of demonism. Demon influenced believers show tremendous predilection toward violence, especially in a psychotic state.

5. Gate #2 of cosmic one is rejection of doctrine because you're preoccupied with yourself, which is an indirect rejection of doctrine. People who are preoccupied with self, seeking pleasure and approbation for self, have no time for doctrine; rather, they substitute self-indulgence for learning doctrine. Gate #2 of cosmic two is also negative volition toward doctrine, but true rejection is due to antagonism toward doctrine.

6. One enters the cosmic system through an active or a passive decision from the free will. Once inside the cosmic system, negative volition towards true doctrine creates a vacuum through which demon doctrine enters, Ephesians 4:7.

7. Reversionism is, in effect, the degrees of demon influence of the believer in the cosmic system. In 1Corinthians 2:5, the "wisdom of man" illustrates demon influence in the cosmic system through Greek culture and religion.

8. The quickest way to get into the cosmic system is to sin, 1John 3:4-10. "When anyone commits a sin, he has become the agent of the devil." Just as the devil invented the cosmic system, so he also invented sin. But Christ destroyed the basis for Satan's entire system when He judged sin at the cross.

9. Through psychological living instead of spiritual living, the believer all too often continues the lifestyle of spiritual death by living in Satan's cosmic system. In cosmic one, he grieves the Holy Spirit; in cosmic two, he quenches the Holy Spirit.

10. All spiritual living occurs inside the divine dynasphere under the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit. Living in the divine dynasphere is called the filling of the Spirit. Functioning in the divine dynasphere is called walking by means of the Spirit.

11. Therefore, we have a warning to Church Age believers not to superimpose the life of spiritual death on the Christian way of life in 1John 2:15-16. "Stop loving the cosmic system or anything in the cosmic system. If anyone keeps loving the cosmic system [cosmic one and two], the love of the Father is not in Him. Because all that is in the cosmic system, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the arrogant pattern of life, is not from the Father but is from the cosmic system."

a. Loving the cosmic system means demon influence of your motivation, of your thought pattern, of your decision making, and of your action.

b. The love of the Father refers to virtue-love, one of the highest problem solving device in the Christian life.

c. The lust of the flesh is the old sin nature seeking to control the soul. The lust of the eyes is motivational evil in gate #1 of cosmic one. The arrogant pattern of life is the functional evil of the other eleven gates in cosmic one.

12. As the leader of all fallen angels and as the ruler of planet earth, Satan has been able to compile a cosmic system which is a mass of thoughts, opinions, speculations, systems of false doctrines, panaceas, plans, systems of all categories for deceit, policies, and objectives by which Satan seeks to control the world which he rules.

13. Although Satan is the ruler of this world, he does not necessarily control the people of this world; that depends upon individual volition. Satan seeks to control both mankind and the millions of fallen angels still loose, called demons.

14. In cosmic one, Satan has provided a communion table to complement real spiritual death. 1Corinthians 10:21, "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and at the same time the cup of demons." In other words, the believer who is out of fellowship, out of the divine dynasphere, is under demon influence, drinking from the "cup of the demons." "You cannot partake of the table of the Lord [Eucharist] and the table of demons." The table of demons is psychological living in Satan's cosmic system.

15. In cosmic two, Satan's false doctrine results in the human viewpoint of life, which resents Bible doctrine and any truth. 1Timothy 4:1-2, "But the Spirit [God the Holy Spirit] explicitly communicates that in latter periods of time [Incarnation, Church Age, Tribulation], some believers will fall away from doctrine, giving attention to deceitful spirits, even doctrines from demons [demon influence in cosmic system]. By means of hypocrisy of liars, they are seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron."

a. This passage teaches thought telepathy from demons. "Doctrine" here means a system of teaching which is transferred to anyone who resides in the cosmic system.

b. Believers believe liars because of their facade of sweet and pleasing words, and the warmth of their personality. In psychological living, you are so preoccupied with yourself that you assume that any speaker who pleases you, stimulates you, and warms you must be telling you the truth.

c. A burned-out or seared conscience is a result of demon influence. Demon influence destroys the norms and standards of truth. When a believer or unbeliever remains in the cosmic system long enough, all his norms and standards related to truth are gone, seared, and burnt.

16. Ephesians 2:2 says, "in which sphere [real spiritual death] you formerly walked according to the lifestyle of the cosmic system [world]." In the sphere of real spiritual death from birth, all unbelievers reside in Satan's cosmic system and are influenced by it to some degree, depending upon their adherence to the laws of divine establishment. The degree of influence from Satan's cosmic system can only be negated for the unbeliever by knowing and adhering to the laws of divine establishment. But this only frees the unbeliever from some of Satan's policies; it does not give him salvation.

17. Living in Satan's cosmic system as an unbeliever includes three categories of modus vivendi.

18. Living in Satan's cosmic system as a believer includes two potential categories of modus vivendi.

19. The believer cannot be demon possessed because his body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who indwells him. No demon can be in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

1. In demon possession, the body of the unbeliever is indwelt by a demon or a group of demons, resulting in normal or abnormal living.

2. The laws of divine establishment protect the unbeliever from demon possession. That's why demon possession is prevalent in countries where there is no establishment, such as in Africa, India, South America, and among the Indian tribes of North America.

1. Ephesians 4:27; James 4:6-8. (In every passage where Prov 3:34 is quoted from the LXX, there is always a reference to demon influence.)

a. Either by rejecting the temptation signals from the old sin nature coming into the soul, or;

b. Once in the cosmic system, to name one's sins via rebound, and escape the cosmic system. Otherwise, the believer will become demonized and become "an enemy of the cross," Philippians 3:18.

3. James 4:8 gives the command to have doctrine in the right lobe as the offensive action against demon influence. "Purify your right lobe." Being "double-minded" means to have some true doctrine while in the divine dynasphere plus having some doctrine of demons also stored in the right lobe; therefore, there is conflict. Purifying the right lobe is only possible through consistent, daily perception of Bible doctrine.

1. The degrees of demon influence correspond to the degrees of reversionism. The longer one resides in the cosmic system without rebound, the greater the degree of demon influence. Past a certain point, you cannot distinguish between the believer and unbeliever in the cosmic system. The cosmic system does not distinguish between its students, and is equally effective with both categories, believer and unbeliever.

2. Therefore, demon influence is a process of demonization in which every facet of the soul is eventually controlled by demon doctrine, so that there is a complete personality change to some form of sociopathic or psychopathic personality.

a. Achievement belongs to God; happiness belongs to the believer. But demon influence reverses this principle and says "achievement belongs to me; therefore, I will be unhappy as long as I live."

b. "Being self-disciplined" (verse 8) means being organized. Your organization starts in your thinking first; that requires categorical teaching of doctrine. Self-discipline is important to remain in the divine dynasphere. There is a parallel between our Lord delegating authority in the human race, and Satan "prowling around" and delegating authority to disembodied spirit demons.

b. Achievement arrogance is the blasphemy of taking achievement away from God and placing it in your own hands. Therefore, achievement arrogance destroys human happiness and replaces it with boasting and gloating ambition.

3. Arrogance motivates to strive for success and to compete from inordinate ambition. In the process, Bible doctrine is neglected, virtue is ignored, happiness is rejected, and demon influence becomes the order of the day.

4. Since achievement belongs to God, God provides achievement with happiness, but only inside the divine dynasphere.

5. Arrogance is the direct route to demon influence; it is the demoralization as well as the demonization of the soul.

1. Demon influence can only be avoided through life in the divine dynasphere for the believer. Resistance is a matter of learning doctrine.

3. What really counts is retention, which is gnosis doctrine converted into epignosis doctrine. Then at recall, you can apply a percentage of what you retained. But to resist demonization, you must have the first three steps.

4. Ignorance cannot make application to experience; it can only emote in the face of testing or disaster. So standing firm in doctrine is the issue in resisting the devil, 1Peter 5:9.

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1. All demons are fallen angels under the command of Satan, in contrast to elect angels under the command of God.

3. Demons are called ministers of Satan, Luke 4:32-36, 9:1, 4:2; John 10:21. 4. Demons are well-organized under Satan, Ephesians 6:10-12. There is rank and authority in Satan's organization. Every angel is smarter than all human beings.

a. SAIR means hairy, shaggy, rough one; used for a he-goat, or a demon; a satyr. Leviticus 17:7; 2Chronicles 11:15; Isaiah 13:21, 34:14.

b. SHED means idols or demons; idols represent demons. It also means "destroyers," a reference to human child sacrifice. Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:37.

a. DAIMON means demon, Matthew 8:31; Mark 5:12; Luke 8:29; Revelation 16:14. This word almost always refers to a disembodied spirit.

b. DAIMONION means refers to a specific category of demons determined by the context, Matthew 7:22, 9:33-4, 12:24-8; Mark 1:34,39, 7:26-30; Luke 4:33-35,41, 8:27-35, 11:14-20; John 8:48-52; 1Corinthians 10:20-21.

d. DAIMONIZOMAI means to be demon possessed or to be tormented by a demon, Matthew 8:16,28,33; Mark 5; Matthew 15:22; or to be influenced by a demon.

1. Demon possession is defined as demon invasion of the body of the unbeliever only. Generally, this occurs through the phallic cult or some form of way-out religion.

2. In contrast, demon influence is the demon invasion of the soul with Satanic thought. Satanic thought isn't expressed in terms of evil, but in terms of improving this world, doing nice things for your fellow man, and supporting crusades. It is false thinking comprising the policy and principles by which Satan operates.

3. All demonic activity is related to man's free will; human consent must be involved. Demon possession never occurs apart from human consent whereby some form of bad decision is made, so that the demon can invade the body of the unbeliever only.

4. The believer is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit who makes a temple out of the body of the believer, 1Corinthians 6:19-20. A demon cannot dwell in that temple. 5. The attack on the unbeliever is to line him up with Satan's policy. The attack on the believer is to discredit him and to utilize him in some way against the Lord. 6. Decisions that result in demon possession include:

c. Religious reversionistic sensitivity, dabbling in the occult, consulting mediums, the function of necromancy, Isaiah 8:19.

d. Phallic cult activity, Isaiah 2:6, Luke 8:2; Mark 16:9. This includes demonic orgastic response, auto-eroticism, lesbianism, homosexuality, verbal response demons, promiscuity demons, group orgies, human sacrifice, idolatry, and unrestrained sexual lust. (In themselves, these things do not imply demon possession.)

5. However, idolatry is the basic system for demon possession, as taught in Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 96:5, 106:37-39.

6. Demon influence, by way of contrast, is the infiltration of Satanic thought into the soul of a believer or unbeliever, 1Timothy 4:1; Ephesians 4:17, or the substitution of emotion for thought. The believer enters demon influence through the various stages of reversionism.

7. Satan uses certain demons to produce disease in human beings, Matt 12:22; Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38. Demon influence attacks the body through demon-induced illness. When the mentality of the soul is in certain conditions, it brings on certain kinds of diseases.

a. The body is brought under the control of the soul and the soul is given to Satan. Emotion takes over the soul.

b. The Satanic mass becomes the ceremony for turning the soul and volition over to Satan.

d. Such a person can send his soul into space to determine what others are doing, e.g., mental telepathy, ESP.

f. Under this system, the mind of one person can often influence and take control of another.

g. Telepathy, thought transmission, and mind reading are definitely related to this phase of demon possession.

h. Anything which orients you to authority makes it impossible for this system to work.

i. The mind of one person can both influence or hypnotize to such a degree so as to impart knowledge not previously known.

2. There is the passive submission to demons. This is accomplished through idolatry, drugs like LSD, the Hindu soma mysteries, whirling dances, tongues, the phallic cult, the oracle of Delphi. In this system, emotion must be stimulated to the exclusion of thought.

1. Sacrifice to demons is prohibited by the Bible. Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17.

2. Heathen nations and their worship was strictly demon possessed and influenced, Psalm 96:5. The idols of these nations were demons.

3. Demon worship and idolatry included the most horrible sexual practices, such as rape, homosexuality, bestiality, and the sacrifice of children, Psalm 106:37-39.

F. Demon possession was the basis for the administration of capital punishment. Leviticus 20:27. Authority is necessary to restrain demonism.

1. An example of His control was the first-born judgment on Egypt. Exodus 12:12. At the same time, demons were also judged, Numbers 33:4. Without the judgment of demons in Egypt, Israel would not have become a nation.

1. The nations of Canaan were destroyed because of their demon activity. Deuteronomy 18:9-12. The same is true of Athens, Persia, Assyria, and the Mycenaeans. Military disaster can occur because of demon influenced leadership.

2. The practice of necromancy was the cause of personal judgment to Saul. 1Chronicles 10:13-14; 2 Kgs 21:2-3. The Jews reached the lowest form of apostasy because of demon activity.

3. Demonism brings the fifth cycle of discipline to a nation, Isaiah 47; Jeremiah 27:6-10; Isaiah 29:4.

4. Satan and demons are used by God in the administration of the sin unto death to reversionistic believers, 1Corinthians 5:5 cf. 1Timothy 1:19-20, and for divine discipline, Luke 22:31-32 (Peter).

5. Satan is used as a warning of discipline, 1Timothy 3:6-7. Arrogance is a part of the condemnation of Satan.

I. Because of Satan's power, he is the source of disease, death, and miracle cures, Psalm 109:6-13. As a result of demon possession, certain abnormal activities occur. Satan uses demons to do many of the following.

9. He is a killer. Hebrews 2:14-15; 1John 3:8; Job 1:12, 18-19; John 8:44; 1John 3:12.

10. He executes believers under the sin unto death, 1Corinthians 5:5; 1Timothy 1:19-20.

11. He is the source of certain diseases, Job 2:6-8; Matthew 12:22 cf Luke 13:16, Acts 10:38. These are demon induced illnesses.

b. A few cases of dumbness are related to demon possession, Mark 9:17; Luke 11:14.

12. Therefore, Satan uses healers. Satan orders the removal of a demon induced illness and the person appears to be cured.

j. Trying to destroy oneself, Matthew 17:15 (exposing yourself to known danger).

14. Healing was a temporary gift, Acts 19:11-12. Paul could heal at random, but this gift was removed once his authority was established, Philippians 2:27; 2Timothy 4:20. God occasionally performs acts of healing. Satan "heals" in certain strategic times, like during the Tribulation, 2Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 16:14; Matthew 24:24.

1. Tongues was a sign to warn the Jews of the coming of the fifth cycle of discipline. They were warned by being evangelized in foreign languages for forty years.

3. The first historical reference in Acts 2:1-11 states that the purpose is to turn cursing into blessing.

4. After the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., the gift was removed, 1Corinthians 13:8-10.

5. Tongues continues to be perpetuated by Satan for his use in the Tribulation, 2Thessalonians 2:7-12.

6. The mechanics of tongues is related to the engastramuthos demons, Isaiah 8:19, 29:4; Revelation 16:13-14.

7. Tongues is a Satanic cheap substitute for doctrine, 2Corinthians 6:11-12; Romans 16:17-18.

8. Tongues becomes a authorized spiritual function again only in the Millennium, Joel 2:28-29.

K. Demon possession explains supernatural phenomena. Supernatural phenomena include such things as "divine healing," speaking in tongues, the rise of certain world rulers, certain wars, anti-Semitism, contacting the dead, etc. Demons attack both through weirdo activity and antithetically through culture and intellect.

2. Some bad decision is made which results in demon invasion of the body of the unbeliever.

3. These decisions are related to cosmic involvement, idolatry, the occult, drugs, etc.

4. The phallic cult uses human sacrifice, idolatry, and unrestrained sexual lust.

5. Idolatry is a basic system for demon possession, Luke 17:7; Dt 32:17; Psalm 96:5, 106:37-39.

6. Passive submission to demons is accomplished through drug addiction, idolatry, the phallic cult, deliberate development of emotional revolt of the soul, the Satanic mass, and any prolonged involvement in the cosmic system.

7. Active submission to demon possession can be both violent and painful, Luke 13:11-16. This woman was positive, trying to get to Jesus and apparently couldn't speak because of the demon.

a. Whenever Jesus cast out a demon there was always some arrogant, self-righteous, person standing around to challenge exorcism by Jesus, Matthew 12:22-28.

b. In Mark 3:15, Jesus delegated the authority of exorcism to his disciples. In Acts 5:16, 8:7, 19:12, He delegated that authority to the apostles of the church.

8. Because demon possession involves human sacrifice, it was the basis for capital punishment under the laws of divine establishment. Leviticus 20:27.

9. In the control of historical trends, our Lord often judges demon activity. Exodus 12:12.

11. Demon activity results in the administration of the fifth cycle of discipline, Dt 18:9-12.

13. Demonization of a nation results in the destruction of that nation, Isaiah 47; Jeremiah 27:6-10.

14. Ministers who faithfully teach the Word are targets for demon influence, 1Timothy 3:6-7.

15. Satan uses certain demons to produce disease, Matthew 12:22; Luke 13:16; Acts 10:23.

16. Some diseases are demon induced. Healing is often Satan removing one of his demons to produce a cure.

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a. The devil is the highest of all angelic creatures - Matthew 8:28; 9:34; 12:26; Luke 11:8,19.

b. The devil is the prehistoric super creature - Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19.

c. The devil has three falls - Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28; Revelation 12 and Revelation 20. His first fall was his revolt; he led the angelic revolt. His second fall is when he loses rulership of the world, and his third fall is when he is cast into the lake of fire forever.

d. The devil also has two advent. In his first advent he came into the garden, found man in perfect environment and led him astray. The second advent of the devil: again he comes in perfect environment at the end of the Millennial reign of Christ and he leads another revolution. These two advents are related to two revolts against God.

e. The devil is the central antagonist of the angelic conflict. He is the enemy; all demons are enemies; all unbelievers are the enemies of God; all reversionists are the enemies of God; but the devil is the enemy - Hebrews chapters 1 & 2; Genesis 6; 1Peter 3:18-22.

i. The devil is the enemy of the Church, the royal family of God - Revelation 2:9,13,24.

2. The principle that the devil is the ruler of this world - Luke 4:5-7; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2. He took over the rulership at the fall of man and will continue to rule until the second advent.

3. Therefore the devil has a strategy regarding the nations of the world - Revelation 12:9; 20:3,8. The strategy generally makes him the opponent of doctrine and the opponent of establishment. He either tries to duplicate in a pseudo way what God has accomplished or he is directly opposed to what God has given.

4. Therefore the devil has a strategy regarding unbelievers in the world. This is stated in many passages - 2Corinthians 4:4, to blind the unbeliever to the true principles of the gospel. This is illustrated in 2Peter 2. His strategy regarding the unbeliever is found also in Luke 8:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:7-10; Colossians 2:8; the entire 17th chapter of Revelation. Religion is the devil's ace trump. It isn't his only system, every system of evil is a part of Satan's strategy in blinding the unbeliever but the ace trump of all and the worst thing that ever happened to this world is religion.

5. Therefore the devil has strategy regarding the believer as well. We are a challenge to Satan in this Church Age. We are the royal family of God, we are the ambassadors of Jesus Christ. Therefore he has a sevenfold strategy:

a. To accuse us - 2Corinthians 2:11; Job 1:6-11; Zechariah 3:1,2; Revelation 12:9,10; 1John 2:1,2.

b. He is the sponsorer of reversionism - 1Corinthians 10:19-21; 2Corinthians 11:3,13-15.

c. To frustrate the will of God under 3 categories. He frustrates the mental will of God by means of the influence of evil in one's life - Ephesians 4:14; he frustrates the geographical will of God - 1 Thessalonians 2:18; he frustrates the operational will of God - James 4:7,8.

d. To neutralise doctrinal application, especially in the field of worry and anxiety - 1Peter 5:7-9.

e. To destroy the believer's focus as a believer, to destroy the believer's perspective - Jeremiah 17:5, getting eyes on people; 1 Kings 19:10,14, getting eyes on self; Hebrews 13:5,6, getting eyes on things.

f. To get the believer to become involved in some form of evil, especially the improvement of the devil's world. The believer under the influence of evil becomes humanistic, occupied with temporal solutions to life, altruistic, advocating systems to improve man's environment, he becomes socialistic, becomes involved in social action, and becomes a bleeding heart.

g. The inculcation of fear regarding physical death - Hebrews 2:14,15. This only works with the reversionist and/or the believer under the influence of evil.

6. Religion is a part of the devil's strategy. Basically religion has been created by the devil to counterfeit the plan of God. Christianity is not a religion; Christianity is a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. It is always a grace relationship, a relationship by which the believer enters the royal family of God forever through the baptism of the Spirit. Religion, by way of contrast, is man seeking to gain the approbation of God through his own plans, his works, his merits, his systems, his deeds. While religion as a principle represents the evil genius of Satan it is viewed here from the standpoint of its many counterfeits. Religion has a counterfeit gospel - 2Corinthians 4:3,4; it has a counterfeit system of ministers [clergy] - 2Corinthians 11:13-15; it has counterfeit doctrines - 2Timothy 4:1; it has a counterfeit communion table - 2Corinthians 10:19-21; it has a system of counterfeit spirituality - Galatians 3:2,3; it has a counterfeit righteousness - Matthew 19:16-28; it has a counterfeit modus vivendi - Matthew 23:13-26; it has a counterfeit power, dynamics [tongues] - 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10; it has counterfeit gods - 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4.

7. False teachers are a part of the devil's strategy. Most of the clergy today are false teachers.

a. False teachers always have a phoney and hypocritical facade. You will never meet a false teacher but what he will give you the impression that you are the most important person in the world. He'll make you feel wanted, he will stimulate your ego to the point where you will be arrogant until you will think he is the nicest man! But he does that to all of the people and you are just one of the many victims of his con-artistry. Matthew 7:15; Romans 16:18.

b. False teachers use human public relations systems and legalistic flirtations to court believers - "I never do it that way, I think that's wrong." In this way they always court the legalistic. "You know Reverend, you're right," and they form a mutual admiration society; and they're both full of hot air.

d. False teachers promote idolatry as a part of the devil's communion table - Habakkuk 2:18,19.

f. False teachers continue throughout the intensive period of the angelic conflict, which is the Church Age - 1John 4:1.

1. The devil is an angelic personality. He is also a genius, smarter than any human being or creature who ever lived. He is also very attractive and has a beautiful voice. Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19 gives us a total picture of Satan as a personality, a person of the highest possible mentality. Here and there other passages tell us other things about Satan. He is the biggest liar that God ever stuck a soul in. He is the father of lies - John 8:44. He is also a murderer - 1John 3:8. He is the highest ruler of the authority of the atmosphere.

2. The devil is the ruler of this world - Luke 4:5-7; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2.

3. As the ruler of this world Satan has strategy regarding the nations. Satan is anti-nationalism; he despises nationalism. Nationalism frustrates the function of his rulership. Nationalism is a part of the laws of divine establishment to preserve human freedom in the devil's kingdom - Revelation 12:9; 20:3,8. In order to rule the world Satan has to have strategy, he has to function on principles. For example, the two greatest enemies of Satan in ruling the world are Bible doctrine and the laws of divine establishment. So Satan counterattacks with religion. Religion is designed to neutralise doctrine. He counterattacks with revolution. Revolution is a Satanic device to neutralise the laws of divine establishment. That is why all revolutionists in their doctrine are internationalists and anti-nationalism. Nationalism frustrates Satan's function on the earth. Nationalism is a part of the laws of divine establishment and basically it includes: a) the military establishment to protect the freedom of the nation involved. This immediately knocks out the possibility of any Christian being a conscientious objector; b) law plus a police system. This is one of the most important foundations for the preservation of privacy, rights and freedoms; c) free enterprise, with no government interference. Religion is man by man's efforts seeking to gain the approbation of God. It is working, man's plans, man's devices, superimposed upon God. The devil is the author of religion, the author of revolution, the author of internationalism, it is all a part of his strategy as the ruler of the world.

4. Since everyone is born into the world as an unbeliever and spiritually dead we are born citizens of Satan's kingdom. Spiritual death is the citizenship papers in cosmos diabolicus. Therefore the devil has to have strategy with regard to people. He has to do everything possible to keep people unbelievers. It is the devil's objective that no one believe in Jesus Christ. Luke 8:12; 2Corinthians 4:3,4; 2 Thessalonians 2:9,10; Colossians 2:8.

5. Therefore when a person believes in Christ the devil doesn't give up on them. They are members of the family of God and in God's plan and totally separated from Satan's plan. So the devil has to have strategy regarding believers - 2Corinthians 2:1. There are seven strategies:

a. The devil's strategy is to accuse believers. The devil is always embarrassed about sin. What he tries to do in his kingdom is what God produced in innocence. So one of his objectives is to ignore sin with all unbelievers and to make a great stir about the sins of believers. Satan makes an accusation about the sins of believers to God the Father. God the Son is seated at the right hand of the Father and at that point Jesus Christ takes on a new role which is very closely related to His celebrityship. He acts as the believer's defense attorney immediately and presents the case that every sin that the devil mentions has already been judged. Law of double jeopardy: you can't be judged twice for the same offense. So Jesus Christ mentions that. God the Father as the judge throws the case out of court. Revelation 12:9,10; Job 1:6-11; Zechariah 3:1,2; 1John 2:1,2.

b. It is Satan's objective to sponsor reversionism. The devil has been working for a long time to get one whole generation of believers in reversionism. 1Corinthians 10:19-21. The devil has a communion table and it is designed to sponsor reversionism. This communion table is for reversionists. 2Corinthians 11:3,13-15. Illustration: 1Chronicles 21.

c. It is the strategy of the devil with regard to believers to frustrate the will of God in the believer's life. The will of God is categorised and classified in three ways: mental, operational, and geographical. Mental will of God: What does He want me to think? Operational will of God: What does he want me to do? Geographical will of God: Where does He want me to be? It is the Satanic objective to frustrate all three categories. The mental - Ephesians 4:14, he tries to frustrate divine viewpoint. Operational - James 4:7,8. Geographical - 1 Thessalonians 2:18.

d. It is the strategy of the devil to neutralise the believer's soul through worry and anxiety - 1Peter 5:7-9.

e. It is Satan's objective to obscure the focus of the believer - occupation with Christ or the supergrace life. He does this in three ways: getting eyes on self - 1 Kings 19:10; getting eyes on people - Jeremiah 17:5; getting eyes on things - Hebrew 13:5,6.

f. It is the Satanic objective to involve the believer in humanistic, temporal solutions to man's problems so that divine solutions are obscured and excluded, e.g. the so-called social gospel (social action).

6. Religion as a Satanic system. The basic principle of religion is to counterfeit what God has done. There are nine different counterfeits in religion:

a. False teachers always have a phony facade - Matthew 7:15; Romans 16:18. This facade is a kind of Maddison Avenue presentation to impress people.

d. False teachers like to promote idolatry because it is a quick way to demon possession - Habakkuk 2:18,19.

f. False teachers will continue throughout the cosmic era of Satan's rulership - 1John 4:1.

Next to the lie itself, the greatest delusion Satan imposes - reaching to all unsaved and to a large proportion of Christians - is the supposition that only such things as society considers evil could originate with the devil - if, indeed, there be any devil to originate anything. It is not the reason of man, but the revelation of God, which points out that governments, morals, education, art, commercialism, vast enterprises and organizations, and much of religious activity are included in the cosmos diabolicus. That is, the system which Satan has constructed includes all the good which he can incorporate into it and be consistent in the thing he aims to accomplish. A serious question arises whether the presence of gross evil in the world is due to Satan's intention to have it so, or whether it indicates Satan's inability to execute all he has designed. The probability is great that Satan's ambition has led him to undertake more than any creature could ever administer. Revelation declares that the whole cosmos-system must be annihilated - not its evil alone, but all that is in it, both good and bad. God will incorporate nothing of Satan's failure into that kingdom which He will set up in the earth.

1. This is also diakonos (διάκονος) [pronounced dee-AK-on-oss] from which we get the word "deacon" but it has many meanings. The political meaning of the word: The word minister is translated "minister" and that is all right if it is understood the command is "carry out to the maximum your ministry."

2. The political use for this word is found in divine institution #4 where diakonos (διάκονος) [pronounced dee-AK-on-oss] is used for the head of a state, one who has the authority to administer capital punishment - Romans 13:3,4. In other words, diakonos (διάκονος) [pronounced dee-AK-on-oss] was used in the Bible to indicate a political ruler, one who had the authority to administer in the political realm of the national entity.

3. The second use of the word is the universal ministry of the believer. There is a sense in which every believer is a minister and has a responsibility before the Lord. This is for the royal family of God in the sense that all believers are in full time Christian service. It empahsises the royal priest as the ambassador for Christ. In 2Corinthians 3:6 - ". who has appointed us ministers..." Also 2Corinthians 4:1; 6:1,3.

4. The third use of diakonos (διάκονος) [pronounced dee-AK-on-oss] is connected with the administration of the local church. The pastor has all of the authority but he delegates authority to certain men in the church in order to carry on administration. This is where we get the word "deacon." Philippians 1:1. So a deacon is a man who has received delegated authority from the pastor in order to carry on the administrative activities of the local church.

5. The fourth use is the pastoral use. The pastor is also called diakonos (διάκονος) [pronounced dee-AK-on-oss] or a minister many times, and this has to do with the original source of all authority in the local church. It is delegated to the pastor who in turn delegates it to certain members in the congregation. All members of the congregation are ministers in the sense of coming under the teaching of the Word. 1Corinthians 3:5; Ephesians 3:7; Colossians 1:7,23; 1 Thessalonians 3:2; 1Timothy 1:12. This is a technical use of minister for a pastor-teacher.

7. A fifth use of diakonos (διάκονος) [pronounced dee-AK-on-oss] is the evil usage - 2Corinthians 11:13-15.

1. Paul taught dispensations. Ephesians 3:2, “if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to youward.”

2. Dispensations are periods of human history (categories) expressed in terms of divine revelation (Divine viewpoint).

3. God administers the human race (Dispensations). The human race is an estate which God administers in a certain way.

4. God’s administration means a delegation of authority in each dispensation. God appoints the administrator (always believers). Romans 3:2; Acts 15:14.

5. Administrators may fail or succeed; regardless of which, God’s plan moves on. Esther 1:2; 2:8. In Esther 2:8, “And it came to pass” indicates God’s plan is always carried out.

8. Every dispensation involves revelation which was not given in the previous dispensation, as well as recognition of that which was.

9. Promises found in any dispensation that are grace promises, are always applicable to any believer in any dispensation - Isaiah 41:10.

10. The ultimate is dispensations is the application of doctrine to experience, so that at all times your life is personally oriented to life. If you understand the chronology of times you don’t confuse “Law” with “Grace,” you aren’t trying to make the “Church Age” world a “Millennial” world, and so on.

c. Four divine institutions developed and then attacked by Satan: i) Attack on positive volition - Genesis 3; ii) Attack on marriage and the family - Genesis 6; iii) Attack on nationalism - Genesis 11:1-9.

g. No basic missionary agency. Evangelism, but no missionary agency. Family the basis of evangelism.

a. Outline: Genesis 12 to Malachi, minus Millennial passages such as Isaiah 11, 35, 64, 65. Also Matthew, Mark, Luke, John except John 13-17. Also Revelation 6-19. It is divided into three parts:

ii. Specific missionary agency (Regenerate of Israel). Israel was to give the gospel to people speaking different languages. Abraham was the founder of this missionary base. Abraham was a Gentile who became a Jew through regeneration. The missionary base must be characterised by security.

iii. Since you have a missionary base, there must be discipline for failure (5 cycles of Discipline - Leviticus 26:27-46).

vi. Spirituality: Faith-rest, rebound (1John 1:9 is the principle), and occupation with Christ.

a. Outline: John 13-17, Acts, New Testament epistles (except for certain portions which deal with the Tribulation), Revelation 1-3.

i. Pre-Canon period: Up to the completion of the Canon in 96 AD with the writing of the book of Revelation.

i. Positional Truth: Union with Christ. Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

iii. Universal indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Only a few Old Testament believers were indwelt, and that for special purposes.

iv. Universal priesthood of the believer. (Never has God given so much power and meaning to a believer. Every believer is an ambassador and therefore in full-time Christian service.)

vi. A supernatural way of life (there is nothing that we can do “in the flesh” which pleases God.)

vii. Filling of the Holy Spirit is the means of executing this supernatural way of life (coupled with rebound, 1John 1:9).

ii. Baptism of fire: Armageddon. Christ will separate believers from unbelievers.

ii. Greatest period of spirituality ever known on the earth - Joel 2:28,29; Isaiah 65:24.

iii. Israel restored as a nation under God. They were disbursed until the 2nd advent. Zechariah 8:20-23; Isaiah 35:3-10; 65:19.

iv. Universalism will be on a bona fide scale for the first time. When Christ reigns internationalism will be legitimate as Christ is the sole ruler (world peace results).

xiii. Unbelievers are removed from the earth at the beginning of the Millennium (Battle of Armageddon). However, through the Millennium there will be those born who are unbelievers and there will be many by the end of the Millennium (Revelation 20:7-9).

xiv. Life will be extended on the earth, capital punishment will be seldom used, there will be a perfect justice by a perfect judge. There will be immediate punishment for sin.

Time as we know it is but a segment of eternity, taken out of eternity and set aside for man’s use. God has divided time into segments and His Word calls them Dispensations. An understanding of these divisions of time is the key which unlocks Biblical truth. Without this reference system it is impossible for any Christian to understand how various portions of the Bible apply to life.

Biblically, A DISPENSATION IS A PERIOD OF TIME EXPRESSING THE DIVINE VIEWPOINT OF HUMAN HISTORY. We might say that Dispensations are the divine timetable by which all human events are correlated. During each Dispensation God entrusts the Gospel dissemination to specific people. Failure to fulfil their responsibilities causes God to end one Dispensation and usher in a new one.

Our subject is something the majority of believers do not understand, and it should be the other way around. The believer’s understanding of the Bible depends upon his orientation to Dispensations. The first chapter of the book of Acts introduces the subject of Dispensations through the use of two specific words.

“When they [the disciples of Jesus] therefore were come together, they asked of him saying, Lord, wilt thou AT THIS TIME restore again the kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6).

“And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the TIMES AND SEASONS, which the Father hath put in his own power (Acts 1:7)”

The Greek word for “times” is CHRONOS, and for “seasons,” KAIROS. Both words refer to time, but with this difference: the word CHRONOS indicates a succession of events, one following the other. This is the word from which we get our English word “chronology” .KAIROS, on the other hand, refers to events organised by their components into dispensations. It is time which is broken into segments - time divided into specific periods, epochs or eras.

From the standpoint of spiritual phenomena, the disciples were some of the most ignorant people who ever lived. Although they were with the Lord Jesus for three years, they failed to take in a thimbleful of doctrine. A dispensational change and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit would occur before they would truly catch on. With the possible exception of John, the other disciples “flunked” the course; whereas, there were several women who passed with high distinction. This was the reason Jesus made no reply when asked if He would restore the kingdom of Israel at that time - not because He didn’t know, but because the disciples did not have enough information to understand the answer.

Isn’t it humorous that the “Johnny-come-lately", Paul (not even converted at the time of the question), would provide this information, not only for the disciples, but to the entire Church down through the years. Paul answered this question as he taught the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 5). Jesus had said that the disciples could not understand the times and the seasons; yet Paul said that the Thessalonians already understood:

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren [Thessalonian believers], ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly [with accuracy] that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:1,2).

“Of the times and the seasons” are the same Greek two words, CHRONOS and KAIROS; but they KNOW because the apostle Paul had taught them! Between our Lord’s last words to the disciples in Acts 1:7 (before His ascension) and Paul’s statement in 1 Thess. 5:1, several things had happened. First of all, a false apostle (Matthias) was elected to take the place of Judas (Acts 1:21-26) - false in the sense that he was not God’s choice. Second, Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul, was appointed the twelfth apostle by Jesus Christ. Third, Paul went to Thessalonica and taught. Even though the disciples originally had little ability to understand the dispensational aspect of the restoration of the kingdom to Israel, Paul had amassed such a fantastic amount of doctrine that he was able to answer the question as he began his teaching ministry.

Peter had been one of those who asked Jesus about the “times and seasons” in Acts 1:7. Peter later learned from Paul, as did everyone else, and in 2Peter 3 he wrote a very interesting commentary:

“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent [mentally alert] that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless (2Peter . 3:14). “And account [think not] that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation [physical deliverance]; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom [doctrine in thesoul and its application to experience] given unto him hath written unto you (2Peter . 3:15);

“As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood [even for Peter 25 years later], which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest [twist], as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction (2Peter . 3:16).”

What does this say? Peter, along with the others, asked the Lord a question in Acts 1:7. The Lord knew it was futile to answer then because the disciples did not have sufficient doctrine to comprehend the answer. Years later the dying words of a spiritually mature Peter were: “Get with the Pauline epistles. There are some hard things there, but that is the answer!”

What are the “times and the seasons” ?Since they pertain to the subject of Dispensations, I want you to be sure you understand the sequence. In Acts 1:7, the disciples could not understand the “times and seasons” .In 1 Thessalonians 5:1, the twelfth apostle, Paul, hints of having already taught the “times and seasons” and answered the question on which our Lord remained silent. In 2Peter 3:14-17, Peter recommends the epistles of Paul as being the answer to the deeper doctrinal questions.

“Times” or CHRONOS, as it relates to the history of Israel, is as follows: from Abraham to Moses - the period of the Patriarchs; from Moses to the ascension of Jesus Christ - the period of the Law. During this time, the Jews received both the warning and fulfilment of divine discipline - the dispersion in 586 BC. God used the fifth cycle of discipline again during the Church Age in A.D. 70, and the Jews will remain scattered throughout the time known as the Tribulation. In this period, also known as “Daniel’s Seventieth Week,” we have the completion of the Age of Israel. This is followed by the second advent of Jesus Christ and the Millennium, where we have the fulfilment of the

To summarise, the chronological series of events under the concept of CHRONOS are: Patriarchs; the Mosaic Law and the life of Moses; the period of the prophets; the setting aside of Israel as a missionary agency; Israel resumed in the Tribulation; the second advent and Millennium. “Times” looks at the history of the human race from the standpoint of Israel, while “seasons” takes these events and divides them into segments or four general categories of Dispensations: the Age of the Gentiles; the Age of the Jews; the Age of the Church; the Age of Christ.

The Greek word OIKONOMIA has been translated two ways: “dispensation” (1Corinthians 9:17; Ephesians 1:10) and “stewardship” (Luke 16:2-4). This Greek word actually refers to the administration of an estate or household - in other words, delegated authority or responsibility. Estates and farms in the ancient world were run by administrators. Under and agricultural economy, a steward or administrator was one who was in charge of property management.

In every era of the human race, God puts someone in charge of making the Truth of the Word of God clear - stewards or human administrators to fulfil His purposes. We acquire the names of the four Dispensations, Gentiles, Jews, Church and Christ - from their administrators - or in one case, the Administrator.

In the Age of the Gentiles, there was only one race in the world; hence, all believers were administrators and responsible for disseminating the Truth. For example, Adam and Eve communicated spiritual information to their many children. In the Age of the Jews, Israel was the OIKONOMOS. This meant that believers in the nation of Israel were custodians of the Truth and responsible for the dissemination of the Gospel. In the Church Age, the Church made up of all believers in the Body of Christ, is the OIKONOMOS. In the Millennium, Christ Himself will be the

The fourth Greek word used for dispensation, AION, has been transliterated “aeon” or “eon” in the English language, but it should be “age.” In our Bible, AION was correctly translated “age” in Colossians 1:26. If this word had been rendered “age” in Matthew 24:3, as it should have been, people would not be confused about the Olivet Discourse. Because of this error in translation, most people try to apply the Olivet Discourse to the Church Age, even though it has absolutely nothing to do with this present Dispensation.

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (Matthew 24:13).” The “end of the world” or “age,” as it should have been translated, refers to the end of the Jewish Age - the Tribulation. Those Jews who endure to the end of the Tribulation will be physically delivered by Jesus Christ at the Second Advent.

The word “age” is used both for an entire dispensation or part of a dispensation. It connotes an indefinite period of time and looks at Dispensations from the standpoint of an era. Whenever it is used in connection with the Church, it refers to the entire dispensation. When the word “age” or AION is used for the Tribulation, only a part of the Age of Israel in under consideration..

The last two words, OIKONOMIA and AION, form the basic ingredient of every dispensation - a time factor and a responsibility clause. The variable ingredient is man and his potential to make a success or a failure of the task set before him!

As we analyse the Dispensations, we will examine the four divisions of God’s timetable.

The first period is the Age of the Gentiles, which is divided into three parts. The passage of Scripture which covers this Age is Genesis, chapters 1-11.

Positive Volition is parallel to the period of “innocence,” as delineated in the Scofield Bible. The first man, Adam, was given specific commands by God and operated on positive signals only. Neither good nor evil was an issue as man was in a state of innocence. Then, in Genesis 2:16,17, God’s instructions contained a new emphasis: instead of “thou shalt,” God now said, “Thou mayest.” With this announcement, God established the first Divine Institution - Volition.

In this period, there was only one way that Adam and his wife could sin - disobedience to the known will of God. They failed this test and came to a personal knowledge of good and evil. Sinfulness destroyed their relationship with God and resulted in expulsion from perfect environment (the Garden of Eden). The Tree of Life could not provide the solution for sin and spiritual death. Only the work of Christ on the cross would solve these problems; so, through the promise of the coming saviour (Gen. 3:15), God gave man another chance.

This is comparable to “Conscience” in the Scofield Bible. In this period it was demonstrated that the knowledge of good and evil could not keep man from wrong-doing; it merely restrained man’s sinful nature and

influenced his volition according to the norms and standards of his conscience. Enmity between man and man is the result of maladjustment between man and God - the result of negative volition toward God, or the “way of Cain” (Jude 11). Jesus Christ has made salvation available to everyone and all man must do is accept this gift through faith in the Giver; yet, with the exception of Noah’s family, mankind exercised negative volition toward God to such an extent that it was necessary for God to destroy the human race by means of the flood (Gen. 6).

This period is equivalent to Scofield’s “human government” concept. Not only had God made provision for man’s physical needs in time, He also took the necessary steps to protect man from wild beasts and from his fellow man (Gen. 9). Man had murdered in the past, and he would do it again. Wanton, needless killing had to be restrained, or only the most ruthless would have survived in the human race. For the first time God gave man authority over mankind. The setting for this authority was nationalism or human government - the concept of a policeman on the

Dr C.I. Scofield was a genius in the field of analysis and the summarisation of the English language; but for translation purposes, he relied on people who apparently had a limited knowledge of the original languages of the Bible. had he been a student of Greek and Hebrew, Dr. Scofield would have understood the etymology of CHRONOS, KAIROS, OIKONOMOS, and AION, and undoubtedly would not have divided the Dispensations into seven parts. Innocence, Conscience and Government actually form one period. This is obvious because there was only one race on the earth, one language and the crystallisation of the four Divine Institutions (Volition, Marriage, Family and Nationalism).

1) One language - Genesis 11:6. Everyone spoke the same language, but it was not Esperanto. Philology has not recovered the one language existing before the Tower of Babel was destroyed.

3) No canon of Scripture: there was no written Word as we have it today. God revealed Himself in dreams, visions, direct contact, Theophanies, ritual and animal sacrifices. The historical record of this period is found in the book of Genesis, but this was written by Moses in the following Dispensation.

5) Means of salvation: faith in Christ. This is true in every Dispensation. “For what saith the Scripture?” Abraham believed in God [the Lord Jesus Christ], and it was counted unto him for righteousness” (Rom. 4:3)

6) Time span: from the creation of Adam to the destruction of the Tower of Babel - about two thousand years.

7) Four Divine Institutions: the Divine Institutions were developed and attacked in this first Age. Volition, Divine Institution Number One, was attacked first in Genesis, chapter three. The attacks on Marriage, Divine Institution Number Two, and Family, Divine Institution Number Three, are covered in Genesis 6:1-4 - the angelic infiltration. Finally, Nationalism was attacked in the erection of the first “United nations building” and the formation of the original “United Nations organisation” - the Tower of babel (Gen. 11:1-9). God declared it an abomination and destroyed it.

Since mankind did not voluntarily abide by the Fourth Divine Institution, God Himself had to enforce it before the human race destroyed itself. That is why today we have a multiplicity of races and languages - to establish and assure nationalism. Nationalism is ordained by God until the Second Advent of Christ. Even when He reigns on the earth during the Millennium, nationalism will still be the order of the day. There are two factors which protect the human race - volition and nationalism.Volition is the basis of personal freedom, while nationalism is the basis of preserving the human race and protecting it from self-destruction. When nationalism and the laws of divine establishment were attacked, God changed the OIKONOMOS. The judgement of the Tower of Babel brought the first Dispensation to an abrupt end and ushered in a new age.

The second Dispensation is the Age of the Jews, or the Age of Israel. The Scripture which covers this is Genesis, chapter twelve, through Malachi, plus the four Gospels (with the exception of John chapters 14-17 - the Upper Room Discourse and the Gethsemane Discourse). Although the four Gospels are frequently taught to the near exclusion of the rest of theBible, they deal with the Age of Israel - not the Church! Jesus Christ ministered, died on the cross, rose again and ascended - all in the Age of Israel, the Age of the Jews!

Just as there were three phases in the Gentile Age, so were there three phases in the Jewish Age.

This Age covers the period from Abraham to Moses. Patriarchs were to be rulers or heads of their families or tribes.

The Age of the Law (Ex. 20 to the book of Acts) from Moses through the ascension of Christ. The Jews, who had received their independence from Egypt on the night of the Passover (Ex. 12), were all “redeemed” - they were believers. God had led them out of slavery, delivered them from the pursuing enemy, provided for them in every possible way. As a free people, they had to have laws of establishment in order to protect and maintain their freedom. God provided this protection in the form of the Mosaic Law, which included the Moral Code or Ten Commandments, the Spiritual Code and the Social Code.

- this is a span of seven years and will complete the Age of Israel. Occurring after the Rapture of the Church (1 Thess. 4:13-17), this resumption of the Age of Israel will continue until the Second Advent of Christ (1 Thess. 3:13). During those seven years, the Lord will once again deal with mankind through His chosen people, and the world will be tested by extreme adversity and judgements (Revelation 6-19).

3) A specific missionary agency: the regenerate of Israel. The word “Hebrew” means “one who crosses the river” .Abraham crossed the Euphrates River to evangelise people who spoke a different language; thereby, he

4) Four unconditional covenants: the security of the regenerate of Israel was located in these four covenants. Therefore, positional truth for the Age of Israel was the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New Covenants to Israel. Each of these covenants had an eternal life clause.

5) Judgement: Israel’s special chastening for failure as a missionary agency was the fifth cycle of discipline (Lev. 26:27-39). The Jews have experienced this extreme punishment several times, and their present scattering is a continuation of the disciplinary dispersion of 70 A.D. During the period of the Judges, the nation of Israel was under severe discipline, but this was the fourth cycle as only part of the people were removed from the land. The Northern Kingdom, which the Bible refers to as both “Israel” and “Ephraim,” was taken over by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. The Southern Kingdom, known as “Judah", went down in defeat to the Chaldean Empire in 586 B.C., during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and were in captivity for seventy years. The second dispersion of the Jews of the Southern Kingdom under the fifth cycle of discipline began at the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and will continue until the second advent of Christ. Never forget that God is not through with the Jews; even though they are under discipline, they are still His chosen people and they have a glorious future.

6) Time Span: from Abraham to the Second Advent. This Age is interrupted by the Church Age and resumed in the Tribulation. The Second Advent of Christ not only terminates the Tribulation but also concludes the Age of the Jews.

7) Salvation: people were not saved by keeping the Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ as he was revealed in the Old Testament (Gen. 15:6; Gal. 2:16).

8) Spirituality: the mechanics for confession of sin were given in Leviticus 5:14-19. Spirituality was characterised by the faith-rest life (Romans 4:17-22; Hebrews 11).

The third part of the timetable we call Dispensations is the Church Age. The Scripture covering this period of time is John, chapter 14-17, the Book of Acts, plus the New Testament epistles, with the exception of certain parts that deal with the Tribulation, Second Advent or Millennium. An example of this would be portions of Revelation, 2

Thessalonians 2 and 1Peter 3. This Age is divided into two parts: pre-Canon and post-Canon.

The pre-Canon period: from the Day of Pentecost (about 33 A.D.) to 96 A.D. The New Testament was in the process of being written, but was not complete. The Book of Acts does not present the doctrines of the Church, but gives the historical development of the pre-Canon period of the Church Age. It declares, historically, how this segment differed from the post-Canon period. For example, pre-Canon activity was characterised by such temporary spiritual gifts as apostleship, healing, tongues, miracles, etc. These gifts no longer exist, and today we have no bona fide apostles, healers, or people speaking in tongues.

The post-Canon period: from 96 A.D., with the death of the apostle John, to the present. The Age of the Church will terminate with the Rapture or resurrection of the Church. The way of life for Church Age believers and the doctrines pertinent to this period are found in the New Testament epistles - Romans through Revelation chapter three. A picture of the Church in heaven is described in Revelation chapters four and five.

There are eight characteristics of the Church Age, and these are the believer’s unique assets:

1) Positional truth - union with Christ: this union never existed before the Church Age. At the moment of salvation, God the Holy Spirit places every believer in union with Jesus Christ by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. This explains why Christianity is a relationship with a Person and not a religion. In no previous Dispensation did the baptism of the Spirit occur; not even then greatest saint in the Old Testament was in union with Christ!

It is not an ecstatic experience; so when you find wild-eyed people running around asking, “Have you had the ‘Baptism’?" always answer NO! they are talking about an ecstatic experience, which they call the “second blessing” .As far as blessings are concerned, there is no such thing as the “second blessing” .God’s blessings are innumerable! Spirit baptism, as its name implies, is entirely the work of God the Holy Spirit, who enters the believer into a relationship with the Son of God and makes him a member of the royal family forever.

2) Universal indwelling of Christ: every believer is indwelt by the Lord Jesus Christ. This was prophesied by the Lord Jesus Himself when he said, “… ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20). The moment we accept Jesus Christ as Saviour, we are entered into union with Him, and Christ “dwells” within us for the purpose of fellowship.

3) Universal Indwelling of the Holy Spirit: this, too, is new and unique. No Old testament saint was ever indwelt by the Holy Spirit. A few Old Testament saints were empowered by the Holy Spirit for the performance of special jobs. This is called “enduement” .But in the Church Age, every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of function. Phase two of the plan of God, the Christian way of life, is a supernatural way of life and demands a sup-ernatural means of execution which can only be accomplished through the filling and power of the Holy Spirit.

4) Universal priesthood of the believer: this priesthood is without equal. In the Old Testament, there was no such thing as a universal priesthood among believers. Israel had a specialised priesthood taken from the tribe of Levi, the family of Aaron. In the Church Age, every believer is a priest; therefore, every believer has the right of representing himself before God. The basis of information and authorisation on which you do so is Bible doctrine communicated by a pastor-teacher. You live your own life as unto the Lord.

5) Completed Canon of Scripture: after the first century, all divine communication was contained in written form; today there is no revelation from God outside the Bible. Dreams, visions, trances and voices are no longer bona fide revelations in this Age. The best one can say for these activities today is that they are hallucinations; at worst they fall intothe category of demon possession. People who hear voices or have dreams and think these come from God are off base — sometimes even non compos mentis! There is not such thing for us as extra-Biblical revelation. God

6) Supernatural way of life: this supersedes the Mosaic Law, which is not the way of life for the believer today (Rom. 8:2-4). Remember that the giving of the Law to Moses, as well as Christ’s restatement of it in Matthew, took place in the Age of the Jews. Neither keeping the Sabbath nor tithing are authorised for the Church Age. Instead, the New Testament epistles give us directions for our modus operandi during the Dispensation of the Church.

7) The filling of the Holy Spirit: the means of executing this supernatural way of life is the filling of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18 commands every believer to be filled with the Spirit; 1John 1:9 specifies the mechanics. Under this concept, every believer is an ambassador for Christ; therefore, every believer is in full-time Christian service, and this does not require a “one-shot” dedication on your part. Your full-time Christians service may be different from someone else’s because he is in a barracks while you are in an office; he is in a shop - you are on a farm; he is in the home - you are on campus. Everyone has his own area of Christian service, and there is actually no such thing as a “layman,” unless it is a Christian who “lays” down on his job!

8) Salvation: as in all four Dispensations, salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).

The fourth and final Dispensation is the Millennium, or the Age of Christ. For one thousand years, Christ will rule on the earth (Revelation 20:4) as the OIKONOMOS or Administrator. This Dispensation is divided into several parts:

a. The Second advent of Christ: when Christ returns to the earth, the Millennial Age begins.

b. The Baptism of Fire: as one of the first activities of Christ when he returns to the earth, He separates surviving believers from unbelievers. All unbelievers are cast off the earth; all believers from the Tribulation go into the Millennium. John the Baptist prophesied concerning this in Matthew 3:11; the details are given in Matthew 24:36-41 and 25:31-46. So the Millennial civilisation starts with believers only. However, in the course of the repopulation of the Millennial earth, because people still possess an old sin nature, many will become negative and eventually reject Christ as saviour.

c. The Second Advent of Satan: this takes place at the end of the one thousand years. “… he [Satan] must be loosed a little season (Rev. 20:3). Satan persuades the unbelievers of the Millennium to rebel against perfect environment and the reign of Jesus Christ and leads the revolt against God. This demonstrates that perfect environment (or even good or better environment) is not the solution to man’s problems. The principle that improving environment solves man’s problems is one of the basic tenets of psychology and psychiatry. Socialism goes so far as to say: “We will improve your environment and you will be happy.” But a relationship with the Person of Jesus Christ is the only answer!

d. Destruction of the Universe: this will occur as recorded in 2Peter 3:7-13, when the earth, as we know it, will not longer exist.

e. The Last Judgement: a final judgement of all unbelievers following the destruction of the earth. Jesus Christ will be the Judge, and the issue will be: do you stand on your own works or the work of Christ? Those who have rejected the judgement of their sins on the cross must accept the justice of God at the Great White Throne (rev. 20:11-15).

1) Perfect environment: for 1000 years there will be perfect conditions on the earth (Isaiah 11:1-9).

2) No religion (that is, the system whereby man by his own efforts and merits tries to gain salvation or the approbation of God). In order to have perfect environment, religion must be removed from the world. Satan is the father of religion (John 8:44); and since he will be imprisoned for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-3), his ace trump - religion - goes with him! There will be no more cults with the “screwball” knocking at your door!

3) Great spirituality: there will be a maximum number of believers filled with the Holy Spirit, and ecstatics will be bona fide during this period (Joel 2:28,29).

4) Israel restored: Israel will be regathered universally as a nation under God. Although Israel is a nation today, it is the result of man’s work, not Gods. Many people are enthusiastic about the Jews going back to the Land, but it has no connection with Bible prophecy. The small group of Jews back in the Land today will be challenged until Christ returns!

The Jews are scattered today; they are under divine discipline; and whether they like it or not, and no matter how hard they try to change the situation, they will remains scattered. God promised that HE would restore them. When Christ returns to the earth, he will regather Israel (Isaiah 35:3-10); Ezekiel 20:34). Only Jesus Christ can break the fifth cycle of discipline.

5) True internationalism: the reign of Jesus Christ on earth will mean a universal rule of the world, but nations will still exist. At that point, there will finally be perfect world government (Psa. 72; Is. 11:1-5; Zech. 14:9).

6) Universal peace: for the first time since the Fall, the world will be free from conflict (Psa. 46:9; Hos. 2:18; Mic. 4:3).

“… and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up swordagainst nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isa. 2:4).

Only then will there be no need for strong national military forces; but this passage does not apply to us today. Jesus said in Matthew 24:6,7:

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”

This means both hot and cold wars! So today, if people really believe the Bible, there is just one thing for a nation to do: prepare for war! Then if it does occur, it will hopefully be of short duration. The military establishment has been ridiculed and undermined to a great extent; yet it has served as a deterrent, and we have had a semblance of peace since Word War II. Actually, the only thing that keeps us alive is the grace of God. We would not be here at all if it were not for

There will be universal peace when Christ returns to the earth; until then there will always be the possibility of war.

7) Universal prosperity: free enterprise will reach an all-time high during the Millennium (Pa. 72:7, 16). How about that? Two chickens in every pot! But since people become bored even in prosperity, they will revolt against God’s perfect provisions at the end of the Millennium.

8) Universal knowledge of God: “… for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Is. 11:9).

9) Radical changes in nature: first of all, mankind will be loosened from the bondage of sin (Rom. 8:19,22). Secondly, since sin had an adverse effect on nature (Gen. 3:17,18), animals will lose their ferocity, as per Isaiah 11:6-8 and 65:25. These are the passages which say that the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid shall lie down side by side. The child shall put his hand in the spitting cobra’s den and not be hurt. (Don’t try it today - this is not the Millennium!) Thirdly, plant life will abound; so for those who like flowers, there is nothing like the Millennium (Isa. 35:1,2,7)!

10) No unbelievers: the Millennial civilisation begins with believers only. All Jewish and Gentile unbelievers are removed through the Baptism of Fire. The unbelieving Jews are judged according to Malachi 3:2-5; 4:1,2 and Ezekiel 20:37,38. The judgement of unbelieving Gentiles is given in Matthew 25:31-46. The word “nations” in verse 32 refers to Gentiles.

11) Extended life span (Isa. 65:20): justice will be available to all, including immediate punishment for crimes (Psa. 72:2-9; Isa. 11:3-5). Apparently the only reason people will die in the Millennium is the administration of capital punishment, which will be personally authorised by the Lord.

12) Salvation: as in every Dispensation, salvation will be by faith in Jesus Christ. The Old Testament sacrifices will be resumed as a memorial to the grace of God.

Time orientation demands that believers orient to the Dispensation in which they live. In Ephesians chapter three Paul explains why we must understand this portion of God’s revelation.

“if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, YE MAY UNDERSTAND my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit (Eph. 3:2-5).”

Our English word “mystery” is based on the Greek word MUSTERION. This, in turn, comes from a very ancient Homeric Greek word, MUSTES, which was used for a person initiated into a Greek fraternity of the ancient world. The verb form, MUEO, meant to learn the secrets and doctrines of that fraternity, which were known only to those who had been initiated. This concept is the use of MUSTERION in our passage. The Old Testament writers

from Genesis to Malachi did not know about the Church Age, as the Church is never mentioned in the Old Testament. The only two references in the Gospels are Matthew 8:17, where instructions involve an assembly of believers, and in Matthew 16:18, where Christ prophesied the future establishment of the Church, with Himself as the foundation. Peter verifies this is 1Peter 2:4-9, thereby disqualifying any future claims that he founded the first church or was the first Pope!

All the Old Testament writers handled Dispensations in exactly the same way. They would cover the Jewish Age right down through the cross, resurrection and ascension of our Lord. Then they would skip over the Church Age and pick up in the Tribulation, Second Advent or the Millennium. The Church Age was yet to be revealed. Our first knowledge of the doctrines of the Church is stated in John, chapters 14 through 17, when Christ gave this information prophetically. Now, “good news” or the Gospel itself is not a mystery: the Gospel has always been clearly revealed and understood. Every reference to the “mystery” is a declaration of Church doctrine on a confidential basis for believers in this Dispensation (Rom. 16:25,26; 1Corinthians 15:51; Eph. 1:9; 5:32; Col. 1:25,26; 2:2; 1 Tim. 3:16;

“And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in

heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God (Eph. 3:9,10).”

What was the purpose of keeping Church Age doctrine a mystery? We must understand that “principalities and powers in heavenly places” refer to the angelic creation. Although all Dispensations are related to the angelic conflict, the Church was kept “under wraps” before it became a reality as a protection against Satanic attack.

At one point during the Age of the Gentiles, certain of the fallen angels personally appeared on earth in an attempt to destroy God’s plan by infiltrating the human race. This relationship with human beings resulted in a “super race,” which was destroyed by God in the Flood (Gen. 6).

In the Age of the Jews, angels were used to communicate the Law and Bible doctrine. Every prophet in the Old Testament had a communicating or teaching angel (Gal. 3:19). In the Tribulation, angels will proclaim the Gospel to the human race (rev. 14:6).

In the Age of the Church, angels, for the first time in history, are the guardian servants of believers and also learn from them (1Corinthians 4:9); 1 Tim. 5:21; 1Peter . 1:12). All believers are in full-time Christian service as ambassadors for Jesus Christ. Since Christ is in heaven, we are His representatives here on earth. The emphasis is on the fact that by means of the Church, angels are watching us and learning every facet of God’s plan. This caught Satan completely off guard.

During the Millennium, the intensified part of the angelic conflict will be over. “Operation Footstool” (the defeat of Satan and the fallen angels), as a part of the angelic conflict, has been completed (Heb. 1:13). Perfect environment on the earth will be possible because there will be no angelic interference from Satan and his demons.

Thus we see that the believer’s orientation to God’s timetable is vitally necessary for understanding God’s Plan and purpose in any given generation. Dispensations provide the framework for understanding the Bible and rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Learn this lesson well, or you will always be vulnerable to the false teachings which arise from taking Scripture out of context!

1. A dispensation is a period of time in human history expressed in terms of divine revelation. The inerrancy of the Word of God is the source for looking at history from the divine viewpoint. Therefore, dispensation is a technical theological term used primarily by the apostle Paul in the presentation of the mystery doctrine of this Church Age.

2. Dispensations are divine categories of human history; therefore, both the divine outline and the divine interpretation of human history. There are many interpretations of history, but the only accurate interpretation is dispensational, i.e., divine.

3. Dispensations are the vehicle by which believers living at a specific time in history can orient to God’s will, plan, and purpose for their lives. God’s plan is not the same for every dispensation. In fact, the plan is quite different in each dispensation. The most difficult and subtle plan to learn by a believer is the Church Age or protocol plan of God. Old Testament believers were under the ritual plan of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ was under the incarnation plan of God.

4. A dispensation is defined traditionally as a period of time during which a particular revelation of God’s mind and God’s will is operative, and during which man is tested as to his obedience to that specific manifestation of God’s will, purpose, and plan. The believer’s orientation to both time and to human history is vitally necessary for understanding God’s plan and God’s

5. Dispensations constitute the divine administration of history. In fact, the Greek word translated “dispensations” also means administration of some organization. Dr. H.A. Ironside defined dispensations in his book, In the Heavenlies, as follows, “It is an economy or a particular order or a condition of things prevailing in a special age which does not necessarily prevail in another age.”

6. In every dispensation, God has a plan for believers, and in grace He provides the means for executing that plan. We must understand the other dispensations and then learn why only one dispensation is called the “dispensation of grace” (Eph 3:2).

7. While there is a different plan for believers in each dispensation, there is only one way of salvation throughout human history; i.e., personal faith in Jesus Christ. In all of human history, there is only one Savior, Jesus Christ, and He is revealed in different ways in different dispensations.

1. The Geek word OIKONOMIA is translated “dispensation.” It means the administration of a business or an estate, the management of a household. It is translated by three words: order (instead of chaos), a plan (instead of confusion), and arrangement (instead of disarray).

a. It was used in the Attic Greek by Xenophen and Plato, who used it for household administration. It was also used for the authority of parents over children, the provision of parents for their children, and the policy of parents for their children. The study of dispensations always teaches the authority God provides for every period of history. It connotes policy, administration and provision by God for believers in a period of history. The translation “dispensation” originates from the policies and provisions of God for a particular historical era.

b. The word is used in Ephesians 1:10, 3:2; Colossians 1:25, all by the apostle Paul, the greatest teacher of all.

c. The word is now used as a technical theological term for an era of human history from the divine viewpoint.

d. Those who translate this as “administration” are wrong; this word is more technical than that, and it must refer to dispensations as separate from all other types of administrations.

2. The Greek word AION is generally translated “age.” It refers to a dispensation as a category of human history such as the “age” of Israel or Church “age.” Hence, the noun is used for divine categories in human history in such passages as Romans 16:25; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:26.

3. The Greek word KAIROS means time as an epoch or era, a chronological order or system, a period of time characterized by distinctive development within that period. This word is used for the organization of historical events into their dispensational categories in 1Thessalonians 5:1. It is used specifically for orientation to the Church Age in Romans 13:11, 8:18, 11:5. It is used for orientation to the Jewish Age in Ephesians 2:11-12. In Luke 21:24, it is used for the “times of the Gentiles” which runs co-terminously with the Church Age, when only Gentiles nations can function as client nations to God. It is used for the word “epochs” in Acts 1:6-7.

4. The Greek word CHRONOS means time as a succession of events. It is used to portray the chronology of history or time as a series of points. Occasionally, it is used for a section of time in chronology, which then refers to a dispensation. In Romans 16:25, CHRONOS is used for all dispensations prior to the Church Age (combined with AION). Peter also used this word for dispensations in 1Peter 1:20. So this word is used three ways:

C. Dispensations is a Biblical subject. Ephesians 1:8-10, “From which riches of grace He has made us [Church Age believers] super-rich by means of all wisdom and application when He revealed to us the mystery of His will according to His gracious intention which He planned in Him [Jesus Christ], with reference to the dispensation of the fullness of times [Church Age] to gather under one Head [Jesus Christ] the entire royal family in Christ, those that are in heaven and those that are on earth in Him.” Ephesians 3:1-2, “For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you, the Gentiles — inasmuch as you have heard about the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for your benefit,”

a. Though a fantastic genius, Paul could not have understood this dispensation on his own. This mystery had to be a matter of revelation in order for him to understand it. This knowledge was given to him, as it is to us, through grace.

b. Dispensational study is beneficial. It will keep you out of confusion. It will keep from trying to function in the wrong dispensation. Ephesians 3:3-4, “that through revelation the mystery doctrine was made known to me, just as I have already written you briefly. By reading this, you ought to be able to understand my technical knowledge about the mystery of Christ,”

c. The dispensation of the Church is a technical dispensation. It requires understanding technical words and knowing the modus operandi. This is the first time in history that the ordinary believer must think in terms of doctrine, must think like a prophet or an apostle, and must reconstruct his entire mental attitude.

d. Therefore every believer is given the ability to think through the filling of the Holy Spirit, and is given the complete Canon as the information about which to think. In order to think you must know the doctrine and be able to think in terms of its application. You think for yourself and do not need others to think for you. Ephesians 3:5, “which was not made known to mankind in other ages [dispensations], so that now it has been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by means of the Spirit.”

e. “Now” is the time! Now is the greatest opportunity in history. You have been given more invisible assets to become an invisible hero than has ever existed!

f. So what Paul and the other apostles started communicating in the first century is now the major issue in your life. Whether you will have a significant life or not, whether you save this nation by your advance to spiritual maturity all depends on what you think Now. Ephesians 3:8-9, “To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace has been given to preach [teach] to the Gentiles the unfathomable wealth of Christ, and to make perspicuous to all what is the dispensation of the mystery which has been concealed from the ages in the God [Jesus Christ] who created all things.” Colossians 1:25, “Of which [Church Age] I have become a minister on the basis of this dispensation from God, which has been given to me for your benefit that I might implement your deficiency in the Word of God.”

g. Paul was a minister of this dispensation. Because he oriented to the dispensation in which he lived, Paul probably had the greatest invisible impact and the happiest life of any person who ever lived.

h. As Saul of Tarsus he started out to be one of the greatest visible leaders of all time, but became the greatest invisible leader of all time. Because after his salvation, God in His matchless grace not only gave him the gift of apostleship, but at the same time He revealed to him the facts of the time in which he lived. Paul, more than anyone else outside of the Lord, understood the relationship between the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and the great power experiment of the Church Age. Hence, he understood more than anyone else the importance of Bible doctrine.

i. Ministers should only be visible to the extent that they teach Bible doctrine. Those who do not teach Bible doctrine have the tendency to try to become visible by means of human dynamics. There is no place in the plan of God for the coexistence of human dynamics with the omnipotence of God.

j. Note the same phrase here as in Ephesians 3:1: “The dispensation from God which was given to me for your benefit.”

k. We are born again with a deficiency: Bible doctrine. You are deficient until you understand the mystery doctrine. Colossians 1:26, “That is, the mystery which has been hidden from past dispensations and generations [within those dispensations], but now has been revealed to the saints [royal family of God].”

l. The mystery doctrine of the Church Age was never revealed in the Old Testament, for they would have been distracted with envy.

m. As royal family of God, you have greater privileges than ever existed before. The greatest plan of all history. Colossians 1:27, “To whom God has decreed to make known what is the wealth [riches] of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you [indwelling of Christ], the hope [confidence] of glory.”

n. You actually have the greatest individual wealth ever given to believers in any time of human history. Without understanding the mystery doctrine, you are wealthy without knowing it.

o. “The glory” is Jesus Christ Himself, who set up all precedence for this dispensation during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

p. Paul names just one of the many aspects to your wealth: “Christ in you.” This refers to the indwelling of Jesus Christ as the Shekinah Glory and the guarantee of your escrow blessings.

q. Hope means very strong confidence. Christ in you is your confidence of glory! You have a glory that is found in immeasurable wealth, in the things God has provided for you in your portfolio of invisible assets. Colossians 1:28, “Which we solemnly communicate, warning and teaching every believer in all wisdom, that we might present every believer mature in Christ.”

r. Solemn here is used in the sense of being important, requiring concentration. It also means to explain the technical details. To explain something technical, the listener must concentrate. This also means to keep teaching, being consistent in learning mystery doctrine, i.e., what is God’s plan, purpose, and will for you in this Church Age.

s. “Warnings” are such statements as: You will be a loser if you miss out on this! The nation will go under unless you get with God’s plan! You will have a miserable, frustrated life unless you learn these things! You never teach in a solemn manner without warning of the consequences of rejecting the information.

u. The pastor-teacher must present the members of his congregation at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Yet his job is to present you mature in Christ! Colossians 1:29, “For this reason, I also labor to the point of exhaustion, striving according to His enabling power which works in me in the divine dynasphere.”

v. The most exhausting work in the world is using your mind. This is required constantly when studying the Word of God day and night! Muscle exhaustion is nothing compared to mental exhaustion.

w. “Striving” means studying the passage over and over until you know it enough so that you can teach it.

x. The enabling power which works in him refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

2. 1Timothy 1:3-4, “As I have exhorted you on my departure for Macedonia to remain in Ephesus, in order that you might instruct certain ones not to teach strange doctrines, nor occupy themselves with myths, fictions, and endless genealogies, which promote controversies rather than [promoting] the dispensation from God which is associated with doctrine.” One of the great manifestations of arrogance in the ministry is the teaching of strange doctrines.

a. The dispensation of the Gentiles began with the creation of mankind and continued to the Exodus.

(1) Era of positive volition was from the creation of man until the fall; the Garden of Eden era. Volition and marriage as divine institutions both failed miserably under perfect environment.

(2) Era of negative volition was from the fall of man to Abraham. There were two more divine institutions: family and nationalism. This was the era of great disasters on the earth, such as the angelic infiltration of Genesis 6, the flood, and the Tower of Babel.

(3) Era of the patriarchs was from Abraham to Moses. Technically, the Gentiles began with the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. This era sees the creation of the new racial species, the Jewish race, which began with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It includes the history of the Jews from Abraham to Moses. Abraham was the father of the new racial species, created by God, when Abraham at age 99 was circumcised. Circumcision was the demonstration of Abraham’s use of the faith-rest drill. So this dispensation included both Jews and Gentiles without any client nation function.

b. The dispensation of the Jews, or Israel, runs from the Exodus to the birth of Christ, B.C. 1441 until 4 B.C. However, God gave Israel an additional seventy-four years into the Christocentric dispensations. The Passover was the sign of the new dispensation. The sign that they were about go out under the fifth cycle of discipline was the gift of tongues starting on the Day of Pentecost, which evangelized Jews in Gentile languages.

(4) The New Covenant to Israel which emphasizes how the other three covenants will be fulfilled in the Millennium.

(e) The Babylonian Captivity, B.C. 586-536, a period when there was no client nation, but instead visible heroes like Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Zechariah. This was a period of 70 years to give back to the Jews the 70 Sabbatical years which they had ignored over a period of 490 years.

(g) By 4 B.C., the Romans were occupying the land and Judah was no longer functioning as a client nation. Yet the Jews were still given tremendous grace opportunities for 74 years, until 70 AD. They were permitted to continue as a nation, but not as a client nation.

(h) The final administration of the 5th cycle of discipline came when the Jews were completely wiped out and scattered across the earth in A.D. 70 (though Israel had not functioned as a client nation to God since 4 B.C.).

a. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union runs from the birth of Christ in B.C. 4 to the resurrection and ascension of Christ in A.D. 30, a period of 33 years. This is the time of the incarnation or First Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the time of the Gospels.

b. The great power experiment of the Church Age runs from the Day of Pentecost in 30 A.D. until the Rapture of the Church, time unknown by all but God. It is divided into two parts:

(1) The pre-Canon period, the time of the Book of Acts and temporary spiritual gifts, runs from 30 - 96 A.D.

(2) The post-Canon period, the period at present, runs from 96 A.D. to the Rapture of the Church. This is the era of the epistles of the New Testament and permanent spiritual gifts.

a. The Tribulation or Doomsday dispensation, the great power struggle from the Rapture of the Church to the Second Advent, also called Daniel’s 70th week, is technically the end of the Jewish Age. From the Book of Revelation it must also be classified as the time of Satan’s desperation, lasting seven years. It is prophesied in the Old Testament as well as by our Lord in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24-25, in most of His parables, and by John in the Book of Revelation,

b. The Millennial reign of Christ runs from the Second Advent of Christ to the end of human history, lasting 1000 years. It is the time of the restoration of Israel and the fulfillment of their unconditional covenants. Israel will again be the client nation in history for the last 1000 years. It is a time of perfect environment on the earth. It is preceded by the judgment of the Baptism of Fire, so that only believers will enter the Millennium. At the end of the Millennium is the judgment of unbelievers and fallen angels. Sequentially, it includes:

(2) The judgment of the human race coming out of the Tribulation, the Baptism of the Fire, in which there are two separate judgments: that of the Gentiles and that of the Jews.

(6) The final judgments of history: the judgment of fallen angels who are cast into the Lake of Fire, and the resurrection and judgment of all unbeliever homo sapiens at the Great White Throne who are cast into the Lake of Fire.

a. This dispensation begins with the creation of mankind and continues until the Exodus, ? - B.C. 1441. It has three parts:

(1) The Era of Positive Volition begins with the creation of mankind and continues until the fall of Adam and the woman. This is the historical epoch of the Garden of Eden.

(i) They were created perfect beings: body, soul, and spirit. With their spirit they had the ability to have social life with God everyday. They had a perfect social life with each other, total admiration for each other, and had perfect

(ii) Secondly, they were placed in perfect environment in the Garden of Eden. But perfect environment is not the solution to anything and doesn’t mean happiness. Perfect environment was rejected by man. This indicates that environment is never the solution to man’s problems.

(b) No Canon of Scripture existed in the Garden. Therefore, both Adam and the woman were recipients of direct revelation from God. They came to Bible class daily because Jesus Christ taught the class!

(c) Two divine institutions were operational during this time of perfection: #1, volition, and #2, marriage. Both ended in total failure by two perfect persons living in perfect

(d) There was only one volitional test in the Garden of Eden, related to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The only way mankind could sin overtly was to reject the divine prohibition and take the fruit from that tree. The fall of our original parents is failure to pass the test.

(e) Marriage as a divine institution was tested with two perfect people who had the best of everything in marriage - perfect partners, perfect sex, etc.; yet the first marriage in perfect environment completely failed! This was because of the potential for arrogance in any marriage, which seeks to avoid boredom in human relationships. The woman fell because she resented the man’s authority, became bored, and wanted to be equal with the man.

(f) You have to have capacity for perfect environment, and such capacity cannot exist in man’s natural state! Man must be regenerated, born-again, have eternal life, and fulfill post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation to even begin to have capacity for good environment.

(g) So marriage failed through the woman’s rejection of the man’s authority. She should never have been talking to the serpent once he communicated in her language. In fact, the woman undermined the man’s authority through bringing him the fruit.

(h) When Adam took the fruit from the woman’s hand, he lost all his God-given authority at the moment of his original sin. He lost his rulership over the world and all the creatures in it, as well as over his wife. So Satan won round one in his appeal trial.

(i) Neither perfect environment nor the divine institutions then in existence prevented mankind from the original sin.

(j) Obviously then, neither perfect environment nor marriage is designed to be a problem solving device. So from this time on, God in His matchless grace would provide problem solving devices for mankind, beginning with salvation.

(2) The Era of Negative Volition extends from the fall of man to Abraham, sometime after B.C. 10,000 - B.C. 2050. While there was no written Canon during this time, this period of time is covered by Genesis 4-11.

(a) While Adam and the woman had sinned and become dichotomous under real spiritual death, they both believed in the Lord, as demonstrated in the new name of the woman, Eve, meaning “living.” She would become the mother of all living. Her judgment was to be the child-bearer.

(b) This is the historical era of the first murder in the human race. Cain murdered his brother Abel.

(i) God gave the equivalent of our escrow blessings to Enoch, and he had one of the greatest “deaths” of all time, for he didn’t die but was simply taken from the earth into heaven just before the Flood. For everything that Enoch stood for would now be set aside in violence. God administered the Flood as a result of terrible violence produced by the angelic invasion of the human race.

(ii) Noah was great because he believed God when He said He would visit the earth with a terrible judgment. He obeyed God and built the ship or ark on dry land, receiving a lot of ridicule. But Noah did what Adam failed to do: Noah maintained authority and spiritual influence over his family! His was the only family in the world uncorrupted by angelic infiltration. Only Noah’s family was still true humanity. So Noah should be considered a great believer. (In spite of his drunken and incestuous sins that he later committed, we do not measure greatness in believers on the basis of their sins, but on the basis of their relationship with God.)

(e) This historical era began with internationalism. So while there was no longer perfect environment, this era did provide some astounding things, which to this day people seek as solutions to man’s problems. But internationalism is not a solution to man’s problems either.

(f) For a period of over 8000 years, there was only one language, one race, and one color of skin, but none of these anthropological unities solved the problem of either environment or human relationship. Man still couldn’t get along with man. There was still great chaos, illustrated not only by the first murder in human history, but also by the great angelic invasion of Genesis 6.

(g) A new divine institution was added: #3, the family, in which parents have authority over the children. This parental authority has always been resented by some children, right from the beginning. You cannot reject parental authority without great disaster and a miserable life. For example, Cain rejected the authority of his parents, and as a result murdered his brother. Crime came into the world because of rejection of parental authority! The origin of crime comes from the breakdown of the divine institution of family. No wonder part of the Mosaic Law provided capital punishment to those teenagers who were proven incorrigible. The most dangerous thing in society are children who reject parental authority. This plus arrogance is the source of crime.

(i) The woman became the child-bearer as a result of her punishment. The curse on the woman was childbearing; the curse on the man was to work for a living.

(ii) Again, the only man who succeeded in managing his family properly, so that the line of Jesus Christ would come down through one of sons (Shem), was Noah. He was a man with a great spiritual life. The greatness of his doctrine resulted in a leadership factor that has been ignored. Noah was a great leader, a great husband, a great father, and apparently he successfully picked the wives for his three sons.

(h) As a result of the universal flood, three categories of Gentiles emerged from the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, Japheth.

(i) This was one of the greatest periods of demonism. As a result of all the terrible things that developed on the earth, God provided the universal flood about 5000 B.C. So in the first 5000 years of history, man was in very serious danger of destroying himself. By the time the flood occurred, only eight people were regenerate: Noah and his family.

(j) After the Flood was the beginning of bacteria and fermentation. Noah was the first person to be inebriated in human history.

(k) Internationalism reached its peak of degeneracy under one language and one race at the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11:1-19. Therefore, around B.C. 4700, the Tower of Babel was destroyed. Then mankind became multilingual, resulting in many languages and many dialects throughout the world. Semitic languages are based on the dialect spoken by Shem. The Ural-Altaic branch became the Hamitic languages. The Japhetic languages became the Indo-European branch. But salvation by faith in Jesus Christ continued.

(l) This is a fascinating period because so many things had their origin in this period of negative volition.

(3) The Age of the Patriarchs is a transitional period from Abraham to Moses, from about 2050 - 1441 B.C. While there was no written Canon of Scripture then, this period of history is covered by Genesis 12 - Exodis 12.

(a) Abraham was a Gentile from the third dynasty of Ur. He came from a royal family. He remained a Gentile for ninety-nine years of his life. But beginning with his circumcision, he became a new racial species.

(b) Abraham became a believer relatively early, but it took him a long time to reach spiritual maturity. When he finally did, God promised Abraham that he would have a son through Sarah. By this time, Sarah was age ninety and Abraham was age ninety-nine, both being sexually dead. But Abraham “staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what God promises, God provides.”

(c) Therefore, when Abraham submitted to circumcision on his dead phallus, his phallus at that point became alive and a new racial species was added. Beginning with his circumcision, Abraham became the first Jew in history. Submitting to circumcision signified that Abraham believed that God would again give him the sexual power of copulation so he could produce a son by Sarah.

(d) Therefore, Abraham was the father of the Jewish race and the beginning of the new racial species, called Israel.

(e) The line of descent of the Jewish race is very important, for Abraham had other children. The line of the Jews came through Isaac only, out of nine other children. Then to show how carefully guarded was this line, Isaac and his wife had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. The line went through Jacob only. The first three Jews, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were all born-again.

(f) This is why Jesus Christ is called the “God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” because the Jewish line must go down through the regenerate.

(g) The twelve sons of Jacob are the basis for the perpetuation of the Jewish race. Reuben, the first-born, lost the right of primogeniture through rape. Judah became the ruling tribe, Levi the priestly tribe, Joseph the double portion tribe (Ephraim and Manasseh), plus the tribes of Simeon, Zebulen, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, and Benjamin.

(h) The Age of the Patriarchs terminated with the Jews being enslaved in Egypt during the Hyksos Dynasty from about B.C. 1720 - 1570, known as the foreign domination of Egypt. However, the Egyptians regained control under the 18th dynasty, which began with Kamos, then Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Queen Hapshetset, Thutmose III, and Amenhoteph II.

(i) Moses was born during the 18th dynasty, probably around 1520 B.C., and was adopted by Queen Hapshetset. The first eighty years of Moses’ life were spent in the Age of the Patriarchs. But in his last forty years, he became the greatest leader of all time and the father of the Jewish client nation.

(j) Moses spent forty years in Egypt as an Egyptian prince. He was the most handsome man in face and body, as well as the most powerful man. Inside that magnificent body was the greatest genius in the ancient world. He was a genius in music, writing, engineering, architecture, military, administration, resulting in the ascendancy of Egypt in world history. Moses was one of those rare well-rounded people with both common sense and wisdom.

(k) Moses’ stepbrother, Thutmose III, became the greatest ruler in all Egyptian history. Moses could have had that honor, but instead he became a believer after discovering his origin. Learning doctrine, he went back to his people and turned down the rulership of Egypt and the hand of Neferari. So Moses walked out on the most beautiful woman of his day, on the treasures of Egypt, on the greatest power, authority, and opportunity to become a world figure. He left it all and went into the desert because he “saw Him who is invisible,” Hebrews 11. Yet Moses was a leader rejected by his own people time and time again.

b. The official termination of the dispensation of the Gentiles occurred when God called the Jews out of Egypt. The Passover was actually the beginning of the new dispensation.

c. Most of the Jews in the Exodus were believers, though they failed miserably, malfunctioning in the use of the faith-rest drill (their modus operandi for post-salvation experience).

d. There were three great angelic attacks on the human race during this dispensation:

e. There was no written Canon of Scripture, and therefore no specific missionary agency.

f. Salvation was through faith in Christ, and so God revealed Himself through angelic teaching, direct conversation with certain believers, and through dreams and visions.

b. The Scripture for this dispensation is most of the Old Testament, beginning at Exodis 13 through Malachi 4.

c. Once Israel became a client nation to God, with the exception of the Church Age, God deals directly with Israel and builds all His plans around Israel.

d. The time frame for this dispensation begins with the Exodus in B.C. 1441 and runs until the birth of Christ in B.C. 4.

e. This is the dispensation of the election of Israel as a client nation to God and the ritual plan of God for believers.

f. In this dispensation, people were saved by faith in Jesus Christ, and not by the works of the Law, according to Romans 3:20-30 and Gal 2:16. Salvation by faith in Christ was illustrated by Abraham, who “believed in the Lord, and it was credited to his account for righteousness.”

g. There were three categories of covenants which characterized this dispensation:

(2) The unconditional and unfulfilled covenants: Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic, and New Covenants.

h. The Jews were given four unconditional covenants during their history. These covenants were to be fulfilled during the Millennial reign of Christ. These covenants are:

(1) The Abrahamic covenant. Abraham was promised a innumerable progeny. Also anyone who persecutes Israel is cursed.

(2) The Palestinian covenant, which promises Israel a land which they have never occupied: the entire Middle East and parts of Africa. This includes all of Turkey, all the land west of the Euphrates River (Iraq), all of Saudi Arabia, all of Palestine and part of Syria, and all of the eastern part of Africa. Everything east of the Nile and west of the Euphrates were the east/west boundaries.

(3) The Davidic covenant. David was promised that he would have a son who would rule forever. That son is the Lord Jesus Christ, whose rulership will begin at the Second Advent.

(4) The New covenant to Israel. This covenant gathers up all the other promises and guarantees them to Israel in the future.

(5) These four covenants have never been fulfilled because there has never been enough stability for it. The only stability good enough will be provided by our Lord Jesus Christ at the Second Advent.

i. As a client nation to God, Israel was to be a missionary agency. Operation Jonah illustrates how Israel failed.

j. The establishment of Israel as a client nation established three principles which still apply to client nations today.

(1) There must be freedom, which must exist under the laws of divine establishment no matter what the form of government.

(2) Under freedom there must be the right of expression and communication of the Gospel. There must always be evangelism.

(4) From mature believers must come missionaries, to be sent out to other nations.

k. The basic covenant that covered this dispensation is the Mosaic Law, which is divided into three parts:

(1) Codex 1, the Decalogue, is made up of the Ten Commandments, which are designed to define freedom in terms of morality without self- righteousness, privacy, property, authority, and the right to live. The Ten Commandments define freedom in terms of relationship with God. Each one of the Ten Commandments is a significant link in the whole concept of human freedom and the basic concept of human morality. They were for all of Israel, including unbelievers. Therefore, the Ten Commandments are excluded, for all time, from being a part of the Christian way of life.

(2) Codex 2, the spiritual code, is the spiritual heritage of Israel as a client nation to God. It includes a complete Christology and Soteriology communicated in prophetic form, ritual form, and in the messages of both prophets and priests. The ordinances require a specialized priesthood. A priest had to be from the tribe of Levi, a direct descendent from Aaron. The ritual was very lengthy, including the structure of the Tabernacle (Temple), the delineation of the Holy Days, the modus operandi of the Levitical priesthood, and above all, the significance of the Levitical offerings.

(3) Codex 3, the judgments, is the establishment code, the delineation of the laws of divine establishment for believer and unbeliever alike in the client nation to God.

(a) It clarified the divine institutions; i.e., volition (self-determination), marriage, family, and nationalism. As goes the family, so goes stability or instability in society.

(b) Establishment means privacy, freedom, and the sacredness of property in life.

(c) The judgments included taxation (called tithing in the Old Testament) for all citizens of client nation Israel. Deuteronomy 14:22-29. There was an offering for believers only, but no percentage was ever mandated, as is always the case with believers’ offerings. Deuteronomy 18:1-5.

(d) Certain principles are emphasized, like freedom through military victory, resulting in a very strong military policy in Israel, taught primarily in Numbers.

(e) Criminal law reached its peak under Codex 3, which had a fantastic system of jurisprudence. Hammurabi’s Code of Laws is totally inferior in every way to Israel’s laws.

(f) Codex 3 included laws for diet, health, sanitation, and quarantine. Free enterprise and profit motivation was implied, which is legitimate in business.

(g) Codex 3 rejected the concepts of socialism, civil disobedience, violence, and revolution.

(4) The real issue is that the Mosaic Law is a part of the Word of God, therefore is absolute truth. So it must be approached from the principle of the inerrancy of Scripture.

(1) The Mosaic Law was given only to Israel, Exodis 19:3; Leviticus 26:46; Romans 3:19, and 9:4. It was not given to the Gentiles of the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 4:8; nor was it given to the Gentiles of the Church, Acts 15:5, 24; Romans 8:14; Gal 2:19.

(2) Furthermore, the Mosaic Law cannot justify, Romans 3:20-28. Gal 2:16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law, but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law. For by the works of the Law no one shall be justified.”

(3) No one was ever saved by keeping the Law. The Law cannot provide eternal salvation, according to Gal 3:21-26.

(6) So the Mosaic Law is limited in a spiritual sense. It is not really a spiritual code except for Codex 2.

(7) Jesus Christ in His humanity, living inside the prototype divine dynasphere fulfilled the Law and is the end of the Law during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, Matt 5:17; Romans 10:4.

m. As a client nation to God, Israel was the custodian of the Old Testament Canon. The Old Testament Canon was organized under three systems of prophecy. The human writers had either the gift of prophet, the office of prophet, or both as in the case of Moses.

(1) The Torah is made up of the first five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Its human writer had both the gift and office of prophet: Moses.

(2) The Prophets (NABIIM) had the office of prophet only. They include Joshua, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the twelve (not “minor prophets"), to include Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

(3) The Writings (KETHUBIM) were written by those who had the gift of prophecy only. First comes the poetry and wisdom books, to include Psalms, Proverbs, and Job. Next comes the MEGALOTH or rolls, to include the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther. Finally, the historical section is made up of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles.

(4) Every extant book of an acknowledged messenger of the Lord, who was commissioned by God to make known His will, was accepted immediately in Old Testament times as the Word of God.

(1) The Theocratic Kingdom from Exodus to Samuel, B.C. 1441 - 1020. This was the time when Jesus Christ directly ruled Israel.

(3) The Northern Kingdom extended from Jeroboam to Hoshea, B.C. 926 - 721. It was blotted out forever as a client nation when overrun by the Assyrians, who were provided by God to administer the fifth cycle of discipline.

(4) The Southern Kingdom went from Rehoboam to Zedekiah, B.C. 926 - 586, when it underwent the fifth cycle of discipline, administered by Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean army.

(6) The restored nation of Judea (mostly the Southern Kingdom) went from Zerubbabel to the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, B.C. 536 - 4. By B.C. 4 and the First Advent of Jesus Christ, the Jewish nation was no longer a client nation, for it was under the domination of the Roman Empire, even though God prolonged its final administration of the fifth cycle of discipline until 70 A.D. The temporary gift of tongues was operational from 30 - 70 A.D., used to warn Israel of the coming fifth cycle of discipline. Isaiah 28:11 is so quoted in 1Corinthians 14:21-22. The temporary gift was phased out in August of 70 A.D., according to 1Corinthians 13:8.

o. A future is guaranteed to Jewish believers only. At the Second Advent Israel will be regathered and restored as a client nation.

p. In B.C. 4, with the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, a new dispensation, the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, had begun. It ended in A.D. 30, 10 days after our Lord had been resurrected, ascended, and was seated at the right hand of God the Father. That began the new dispensation of the great power experiment of the Church Age.

(1) Judah was under the domination of S.P.Q.R. starting in 63 B.C. This was when Pompeii the Great captured Jerusalem and desecrated the Temple by entering the Holy of Holies.

(2) During that same year, Cicero was counsel, and Octavian Augustus and Marcus Agrippa were both born. Augustus became the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Agrippa, his boyhood friend, was a great soldier and hero. Without his military skills, Augustus would never have become emperor of Rome.

(3) In B.C. 54, Crassus pillaged the Temple. His discipline for such blasphemy was being kidnapped and having gold poured down his throat.

(4) In B.C. 40, Herod went to Rome where the Senate appointed him King of Judea. So for all practical purposes, Israel was no longer a client nation to God.

(6) In B.C. 34, Cleopatra visited Palestine on her way to spend the winter with Mark Anthony at Ephesus.

(7) In B.C. 31, there was a great earthquake in Palestine. During that same year, Octavian defeated Mark Anthony in the Battle of Actium.

(8) In B.C. 15, Agrippa visited Palestine on an inspection tour, making sure Rome’s interests were being served there.

(9) In B.C. 10, Herod’s rebuilding of the Temple was completed and rededicated.

(10) In B.C. 4 was the virgin birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, which actually began the Christocentric dispensation of the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

(11) During that same year, B.C. 4, the Pharisees attempted a coup d’etat and started a revolt against Rome, which was put down rapidly.

(12) In B.C. 4, King Herod died and Herod Archilaeus, his son, inherited one-half of his father’s territory, including Samaria, Judea, and Idumaea.

(13) In A.D. 6, Archilaeus was banished and deposed, and Judah became a part of a Roman province. Caponius became the first Roman governor.

(14) In A.D. 14, Augustus died and was succeeded by Tiberius, at which time Onius Ruphus was the governor of Judea.

(16) In A.D. 26, Pontius Pilate became the governor of Judea; John the Baptist began his ministry. Caiaphas was the high priest.

r. So during this period, the Romans obviously had complete control over Judea and that client nation was dead for all practical purposes. But it was not destroyed until 70 A.D.

s. During the entire great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, B.C. 4 - A.D. 30, Judea was under Rome and was not a client nation. The only reason Judea was still there was to give the Jews an opportunity in their homeland to make a decision about the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah during His thirty-three years on earth. Then after an additional forty year warning, their wrong decision resulted in their being wiped off the face of the earth by Rome. Any surviving Jew in the land thereafter became a slave. When Jerusalem was finally overrun, the 75,000 Jews who survived went into slavery

t. Even though Christ had been rejected by the Jews on earth as their Messiah, after His ascension forty years were taken from the Church Age, A.D. 30-70, as the greatest grace offering God ever gave to Israel. During those forty years there was special evangelism to the Jews.

(1) For example, as prophesied in Isaiah 28 and explained in 1Corinthians 14, the gift of tongues was given to warn Israel that this was their last chance to believe. Jews were evangelized in Gentile languages as a warning that the times of the Gentiles was beginning.

(2) This was prophesied by our Lord in Luke 21:20-24, how the Romans would come and administer the fifth cycle of discipline to the Jews for the last time in history. This began the times of the Gentiles in 70 A.D., when only Gentile nations can function as client nations. Israel is not qualified to be a client nation during the Church Age.

(3) The five cycles of discipline were established for the failure of the Jews to fulfill their responsibility. For a client nation nation must have freedom and must use its freedom for evangelism, the teaching of doctrine, and missionary activity.

F. The Christocentric Dispensations. (See also the doctrine of Great Power Experiment for details.)

a. The termini for the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union: B.C. 4 - A.D. 30.

b. In the virgin pregnancy, God the Holy Spirit provided twenty- three perfect male chromosomes to fertilize the ovum of Mary. At the virgin birth was the first and only time in history when a person was born into the world without the imputation of Adam’s original sin to the old sin nature. Because of the virgin pregnancy, there was no old sin nature and no imputation of Adam’s original sin.

c. Therefore, when Jesus Christ came into the world in true humanity, He came as Adam was created which is why He is called the Last Adam. He was born trichotomous, having a body, soul, and human spirit. And He was born into the prototype divine dynasphere where His humanity was sustained by the Holy Spirit.

d. This new dispensation caused a tremendous change in human history. Up until this point, people in the Old Testament were saved by personal faith in Jesus Christ as He was revealed eschatologically to them. This is why God’s plan for Israel was called the ritual plan of God, because ritual was used to teach the doctrines of Christology and soteriology.

e. Now with the humanity of Christ on earth, a new dispensation began, establishing all precedence for our dispensation, the Church Age, which would follow.

f. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is the dispensation of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Because the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union has never been recognized as a separate dispensation, the interpretation of the Gospels has suffered. Because our Lord presented Himself on earth in two different ways, no one seems to understand the Gospels very well.

(1) He presented Himself as the Son of David, the King of Israel, ADONAI ELOHENU ADONAI ECHAD, the God-man, the Messiah. His presentation took many forms; e.g., miracles, dissertations. Messiah was the most visible hero of all.

(a) Matthew is especially good in writing about the visible presentation. “He came to His own but His own received Him not. But a few received Him, and as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the Sons of God, even to them who believe in His name.”

(b) In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ presented Himself as the Messiah to Israel. The Sermon on the Mount is an upgrading of the Mosaic Law, a prophecy of what our Lord’s policy will be when He rules in the Millennium. Since He was rejected as the Messiah during the First Advent, the realization of the Sermon on the Mount was cancelled at the time and postponed until the Millennium. Likewise, the “Lord’s Prayer” applies only to the Millennium.

(2) As the Prince-Ruler of the Church, Christ made the first pronouncements and prophecies about the mystery doctrine. He prophesied concerning the coming of the Church Age, both in the Upper Room Discourse, John 14-17, and just before His ascension, Acts 1:5-8.

h. The rejection of Jesus Christ as the King of Israel postponed any continuation of the Israel functioning as a client nation, and resulted in the creation of a new and unique dispensation, the great power experiment of the Church Age.

i. When our Lord Jesus Christ lived on earth, He was in the prototype divine dynasphere, where He occupied the same gates as we have in our operational-type divine dynasphere.

(1) In gate #1, the filling of the Spirit, He was sustained by the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit.

(3) In gate #3, He had enforced and genuine humility, producing objectivity and teachability.

(4) In gate #4, He had perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. This provided our Lord’s momentum, as taught in Luke 2:52.

(5) In gate #5, our Lord’s humanity attained spiritual self- esteem which is cognitive self-confidence.

(6) In gate #6, our Lord achieved spiritual autonomy which is cognitive independence. “He grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with both God and man.”

(8) In gate #8, long before His earthly ministry began, He had attained spiritual maturity.

j. Because our Lord functioned inside His prototype divine dynasphere, He resisted temptation. He never stepped out as we do to sin. He remained inside the divine dynasphere because of the doctrine of Impeccability. To be qualified to be judged for our sins, He had to remain perfect in His humanity. This is why anyone who believes in Him “shall not perish but shall have everlasting life.”

k. Our Lord was alive when He completed the work of being judged for our sins, for He declared “Finished!” Following that He had a unique physical death. His body went into the grave, His human spirit into the presence of God the Father, and His human soul to Paradise, a part of Sheol or Hades.

l. In resurrection, the omnipotence of God the Father returned His human spirit to His body in the grave, and the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit returned His human soul to His body in the grave. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is the unique power available to each of us as Church Age believers under the filling of the Holy Spirit.

m. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union terminated with our Lord’s strategic victory on the cross, followed by His physical death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session, where He received His third royal patent.

n. Our Lord’s substitutionary death was the greatest factor in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. That was when Jesus Christ on the cross was judged for our sins. (See the doctrine of Spiritual Death of Christ.)

a. This dispensation began, ten days after our Lord’s resurrection, on the Day of Pentecost in June of A.D. 30. It terminates with the Rapture or resurrection of the Church.

b. When our Lord ascended and was seated at the right hand of the Father, He was without a royal family for His new (third) royal warrant. Hence, the dispensation of the Church was inserted into history to form the royal family of God. The mechanics for the formation of the royal family of God is the baptism of the Spirit.

(1) The pre-Canon period of the Church Age, the era of temporary spiritual gifts, is covered by Acts. The time frame is 30-96 A.D.

(2) The post-Canon period of the Church Age, the era of permanent spiritual gifts, is covered by the epistles of the New Testament. The timeframe is 96 A.D. to the Rapture, whenever it occurs. This is also the era of the mystery doctrine of the Church. The Church Age doctrine and its protocol plan of God was totally unknown to Old Testament believers.

d. Prophecy regarding the Church Age occurred during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, both in the Upper Room Discourse of our Lord in John 14-17, and before His ascension in Acts 1.

e. Like the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, the Church Age terminates with resurrection.

f. So we live in a unique dispensation, inserted between the first two resurrections in all of history. The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, the omnipotence of the Father and the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit is the same power that will raise the Church at the Rapture.

g. Between these first two resurrections is the greatest power availability in all of history: the omnipotence of God the Father related to your portfolio of invisible assets, the omnipotence of God the Son related to your day-by-day life on earth, guaranteeing that history will continue, and the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit related to your very own palace, the operational-type divine dynasphere.

h. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is not only the dispensation which divides between Israel and the Church, but it is the cut-off for all precedence. Therefore, all precedence for the Church Age is not taken from the Mosaic Law or any part of the ritual plan of God, but from the function of our Lord inside His prototype divine dynasphere. All precedence for the Church Age is taken from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, not from any part of the Old Testament. This does not imply that we don’t learn things from the Old Testament; we do. But to answer what we should do after salvation, we take our precedence only from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

i. God never deals with Israel and the Church at the same time. Therefore, there is a vast difference between Israel and the Church.

j. The era of the royal family of God, or the dispensation of the Church is known as the “times of the Gentiles,” Luke 21:24; Ephesians 3:1-5; Colossians 1:25-29.

(1) Ephesians 1:8-10. “From which riches of grace He has made us super-rich by means of all wisdom and application, when He revealed to us the mystery of His will according to His gracious intention which He planned in Him with reference to the dispensation of the fullness of time, to gather under one head [Jesus Christ] the entire royal family in Christ, those who are in heaven and those who are on earth.”

(a) The riches of grace are provided for us so that we can become super-rich by means of wisdom. Wisdom is the application of metabolized doctrine.

(b) He revealed to us the mystery, for it is now in writing in the New Testament epistles.

(c) This is the dispensation of the fullness of times, because when this dispensation is completed, there will be a resurrection and rendezvous of the entire royal family of God for the first time in the air.

(2) Ephesians 3:2-3, “Inasmuch as you have heard about the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for your benefit, that through revelation the mystery doctrine was made known to me, just as I have already written briefly.” This dispensation benefits every believer. Never before in human history has there been something beneficial to every individual believer. But in this dispensation of grace, the grace of God reaches a maximum peak. No matter what your overt position and station in life, you have the greatest opportunity to become an invisible hero.

(3) Ephesians 3:8-9, “To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace has been given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches [wealth] of Christ, and to make known [perspicuous] to all [believers] what is the dispensation of the mystery, which has been concealed from the ages in God [Jesus Christ] who created all things.” Jesus Christ kept this information a secret until He came in the flesh. It is Jesus Christ who created all things, Colossians 1:16-17; John 1:3; Hebrews 1:10.

(4) Colossians 1:25-29, “In which [Church Age] I have become a minister on the basis of this dispensation from God which has been given to me for your benefit, that I might implement your deficiency of the Word of God; that is, the mystery which has been hidden from past ages [dispensations] and past generations, but is now revealed to the saints, to whom God has decreed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; which we solemnly communicate, warning and teaching every believer in all wisdom, that we might present every believer mature in Christ. For this reason, I also labor to the point of exhaustion, striving according to the enabling power which works in me in the power [divine dynasphere].” Jesus Christ indwells us as a guarantee of this wealth and its glory.

(5) 1Timothy 1:3-4, “As I exhorted you on my departure from Macedonia to remain in Ephesus, in order that you [Timothy] might instruct certain ones not to teach strange doctrines, nor occupy themselves with fictions or myths, and endless genealogies which promote controversies rather than promoting the dispensation from God which is associated with doctrine.”

(a) Timothy was left behind in Ephesus to be the pastor- teacher there during the interim between Paul and John.

(b) The greatest doctrinal teaching is dispensational teaching, which explains to you God’s plan for your life after salvation.

l. More Scripture for the dispensation of the Church is found in John 14-17; Matt 16:18.

m. This is the dispensation in which the ordinary man has the most fantastic privileges. This dispensation has more emphasis on the individual than any other age. The baptism of the Holy Spirit makes this era unique. You are a royal son of God.

n. One of the results of the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the fact that Jew and Gentile become one in Jesus Christ. Therefore, all distinctions between Jew and Gentile and between any Gentile races are erased. Gal 3:26-28, “For you are all the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ; you have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ.”

(1) “Clothing yourself with Christ” means you have put on the invisible robes of the royal family of God; you were baptized by the Holy Spirit into union with Christ.

(2) So there are no distinctions between Jews and Gentiles, even though the first occurrence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost involved Jews only.

(3) However, this does not imply that the Church Age is divided into two parts, falsely called the Jewish Church and the Gentile Church. This allegation, which is hyper-dispensationalism, ignores the fact that the baptism of the Holy Spirit erases all distinctions between Jew and Gentile.

(4) So the correct classification of distinctions in the Church Age is pre-Canon period and post-Canon period.

(5) Another result of the baptism of the Holy Spirit was spiritual gifts. The first function of apostleship was the message of Peter on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:14-47. The first function of the gift of tongues is recorded in Acts 2:1-11. Tongues was directed toward the Jews only; for its purpose was the evangelization of Jews in Gentile languages, a warning of the fifth cycle of discipline to come.

(6) Though passages teach that the baptism of the Holy Spirit destroys all distinctions in race, historically there was a matter of precedence at the beginning of the Church Age. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was given to the Jews first, Acts 2, and then to the Gentiles, Acts 10ff.

(7) Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first [historically], also to the Gentile.”

(8) But there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. All believers, regardless of race, have equal privilege and equal opportunity to fulfill the protocol plan of God.

(9) In both the pre-Canon and post-Canon period of the Church Age, the baptism of the Holy Spirit removes all racial distinctions, Ephesians 2:11ff.

(10) Paul was a Jew by race but a Gentile by citizenship, for he was born a Roman citizen, Acts 22:25-28. For this reason, Paul became the apostle to the Gentiles. Gal 2:9, “And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James, Cephas [Peter], and John, who were reputed to be the pillars, gave to me and to Barnabas the right hand of fellowship that we might go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcision.” None of the other apostles were equipped or qualified to go to the Gentiles. Only Paul and Barnabas understood the issue of no racial distinction.

(11) So the Church has never been divided into Jewish and Gentiles churches; the only division of the Church Age is pre- and post-Canon.

(12) By application of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we have no right to say that any believer is inferior or superior to any other believer.

o. The Church does not go through any part of the Tribulation. Therefore the important principle: God never mixes Israel and the Church. When one is operative, the other is not. Each dispensation has a separate plan and purpose. God’s plan for Israel was a ritual plan; God’s plan for the Church is a protocol plan.

p. This is the dispensation of the mystery and intercalation. The strategic victory of Christ on the cross brought the age of Israel to a halt temporarily. The Church Age or mystery age was inserted to provide a royal family for our Lord’s third royal patent. It is the period of the great parenthesis: Dan 2:40( )41, 7:23( )24, 8:22( )23, 11:35()36; Hosea 3:4( )5, 5:15( ) 6:1; Psalm 22:22( )23; Isaiah 61:2a( ). The Old Testament reveals all details of the First Advent but then skips to the

q. The characteristics of the Church Age: See the doctrine of the Uniqueness of the Church Age.

r. This is the only dispensation in which there is no prophecy, only historical trends. The only prophecy for this dispensation is in regard to its termini: the baptism of the Holy Spirit which began the Church Age, and the Rapture of the Church which ends it. In all other dispensations, historical trends are determined by prophecy. In this dispensation, historical trends are determined by the status of believers at any point in history.

G. Eschatalogical Dispensations. These are defined as the two dispensations which follow the Rapture of the Church, i.e., after the completion of the royal family of God. Eschatology begins with the Rapture of the Church. This is because the Church Age is a dispensation of historical trends with no prophecy.

a. This period goes from the Rapture of the Church to the Second Advent of Christ, approximately seven years. Revelation 6-19 gives the trends of history during this period.

b. This dispensation can also be called: Daniel’s 70th Week, the Time of Satan’s Desperation, and the Dispensation of the Greatest Power Struggle in all of human history because it involves not only people but angelic creatures as well. It is Satan’s last attempt to try to continue to rule the world.

c. The Tribulation is prophesied in the Old Testament: Jeremiah 30:4-8; Zech 14;1-9; Dan 9:26-27; Isaiah 34:1-6, 63:1-6; Dan 11:40-46; Ezekiel 38-39; Zech 12:1-3. It is prophesied by our Lord in Matthew

d. The Tribulation gathers up into seven short years all of man’s failures and intensifies them, so that a great portion of the earth’s population is destroyed by self-determination from bad decisions.

(4) Revelation 8-10, the trumpet judgments, which emphasize the problems with Gentiles.

(5) Revelation 11, the two Jewish witnesses with the message of salvation in the seventh trumpet.

(6) Revelation 12, the fall of Satan and the motivation for the Armageddon campaign.

f. Revelation 14:12 says that the means of salvation remains the same as in every other dispensation: personal faith in Jesus Christ.

g. The Tribulation is the time of the Devil’s desperation, the time when Satan seeks to destroy the Jewish population of the earth. Revelation 12-20 shows Satan making his last stand as the ruler of the world.

(2) Revelation 12:13-17, the great holocaust of the seventh trumpet: the attempt to destroy all Israel.

(4) Revelation 14, the victory of the plan of God and divine judgment during the time of the Devil’s desperation.

(5) Revelation 15-16, the divine judgment of planet earth, in which God eliminates many of those who are responsible for the terrible conditions on the earth. This covers the great Armageddon Campaign and the great world war of all time.

(6) Revelation 17-18, the function and judgment of ecumenical religion. Religion is always Satan’s greatest attack.

(7) Revelation 19-20:3, the termination of the Devil’s desperation occurs when he is imprisoned for 1000 years at the Second Advent.

a. This dispensation begins at the Second Advent and terminates with the last judgment and the destruction of planet earth. This dispensation has 1000 years of perfect environment.

b. The Scripture for this period is found throughout the Old Testament and New Testament: Isaiah 11, 35, 62, 65; Psalm 72; Zech 14:4-9; Revelation 20(:4).

(1) The Second Advent of Christ begins it all, which includes the deliverance of Israel, the restoration of Israel, and the baptism of fire by which all unbelievers are removed from the earth. It begins a civilization, which always begins with believers only.

(4) The release of Satan after that 1000 years results in Satan starting a conspiracy against perfect environment.

e. The Millennium was presented and rejected at the First Advent; this is the record of the Gospels.

f. The Millennium was postponed until the Second Advent because of the rejection of Christ by Israel.

g. The Millennium was plagiarized by Satan. He attempts to create perfect environment on the earth during the Tribulation through a political organization of two dictators and an ecumenical religious system.

h. The Millennium is finally proclaimed, first by an angelic herald, Revelation 10, and then by a human herald, Revelation 11.

i. The Millennium is finally provided by the Second Advent, Revelation 11:15-19, Revelation 19.

(1) Salvation continues to be through faith in Christ. There will be the greatest period of evangelism the world has ever known in the Millennium. The believers who go into the Millennium will be the basis for repopulating the earth.

(2) Spirituality is very different compared to any other dispensation. It is by the filling of God the Holy Spirit as in the Church Age, but its manifestation is quite different. The filling of the Spirit is manifest by ecstatics and emotion because Christ is personally present on the earth, Isaiah 65:24; Joel 2:28-29; Zech 14:16-17. This difference is because emotions are designed to enjoy what you see; i.e., to respond to all the empirical activities of your life. Since our Lord is absent during the Church Age, the filling of the Spirit now is non-emotional. Your emotions have no spiritual connotation at all.

(3) The Millennium begins with those judgments which are necessary to produce perfect environment on the earth. (a) The incarceration of Satan for 1000 years.

(5) The abolition of all religion. Religion is the greatest enemy even to good environment.

(6) The baptism of fire removes all unbelievers at the beginning of the Millennium: Jewish unbelievers in Ezekiel 20:34-38, and Gentile unbelievers in Matt 25:31-46. This begins both a new civilization and a new dispensation.

(1) There will be 1000 years of no war, no military, Psalm 46:9; Isaiah 2:4; Hosea 2:18; Micah 4:3. Our Lord’s power as the ruler of this world will abolish war. (But until then, Jesus warns us that there will always be war. Therefore, the only way to protect a nation now is through a strong military.)

(2) There will be international prosperity on the earth. Free enterprise will be the economic system, Psalm 72:7-16. There will be abundant food, no starvation or poverty, and no need for socialism.

l. There will be a universal knowledge of God. Everyone will know who is the ruler of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will also be presented as the Savior of the world, and that if one wants to perpetuate a relationship with Him, they must personally believe in Him, Isaiah 11:9. (4) There will long life. A child will live to be 100 years old. Most people will live throughout the Millennium. The only reason for death in the Millennium is in the function of capital punishment. (5) There will be perfect world government under the rulership of Christ, Isaiah 11:1-2; Zech 14:9. He will delegate national leadership and authority to Church Age believers who advance to spiritual maturity and who pass evidence testing. There will also be great judges who are Church Age mature believers. So there will be no bureaucrats; just leaders and rulers. So the invisible heroes of the Church Age will rule in resurrection bodies, 2Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:25,28, 3:21; 5:10,24,26. (6) Due to perfect environment with death taking a holiday and vigorous copulation, there will be a population explosion. But coming from a home of believer parents never guarantees anything. Many of those children will be unbelievers who reject Christ at the end of the Millennium, resulting in the Gog-Magog revolution. Environment is never the solution to anything. (7) Israel will be regathered and be given their unconditional covenants, Dan 9:24. Israel is restored as a client nation resulting in prosperity for all, Isaiah 5:26-30, 10:19-23, 11:11-16, 65:19; Joel 2:16f; Zech 8:20-23, 10:6-12. (8) The Millennium is a time of perfect environment in nature. Romans 8:19-20 says that nature will be released from the bondage of man’s sin. Isaiah 35:1-7 says plant life will abound. There will be no desert on the earth; it will all be totally beautiful. Animals will lose their ferocity, Isaiah 11:6-9, 65:25. l. Satan is released from jail after 1000 years and immediately finds those people who are dissatisfied with perfect environment. People are always dissatisfied with their environment, be it good or bad. This is because environment is never the solution to man’s problems. No environment can bring happiness. Yet man always wants more, thinking something in his environment can make him happy.

m. Therefore, Satan starts a revolution with all these dissatisfied unbelievers. This is the Gog revolution which is put down by our Lord.

n. Then comes the final judgments. Satan and all fallen angels are cast into the Lake of Fire forever. Then follows the Great White Throne judgment, in which all unbelievers from the beginning of history are resurrected, judged and cast into the Lake of Fire. The universe is then destroyed and a new heavens, new earth, and new Jerusalem are created for the occupancy of elect angels and the saved of mankind; a time of perfect everything.

b. The election of Christ is related to the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and the salvation plan of God.

c. The election of the Church is related to the new spiritual species and the great power experiment of the Church Age.

c. The election of the Church: Ephesians 1:4; 1Thessalonians 1:4; 2 Thess 2:13; 2Peter 1:3.

5. Election is defined as that computer asset which is the expression of the sovereign will of God for the royal family of God and/or the Church Age believer in eternity past.

7. The mechanics for the election of the Church is the baptism of the Holy Spirit which occurs at the moment of salvation.

8. The election of the Church includes something that has never existed in all of human history: equal privilege and equal opportunity. Equal privilege is your very own royal priesthood. Equal opportunity is your logistical grace support and blessing for both winners and losers alike.

9. Election cannot be divorced from predestination, which is the provision of the sovereignty of God in eternity past for every Church Age believer for his execution of the protocol plan of God. It provides equal privilege in positional sanctification from the baptism of the Holy Spirit, causing us to become royal family of God and positionally higher than angels. It provides equal opportunity in the divine provision of your very own palace, the operationa-type divine dynasphere, as the means of executing the protocol plan of God.

1. Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

2. The Old Testament dispensations looked forward to the cross, as taught in Israel by the Levitical Offerings, rituals which illustrated what Jesus Christ would do on the cross. Salvation was also taught by various holy days, such as the Feast of the Passover, the Day of Atonement, as well as by the articles of furniture in the Tabernacle, and by the direct statements of prophecy about the cross, e.g., Isaiah 53. The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union not only fulfilled all these prophecies and ritual types, but is also tells us they had content to believe for salvation. They definitely had a presentation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. The Church looks back the cross and therefore has a complete soteriology, including redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, unlimited atonement, etc.

4. The Good News of the Gospel has always existed, so that in every generation people have responded to the Gospel message. The pattern was set by Abraham. Genesis 15:6, “Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was imputed to him for righteousness.” This is confirmed by Romans 4:1-5, 9-16, 22-25.

5. The means of salvation in every dispensation is personal faith in Jesus Christ as He was revealed in that dispensation.

1. All these dispensations revolves around the Church Age. The Church Age is the greatest dispensation of opportunity that has ever existed.

2. Believers will survive both the disaster of the Tribulation and the prosperity of the Millennium. But never before has the grace of God provided so much for the individual believer as He has provided for you.

3. So you need neither doomsday nor prosperity for blessing. You can have both and still have fantastic blessing.

1. Israel always has a specialized priesthood; the Church has a universal priesthood. You are your OWN priest; you represent yourself before God. In privacy, you live your life as unto the Lord.

2. Israel had only a shadow Christology; the Church has an historical Christology. Israel looked forward to the cross; we look backward to the cross historically.

3. Israel operated under the ritual plan of God. We in the Church operate under the protocol plan of God.

4. Israel and the Church are both elected. But the election of Israel is related to the new racial species; the election of the Church is related to the new spiritual species.

5. Israel’s relationship with God is always related to their unconditional covenants. The Church is related to God in a unique way through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

6. Israel is related to the Old Testament Canon; the Church is related to the New Testament Canon.

7. Israel formed five Jewish client nations. Today in the Church Age there are only Gentile client nations.

8. Christ as the Shekinah Glory indwelt the Holy of Holies in the dispensation of Israel. Christ as the Shekinah Glory indwells the body of every believer in this dispensation. This is a fantastic difference; and one which gives great power and blessing to the believer who is positive toward doctrine.

9. In the dispensation of Israel, there was limited power from the Holy Spirit, called the doctrine of Enduement. Less than 1% of all Jewish believers had this limited power from the Holy Spirit. Today, all Church Age believers have both the indwelling of the Spirit in the body and the potential of being filled with the Holy Spirit inside the operational- type divine dynasphere, where the filling of the Spirit is the maximum 100% power of the Holy Spirit. It is an absolute, acquired by use of the rebound technique whereby you enter the divine dynasphere.

10. Spirituality in Israel was the function of the faith-rest drill. Spirituality in the Church Age is the filling of the Spirit.

11. Salvation in Israel was through faith in Jesus Christ as He was presented in the Tetragrammaton. Salvation today is faith in Jesus Christ as He is presented in a transliteration from the Greek: IESOUS CHRISTOS.

12. There were limited spiritual gifts in Israel; e.g., prophecy. Today every believer has a spiritual gift. When that spiritual gift is linked with the believer’s fulfillment of the protocol plan of God, it results in the greatest happiness and blessing that has ever existed.

13. No one in Israel had the fantastic problem solving devices that we have today. You have available four problem solving devices that give you a happiness that has never been known on the face of the earth, regardless of your status at any given time. You can be in prosperity or adversity, living or dying, and have this magnificent, fantastic happiness.

1. The divine decrees is the sum total of God’s plan designed in eternity past.

2. The plan centres around the person of Jesus Christ, as revealed from the commands of 1 John 3:23; Ephesians 1:4-6.

3. Entrance into the plan of God is based on the principle of grace whereby the sovereignty of God and the free will of man meet at the cross — and they meet without any merit on man’s part. Man is never benefited under God’s plan by his talent, his works, his thoughts, or his plans. Man is blessed on the basis of who and what God is and what God has provided through grace.

4. God’s plan was so designed in eternity past so as to include all events, actions, related to their causes and conditions as a part of an indivisible system, every link being a part of the integrity of the whole. The theological definition of the doctrine of divine decrees: The decree of God is His eternal, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be, in their causes, conditions, successions and relationships, and determining their certain futurition.

5. Without interfering with human volition in any way God has designed a plan so perfect that it includes cause and effect, directive, provision, preservation and function for all believers.

6. Under His plan God has decreed to do some things directly and some things through the agency of Israel and the Church, and some through individuals.

7. Therefore there are primary, secondary and tertiary functions within the plan of God, but all these constitute one great all-comprehensive plan, perfect, eternal, unchangeable, without loss of integrity.

8. The plan of God is consistent with human freedom. God does not limit or coerce human freedom, however a distinction should be made between what God causes, like the cross, and what God permits, like sin. God created man with free will, He permits human volition to function. This is how Adam sinned. God is not the author of sin, man’s volition is the source of sin in the human race. God cannot tempt or in any way authorise sin.

9. This demonstrates that man has free will. God never condones or causes sin in the human race, and in the perfect environment of the garden God warned man against sin and its consequences.

10. Distinction should be made between the divine decrees which are related to the plan of God in both design and action and divine laws which regulate human conduct and function in the universe. Divine laws include laws of nature, laws of divine establishment, laws of function for blessing in a national entity.

11. As a principle of logic God’s decrees do not arise from His foreknowledge. The foreknowledge of God makes nothing certain, it merely perceives in eternity past the things that are certain.

12. There is a difference between foreknowledge and foreordination. The decrees made certain, foreordination established certainty while foreknowledge does not. Nothing can be known until it is decreed — 1Peterer 1:2; Romans 8:29; Acts 2:23.

13. Therefore the elect are foreknown and the foreknown are elect. In other words, God knew ahead of time which way every free will would decide at any given point in history. This does not imply divine coercion. God’s plan, however, anticipates every decision of history. As free will decides so God decrees — John 3:36; 1 John 3:23.

14. Since God cannot contradict His own essence He plans the best for the believer. God is perfect, His plan and provision are perfect.

15. The cross was decreed in eternity past but the human volition of Christ decided for the cross at Gethsemane — Matthew 26:39, 42. God has provided salvation for you through the cross but it must be your free will choice in time — John 3:36.

16. No decree in itself opposes human freedom, but once a choice is made from your free will then your entrance into the plan of God by faith in Jesus Christ means that the function of the decrees does limit your human freedom while at the same time giving you your volition, your freedom to serve God. A believer, to have inner happiness, must choose to function under GAP. Malfunction under GAP means misery for him. Once you believe in Christ the divine decrees do limit you. They limit you to a life of taking in spiritual food, manna from heaven, Bible doctrine. And the more concentrated your intake the sooner you reach supergrace. The sooner you reach supergrace the sooner God is free to benefit you to the maximum. The supergrace life frees God to give you maximum blessing.

a. The decree of God is His eternal (always existed), holy (perfect integrity), wise (the application of omniscience to creation), and sovereign purpose, comprehending simultaneously all things that ever were or will be in their causes, conditions (status), successions (interaction with others that leads to certain decisions), relations, and determining their certain futurition.

(1) This definition begins by expressing the source of the decrees. "Comprehending" refers to divine omniscience.

(2) The definition also expresses the attributes of God in terms of divine will in human history.

(3) The definition emphasizes that the omniscience of God knew simultaneously in eternity past everything that would happen in human history (the thought, action, and decision of every person in his life), furthermore, everything in relation to all of the things pertaining to it.

b. The several contents of this one eternal purpose are, because of the limitations of our mentality and faculties, necessarily perceived by us in partial aspects and logical relations (from Scripture). Therefore, we classify the decrees as being plural, but in reality it is all one decree.

d. The decrees of God are His eternal and immutable will regarding the future existence of all events which will happen in time and the precise manner and order of their occurrence.

e. By decrees is meant the eternal plan by which God has rendered certain all of the events of the universe (angelic history, human history) past, present, and future.

f. The decrees of God are the chosen and adopted plan of God for all of His works.

g. The Presbyterian shorter catechism says: "The decrees of God are His eternal purpose according to the counsels of His own will whereby for His own glory He has foreordained whatever comes to pass."

h. The decrees are the all-inclusive will and purpose of God concerning all that ever was or will be, which originates wholely within Himself (omniscience), and which He Himself alone must have objectively designed for His own glory and for His satisfaction.

i. By accommodation to creatures of time and space subject to subdivisions reaching out to the falling of the sparrow, all decrees were simultaneous, not given by stages. However, because of the finite mental limitations of man, we must perceive them by logical and chronological progression. The human mind, when thinking properly, thinks according to logic and chronology.

j. All decrees are efficacious in that they determine all that ever was, all that is, and all that ever will be, but the decrees are viewed by man from two standpoints.

(1) Efficacious means that which is directly wrought by God from His sovereignty.

(2) Permissive means that which is appointed by God to be accomplished by secondary causes or by the free will and action of agents (the free will of man).

(1) The decrees are all-comprehensive. That means that not the slightest uncertainty could exist as to one of the smallest or most insignificant of events without confusion to all. Therefore, all events in the life of every person are interwoven and interdependent. God is not the author of confusion. Everything you think, why you think it, and the environment in which you think it, was all known to God in eternity past. This also says everything in life is a chain of cause and effect events.

(2) The decrees are eternal. God is not gaining in knowledge. What God has known at any time He has always known. Omniscience means God knew simultaneously everything that ever was or will be in their causes, conditions, successions, and relations.

(3) God is perfect; therefore, His decrees are perfect. They are not perfect in content, because they include sin, failure, etc. But everything that would ever happen was always known to God. His is a perfect system of comprehension.

(4) The decrees are unchangeable and certain. Nothing can possibly occur to necessitate a change. God is never "caught" not knowing something. God has never had to make any changes or any adjustments in the divine decrees.

(5) The decrees are the free choice of God in eternity past. (This is the most important point to understand, one which many theologians do not understand.) God is not bound to follow any necessary path. Having decreed, however, He is bound by His infinite faithfulness and truth to complete what He has begun. The free choice of God is very important, because God, from His own sovereign volition, invented free will in two categories of creatures, angels and mankind, so that both categories can choose for or against God.

l. Eph 2:10, "For we are His production [we have the provision of computer assets in our very own portfolio; i.e., election and predestination], having been created in Christ Jesus [the formation of the royal family of God and a new spiritual species resulting in positional sanctification by which every believer becomes the heir of God and has equal privileges under predestination] for good achievements [in momentum in the divine dynasphere as a part of equal privilege of election] which God has prepared in advance [divine provision of your portfolio of invisible assets], that we should walk by means of them [utilization of our computer assets]."

m. The decrees of God are His eternal purpose regarding you according to the counsels of His own wisdom and His sovereign will, whereby for His own glory (we are created for His own glory) He has programmed into the computer decrees all that will come to pass in the function of the human race in history. In the decrees, the sovereignty of God and free will of man coexist in human history.

(1) Inasmuch as the decrees were simultaneously known by God, they were simultaneously decreed by God. To appreciate the decrees, one must understand the nature of omniscience as a part of divine essence.

(2) Of all the decrees, five are related to the purpose of God in election. Therefore, they are called in election the five elective decrees. From this comes the concept of lapsarianism.

(3) The decrees must be in logical order. This is the subject of the doctrine of lapsarianism. Though the entire decree is one thought in the mind of God, the principle of cause and effect is involved in human thinking and understanding. The term lapsarian refers to the doctrine of divine decrees from the standpoint that man is a fallen being.

(4) Lapsarianism provides the logical order for the five elective decrees. (See the doctrine of Lapsarianism.) The correct logical order is:

(d) The decree to motivate by means of election and glorify God through the deposit of escrow blessings.

(e) The simultaneous decrees of election and predestination, and to apply salvation to those who believe in Christ. The Bible states that man is the object of grace after, not before, the fall in John 15:9, Romans 11:5-7; Ephesians 1:4-6; 1Peter 1:2.

a. The distinction between the decree and the execution of the decree in our thinking means the one logically follows the other. However, the execution itself is not a part of the decree itself. The decree occurred in eternity past, the execution occurs in human history. The false views of lapsarianism fail to take cognition of this.

b. Distinction should be made between God's laws and God's decrees. Laws regulate human conduct, while decrees are God's plan and action in eternity past. Laws can be broken; the decrees of God can never be broken.

c. Distinction between God's desires, like election, and the rejection of God's desires must be understood. God knows all your negative acts but doesn't interfere with your free will; for this would prevent the angelic conflict from ever being settled.

(1) For example, while sin and death are displeasing to God and incompatible with His divine nature, nevertheless, they belong to the decrees under the category of the fall of man.

(2) For example, while loser believers are displeasing to God and incompatible with His sovereign will, nevertheless, they belong to the decrees, having a printout from their PROM chip. We all have a PROM chip with our name on it, expressing our positive or negative volition toward God's sovereign will for our lives.

a. God's eternal and sovereign will for every believer is expressed in the Romans chip, having printouts such as election, glorification, justification, and predestination.

b. In further explanation, the decrees of God are pictured as a giant computer, and the omniscience of God feeds the facts into the computer.

(1) The Romans chip is the sovereignty of God chip. It is an integrated circuit into which unchanging data can be read, but into which no new data can be written, a perfect illustration of God's knowledge of history in eternity past. Romans stands for "read only memory."

(2) The PROM chip is the free will of man chip. PROM stands for "programmable read only memory." It is an integrated circuit with fixed data that can be read but not altered.

(3) By analogy, your life can be read but not altered. You have privacy and can make good or bad decisions.

(4) The entering of data is performed after the PROM chip is manufactured. The omniscience of God programmed into this PROM chip how you would function in time.

(5) All PROM chips contain data regarding the function of the free will of man in history. He fed the facts simultaneously in eternity past. The facts include everything you ever think, decide, or do in the past, present, and future. This doesn't tamper with your free will.

c. All logistical grace, and those who would be blessed and their blessings, were fed into the computer decrees. God knew every problem, heartache, and situation you would face before you ever existed. (Therefore, you insult God when you pray "God help," as if He didn't already know you needed help.)

d. The computer of decrees prints out facts about believers under the categories of election, foreknowledge, predestination, justification and glorification. It also prints out facts on the unbeliever under the categories of reprobation, condemnation and retribution.

a. The decrees of God are the sum total of God's plan designed in eternity past relating to all events of every classification collected into one single all-comprehensive whole through the omniscience of God. The decrees of God are His plan, His protocol plan.

b. The omniscience of God is the key to understanding the decrees. God has three categories of divine knowledge.

(1) Self-knowledge. Each person of the Godhead has infinite and eternal knowledge about Himself and the other two members of the Trinity.

(2) Omniscience. God knows all the knowable simultaneously about creatures, both the actual and the possible, but only the actual is programmed into the decrees.

(3) Foreknowledge. It merely acknowledges what is in the decrees but does not make anything certain; the believer still has free will that is uncoerced. (See the doctrine of Predestination.)

a. Election is the sovereign right of God over His creation. It is the expression of the sovereign will of God for believers only in eternity past, i.e., that you have the most fantastic blessings for time and eternity. Ephesians 1:4, "Since He Himself has elected us in Him before the foundation of the world." The decrees begin with election. provides

b. Election and predestination provide equal privilege and equal opportunity for all believers.

(1) The equal privilege of election is God's decision to make every Church Age believer a royal priest forever.

(2) The equal opportunity of election is God's provision of logistical grace support for every Church Age believer.

(3) The equal privilege of predestination is God's decision to enter every Church Age believer into union with Christ forever through the baptism of the Holy Spirit and resultant positional sanctification. This creates a new spiritual species.

(4) The equal opportunity of predestination is God's provision of the divine dynasphere for the Church Age believer in time.

a. Example: If the decrees make all things certain, then some say there is no occasion for man to use means, being unable to avoid the results decreed. In other words, why use any means if you are going to end up under predestination in the same situation?

b. This ignores the fact that God has decreed the means as well as the ends, and that all God expresses in election is His desire that we all be rich from blessing.

c. Man's destiny is the outworking of his own thinking, motivation, thinking, and decisions, which God knew and entered into a PROM chip. God knows all, yet that does not interfere with your PROM chip. God's knowledge of the facts does not interfere with their outworking in time.

d. The decree of God removes no man from what, within the sphere of his own experience, is the outworking of his own choice, acting from his own judgment, based on his own desires, thoughts and circumstances. Whatever free will choice anyone makes is the execution of the decrees. No decree opposes human freedom. God's knowledge in eternity past in no way effects or interferes with our thoughts, motives, decisions, or actions. Knowing our failures, God went ahead with the plan anyway; that's grace.

e. All decrees are efficacious in that they certainly determine all that ever was or will be. However, there are both efficacious decrees, things which God does directly, and permissive decrees, things which God permits as the function of free will.

f. Some things God has decreed to do Himself. That is called immediacy. Others things come to pass through the action of secondary causes acting under the law of necessity. Other things He decreed free will agents to do in the exercise of their volition. Yet one category is rendered by the decree of God as certainly free as the other. Mankind never acts outside of the decrees.

a. The Omniscience of God. The omniscience of God is God's objective knowledge of the universe and all creatures.

(1) God is eternal; therefore, His knowledge is eternal. God is sovereign, His knowledge is superior, and not related to human or angelic limitations.

(2) God is infinite; therefore, His knowledge is without boundary or limitation, hence, absolute and eternal knowledge. His knowledge is infinitely superior to creature knowledge.

(4) Time has nothing to do with God's knowledge. The future is as perspicuous as the past.

(5) All of God's knowledge is simultaneous. God knows perfectly, eternally, and simultaneously all that is knowable both actual and possible. There never was a time in eternity past or human history when God did not know all the knowable about everything. Such perception and sagacity is totally compatible with His divine essence. Every minute detail of both angelic and human creation is completely and perfectly in His mind at all times.

(6) God's knowledge is never irrational, speculative, theoretical, unknown, or forgotten.

(1) God is eternally Himself in three coequal, co-infinite, and coeternal persons. Therefore, each person in the Godhead knows Himself to be beyond comparison in His eternal and absolute knowledge of all things.

(2) God's knowledge is never complicated by ignorance, absurdities, or emotional reaction.

(3) God cannot change or be inaccurate in His knowledge. Divine knowledge is absolute.

(5) While divine self-knowledge is related to the persons of the Godhead, omniscience is really divine knowledge related to creatures- angelic, human, and the animal kingdom.

(1) Self-knowledge, which includes knowledge of the divine essence, the other members of the Trinity, and all things related to God.

(2) Omniscience, which deals with creation, angelic and human, both actual and possible.

(3) Foreknowledge, which is knowledge of what is in the decrees related to believers only. The foreknowledge of God makes nothing certain, but merely acknowledges what is certain; what is in the decrees regarding believers.

(a) As far as believers are concerned, there are numerous categories of printouts from the computer decrees: foreknowledge, election, predestination or foreordination, justification, and glorification.

(b) Foreknowledge means nothing can be known until it is first decreed. Therefore, God foreknows all events as certainly future because He has decreed them as certainly future.

(c) God's decrees relate equally to all future events of every kind; to the free actions of moral agents as well as to the actions of necessary agents; to sin evil and human good, as well as to moral, divine good, and honorable thoughts, decisions, and actions.

(d) Foreordination or predestination alone establishes certainty. Foreordination is a synonym for the decrees. Predestination is technically the printout for believers.

(e) Foreordination is an act of the infinitely intelligent and wise God in determining the certain futurition of all events. Omniscience decreed everything simultaneously and not by stages, because it was all in the omniscience of God in eternity past.

(1) Under the omniscience of God, all decrees were simultaneously known to God and simultaneously decreed by God in eternity past. There never was a time when God did not know all the knowable.

(2) God knows perfectly, eternally, and simultaneously all that is knowable both actual and possible. The omniscience of God also knows the alternatives to history; i.e., "iffy" history. God knows exactly what would have happened had another course of action occurred, but this is not entered into the computer decrees. Therefore, the omniscience of God knows every thought, act, decision of history and how they relate, plus what the alternatives would have been. God knows all that would have been involved in every case where man's decision might have been different from what it was. Divine knowledge about creatures is programmed into the computer of divine decrees. While the possible and alternatives to reality are known to God, only the reality is programmed into the computer of divine decrees. There are two categories of memory chips in the computer of divine decrees: the Romans chips are programmed by the sovereignty of God, the PROM, or free will of man chips, are programmed by the omniscience of God.

(a) In human history, the sovereignty of God and the free will of man coexist, and this coexistence is by divine decree.

(b) God's knowledge of human volition has nothing to do with the function of that human volition in time. This is why God does not stop you from making bad decisions. God invented creature freedom.

(c) The omniscience of God simply knows and has always known every decision of every human beings in history and every thought that preceded it and every motive that was involved as well as every action that followed.

(d) God knew billions and billions of years ago that Isaac would believe in Jesus Christ and Ishmael would not. Therefore, the printout for Isaac's PROM chip is regeneration and true Israel, and the printout for Ishmael's PROM chip is condemnation and exclusion from the new racial species of Israel. Every human being, in the same way, has his very own PROM chip.

(a) In addition to every person in history having his own PROM chip, there is another PROM chip which includes all human beings in history. The omniscience of God programmed into this PROM chip all personal sins in history. On the Cross, God the Father called for the printout of this chip and imputed all personal sins to Christ and judged every one of them. Since both sins of cognizance and sins of ignorance are the function of human volition, every sin in human history was imputed to Christ and judged by God the Father on the Cross.

(b) The sovereignty of God and free will of man coexist by divine decree in human history. Even though God gives a perfect volition, He imputes Adam's original sin to the genetically formed old sin nature for condemnation at the point of physical birth, so that we are qualified for salvation automatically.

e. Therefore, omniscience perceives the free as free (God will never tamper with your volition), the necessary as necessary (divine justice as our point of reference), together with all their causes, conditions, and relations, as one indivisible system of things (every cause and effect is related to another cause and effect, and so on, so that the course of human history is just as man thinks it, wills it, and does it), every link of which is essential to the integrity of the whole.

c. The decrees have become the complete and consummated right of the sovereignty of God determining the certain futurition of all things in human history.

e. But the decree itself provides in every case that the events shall be effected by causes acting in a manner consistent with the nature of the event in question. (You are never deprived of your free will.) God never changes the decree of what will happen and never tampers with your actions.

f. Therefore, in the case of every free will act of a moral agent, the decree itself provides at the same time the following.

(1) That the agent shall be a free agent (self-determination). When you were given life, you were given self-determination. Therefore, you are accountable for your own bad decisions.

(2) That the antecedents and all antecedents of every act in question shall be what they shall be. Whenever you make a decision it shall be the result of decisions before that. The circumstances will be what they are, the facts will be what they are, and God knows what you're thinking and will decide. Man's acts are a result of man's free will, not because the sovereignty of God causes man to perform the act.

(3) That all present conditions of the act shall be what they are. The action takes place in a moment of time and is your very own act.

(4) That the act shall be perfectly spontaneous and free on the part of the agent. There is no coercion.

h. Because God cannot contradict His own nature or His being, the essence and attributes of God necessitated His willing the highest and best for mankind.

i. The decrees of God are His eternal and immutable will regarding the future existence of events which will happen in time and the precise manner and order of their occurrence. The decisions are made, the circumstances are all there on tape; we just see things as they unfold in history. We know how it's going to turn out, but it's still fun watching things unroll. Your life is on tape, and the tape is running. God wouldn't be God if He didn't know it all beforehand. Yet God never violates your volition.

j. The decrees express the eternal plan and will of God by which God has rendered certain all events of history, past, present and future.

k. Therefore, the decrees are eternal and simultaneous knowledge of omniscience expressing the will of God by which all things are brought into being and controlled, made subject to His divine pleasure, and result in His eternal glory.

a. The printout applying to believers includes election, foreknowledge, predestination or foreordination.

b. Foreordination is also known as predetermination. Predetermination is an act of the infinite and eternal omniscience of God determining the certain futurition of all events related to the believer.

c. Foreknowledge is not the same as omniscience. It is more limited because it deals with only the actual, and only with believers.

d. Being omniscient, God knows all that would have been involved had He adopted any one of an infinite number of plans of action as well as the consequences had man chosen alternatives.

e. Foreknowledge refers only to those things which are within the plan of God, adopted for the believers only.

f. The decree alone establishes certainty. Nothing could be foreknown until it was first decreed.

g. Therefore, God's decrees never originate with His foreknowledge. The logical order is: omniscience, foreordination (the decree), then foreknowledge. The decrees make all things certain, not foreknowledge.

(1) Election is the key to the Jewish problem related to the four unconditional covenants.

(2) These promises can only be fulfilled to the elect, to those who believe in Christ. There lies the great problem in every generation of Israel: to possess the genes of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but not to follow them in regeneration.

(a) Rom 9:11-12, "For though his twins had not yet been born, and had not accomplished anything good or evil, in order that the predetermined plan of God might stand on the basis of election, not because of works, but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, `The older will serve the younger.'" God knew in eternity past that Jacob would believe in Christ for salvation and Esau, his twin brother, would not believe.

(b) Heb 12:17,"For you know that even afterwards, when he [Esau] desired to inherit the blessings, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind, though he sought for it with tears." Esau's scar tissue of the soul completely clogged up his stream of consciousness and garbage in subconscious finished the job of blocking gospel information from circulating in his soul. All he had left was emotion, and emotion will not save anyone. In eternity past, God the Father entered this information into the computer of the divine decrees. Crying for salvation is an insult to the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

(c) Regeneration sets aside the order and precedence of physical or natural birth. There is no equality in biological life, but in the soul life created by God at birth, there is equal privilege and equal opportunity for every member of the human race to believe in Christ and have spiritual life. No one is handicapped by biological life because God provides equality of opportunity to believe in Christ.

(d) Heb 4:13, "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."

(3) The gracious unconditional promises can only be fulfilled to the elect, to those who at the moment of faith in Christ receive the imputations of perfect righteousness and eternal life.

1. There is one all-inclusive will and purpose of God concerning all there ever was or will be from the beginning of history until its termination.

2. This will and purpose of God originated within Himself long before any creature ever existed.

3. This means the will and purpose of God related to the decrees is designed for the glory, pleasure, and satisfaction of God.

4. All creatures have been placed into space and time. Furthermore, all events related to space and time were simultaneously decreed. They result in divine action.

a. Related to the Godhead, these actions are immanent, intrinsic, and subjective.

b. Related to creation, these actions of God are extrinsic (cognizant of angelic and human volition), transient (chronological in their function), and objective (the function of divine justice as the point of reference for the human race).

5. God did not decree Himself to be. God eternally existed before and outside of the decrees. Therefore, the decrees do not act upon God, but God acts upon the decrees.

6. God's decrees are efficacious, determining all that ever was or will be, including the directive, permissive, and overruling will of God.

7. All things depend on God's will and nothing is certain apart from God's will. There comes a point in theology where God's will and the decrees must be understood as synonymous.

8. God's decrees originate from His own omniscience in eternity past separating fact from fiction.

9. Therefore, distinction must be made between the omniscience of God and the foreknowledge of God.

b. The foreknowledge of God makes nothing certain; it merely perceives what is certain, what is decreed. Only the decrees or foreordination makes anything certain.

c. Therefore, nothing can be foreknown until it is first decreed. This means you never have to run to God and say, "Oh God! Help!"

10. Distinction has to be made between the decrees of God and the desires of God. The decrees include a lot of things which are not God's desires, because the decrees include all things you think, say or do. Many things in the decrees are not the desires of God.

a. Sin, human good, and evil are not the desires of God but are in the decrees because they are performed by our free will.

b. God desires His perfect will and sovereignty, but both angelic and human creatures use their God-given free will and self-determination to violate the desires of God. So the decrees contain both the will of God and desires of God. The decrees are the all-inclusive will of God.

c. God does not desire to cast His creatures into the lake of fire forever, but it is so decreed under the printout of retribution for all who express negative volition at God-consciousness and at Gospel hearing.

d. God does not desire the discipline of believers, but it is decreed for all carnality and reversionism.

1. All imputations are the organization for the plan of God. There are seven imputations in the plan of God.

a. Human life is imputed to the soul. It remains in the soul forever. This means children and morons who do not reach or cannot reach the age of accountability receive automatic salvation. Since condemnation precedes salvation, they must be condemned before they can be saved.

b. Adam's original sin is imputed to the old sin nature, automatically condemning each member of the human race at birth.

c. At the point of faith in Christ, eternal life is imputed to the human spirit, created by God the Holy Spirit (called regeneration). This provides eternal security, since once given, God can never take away eternal life.

d. Perfect righteousness is imputed as a judicial imputation to the believer at salvation. This creates a grace pipeline for the imputation of all blessing to the believer.

e. On the cross the sins of the world were imputed to Jesus Christ in His spiritual death.

f. Blessing in time is imputed to perfect righteousness previously imputed to the believer when the believer cracks the maturity barrier.

g. Blessing for eternity is imputed to the believer's perfect righteousness at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

2. Equation of imputation plan of God. X [ I/HL + I/AOS = P1 (salvation) + doctrine (gospel) = H1 (confidence of imputation of eternal life at salvation)] + (salvation) Y [JI/Sin + JI/+R = P2 (potential of blessing in time) + doctrine = Hope 2 (confidence in escrow bless when we reach maturity)] + (maturity) Z [ I/EL (+ in X radical) + I/Blessing in time ( + in Y radical) = P3 (the potential of blessing at the Judgment Seat of Christ) + doctrine = H3] = the protocol plan or imputation plan of God.

a. The omniscience of God in taking cognizance of the fall of man graciously provided a plan based on imputations from divine justice.

b. This plan involves the omniscience of God feeding into the computer of divine decrees seven imputations which provide maximum blessing for mankind in time and eternity.

c. The decrees contain the historical reality of every member of the human race in degree of attainment.

d. Non-meritorious human volition can fall short of any potential of God's plan.

e. To what extent every individual advances in this plan was known to the omniscience of God in eternity past and fed into the computer.

f. In too many cases the potential exceeds the reality. Only the reality was decreed.

g. From this fact emerges the principle that the attainment of divine blessing through imputation is the means God has chosen to glorify Himself and to give Himself pleasure.

h. Therefore, the glory of God is related to the believer's advance to maturity and resultant imputation of divine blessing.

1. The decrees unite in one final and all-inclusive objective the glory of God, Proverbs 16:4; Romans 11:36; Hebrews 2:10; Revelation 4:11.

2. Being alone before all creation, the decrees of God concern no one but the members of the Trinity and their eternal glory. There is nothing you can do to promote God's glory. You can glorify God, but you cannot promote His glory. Your failure doesn't stop His glory. Nothing depends on you; everything depends on God.

3. Being eternal and infinite, God the Father, Son, and Spirit are worthy of all glory.

4. God's glory is what He is and always has been in eternity past, and always will be.

5. As the origin and subject of the divine decrees, it is inevitable that every thought, decision, and action in history will glorify God. That means the plan moves on with or without you. The plan of God never stops moving. If you are to advance along with the glory of God, you must develop thought, i.e., learn doctrine.

7. Since manifestation of His declarative glory also secures the highest glory for His creatures and their greatest good (Rom 8:28), it is inevitable that imputing blessing to the mature believer will glorify God. It will emphasize His grace and exclude human talent and human good.

8. To the finite mind the decrees are many, but to God they are all one plan, embracing both cause and effect, both means and end.

9. The decrees include every detail in the experience of every creature, including such minute aspects as the very hairs of your head being numbered.

10. The decrees of God related to His plan are those sovereign purposes of God which are efficacious, accomplished by God alone apart from creature ability, mentality, talent, function, and sacrifice.

11. Therefore, God is glorified and pleased in the momentum and advance of believers within His plan.

12. The omniscience of God knew in eternity past what thoughts, decisions, and actions would carry one believer to maturity and another to reversionism. God has prepared the most magnificent things for both categories by way of escrow blessing, but He has also prepared the most horrible discipline for the reversionistic believer.

13. While omniscience knew the factual and potential, only the factual was fed into the decrees. Foreknowledge only knows what omniscience feeds into the decrees. Anything decreed by God will inevitably glorify God; it could not work out any other way.

1. God does not decree mankind to sin, but He decrees that human beings have free will function of their volition with the option to sin or not to sin.

2. God does not decree anyone to believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life, but He does decree that all human beings have free will-the function of human volition with the option of believing in Christ or rejecting Christ.

3. While God permits sin, He does not sponsor sin. God was cognizant of all human sins in eternity past and the omniscience of God fed that knowledge of sin into the computer of divine decrees without being the cause of any sin in human history.

4. While God permits the rejection of Christ as savior, He does not sponsor it or encourage that rejection. In human history, the sovereignty of God and free will of man coexist as an extension of and resolving of the prehistoric angelic conflict.

5. At the termination of human history, the justice of God will judge all those who reject Christ as savior.

6. The justice of God imputed all personal sins of human history to Christ on the Cross and judged each one of them. This is the basis for the divine invitation to every member of the human race to believe in Christ.

a. Repeated rejection of Christ, when exposed to the gospel, produces scar tissue in the stream of consciousness of the soul's right lobe.

b. Esau rejected the gospel so many times that when he wanted to be saved, there was nothing left in his stream of consciousness except emotion.

c. No one can be saved by emotion. Salvation is a matter of faith in Christ and how you feel is inconsequential.

d. The decree of God removes no person from what-within the sphere of his own experience-is the outworking of his own choice based on the function of his own volition.

7. Under the law of volitional responsibility, sin is a matter of personal decision and such decision carries a liability in time.

a. Under the law of volitional responsibility, every human being must take the responsibility for his own thoughts, his own decisions, and his own actions.

b. Human volition is the source of good decisions from a position of wisdom and strength, as well as bad decisions from a position of lust and weakness.

c. While all personal sins were judged on the Cross, all sins and evil decisions have natural consequences of suffering in life, therefore, liability.

d. While all sins were judged on the Cross, personal sins carry liability in time (not in eternity, since personal sins are not an issue in eternity at the Last Judgment) and are subject to the law of volitional responsibility.

e. The function of human volition in making decisions is the source of the sins of ignorance as well as the sins of cognizance. Therefore, each of us is held responsible by God for his or her own decisions.

(1) Gal 6:7, "Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap."

(2) Hos 8:7, "For they sow to the wind, and they reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it yields no grain. Should it yield, strangers would swallow it up."

(3) Col 3:25, "For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of that wrong which he has done, and there is no partiality."

(4) Prov 12:13, "An evil snare is the transgression of the lips, but the person with integrity will escape from trouble."

(5) Prov 19:3, "A person's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the Lord." A fool blames God for his own bad decisions and consequent discipline from the Lord.

(2) Therefore, while all sins are judged at the Cross, personal sins carry liability from God under the law of volitional responsibility.

(3) However, at the Great White Throne judgment, the unbeliever is never indicted on the basis of his sins because his sins were judged at the Cross, but on the basis of his good deeds. You cannot commit a sin without it effecting someone else, without it hurting someone else. The liability for personal sins does not extend outside of time. Sin is not a liability outside of time, i.e., in eternity. Therefore, there is no contradiction between your liability for personal sins in time and the judgment of all personal sins on the Cross.

(4) Rom 9:10-13 is a printout of the divine decrees, where the omniscience of God knew simultaneously in eternity past that Jacob would believe in Christ and Esau would reject Christ to the point of developing maximum scar tissue.

8. In the function of the rebound technique of 1John 1:9, the purpose is to recover fellowship with God and to recover the filling of the Holy Spirit through citing personal sins to God the Father. As a result, two things can happen to the believer with regard to the liability of sin: the believer is forgiven and the sin liability is completely removed, or the believer is forgiven and the sin liability continues and punitive suffering is replaced by suffering for blessing.

9. The decree of God removes no person from what-within the sphere of his own experience-is the outworking of his own choice based on the function of his own volition.

10. The plan of God and the decrees of God are totally consistent with human freedom and volition. God does not limit and coerce human freedom or violate self-determination. Free will isn't free unless man can decide against God and His plan.

11. However, distinction must be made between what God causes directly (such as the Cross), and what God permits indirectly (such as sin and evil).

12. God created man with a free will. Therefore, He permits human volition to function in self-determination; otherwise, there would not have been the fall of man. It is His permissive will. The permissive will is just as much a part of the decrees which glorify God as the directive will. Remember the decrees are simply human history in the mind of God in eternity past before any creature existed.

13. God is not the author of sin or evil. Free will and self- determination is the origin and source of sin, good, and evil.

14. Both sin and the cross are fed into the computer by omniscience. One is the direct will of God. The other is the permissive will of God. But the permissive, directive, and overruling will of God are all a part of the decrees.

15. The sovereignty of God and the free will of man coexist by divine decree. Every decision and desire of God and man were recorded on Romans and PROM chips respectively. Omniscience programs this data into the decrees.

1. Since the decrees of God are the sum total of God's plan and indicate His purpose designed in eternity past, they must inevitably center around Jesus Christ as the God-man.

2. Therefore, the free will of man must face the issue of Christ, the issue of His work on the cross; for it is at the cross that the sovereignty of God met the free will of man for the glory of God and the momentum of the plan of God.

3. Under the divine policy of grace, the work of salvation is accomplished by God while man benefits apart from his own human merit.

4. God's plan in eternity past was so designed so as to include all events, all actions related to their causes and conditions as a part of one indivisible system, every link being a part of the integrity of the whole.

5. Without violating human volition, God has provided and designed a plan so perfect that it includes direction, provision, preservation, function, plus cause and effect for all believers.

6. Under this plan God has decreed to do some things directly, some things through secondary agencies (Israel and the Church), and some things through individuals (e.g., Paul).

7. This means there are primary, secondary and tertiary functions within the plan of God. But all of these functions constitute one all-comprehensive plan which is perfect, eternal, and unchangeable without any loss of integrity ever. This is why the plan of God is so consistent with human freedom and does not unfairly coerce human freedom. The revelation of the decrees is found only in the Bible. Therefore, the most important priority of the Christian life is perception of doctrine.

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1. God has ordained certain laws for the survival and freedom of the human race during the course of human history. Anarchy exists when segments of nations ignore these laws. The laws of divine establishment provide the freedom to fulfill the divine plan as ordained in the divine decrees under many types of government. Christianity works with nearly every form of government but democracy.

2. The laws of divine establishment are designed and directed toward both believer and unbeliever.

3. They operate from the fall of man to the Second Advent, as well as in the Millennium with some modifications in compatibility with perfect environment.

4. These laws directly affect freedom, civilization, authority, evangelism, spiritual growth, and perpetuation of the human race. They are as important to us as members of the human race as is the law of gravity.

5. The laws of divine establishment define freedom in terms of privacy, property and authority. There is no such thing as blessing, happiness, the enjoyment of life or freedom without authority. All systems of freedom function under authority. We all are free to drive, with a variety of competency levels. Authority allows for this.

6. Both the privacy of the individual and the function of legitimate authority are necessary for the function of human freedom.

7. Therefore, the four divine institutions, volition, marriage, family, and nationalism are the basis for the laws of divine establishment.

8. God also has divine laws for angels and nature. All these laws are designed to resolve the angelic conflict using an inferior creature, man.

a. The soul is prepared for us by God. It is the house for human life. The body is the house for the soul. The justice of God imputes human life to the soul; human life resides in the soul forever. No one can remove human life from the soul. This is the doctrine of human security.

b. We have two sets of laws, establishment and the royal family honor code under which we are required to function. With both functioning in the believer's life, he has great capacity for life, integrity, and enough doctrine to reach maturity.

c. The soul is made up of self-consciousness, mentality, emotion, and volition as the authority of the soul.

d. Human volition must have freedom and privacy for proper function. Your soul has privacy since it is hidden in the skull. We must have privacy if we are to exercise our volition. We must have privacy for freedom.

e. Divine establishment provides freedom and privacy for those who do not violate criminal law. Criminals should have no freedom or privacy. They have forfeited their right of privacy.

f. While people are not born equal or live in equality, they must have freedom of choice and the right to live in a free society pursuing a course of action compatible with their own aspirations or lack of the same. You have a right to go as far as your abilities and motivations will take you. No government has a right to destroy your motivation by saying you are greater than you are, or by providing everything for you.

g. Variation in human ability, both inherent and acquired, does not preclude freedom and freedom of decision in adult persons.

h. All normal persons have the option of positive or negative volition at God-consciousness, plus the freedom to accept or reject Jesus Christ at Gospel hearing.

i. Freedom is the basis for true evangelism. Follow up is not authorized for those who attend church or visit a church. Friends who approach you after walking down an aisle is a violation of your privacy.

l. Freedom cannot exist without privacy and authority. Therefore, the importance of establishment in human history is emphasized. Exceptions exist, such as slavery in the Roman Empire, where a slave was free to come and go. It is possible to live under slavery, be evangelized, and advance to maturity. After salvation, slaves were to remain slaves; and free remained free. There were such excellent laws of divine establishment in Rome that slaves could move about freely.

a. Monogamy, a permanent relationship between one man and one woman, is ordained of God to remind mankind that He has from the beginning a design called right man - right woman. Genesis 1:26:27, 5:1-2, 2:18-25; 1Corinthians 7:2-4.

b. When Jesus Christ created Adam He said, "not good that man should be alone." Therefore God provided the female. Jesus Christ constructed Adam's right woman. Their relationship, established in the garden, was continued after the fall. It has never been cancelled in any generation.

c. Marriage is the most basic and fundamental organization in the human race. Even the unbeliever, whose life is a total failure, can have great temporary happiness by marrying the right woman, no homosexuality Ecclesiastes 9:9.

d. The analogy to the monogamous relationship and our relationship to Christ is found in Ephesians 5:26-33.

e. Under the authority of the laws of divine establishment, the right man - right woman relationship becomes the normal, legitimate expression of category two love, 1Corinthians 7:9; 1Timothy 5:14; Ephesians 5:22, 23, 28, 33; Hebrews 13:4.

f. Marriage is the beginning of authority in life for adults. The husband has all the authority; there are no exceptions or rationalizations. Violations of a principle do not change the principle. For example, God continues to use the local church no matter how badly it fails. We cannot deny the principle of marriage just because we've made a bad marriage. Violations of a principle does not change the principle.

g. Marriage is one of the greatest areas of mistakes in life because of emotion and authority. You have to be rational in both response and function.

h. Marriage is the basis for stability in society and for the formation of civilization.

i. Marriage rejects the theory of revolution, anarchy, promiscuousness, or communal living. It is the protection for the home where the parents exercise authority over the children.

a. Physical birth and the imputation of human life, plus the imputation of Adam's original sin, finds the human baby both helpless and hopeless. Condemnation from God occurs immediately. Therefore, our personal sins do not condemn us and are free to be imputed to our Lord on the cross.

b. When we believe in Christ, God's perfect righteousness is imputed to us and we now have a purpose in life: the imputation of blessing to that perfect righteousness, which glorifies God. The laws of divine establishment give freedom to exercise our positive volition toward doctrine so that we can develop the capacity for these blessings.

c. God has provided certain divine laws, such as the authority of parents, to protect, care, nourish, provide, train, and discipline children to prepare them for life.

d. Parental authority is the way of preparing children for a normal life. Permissiveness destroys this. There must be recognition of authority and orientation to certain principles in life.

e. The highest expression of parental love is to inculcate through the forms of discipline. Children must be trained to respect the privacy, property, and rights of others, not to abuse freedom, and to have respect for authority.

f. Adjustment to life and orientation to circumstances demand authority training. Parents must teach poise, objectivity, respect for police, patriotism, and willingness to serve to protect freedom.

g. Christian parents must also evangelize and provide predoctrinal training for their children. Deuteronomy 6:6-9, 7:9.

h. It is the responsibility of parents to instill respect for the Word of God, the teaching of Bible doctrine, plus recognition of authority of the pastor-teacher. This is a spiritual responsibility over and above their establishment responsibility.

a. If the entire human race were under one rule prior to the Millennium, it would self-destruct. Internationalism is outlawed as being evil by the Word of God.

b. To perpetuate the human race and bring history to its logical conclusion, God has designed the nation to protect the freedom and rights of X-number of people on this planet. We call this nationalism. Only one language should be recognized in a nation.

c. With the divine judgment of the original united nations at the tower of Babel, the human race was then divided into nations. This division was originally based on racial, geographical and linguistic norms.

d. As the human race continued in history, true racial distinctions were obliterated in the rise of civilization. Thus, racial purity is a myth except in pristine areas. Race is used by politicians to create false issues.

e. The formation of the Jewish nation set up the perfect standard of what a national entity should be.

f. The Biblical proof that nationalism is authorized by God is found in Genesis 10:5; Deut 32:8; Acts 17:26-28.

g. All nations who follow the norms and standards of divine establishment possess the following characteristics.

(1) Interior protection of freedom is provided through a proper system of law enforcement, jurisprudence, and a system of law whereby a person is innocent until proved guilty, where only proper testimony is allowed and no hearsay is permitted, and where double jeopardy does not exist.

(2) The exterior protection of freedom comes through a strong, well-prepared military. All the freedom that we have ever possessed has come through the military.

(3) A government of whatever category must protect the freedoms and rights of its citizens without interfering with those rights by the illegal use of power.

(4) An economy must be based on free enterprize and capitalism. Labor has no right to dictate the policy of management. Smart management always takes good care of its workers. Government, labor, or criminals do not have the right to superimpose their policy on management. The separation of business and state is an important distinction.

(5) There must be a system of common law which prohibits crime and thereby protects the freedom, rights, life, and property of individuals. It must be a system of law which does not overstep the law by using the law to try to solve social problems. Law, therefore, must always be objective. Subjective distortion of the law uses legislation to invade individual rights, to steal personal property, and to erode human freedom; all in the name of the common good.

(6) There must be a common culture which reflects the spiritual life, morality, esprit de corp, nobility, patriotism, and integrity of a nation through its literature, art, music, and drama. People who come to America from Europe usually want to live and dress like Americans.

(7) There should be a system of government which functions under its power without abusing its power to destroy freedom and establishment. The government should encourage freedom. There should be an administrative body to represent the functions of taxation, law enforcement, honorable jurisprudence, maintenance of the military, and enforcement of law and order without the destruction of human freedom.

1. None of these things would be meaningful without the principle that establishment is designed to evangelize where positive volition exists, and to protect where negative volition exists.

2. A system of mutual authority which protects individual self-determination must have separation of church and state. A state religion always destroys freedom.

3. As long as a government allows religious freedom and self- determination, such a government fulfills its establishment norms. Therefore, the separation of church and state becomes a basic standard for human freedom.

4. Divine institutions and the laws of divine establishment are designed to protect human freedoms for the purpose of true evangelism.

5. Freedom to accept or reject Jesus Christ without pressure put on by anyone should exist. Unbelievers must be free to accept or reject the Gospel without coercion or punishment.

6. The state must never adopt an official religion supported by taxpayer's money. All religion should be free from taxation and never be supported by taxes.

7. A person's relationship with God or lack of it should be a matter of privacy and personal choice.

D. Establishment and Christianity. This relationship is found in Romans 13:1-7. By fulfilling your function as a believer, you do more for your country than anyone else.

1. Matt 21:22, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's [laws of divine establishment], and to God, the things that are God's [royal family honor code]."

2. 1Peter 2:13-14, "Subordinate yourselves.. to every human institution." You became an establishment person the day you believed in Christ. You should be a true conservative.

1. This includes the concept of the pivot, which when large enough, means that mature believers (those in Z radical) having maximum influence on their nation under historical impact and blessing by association. It also includes the concept of the five cycles of discipline, which occur when the pivot shrinks and becomes too small. There are spinoffs in a client nation; and these are in reaction against Bible doctrine. He may be involved in some frantic search for happiness. This can be involvement in a service organization. He is following the various types of false doctrine related to these organizations. However, the spinoff will end up in heaven.

2. When divine judgment falls, it always comes in the form of historical disaster. Idiotic government policy tells you the end is near. When a nation goes completely mad, God destroys that nation, which protects the rest of the world.

3. If the pivot is large enough, the nation will be delivered. If it is too small, the nation is destroyed. Every nation has its relationship with the justice of God through the laws of divine establishment.

4. Religion is the greatest enemy of a nation, because in the name of good, it produces more evil than sins ever could.

5. Historical disaster separates the pivot from the spin-off (those in apostasy and reversionism), but the pivot is preserved, Isaiah 28:5-6; Jer. A nation which has gone mad is destroyed so that history and the human race can be perpetuated.

6. If the nation is preserved, there always follows a great period of prosperity. An example is Judah in B.C. 701. When the spin-off is reduced, this is the basis for that prosperity. The spin-off is destroyed during the crisis so the nation can have prosperity. If a nation doesn't cleanse itself under the laws of divine establishment, then the justice of God cleanses that nation.

7. Historical catastrophe is designed to destroy the infection of apostasy and degeneracy so that a nation can be preserved.

8. Historical disaster as the cleansing of a nation is taught under the concept of the five cycles of discipline in Leviticus 26:14-38.

(1) There are no advantages to the advantages (blessings) without the Advantage (relationship with the integrity of God).

(4) Loss of both the Advantage and the advantages removes a nation from history.

1. People can't survive until they understand authority. Authority is the legal power delegated by God under the laws of divine establishment whereby a certain number of the human race have jurisdiction and responsibility for other members of the human race. The laws of divine establishment define this authority.

2. While authority exists in both spiritual and temporal realms, only temporal authority is related to the laws of divine establishment. Spiritual authority is related to the royal family honor code.

3. Authority is necessary for the function of the laws of divine establishment. We must differentiate between the person and the delegated authority from God.

4. Establishment authority is for both the believer and unbeliever. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we are not exceptions to the rule; and we are still under establishment authority. It includes the authority of husband over wife, parents over children, teachers over students, coaches over athletes, management over labor, senior rank over junior rank, and police officers over public.

5. In addition, there are divine laws of establishment over nature, so that nature also obeys the authority of God, Matthew 8:27; Mark 4:41; Luke 8:25. A friend ignored these laws in the chem lab and blew himself up and the lab. Only a few pipes survived.

6. In the spiritual realm, the pastor-teacher is the authority over the congregation, 1Corinthians 16:15-16; 2Corinthians 10:8; 1Thessalonians 5:12; Hebrews 13:7,17.

7. In the realm of establishment, the husband has the authority over the wife. The wife consents to the marriage, even if the wife is smarter than your husband; and therefore is under his authority until death, Ephesians 5:22; Colossians 3:18. Complaining, whining women have no excuse. All males are unreasonable.

8. Authority in the business world stabilizes the economy. Management and investment has all the authority, never labor, Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22.

9. Freedom through military victory is based on authority in military establishment, Neh 4:13-15.

1. Failure of the military on the battlefield indicates lack of training, lack of self-discipline, poor equipment, but mostly lack of respect for authority and no spiritual motivation or incentive to fight. Bob is constantly amazed by the ability of the Americans, the men cut off from all high authorities during the Battle of the Bulge.

3. Therefore, freedom is always related to authority. Freedom without authority is anarchy; authority without freedom is tyranny.

4. The military establishment is an index to national character. Successful armies maintain freedom. This is why universal military training is an axiom in the laws of divine establishment, Numbers 1:2-3, 31:3-5; Deut 24:5; Judges 3:1-2; 2Samuel 22:35; Psalm 18:34, 144:1.

5. Military training is useless when the men of a nation are reversionistic, apostate, and degenerate.

6. Antagonism toward authority destroys the function of the military as the instrument of freedom.

7. Military victory is the means of maintaining peace, not the modus operandi of politicians, Josh 11:23; Psalm 46:7-9.

8. Politicians generally are divorced from reality, saying "`Peace, Peace,' when there is no peace," Jeremiah 6:13-14, 8:11.

9. Draft dodgers, slackers, and deserters are sinful in the eyes of God, Numbers 32:6,7,14 Numbers 20-23. Universal military training is an axiom under the laws of divine establishment. Being a deserter, a slacker, a draft dodger or a conscientious objector is the sin spoken of where we read, “Your sin will find you out.”

1. Freedom is the heritage of birth with the imputation of human life to the soul. Because God imputed human life to the soul, that is the basis for freedom.

2. Freedom therefore is an extension of the various functions of the soul, i.e., our volition, mentality, emotion, conscience, and self- consciousness.

3. Freedom exists in two areas of life, both as an extension of the imputation of human life at birth, and as an extension of regeneration, the imputation of eternal life to the human spirit.

4. The laws of divine establishment deal with the first area of human freedom, while the principles of Bible doctrine in the royal family honor code deal with the second area of human freedom.

5. Since man was created to resolve the angelic conflict, freedom is an extension of that conflict into human history.

6. The laws of divine establishment are designed to protect human freedom so that evangelism and spiritual advance can occur in every generation of history.

7. The laws of divine establishment protect the privacy, property, freedom, and volition of mankind. The decalogue (ten commandments) is part of the laws of divine establishment designed to protect human freedom and human rights.

a. Gal 5:1 In the sphere of freedom, Christ has freed us; stand firm, therefore, and stop being enmeshed by the yoke of slavery [to good and evil].

b. John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. God's truth gives you spiritual freedom regardless of your human circumstances.

c. Rom 8:21, "...into the freedom of glory with reference to the children of God." This refers to our future freedom.

9. But the freedom in the spiritual realm, which belongs only to the believer, must be distinguished from establishment freedom, which is the heritage of all people in a national entity.

10. The existence and perpetuation of freedom demands respect for establishment authority. Military victory is the means of maintaining national freedom and the laws of divine establishment. Self-discipline is necessary.

11. Under the laws of divine establishment, freedom places demands upon both the believer and unbeliever. However, in Romans 13:1-7, the responsibility for freedom under establishment principles of authority is limited to the believer only.

12. Part of the royal family honor code is to render to Caesar (human government) the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's .Therefore, no Christian can ignore military service, obeying the law, or paying taxes.

2. As these commandments are written in Old English they are prefaced by the phrase, "Thou shalt not," which is the imperfect tense in Hebrew used as the imperative. The phrase indicates the believer's responsibility in protecting human freedom through compliance with the laws of divine establishment. The decalogue doesn't deal with the subject of sin but with the subject of human freedom. It just so happens that certain sins are an attack on human freedom. Therefore, the two subjects come together in the decalogue.

3. The ten commandments define human freedom in terms of attitude toward God, people, and property.

a. Peoples' property is sacred. It belongs to them. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy, or successful. It is not anti-Christian. People should be wealthy under free enterprise.

4. The first commandment is not only a prohibition of idolatry, but national recognition that Jesus Christ controls history.

5. While the first commandment prohibits mental or soul idolatry, the second prohibits overt idolatry, which is said to be contact with demons, Zechariah 10:2; 1Corinthians 10:19-21.

6. Demonism destroys human freedom, while overt idolatry destroys a nation, Isaiah 2:8, 18-20, 21:9, 36:18-20, 37:12-19; Jeremiah 3:6-11; Ezekiel 6:4-6.

7. The third commandment prohibits the use of the name of the Lord God for vain and unworthy objects, including gossip, false testimony, and covering a lie.

a. Using God's name as an expletive is taking the Lord's name in vain, but is not what this passage deals with. This passage means to use God as a front for your lying, cheating, stealing, or perjury.

b. God's name is used properly in worship, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, the expression of personal love for God, and doctrinal communication.

c. God's name should not be used to persuade people into a false position. "You shall not use the name of the Lord your God for evil." God's name is not to be used for human projects which allege the will of God.

8. The fourth commandment relates the volition of man to time. The importance of the Sabbath is in the fact that it is a memorial to the grace of God. It is a reminder that God rested on the seventh day from all He had provided, Isaiah 58:11-14.

a. The Sabbath also recognizes an establishment principle in the function of the economy, i.e., that people who work for a living have to have time to rest. People need to rest to get ready for the next week. This is rest as related to divine establishment. Even Hammurabi did not come up with this idea.

b. Doing nothing is a reminder of grace. Just as the body needs rest for function, so man needs rest for freedom. Man with no rest becomes a slave. He has no opportunity to exercise his freedom and personal volition in relationship to time.

9. The fifth commandment establishes the principle of authority under the laws of divine establishment. The first authority in life is that of parents. "Respect your father and mother that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives to you." Recognition of authority is the basic principle of orientation to life. Recognition of authority is the secret to a long healthy life.

10. The sixth commandment emphasizes the establishment principle of live and let live. "You shall not murder."

a. Killing is authorized for capital punishment and for those in the military fighting for freedom. You will kill without emotion. You will kill by correctly using your weapons and your skills.

b. Murder is the basic violation of human freedom. It is also a sin. The right to live under God is removed when a person is murdered. If you intrude on God's right to take life in His timing, you violate the laws of divine establishment and commit the worst overt sin.

11. The seventh commandment protects the freedom of right man - right woman. "You shall not commit adultery." Adultery is both a sin and an attack on human freedom. Capacity for love and life is distorted and ruined, so that adultery not only abuses freedom, but destroys the possibility for happiness in life. A woman should be one man's property. The command is directed to men; it assumes the woman is not smart enough to tell a man from a boy.

12. The eighth commandment emphasizes the right of private property under the laws of divine establishment. "You shall not steal."

a. Stealing is a sin, a crime, and a violation of the laws of divine establishment. The command demands the government protect both the lives and property of those in the nation.

b. Stealing is a basic disorientation to life. People who have accumulated things in life have a right to those things. You shouldn't even steal to stay alive. Stealing is complete disorientation to life. It is as low a thing as could occur. Stealing is short-cutting the function of advancing under authority.

c. When oriented to life, you never have to steal. You must recognize people have the right to their property. When you are tempted to steal, that is a warning you are not oriented to life and to the laws of divine establishment.

d. Governments steal through high taxes. Governments make criminals out of law-abiding citizens.

g. We have an immoral, dishonest government who steal from corporations under the socialist principle, the greatest good for the greatest number.

13. The ninth commandment emphasizes the protection of human freedom through objectivity in the function of the law. Laws of evidence demand truth in courtroom testimony. This verbal sin is sinful and anti- establishment.

a. Hearsay is not admissable as testimony. You can't live and let live and gossip at the same time.

b. Law cannot function objectively with perjury; society cannot live objectively where gossip and maligning goes unchecked.

14. The tenth commandment demands restraint on the lust pattern of the old sin nature. This command was the basis for Paul's discovery of the old sin nature, Romans 7:7.

1. The ten commandments define morality in terms of establishment. Morality is the observation of the laws of divine establishment. Therefore, it is for both the believer and unbeliever.

2. Since sin is an attack on establishment, morality is the antidote and is commanded for both believer and unbeliever.

3. Therefore, morality is not Christianity, but is the human race functioning under the laws of divine establishment.

4. Morality is not the monopoly of Christianity. Christians in civil responsibility have moral responsibility. Anything an unbeliever can do is not the Christian way of life. Believers have great responsibility to their nation to obey the laws of divine establishment.

5. Morality is defined as right conduct and excellence in the function of the laws of divine establishment.

6. Morality is conformity to the laws of divine establishment, which has as its basic tenet: live and let live. This overlaps with the royal family honor code.

7. While Christianity is not morality but a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, Christianity demands morality from the royal family of God. We are not exempt from certain civic responsibilities.

8. Therefore, the advancing believer is never anti-establishment or immoral. No mature believer is a socialist. Mature believers cannot be anti-establishment. Naziism is socialism. Fascism is socialism. These are synonyms; not antonyms.

9. The laws of divine establishment demand morality from both believer and unbeliever alike.

10. Morality is the result of spiritual growth, but it is not living the Christian life. Living the Christian life is compliance with the royal family honor code.

11. Living the Christian life is the filling of the Holy Spirit, maximum doctrine in the soul, positive volition to doctrine, maturity adjustment to the justice of God. None of these can be accomplished by the unbeliever. Christianity is not morality, but this doesn't mean you can be immoral.

12. Morality as an establishment factor protects human freedom, but it does not provide eternal salvation, Galatians 2:16; Titus 3:5; Romans 3:20.

13. Morality can and does protect human freedom. Immorality leads to anarchy, i.e., no recognition of authority. Christian dynamics includes morality but at the same time exceeds morality. Morality is the environment in which Christianity functions.

1. Matt 21:22, "Render unto Caesar..." The Lord delineates the Christian responsibility in the civil area and in the spiritual area.

2. Christianity functions under two standards: the laws of divine establishment which is our civil responsibility,and the royal family honor code which is our spiritual responsibility.

a. When you fulfill your responsibility to God through advancement to spiritual maturity, you demonstrate the true solution to problems in the nation.

b. Violence does not solve problems, it only intensifies problems. Violence destroys the impetus of the laws of divine establishment, which is civilization.

3. 1Timothy 2:13 Pray on behalf of kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead undisturbed and tranquil lives in all godliness and integrity. Compare 1Peter 2:13-14 Subordinate yourselves to every human institution, whether to a king as one in authority, or to a governor sent by him; for the punishment for those who do evil for the recognition of those who do good.

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1. Divine guidance is the doctrine of determining the will of God for your life, related to both specific and general things, by the operation of your own thinking in the application of doctrine.

2. Divine guidance is the communication of divine will through divine revelation.

3. Today it is confined to the canon of Scripture and through the pain of discipline for the reversionist in the cosmic system.

4. In the ancient world, divine guidance included direct communication from God through dreams, visions, dialogues, part of the Canon which then existed, discipline, and the teaching of angels.

5. Divine discipline and human disaster as a classification of guidance from God is limited to the negative aspect of God's will. It can only correct.

6. Discipline and disaster is God saying, "No, you are not in My will." Therefore, divine discipline is limited to warning. Sometimes undeserved suffering is used in this way.

7. The only way to know positively what is the will of God for your life is to understand Bible doctrine and metabolize it.

c. God is a person. Personality connotes self-consciousness and self-determination (i.e., the will of God).

d. God recognizes Himself as a person; as such He decides, thinks, always acts rationally, and forms policy.

e. The will of God is manifest in the decrees of God. The decrees teach us the will of God.

(1) The decree of God is His eternal, holy, wise and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be in their courses, conditions, successions, and relations, and determining their certain futurition.

(2) The several contents of this one eternal purpose are, because of the limitation of our mentality and faculties, necessarily perceived by us in partial aspects and in both logical and revealed relations.

(3) The decrees of God are His eternal and immutable will regarding the future existence of events which happen in time, and the precise manner and order of their occurrence.

(4) Therefore, the decree expresses the eternal plan and will of God by which God has rendered certain all events of history in the past, present, and future.

(5) Hence, the will of God is the sovereign choice of the divine will and mentality inherent in the essence of God by which all things are brought into being, controlled, made subject to His pleasure, and producing His glorification.

(6) It is the pleasure of God to permit creature volition in both angelic and human beings. This explains why man and angels have free will (the other two categories of will in history).

(1) There is one all-inclusive will and purpose of God concerning all that ever was or is or ever will be among creatures.

(2) This will and purpose originates within God Himself without any outside influences.

(3) The will and plan of God were objectively designed for His pleasure, glory, and satisfaction in eternity past.

(4) All creatures have been placed in space and time, and all events relating to space and time were simultaneously and instantly decreed.

(a) Within the Godhead, the interaction between the members of the Godhead is called immanent, intrinsic, and subjective.

(b) Actions related to creation are the actions of God which are called extrinsic (outside of God), transient (they function in human history chronologically), and objective (the function of divine justice in human history).

(8) God's decrees are efficacious. They determine all that ever was, is, or will be. Efficacious refers to the directive will of God. Efficacious is used in a technical sense for that which is the direct work of God, in contrast to permissive will, which is the will of God accomplished through man's free will and through the action of God's creatures.

(9) Distinction should be made between the decrees of God in eternity past and the actions of God in time. The action of God in time is the execution of the decrees of eternity past. The execution is not the decree, but logically follows the decree. One follows the other, but they are not the same.

(10) Distinction should be made between what could have happened and what does happen. God knows both, but only puts what is going to happen in the decrees.

(11) Distinction should be made between God's decrees and God's laws. God's decrees occurred in eternity past; God's laws function in time.

(a) The decrees are the action and plan of God. God's laws regulate human conduct and function, so that the decrees can be fulfilled by the action of God in time.

(b) The laws of God are completely revealed in the Scripture, while the decrees of God are only partially revealed.

(c) The laws of God can be broken by human volition or frustrated by man's volition, but the decrees of God cannot be broken or frustrated by man's volition because the decrees already existed before volition was ever created by God.

(12) God's decrees do not originate from His foreknowledge. In the logical order of things, the function of the foreknowledge of God makes nothing certain. God's decrees originate from God's omniscience, not His foreknowledge. The order is: Omniscience > Decrees > Foreknowledge. The foreknowledge of God merely perceives the things that are certain. It is the decree of God that makes all things certain. The decrees are from omniscience; foreknowledge only confirms what has been decreed.

(13) Therefore, all things depend on God's will, and nothing is certain apart from God's will.

(1) Sin, suffering, reversionism, death, human good, and evil are not the desires of God, but they are in the decrees of God.

(2) God desires His perfect will, but both human and angelic volition, using divinely-created free will, violate the desires of God. This is how sin and evil come into the world.

(4) God does not desire to throw creatures into the Lake of Fire, but that judgment is decreed for all who reject Christ as Savior.

(5) God does not desire to discipline believers, but that punishment is decreed for all believers in reversionism under the influence of evil or persistent carnality.

(6) Therefore, it is the justice of God which reconciles desire and decree. And it is the justice of God to which we adjust when we obey, do, or function under the will of God.

(2) Not the slightest uncertainty could exist as to one of the smallest events without the confusion to all events.

(3) Therefore, all events of history are interwoven and interdependent, Ephesians 1:11, 2:10-11.

(4) The will of God is eternal; God is not gaining in knowledge. What He knows at any given time in history He has always known.

(6) Since nothing has or can occur unknown to God in eternity past, His will is unchangeable and certain.

(7) The free will of God or divine sovereignty, reflected in the decrees of God, will be completed regardless of His creatures and with regard to His creatures. God's will goes on and does not depend on you.

(8) God is bound by His justice, truth, and infinite faithfulness to complete what He has begun.

(9) The principle of the will of God is therefore grace. Since God thought it, God will do it. His will for us is to be on the grace side of history.

(10) The divine outline of human history in the dispensations is the reflection of God's will and decrees.

(11) The divine objective is the preservation and deliverance of believers to the point of maturity.

(12) The work of God is often called providence, by which He molds all events into the fulfillment of His eternal purpose.

(13) Preservation continues the existence of things, but providence directs their progress. Advancing believers progress to the divine objective.

(14) Therefore, the will of God is directive. God has a plan for each of our lives communicated in His Word.

(15) The will of God is determinative. God has permitted non-meritorious volition to bring us to the place of blessing or cursing.

(16) The will of God is permissive. Negative volition to Bible doctrine is permitted, but divine justice provides a horrible life and death.

(17) The will of God is preventative, providing Bible doctrine, establishment laws, and discipline to keep human volition inside the will of God.

2. The Free Will of Angels. Negative angelic volition is the basis for the angelic conflict and explains the rulership of the world by Satan today. Angelic volition seeks to interfere with human history so that human history will not fulfill its objective, which is to glorify God. 3. Human Volition. All of us have a totally free will.

1. "And this is His mandate, that we believe in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He has given to us a mandate."

2. This verse is the desire of God. It reduces the will of God to its utmost simplicity; i.e., that all the human race believe in Jesus Christ; and that all believers function under impersonal love of the royal family honor code, gate 6 of the divine dynasphere, toward all other members of the human race.

4. The permissive will of God says that God permits certain things to happen because God has given free will to man, so that man would be a rational creature who would resolve the angelic conflict.

5. You can know the viewpoint, operational, and geographical will of God for your life only by having maximum doctrine in your soul. You receive divine discipline for not knowing the right answer and being outside of God's will.

1. The directive will of God is the same as the desire of God, Numbers 22:12. These are direct commands, "Don't do thus and such."

2. The permissive will of God is permitted but is not God's desire, Numbers 22:20.

3. The overruling will of God is that Jesus Christ controls history, Numbers 23:5,8,23,25-26.

b. The will of God is determinative. God has permitted non- meritorious volition to bring us to the place of blessing or discipline.

c. The will of God is permissive. Negative volition to Bible doctrine is permitted, but divine justice provides discipline.

d. The will of God is preventative, providing doctrine, establishment laws, and discipline to keep human volition in the will of God.

1. All divine guidance depends on the perception of doctrine and then its application. This principle of Bible doctrine in the soul is found in Psalm 32:8; Isaiah 58:11. The pure thoughts of doctrine, not the deceptive thoughts of man, are the basis for divine guidance. Prov 3:1-6; Romans 12:2. Gates 1-4 of the divine dynasphere are the key to divine guidance.

2. The filling of the Holy Spirit is a part of divine guidance, Ephesians 5:14-18.

3. Spiritual growth causes you to know more of the will of God, 2Peter 3:18; Hebrews 11:7.

4. Guidance through providential circumstances, e.g. the people we meet, verse 11.

1. The humanity of Christ had free will, Matthew 20:22, 26:42; Hebrews 10:7-9. If mankind does not have free will, then neither did the humanity of Christ. And if He had no free will, there would be no salvation.

2. Divine guidance is based on the fact that man does possess free will. This free will was created by God to do the will of God apart from coercion. This resolves the angelic conflict.

3. Bible doctrine in the soul + free will in man = divine guidance, the execution of the will of God.

I. The Ultimate in the Will of God, 2Peter 3:18. "But grow by grace and by knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and in the day of eternity."

1. Drunkenness is always condemned as a sin. (Drunkenness and drinking are not the same) - Isaiah 5:11; 20:2; 28:7,8; Proverbs 20:1; 23:20; Romans 13:13; 1Corinthians 5:11; Ephesians 5:18. Drinking is not classified as a sin in the scripture.

2. Drunkenness is to be avoided in certain categories of humanity: Kings - Proverbs 31:4,5; pastors - 1Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7; deacons - 1Timothy 3:8.

3. Drunkenness is also condemned in certain Bible characters: Noah - Genesis 9:21; Lot - Genesis 19:32-36; Nabal - 1Samuel 25:36,37; Ephraim, the tribe - Isaiah 28:1.

4. Drinking of alcoholic beverage is condoned under certain circumstances - Proverbs 31:6,7; 1Timothy 5:23. Medically speaking, a limited amount of alcoholic beverage is beneficial in certain areas. a) In the brain and nervous system; b) Moderate amounts of alcoholic beverage acts as a sedation; too much always has a toxic effect; c) In the area of circulation. Older persons often have prescriptions containing alcohol or are told to take a glass of good wine a day to dilate the blood vessels and improve circulation.

5. The adverse effects of alcohol. a) It leads to impulsive and abusive behaviour. As a depressant it lowers inhibitions, dulls the reflexes, amplifies mental attitude sins; b) Vernices disease. Too much alcohol causes paralysis of the eyes, uncoordinated walk, clouding of the consciousness, a final coma, and you've had it; c) Excessive alcohol destroys brain tissue; d) Destruction of the liver; e) The Dts - confusion, anxiety, terror, visual hallucinations or delusions.

6. The incident where Jesus turned water into wine - John 2:1-11. a) Jesus truly turned water into alcoholic beverage, it was not grape juice; b) However, the performance of this miracle neither condones nor condemns drinking; c) The miracle was designed not as a brief on drinking but to focus attention on who and what Jesus Christ was in the hypostatic union. It was to focus attention on Jesus Christ as the only saviour as well as Israel's legitimate King; d) The six water pots which were filled with water (to wash feet) are analogous to the water of the Word - Ephesians 5:26. The water was then turned into wine to replace the shortage at the wedding feast; e) Wine produces joy in the human heart - Judges 9:13; Psalm 104:15; f) When through the daily function of GAP the believers converts doctrine into supergrace status God shares His happiness with the believer. The water pots are analogous to a believer filled with water [doctrine]. The doctrine is then converted into +H, God sharing His +H with the believer; g) So the miracle not only focused attention on the hypostatic union but illustrated the manner in which Bible doctrine in the soul converts the believer into supergrace status.

7. Alcoholism is a part of national disaster - Joel 1:4-6. It is related to economic depression - Joel 1:4. It is related to soul frustration - Joel 1:5. It is related t military invasion in Joel 1:6. This concept is also found in Isaiah 28:1-9.

8. The conditions under which drinking is restrained: a) The law of love applied toward believers; b) The law of expediency applied toward unbelievers. Used when presenting the gospel drinking becomes a false issue; c) Under the law of supreme sacrifice which is directed toward God when drinking hinders a specific ministry.

9. Drinking is related to reversionism - Jeremiah 13:12-17. Wine is used in the scripture to represent the entire principle of sublimation involving the rejection of doctrine. The rejection of doctrine is the rejection of category #1 love and the substitute for this in Jeremiah 13 is heavy drinking.

10. The principle of common sense in drinking. a) The importance of abstinence on the job and in youth. b) While moderate drinking is not prohibited by the Word it belongs to those who have the maturity to handle it. c) Drinking is not for young ladies on dates with strange men or with an unknown crowd. d) Never drink alone or when upset. e) Never drink with strangers or in a strange place. f) Never drink while on the job. g) Never drink while operating a motor vehicle or flying an aeroplane.

a. We are interested in this study in what the Bible says about drinking and alcoholic beverage.

b. Those who have had personal problems because of drinking or are related to those with drinking problems have difficulty in approaching this subject objectively.

c. Those who have been reared in the atmosphere of Christian legalism will be shocked by what the Bible teaches.

d. Those who are looking for an excuse to get off the wagon will think they have smelled a cork.

e. No subject has more prejudice and less reason than the subject of drinking alcoholic beverage.

f. What we are about to study is not a booze sermon, nor is it an excuse for some weak sister to start drinking again. It is none of these things.

g. The objective is not to get believers on or off the wagon but to teach what the Bible says about drinking.

h. The fact that the Bible has a lot to say on the subject merely proves that drinking has long been an issue in the history of the human race.

a. We live in a time of human history when there are numerous categories of alcoholic beverage, beverage which is not only available but made use of in many different ways for many different purposes. For example, medicine. Or, on the other hand, seduction. Or, escape or frantic search for happiness. Or stimulation. Also relaxation and celebration.

b. It should be pointed out immediately that alcohol is both toxic and beneficial; it is both destructive and helpful; it is both a curse and a blessing.

i. Medicine. Alcohol is very good in compounding prescriptions, it is an excellent solvent and it is a preserving agent.

ii. It also comes in the form of a whiskey, and alcoholic liquor which is distilled from serial grains. The term is derived from the Celtic "usquebaugh" and it means the plain spirit derived from grain. Later it included compounded beverages which added both sugar and flavourings, and finally it came to be called whiskey. Whiskey is often classified by geographical location. There are three general classifications: Scotch, Irish, and American.

iii. All whiskeys are manufactured by very much the same process. First of all there is the preparation of the liquor known as wart, the mashing. Then there is the fermentation of the wart to produce the wash, and thirdly there is the separation of the spirit from the wash by distillation. Irish whiskey uses both malted and unmalted barley, oats, wheat, rye. Scotch whiskey uses malted barley. These fall into four categories. The highland malts which have been cured over peat fires. There are lowland malts which have a full flavour but are not as distinctive as the highland so they're used for blends. A third category is the Islay malts, used primarily for blends. Then there is the Campbelltown malts which have a more pronounced flavour. Three categories are used for blends, the highland is not. US whiskey falls into two categories: Bourbon and Rye. There is also a corn whiskey.

v. Gin. It gets its name from the juniper berry used as the principle flavouring. Gin is 76 per cent maze, 15 per cent malt, 10 per cent rye. Sweetened gin is obtained by adding sugar or syrup.

vi. Wine. This is the fermented juice of the grape. There are four general categories of wine today: Table wine, sherry, the fortified wines like port and Madeira, and then there are the sparkling wines like Champaign.

vii. Brandy, which is fermented juice of grapes and other fruits, aged for some time in wood. The most famous brandies come from a district in France called Cognac. Brandy does not age in a bottle, it has to age in wood.

ix. Beer. One of the oldest forms of alcoholic beverage. It is fermented of malted serials, usually barley malt, to which hops have been added. There is a record of Babylonian beer going back to 4000 BC. Ramses III of Egypt consecrated to the god of Egypt 466,303 jugs of beer. Historians like Herodotus, Pliny, Tacetus comment on beer in the ancient world. The art of brewing became well-known throughout the ancient world. The Chaldeans had it. The art spread to Egypt, Greece, and Rome, so that beer became quite a famous alcoholic beverage.

3. The Bible condemns drunkenness and makes it very clear that drunkenness is a sin - Isaiah 5:11,22; 28:7,8; Proverbs 20:1; 23:20; Romans 13:13; 1Corinthians 5:11; Ephesians 5:18. Drunkenness is a handicap to those who are in authority, temporal authority such as kings - Proverbs 31:4,5; spiritual authority such as pastors - 1Timothy 3:3; Titus 1:7; or deacons - 1Timothy 3:8. None of these categories are forbidden alcoholic beverage but all must be very temperate in keeping with the authority that they exercise. Those is authority, then, are not forbidden alcohol but they are warned against drunkenness as a possibility of abusing their authority. Not only is drunkenness a sin but people in that status abuse their authority.

a. Drunkenness is also condemned in certain Bible characters. Noah in Genesis 9:21; Nabal in 1Samuel 25:36,37; Lot is Genesis 19:32-36; the tribe of Ephraim in Isaiah 28:1.

a. Drunkenness or excessive use of alcohol leads to crime, suicide, divorce, traffic accidents, economic and industrial losses, loss of health, miserable circumstances, poverty, national disaster.

b. It should be remembered that alcohol is not a stimulant, it is a depressant. As a depressant it lowers inhibitions, dulls the reflexes, destroys common sense and good judgment, and it stimulates mental attitude sins.

c. But drunkenness also produces more than impulsive behaviour and social tragedy, it is the source of quite a number of diseases. It is also weakening of the health which leads to diseases not directly induced by alcohol.

d. Excessive alcohol affects the brain in numerous ways, including cerebral hemorrhage, delirium tremens which produce mental confusion, anxiety, terror, auditory and visual hallucinations as well as delusions. Alcohol in excess also attacks the liver. It is the cause of vernicese disease: a paralysis of the eyes, uncoordinated walk, the clouding of consciousness, final coma and death. As a depressant alcohol cooperates with the old sin nature to lower standards of resistance to sins in all categories. This means that excessive drinking or drunkenness is not only a sin in itself but has dire spiritual consequences as well as physical. The Bible gives no encouragement and no excuse for excessive drinking.

i. There are two types, however, of excessive drinkers. The first type is the type who drinks a large amount at one time. The other one goes for days and days, the one who drinks constantly day in and day out. There are two kinds of people who have a drinking problem. Those who can't stop from the steady drinking and those who can't stop from heavy drinking in a short period of time. Both of these types should avoid any use of alcohol except in medicine. The chemistry of the blood and individual metabolism is related to how much a person can assimilate - how much alcohol content in the blood, how much can your body take out per hour as to how much you are taking in. Inebriation is a sin and there is no benefit from having an alcoholic problem.

5. Proper and improper uses of alcohol. Proverbs 34:4-7 - wine attacks authority of leadership; wine attacks the function of leadership; the correct use of wine (Give strong drink to him who is dying); to those whose life is bitter. 1Timothy 5:23 -

a. This passage indicates that wine or certain alcoholic beverages had both a relaxing and beneficial effect on Timothy.

b. Paul is prescribing a moderate amount of alcohol to relax the nervous high-strung Timothy.

c. A limited amount of wine acts as a sedation; too much wine has a toxic effect.

d. Wine stimulates the appetite through the increase of gastric juices while at the same time relaxing the solar plexus, the area of the central nervous system, the stomach muscles, and so on.

e. The benefits of wine, then, can be summarised as follows: beneficial to brain and nervous system as a depressant producing sedation; beneficial to the stomach in terms of appetite, digestion; beneficial to the circulation, especially in the case of older people.

f. Psalm 104:15 - "And the wine which makes man's heart glad, maketh his well-nourished face radiant, and food which sustains man's right lobe." To have the heart glad refers to a limited amount. The passage is actually saying a little wine with food is a good thing.

a. Jesus was invited to a wedding in Cana of Galilee, along with His disciples - verse 2.

c. Jesus replied to His mother in verse 4. "What is this to me or to you?" I.e. What difference does it make to us. Neither Jesus nor Mary were in any way hurt by the fact that they arrived late and hadn't had any wine.

e. Jesus said to her, So what! You and I do not have to depend on wine for anything.

f. Then Jesus challenged Mary's subtle hint about departure by saying, "Mine hour has not yet come."

g. This was a reference to His saving work on the cross, and it is mentioned on numerous occasions: John 7:30; 820; 12:23,27; 16:32; 17:1. In other words, He begins with a very strong vocative of rebuke. It states that neither Jesus nor His mother depended upon wine for a good time. This verse states that His departure from the wedding and from this life had not yet come. This is a double entendre. Furthermore, Jesus implied that He would stay and rectify the situation. So His mother understood that He would stay and that He would do something about it.

i. What about the wine? It was a wedding feast and they were serving alcoholic beverage, which was the custom. They ran out of wine which did create a crisis for hospitality. So Jesus, to indicate that drinking wine was not an issue with regard to eternal salvation, now performs a miracle. Wine isn't an issue. Now He provides more wine, and the best wine that anyone ever had. Jesus truly turned water into wine. The miracle, however, neither condones nor condemns drinking. Like all miracles, its purpose is to focus attention on who and what Christ is. it is to point out that Christ is the God-Man, the unique person of the universe. He is the son of David. This is the first advent. The issue is salvation, not whether you drink wine or not. The issue is Christ, not social crisis and not a social problem.

ii. There were six water pots, each one held 20-30 gallons. At 20 gallons that would be 120 gallons of water. Wine is composed of 70-80 per cent water. There is 12-30 per cent grape sugar, 12-14 per cent ethyl alcohol, there are other alcohols. Wine has carbon dioxide, organic acids, glycerin, organic colouring, microorganisms for fermentation. So water into wine is unexplainable, it is not a miracle if you can explain it. It was a miracle in which at least 120 gallons of water were turned into 120 gallons of wine.

iii. Christ, not wine, is the issue here. The miracle gave everyone in Cana a chance to be saved, for the miracle presents God's plan of grace in the person of Jesus Christ, the God-Man, the only saviour. It was a miracle to focus attention on who and what Christ is.

a. The law of liberty. Every believer has the right to drink a moderate amount of alcoholic beverage, it is not a sin. But then there are other laws that supersede at certain times.

b. There is the law of expediency. It is expedient not to drink under certain conditions: witnessing, and so on. Or when drinking becomes an issue to an unbeliever.

c. The law of love. It becomes necessary to refrain from drinking when it becomes a means of leading astray a weaker believer.

d. The law of supreme sacrifice. Drinking is forbidden when it hinders a specific ministry or leadership function in life.

8. Alcohol is also a part of national disaster - Joel 1:4-6; Isaiah 28:1-9; Jeremiah 13:12-17.

9. The principle of common sense in drinking. Not only does the Bible have a lot to say about drinking - pro and con, when you should and when you shouldn't - but even an unbeliever with an average amount of common sense ought to be able to handle the problem.

a. Alcohol is wasted on young people. Young people ought not to drink. They are neither smart enough or wise enough to derive any benefit from drinking.

c. Do not drink while frustrated or unhappy. When you link emotion with drinking you are going to have a problem.

d. Young ladies who date strangers should be non-drinkers (on that date). Never drink with a stranger, never drink at a strange place.

g. Never drink while operating a motor vehicle, flying an airplane, operating any type of machinery.

h. Never mix gunpowder and alcohol. Never drink while hunting, plinking, shooting.

j. Drunkenness and dissipation is a waste of time as well as life. While drinking is not forbidden by the Bible drunkenness is stupidity as well as a sin.

k. The Christian lush is a reversionist who has failed to utilise the grace provision for learning doctrine, growing in grace, advancing to the objective.

1. By definition dying grace is the believer's experience of physical death or dying under the provision of grace whereby the individual believer has blessing and happiness in death. His death has a minimum or no pain, maximum happiness, and the soul is stimulated to the maximum in its last moments in the physical body. Not all believers go out under dying grace. Believers in reversionism do not go out under dying grace, they go out under the sin unto death. It doesn't change their status in heaven but it is God's last opportunity to discipline them.

2. Dying grace removes the fear of death - Psalm 23:4, "Even though I walk through the valley of the deep darkness of death." This is describing the manner of dying and dying grace. "I will not fear" - dying grace is such a marvellous doctrine that it eliminates the idea of fear connected with death. "I will not fear harm" - a miserable death - "for you are with me" - God is with every believer, and especially every supergrace believer, at the moment of his dying.

3. Dying grace, therefore, is a supergrace blessing - Hebrews 11:5; Psalm 116:15, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his godly ones [supergrace believers]." A supergrace believer gets the best possible send-off into heaven.

4. Description of dying grace - Job 5:21-17. The believer cannot die until the Lord is ready to take him home. Instruments of death cannot kill the believer until God's plan calls for the believer to die.

2. Ordinarily the drawbridge is let down or controlled from the time side of the chasm.

3. Dying grace is a blessing of supergrace. Therefore the drawbridge is let down on the time side.

4. But in this passage we have the drawbridge let down from the eternity side. There is no death.

5. The same thing will happen to supergrace believers in the Rapture generation.

6. Because the Lord is to meet the Rapture generation in the air that drawbridge called dying grace will not be lowered. Instead, the bridge will be lowered from the eternity side. This means that all carnal believers at the Rapture, all immature believers at the Raptures, all reversionistic believers at the Rapture will also be transferred at the same time. Their transfer is blessing by association.

1. Categories of death in the Bible. There are at least seven different categories of biblical death.

a. Spiritual - separation from God in time. This is the fact that we are born spiritually dead.

d. Operational death or the believer's failure to produce divine good - James 2:26.

e. Positional death. This is part of the baptism of the Spirit whereby the believer is identified retroactively with Christ on the cross, therefore he rejects human good and he is identified currently with Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father. We are in union with Christ, we share His eternal life, His righteousness, His sonship, His heirship, election, destiny, everything.

b. Death is always a matter of the sovereignty of God based upon His perfect character - Psalm 68:19,20.

c. Love is stronger than death - Song of Solomon 8:6. Category #2 love is involved there.

d. God can and does prolong life under certain circumstances - Psalm 102:19,20; 12:23,24; 118:18; Proverbs 14:27.

e. Women must be taught to face the death of loved ones, the woman being a responder in her soul - Jeremiah 9:20-25.

g. Death cannot be faced when the norms, standards function of the right lobe is destroyed - Lamentations 1:19,20. This is the characteristic of a reversionistic believer.

c. Therefore dying grace is the experience of physical death under special blessing, the special provision of grace whereby dying is greater than living. This implies minimum pain, maximum happiness, maximum soul stimulation, maximum utilisation of resident doctrine, and maximum blessing so that dying becomes better than anything you had in life. This is the ultimate in departure from this life.

4. Dying grace is the missing link. There is a relationship between supergrace blessings in time and surpassing grace blessings in eternity or SG3. Dying grace is the missing link between the two, it is the way in which the transfer is made.

8. Dying grace is the bridge between supergrace blessing and surpassing grace blessing - Hebrews 11:13.

9. The importance of seizing and holding the high ground of supergrace. In the first eight principles of dying grace we have seen how important it is to be in the supergrace status at the point of physical death. The importance of seizing and holding the high ground of supergrace is related to the plan of God in eternity past. In eternity past under the concept of the doctrine of divine decrees God knew about each one of us. He designed some special paragraphs of blessing to give us the maximum that time and eternity have to offer, but they are also designed to glorify God to the maximum. Maximum glory comes to God by way of the fulfilment of these paragraphs. The one who has SG2 glorifies God in time. Under SG2 the first category of blessing is spiritual blessing, and spiritual blessing means occupation with the person of Christ, sharing the happiness of God, the completion of and ECS, resident doctrine to meet every exigency of life. And then with that we have temporal blessings, and this often becomes a motivator to people but it is a false motivator - to take in doctrine so you can be promoted or very wealthy or successful, etc. All of these things are incidental and God is glorified by giving these things, and there is where the emphasis lies in the glorification of God Himself. Then the third category has to do with dying, so that dying grace is a blessing of supergrace, the greatest blessing in supergrace, the highest blessing of supergrace. But these special blessing are all designed to glorify God, and the link between these two paragraphs, the one that puts the two of them together, is dying grace. So dying grace is described as a bridge going from time to eternity. Therefore the key to everything is being able to seize and hold the supergrace life or to maintain the stability of spiritual maturity. They key there, of course, is continued positive volition toward Bible doctrine. Philippians 3:12-14 is the passage which goes with point 9. "I am apprehended of Christ Jesus." That refers to the doctrine of divine decrees. In eternity past we were seized and held by Christ Jesus, so that we have these special blessings paragraphs from millions of years ago.

10. The relationship between supergrace and surpassing grace, then, is found in dying grace. We live to reach supergrace, we die to get to surpassing grace. Hebrews 11:13.

11. The exceptions to dying grace. a) The disciplinary exception which is known as the sin unto death. This discipline is the exception to dying grace, it includes maximum misery and pressure in time and only increased misery and pressure for the dying stage leading to eternity. And once the believer reaches eternity he has nothing to show for his life on the earth. He has not glorified God in time, he will have no special blessings in eternity by which God is glorified. He is minus SG3 as he was minus SG2, and therefore the transition between time and eternity is of the utmost pain, misery, horror, disaster, everything that is monstrous. b) The transfer without dying - Enoch in Hebrews 11:5,6. c) The Rapture generation which will depart from this life without seeing death. The Rapture generation is interesting because at the time of the Rapture there will be supergrace believers, those who have seized and held the high ground and have enjoyed paragraph SG2. They will be transferred to eternity and SG3 by way of the Rapture. The question is not what about the supergrace types, but what about the reversionists, the carnal types, those who are not on the high ground. The answer is they are blessed by association and they, too, go into eternity and their status in eternity with regard to blessing is dependent upon the same principles in time.

12. The description of dying grace. Job 5:19-27 has a great deal to say about living and dying and dying grace. Job 5:19–21 In six troubles He will deliver you. Even in seven, evil will not touch you. In economic disaster, He will deliver you from death, and in war He will redeem you from the power of the sword. You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue. Neither will you be afraid of violent death when it comes. Once God decides to take us home, there is no remaining here. You will come to your grave in a full age like a shock of corn in its season. God decides when the times has come to bring us home in His Presence. Behold this, the doctrine of dying grace, we have researched it and so it is; know it is for yourself. For not one of us lives for himself or dies for himself.

13. Dying grace therefore is an advance on supergrace - Philippians 1:20,21. "To die is gain" - SG3.

14. Dying grace can be accomplished in several ways. There are basically three ways. a) The maintenance of supergrace until death, and this places dying grace in SG2 paragraph. This is the normal way for the supergrace believer to be transferred to eternity. It is a part of the supergrace blessing, it is the last one on earth and the best. It also, therefore, makes dying better than any blessing in time. b) A PCS (permanent change of station) from time to eternity, but this time the PCS is accomplished as a part of the paragraph SG3. This is the case of Enoch. c) The transfer from time to eternity by means of resurrection. This is the Rapture case.

a. To the unbeliever death is a reminder to be prepared. There is only one preparation for death and this is the important decision of life by which we come to accept Christ as saviour. Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ prepares that individual for death in the sense that he will have a resurrection body, that he will have the privilege of living forever in the presence of God. Therefore death is settled by that decision. However, because of the doctrine of surpassing grace and because of the special blessing concept it does become necessary to recognise that for the believer the preparation for death is the constant intake of Bible doctrine, the principle of residency of doctrine in the soul. For the unbeliever the death of others is a reminder of the shortness of time and that time hangs by a very fine thread, a thread that can be snapped at any moment for any one of us. Therefore it becomes important to constantly take in doctrine. Life is a constant preparation for death. Death, therefore, becomes the desert for the supergrace believer. Death is also a reminder of the futility of gain in this life - the futility of profit, the futility of human celebrityship, the futility of everything that is considered important in life - for once a person begins to die all of these things fade away and only eternal things count. Mark 8:36,37.

b. The death that we are studying is dying grace, something which is fantastic because it sets aside all of the horrors of death. It is a greater blessing than any blessing in life because of who and what Christ is and because of His magnificent provision in the written Word. Death means for us many wonderful things. It means that we have an inheritance which is "incorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time." Death means fur us, therefore, blessing, for doctrine resident in the soul accumulated day in and day out leads to the supergrace life, and the supergrace life is a life of special blessings designed for you in eternity past - not just special blessings for you but glory for God, for in giving you these blessings under supergrace status it is God who is glorified, we are the beneficiaries. No matter how great are the blessings in life under SG2 the blessing of dying is much, much greater. But from the standpoint of those who are left behind it is inevitable that a supergrace believer will leave behind those who love him. Therefore there is the principle of James 1:18, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. "The perfect gift here is the Lord Jesus Christ who provides for us in living as well as dying, as well as eternity. He is so described as a gift - John 3:16. The gift is described in relationship to the cross in Romans 6:23. So we as believers respond as per 2Corinthians 9:15 - "Thanks be unto God [the Father] for his unspeakable gift." And because of this gift and because we have received this gift, and because we have followed the colours to the high ground, then we recognise that our departure from this life is described as a good gift. If you are a supergrace believer it means that you are a good gift to someone in this world. It is inevitable that a supergrace believer will have those in his periphery who dearly love him and totally appreciate him, and therefore he is the good gift. And the departure from this life of that good gift. When God sees fit to take any gift from us by physical death it is always a reminder to us of many things. It is a reminder that for the believer time and eternity are only a temporary separation and that the death of loved ones isn't the end of anything for we will see them forever and ever and ever in eternity. Loved ones cannot be separated by death because of who and what Christ is.

1. By definition, the construction of a house or a backbone of the soul occurs through the intake of doctrine. Epignôsis (ἐπίγνωσις) [pronounced ehp-IHG-noh-sis] residing in the soul and the spirit is the basis for constructing a house or backbone for the soul. The ECS is the bridge to supergrace. The consistent function of GAP under the authority of the believer's right pastor is the basis for the construction of the ECS. This is emphasized in Ephesians 3:16-21; 4:11-13.

2. To understand the ECS as a structure in the soul, a little work on the etymology of the Greek. Our word is eis (εἰς) [pronounced ICE] plus the accusative of Oikodomê (οἰκοδομή) [pronounced oy-kod-om-AY]. Oikodomê (οἰκοδομή) [pronounced oy-kod-om-AY] is made of two words: oikos (οκος) [pronounced OY-koss] = a house or a temple; demo = a Classical Greek word for construction. So it means the erection of a temple, the erection of a structure, the building of a structure. Oikodomê (οἰκοδομή) [pronounced oy-kod-om-AY] is used in Ephesians 4:12,16,29. A similar word oikonomia (οἰκονομία) [pronounced oy-koh-nohm-EE-uh] is the result of construction. The resultant construction of the ECS is the entrance into the supergrace life - 1Timothy 1:4. Oikonómos (οἰκονόμος) [pronounced oy-kohn-OHM-oss] emphasizes the building and the one who builds it. It refers to the contractor which is doctrine - Acts 4:11.

3. The structure of the ECS. When doctrine is taught it becomes gnôsis (γνσις) [pronounced GNOH-sis], but by becoming gnôsis (γνσις) [pronounced GNOH-sis] it can immediately become others things. If the individual listening to the doctrine is hypersensitive, subjective in any possible way then anything that touches a subjective nerve in the soul causes that individual to operate under dokéô (δοκέω) [pronounced dohk-EH-oh] which is subjective thinking. That immediately eliminates any possibility of utilizing the doctrine just learned in the ECS or advancing toward supergrace. Gnôsis (γνσις) [pronounced GNOH-sis] must become and must remain immediately objective thinking or phroneô (φρονέω) [pronounced fron-EH-oh]. Phroneô (φρονέω) [pronounced fron-EH-oh] plus volition or faith transfers it to the human spirit and immediately changes it into epignôsis (ἐπίγνωσις) [pronounced ehp-IHG-noh-sis]. Then epignôsis (ἐπίγνωσις) [pronounced ehp-IHG-noh-sis] is sucked into the right lobe into the frame of reference, and there are two valves, one at each end of the memory centre. One valve processes it into vocabulary and categories and the other valve into the norms and standards, and all feed into the launching pad. This is important because we are going to see that scar tissue is not in the lungs of the soul but in the heart, the right lobe. So epignôsis (ἐπίγνωσις) [pronounced ehp-IHG-noh-sis] is the basis for advance in the Christian life.

a. Epignôsis (ἐπίγνωσις) [pronounced ehp-IHG-noh-sis] is also known as suniêmi (συνίημι) [pronounced soon-EE-ay-mee] which means to know the underlying laws, the meaning of an object, the technical knowledge, and when epignôsis (ἐπίγνωσις) [pronounced ehp-IHG-noh-sis] enters the human spirit it becomes suniêmi (συνίημι) [pronounced soon-EE-ay-mee], and as suniêmi (συνίημι) [pronounced soon-EE-ay-mee] and epignôsis (ἐπίγνωσις) [pronounced ehp-IHG-noh-sis] the construction of the ECS begins. The first floor, then, is grace orientation. This is absolutely essential. Without this floor you can't function in anything. Grace orientation make it possible to advance when sooner or later there is conflict from the norms and standards of your soul and what is taught from the Word of God. The mastery of the details of life is almost a result of grace orientation. However, the relaxed mental attitude is not. The RMA means doctrine must conquer subjectivity in the life. Next we have the capacity for love in which the structure is almost completed, and that means category #1, category #2, and category #3 love. If you have capacity for one you have capacity for all. Finally we have the penthouse, +H, and from there entrance into the supergrace life. The believer enters the supergrace life after completion of the top floor; +H is sharing God's happiness.

4. The usage of the word "edification." a) One of the objectives of the pastor's teaching of doctrine is the erection of the ECS, therefore the first use of edification is technical. In its technicality it means a complex structure in the soul - Ephesians 4:11,12. b) It has a general meaning. The local church with a maximum number of ECSs is a prosperous church - Acts 9:31. c) The objective of phase two is the ECS, not speaking in tongues - 1Corinthians 14:3,4,12, 26. The thing that shows that you are advancing is not speaking in tongues but the construction of the ECS. d) Human knowledge or gnôsis (γνσις) [pronounced GNOH-sis] puffs up while knowledge of doctrine through GAP edifies. So 1Corinthians 8:1 distinguishes between the type of knowledge that causes you to advance and grow up and the type of knowledge of doctrine that causes you not to. It has nothing to do with academic learning.

5. The humanity of Christ possessed an ECS during the incarnation - Luke 2:40,52; John 1:14.

6. Rapid construction of an ECS comes from GAP under maximum pressure - James 1:2-4.

7. Relationship to the national entity is a very important factor. Your ECS has a lot to do with the condition of the country. The believer in the royal family has that privilege of developing through doctrine an ECS which provides personal stability and national stability. In tact, if there are enough ECSs the country is preserved in spite of the idiocy of its government, the men who are running it. All freedom gained by the military on the battlefield is exploited by the believer erecting an ECS - Jeremiah 42:10 states the principle.

9. The ECS has a direct relationship to the supergrace life. Just before everyone reaches supergrace there is a great chasm he must cross. On the other side is the supergrace life. Across the chasm is a bridge, and that bridge is the ECS. The top floor of the ECS takes you right into supergrace, as per Philippians 4:4 cf. 1John 1:4.

10. Two spirits are vital in the construction of the ECS. The Holy Spirit makes GAP function; the human spirit is the converter of building material in the function of GAP. The Holy Spirit - John 14:26; 16:12-14; 1Corinthians 2:9-16; 1John 2:27. GAP is the source of the ECS - Ephesians 4:12,13. For the human spirit as the target for GAP - Job 32:8; Romans 8:16; 1Corinthians 2:12,13. Doctrine stored in the human spirit is used for construction material of the ECS - Ephesians 4:23,24; Colossians 1:9,10; 1John 2:3.

1. The doctrine is based upon certain verbs and their cognates found in he Bible, both in the Hebrew and the Greek. E.g. in the Hebrew we have banah which means to construct and edifice. Its counterpart in the Greek is oikonoméō (οἰκονομέω) [pronounced oy-kohn-ohm-EH-oh] which means to build or construct, to erect a structure. There are also some nouns that go with oikonoméō (οἰκονομέω) [pronounced oy-kohn-ohm-EH-oh] - Oikodomê (οἰκοδομή) [pronounced oy-kod-om-AY] which means the act of building or erecting a structure. It is quite common for the ECS. Then there is oikonomia (οἰκονομία) [pronounced oy-koh-nohm-EE-uh] which is the ECS, the result of erecting a structure. There is also oikonómos (οἰκονόμος) [pronounced oy-kohn-OHM-oss] which refers to the contractor or the builder or the function of construction.

2. GAP is the source of the ECS, Ephesians 4:12,13. In that passage we have all the ingredients for the ECS. The believer is a priest in the Church. As a believer priest he is to gather with others, this gives him his privacy. The message of the pastor-teacher is all that is important to the believers who hear him.

3. The believer's ECS provides both stability for the individual and preservation for the national entity. It is the only way a believer can be happy. Furthermore, the ECS count is the basis for determining the preservation of the national entity, Jeremiah 42:10.

4. The rapid construction of the ECS comes from a maximum use of faith patience under maximum pressure, James 1:2-4.

a. First floor: grace orientation. It is impossible to begin an ECS unless the believer is grace oriented;

b. second floor: the mastery of the details of life, and capacity for these details;

c. the third floor: the relaxed mental attitude of the believer's soul. This is freedom from any habitual mental attitude sins because MA sins destroy any capacity for life;

d. the fourth floor: capacity for love. This is important because all capacity for love does not start with people, it starts with God. As you develop occupation with Christ, then the other capacities fall in line;

e. the fifth floor: +H, the door that opens the believer into the normal Christian life which is supergrace.

6. The biblical use of the word "edification." It is used in Ephesians 4:11,12, as the objective of the pastor-teacher. His responsibility is to so communicate doctrine that those who are positive will hear and grow up into the ECS. The soul was saved in order that the soul might have something special from God. The soul is saved so that it can be structurised by God's plan, and this is where the ECS comes in. The second use of "edification" is found where a local church with a maximum number of believers having an ECS is a prosperous church. Acts 9:31. The third use of "edification," the objective of phase two is to erect the ECS, not to speak in tongues, 1 Cor. 14:3,4, 12, 26. Fourth, human knowledge has a tendency to pump up but the function of GAP in the sphere of love edifies, 1Corinthians 8:1.

7. There are two spirits involved in ECS. The first is God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. He functions in the intake of doctrine by which the ECS is constructed, John 14:26; 16:12-14; 1John 2:27; 1` Cor. 2:9-16. The second "spirit" in the ECS principle is the human spirit. It is the target for doctrine by which material is made available for the construction of the ECS, Romans 8:16; 1 Cor. 2:12,13; Job 32:8. Only doctrine stored in the human spirit is construction material, Ephesians 4:23,24; Colossians 1:9,10; 1John 2:3.

8. As a starting point for motivation the humanity of Christ possessed an ECS during the incarnation, Luke 2:40, 52; John 1:14.

d. Imitators of God, Ephesians 5:1. However, Eph. 5:1 not only refers to the ECS but emphasizes it as the entrance into supergrace.

10. The supergrace life is the objective after the ECS. The ECS, therefore, is the entrance into the supergrace life. Once the top floor has been constructed there is a transition into supergrace. The top floor is God's happiness shared with the believer.

1. The doctrine of edification is based on categorizing the Greek noun Oikodomê (οἰκοδομή) [pronounced oy-kod-om-AY]. This noun is found in Romans 14:19; 2Corinthians 10:8, 13:10; Ephesians 4:12,16, 29; 2Corinthians 14:5,12,26. In all these passages, it has a dual connotation.

a. Collectively it refers to the formation of the royal family of God during the entire period of the Church Age; i.e., the building up of the body of Christ. When the royal family is completed, the Rapture of the Church will occur.

b. Individually it refers to the spiritual growth of the positive believer, and/or momentum in the Christian way of life. Hence, the individual connotation refers to the execution of the protocol plan and the subsequent manufacture of the invisible hero, resulting in the glorification of God.

2. When the collective connotation is used, Oikodomê (οἰκοδομή) [pronounced oy-kod-om-AY] should be translated "construction, building up," or" building process." When the individual connotation is used, Oikodomê (οἰκοδομή) [pronounced oy-kod-om-AY] should be translated "edification."

3. The collective connotation of Oikodomê (οἰκοδομή) [pronounced oy-kod-om-AY] is based upon our Lord's third royal patent or title, King of kings and Lord of lords, the Bright Morning Star, given to Him as a result of His strategic victory in the angelic conflict.

1. The edification complex of the soul is technical nomenclature found in the epistles of the New Testament for the attainment of spiritual maturity.

2. The consistent function of GAP under one's right pastor-teacher is the only way to construct an edification complex of the soul.

4. Doctrine perceived must feed both the human spirit and the human soul for capacity for both human and eternal life. The edification complex of the soul is the result.

5. Virtue-love is the means of reaching maturity and receiving an edification complex of the soul, 1Corinthians 8:1. You cannot have an edification complex of the soul unless you are using virtue-love at gates 5 and 6 of the divine dynasphere. "Gnosis produces arrogance, but virtue-love edifies." Virtue-love is the sign you have been metabolizing doctrine.

a. Light. This is used for the divine dynasphere and sometimes for the edification complex of the soul.

b. "Christ formed in you" Gal 4:19, connotes both the edification complex of the soul and spiritual self-esteem.

c. "The new man," Ephesians 4; Colossians 3, refers to both the edification complex of the soul and divine dynasphere.

e. "Imitators of God," Ephesians 5:1. There is a direct relation between gate 8 of the divine dynasphere and the edification complex of the soul.

a. 2Corinthians 10:8, "For even if I should rub it in about our authority, which God gave for your edification and not for destroying you, I shall not feel ashamed."

(1) The Corinthians wavered so much that Paul really had to get tough with them and throw his rank around.

(2) The Corinthians were reacting to Paul's authority and so were doing many things detrimental to their spiritual life.

(3) "Our authority" refers to those with the communication gifts of pastor-teacher as well as apostleship, e.g., Apollos and Timothy. The pastor establishes his authority through the communication of doctrine.

(4) Paul makes it very clear that the construction of the edification complex depends upon accepting the authority of some pastor- teacher who communicates doctrinal information.

b. 2Corinthians 13:10, "For this reason, I am writing these things while absent, in order that when I am present, I may not use severity in compatibility with the authority which God has given to me for the purpose of your edification, and not for the purpose of destroying you."

(1) No one can learn any subject without accepting the authority of the one who teaches.

(2) Therefore, the importance of understanding that edification and invisible heroship comes only in one way, and that is through the teaching of the pastor in communicating the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, and no other way.

(3) It is impossible for anyone with the gift of pastor- teacher to communicate Bible doctrine unless his authority is recognized. Therefore, the enforcement of good manners and thoughtfulness of others is a part of the exercise of his authority.

(4) Notice that Paul thought it better to talk about authority in a non-face-to-face situation so that he would not have to chew them out face-to-face when he arrived.

c. 1Thessalonians 5:12, "But we request of you, brethren, that you respect those pastor-teachers who work hard among you [studying and teaching], who have command over you in the Lord and give you instruction."

(1) The road to the edification complex is paved with hundreds and thousands of messages regarding the protocol plan of God.

(2) Whether these messages are of any benefit to you depends upon whether you accept one man as your right pastor and accept his authority in teaching.

d. Hebrews 13:17, "Keep obeying those pastors who themselves are ruling over you, and submit to their authority [by learning Bible doctrine], for these same pastors keep watching for the benefit of your souls as those who have to render an account. Keep obeying them, in order that they may do this accounting with joy, and not with groaning, for this is unprofitable for you."

2. The threefold purpose of the pastor is found in Ephesians 4:12 ...for the purpose of equipping the saints, for the production of Christian service, for the edification of the body of Christ.

a. The "saints" refer to the royal family of God with emphasis on the baptism of the Spirit.

b. "Equipping the saints" refers to God's grace policy and provision for the execution of the protocol plan.

c. "Equipping" is the function of the pastor who, through teaching the mystery doctrine of the great power experiment of the Church Age, is able to see people grow and become invisible heroes.

d. All believers are in full-time Christian service from the moment of their salvation. Christian service is the normal result of spiritual growth but never the means.

e. Edification is the execution of the protocol plan for the Church Age and subsequent manufacture of invisible heroes, resulting in the glorification of God.

3. The spiritual momentum of the believer comes from the teaching ministry of the pastor. Ephesians 4:16 Because of whom [Lord Jesus Christ] the entire body, being joined together [baptism of the Spirit] and being inculcated by every joint of supply [pastor-teacher] on the basis of the operational power [Holy Spirit in divine dynasphere], in measure one [pastor-teacher] for each part [of the royal family of God]; he himself [pastor-teacher] causes growth in the body, resulting in its edification by means of virtue-love.

a. Body function depends upon the proper use of joints. Athletic coordination depends upon the proper use of the joints.

b. So in this analogy of the pastor to the joints, it is the pastor-teacher who gives the body of Christ its function on earth.

c. The result of the communication of doctrine is the construction of an edification complex in your soul.

(1) Personal love for God the Father is motivational virtue and motivation for perception of doctrine.

(2) Impersonal love for all mankind is functional virtue. It gives one the ability to listen objectively to a pastor-teacher regardless of his personality.

2. Positive volition is expressed in Romans 14:19. "Consequently, we run after [pursue] those things related to prosperity and edification."

a. Running, not walking, expresses positive volition toward the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, which gives us all the details regarding God's plan, purpose, and will for our lives after salvation.

b. This includes the perception, metabolization, and application of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age as the means of executing the protocol plan of God. The execution of the protocol plan of God results in the manufacture of invisible heroes. Invisible God plus invisible assets plus invisible power equals invisible heroes who glorify God.

c. Prosperity and edification go together; both are the result of continual positive volition.

3. In order for post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation and consistent perception of doctrine to occur, it is important to have a mental attitude of humility. Romans 12:2-5, "Stop being conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renovation of your thought [divine viewpoint of life] that you may prove what the will of God is; namely, the good of intrinsic value achievement [advance to spiritual maturity], the well-pleasing to God [fulfillment of the protocol plan], the mature status quo [manufacture of invisible heroes]. For I say through the grace which has been given to me to everyone who is among you: stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to think, but think in terms of sanity for the purpose of being rational without illusion as God has assigned to each one of us a standard of thinking from doctrine. For just as we have many members in one body and all members do not have the same function, so we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another."

b. There must be a complete renovation in your thinking if you're ever going to demonstrate what the will of God is for your life.

c. Certain types of thinking are out of bounds, i.e., thinking related to the arrogance complex.

d. The standard of thinking from doctrine includes every aspect of divine viewpoint, orientation to life through enforced and genuine humility, and everything that makes us objective and teachable toward the Word of God.

e. "Many members in one body" emphasizes that although we have different spiritual gifts and different personalities, we all belong to one royal family, the body of Christ.

f. "Individually members one of another" refers to interaction within the royal family of God.

4. Without enforced and genuine humility, there is neither objectivity nor teachability. Without objectivity and teachability in life, you will be miserable, whether you are a believer or unbeliever, successful or not. Without objectivity and teachability, there is no edification complex in your soul as a believer.

5. Edification is the execution of the protocol plan of God through the function of post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. This includes your daily perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.

6. Edification is the status of the invisible hero. He has completed the edification complex of the soul, the most beautiful structure in life. It is found in the soul of the invisible hero.

7. Edification is therefore impossible without humility, teachability, and objectivity.

1. 1Corinthians 14:12, "So also you, since you are eager to have the function of spiritual gifts, seek to abound in spiritual gifts that edify the church."

a. "So also you" is a Greek idiom that should be translated, "this applies to you."

b. The Corinthians were all eager to get the gift of tongues because it was spectacular, and then they could assume they were spiritual. In reality, the worst believers in the Bible are described as having the gift of tongues.

c. "Seek to abound" means you should give precedence to those spiritual gifts which result in edification. The primary spiritual gift in this category is the gift of pastor-teacher.

2. 1Corinthians 14:26, "When you assemble, let all things be done for edification." There are a number of ways in which we worship God, but they must all relate to our spiritual growth. Everything in assembly worship should be done with a view toward the objective, which is edification. The objective is to communicate doctrine, the purpose of which is to produce edification.

3. The key to the modus operandi of the local church is edification. Edification, or the advance to spiritual maturity, is the objective of the Christian way of life.

4. In the context of 1Corinthians 14, the gift of tongues did not fulfill that purpose. 1Corinthians 14:40 concludes that the gift of tongues did not do "all things properly and in an orderly manner."

a. The gift of tongues only existed for the first forty years of the Church Age. Then it was discontinued when the fifth cycle of discipline was administered to Israel by the Romans in August of 70 A.D.

b. While it did exist, the gift of tongues illustrated how not to do things decently and in order. For tongues did not contribute to the principle of edification, nor did it contribute to doing things "properly and in an orderly manner."

1. Priority #1 for edification must be perception, metabolization, and application of the mystery doctrine for the Church Age. This demands concentration under the ministry of the Holy Spirit inside the operational- type divine dynasphere. Therefore, when doctrine is taught, concentration means there is post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

2. As you give Bible doctrine #1 priority in your life, you organize your life around priority #1. Therefore, you have an organized life and your life is in order. This means you always give proper time to the perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine.

3. As you learn doctrine, your thinking inevitably begins to change; there's a "renovation of your thought" (Rom 12:2). Therefore, you begin to organize your thinking around priority #1. The more doctrine you learn, the more you organize your thinking around doctrine.

4. Mechanically, that means you use the ten problem solving devices of the protocol plan of God. As these problem solving devices are developed in your mind, you concentrate on executing the protocol plan through the doctrine you have learned. That is how you construct the edification complex of the soul.

1. Therefore, when you execute the protocol plan of God, you have constructed the following building.

b. First floor: Operation Z, the perception of Bible doctrine under consistent post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation.

c. Second floor: Dispensational orientation, i.e., understanding the uniqueness of the Church Age.

d. Third floor: Problem solving devices, which are very important for experiential Christianity.

(1) As you understand and function under these problem solving devices, you become spiritually self-sustaining and you function under the privacy of your priesthood to resolve your own problems, including the greatest problems in life.

(2) There are two ways in which problems are properly resolved: through the use of the ten problem solving devices, and through cognizance of specific principles in the Word of God.

g. Sixth floor: Spiritual maturity, the point at which we execute the protocol plan of God.

2. The moment you personally believed in Jesus Christ, a foundation was constructed, comprised of the forty things from God. The foundation is Jesus Christ.

a. 2Timothy 2:19, "Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal; the Lord knows those who are His."

b. 1Corinthians 3:11, "No one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

c. The foundation is constructed on the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross, i.e., redemption, propitiation, reconciliation, imputation, and justification.

d. The foundation is instantly constructed the very second we believe in Christ. Again, the foundation is comprised of the forty things we receive at the point of our salvation.

(a) John 3:15, "Whosoever believes in Him shall never perish, but have eternal life."

(b) John 3:16, "For God loved the world so much that He gave His uniquely-born Son that anyone who believes in Him should never perish but have eternal life."

(c) 1John 5:11-13 This is the deposition: God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has this [eternal] life; He who does not have the Son does not have this [eternal] life. These things I have written to you who believe in the person of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.

(d) John 6:47, "Truly, truly I say to you: he who believes in Me has eternal life."

3. The first floor is consistent post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation, i.e., perception, metabolization, and application of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. It is converting gnosis into epignosis doctrine in operation Z.

4. The second floor is comprised of the unique characteristics of the Church Age, called dispensational orientation. We have ten unique things in the Church Age that believers in other dispensations do not possess. As a result, there is tremendous emphasis on the individual believer in the Church Age.

a. The baptism of the Spirit results in the creation of a new spiritual species and the royal family of God. Cognition of being a new spiritual species makes you aware of the tremendous requirements related to your spiritual life. As a member of the royal family of God, you have a unique modus operandi.

c. A phenomenal portfolio of invisible assets belongs to each one of us as royal family of God.

d. For the first time in history, every believer, regardless of his background, attainments or lack of attainments, handicaps, success, or any other distinguishing human factor, has equality given by God Himself.

(1) It is impossible for man to make men equal, as the communists allege. Man can only provide freedom, but freedom manufactures inequality.

(2) Equality originates with the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The first time anyone is equal is the moment when they believe in Jesus Christ, and are entered into union with Christ. That is the only moment of equality. But spiritual freedom means that immediately after salvation, stratification among believers begins to develop. Some believers become winners; some believers become losers.

(3) Under election, we have equal privilege (royal priesthood) and equal opportunity (logistical grace). Under predestination, we have equal privilege (union with Christ, new spiritual species, royal family of God) and equal opportunity (operational-type divine dynasphere).

(4) Freedom guarantees and manufactures inequality. Some believers will advance to maturity and become winners. Some believers will use their free will to be losers.

(5) Only God can create equality. Only once in all of history has God created equality, and that is in the Church Age through the baptism of the Spirit. That's why we have no right to racial discrimination or inferiority or superiority complexes. Because as born-again believers, we have exactly the same status in the royal family of God.

e. We have our unique royal commissions: royal priesthood and royal ambassadorship.

g. Every member of the Trinity indwells every believer. This never existed before in history!

h. We have the unique availability of divine power. Never before in history has divine omnipotence been available for use to every believer.

(1) The omnipotence of God the Father is related to our portfolio of invisible assets.

(2) The omnipotence of God the Son is related to the perpetuation of history and preservation of the universe. Furthermore, Jesus Christ guarantees the protection of the positive believer for the fulfillment of His will.

(3) The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit is related to the operational-type divine dynasphere.

i. This is the first time in history when there are no prophecies to be fulfilled during the Church Age.

(1) There are only two prophecies related to the Church Age, and they relate to its termini: the baptism of the Spirit began the Church Age, and the Rapture of the Church will terminate the Church Age. Everything in between is a matter of historical trends.

(2) Historical trends are based on the principle that as goes the believer, so goes the client nation to God. If there is a large pivot, there is prosperity. If there is a shrinkage of the pivot, there is loss of prosperity and often loss of client nation status.

j. This is the dispensation of invisible heroes. Visible heroes in this dispensation are related to the laws of divine establishment. Invisible heroes are believers who execute the protocol plan of God.

k. No believer ever advances in the protocol plan of God apart from dispensational orientation.

5. The third floor is made up of the problem solving devices: rebound, the filling of the Spirit, the faith-rest drill, grace orientation, doctrinal orientation, personal love for God the Father which is motivational virtue, impersonal love for all mankind which is functional virtue, +H or sharing the happiness of God, a personal sense of destiny, and occupation with the person of Christ as the priority solution.

6. The fourth floor is spiritual self-esteem characterized by cognitive self-confidence.

a. Here is where you begin to apply and use Bible doctrine. Whereas before you grabbed Bible promises and used them, now you grab whole chunks of doctrine and use them. Now you are becoming powerful in your spiritual life.

b. Suffering for blessing begins in spiritual self-esteem, specifically providential preventative suffering. Spiritual self-esteem plus providential preventative suffering equals spiritual autonomy.

c. We do not advance past spiritual self-esteem unless we pass the four tests of providential preventative suffering: people, thought, system, and undeserved suffering.

7. The fifth floor is spiritual autonomy characterized by cognitive independence.

a. Now you have really grown up, because you have at your fingertips all the doctrinal rationales you need to push your way through life and glorify God.

b. Again, you must pass suffering for blessing in the form of momentum testing if you are going to advance.

8. The sixth floor is spiritual maturity characterized by cognitive invincibility.

a. Cognitive invincibility is necessary to pass the third category of suffering for blessing, which is evidence testing.

b. Spiritual maturity plus evidence testing equals glorification of God to the maximum as a witness for the Prosecution in the rebuttal phase of Satan's appeal trial, which runs coterminously with human history.

9. The seventh floor is the modus operandi of the invisible hero with his invisible impact. Invisible God plus invisible assets plus invisible power equals invisible heroes. The invisible impact of the invisible hero includes:

b. Historical impact - blessing by association to the client nation as a part of the pivot of mature believers.

c. International impact - blessing by association to non-client nations through missionary activity of invisible heroes.

d. Angelic impact - the invisible hero becoming a witness for God against Satan in Satan's appeal trial.

e. Heritage impact - blessing by association to loved ones after the death of the invisible hero.

d. The anticipation of escrow blessings for the eternal state, received at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

1. Edification is the motivation in the function of virtue-love, the royal family honor code, in the congregation, through which tolerance provides room for spiritual growth.

2. Romans 15:2, "Let each of us accommodate his neighbor for the good to edification."

3. 1Corinthians 8:1, "Gnosis puffs up, but virtue-love builds [the edification complex of the soul]."

I. The edification complex of the soul is the capacity for escrow blessing. Acts 9:31, "All the church were having prosperity, having been edified, and advancing in occupation with Christ." Local church prosperity is directly related to the number of edification complexes in that church. The edification complex of the soul is to the church what the pivot is to the nation.

2. The Jewish Age was interrupted by the introduction of the Church Age ten days after the ascension of Christ. At His session, Jesus Christ received a battlefield royal warrant, but He was without a royal family. Therefore, the Church Age was inserted into history to call out a royal family. The Church Age becomes the time of the intensification of the angelic conflict.

3. The Church Age is terminated at the Rapture. Then the Age of Israel continues until the Second Advent. There were four promises made to Israel during the Jewish Age that are yet to be fulfilled. The Church Age was not revealed in the Old Testament, so it comes under the mystery doctrine.

a. The conditional covenant requires some human function for the covenant to be operative.

b. The unconditional covenants require nothing of man. They depend entirely upon the attributes of God.

a. Codex one is the freedom heritage. It describes freedom in terms of the laws of divine establishment, defining life, freedom, privacy, property, and authority.

b. Codex two is the spiritual heritage which teaches a complete Christology and soteriology, presenting everything necessary to believe in Christ.

c. Codex three is the establishment code. It teaches concepts of authority in the husband, parents, government, and the military, as well as rules for health, law, trial, punishments, sanitation, etc.

3. The unconditional covenant is a gracious bestowal by one party on behalf of another. There are four unconditional covenants to Israel.

a. In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised a new race called the Jews and a new nation called Israel. Genesis 12:1-3, 13:15; Revelation 21:2,10; Hebrews 11:8-10. This covenant applies to the progeny of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. This covenant was the basis for the deliverance of the Jews and the beginning of the new nation, Ex 6:2-8. This covenant has not been fulfilled yet. It is fulfilled when the Jewish race and nation is perpetuated forever as a source of blessing.

b. In the Palestinian Covenant, God promised the Jews that they would inherit the entire Middle East. Genesis 15:18; Numbers 34:1-12; Deuteronomy 30:1-9; Josh 1:3-

4. During the Millennium, the land of Israel will extend from Turkey to Syria in the north, west to the Med Sea, south to East Africa, include all of Saudi Arabia, and east to the Euphrates River.

a. In the Davidic Covenant, God promised David that he would have a son who would rule forever, 2Samuel 7; Psalm 89:20-37.

b. The New Covenant, Jeremiah 31:31-34, confirms the fact that the unconditional covenants already given would be fulfilled.

C. The Postponement of the Age of Israel. The Age of Israel was sequential until the ascension of Christ. It has been postponed until the royal family is completed and the Church Age is terminated.

D. The Principle of Levels of Measurement. There are four levels of measurement.

1. There are three primary variables using the ratio level of measurement or absolute zero: temperature, length, and mass.

a. Theologically, time has an absolute zero which begins at the fall of man. This elapse is unknown. But from the standpoint of the function of time, there is an artificial zero.

c. Your artificial zero is the moment of your salvation. You are allotted all the time necessary to advance to spiritual maturity.

1. Sequential time. There is no break in time as far as the plan of God is concerned. God has a plan for your life from birth to death. Therefore, you are given one day at a time to advance.

2. Interrupted time. Unconditional covenants were promised in sequential time, but will be fulfilled through interrupted time. Therefore we have the concept of the artificial zero.

3. The time for the fulfillment of the covenants begins at the Second Advent and Millennium.

4. God is not slow with regard to His promises. All divine promises are always fulfilled. God can begin time at any point He wishes. God's apparent slowness in fulfilling His promise to Israel is based on the fact that the Age of Israel has been interrupted and an artificial zero in the interval level of measurement has been created, i.e., the Second Advent of Christ. Therefore, Christ is still the minister to Israel, Romans 15:8.

1. Jesus Christ is the one who was elected from eternity past: Isaiah 42:1, “Behold ‘my servant [Jesus Christ],’ whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth.” 1Peterer 2:6, Christ is described as “a chief corner stone, elect, precious...” This election took place in the eternal decrees, Ephesians 1:4 “… chosen us in Him.” Also 2Timothyothy 1:9; 1Peterer 1:2.

2. Election is a present, as well as future possession of all believers, Colossians 3:12, our position “IN Christ.” Every believer SHARES Christ’s election, Romans 8:28. Election takes place at the moment one believes, 1Corinthians 1:9, 23, 24, 26-28; 2Thessalonians 2:13 “… chosen you to salvation through belief.”

3. Election is the foundation of the Church, 1Thessalonians 1:3,4; it is based on grace, Galatians 1:6; it is the basis of facing suffering with blessing, Romans 8:28.

4. Predestination is the other side of the coin. Christ is predestinated; we are IN Christ; we SHARE His destiny.

5. So: Christ is elected ["chosen"]; we choose Christ from our free will which is non-meritorious faith. Because we are THEN in union with Christ, we are CHOSEN [elected] IN Him.

6. In eternity past, Ephesians 3:11, God the Father PURPOSED A PURPOSE “IN Christ Jesus.” This was the plan of God, Ephesians 2:8,9. This plan includes the believer’s position IN CHRIST: Jesus Christ indwells the believer, John 14:20; the believer is IN the BODY of Christ, 1Corinthians 12:13, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

8. Christ is THE elected one: Isaiah 42:1; 1Peterer 2:6. The believer shares His election by choice.

9. From eternity past the believer is “chosen IN Christ.” “Chosen in Christ” is the plan.

b. 2Timothyothy 1:9, “according to His own purpose (plan) and grace, which was given us IN CHRIST JESUS before the world began.”

c. 1Peterer 1:2, “Elect .. through the sanctification of the Spirit [set apart by union with Christ] … blood of Jesus Christ.”

10. CHRIST IS THE ELECTED ONE, the predestined one. The believer shares this election, this destiny by choosing for Christ, by faith. Faith is the principle set up in the Word of God. Faith is non-meritorious because the merit is always in the object of faith. In salvation faith the object is Jesus Christ.

11. The principle of grace and of the free will of man is set forth in scripture after scripture. The character of God (His fairness, His righteousness, His perfection, His justice) is set forth in scripture after scripture. Psalm 145:17; Psalm 18:30; Deuteronomy 32:4; 2 Chronicles 19:7; Psalm 89:14; Romans 3:26.

12. The theory that anyone is predestined to hell or heaven, without right of choice is incompatible with the principle of grace, incompatible with the character of God, it makes a farce out of the plan of God (Grace), and it impugns the character of God (His perfect righteousness and justice).

13. 2Peterer 3:9 - “God is not willing that any should perish ...” But He predestinated some to go to hell?? NEVER!

14. Romans 10:13, “Whosoever shall CALL upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

15. John 3:16, BUT still He doesn’t give the whole world a choice, but just certain individuals??? NEVER!

a. John 6:44 - “No man can come to me except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him.”

b. John 12:32, “And if I be lifted up from the earth, will DRAW ALL MEN unto me.”

c. Isaiah 53:6, “God the Father laid on Jesus Christ the iniquities of us all.”

16. But all are not free to avail themselves of Jesus Christ being judged for their sins??? NEVER!

17. Never be caught in the debater’s trap of making one verse to try and prove a theory that is in opposition to the principles set forth in scripture after scripture, scripture is the Word of God, or that is not compatible with the character of God.

1. Election is that doctrine which relates the believer to the plan of God as revealed in the divine decrees. Christ was elected in eternity past — Isaiah 42:1; 1Peterer 2:6. Hence, election for the believer is peculiar to the Church Age whereby baptism of the Holy Spirit causes the believer to share both the election and the destiny of Christ. All members of the human race have been potentially elected into the plan of God by the doctrine of unlimited atonement — 2Timothyothy 2:10, but only those who believe are entered into the plan of God by election and by destiny.

2. The specific election of Jesus Christ. The election of Christ, mentioned in Isaiah 42:1 and 1Peterer 2:4,6, occurs as a part of the doctrine of divine decrees — John 15:16; Ephesians 1:4-6; 2Thessalonians 2:13; 1Peterer 1:2.

3. The election of the royal family believer. Since election is sharing the destiny of Christ, and since Christ was elected in eternity past, and since every believer is in union with Christ through the baptism of the Spirit, every believer is said to be called or elected — 1Corinthians 1:2,30; Romans 8:28-32; Ephesians 1:4. This election occurred at the moment of faith in Christ — 1Thessalonians 1:4; 2Thessalonians 2:13; 2Timothyothy 1:9. Election, then, is the present as well as the future possession of every believer — John 15:16; Colossians 3:12.

4. There is also an election of Jewish believers in the previous dispensation. When a Jew in the Age of Israel believed in Christ he had an election on the plan of God. But it is not a royal election, he is not in union with Christ; this is for the Church Age only. He is in the Age of Israel but instead he is entered into the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic, and New covenants to Israel. So his election is related to the unconditional covenants of the dispensation of Israel. This is summarized as a doctrine in Romans 11:1-7.

5. Election is the basis of Church Age royalty. At the moment of salvation God the Holy Spirit enters every believer into union with Christ — 1Corinthians 12:13. The baptism of the Spirit is the sole basis for entrance to the royal status — 2Thessalonians 2:13. Therefore, the importance of understanding the doctrine of election is stressed in 1Thessalonians 1:4.

6. Election has a purpose of encouragement: to encourage the believer to reach the tactical victory compatible with his royal status — the supergrace life. Ephesians 4:1; 2Timothyothy 1:9 cf. 13,14; Titus 1:1.

1. Election is the expression of the sovereign will of God in eternity past before the universe existed and before mankind lived on the earth.

3. Election is a Biblical term which is applied to the believer only in the Church Age. In this study, election is defined as a computer asset, one of two printouts from the Romans chip of the sovereignty of God.

4. Election, along with foreknowledge, predestination, justification and glorification, are all printouts from a Romans (sovereignty of God) chip. Therefore, they belong only to the believer, Romans 8:28-30.

6. Election is a computer asset which expresses the sovereign will of God for each believer in the royal family during the great power experiment of the Church Age.

7. Election is the expression of the sovereign will of God for your life. Predestination is the provision of the sovereign will of God for your life.

8. Under election, the sovereignty of God willed the highest and best for every believer, having previously deposited it in escrow for each believer in eternity past.

9. The mechanics for the election of the Church is the baptism of the Holy Spirit which occurs at the very moment we believe in Christ. This is one of the forty things we receive at salvation by which each one of us is entered into union with Christ.

10. The election of the Church includes both equal privilege and equal opportunity for every believer. Not only do you have a magnificent destiny under the protocol plan of God, but you have the same privileges and opportunities as all other believers for the execution of the protocol plan of God.

b. Under election, equal opportunity is logistical grace support and blessing for both winners and losers. (See point 7.)

b. The election of Christ brought in the Hypostatic Union, i.e., undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. Jesus Christ is eternal God and therefore different from humanity. Jesus Christ is true humanity and therefore different from eternal God. He had to become true humanity to be our Savior, our great high priest, and our mediator.

c. The election of the Church brought in the new spiritual species, the Church or royal family of God.

b. The two separate client nations of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms, 926 - 721 B.C.

4. The key to any client nation is the status quo of its believers. A client nation cannot exist without a pivot.

5. The function, prosperity, and perpetuation of the Jewish client nations always depended on the size of its pivots, 1 Kg 19:18.

6. In the Jewish Age, the Tribulation, and the Millennium, there is an election of born-again Jews. Isaiah 45:3b-4, ". . . the Lord God of Israel who calls you by your name. For the sake of Jacob, My servant, even Israel, My elected one, I have also called you by your number; I have given you a title of honor [Israel], though you [unbelievers] have not known Me."

7. There will be no client nation during the Tribulation because of the removal of the pivot of the Church Age, but there will be client nation function through an international pivot of 144,000 Jews, according to Revelation 7 and 14. Matt 24:21-22 says, "because of the elected ones [144,000], those days will be cut short." Isaiah 65:9 refers to the Jewish elect in the Millennium: "Therefore, I will bring forth from Jacob a seed [the elect of Israel],out of Judah an inheritance for My mountains. Even My elected ones will inherit it, and My servants will dwell there."

8. Election to privilege is an issue to the Jew. Every Jewish nation depended upon its pivot. Judea survived historical crisis because of a pivot in 135 B.C. Romans 11:1-7, "God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew [believers]. . ."

10. Since no Jewish nation can be a client nation to God during the Church Age and the times of the Gentiles, the election of Israel is not operational during the Church Age.

11. The election of Israel, as with all elections, applies only to those who have personally believed in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was very clearly revealed to the Jews in the Old Testament. Therefore, those who believed in Christ had an election and a plan.

12. Wherever you have an election and a plan, that adds up to having a destiny. An election from God plus a plan of God equals a destiny.

13. The election of Israel began a new racial species, beginning with Abraham at age ninety-nine.

15. Jesus Christ is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those first three Jews set the precedence for true Israel, for all three were believers in Jesus Christ.

2. In eternity past, the omniscience of God programmed the decrees regarding the Hypostatic Union of Jesus Christ. Impeccability, the cross, and our Lord's resurrection, ascension and session are all printouts of that decree.

3. Christ was elected in eternity past; His election was fulfilled through the virgin pregnancy.

6. The election of Christ is the basis for His saviorhood. He is the only way of salvation. He was qualified to be the Savior by His impeccability.

7. Without the ascension and session of Christ, there would be no royal family to act as a pivot.

8. All history focuses on the person of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 42:1, "Behold My Servant whom I sustain, My elected One in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles." Ephesians 1:4.

9. The election of Jesus Christ was impossible without logistical grace support provided for Him. Election is closely related to logistics.

a. Logistical grace support allows you to fulfill your election to privilege by delivering the nation. Never think of election without realizing the importance of logistics.

c. The cross was the ultimate in logistical support. Jesus Christ was sustained and kept alive until all sins could be borne by Him, Acts 2:23. Had logistical support been withdrawn, there would be no salvation for us.

10. 1Peter 2:4,6, "And coming to Him as a living stone, rejected by men, but elected and precious in the sight of God . . . Behold, I lay in Zion the chief cornerstone, the elected One, held in honor; in fact, He who believes in Him will never be put to shame."

2. After the first forty years of the Church Age, 30 - 70 A.D., the royal family of God provided a pivot for all Gentile client nations. The Jew could only be elected to privilege by belief in Christ, just as in the Jewish age. But now there could be no Jewish client nation.

3. Election to privilege occurs at salvation. We have the privilege of historical impact by advancing to maturity, 2Peter 1:3.

4. The function of Gentile client nations demands a pivot for freedom, evangelism, and advance to maturity.

5. The Church Age believer must not only understand his relationship to God, but his relationship to history as well. You must understand your relationship to God, man, and history. In fulfilling our relationship to God, we fulfill our relationship to the other two.

6. 1Thessalonians 1:4, "Knowing, brethren, beloved of God, His election for you." You must know that election is God's plan for you. Colossians 3:12, "As elected ones of God, holy and beloved, put on the affections of grace compassion." To understand your election, you must function under grace orientation. Understanding election is orientation to the plan of God for your life.

7. 2Timothy 1:9, "He has elected us into a holy station in life, not according to our works." Our works have no relation to our historical impact. Romans 8:33, "Who will bring any accusation against the elect of God?" Heaven itself cannot stop our historical impact because of the fulfillment of our election.

8. Blessing by association is the fulfillment of our responsibility to man. Historical impact is the fulfillment of our responsibility to history.

9. Knowledge of doctrine is essential to fulfilling our election to privilege. Titus 1:1, "According to the doctrine of God's elected ones, and the full knowledge of doctrine according to the norms of godliness." Election means we are responsible to preserve the client nation by advancing to the pivot.

10. Since the believer has been elected to privilege, he must function under the royal family honor code. Ephesians 4:1, "I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to walk in a manner worthy of your station in life, for which station in life you have been called [elected]." Ephesians 1:4, "Since He Himself has elected us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him."

a. This verse teaches that election was provided before the creation of the world.

b. "Holy" is a reference to both the absolute and relative concept of experiential sanctification. Election relates to the experiential part of God's plan for our lives. Holiness has to do with separation unto God, the execution of the protocol plan of God.

(1) Absolute holiness describes the mandates related to the filling of the Spirit. When the believer is inside the divine dynasphere, the Holy Spirit controls his soul, and the old sin nature is restrained in his body.

(a) The believer in cosmic one is said to be grieving the Spirit because the old sin nature controls the soul, though still indwelling the body.

(c) This is an absolute; you're either filled with the Holy Spirit and inside the divine dynasphere, which is 100% spirituality, or you're in the cosmic system, which is 0% spirituality and 100% carnality. This absolute status applies to any stage of spiritual growth.

(2) Relative holiness refers to advancing through the stages of spiritual growth, or retrogressing through the eight stages of

c. "Blameless before Him" is a reference to ultimate sanctification in the eternal state.

11. Believers are commanded to make their calling and election a reality in 2Peter 1:10-11. "Therefore brethren, be more motivated [perception of doctrine regarding your portfolio of invisible assets] to make your calling and election a spiritual reality; for by doing these things [fulfillment of the protocol plan, perception of doctrine], you will never stumble [become a loser in cosmic system]. For in this manner [execution of the protocol plan], your entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ [ultimate sanctification in the resurrection body] will be richly supplied [conveyance of eternal escrow blessings to winners]."

a. How do you make your election a spiritual reality? Through perception, metabolization, and application of election and lapsarianism. You use the privacy of your priesthood; you learn the doctrine; you learn the mechanics.

b. Election is only the potential for impact on history. By the daily function of GAP, we make our calling and election a reality when we advance to spiritual maturity.

12. Election is a reason for thanksgiving for others. 2Thessalonians 2:13, "But we are always obligated to give thanks to God concerning you, having been loved by the Lord, because God has elected you from eternity past."

13. The election of the Church brought in a new spiritual species. By being placed in union with Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we can now use the 100% available divine omnipotence.

1. At the point of birth you come under the concept of selection, not election. God selected you to be a member of the human race rather than an animal. The fact that you have life is selection from the sovereignty of God.

2. The fact that any person believes in Christ and receives eternal life is a matter of common and efficacious grace. At this point selection becomes election. This opens the door for the greatest opportunity ever known to man. You are a royal priest sustained by logistical grace, a person in union with Christ, and you can function under the power of the Holy Spirit in the operational-type divine dynasphere. This means you can capitalize on your escrow blessing on deposit.

3. That any person is given election to privilege is a motivational challenge which you cannot ignore.

4. The selection of the sovereignty of God at birth is followed by the election of the sovereignty of God at the point of regeneration.

5. You have been given the greatest opportunity and privileges ever conveyed to any member of the human race. Therefore, the dynamics of the ordinary life in the Church Age become extraordinary.

6. Selection precedes election. Selection relates to physical birth; election relates to spiritual birth. God's purpose in election is that you receive your escrow blessings.

7. Between selection and election is the most important decision in your life: that you believe in Christ.

8. Selection, salvation, and election explain the chronological concept of election. We are selected by God to resolve the angelic conflict, saved by faith in Christ to enter into His protocol plan, and elected to fulfill His protocol plan and thereby glorify Him upon the conveyance of His highest and best to us, i.e., our greater blessings for time and eternity. This is His sovereign will for us.

a. The Romans chip is the sovereignty of God chip. The PROM chip is the free will of man chip. The sovereignty of God and the free will of man coexist in human history in order to resolve the angelic conflict. Romans stands for "read only memory." Romans is an integrated circuit from which unchanging data can be read, but into which no new data can be written. Romans chips can only be programmed at the factory, analogous to heaven in eternity past.

b. Hence, the Romans chip is the sovereignty of God integrated circuit, and it has two printouts which relate to the protocol plan of God: election and predestination. Election is the expression of the sovereignty of God in eternity past. Predestination is the provision of the sovereignty of God in eternity past.

c. PROM means "programmable read only memory." PROM is the free will of man chip, programmed by the omniscience of God in eternity past. It is defined as a memory device, or integrated micro circuit containing fixed data that can be read but not altered. In other words, your free will, thinking, motivation, and actions operate right now in time. However, God knew your thoughts, motives, volitional decisions, and actions in eternity past. Therefore, the omniscience of God entered into your very own PROM chip every decision you will ever make in life, as well as your every thought, motive, and action.

d. The entering of the data is performed after the device is manufactured. God manufactured free will in both angelic creatures and in mankind. Then He programmed into the PROM chips just exactly how each free will would function.

e. Each PROM chip is programmed on the basis of the fact that the omniscience of God knew when each free will would operate independently of His sovereign will, and when each free will would operate in conformity with His sovereign will. God invented free will to function either for or against Him; the choice lies with each individual.

f. Omniscience is God's knowledge of all creation simultaneously. Therefore, there never was a time when He did not know just exactly how your free will would work.

g. In the computer of divine decrees, both the Romans chips and the PROM chips operate simultaneously.

h. In eternity past, God made one sovereign decision, one with many aspects. That one decision was to provide for you your very own election related to His plan for your life, and to provide for you your very own predestination related to His plan for your life. This is all contained in the Romans chip.

i. In the PROM chip is a precreation record of each one of our lives, and it reads either winner or loser, depending upon your decisions. But there's no excuse for being a loser, because in your Romans chip you have equal privileges and equal opportunities under election and predestination. Losers choose to be losers by their ignorance of Bible doctrine and its resultant arrogance.

j. The winner is the believer who uses his invisible computer assets of election and predestination. The loser is the believer who, through wrong decisions from a position of weakness, fails to learn, to understand the mechanics, and to utilize these invisible assets. Hence, the distinction between the winner and the loser is in the PROM chip, but never in the Romans chip.

k. This important principle of equal privilege and opportunity for each individual Church Age believer under both election and predestination was left out of the lapsarian controversy in the history of theology.

a. A computer is a device that stores and manipulates data which can control other devices as a result of its manipulation and storage data, and which can communicate with other computers, with other types of devices, and with human beings.

b. Our computer is the computer of divine decrees. The storage data is the content of the divine decrees, both election and predestination. This computer can control other devices; for example, the printout of the canon of Scripture becomes our controlling device. It can communicate with human beings; for example, the pastor-teacher's gift is designed to communicate information.

(1) "Input" is a technical word in computer science for data entered into a computer system. It's analogous to the fact that in eternity past God programmed all the facts of history into the computer of divine decrees.

(2) "Output" is the data signal emitted from the system. Your output today is either positive or negative; it refers to your growth or retrogression, your spirituality or carnality.

(3) "Program" is a sequence of instruction that is determined before the start of the operation, like the portfolio of invisible assets or the protocol plan of God, and is translated into a series of actions, like human history.

(4) "Hardware" is a part of the physical components of a computer system, like the sovereignty, love, and omniscience of God.

(5) There are three factors about "software" that are analogous to the three elections in history: Israel, Christ, and the Church.

(6) A "chip" is a piece of silicon or similar material on which an integrated circuit is manufactured. Therefore, the chip belongs to the computer as a device to store data. We've noted the Romans and PROM chip.

(7) "Parallel processing" is a method of data processing in which more than one bit is handled at a time. It's analogous to the sovereignty of God programming the Romans chip in eternity past while the omniscience of God programmed the PROM chip in eternity past.

(8) "Parallel transmission" is a method of data transmission in which more than one bit is sent at a time, like the transmission of both our portfolio of invisible assets in eternity past and the protocol plan of God in time.

(9) There are even "gates" in computer science. A gate is a circuit with two or more inputs but only one output.

1. The whole purpose of the doctrine of election is to describe God's way of providing invisible assets so we can fulfill His will and His plan.

2. Election is the expression of the sovereignty of God for every Church Age believer made in eternity past. God's sovereignty wills for you personally the highest and the best. Election expresses this sovereign will by providing equal privilege and equal opportunity for you, which we must use to fulfill His plan and to execute His will for our lives.

3. The election of the Church is the expression of the sovereign will of God for the royal family of God as the body of Christ.

4. Therefore, the protocol plan of God is mandated for the election of the Church. You are elected to only one plan, the protocol plan, which is God's plan for your life. No other plan will do.

5. A right thing must be done in a right way under the precise and accurate function of the protocol plan of God.

6. The mechanics of the election of the Church is the baptism of the Spirit, the means of creating the new spiritual species, the means of forming the royal family of God, and the means of providing so many wonderful invisible assets.

I. The Equal Privilege of Election, the Universal Priesthood of the Church Age Believer.

1. Our royal priesthood shows that God's plan for us in the Church Age as royal family is totally and completely unique. Never before the Church Age and never after the Rapture is there ever another universal priesthood; it is only for us in the Church Age.

2. A priest is a human being who represents people before God. In the Church Age, since every believer is a priest, every believer represents himself before God. This establishes a system of privacy.

3. Under the privacy of your priesthood, you are responsible for yourself before God. This means you are responsible for every thought you think, every motive you have, every good decision you make, and every action you take, good or bad. God is holding you responsible for your own decisions. Why? Because He made you a priest so that you could represent yourself before Him.

4. The royal priesthood of the believer is taught many times in the New Testament. It was a favorite subject of Peter. Although his teaching was misunderstood by the Catholic Church, he was really teaching about the royal priesthood of each Church Age believer. Peter was the first to teach this doctrine, found in 1Peter 2:5 and 9. John taught the doctrine as well.

5. As a royal priest, every believer has a direct line to God, which means he represents himself before God, he evaluates himself, and he offers prayer for himself.

6. Hence, the privacy of your priesthood is related to the importance of epistemological rehabilitation. You have privacy so that you can learn Bible doctrine yourself. You can never learn anything if you are not objective, if you reject authority, or if you have any form of arrogance. To learn Bible doctrine under epistemological rehabilitation requires a tremendous amount of objectivity.

7. This is why the local church should be an environment where believers can gather together and yet have their privacy respected. This means both your sins and your strengths should be kept private. The pastor- teacher, as the final authority in the local church, must protect the privacy of all priests in his congregation by disciplining or removing those who violate or impose upon others' privacy.

8. The believer-priest cannot account for his thoughts, motives, decisions, or actions in undefinable terms. Under the privacy of your priesthood, you must be able to define your life in terms of the protocol plan of God, which means you must learn the technical language and vocabulary. Once you do, you as your own priest can analyze and evaluate your own life and your own problems, and apply doctrine and make corrections to your own life under the privacy of your own priesthood. Therefore, the privacy of the priesthood demands that we learn doctrine so that we can define our situation at any given time.

9. The royal priest's self-improvement is based on the function of perception of doctrine. Any self-improvement based on the advice and counsel of others is really a set-back.

10. The royal priesthood is designed by God to function under conceptualism. No believer can think, apply doctrine, or solve problems through the mind or the personality of another Christian. This is why each one of us is a priest. To the extent that we seek counsel or advice, we're not getting enough doctrine or we're not using our own doctrine. Initially there's a place for counseling with new believers, but as you grow you should begin to handle your own life. You should know when you're wrong and when you're right, and you should be able to utilize all the doctrine you have learned to advance to maturity. Only in spiritual maturity will you glorify God.

11. Under the privacy of your priesthood, you have the right to assemble with other believers in a group, where your privacy is respected, to learn doctrine from whomever is your right pastor-teacher.

12. The privacy of your priesthood permits the function of both your positive volition toward doctrine plus the right to metabolize and apply that doctrine to your own experience. (The tendency is to get arrogant and want to apply it to everyone else's experience.)

13. The only human dependence of the royal priesthood is the divine provision of your very own pastor-teacher, and consistent positive volition under his teaching ministry. In that sense, a pastor is very much like a parent and should be honored, not loved. Your pastor should not bully you or intrude upon your privacy (unless you intrude on someone else's privacy); he should communicate and teach doctrine faithfully.

14. Faithful Bible teaching from your right pastor demands your faith perception, metabolization, and application of that teaching to your own life as a royal priest. You cannot advance to maturity on your own; someone has to train you.

15. Life in the divine dynasphere is not only spiritual freedom under the filling of the Spirit, but spiritual independence within the framework of your royal priesthood. This means that as a believer-priest, you cannot fulfill the protocol plan of God by advancing to spiritual maturity on someone else's thinking, motivation, decisions, actions, advice, counseling, emotion, or even their leadership (the only exception is your dependence on the teaching of your pastor-teacher). You have to advance to maturity on your own. The first stage of spiritual adulthood is spiritual self-esteem, which is when you know how to do it on your own, and you no longer feel threatened by all the things in life that cause fear, worry, and anxiety.

c. Perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine to your own experience (and if you're in authority, to the experience of those under you).

e. The sacrifices of life, such as praise, which is your doctrinal momentum resulting in spiritual adulthood and the modus operandi of virtue-love.

f. Divine viewpoint mental attitude from metabolized doctrine. (It isn't what the other person thinks that counts; it's what you think from metabolized doctrine that counts.)

g. Self-motivation from metabolized doctrine. You have to motivate yourself; you can't depend on someone else's leadership. If you depend on them, then you are borrowing their inspiration. That will never work, for it results in stifling your own motivation. Then when you are under adversity, you have no motivation to keep driving.

17. Remember, your pastor is neither the leader of your social life or the "madam" of a lonely hearts club. He is neither a counselor nor a crutch to lean on.

18. Your priesthood demands that you live your own life as unto the Lord and take the responsibility for your own decisions. This is your equal privilege under election.

J. The Equal Opportunity under Election, the Divine Provision of Logistical Grace Support and Blessing.

1. Two aspects of logistical grace come to you down the grace pipeline from the justice of God to His indwelling righteousness in you. Logistical support is designed to sustain you. Logistical blessing is additional blessing, more than just support.

2. Both logistical grace support and blessing is provided for winners and losers alike, because both types of believers have the perfect righteousness of God. This gives all believers equal opportunity.

3. The holiness or integrity of God is made up of divine righteousness and divine justice. At the point of salvation, God's righteousness was imputed to you so that you possess one-half of divine integrity. Righteousness demands righteousness; justice demands justice. What the righteousness of God demands, the justice of God executes.

4. The righteousness of God has demanded, ever since the moment of your salvation, that the justice of God sustain your life through every stupid mistake and every dumb decision you make. The righteousness of God demands that the justice of God keep you alive to fulfill your personal destiny. All of us are alive by the grace of God after salvation.

5. The justice of God is the initiator of grace. On a daily basis, the justice of God sends down the grace pipeline to the indwelling righteousness of God everything it takes to keep you alive and to sustain you, and as well as great and fantastic blessings. The justice of God sends undeserved blessings to all believers, winners and losers alike. This is why the wicked prosper, due to their equal privilege in God's plan.

6. All logistical blessing in the Christian life comes in this manner to the winner and loser alike. We do not earn or deserve any of it; it is a matter of grace. We're not blessed because we give, witness, perform Christian service, or because of anything we can do or anything we are. That would be a compromise of the integrity of God. God blesses you only because you have His righteousness indwelling you; hence, His integrity is not compromised.

7. The very air that you breathe, the food you eat, everything you have, the only reason you are alive through every type of vicissitude in life is based entirely upon this principle of logistical grace.

8. Our blessing is a matter of grace, just as our salvation was a matter of grace. We are saved by grace through faith, and we are sustained by grace.

1. Therefore, the equal privilege and equal opportunity of election means there never has been and never will be a Church Age believer who did not have exactly the same privilege and same opportunity to fulfill God's plan, to reach spiritual maturity, and to receive the fantastic escrow blessings provided for him by God the Father in eternity past.

2. Under the doctrine of divine decrees, election cannot be divorced from predestination. Predestination is the provision of the sovereign will of God for the royal family. Predestination provides equal privilege (union with Christ) and equal opportunity (the divine dynasphere) to execute the protocol plan of God.

2. Emotion is to be enjoyed, understood and evaluated, but this is impossible without the absolute criterion for the Christian way of life: The Word of God, Bible doctrine.

3. Emotion is not the criterion in the Christian way of life. The use of emotionalism is a substitute for ignorance of the Word of God. Use objectivity (Scriptural principles) in ascertaining the filling of the Holy Spirit. Don't get subjective (emotional).

4. Emotion has a place in your life, emotion is the appreciator of the soul. Song of Solomon 1:7; 2Peter 2:8; Luke 12:19.

5. When you are born-again this information is communicated into your soul. You may or may not have an emotion. Your emotion has nothing to do with the spiritual reality of your salvation. Emotionalism is soulish, human activity - unless controlled by the Holy Spirit.

6. When the human spirit sends doctrine to the emotions, the believer appreciates God. No doctrine and there is no appreciation of God.

7. Emotion is a response to something in the thought pattern, a result of what you think. When you think Bible doctrine you appreciate things on the basis of Bible doctrine.

8. Emotion (when it is not in its proper place) has an effect on the physical body, like psychosomatic illness.

9. When you refuse doctrine you create a vacuum wherein comes religion, emotionalism; and these emotions become involved and you make emotion your criterion. You then become one miserable person.

11. Everyone has emotions. Emotions are to enjoy things in life, such as people, a beautiful scene, a concert, football game, etc. But emotion has no place as a criterion, norm or standard for the Christian life. The criterion for the Christian life is the Word of God. When you have Bible doctrine you can even appreciate the details of life because they become points of doctrine.

1. Emotion is the responder to the right lobe. In a normal soul, the emotion is the responder of the soul.

3. Emotion is the female part of the soul. It responds to the dominant part of the soul, which is the right lobe; and what we Bible calls the heart.

4. Category #2 love illustrates the relationship between the heart and the emotion.

5. The heart posses a frame of reference which is designed for thought. In there is a memory center. To focus thought on anything in particular demands recall. Memory is important for capacity for life. Vocabulary is the basis for thinking. You cannot increase your vocabulary enough. Greatest thinkers have the greatest vocabularies. Many people bought Cambridge Ancient History and found out that it was not an easy read. Norms and standards.

7. The emotion is simply empty; but it is a responder. It is lined with great sensitivity. It is sensitive toward music. Love requires thought. Attraction is not thought.

8. Emotion is not designed to assume authority over the soul; but it is designed to be dominated by the right lobe of the soul. The average American is not able to vote properly because he has not sense of responsibility. To let every numbskull vote is ridiculous. 90% of voters in the United States have no concept of responsibility. When a republic becomes a democracy, it destroys itself. There was a time when England was far greater than us as a Monarchy. If we are destroyed, don’t be bitter, because we have begged for it. We have not functioned under our Constitution for a long time. Emotion has no ability to think or to reason; and emotion has no ability to love. Emotion is a part of love, the responsive part, and with the homosexual and lesbian, it is the emotion which is dominating the soul. Bob is happy and has a lot of fun because he runs his emotions.

1. Bowels. Genesis 43:30; 1Kings 3:26; Jeremiah 4:19, 31:20; Lam 1:20, 2:11; Philippians 1:8; Philemon 12,20.

a. The bowels are a portion of the anatomy that is empty but filled with something. The bowels are filled with the waste of the body.

b. Genesis 43:30, family love stirred his emotions to the point of weeping. Weeping is an emotional response; it has no thought.

c. Jeremiah 4:19, Jeremiah fills his right lobe with disturbing thoughts and his emotions respond. “My bowels, my bowels” = “My emotions, my emotions.” Jeremiah sees his nation as our nation is today and this caused him great grief. He is disturbed in his right lobe.

e. Lam 2:11, the liver is the emotion under normal conditions. But it is turned inside out because he no longer has normal emotions, because of the destruction of the nation.

f. In Philippians 1:8, Paul recalls the Philippians and appreciates their response to doctrine. This elicited a response in his emotions. In the right lobe, Paul thinks of the Philippians. He admires them and he appreciates them; he appreciated their response to doctrine.

g. In Philemon 20, Paul is saying that if he frees this runaway slave, it will refresh his emotions. “Refresh my bowels” is not an enema; but an emotional response.

2. Belly. An empty bag but filled. The "belly" is designated as the emotion in Prov 13:25, 18:8, 26:22; Romans 16:17-18; Philippians 3:19.

a. In Prov 18:18, the person who listens to gossip is emotionally stimulated by listening to all the horrible things about someone of whom they are jealous. They respond to gossip, but it produces wounds in the soul like a peptic ulcer. A whisperer is a subtle gossip. They can be very malicious, but with a cover.

b. When you rejoice over the tragedies of someone, you are jealous of them and only end up producing an ulcer in your own soul. This emotional activity of gloating over someone you can't stand only destroys you.

3. Reins. These are the kidneys. Empty but filled by the function of our anatomy. The "reins" are used to designate the emotions.

a. Reins is an old English word for the kidneys. The Hebrew word KILJAH refers to the fat pads which cover the kidneys and adrenal glands. The adrenal glands secrete the hormone epinephrine which is the fright, flight, or fight hormone. It increases blood to the muscles, cardiac output and glucose to the muscles. It is stimulated by the emotions. Psalm 139:13; Prov 23:16; Jeremiah 12:12, 20:12 . The advancing believer has a normal soul in which the right lobe dominates, Jeremiah 11:20, 17:10. Emotion takes over in fright, flight or fight. Psalm 7:9 Let the evil of the reversionist come to an end, but establish the of the mature believer for the righteous God tests the heart and reins the emotion is the responder of the soul. That is a normal soul. Psalm 26:2 Examine me, O Lord, and test my kidneys (emotions) and my right lobe. Jer 13:10 I the Lord search the heart (or the right lobe); I test the kidneys or the emotions even to give to every man according to his modus vivendi. The emotions must be tested along with the right lobe.

C. Emotion and spirituality must be related to the dispensations. When the royal family of God are called out, that is the rapture; and the Tribulation will take place. Then the Lord will reign on earth for 1000 years. In the Millennium, the Lord will reign on earth. There will be no poverty, a chicken in every pot. Perfect environment does not satisfy man. There will be a revolt against Jesus Christ at the end of the Millennium. Socialism claims that they can provide perfect environment. In the Church Age, the Lord is seated next to God the Father, absent from the earth. The filling of the Spirit produces the character of Christ; but there is no emotional connotation. Appreciation of the Lord Jesus Christ comes through doctrine rather than through emotional function. Emotion is not eliminated, but put in its proper place. Emotional function cannot produce integrity. In this dispensation, emotion is a responder to many things in the heart. Emotional activity is not indicative of spiritual activity or advance in the spiritual life the purpose of the filling of the Spirit is perception of doctrine is advance to maturity.

D. Only in the Millennium does the motin character the... No spiritual content to emotion is the... The filling of the Spirit is used to celebrate the reigning Christ. Bes in the Millennium are

E. Emotion can be a hindrance to the plan of God. 2Corinthians 6:11–12 they are deceived by flatter; they deceive the right lobes of the unsuspecting.

1. It must be constantly emphasized that the weak believer or reversionist who is the subject of this verse is not authority oriented. Instead, he is under the control of his own arrogance and emotion.

2. The weak believer/reversionist of this verse seeks to build a mutual admiration society.

3. Spiritual authority begins with God and continues with delegated authority—delegated authority to the Word of God plus the communicator of the Word.

4. The weak reversionist rejects the authority of both the Word and the pastor who communicates the Word.

5. Because of this fact the weak reversionist does not serve obey the Lord Christ. He is negative toward doctrine, therefore he has neither motivation nor momentum to advance in the plan of God.

6. Therefore it is inevitable that the weak reversionist in his arrogance will be a slave to his emotion, and thereby serve himself.

7. All emotional type reversionists are motivated by their own arrogance. They have no authority orientation. Being motivated by arrogance it to be soulishly blind, to be non-perceptive in the soul.

9. Believers ignorant of doctrine are impressed by the pleasant personality. They emphasize personality in their thinking.

10. Fundamentalist Christianity has traded its doctrinal heritage for that mess of pottage, emotion as the criterion and arrogance as the motivator of the soul. This is why the tongues movement of the 20th century is so popular today. When a vacuum is created in the soul through lack of doctrine it is replaced by emotion as the criterion and arrogance as the motivator.

a. In planning the creation of mankind, God said, "Let us make mankind in our shadow image according to our likeness," Genesis 1:26. When God said that, He could not have possibly been talking about emotion, since there is no evidence for emotion in the essence of God. Emotion was added by God to the essence of our soul as a free and gratuitous addition to the shadow image, but not a part of the shadow image. God does not possess emotion as a divine attribute; therefore, God is not emotional in His relationship with rational creatures. Therefore, emotion is only used of God as an anthropopathism to express a divine policy or attitude in human language and viewpoint, which God does not have. Anthropopathism is designed to explain to mankind in human language divine policy on the sovereign decisions of God related to the integrity of God with emphasis on His divine righteousness, His divine justice, and His divine love.

(1) Emotion is not a part of man's soul, but the result of the function of the human soul. Emotion, like the sin nature, is not a part of the soul. The function of the human soul can produce both good and bad emotion. Emotion is an image reflection of good emotion from the stream of consciousness or bad emotion from the sin nature. Bad emotion and the sin nature are trying to conquer the soul. Neither the old sin nature nor emotion are in the soul. Emotion is not the image of God, but the image of mankind. Both emotion and the sin nature attack the soul. The sin nature attacks the soul from the outside from the body, while bad emotion attacks the soul from the inside the soul mirror reflection.

(a) Good emotion includes longsuffering toward someone, the bearing of injustice or misfortune, handling provocatio or annoyance or pain without complaint or loss of temper or irrationality; therefore, composure under stress based on the application of advanced stages of the spiritual life. Good emotion can only exist where cognition precedes it.

(2) In the garden of Eden, perfect mankind functioned under four shadow image principles (self consciousness I am, self perception I think, volitional options I ought, and self determination I will) resulting in good emotion. Good emotion was added by God as an appreciator of the things in the soul.

(3) Emotion is what is experienced as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness. Emotion is part of the essence of the soul. The soul resides in the brain. Evidence of this is given by the electrical impulses of the electroencephalogram. Emotion has two functions in life as a part of the soul a normal and an abnormal function. The emotions of the soul are designed to respond to what is in the mentality of the soul.

(4) As a result of perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness through the filling of the Holy Spirit, the believer responds in appreciation to God. That is good emotion. Good emotion came in the Garden of Eden before bad emotion, which came after the fall of man.

(5) Emotion is a result of cognition. Emotion is not a part of the spiritual life. We are not spiritual because we feel spiritual. The spiritual life is the cognition and function of the spiritual mechanics revealed in the word of God, and it produces the purpose of the spiritual life to reflect the integrity of God.

(a) There was good emotion in the Garden of Eden, but it was not a part of the shadow image of God. The man and the woman in the garden of Eden with perfect, good emotion appreciated: their environment, their perfect marriage and perfect sex in marriage, Bible doctrine taught by Jesus Christ, the integrity of God. For example, Adam had perfect good emotion when he saw the woman for the first time and had sex with her. What God designed in mankind in the garden was to produce a shadow integrity that would be similar to the holiness or integrity of God. Emotion was added to appreciate that integrity.

(b) Bad emotion began at the original sin and has continued throughout human history. Bad emotion was very much in evidence in the original sin of man. Bad emotion came in the form of tremendous guilt after the original sin. Bad emotion continued when Adam was afraid of the Lord, when He came looking for Adam. Genesis 3:10.

b. Emotion related to the person of Jesus Christ is confined to His human nature in hypostatic union. There is no emotion in His divine nature, only in His human nature. When Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus, that was good emotion from His human nature. Because of the impeccability of Jesus Christ, He experienced only good emotion. While there is no emotion in the deity of Christ, there is perfect emotion in the humanity of Christ.

c. Why do theologians have such a predilection for assigning emotion to God? Because of failure to understand anthropopathic revelation of God in the word of God and failure to understand divine love as a characteristic of divine integrity.

d. The other parts of the soul include self-consciousness, volition, and the mentality or self perception of the two frontal lobes. Emotion is the female part of the soul and responds to the right lobe, the male part.

e. Category two love illustrates the relationship between the emotion and the right lobe.

f. The right lobe possesses a frame of reference which is designed for thought, the memory center, vocabulary and categorical storage, the conscience, the momentum department, the wisdom department, and the subconscious. The right lobe possesses what is really you. You are what you think. The right lobe also contains the norms and standards. Inside the right lobe of the soul is everything that should dominate emotion, so that emotion can become what it was designed to be by God c an appreciator of things.

g. The heart contains all thought and standards. The emotion contains nothing. Koilia (κοιλία) [pronounced koy-LEE-ah], the Greek word for the emotions, means something that is empty, or hollow. Emotion is something empty and waiting to respond. Emotion contains no doctrine, no thought, no common sense, and no ability to reason. If emotion controls the soul you can't think or apply doctrine to life.

h. The emotions are the appreciator of the soul. By function, the emotions respond to the right lobe. The emotion is strictly a responder. It contains feeling. It is like an empty bag lined with sensitivity. It is sensitive to music, art, drama, the opposite sex, etc.

i. Emotion is not designed to assume authority over the soul, but is designed to be dominated by the right lobe.

j. Emotion has no ability to love. Thus, emotional revolt produces homosexuals and lesbians.

k. Capacity for life is related to the right lobe, thought, not the emotions. You can enjoy life only by running your emotions with your thought.

l. While certain portions of the anatomy double for parts of the soul in the Bible, it is not difficult to distinguish the essence of the soul from the physiological anatomy of the body. The Greek word KARDIA means heart always refers to the area of thought in the soul. English words used in the Bible to describe the emotions include: bowels, belly, reins.

m. Anatomy in the languages of the ancient world always doubled for the functions of the soul, because they did not have in ancient languages a psychological vocabulary.

n. As there are two kidneys, two fat pads, so there are two emotions. This could break the right man-right woman analogy, implying two women for one man. However, the one woman, emotion, has two parts.

o. Both reins respond to the heart: the left rein is the capacity for spiritual life and therefore responds to spiritual phenomena in the right lobe; the right rein is the capacity for temporal life and therefore responds to human or temporal phenomena in the right lobe.

p. Positive response to the heart produces the spectrum of happiness, from tranquility to ecstatics, in the emotions. Happiness is there because of doctrine. But how do you know it's there? Emotions tell you, because of all the responses from the emotions, a whole spectrum of responses.

q. Negative response to the heart produces the spectrum of misery: the back-up of mental attitude sins, revolt of the emotions, psychosis, instability of wide emotional swings, because the emotions take over control, become the aggressor, and dictate to the right lobe. This cuts off doctrine, because all usable doctrine is in the right lobe. After awhile, the whole function of the soul is backed-up with mental attitude sins and emotions controlling every area of the soul: self-consciousness, mentality, volition, conscience. The spectrum of misery includes mental attitude sins, lust patterns, and human good.

r. Since the emotions of the soul were never designed to dominate the soul, wide emotional swings demonstrate the inability of the emotion to dominate! Emotions can be feminine or "witchy." The garden was perfect until the woman took over and dominated the man; then the Fall occurred. However, you should neither suppress the woman nor your emotions.

s. Only in the right lobe exists frame of reference, memory center, viewpoint, norms and standards, and doctrine. None of these exist in the emotion, which is designed only to respond to these things.

a. Emotion is defined as an affective state of consciousness in which joy, sorrow, fear, hate is experienced as distinguished from cognitive and a volitional state of the conciousness. Emotion is what is experienced as distinguished from cognitive and volitional states of consciousness. Emotions are a stimuli for action, and therefore must be regarded as a form of human energy.

b. Emotional stress, for example, causes people to act on impulse. The emotion of fear, also a sin, causes flight. The emotion of disgust causes repulsion. The emotion of anger causes violence.

c. Instincts are reflex behavior based on emotion rather than on thought. Emotions are affects or feeling functions. If how you feel becomes the criterion for your life, you will never be able to execute God's plan as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

d. Emotion is defined as a complex, biological, physiological process, or function concerned with somatic expression or feeling.

e. Emotion appears when there is some bar to soothe and complete execution or satisfaction of one's instincts, and this stimulates the vegetative nervous system and feelings.

f. Emotion is the basis for the thymopathic behavior, or that which is called in psychology "the disturbance of effects."

g. Many believers today have become neurotic and psychotic simply because they have intruded into God's plan with a human form of energy called emotion.

h. Emotion can be normal or abnormal. The purpose of normal emotion is to respond to various things in our souls by way of norms and standards.

i. There are two categorical functions of the emotions: the conscious sensations of the emotions of the soul, and the effects of emotions on the organic function of the body, especially the nervous system. The first is a mechanism of emotions in the brain; the second is a parasympathetic effect of the transmission of too many or too few motor nerve impulses to the muscles of the body.

j. The prefrontal lobes, called the cortical areas of the brain, are associated with thought, motives, and decisions. Normal emotions respond to these thoughts in the prefrontal lobes. In cases where prefrontal lobes have been removed, individuals are still capable of emotional activity, and are very unstable. In other words, emotional activity can occur without the presence of thought! The removal of the cortex does not eliminate emotional reactions. Emotion without thought is a tragic complication in life.

k. In other words, emotion can respond to thought, but emotion can also function without thought. When emotion functions without thought, that is abnormal emotional activity. This is called emotional instability. It comes and goes with extreme rapidity.

l. Normal functions of the emotion include pleasure or entertainment, excitement, appreciation. But these normal emotion functions must not be correlated with the enabling ministry of God the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere when it comes to the spiritual life.

m. Emotion is related to human power and influence, but never to divine power and the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, which is the basis for fulfilling God's will, plan, and purpose.

n. Believers who make emotion the criterion for their spiritual life generally have four basic problems.

(1) Such a believer makes a god out of his emotions, Philippians 3:18f. When emotion becomes your god, you're ripe for the tongues movement.

(2) Such a believer's emotional pattern distracts him from the execution of the protocol plan of God, Romans 16:17 18.

(3) Therefore, emotion hinders post salvation epistemological rehabilitation; i.e., the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine, 2Corinthians 6:11 12.

(4) Such a believer's unrestrained or uncontrolled emotional pattern is the basis for criminality, violence, hatred, anger, total involvement in the arrogance complex, which means bitterness, vindictiveness, jealousy, implacability, self pity, guilt reaction. So there is a very close relationship between the arrogance complex and emotional sin.

(5) Such a believer's unrestrained or uncontrolled emotional pattern is related to the five great categorical problems of life, especially number two: fear.

o. Under the protocol plan of God for the Church Age, emotions are not adequate guides for motives, thoughts, decisions, and actions of the believer.

p. Emotions are not tools of cognition nor criteria for life. Therefore, emotions are not designed as problem solving devices.

q. Therefore, the Church Age believer must learn to distinguish between post salvation epistemological rehabilitation as the means of executing God's plan, will, and purpose; and emotional experience, which can be normal in appreciation response in response, or it can be abnormal and not related at all to the Christian way of life.

r. Normal emotional experience results in subordinating the emotion to the intellect. Abnormal emotional experience results in either subordinating the intellect to the emotion, or the emotion bypassing the norms and standards of God's plan for your life.

s. Abnormal emotional experience may express itself in the many areas of pseudo spirituality, or in ecstatic experience which has absolutely nothing to do with the filling of the Spirit or the now defunct gift of tongues.

t. Abnormal emotional experience may express itself in emotional sins, like hatred, fear, worry, anxiety, and become the motivation for violence, murder, gossiping, maligning, inordinate ambition, and the inordinate competition of running down other people in order to promote yourself.

u. The emotional activity of fear, worry, anxiety has no cognitive self confidence from Bible doctrine. Therefore, it has no doctrinal conceptualism, which means the believer becomes a loser and unstable. There is no function of problem solving devices in the life of such a believer.

v. The sinful activity of anger, hatred, fear, worry, anxiety promotes arrogance, and undermines the momentum of God's plan, purpose, and will for your life.

w. Momentum is related to the function of problem solving devices, such as rebound, the filling of the Spirit, the faith rest drill, grace orientation, doctrinal orientation, personal love for God (occupation with Christ), impersonal love for all mankind, sharing the happiness of God (+H), a personal sense of destiny, and occupation with the person of Christ.

a. There is no spiritual activity in emotion. It is a normal or abnormal physiological or psychological activity, but how you feel has nothing to do with your spiritual status. How you feel has nothing to do with any factor in the spiritual life.

b. If you take your emotions and ecstatic experiences and try to intrude them into God's plan, you have entered into a form of blasphemy.

c. Under some conditions, the use of doctrine in recall or application often causes an emotional response. You are using your thinking to recall, apply, and metabolize a doctrine, and your emotion so responds; that is normal.

d. But when you become involved in that evil which makes emotion the criterion for the spiritual life, as do the Pentecostals and holy rollers, you are grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit. You are not utilizing the power of God.

e. There is no divine power in emotion. The power is in thought, and that thought must be Bible doctrine.

f. Certain kinds of emotions are sins, such as anger, rage, fear, anxiety. Hate is an emotion, irrational, and a sin. These sinful emotions are abnormal. Hatred, resentment, dejection, defeat are emotional activities based on the function of the hypothalamic area, causing greater parasympathetic and sympathetic activity.

g. Elation and ecstatics are not related to the filling of the Spirit; they are psychological or physiological activities.

h. The application of nothing to something is nothing. You cannot apply emotion or its results (anger, fear, worry, hatred, anxiety, murder) to the problems of life and come up with solutions. All you have by applying these emotional sins to the problems of life is nothing, or worse, the manufacture of greater problems, such as murder.

(1) Koilia (κοιλία) [pronounced koy-LEE-ah] is identified with the solar plexus, a part of the central nervous system. It is often translated "stomach." It originally meant some kind of hollow. Hypocrates, a physician, used this word for both the stomach and womb, but he did not correctly identify it as the solar plexus, which is often confused with the stomach.

(2) SPLAGNON represents the parasympathetic and sympathetic effects of emotion. It is the word for intestines, often translated "guts" or "entrails." But it means feelings and affections.

(3) The noun NEPHROS is translated "reins" in the King James Version. It refers to kidneys or the fat pads of the kidneys. It's used to designate emotions, because the fat pads of the kidneys are used to protect the kidneys and the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands secrete many hormones, including adrenalin or epinephrin, which is the emotional hormone of "flight, fright, fight."

b. Intense elation accompanied by an attitude of grandeur often shifts to irritability, indicating the instability of emotional activity without the protection and the guidance of a greater power.

c. Ecstasy is an emotional mood often associated with spirituality. But you can be either ecstatic or depressed but still be spiritual. The filling of the Spirit is entirely separate from your emotions and must be separated from them in your thinking.

d. From ecstasy there is also a tranquil sense of power which is often associated or identified with the spiritual life; but it isn't .Ecstasy represents maximum wish fulfillment, but it is not related in any way to the spiritual life.

e. Depression and over-concern with personal problems is an emotional function in which the believer is in the cosmic system, minus doctrine and minus the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit.

f. Emotion never represents either spirituality or any function related to divine omnipotence. Emotion has no spiritual connotation.

g. Tension is the function of emotion in both restlessness and dissatisfaction. Anxiety is heightened or disrupted tension, an emotional state minus any doctrine.

h. Fear and panic are emotional. Panic is not merely a high degree of fear, but fear based on prolonged tension.

i. Insecurity from ignorance of doctrine is emotional, not spiritual. Depersonalization is the emotion or feeling of unreality which so many believers seem to have today.

j. Awareness of emotion is probably located in the thalamus, in conjunction with the frontal lobes. Therefore, emotion is physiological, but not spiritual.

k. Emotion is related to human power under certain conditions, or human failure under certain conditions, but it is never a part of divine power.

a. Neglect or rejection of Bible doctrine results in many sins related to the emotional pattern of the soul. For example, fear is a complex system of emotional sins with two modus operandi.

(1) Worry, anxiety, and guilt come from fear; they are the manifestation of fear. Fear is lack of thinking under pressure. Fear is the believer's failure to apply doctrine to the problems of life, of suffering, of disaster, and of failure.

(a) The more things you surrender to fear, the greater the expansion of your fear or the more things you come to fear.

(b) The extent to which you surrender to fear you increase the power of fear in your life. The greater the power of fear in your life, the greater the irrationality. The greater the irrationally the sooner you get into mental illness.

(c) The more things that acquire the power of fear in your life, the more vulnerable you become to all of the disastrous things that result from being in the permissive will of God rather than the directive will of God.

(3) Scriptures related to fear as an illustration of sin: Psalm 56:3; 2Timothy 1:7; 1John 4:18.

(4) Fear causes you to run to other believers for counsel. No believer can apply doctrine through the mind of another. No believer can apply doctrine to his experience while in a state of fear.

b. Emotion is not a criterion for Christian experience. However, there are two categories of emotion in the spiritual life.

(1) Normal emotion under the authority of the right lobe of the soul responds to your thinking.

(2) Abnormal emotion, which is emotion controlling the right lobe of the soul. This is what causes all of the problems of the believer under the permissive will of God, i.e., the believer out of fellowship.

(2) Emotion was never designed by God to replace the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit as our teacher.

(3) Emotion is neither the criterion for the spiritual life or the reality of the spiritual life. You are never spiritual because you are emotional.

(4) Therefore, since emotion is neither a tool for cognition of Bible doctrine or the criterion for the spiritual life, it can never be the reality of the spiritual life, and above all emotion is not a problem solving device. Emotion produces sins such as guilt and fear.

(5) The believer must distinguish between normal function of emotion as a good responder to the values of life and the sinful function of emotion as a reaction to life. As a responder emotion enhances appreciation for what is noble and honorable in life. But emotion as a reactor produces sin, dead works, evil, the emotional revolt of the soul.

(6) As a system of response and feeling, emotion does not contain the following.

d. Emotional arrogance includes the following blasphemies: you are not saved unless you feel saved; you are not spiritual unless you feel spiritual.

(2) Emotional arrogance converts reality into illusion, and unreality into even hallucination. Emotional arrogance results in the fear pattern, which destroys the soul.

e. Emotion is related to human power and influence, but never to divine power and influence.

f. Under the protocol plan of God for the Church Age, emotions are not adequate guides for motivation, thinking, decisions, or actions.

g. The Church Age believer must learn to distinguish between post salvation epistemological rehabilitation as the means of executing the protocol plan of God and the emotional experience, which can be normal or abnormal.

(1) Normal emotions experience results in the subordination of the emotions to the intellect. Abnormal emotional experience results in either subordinating the intellect to the emotion or the emotion by passing the norms and standards you have developed from doctrine.

(2) Abnormal emotional experience may express itself in pseudo spirituality, ecstatic experience (which has nothing to do with the filling of the Spirit), emotional sins.

B. The believer out of line with his emotions is described in the New Testament.

1. Emotion become the god of the believer in emotional revolt of the soul. Philippians 3:18-19, "For many believers keep walking [in the cosmic system], concerning whom I have communicated to you many times and now communicate even though weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose destiny is destruction [sin unto death], whose god is their emotions, whose fame comes by means of their dishonor, who keep on thinking about earthly things [propaganda of the cosmic system]."

2. Romans 16:17-18, "Now I urge you brethren, be alert for those who are causing dissensions and apostasies contrary to the doctrine which you have learned. For such believers do not obey our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own emotions, serving themselves; and by their smooth and flattering speech [human power] they deceive the right lobes of the stupid.

a. You cannot obey the Lord Jesus Christ and execute the protocol plan of God through emotional activity.

b. We all have normal emotions, but it is not a part of our spiritual life; it is a part of our natural life. The spiritual life functions on divine power only.

3. Emotions are a hindrance to the perception of doctrine. 2Corinthians 6:11-12, "O you Corinthians, our mouth has been opened face to face with you because our right lobes have been enlarged [studying before teaching Bible doctrine]; therefore, you have not been hindered by us, but you have been hindered by your own emotions."

a. The Corinthians had received teaching from Paul, Apollos, Timothy, and Titus.

b. They had been hindered in their spiritual growth, not by the content of the messages, but because they had switched from divine power to human power: their emotions. By so doing, they had negated everything related to divine power.

1. Revelation 2:23, E _ _E"Furthermore, I will execute her followers by means of death, and so all the churches will know that I am He who investigates the emotions and the right lobe, and I will administer punishment to each one according to your activities."

a. Though not spiritual, emotions to be normal must relate to the right lobe. The right lobe is the place of metabolized doctrine; both its understanding and its application.

b. "Punishment according to your activities" refers to making your emotions a criterion for the spiritual life; basing your spiritual life on how you feel rather than what the Word of God says.

2. Psalm 7:9, "For the righteous God tests the right lobes and the emotions [reins]."If emotion responds to the right lobe you have a normal soul. If emotion controls the soul you have an abnormal situation. God tests to see if the soul is normal or not. Psalm 26:2, "Test my emotions and my right lobe."Jer 11:20, 17:10, 20:12; Revelation 2:23.

a. In every one of the above verses, there is in effect an anthropomorphism; otherwise this would mean God doesn't really know what's going on in your soul until he runs a check on you. God does not test your soul and its emotions at some specific time. But His omniscience knew billions of years ago the status of your soul at any point in your life. But it's communicated to us through an anthropomorphism.

b. You cannot strap it on God. He read your tape billions of years ago; you can never hide anything from Him. This should relax you.

c. The condition of your soul is known to God at all times, in time, and in eternity past where there was no time.

d. Testing is used as an anthropomorphism to determine your capacity for life. God wants you to have maximum capacity for life. Therefore, to challenge you to capacity for life God says He tests your reins and your heart.

e. Since capacity for life is based on the amount of doctrine in your right lobe, testing your reins refers to testing the response of your emotions to this information.

f. Frame of reference elicits bonified response in both reins, in both spiritual and temporal life.

g. With doctrine, your norms and standards become compatible with God's norms and standards. When situations occur that cause this realization, you have an emotional response, in both spiritual and temporal areas.

h. Doctrine produces divine viewpoint which stimulates both reins. . Scriptural Words for Emotions.

1. The "bowels" are used to designate the emotions. Genesis 43:30; 1Kings 3:26; Jeremiah 4:19, 31:20; Lam 1:20, 2:11; Philippians 1:8; Phile 12,20.

a. The bowels are a portion of the anatomy that is empty but filled with something. The bowels are filled with the waste of the body.

b. Genesis 43:30, family love stirred his emotions to the point of weeping. Weeping is an emotional response; it has no thought.

c. Jeremiah 4:19, Jeremiah fills his right lobe with disturbing thoughts and his emotions respond.

d. Lam 2:11, the liver is the emotion under normal conditions. But it is turned inside out because he no longer has normal emotions, because of the destruction of the nation.

e. In Philippians 1:8, Paul recalls the Philippians and appreciates their response to doctrine. This elicited a response in his emotions.

f. In Phile 20, Paul is saying that if he frees this runaway slave, it will refresh his emotions.

2. The "belly" is designated as the emotion in Prov 13:25, 18:8, 26:22; Romans 16:17-18; Philippians 3:19.

2. Where the believer has no Bible doctrine in the soul, he becomes a weak reversionist. Like a person with a tumor in the adrenal glands who overproduces epinephrine, he destroys his own heart through the hypertension that is produced. This is instability, which illustrates emotional revolt of the soul.

2. In the Church Age, spirituality or the filling of the Holy Spirit produces the character of Christ. But the filling of the Spirit has no emotional connotation. Spirituality is minus emotion in the Church Age.

3. Therefore, the filling of the Holy Spirit produces the character and glory of Christ, without emotion being an integral part of spirituality, Gal 5:22-23, 4:19; Romans 5:5.

4. Emotion is never designed to produce character, but to respond to character. That's why emotion cannot be a part of spirituality.

5. Appreciation of Jesus Christ comes through perception of doctrine rather than emotional function. This does not eliminate emotion, but puts emotion in its proper place.

6. Emotional function cannot produce integrity. It cannot fulfill the royal family honor code. It cannot apply doctrine. Emotion is not a part of the filling of the Holy Spirit.

7. In the Church Age, emotion is a responder to many things in the right lobe, including doctrine, the laws of divine establishment, love, and patriotism, but emotional response is never the filling of the Holy Spirit.

8. Just as grace glues the essence of God together, so emotion as a responder is distilled grace. Emotion as an aggressor is distilled legalism.

9. You can be depressed for physiological reasons and still be filled with the Spirit. How you feel has nothing to do with your spiritual status quo.

10. Emotion and ecstatics have no spiritual content in this dispensation. Therefore, how you feel is never the index of your spiritual life or experience.

11. Emotional activity or ecstatics is not indicative of spiritual activity or advance in the Christian life.

12. The purpose of the filling of the Holy Spirit is perception of doctrine, advance to maturity, production from your ambassadorship, but never the manufacture of ecstatics.

13. Emotion is designed to respond to doctrine in the right lobe, but is not characteristic of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Ecstatics belongs to the human race; the filling of the Spirit belongs to the believer. The emotions can respond or react to the filling of the Spirit, but emotions cannot be the filling of the Holy Spirit.

14. Only in the Millennium when Christ is present on the earth and ruling the world does emotion or ecstatics characterize the filling of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, spirituality includes ecstatics.

15. While there is no spiritual content to emotion in the Church Age, there is definite spiritual content to emotion in the Millennium.

16. In the Millennium, the filling of the Holy Spirit appreciates the reigning Christ. Therefore, ecstatics will then be a legitimate spiritual emotion.

17. Believers in the Millennium are universally indwelt with the Holy Spirit, as in the Church Age, Ezekiel 36:27, 37:14; Jeremiah 31:33.

18. Believers in the Millennium are also commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit and are filled with the Holy Spirit, Isaiah 29:19, 32:15, 44:3; Ezekiel 39:29; Zech 12:10.

19. The filling of the Holy Spirit in the Millennium is characterized by ecstatics and emotional appreciation, Joel 2:28-29.

1. Emotion can be a hindrance to the plan of God and a distraction to the perception of doctrine, as noted above in 2Corinthians 6:11-12.

2. When people allow their emotions to rule their lives they are like intestines filled with waste, Romans 16:17-18.

3. The emotional revolt, backed by the old sin nature, causes emotion to become the aggressor instead of the responder. This causes emotion to become the criterion, rather than the doctrinal content of the right lobe.

4. Therefore, emotional revolution against the establishment of the soul causes the total failure or malfunction of GAP. The failure of GAP makes the Christian life and God's plan impossible to fulfill.

5. Instead of responding to doctrine in the soul, emotion revolts and takes command of the soul. With the emotion in command, all capacity, love, and happiness is gone.

a. Instead of responding to doctrine in the right lobe, the emotion responds to mental attitude sins, approbation and power lust, and human good. Then the emotion reacts and revolts against the right lobe, and cuts off any doctrine in the right lobe.

b. Once emotion revolts against the heart and becomes the aggressor, it loses all capacity for life and comes under the influence and domination of the old sin nature. Since the old sin nature isn't "man enough" to carry out his duties, people in emotional revolt are very frustrated.

c. In effect, emotional revolt is the emotion fornicating with the old sin nature, just as Jeremiah's right woman fornicated with her paramours.

d. Hence, the old sin nature is a paramour which turns emotion from a responder into an aggressor and reactor. This produces that chaos in the soul called psychosis.

6. There is negative volition to doctrine plus recession of thought, replaced by the frantic search for happiness and total dependence on feeling rather than on common sense. People often substitute chemical stimulation for thought.

7. Having lost the ability to respond to the right lobe, the emotion becomes inflexible regarding the non-essentials. Revelation 2:23 illustrates: "And all the churches will know I am the One investigating the emotions and the right lobe, and I will do to each according to their actions." The right lobe must control the emotional pattern for spiritual advance.

8. Therefore, the command to separate from those in emotional revolt is given in Romans 16:17-18. "Now I beseech you, brethren, make a reconnaissance; observe them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and keep on avoiding them. For they are such that serve not the Lord Jesus Christ, but their own bellies [in emotional revolt]. And by good words and fair speeches, they deceive the hearts of the stupid [getting you to go into emotional revolt also]."

a. How do you deceive the heart? The old sin nature inspires the emotion to revolt against the right lobe.

b. Believers who live by their emotions are believers whose emotional revolt has produced chaos of the soul. Their emotion is no longer a responder but an aggressor.

c. Believers with such chaos in their souls are troublemakers. Therefore, other believers are commanded to separate from them. This means separation from those involved in the tongues movement. The tongues movement is an emotional revolt against the divine establishment of the soul.

1. Emotion is an appreciator of love. But emotion as a leader destroys capacity for life.

2. Genesis 43:30, "And Joseph made haste, for his emotions did yearn upon his brother, and he sought where to weep, and he entered into his chamber and wept there." Because he loved his brother Benjamin so much, Joseph was responding emotionally to what was in his right lobe. Sometimes you are not aware of the love in your right lobe until something triggers it in the memory center and elicits a response in the emotion.

3. 1Kings 3:26, "Then spoke the woman whose child was the living child to the king, for her bowels [emotions] yearned upon her son."This shows the same emotional response to right lobe love as in the above passage.

5. In Prov 23:15 17, there is an illustration of the relationship between thinking and normal emotion. Emotion is related to category three love as stimulating capacity in this area. David is teaching Solomon. "And my emotions will rejoice when your lips speak what is right."

6. Emotional response makes one very aware of the existence of love in his soul. Of course, your emotions are not designed to respond all day. If they did, they would be destroyed. You have things to do. But you still have love for someone in your right lobe all the time. When triggered, the emotions respond and make you aware of that love. However, emotions do not contain love.

7. The communion table is designed to remember and appreciate our Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. If you love Him, your emotions respond in memory of all He is and all He has done for you.

a. The pertinent doctrines are in your right lobe. The cup and the bread give your emotion an opportunity to respond to the One unseen whom you love, and yet still maintain poise and stability in assembled worship.

b. Ritual keeps emotions from getting out of hand. It provides control and order in assembly. (The Scots do the same in their singing of Auld Lang Syne and toasting the cup.)

c. So as believer priests assembled together for communion, this is a very tender moment for all of us.

d. Ritual was designed for two things: to communicate, and to allow the function of emotion without destroying order

8. But if the emotion rules the soul, having no content in the emotion, you become psychotic. To emote without response but as thoughtless control is to become temporarily or permanently psychotic.

1. Prov 23:16, "Yea, my reins shall rejoice." Verse 15 says the happiness is in the right lobe. But the emotions respond, and he becomes aware of what is in his right lobe. This is analogous to when the right man is happy, the right woman responds and she is happy. Phile 7, 20.

2. The frame of reference in the right lobe provides information for the memory center which stimulates response in the emotions. Therefore, the emotions become a stimulus to happiness. They are not happiness; they make you aware that you're happy.

3. Your conscience which contains your norms and standards also turns on your emotions. Your priesthood is stimulated to function when your emotion is turned on by your norms and standards. Emotional response to your conscience causes you to have esprit de corps.

4. The viewpoint in the right lobe provides stimulus or response from the emotions, as when you hear someone else speak divine viewpoint. This stimulates response to your own viewpoint from doctrine.

J. Emotion as a reactor (to tragedy) contributes to loss of capacity for life as well as loss of motivation and momentum.

1. Jeremiah 4:19, "My emotions [bowels], my emotions! I am pained at my very heart! My heart makes a noise in me [screaming in me]; I cannot hold my peace [lack of tranquility] because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war."

2. Lam 1:20, "Behold, O Lord, for I am in distress; my bowels are troubled [emotions dominating]; my heart is turned within me, so I have grievously rebelled. Abroad the sword bereaves, at home there is death."

3. Lam 2:11, "My eyes do fail with tears, my bowels [emotions] are troubled, my liver is poured out upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people . . ."

5. In tragedy or catastrophe, emotions must respond to doctrine in the right lobe for any tranquility. But when they react so that they rebel against the right lobe, this agony occurs.

1. If the kidneys back up into the bladder, one result is death. So just as the kidneys are destroyed by the bladder reflexing or backing up, so the emotions are destroyed by the old sin nature, being bombarded by mental attitude sins. The emotions were never designed to respond to mental attitude sins. So when they do, the emotions are destroyed.

2. This motivates the emotions to revolt against the dominant (right) lobe. For in responding to the bladder or old sin nature, emotion revolts against the dominant lobe, producing revolution in the soul.

3. The result is instability, wide emotional swings, revolution, and chaos, with either temporary or permanent psychosis.

4. Not only does the emotional domination of the soul produce psychotic conditions, but it explains certain things in the life of the believer: apostasy, sublimation, lack of capacity for life, lack of capacity for love, and degeneracy.

5. Note the fine balance between emotions producing a happiness spectrum and emotions producing a misery spectrum. The fine line between happiness and misery in your soul is determined by which way your emotions go. Do they respond to your right lobe with doctrine, or to your old sin nature?

a. When the divine solution is used to solve any problem, emotion is not an issue. This is true for the problem of spiritual death and for the problem of carnality.

(1) There is no such thing as "godly sorrow." This is a mistranslation of 2Corinthians 7:9 10.

(2) When it comes to your spiritual life, God's solution does not require emotion.

(3) Emotion is not related to spirituality until the millennial reign of Christ.

b. The fruit of the Spirit is joy. Joy has nothing to do with emotion. Joy means to share the happiness of God. Sharing the happiness of God is a gift from God to the believer with capacity for that happiness from maximum metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness. We can respond to joy or sharing the happiness of God. In sharing the happiness of God we respond emotionally, and that is good emotion. This does not mean that joy or rejoicing is emotion.

c. Good and bad emotion are antithetical. Good emotion is spiritual response to life. Bad emotion is carnal reaction to life.

a. Good emotion is response to the two power options the filling of the Holy Spirit and resumption of the spiritual life, metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness.

b. Response to the resumption of the spiritual life, which is thinking and applying metabolized doctrine, is the basis for continuation of good emotion.

c. Good emotion responds to thinking and the values, norms, and standards of the conscience of the soul. When you are out of fellowship, you abandon the values, norms, and standards you developed when you were in fellowship. Good emotion responds to thinking of the spiritual life, including self evaluation and the application of Bible doctrine.

d. The ultimate in good emotion is occupation with Christ. Occupation with Christ combines the mechanics of the spiritual life with good emotional response. Occupation with Christ is the maximum outlet for good emotion. Occupation with Christ produces three categories of spiritual thinking on which good emotion is based: cognitive self confidence, cognitive independence, and cognitive invincibility.

e. Good emotion comes from response to the laws of divine establishment, such as patriotism, virtue in government, virtue in marriage, family values, personal values. Honor, integrity, nobility of character is a source of good emotion for the believer related to doctrine and for the unbeliever related to the laws of divine establishment.

f. The biblical documentation for "joy" and rejoice" combines spiritual mechanics with good emotional response.

(1) Nehemiah 8:10, "Do not be grieved for the joy of the Lord is your strength." cf Psalm 30:5, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." When you use the problem solving devices, you may weep in the night, but in the morning you have perfect happiness as the problem solving device.

(2) Good emotion always comes from metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness.

(a) Colossians 1:10d 11, "...increasing in epignosis of God, strengthened with all power on the basis of the power of His glory, resulting in all perseverance and steadfastness associated with joy." Joy is perfect happiness which produces good emotion as an appreciator of that happiness. Emotional revolt of the soul is bad emotion.

(b) 1Thessalonians 1:6, "You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much adversity associated with the joy of the Holy Spirit." We are imitators of the Lord and someone like Paul by use of the three spiritual skills. We do not imitate personality characteristics. When you get into role model arrogance, you have bad emotion.

(c) Philippians 4:4, "Keep on rejoicing in the Lord at all times; again I say, keep on rejoicing!" Circumstances are not the issue in sharing the perfect happiness of God.

(d) Philippians 1:23 25, "But I am hard pressed from both circumstances [living or dying], having a desire to depart and be with Christ is far better; yet to remain on in the flesh is far better for your benefit, having become confident of this option [personal sense of destiny], I know that I shall remain and continue with all of you resulting in your progress and joy from doctrine." Maximum doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness elicits the ultimate in good emotion.

g. Joy is the function of sharing the happiness of God at a point of maximum metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness, so that the emotions have something to appreciate that is good. The Greek verb CHAIRO (meaning "joy") is thinking God's happiness in contrast to emotion or stimulated feelings often confused as a status of human happiness. The Greek noun CHARA (translated "joy") is the quintessence of combining the mechanics of the spiritual life with a system of thinking which elicits the response of good emotion.

h. Sharing the happiness of God is the peak of emotional response in life. But even good emotional response is not the criterion for the spiritual life. You are never saved because you feel saved. You are never spiritual because you feel spiritual. A carnal believer cannot have a legitimate emotion related to the spiritual life. When you are out of fellowship, your emotion is not an issue. The issue is name your sins to God in the privacy of your priesthood. The spiritual life runs on divine power, never how you feel. Even good emotion will not get you back into fellowship.

(1) Bad emotion is defined as reaction emotion, which makes how you feel the criterion for the spiritual life instead of Bible doctrine perceived, metabolized, and circulating in your stream of consciousness.

(2) Bad emotion is emotion out of control in a state of reaction toward the teaching of the word.

(3) Bad emotion is emotion out of control, emotion divorced from doctrine, emotional revolt of the soul, the emotional complex of sins, and the emotional complex of sins combined with the arrogance complex of sins to form evil obsession and hybrid emotion.

(4) Bad emotion is divorced from reality, so that believer sees the problem but never sees the solution.

(5) Bad emotion is pseudo compassion, pseudo love, crusader arrogance, Christian activism, and similar type things.

(6) Bad emotion alleges that the gift of tongues is still in existence after the completion of the canon of Scripture. Bad emotion is the allegation that emotional activity such as remorse or regret have something to do with being saved or being forgiven for sin.

(9) Bad emotion is the function of evil obsession, unrealistic expectation, role model arrogance, the feet of clay syndrome, iconoclastic arrogance followed by evil obsession related to legalism, power lust, and allegations of sinless perfection.

(1) The hysteria category includes fear, worry, anxiety, panic, consternation, irrationality in a state of fear.

(2) The revenge category includes malice, the lust to inflict injury or suffering on others, revenge motivation and revenge modus operandi, violence, murder, vituperation (which includes gossip, slander, maligning, and judging), vilification (which is creates a public lie about someone who is the object of jealousy, hatred, vindictiveness, or implacability.

(3) The hatred category includes anger, hatred, bitterness, jealousy, loathing, animosity, implacability.

(4) The irrational category includes tantrums, vulnerability to imagined insults or snubs, self pity, whining, sniveling, denial, projection, and neurosis.

(5) The guilt category includes remorse for real or imagined sins, morbid self reproach, emotional feelings of culpability, selfªrighteous arrogance, arrogant preoccupation with one's feelings and impulses, guilt resulting from the manipulation of legalism, arrogant preoccupation with the correctness of one's behavior.

c. Many of the emotional complexes of sins are a hybrid, combining the sins of the emotional complex with the sins of the arrogance complex.

(1) The repression category is defined as the denial of the reality of the problem because it is too painful or too unpleasant to face. Repression avoids facing the issue. A part of this is denial, which results in the projection or transfer of one's flaws, sins, or failures to someone else.

(2) The hybrid guilt category is one of the most dangerous categories. In this category feelings of guilt which cause perpetual anxiety may be alleviated by a contrived defense mechanism of blaming others for your own sins. You find someone else and assign them the problem; therefore, you avoid the reality of the law of volitional responsibility. Part of the hybrid guilt category is the pseudo rebound through restitutionism. The only one to whom we are responsible when we sin is God the Father. As a part of the laws of volitional responsibility and cultural concepts developed from it, apologies are often made to people. But this is not a part of the spiritual life, because this can be done by the unbeliever and anything the unbeliever can do is not part of the spiritual life. Apologizing to others and getting their forgiveness is not rebound and not a part of the spiritual life.

R. B. Thieme, Jr., Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

a. God is the Supreme Being of the universe (Hebrews 6:13), therefore the Highest King (Psalm 47:7)

ii. Phase 2, time: "Be filled with the Holy Spirit" Ephesians 5:28. How? 1John 1:9; Witness: Acts 1:8 using pertinent doctrine - John 3:36.

e. Good's +R was satisfied with Christ's work on the cross; therefore the meeting place is the cross, where +R is imputed to man. 2Corinthians 5:21.

b. His Justice demands that disobedience against His laws be punished: John 3:36.

d. God's Justice is satisfied because of His provision. Jesus Christ paid the penalty (Spiritual death). Colossians 2:14.

c. Righteousness and Justice stood in the way because sin was a barrier between man God.

f. In His Love God the Father sent His Son to the cross to die for the sins of the whole world: John 3:16.

g. So righteousness and justice are satisfied and love and eternal life can get through the grace pipe to man. The barrier is removed. The issue is the Lord Jesus Christ.

h. The alternative to God's love is wrath (Righteousness and Justice): John 3:36.

i. If you do not accept Christ who satisfied the righteousness and justice of God, then you are subject to His righteousness and justice (wrath).

b. To share His Eternal Life with us, God the Eternal Son, was willing to leave heaven and become humanity and die for the sins of the world: John 10:17,18.

c. His deity could not provide Eternal Life, therefore He became true humanity (God-Man) in order to die: Hebrews 2:14,15.

d. God will share His Eternal Life with believers: John 10:27,28: 1John 5:11,12a.

b. Therefore He reads our minds: 2Timothy 2:19. He knows who is born again and who is not.

d. Therefore Romans ans ans 8:28; God in His Omniscience works all things (good and bad) together for the good of those who belong to Him.

e. Knowledge is imparted to the believer through the Word. 1Corinthians 2:9-12; 2Timothy 2:15.

c. We can faith-rest any situation because of God's omnipresence: Matthew 28:20, "Lo, I am with you always ..."

a. He is neither capable of, nor susceptible, to change. Matthew 3:6a; Hebrews 13:8.

e. When we read the God repented or changed His mind (Anthropopathism) that doesn't mean that God has changed, but that people have changed and that God must treat them differently.

a. Definition: He is perfect truthfulness, there never is a time when He is in error.

b. God cannot lie. Titus 1:2, " . which God, that cannot lie." Hebrews 6:18, " . impossible for God to lie."

c. His veracity (truth) is eternal. Psalm 117:2, " . truth of the Lord endureth forever."

d. Veracity in salvation. John 14:6, "I am the way, the Truth, and the life ..."

e. We can depend upon His veracity to sustain us. Psalm 91:4, "His truth . shield and buckler."

1. Positional Approach: Romans 8:1; Ephesians 1:3-6; Jude 1. Every believer is in union with Christ—Romans 8:38, 39.

2. Logical Approach: Romans 5:9, 10, 15, 17, 20 with 8:32. God did the “most” for us when we were His enemies and will do “much more” for us as His sons. Romans 8:38, 39.

3. The Hand Approach: John 10:28; Psalm 37:23-24. The believer is held by God’s hand, and He will never let go.

4. Experiential Approach: 2Timothy 2:12-13. Though a believer may say he no longer believes, God remains faithful, because He is immutable. The Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit indwells the believer and He cannot deny Himself.

a. 2 Tim. 2:12 speaks of rewards. “Deny us” (believers) rewards. When a believer denies Christ, he is out of fellowship and therefore not producing.

b. 2 Tim. 2:13, “believe not”—stops believing. A believer denouncing Jesus Christ, yet He keeps on abiding faithful—He cannot deny the unconditional quality of our salvation.

5. Family Approach: Galatians 3:26; John 1:12. We are born into God’s family, we cannot be unborn.

7. Body Approach: 1Corinthians 12:13, 21. Christ, the head of the body can never say to any member of the body (a believer) that He does not need him.

b. Perfect tense: (saved in the past with the result that you keep on being saved forever). Ephesians 2:8,9; Colossians 2:6; Romans 8:1.

10. Sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit Approach: Guarantee for protection and safe delivery at destination (heaven). 2Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; 2Timothy 2:19.

11. Title Deed Approach: Jude 24, 25; 1Peter er 1:5—God will keep any promise made.

12. God’s Essence Approach: God never goes back on His character. Romans 8:35, (love); 8:38, 39; 14:4.

14. God’s Faithfulness Approach: 2Timothy 2:11-13; 1Corinthians 3:4, 5; Revelation 19:11.

15. Jesus Christ’s Work on the Cross Approach: Hebrews 10:14. Denying eternal security is to deny the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and reduces the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to the level of offering bulls and goats. The sacrifice of Christ abides: John 5:24; Hebrews 10:14.

16. Fact of New Creation Approach: Colossians 2:10 “… ye are complete in Him.” 2Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:6.

18. How a Believer is Described Approach: Colossians 3:12; elect, holy, beloved.

19. The Verse Approach: Passage upon passage, verse upon verse screams eternal security. Proverbs 24:12, 14; 1Corinthians 3:11; Psalm 37:24, 28; Colossians 2:6; John 5:14-16, 36; Romans 14:4; Colossians 2:13; John 5:24.

b. Infinite power of the Father to set free, save, keep: John 10:29; Romans 4:21, 8:31, 38, 39; 14:4; Ephesians 1:19-21; 3:20; Phil. 3:21; 2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 7:25; Jude 24.

a. Regeneration: Entrance into that which cannot be removed. John 3:4-6; 1Peter er 1:23; 2Peter er 1:4; 1John 3:9.

b. Indwelling: Holy Spirit is given, Romans 8:15; 1 Corinthians 2:12; 6:19; 1John 2:27.

c. Baptism: Spirit, not water, by which the believer is joined to Christ as to stay eternally in new creation. 1Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27.

25. Unbeliever’s Care Approach: Luke 16:26-31. Even the man in hell had a care for his unbelieving brothers.

1. This rationale says that God cannot cancel the forty things that He gives you at the moment of salvation through faith in Christ.

2. Eternal life is imputed to us at salvation because the Holy Spirit regenerates us by creating in us a human spirit for the imputation of eternal life.

3. God cannot cancel eternal life. When God gives, He does not take it back. He has given us His righteousness and His life, so that we are qualified to live with Him forever.

4. This does not imply, however, that we will succeed as believers. Whether we fail or succeed in executing the protocol plan of God for the Church Age, whether we become invisible heroes or losers, depends entirely upon our attitude toward Bible doctrine.

5. The imputation of divine righteousness is the only means of justification. Justification is an eternal relationship with God based on His integrity, not ours. It is based upon our possessing His righteousness.

6. Romans 5:1-3, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our access by means of faith into this grace in which we stand. Consequently, let us have esprit-de-corps because of confidence in the glory of God.”

a. Our relationship with God does not depend on our integrity, morality, virtue or failure. It depends on His holiness and integrity.

b. The very concept of eternal security is the fact that the integrity of God is at stake. God gives and does not withdraw. He gives forty things at salvation and does not take back any of them.

c. We have peace with God because He gave us His righteousness. We do not have peace with God because of our self-righteousness.

d. When we “stand in grace,” this does not refer to our morality or self-righteousness, but the virtue of God. The Christian way of life is not morality but is far above morality. Virtue is infinitely greater than morality, but virtue can only be produced by the filling of the Spirit and the perception of doctrine. Morality can be produced by human self-determination and the energy of the flesh. This is why so many unbelievers have a morality greater than that of believers.

e. We stand in grace, not in merit. It is God that provides the grace and our standing. We don’t stand on our own strength; if so we would collapse. We stand in the grace of God.

f. Confidence in the glory of God is personal love for God the Father and occupation with Christ. That begins at spiritual self-esteem.

g. You can’t lose your salvation because it is strictly the work of God. You did nothing to gain it or maintain it; it is the work of God. God will not let you go because you’re a failure.

h. God never gives His righteousness without putting it in a permanent container: our eternal security. We cannot lose our salvation. You cannot lose what the integrity of God gives you.

7. Eternal security is defined as an unbreakable relationship with the integrity of God, depending on the integrity of God. It is an unbreakable relationship because God will not break the relationship regardless of what we do or fail to do.

a. Neither God nor man nor angel can cancel or destroy this unbreakable relationship with God. The moment we believe in Jesus Christ, God gives us forty things. Demons cannot cancel those forty things. We cannot cancel them by renouncing God or our faith.

b. You have to be arrogant to think that you can commit a sin or make a renunciation of God that can cancel the work of God!

c. There is nothing the believer can do to cancel the one-second decision of believing in Christ. You don’t have the power or ability to cancel it, no matter how evil you are.

d. In other words, God is greater than you. Yet people are so arrogant that they think they are greater than God. The dumbest people are those who think they can reject eternal security, who attempt to cancel the grace of God.

e. Knowing the doctrine of eternal security doesn’t cause you to go out and raise hell. Rather, it motivates you to want to know this wonderful God who has provided such fantastic things for you because of one non-meritorious decision you made in a few seconds.

f. To think you can help God is arrogance. God doesn’t need our help; we need His help! That’s the grace policy of the plan of God.

8. Man’s failure does not abrogate the integrity of God. Man’s weakness does not cancel God’s strength. Lack of integrity in the believer cannot cancel the integrity of God. Failure to execute the protocol plan of God does not cancel your eternal salvation. Yet we are more impressed with our failures than with the integrity of God, and that’s our problem. We need to be more impressed with the integrity of God and less impressed with our failures. This is why many believers don’t believe in eternal security.

9. Salvation through faith in Christ results in receiving one-half of divine integrity, the righteousness of God. The possession of the righteousness of God forever eliminates the possibility of losing salvation by any failure on our part. Our righteousness breaks down because we have an old sin nature. But God’s righteousness will never let us down. We have it permanently. Therefore, we stand before God, not on the basis of our righteousness, but on the basis of His righteousness.

10. It is the quintessence of human arrogance to assume we can do anything to cancel or abrogate our eternal salvation. The forty things received at the moment of faith in Christ cannot be canceled or nullified by any failure on our part after salvation. The integrity of God is infinitely greater than any failure of man, 2Timothy 2:12-13.

11. John 3:16, “For God loved the world so much that He gave His Son [deity of Christ], the uniquely-born One [humanity of Christ] that whosoever believes in Him shall never perish but have eternal life.” Note that no conditions are added to “shall never perish.” All you have to do is believe in Jesus Christ; nothing is added to faith.

B. Exegetical Rationale for Eternal Security, Ephesians 2:8-9. “For by grace you have been saved in the past with the result that you stand saved forever through faith, and this [salvation] is not from yourselves; it is a gift from God, not by works, lest any man should boast.”

1. The Greek perfect periphrastic in Ephesians 2:8 is composed of two verbs: the perfect passive participle of SOZO and the present active indicative of EIMI.

2. The periphrasis is carried over from the Attic Greek. It indicates that the writer cannot get all the details into one verbal form. Therefore, he uses two verbal forms to provide a more forceful expression. Nothing is more forceful than the expression of eternal security of the believer in this periphrastic perfect.

3. The periphrasis is one of the most powerful most forceful of all expressions in any language. In the Greek, it is so strong and powerful that it has no loopholes and no leaks of any kind. We’re tied into eternal life forever simply by the few seconds it takes to believe in Christ.

a. The intensive perfect of SOZO emphasizes the present state from a past action. The past action is faith in Christ. So this indicates the completion of an action at the moment of faith in Jesus Christ with an emphasis on the existing results: once saved, always saved. It emphasizes the finished product, which means you are saved and have eternal security.

b. The intensive perfect is a strong way of saying a thing is. There is nothing more real than eternal security. The intensive perfect is the emphatic method in the Greek of presenting the fact of eternal security after salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

c. The passive voice of SOZO means that, at the point of faith in Jesus Christ, the believer receives the action of the verb. We received forty things at salvation.

d. Verbs in the passive voice are generally intransitive. A transitive verb makes an incomplete affirmation and requires a direct object to complete its meaning. There is no direct object here. The intransitive verb, as here, makes a complete affirmation of eternal security and does not require an object of the verb to complete its meaning.

5. The finite verb is added for duration, i.e., the present active indicative of EIMI.

a. The gnomic present of EIMI expresses a universal doctrine (eternal security). It expresses a doctrine or fact, an absolute truth, a state of condition that perpetually exists and will never be changed.

b. The time element is remote, because the doctrine of eternal security is true all the time. You never lose your salvation for a second.

c. This might be called a static present because eternal security is a condition which perpetually exists.

d. The active voice of EIMI involves you, and you will never lose your salvation. The believer produces the action of the verb by being in a perpetual state of salvation.

e. The declarative indicative mood of EIMI is used for a dogmatic statement of doctrine, the doctrine of eternal security. Salvation is not relative; it is an absolute. In just a few seconds of time, you believe in Jesus Christ and possess eternal life.

6. A periphrastic denotes a completed action with eternal results, and so teaches the doctrine of eternal security.

a. The participle of SOZO denotes a completed action in past time, at the moment of faith in Christ. The same perfect tense denotes the completed result of eternal security.

b. The finite verb EIMI is added to give duration to that continuous and eternal result of faith in Jesus Christ.

c. The periphrastic portrays eternal salvation in retrospective exposition. Hence, in one moment of faith in Christ, the believer has eternal salvation, which means eternal security.

7. Both grace (CHARIS) and faith (PISTIS) are in the feminine gender. The demonstrative pronoun, HOUTOS (“this"), is in the neuter gender. Therefore, HOUTOS, the near demonstrative pronoun, refers to neither grace nor faith. The use of the neuter gender is the Greek way of saying “and this” refers to the whole idea of salvation.

a. Faith is the absence of human merit. Furthermore, we are spiritually dead when we believe in Christ. In efficacious grace, God the Holy Spirit takes only faith in Christ and makes it effective for salvation.

b. Mankind does nothing to attain salvation, and he can do nothing to lose his salvation once he believes in Christ.

1. Romans 8:38-39, “I have confidence that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” The last prepositional phrase, “in Christ Jesus,” is technical for our union with Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Because we are in union with Christ, nothing can separate us from our eternal salvation. We can never get out of union with Christ.

2. This can also be called the baptism of the Spirit rationale. Through the baptism of the Spirit at the point of faith in Christ, every believer is entered into union with Christ in the Church Age. This is called positional sanctification. Therefore, every Church Age believer shares who and what Christ is.

3. Jesus Christ is eternal life. Being in union with Him means we share His life, 1John 5:11-12, “This is the record: God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has [eternal] life; he who does not have the Son does not have [eternal] life.”

1. Romans 8:31, “Therefore, to what conclusion are we forced? If God is for us, who is against us?” The moment you believed, you know God was for you because He gave you forty things. Most people are against themselves if they don’t believe in eternal security.

2. Romans 8:32, “He [God the Father] who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over to judgment on behalf of us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?” In one second of time at your salvation, God gave you forty things. Therefore, God gives you many more than forty things.

3. This passage uses the system of logic called a fortiori, meaning “with stronger reason” in the Latin. A fortiori says, in effect, that if God did the greatest thing at salvation by not sparing His own Son, it follows logically that He can do less than the greatest thereafter - give you eternal security.

a. The less than the greatest is all that God provides for us in grace during our lifetime and forever in eternity. If the justice of God can provide the greater at salvation, it follows logically that the justice of God can provide the lesser for the believer.

b. If grace does a greater thing at salvation, then grace can do a lesser thing after salvation. If God did the greater for us at salvation, it follows, a fortiori, that God can keep us saved (eternal security).

4. Nothing and no one else can hinder blessings from the justice of God to the mature believer except his own negative volition. Eternal security is related to blessings from the justice of God.

5. Capacity for blessing includes total awareness of security from the integrity of God. You’re aware that the potential is always there.

6. No believer who rejects the doctrine of eternal security ever attains maturity. He never receives blessings or eternal rewards from the justice of God. But he still has eternal security; he hasn’t lost his salvation.

7. An awareness of eternal security from the integrity of God is a part of capacity for blessing from the justice of God.

8. You have two realities in life: eternal security and prosperity from the integrity of God. Eternal security is a reality that never changes; prosperity is a potential reality.

9. Eternal security is not potential; it always exists. Eternal security is complete and total as of salvation. Reality of prosperity comes with maturity.

10. You can never be a mature believer and reject eternal security. No one can be mature without total cognizance of the integrity of God, and that includes knowledge of eternal security.

a. Once we are born into a human family, we cannot be unborn and removed from that family. Once in the family of God, no believer can be removed from the family of God. So the moment you believe in Jesus Christ, you are born into the family of God.

b. More than that, believers in the Church Age are born into the royal family of God. Whether you succeed or fail is not the issue in eternal security.

c. Every member of the human race has a father and a mother. Once in that family, he is always in that family. So once in the family of God, you are always in the family of God. No matter how you turn out in your life, you will always belong to the same family. Some children of God turn out well and some don’t, but they are all part of God’s family.

d. All believers in Christ are born again into the same royal family of God. That is eternal security.

2. Therefore, every believer possesses an eternal inheritance, 1Peter 1:4-5, “To obtain an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, that will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are guarded by the omnipotence of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.” The believer cannot lose his inheritance through any sin, evil, or failure on his part. Since all believers are members of the same family of God and cannot lose their family identity, they also have an heirship.

3. Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with the Son of God.” You will always be an heir of God no matter how you fail or succeed.

4. Gal 4:7, “Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, a child of God, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

5. Titus 3:7, “That being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs on the basis of the confidence of eternal life.”

1. In the royal family of God, Jesus Christ is the head, and every believer is a member or part of His body. Jesus as the head is found in Ephesians 1:22, 4:15; Colossians 1:8. 2. In 1Corinthians 12:21 are some analogies from this metaphor. “The eye cannot say to the hand, `I have no need of you.’ The head cannot say to the feet, `I have no need of you.’”

a. The eye is a more prominent part of the body, but the hand is just as needed as the eye. The foot is the lowest of all parts of the body, yet Jesus Christ needs every part of His body.

b. At the time of writing, the eye referred to those with the gift of tongues who tended to get arrogant over their very sensational gift.

c. The foot is another inconspicuous gift. The head is Jesus Christ, Colossians 1:18. To the most insignificant of believers, Jesus Christ cannot say, “I don’t need you.” That’s eternal security.

2. This is eternal security. Because at salvation, the justice of God gave you divine righteousness. The justice of God can never divorce itself from or deny divine righteousness.

3. Therefore, with divine righteousness in you and the justice of God at the other end of the grace pipeline, there’s no possible way you can ever get out of this eternal relationship with God. The opinion of other believers cannot cancel your salvation, nor can anything else whether, in heaven or on earth.

4. In other words, your status as a member of the royal family of God is immutable.

1. Because of the immutable, eternal, infinite attributes of God, He cannot cancel the salvation of any believer, no matter how gross that believer may be.

2. Jude 24, “Now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forevermore.” We do not keep ourselves from falling; God does as a matter of grace. This verse says that God has the ability to maintain the relationship which He alone started.

3. The perfect integrity of God cannot be canceled by the failure or renunciation of any believer living on earth, according to 2Timothy 2:11-13. “Faithful is the Word. If we died with Him [and we have], we shall with Him. If we endure [in suffering for blessing], we shall rule with Him [as mature believers]. If we deny Him, He will deny us [rewards, escrow blessings]. If we are unfaithful [disbelieving, faithless], He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

a. The fact that we are unfaithful and losers does not change the faithfulness of God.

b. Every believer is indwelt by God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God cannot deny Himself since He indwells the believer.

c. Just because we are jerks doesn’t mean God is. Yet we have a tendency to superimpose our stupid thinking on God.

4. According to 2Peter 3:9, God is “not willing that any should perish.” Therefore, He is certainly not going to lose anyone who is past the point of perishing once they believe in Jesus Christ.

1. An anthropomorphism ascribes to God a human characteristic or a part of the human body which God doesn’t have, but it is used to explain some divine policy to us in terms of human anatomy.

2. In the Old Testament, the anthropomorphism is found in Psalm 37:24. “Though he falls [believer’s failure], he shall not be completely cast down, because the Lord is the One who sustains him with his hands.”

3. In the New Testament, the anthropomorphism is found in John 10:28. “I give to them eternal life. They shall never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” This anthropomorphism says you’re in the Lord’s grip forever; and He never lets go.

1. Ephesians 1:13, “In whom, when you heard the message of truth, the Gospel of your salvation [common grace]; in whom, when you believed [efficacious grace], you were also sealed by means of the Holy Spirit.” The signature guarantee of the Holy Spirit includes the following:

a. Sealing is the guarantee of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in common and efficacious grace. This is pre-salvation grace.

b. Sealing is the guarantee of eternal salvation at the moment of faith in Christ. This is salvation grace.

c. Sealing is the guarantee of eternal security in time. This is post-salvation grace.

d. Sealing is the guarantee of your portfolio of invisible assets in time. This is post-salvation grace.

2. Ephesians 4:30, “Stop grieving the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you have been sealed to the day of redemption.”

a. Sealing was a sign of possession. Therefore, a seal attached to something signifies ownership.

b. So no matter what happens after salvation, God owns us and will deliver us at the point of ultimate sanctification, i.e., the Rapture of the Church.

c. Anything to which God attaches His seal belongs to God forever. Through the function of the integrity of God, we are permanently owned by God.

d. Hence, the sealing of the Holy Spirit at salvation is used as a challenge to the believer to avoid carnality and reversionism, and to keep going, no matter how he fails.

1. God is perfect integrity, holiness, and virtue. He is immutable, and always has perfect integrity. Therefore, God always keeps His word.

2. In this dispensation, when we believe in Christ, God does forty things for us immediately. God cannot cancel those forty things He gives to us at the moment of our salvation.

3. There are three categories of grace involved in God’s relationship with mankind.

4. We learn that in pre-salvation grace, the Holy Spirit takes only faith in Christ and makes it effective for salvation. At the moment of salvation through faith in Christ, every believer receives eternal life.

5. Eternal life cannot be canceled, 1John 5:11-13, “This is the deposition, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has [eternal] life; he who does not have the Son does not have [eternal] life. These things I have written to you who believe in the person of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.”

b. When we were born physically, God imputed human life to our soul. When we believed in Christ, God the Holy Spirit created a human spirit, to which God the Father imputed eternal life. Eternal life is the basis for eternal security.

c. So there are two categories of life. Soul life is everlasting, and it will live forever in the unbeliever in the lake of fire. Eternal life is life forever with God.

6. Both eternal life and eternal security are guaranteed by the virtue or integrity of God.

7. Eternal security is an unbreakable relationship, because it depends entirely on who and what God is, never on who and what we are. For grace always depends on God as the divine policy of God in dealing with us believers.

8. Man’s weakness cannot cancel God’s strength. Man’s failures cannot abrogate or nullify the integrity of God.

1. When the spiritually dead person believes in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit makes his faith effective for eternal salvation.

2. At the moment of salvation, God gives us forty things, none of which can be canceled. God cannot cancel them because of our failure; we cannot do anything to lose them. Those forty things cannot be canceled by our failure or renunciation of God or by any evil we may do.

3. Eternal security is infinitely greater than any sin, any evil, and any human good. 4. The permanent possession of eternal life carries with it the guarantee of eternal security in time.

1. For some believers, there will be disgrace at the Judgment Seat of Christ. But that does not in any way cancel their salvation. 1John 2:28.

2. Losers do not lose their salvation. Losers do lose their escrow blessings for time and eternity. Since escrow blessings are irrevocable, they remain on deposit forever in heaven as a memorial to lost opportunity and failure to utilize the grace assets of our portfolio in order the fulfill God’s plan.

3. Therefore, lost opportunity is not loss of salvation, but failure to glorify God in time.

4. There will be believers at the Rapture who were losers in their modus operandi in life, though they did not lose their salvation. Philippians 3:18-19, “For many keep walking, concerning whom I have communicated many times to you, and now continue communicating, even though weeping. They are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is his emotion, whose glory is their shame, who keep on thinking about earthly things.”

a. With his great understanding of doctrine, Paul did weep. It was very frustrating for him to realize that those losers could just as easily be winners.

b. Such losers are the enemies of Christ, and so they will die the sin unto death.

c. Such people make emotions their criterion. But emotions are relative, and should never be a criterion for anything. Grace is an absolute; metabolized doctrine is absolute truth.

d. Shame at the Judgment Seat of Christ occurs because many believers in the Church Age fail to execute the protocol plan of God after salvation, due to malfunction of post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation, i.e., perception of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.

e. Many believers fail to glorify God because they are the enemies of the cross. They become the enemies of the cross by adding something to faith in Christ for salvation. They never come to the point of grace orientation.

f. The only condition for receiving eternal life from God is personal faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ provided eternal salvation on the cross through His substitutionary spiritual death, when He received the imputation and judgment of our sins.

g. Believers who are the enemy of the cross always use their arrogance to add something to faith in Jesus Christ, whether it is faith plus: baptism; repentance as sorrow for sins; submission to the Lordship of Christ; inviting Christ into your heart; discipleship; preparing for salvation by self-improvement by giving up certain sins and bad habits; psychological activity such as raising hands, walking aisles, weeping tears of repentance; or emotionalism. These concepts represent salvation by works, which is not salvation at all. Nothing can be added to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

5. For the believer in Jesus Christ who gives #1 priority to the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, he becomes a “workman who does not need to be ashamed,” 2Timothy 2:15.

b. And those believers who reject the invisible of their portfolio and refuse to function under the power of God.

c. They fail to execute the protocol plan of God. They substitute energy of the flesh for the power of God; human viewpoint for Bible doctrine.

7. Winners are described in Philippians 1:20, “According to my earnest expectation and hope [motivation], that 1 shall not be put to shame in anything [Judgment Seat of Christ], but with all boldness [confidence], Christ shall even now as always be glorified in my body, whether by life or by death.”

1. No believer can orient to the grace of God until he understands that salvation is by grace through faith alone.

a. Adherence to any system of salvation by works, adding anything to faith for salvation results in one of two categories of legalism.

b. Some people are confused about eternal security because they were really not saved in the first place. They added something to faith, thus nullifying that faith.

2. No believer can orient to the grace of God until he understands the protocol plan of God, the portfolio of invisible assets, the available power of God, the assigning #1 priority to the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, which mystery doctrine is the quintessence of God’s eternal and infinite wealth.

3. Grace has provided for every believer infinite wealth which cannot be destroyed by anything. This wealth is permanent is eternal, but is only available if you understand your portfolio of invisible assets.

a. Romans 9:23, “In order that He might make known the riches of His glory on vessels of mercy, which He prepared in advance for glory.” We re the vessels of mercy, and God has provided for us eternal and infinite riches. These riches must be made known to glorify God.

b. Romans 11:33ff, “Oh the depth of the wealth, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His decrees; how unteachable His ways. Who then has known the mind of the Lord? Who has become His advisor? Who has given to Him and not been compensated? For from Him, through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” The key to understanding God’s wealth is in knowledge, which is the perception of doctrine, and in wisdom, which is the application of doctrine. Wherever wealth is mentioned, the context teaches that we must know it to have it.

c. Ephesians 1:18, “That the eyes of your right lobe may be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.”

d. Ephesians 3:8, “To me, the very least of all the saints, this grace has been given to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable wealth of Christ.”

e. Ephesians 3:16, “That He may give you, on the basis of His riches in glory, to become strong by means of power through the Spirit in your inner being.” The ministry of the Spirit in teaching Bible doctrine is the basis for understanding your wealth.

f. Colossians 1:27, “In whom God willed to reveal to the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

g. Colossians 2:2, “That their right lobes may be encouraged, having been knit together in virtue love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding on the basis of epignosis knowledge of God’s mystery.”

h. So if you don’t understand it, you will never be able to use in this life the infinite, eternal wealth that God has provided for you! That wealth cannot in any way be destroyed, but it is not available to you if you’re ignorant of it. Your perception of doctrine is your only hope to start exploiting the wealth of grace!

1. Eternal security is a gift from God at salvation, Ephesians 2:8. It is something every believer possesses forever regardless of his experiential status. Confidence is not possessed by every believer. Confidence is a virtue directed toward God.

2. Eternal security at salvation is something God does for us, while confidence in God is something that happens to the believer who fulfills the principle of post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. But whether you have confidence in God or not doesn’t change God’s attitude toward you.

3. Eternal security is inherited at salvation. We acquire confidence through perception of Bible doctrine. Understanding eternal security and other doctrines gives us confidence.

a. Confidence is an experience which comes through learning, metabolizing, and applying more and more doctrine. Only believers with spiritual self-esteem possess confidence.

b. Ignorance of Bible doctrine is simply failure or malfunction of post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. Ignorance is costly because it deprives the believer of confidence based on eternal security, and motivation from that confidence.

c. It is the quintessence of human arrogance to assume you can do something to cancel the forty things God gave you at the moment of salvation. Therefore, every believer has eternal security; no one can cancel it.

4. Eternal security is inherited at salvation as a part of grace, while confidence is acquired as a post-salvation function from epistemological rehabilitation. It results in spiritual self-esteem, which is cognitive self-confidence.

5. Eternal security is permanent and cannot be destroyed by the believer’s failure.

6. Confidence in God is a temporary experience which can be nullified through ignorance, rejection of doctrine, or continued residence in Satan’s cosmic system. Confidence is a virtue which can be destroyed by residence in the cosmic system, or misdirected by dependence on man rather than God.

7. Eternal security depends on the faithfulness and integrity of God. Confidence depends upon the believer’s execution of the protocol plan of God. Eternal security is a guarantee, never to be lost. Confidence toward God is a virtue manufactured inside the divine dynasphere.

8. All believers possess eternal security. Few believers possess confidence in God.

9. Since all virtue is manufactured inside the divine dynasphere, confidence toward God exists to the extent that the believer resides and functions inside the divine dynasphere; or confidence toward God completely vanishes to the extent that the believer resides and functions inside the cosmic system.

10. 1John 2:28, “And now, dear children, keep residing in it [divine dynasphere], so that if He should appear [Rapture], we might have confidence and not be put to shame at His coming.”

11. 1John 3:21, “Beloved, if our right lobes do not condemn us, we keep on having confidence before God.” This confidence is based upon cognitive self-assurance, or perception of doctrine so that you know when you have failed or sinned, and when you have not.

12. 1John 4:17, “By this, virtue love has been accomplished by us, that we might have confidence in the day of evaluation, because just as He is, so also we are in the world.”

13. Losers and winners all go to heaven. How they die, which is a part of life, is very different. Losers will die the sin unto death, the most miserable experience in life. But for winners with confidence, dying is the ultimate in blessing. Philippians 1:21, “For me, living is Christ; dying is profit.”

Verse 6 - "For thou makest him most blessed forever," a conjunction ki plus the verb shith in the qal imperfect. It should be translated, `For you will appoint him'; "blessed" should be translated "blessings." This is the construct plural of berachah; "forever" - this is paragraph SG3 or surpassing grace.

The entire verse says: "For you will appoint him blessings forever: You have made him happy with happiness of your face."

It should be noticed in this particular verse the contrast between the imperfect tense of shith used for future blessings and the imperfect tense of chadah used for present blessings. The verse adds up to the fact that there is no excuse for any member of the royal family today not having blessing and happiness as a part of his experience. But if this blessing and happiness is not related to doctrine it is totally without any content as far as we are concerned.

Verse 7 - "For the king keeps trusting in Jehovah," batach is the qal active participle, and remember that the qal active participle very frequently has linear aktionsart. Batach is one of the five basic Hebrew words for faith which is derived from wrestling, the wrestler's body slam, and it means to slam your problems and your troubles on the Lord and to trust in the sense of having content in the soul. Faith must always have an object to be workable and the object of batach is always the doctrine, the promises, the principles which are located in one's soul.

The word "mercy" is one of the worst translations in all of the Authorised Version because "mercy" is chesed which really means grace. And it should be translated "because of grace." It should be translated "Therefore because of the grace of the Most High God he (David) shall not be moved (or waver)." This has to do with the fact that David will not be influenced by evil. This is the stability factor. For the mature believer the stability always has a negative side, total rejection of evil. God's grace is the basis for stability in time and doctrine is the manifestation of God's grace. Remember that grace is the expression of the genius of God just as evil is the expression of the genius of Satan. God's grace is manifest through doctrine.

When it says "Because of the grace of the Most High God he shall not waver" it is a way of expressing stability - the constant application of doctrine in the use of batach plus the principle of grace [the super-grace life] meaning stability. The believer who has this stability has capacity for life and is not influenced by evil. He is only influenced by doctrine. So this verse says that David will be influenced by doctrine rather than evil and that David understands the issue of phase two that the most important thing in his life is doctrine, and that doctrine in the soul is more important than air in the lungs.

Verse 8 - "Your hand shall discover all of your enemies." David as a great ruler had many enemies. The enemies on the outside were the hostile nations and David's whole rule would be made up of fighting the nations round about. It would take them about thirty three years to learn that you cannot attack Israel with impunity and, therefore, Solomon would have a reign of forty years without even so much as having to use weapons. And it will be five years into the reign of David's grandson, Rehoboam, before there will be a national crisis again in the area of invasion. So it is a very strong principle that having good intelligence is a part of the battle.

Verse 9 - "You will make them like a furnace of fire at the time of your presence [not anger]." We have here an analogy to a furnace indicating that the reign of David would defeat these nations as well as revolutions within.

"The Lord shall destroy them in his anger, And the fire of the Lord's judgement shall devour them." The point is that no rule of any kind succeeds if enemies are unchecked. The same thing is true by way of application in your local church. You cannot survive when revolts become strong.

Verse 10 - "Their progeny you will destroy from the earth, Their seed from the human race." This doesn't seem to be compatible with "brotherly love" .But it is highly compatible with love because David has a kingdom and there comes a time when something disrupts and becomes a major problem of dissension or disruption. Then it is time to remove the problem. The "fiery furnace" of history (vv9-10) is God actually fulfilling this from heaven itself. Jesus Christ controls history and God does what might be called "grace pruning." He prunes the human race. There are certain nations like the Assyrians in the ancient world, certain races, certain groups, and in order for the angelic conflict to continue and in order for human history to move in its course God does some pruning from time to time.

These two verses have some principles of application. The first application is from divine righteousness and justice, called the holiness of God. The holiness of God demands the perpetuation of the human race during the course of history and during the course of the angelic conflict. One of the concepts of evil is the concept that life must be preserved, that we must try to stop dying. Both birth and death are very normal functions and since the fall of man and the sovereignty of Satan replacing man as the ruler of this world, both doctrine and evil have remained in the world as absolutes. And doctrine and evil are the only absolutes. Doctrine portrays the grace plan of God; evil portrays the genius of Satan trying to rule the world and bring about perfect environment before the second advent and the Millennium. So both evil and doctrine were here before we came and as absolutes they will be here after we are gone. Doctrine was here before we came as an absolute and as the manifestation of the genius of God. Evil is the manifestation of the genius of Satan. Man was created in order to resolve the angelic conflict. Man's fall did not in any way cause any disaster in this field but man's fall actually extended the angelic conflict beautifully.

Now the whole concept is a very important one. When man fell the first thing he did was to sin ad sin caused the birth of the old sin nature so that all sin after that comes from the old sin nature. As a demonstration of grace the old sin nature's were judged on the cross by Jesus Christ who at the same time propitiated the righteousness and justice of the Father, making it possible for those who passed the point of salvation [propitiation] to be under maximum love. God cannot love the world unless His righteousness is satisfied. All true love is based on righteousness and righteousness and justice must be free from compromise before God can love anyone. All great love is based upon righteousness and justice. Therefore, once that particular problem is solved then the issue remains what it was before man's creation - the issue is God's plan versus Satan's plan or doctrine versus evil.

And the cross is not only the way of salvation but the cross is the means by which the true issue of the angelic conflict remains firm in human history. And personal sin is not the major issue and sin and evil are not the same. And the real issue is in the soul - what you think, doctrine versus evil. To think socialism is evil, to think gun legislation is evil, to cut the budget on the military is evil, altruism becomes evil therefore. The do-gooders, the bleeding hearts, the women's libs, all of it is evil. So many things that are called good become evil.

After we accept Jesus Christ as saviour we are still going to sin, but we have rebound. But if we get one little ounce of evil in the soul then that becomes a terrible, terrible thing. Evil breeds evil in the soul and evil cannot be eradicated or removed by rebound. And when a person can rebound and be filled with the Spirit he still has evil in his soul. It is the evil in his soul that ruins him. Because there are two types of genius in the world. There is the genius of God which is absolute and infinitely superior to any other genius. And there is the genius of the highest creature God ever created - Lucifer the son of the morning. All human genius is of no consequence. And grace is the manifestation of God's genius; evil is the manifestation of Satan's genius. When you compare Satan's genius with God's then evil becomes the vocabulary, the nomenclature. Much of the good in the world and many of the greatest epigrams which display good are simply evil. So when a saturation of evil jeopardises the course of the angelic conflict and the existence of the human race, that saturation is removed and David's "furnace" here tells us about that.

For this reason races, nations, families, individuals and their progenies are destroyed as a part of God's grace pruning. And if it were not for God's grace pruning there would be no 20th century and you and I would not be here to perpetuate the angelic conflict.

Verse 11 - "For they intended." We have that particle ki again used as an explanatory conjunction, plus the qal perfect of natah, to stretch out. It should be translated "For they stretched out evil upon you." The word for "evil" is ra'a. David was a grace product and therefore evil must attack where grace is the greatest. That's why when you become grace oriented as a pastor and you begin to teach the Word of God correctly so that grace is correctly understood, then it is inevitable that Satan will attack in your direction. And the counter attack isn't a lot of demon nonsense - that is for unbelievers. When there is demonism around it is usually hooked up with idolatry. Demonism isn't the big problem, the big problem is evil. And evil can be one little thought.

1. Religion, the worst thing that ever happened to this world. Religion is the greatest expression of Satan's genius, it is the policy of Satan using this policy as a pseudo grace system. Religion is of Satan. The greatest of all the categories of evil is religion. In religion we always have the Satanic principle of works, of legalism. In religion man seeks to gain the approbation of God by his own works. Christianity is not a religion because in Christianity God seeks man through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. There is a vast difference, then, between grace and legalism or grace and works. In religion we have, therefore, the quintessence of evil. The things that have been done in the name of religion are everything from murder to persecution, and one of them is to steal money from people: making them think that they are going to heaven because they have given money, or making them think that they're spiritual, or making them think that if they contribute to some cause God is going to bless them. Bible Christianity never asks you for your money.

2. Legalism is a byproduct of religion which overflows into every facet of life, including taboos, social life, manner of dress, deportment, grooming, modus vivendi, etc.

3. Politics. Not all politics is evil, only that which pertains to socialism, social action, and the abuse or distortion of law to try to solve the problems of life. Politics related to the laws of establishment and the proper use of law is good, but politics which seeks to establish a welfare state, interfere with industry and free enterprise, cater to minorities, and establish a double standard for white and black, disarm law-abiding citizens, encourage loafing, and destroy the military, is evil.

4. Psychology is not all evil but it is evil in the sense that it is the human viewpoint of life. It represents two of Satan's policies: a) that if you are sinful and evil and a nasty person in every way there has to be an explanation why you are the way you are, and if we go back far enough into your background we will discover there certain things that happened in your environment that explain you. b) the panacea is to take you and change your environment, give you better environment, improve your environment. This is evil because it isn't the answer to life. Psychology and Christianity are antithetical in this area. Psychology also has related fields that express these ideas - sociology, counselling, and psychiatry. All these offer human viewpoint solutions that inevitably become evil. The evil is found in such conclusions as the problems of life are resolved by improved environment or abnormal behaviour that must be explained on the basis of past environment. There is some truth in these things up to a point but they are not panaceas for anything.

5. Revolution is evil as a system which seeks to overthrow the authority of establishment in nationalism. Nationalism is God's order until the second advent, it is the protection of the human race from self-destruction. Revolution in the name of problem-solving transfers power from establishment to non-establishment types. Revolution is a power grab based on power lust.

6. Internationalism is also a category of evil. This is Satan's system for the administration of this world in opposition to nationalism. Both political and religious systems of internationalism are in opposition to the Word of God.

1. All these categories of evil have many roots, but the specific root in context is avariciousness.

2. While religion is avaricious people are constantly being victimised by evil gimmicks and money raising systems.

3. Legalism falsely contends that the giving of money to the church is a means of divine blessing.

4. Policy in politics: Money is always a big issue, influence peddling, bribery, plundering the law-abiding citizen in order to take care of the political group.

5. Avariciousness manifests itself in fields of psychology, revolution, and internationalism.

6. In all of these categories of evil - such as religion, legalism, politics, internationalism, psychology, revolution - avariciousness has only one root. Love of money is only one root.

7. Notice the absence of the definite article in front of "root." There are many other roots which support the tree of reversionism.

a. Evil is the modus operandi of Satan as the ruler of this world. It is the policy of Satan; it is the genius of Satan in ruling the world.

b. Evil and sin are different. They overlap in certain cases. Evil includes certain sins but it is much more than sin; evil includes a phenomenal amount of good.

c. Evil includes human good - every attempt to solve the problems of life apart from God and apart from doctrine and every attempt to destroy man's true freedom. Man's freedom must be limited only by the laws of divine establishment but man's freedom must never be limited by laws that try to solve his problems. Law is not a problem-solver, law is a protection for the volition of all members of the human race, making evangelism possible.

d. Therefore, evil includes altruism, humanitarianism, philanthropy, socialism, sociology, public welfare.

e. Evil includes the social gospel, called today social action, the restriction of human freedom for the greater good, the distortion of law to solve social and economic problems - allegedly.

f. Evil is religion, legalism, reversionism, apostasy, every deviation from Bible doctrine and the laws of divine establishment.

g. Sin and evil both originated with Satan but in the human race they split. And sin in your life originates in the old sin nature; evil originates from your right lobe. Therefore they are dealt with differently and on the cross Jesus Christ did not and could not die for evil. (To be judged for evil would be to be judged for Satan's policy/modus operandi. And there would be no angelic conflict.)

h. Sin is handled by rebound; evil can only be handled by growth to spiritual maturity. Doctrinal saturation is the only way to exclude evil from the soul. And why was David the greatest king who ever lived even though he went out and "shacked up" with Bathsheba and killed the husband, etc.? Why wasn't he dumped like King Saul who was moral? Saul was full of evil and David was not.

a. We have quite a few Hebrew words, like awen which means nothingness, vanity, or evil, and the whole book of Ecclesiastes is a dissertation on evil. Then we have an adjective ra which means bad, evil, or worthless. Then we have the feminine raa. Then we have the badness or evil as a quality - roa. Then we have the verb in the Old Testament to be evil, raa.

b. In the New Testament we have a number of words, one of the most prominent adjectives, bad, evil, worthless - kakoj. Then we have off of this by changing the suffix, kake (long "e").Then by changing the suffix again we have kakia, depravity wickedness. There is also another set of words, ponhroj which is both a noun and an adjective. As a noun it means evil intentioned or the evil one (Satan), as the adjective it simply means evil, worthless and so on. Then you change the suffix, put an ia suffix and you have evil in the sense of maliciousness. Then there is another set based on fauloj, and again this has the concept of evil in the sense of worthlessness.

c. So evil is well documented from the standpoint of nomenclature, vocabulary, etymology.

3. The super-grace believer is protected from evil by virtue of being in super-grace. He is protected because he has maximum doctrine in the soul. He is protected because with this maximum doctrine in the soul he is not only protected but he is alert and he knows what is evil and what is not, and he knows how to avoid it.

a. Psalm 21:11 - "For they stretched out evil upon you: they devised a conspiracy which they are not able to carry out."

b. Proverbs 12:12 - "The evil desire the plunder of evil men: but the root of the righteous produces." Verse 20 - "Deceit is in the right lobe of those who devise evil: but counsellors of prosperity [or establishment] have happiness in their right lobe." Verse 21 - "No evil happens to the righteous: but the evil are filled with trouble."

c. Psalm 23:4 - "Ye, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;" Only super-grace believers have dying grace and here is "I will fear no evil" going through the valley of the shadow. This is a picture of dying grace. Evil even attacks at the point of death or dying.

d. Genesis 50:20 - Joseph was speaking to his brethren: "As for you, you intended evil against me; but God meant it for good." Here again is the great power of God. He can take evil and convert it into good - "in order to bring about this present result [the preservation of many people alive]."Genesis 48:16 - where Jacob was blessing the two sons of Joseph: "The angel of the Lord [Jesus Christ] who redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads." Notice here it is not redemption from sin, he is not talking about salvation, he is talking about being delivered from evil.

e. Psalm 37:16-19 - "Better is a little of the righteous than the abundance of many evil ones, For the arms of the evil will be broken [discipline from reversionism]: but the Lord sustains the righteous. The Lord knows the days of the mature believer: and their inheritance will be forever. They will not be ashamed in time of evil [historical reversionism]: and in the days of famine [depression] they will have abundance."

g. Psalm 97:10 - "You who love the Lord, hate evil: the Lord who preserves the souls of the godly ones; he delivers them from the hand of the evil ones."

h. Psalm 119:101 - "I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep your doctrine."

i. Psalm 121:7 - "The Lord will protect you from all evil; he will guard your soul." Evil attacks the soul; evil is human viewpoint thinking.

j. Proverbs 1:33 - "But he who listens to me [doctrine] shall live in security, and shall be at ease from the dread of evil."

k. Proverbs 2:10-14 - "For wisdom [doctrine] will enter your right lobe, and knowledge of doctrine will be pleasant to your soul; Application will guard you, understanding will watch over you: To deliver you from the way of evil, from the person who speaks distorted things; From those who leave the paths of righteousness [reversionist], to walk in the ways of darkness [blackout of the soul]; Who delight in doing evil, and find happiness in the distortion of evil."

4. The issue in the royal family: Are you influenced by doctrine or are you influenced by evil? Proverbs 11:18,19 - "The wicked [reversionist] earns deceptive wages: but he who sows righteousness [super-grace] a true reward. He who is persistent in righteousness [maintain super-grace] to life: But he who pursues evil [reversionism] pursues his own death."

a. The reversionist, the believer influenced by evil is pushing himself to the sin unto death.

b. Proverbs 14:22 - "Will they not go astray who devise evil? But grace and doctrine to those who devise good."

c. Proverbs 15:3 - "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, watching the evil, watching the absolute good." In other words, divine omnipresence is the factor in providing discipline for the reversionist and providing blessing for the believer under doctrine. If you are influenced by doctrine you have great blessing for life and for eternity. If you are influenced by evil, the antithesis, there is no blessing in time and you will be a peon in heaven.

d. Proverbs 16:6 - "By grace and doctrine one recovers from reversionism: and by occupation with the Lord one keeps away from evil." It is very clear from scripture that we can keep away from evil and then we can live a life free from evil. It is very clear from scripture that we do not live a life free from sin and never will in this life. There is no such thing as sinless perfection but there is freedom from evil.

e. Proverbs 22:3 - "The wise [the super-grace believer] sees the evil, and hides himself: but the stupid [negative believer] goes on and is punished for it."

5. It is amazing how many have forgotten the fact that no matter how smart they are there is always someone smarter, and that always someone who is smarter is the greatest genius creature, Satan himself. Evil is his policy; evil is his system; evil includes his objective. And there never was a time when any of us could outsmart Satan. He is much smarter than we could ever dream to be. His approach to us with evil is in the name of good and sincerity and sweetness and light. Therefore it is a very subtle thing. Doctrine is our only protection from evil; and only doctrine in the soul, not doctrine in the Bible! Doctrine in the soul insulates the super-grace believer from evil and you must be insulated from evil. And that means none of us can have doctrine in the soul apart from someone teaching us, our right pastor.

6. Doctrine, therefore, neutralises evil - Psalm 54:5, "The evil will return to those who lie down and wait for me; put them to silence with your doctrine." Here is David recognising the fact that he is not strong enough in himself, that his human talent was not enough to cope with evil. None of us can cope with evil. We can cope with sin by saying, No and by rebound, but we cannot cope with evil. Evil is greater than we are. Romans 12:21 says: "Be not overcome with evil, but overcome evil with (the absolute) good." The absolute good being, in context, doctrine.

7. Evil distorts grace, Psalm 38:19-20: "But my enemies are vigorous and numerous: and many are those who hate me wrongfully. And they who repay evil for good, they oppose me because I pursue the good (absolute good)."

a. Psalm 52:1 - "Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?" [Note: The great, the human celebrities, boast in evil. They are boasting about the greater good for the greater number, about their system of providing great and good things and using their power wrongfully to destroy freedom in terms of the greatest good for the greatest number] "The grace of God endures all day long."

b. Grace was here before evil; grace existed in God's essence long before Satan was a creature. Grace will exist long after Satan and all fallen angels and all unbelievers are assigned to the Lake of Fire. Grace came first and grace will be here last. Grace, therefore, is the only way to take a ride on the plan of God in time. And the only way that you can understand the genius of God in grace is to have maximum doctrine in the soul.

c. So, 1Corinthians 15:33 - "Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good morals [or good establishment]."

8. Evil distorts establishment - Psalm 50:16-21, "But to the evil God says, What right do you have to distort my laws and to take my contract in your mouth? [Evil often uses God as a front] For you hate authority [Evil despises the authority of establishment], you cast your words behind you. When you see a thief you are pleased with him [sympathy], and you socialise with adulteresses. You send your mouth loose on evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. These things you have done, and I have kept silent; You thought I was just like you: I will reprove you, and state the case in order [a little at a time] before your eyes."

9. Reversionists are influenced by evil - Psalm 36:1-4, "Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his right lobe, There is no respect of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes, concerning the discovery of his iniquity to hate it. The words of his mouth are evil and deceit: he has ceased to be wise to do the absolute good. He plans evil on his bed; he sets himself in a path not good; He does not despise evil."

a. John 3:19 - "And this is the judgement, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light; because their deeds in life are evil." Their deeds, not because they are sinners or sinful, but because they are evil.

10. Evil rationalises. The rationalisation of evil is found in Isaiah 5:20 - "Woe to them who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light, and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Anyone who is mixed up and not able to distinguish evil from good is going to have a miserable life.

11. Conspiracy and revolution is evil - Proverbs 17:11, "A revolutionist seeks only evil."

a. Psalm 34:21, "Evil shall slay the wicked: And those who hate the righteous will be condemned."

b. Proverbs 24:19-20 - "Do not fret yourselves because of evildoers; or be jealous of the wicked: for there will be no future for the evil one; the lamp of the wicked will be put out" .That is the whole story of history. The lamp of the wicked is put out in every generation. And to the extent that you hook up with evil the lamp of the evil will be put out.

13. Evil seeks to build happiness on someone else's unhappiness - Psalm 35:12, "They will repay me evil for good, to the bereavement of my soul.

14. The laws of divine establishment protect the human race from evil. The laws of divine establishment are for believer and unbeliever. They set up systems of authority and function in life so that the human race can be perpetuated generation after generation, so that history can run its course and so the angelic conflict can be completed with man's role in the angelic conflict. Romans 13:3,4 - "For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behaviour, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise of the same: For it [the laws of divine establishment] is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing [capital punishment]: for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings judgement on the ones who practice evil." Here evil is used in the sense of lawlessness.

15. There is no evil in God. Psalm 5:4 - "For thou art not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness: no evil dwells in thee." James 1:13 -"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God: for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself does not tempt anyone." The perfection of God, the essence of God, makes Him totally free from evil. God created free will in angelic creatures and from that free will came sin and evil in angelic creatures. God created free will in human creatures and that free will became the basis for sin and evil in the human race. God has always tested free will because free will must be tested. That is why in the garden there was one tree which was forbidden as a test for free will. And the only way in which man could fail God is to partake of that one tree. That was the beginning of sin as well as the beginning of evil.

16. God judges evil - Psalm 3:16, "The face of the Lord is against evildoers, to cut off their memory from the earth." Isaiah 13:11, "Thus I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and abase the pride of the dictator." Arrogance is the one sin always related to evil.

17. So in spite of this evil, this genius of Satan, this policy of Satan, Jesus Christ controls history.

a. Proverbs 16:3,4, "Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for his own purpose: even the wicked for the day of evil."

b. Isaiah 45:7, "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I the Lord do all these things." Here is a verse that apparently says that God creates evil. Therefore it is a good place to stop and analyse exegetically.

c. We begin with the words "I form the light." "I form" is the qal active participle of the verb jatsar, one of four creation verbs. The first verb is bara, to create out of nothing and it is used for the creation of man's soul out of nothing. It is so used in Genesis 1:27; 5:1,2; Isaiah 43:7. The second word is asah which is used for creating man's soul resulting in his personality. From the definite points of the soul - self-consciousness, mentality, volition, emotion - comes a definite personality, and asah is used for a personality manufactured from the essence of the soul. The third word [the one we have in our context] is jatsar which means to form, to mould, and was used for the creation of the male body in Genesis 2:7. The final word is banah which was used for the creation of the woman's body. Banah means to build. The body of the woman was built. The body of the man as fashioned or formed. The soul of both the male and the female was created out of nothing - bara. From that comes a definite personality - asah. And jatsar, which is one of the four creation words, is obviously used in a passage where light seems to be the subject.

d. "I fashioned, I formed, I sculpted, the light." The Hebrew word for light is simple but the concept in the Hebrew is complex. "I am the lord and there is no other, forming light and creating darkness." Creating darkness is a qal active participle of bara, to form something out of nothing. It should be translated "creating darkness." The darkness which is created is choshek which refers to darkness which is caused by the fall of Satan - Genesis 1:1-3: "And Elohim said, Light be."

e. What does it mean, creating darkness? First of all, darkness was caused by the fall of Satan and the angelic revolt. In preparation of the earth for man's habitation God had to correct the situation by the use of light. In this verse, Isaiah 45:7, it says that God created the darkness. The use of bara refers to the fact that God created Satan, the prince of darkness. Satan is a creature; God is the creator. Satan as a creature can never triumph over God the creator even though his greatest genius is expressed in his greatest weapon which is evil. Now you have to remember that sin is as embarrassing to Satan as it is to the average person. Satan does not want to rule a world with sin. It is Satan's objective to avoid it but because of the imperfection of Satan and his genius sin in inevitable. Therefore, Satan, as the ruler of the world would like to eliminate sin and when the Christian begins to understand this he will understand that he and Satan have something in common - that both are opposed to sin. But Satan's genius, as great as it is, cannot eliminate sin which is merely an embarrassment. And the negative side of Satan's plan is to eliminate sin.

f. The positive side of Satan's plan is to rule the world through a policy of his own genius - evil. Once again, evil and sin are not the same. Sin is man's failure to comply with God's plan. Sin on the part of the angels is the angelic failure to comply with God's plan. When you think of sin in angels or when you think of sin in mankind, think of their failure, their inability to comply with divine standards. But when you think of evil you must think of the genius of Satan. And God has countered the genius of Satan [evil] with His own genius which is grace. And the great struggle is not sin versus anything but it is grace versus evil, or evil versus grace, and doctrine the manifestation of grace. So that sin is not incidental but it must be clearly understood that the genius of Satan has not found a way to eliminate sin. Therefore this manifests his own weakness and failure. And the only solution to the sin problem is found in the human race, which is the greatest insult Satan ever received. A member of the human race, the Lord Jesus Christ, solved the sin problem on the cross. But sin was rampant, uncontrolled, apart from the genius of God, for Satan himself cannot control sin, though he would like to. In seeking to defeat the Lord Jesus Christ and to establish a Millennium prior to the second advent of Christ, Satan has tried to eliminate sin.

g. Now darkness is used in connection with Satan. Satan is called the prince of darkness. Those under the influence of Satan in the human race - "men loved darkness", which means that they love a policy created by a creature, by the super creature genius, Satan himself. So the use of the verb bara refers to the fact that God did create Satan, but He created him a perfect creature. All angels were created without sin, without evil. So the creature angel was created by God perfect, even as the creature man. And the only potential for failure to meet the standards of God, sin, or in seeking to substitute something else for the plan of God, evil, the failure could only come in free will. Every system of theology which ignores free will, first in angels and then in man, is going to be inevitably erroneous and its applications are going to fall apart.

h. Why would it say in Isaiah 45:7 that the Lord created darkness. For the simplest reason in the world. It is to point out that God is infinitely greater than Satan, and that God will ultimately and completely and totally triumph using man's volition, not bypassing it. He will triumph in the angelic conflict because God as the creator is infinitely smarter than the greatest creature genius, Satan. So with the fact that God is the creator here and Satan is a creature, the whole reason is to give us confidence and assurance that Satan as a creature cannot triumph over God. And that God has a simple plan called grace whereby using man's volition He completely and totally conquers the super creature.

i. "I make peace" - the qal active participle of asah, to manufacture something out of existing material. What is said to be manufactured here is shalom. Shalom's basic meaning is not even peace. It means prosperity. It should be translated here, "The Lord is the one manufacturing prosperity." God not only found a way to use the volition of the born-again believer to defeat Satan's genius plan of evil but He found a way while doing it to provide prosperity for the believer whose volition is so involved. In other words, if you are involved with doctrine on a day by day basis, then while your volition is taking in doctrine there is along the way another beautiful picture: God takes the believer who GAPs it daily and provides for him all kinds of prosperity - every kind of prosperity that can exist in the devil's world. And He does this to remind Satan that Satan cannot win and that God's plan of grace is infinitely greater than Satan's brilliant plan of evil. So He is the one manufacturing prosperity and that explains David. Remember Saul? Saul was a moral man, a lovely person, a clean living type. But his sins were the sins of the mental attitude. He was jealous, he was bitter, he was vindictive, he was implacable. He went into reversionism, he neglected his kingdom, he was totally under the influence of evil.

j. By contrast there was David, a hell-raiser. But he was not influenced by evil - except on two occasions. And he prospered. He was the wealthiest man in the world in his day. Saul was not one of the obvious sinning types but he was influenced by evil. Evil is the great enemy of the believer.

k. One thing has been found to be true: A believer who stays with doctrine on a day by day basis and takes it in is going to have all kinds of blessing. And every time he gets blessed it just tears Satan apart. Grace has found a way to bless man in time and in eternity, and that glorifies God. The believer influenced by doctrine is blessed; the believer influenced by evil is cursed.

l. "and create evil" - the qal active participle of bara plus the adjective for evil ra. Ordinarily we have the feminine adjective for evil, raa. But the masculine adjective is very important here because ra and choshek go together. They refer to the evil one, Satan. And it should be translated: "and the one creating the evil one." It forms the same concept as the Greek ponhroj which can be evil or the evil one. Satan is a creature of God. No creature can successfully revolt against the creator. That is the principle found in this passage. And it is a very wonderful thing because it is carried into the spiritual realm. Reversionism is the individual spiritual revolt against grace and against the Lord, and no reversionist can succeed in this revolt against the Lord. That is why reversionists have such terrible discipline. Jesus Christ not only controls history but He also controls His own family, and to attempt such a revolt is evil.

m. When the believer rejects Bible doctrine there is only one way he can go. He must inevitably be influenced by evil. And to be influenced by evil means to become evil. You can be moral and be evil, you can be legalistic and be evil, you can be very self-righteous and be evil. And so smart is Satan and by comparison so dumb are we that we must have something from that One who is smarter than Satan. We must have information whereby we are defended against this and our volition must be involved. Therefore, the daily function of GAP is the only answer for protection against evil. So when the believer rejects doctrine he becomes evil.

n. Now the final phrase: "I the Lord do all these things." We have the qal active participle of asah [to manufacture something out of something]. "I Jehovah am the one manufacturing all these" .The manufacture of these comes from His perfect essence. Asah means from the perfect essence of God. This is the material from which the plan is manufactured.

o. Light was formed, darkness was created, this verse says. Light was good and Satan couldn't corrupt light. The only thing he could do was set up something antagonistic. He could not corrupt the light which God had created but he could set up a counter to it. Darkness is a counter to light but it cannot corrupt light. Therefore, this is the whole point in bringing this in. Light was formed, darkness was created. Prosperity was manufactured from His essence by means of doctrine resident in the soul. The evil one was created by God and therefore he sets up something contrary to prosperity.

p. So the evil one, Satan, was created by God. Therefore, he is a creature and controllable. When it says that He created the evil one it means what God created with its free will can go in the wrong direction but anything that God created God can control. That is important. That is why we are on the winning side and that is why we can't lose.

18. The saturation of evil means national disaster. Divine determination in administration of the fifth cycle of discipline is related to the evil factor, the percentage of evil or some similar factor.

a. Isaiah 47:10 - "For thou hast trusted," the qal imperfect of batach [the faith-rest type of trust]. It should be translated "Because you have trusted." This is the pseudo faith-rest, the satanic faith-rest. It means to depend on evil.Trusting in evil

i. Nations not influenced by doctrine and the laws of divine establishment have a tendency to be influenced by one or more forms of evil.

iii. While both evil and sin originate from Satan their source in mankind is different.

iv. Sin comes from the old sin nature in mankind while evil originates from his heart, the thoughts of his right lobe. Therefore, evil is in the frame of reference, evil is in the memory centre, evil is in the vocabulary and the categories, evil is in the norms and standards and evil is on the launching pad.

v. Evil includes human good, social and economic panaceas, trying to solve the problems of life through legislation, social gospel, social action, socialism, anthropocentric altruism, humanitarianism, religion, legalism, any form of reversionism, "victorious life" panaceas.

vi. Sin was solved in salvation but evil can only be resolved by spiritual growth resulting in maturity or super-grace status.

vii. The sins of humanity were judged on the cross but evil was not solved on the cross. Evil continues as the policy of Satan until the Millennium, and then at the end of the Millennium at the Gog revolution.

viii. In the meantime the believer's sin is handled by rebound, relating it to the cross. The reason you can name a sin and be forgiven is because it was previously judged on the cross - rebound means prior judgement. Evil will not be solved until Satan is removed from rulership of this world.

ix. In the meantime the believer's sin is handled by rebound relating to the cross, and evil can only be avoided by establishing a command post in the soul, maximum doctrine.

x. Any time a believer is legalistic, reversionistic or apostate, involved in whitewashing the devil's world with the social gospel, he is trusting in evil. Only the daily function of GAP can protect him from evil.

b. The Chaldean empire had become a satanic stronghold and the Chaldean empire is the background for Isaiah chapter 47. They had been saturated with evil in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. After his salvation they had a great spiritual revival. In the third generation from Nebuchadnezzar they went down and the Persian empire administered the fifth cycle of discipline.

c. "Thou hast said" - the qal perfect of amar, "you have said." "None seeth me" - the qal active participle of ra'a has here a first person singular suffix and it refers to the individual Chaldean reversionist who rationalises using ra'a plus the negative in the qal participle, indicating the fact that he assumes that because he calls his evil good he has approbation. "No one sees me" is a little bit stronger in the Hebrew. It means "no one disapproves." It is an idiom.

d. "perverted" - shub plus the second feminine singular suffix referring to the Chaldean nation. It means to seduce.

e. "your wisdom" - your human wisdom and human knowledge have seduced you, literally. They were rationalising and calling evil good. Good is one of the greatest of all Satanic fronts. This is his greatest barrage, evil classified as good - morality, involvement in various civic and public activities, the attempt to improve the devil's world in whatever form it takes is called good but in reality it is perversion or seduction.

f. What does it mean - "your wisdom and your knowledge have seduced you" ?First of all, wisdom and knowledge here is a rationalisation, which Isaiah calls "calling evil good." It is anthropocentric knowledge, it is human viewpoint. Evil is a thought in the soul. It is often a humanitarian thought, a sincere thought, a desire to help humanity thought.

g. Who do you think wants to have a chicken in every pot today? Satan! Who do you think wants to have a guaranteed income for every person in the country? Satan! He wants it; it is his world; he wants to improve it.

h. Evil is a thought, often a sweet thought, a kind thought, a loving thought, a sincere thought. A thought in the right lobe can make or break you for if that one thought going through is evil you have had it. To be influenced by evil is to be seduced by evil. To be influenced by doctrine is not only spiritual maturity and divine blessing but it is freedom from evil. We as believers will never stop sinning in this life but we can live a life entirely free from evil. That is what doctrine does. So it is imperative to remember that your great enemy is evil.

i. "and" - an inferential waw, "therefore." "thou hast said in thine heart." The imperfect tense this time. Because this is also a conversive waw it is going to be translated like a perfect. It should be translated: "therefore you have said in your right lobe."

j. "I am and none else beside me," says the King James. The Hebrew says: "I, There is no one like me." Not "I am," there is no verb because this is arrogance speaking.

k. What is this verse all about? This is the standard thinking of evil. It is the phrase of arrogance. Arrogance is a sin, a mental attitude sin. It was the original sin of Satan and it was used in the tempting of man and it definitely played an important part in the fall of man. So arrogance is a basic mental attitude sin as well as one of the seven great sins in God's standard. Arrogance is always a sin related to evil. Arrogance always spawns evil. Satan's original sin was arrogance or pride from which Satan's policy of evil originated. Evil originates from the arrogance and genius of Satan. The principle of his plan is arrogance, pride.

l. Corrected translation: "Because you trusted in your evil: and you have said, No one sees me; your wisdom and your knowledge have seduced you: therefore you have said in your right lobe, I, and there is no one beside me."

m. Verse 11 - "Therefore shall evil come upon thee; and you shall not understand its origin [that is the great genius of Satan. His ability to put something over on you and you never understood where it came from]: and mischief . "

n. The word "mischief" is a feminine singular noun howah and it means disaster, national disaster, fifth cycle of discipline.

o. "thou shalt not be able to put it off" - the hophal perfect of the verb jakal plus the negative. Plus the piel infinitive of chaphir which means to avert. You will not be able to avert the disaster.

p. Once a nation is controlled by evil they are not able to avert the fifth cycle of discipline. The very fact that they are under the control of evil means that they have destroyed themselves.

q. Next we have "desolation." That is shoah, destruction of the entire political structure of that nation. Reference to the fifth cycle of discipline administered to the Chaldean empire by Cyrus the Great. Now the fifth cycle of discipline or the total destruction of a nation not only represents Jesus Christ as controlling history but Jesus Christ protecting the human race from saturation of evil. When there is a saturation of evil in a nation Jesus Christ removes it. That is how we got to the 20th century. Evil destroys the human race.

r. "you will not understand" - that is because evil is so blinding to the soul that not only the origin of evil is not understood but the whole progress of evil is not understood. Evil cannot interpret history or understand life. And that is why we have such ridiculous interpretations of history, both academically and in life in general today. The interpretations of history today are ludicrous.

s. Now the verse says: "Therefore evil shall come upon you; and you will not understand its origin: consequently disaster shall fall on you; and you will not be able to avert it: and suddenly destruction [5th cycle] shall come to you, and you will not understand it."

19. Evil never understands grace function. And what people cannot understand they have a tendency to be antagonistic toward it. That is why there is so much antagonism toward grace in fundamentalist circles, because evil cannot understand grace.

a. Matthew 20:15 is the perfect illustration. It is at the end of a great parable, the parable of capitalism. Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ always stood by His own laws, the laws of divine establishment. One of these laws was free enterprise and under the law of divine establishment the capitalist, the man who puts the money into the business, has the right to declare the policy about everything related to the business. Labour has no right to be a policy-maker. And Jesus gave a parable on this.

b. Jesus asked: "Is your eye evil because I am good?" In other words they couldn't understand how the employer could give the people who worked one hour the same wage as those who worked twelve hours. Why? Because the eye is the key to the soul and they were evil. He was good. And he made the policy on the basis of his good, not their evil. He had the right to make the policy, he was the capitalist he was the boss.

c. In the context we have the parable of capitalism. The owner of the vineyard paid a day's wages to those who came to work regardless of the time they came to work or the time they put in - because he contracted each one separately. This was his privilege. So everyone had the same wage and, of course, the early workers complained. They couldn't understand what he was doing, they couldn't understand grace.

d. Now, Jesus calls the capitalist a)gaqoj, absolute and intrinsic good. The capitalist was a)gaqoj. He represented the grace principle, he represented the laws of divine establishment, he made a separate contract with each group and he kept his part of the contract as they kept theirs. That is all the principle you need. Now with the people who didn't like it there was arrogance there was jealousy there was implacability there was bitterness - mental attitude sins which were the manifestation of evil in this case. The evil was they had agreed to a contract so they had no right to intrude upon the privacy of someone else. Evil is nosy and is always intruding upon privacy.

e. In Matthew 20:30-34 those who understood grace, the blind men, are set up by way of contrast with the workers. Jesus walked by and the blind men couldn't see Him, but they found out who was there. So they called to Him: "Lord [Kurioj, deity], have mercy [grace in action] on us [we don't have any claim to your attention but you are Kurioj], thou Son of David [Humanity]." The whole hypostatic union was there. Here were two blind men, they had no evil, they had nothing but doctrine, so they made a doctrinal appeal. So the doctrinal appeal obviously touches with grace and, therefore, Jesus healed them. They were free from evil and their sight was restored. Whereas the workers could see what others were getting but they were blind in their souls. And they remained blind in their souls.

f. This a fascinating passage which illustrates that evil never understands grace.

20. Evil is distinguished from other categories. Evil is distinguished from war and disease. War is not evil; disease is not evil. Evil must be distinguished from sin and evil must be distinguished from evil.

[It is always amazing how many times the writers of Scripture emphasise the righteousness of God and the power of God whereas the mixed-up lib, the apostate, is always talking about the love of God without knowing what he is talking about. All great lovers have to have character and all great love comes from character, integrity.]

David started out as a believer. He followed the colours to the high ground and became a mature believer in entering super-grace. He received his paragraph SG2. And in the first category he had the spiritual blessings - occupation with the Person of Christ, sharing the happiness of God, the inner residency of Bible doctrine, the establishing of a command post of doctrine in the soul. There was no tragedy, no disaster, no heartache in life for which David was not perfectly prepared by the inner residency of Bible doctrine.

In addition to the spiritual blessings he had fantastic temporal blessings. First of all God made him the wealthiest man in the world. Then he was blessed with great leadership and technical dynamics in the work of a professional soldier. He had social prosperity, sexual prosperity, materialistic prosperity, technical prosperity, he had the works under temporal blessing. Then later on he had dying grace. The Davidic covenant is a manifestation of the high decoration which he received. Verse 4 - "He asked you for prosperity, you have given it to him; extension of days forever and ever [SG3],

Verse 5 - "Great is his glory in your deliverance: you have bestowed on him majesty and honour.

Verse 6 - "For you will appoint him blessings forever [SG3]: you have made him happy with the happiness of your face.

Verse 7 - "For the king keeps trusting in Jehovah, Therefore because of the grace of the Most High God he shall not waver.

Verse 8 - "Your hand shall discover all your enemies [foreign]: your right hand shall discover the ones hating you [domestic].

Verse 9 - "You [David] will make them [your enemies] like a furnace of fire at the time of your presence. The Lord shall destroy them in his anger, The fire of the Lord's judgement shall devour them.

Verse 10 - "Their progeny you will destroy from the earth, Their seed [the human race] from the son of Adam.

a. Evil must be distinguished from war and disease. And in Jeremiah 28:8 it is distinguished. "The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and many kingdoms, of war, and of evil, and of disease." War is not evil, though there is evil in war. War is the means by which nationalism continues. And nationalism is the order of the day until the Millennium and even in the Millennium God still divides planet earth and the human population into nations.

The same thing is true of disease; disease is not evil. This is the contention of the healers, those who are mixed up about healing in the atonement, etc. Jeremiah 28:8 indicates that evil must be distinguished from war and that neither warfare nor disease is classified as evil. Warfare is therefore the means of maintaining national freedom. The only evil things in war come from evil people; sinful things in war come from sinful people. Disease is not evil. It may be punishment for sin or evil but it is not evil in itself.

b. Evil is distinguished from sin - 1Chronicles 21:17, "And David said to God, Is it not I who ordered the numbering of the people? Indeed I am the one who has sinned [the qal perfect of chata] and done evil [the verb raa twice. And we have the hiphil stem of raa. The verb is doubled]."

The last half of the verse teaches that sin and evil are not the same, though both were involved in David's numbering of the people. The sin of David was arrogance, pride of prosperity. But the evil of David was checking up on God. And in 1Chronicles 21:1 it says: "And Satan stood up against Israel, and motivated David to number the people." And when you have a passage like that you know that it will involve evil as well was sin. But both sin and evil being involved they are still distinguished and the fact that David mentions both and discerns between them indicated that he knew that he had sinned. But more than that he was aware of evil and its consequences, and consequently he states this fact.

c. Evil is distinguished from evil and the administration of the 5th cycle of discipline. This is the different distinction which is found in Jonah 3:10, "When God saw their deeds [the Assyrians], that they turned from their way of evil; then God repented of the evil which he had declared that he would do to them."

In other words we have the same vocabulary words but we have a distinction. Evil is the 5th cycle of discipline, the destruction of a nation when God administers it. But He administers it because there is a saturation of evil in that nation. So God uses an evil to punish an evil. This a manifestation of the divine justice in the essence box.

21. Evil is often mistaken for good, Micah 1:12, "For the citizens of Maroth became weak waiting for good: but evil came down from the Lord to the gate of Jerusalem [they were taken in by the fifth cycle of discipline and destroyed]."

In this case the real evil is called good. They were waiting for the good. The Hebrew word is tobh which is used for real good and pseudo good. The citizens of Maroth became "weak." This is the qal perfect from the Hebrew verb chalah which means the practising of pseudo-good which is evil and really leads to the weakening of a nation.

22. Evil provides false security for reversionism - Micah 3:11, "Her leaders pronounce judgement for a bribe, hers priests instruct for a price, her prophets divine for money: yet they lean on the Lord , saying, Is not the Lord in our midst? No evil can come upon us."

In other words they were practising evil and saying that evil couldn't come. They were like the ostrich, their head was in the sand.

Verse 12 - "Therefore, [on account of you evil types] Zion will be plowed up as a field, and Jerusalem will become a heap of ruin." So the practice of evil leads to the destruction of a national entity.

23. Evil national leadership is opposed to God. They talk about God, they use God where they can as a political expediency, but actually they are opposed to God. Nahum 1:11 - "From you has advanced one who plots evil against the Lord, a wicked counsellor." Plotting evil against the Lord, an evil counsellor, the qal active participle from jaatz meaning to counsel or decree. As a participle it should be a policy-maker - of Belial. Now Belial is maximum evil. Son of Belial means a very evil person. Evil national leadership is opposed to God, says this passage. A policy-maker of Belial is the national leader.

24. Evil will be eliminated in the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. The perfect environment of the Millennium will include the fact that evil will be eliminated. Evil is the policy of Satan and Satan is incarcerated for 1000 years during the Millennium. Zephaniah 3:14,15, "Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; rejoice and be happy with your right lobe, O daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has removed his judgement against you [5th cycle], he has mopped up your enemy: the Lord is King of Israel in your midst: you will not see evil any more."

25. Evil is located in the soul - Matthew 6:23, "But if your eye is evil, your whole body is full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" This is our Lord's dissertation on the blackout of the soul. Evil in the eye simply means perceptive concepts are related to the principle of evil. Cf. Matthew 15:19.

26. Evil is also altruistic. Luke 11:13 - "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? [This was in the Age of Israel. You can't ask for the Holy Spirit today].

Parents are evil but they give good things to their children. So altruism is evil. Many an evil parent provides some very nice things for his children. So the principle is that evil is altruistic.

27. Evil is related to Satan in five different areas. a. Satan's angels are called evil spirits in Luke 7:21; 8:2; Acts 19:12-16; b. Satan's domain is called an evil world - Galatians 1:4; c. Satan's policy is called evil in Thessalonians 5:22; 2Thessalonians 3:3; d. Those under Satanic policy and influence by evil are called evil men - 2Timothy 3:13; Job 35:12; Matthew 12:35; e. Satan's administrators are called inventors of evil things in Romans 1:30.

Psalm 21:11 - "For they stretched out evil upon you: they devise a conspiracy which they are not able to carry out."

"They imagined" - AV. Should be `they devised' - "an evil device." AV. mezimah means a conspiracy or a revolution. Literally: `they devised a conspiracy.'

2. God protects the prepared man. David was promoted and he was protected from evil.

3. Many conspiracies were planned by evil persons against David. All of these conspiracies were frustrated.

5. One of the greatest blessings of the super-grace life is divine protection from evil, both in the angelic and human realms. This is also a blessing which the believer takes for granted. Many many times we have been protected from evil and we have been totally unaware of it.

1. Evil is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world. Evil is the modus operandi of Satan from the time of his fall throughout the angelic revolution and down to the point when be became the ruler of the world.

2. Evil is Satan's failure to produce a system of good in mankind and society that would bring in a pseudo-millennium.

3. Evil is Satan's system by which he administers the rulership of this world. Satan cannot restrain sin, and he parlays human good into sin and evil.

4. All evil has two sources: sin and erroneous thinking, and human good (the motivation of evil) and erroneous thinking. Where the sin of self-righteousness plus human good or sincerity combine, there is a saturation of evil in a nation.

5. The principle is that if Satan as the ruler of this world is not capable of ruling the world he controls, then no man can rule it either. Man cannot solve his problems by human solutions. All solutions to the problems of life depend on the imputation of God's perfect righteousness.

6. Evil is the function and innovation of that person who is consistently involved in the cosmic system.

7. Evil is the adverse trend of society. It is the destruction of society, the malfunction of society, and the removal of legitimate authority and its function under category one truth, i.e., the laws of divine establishment.

8. Just as grace and doctrine represent the genius of God in relationship to the human race, so evil represents the genius of Satan in relationship to the human race.

9. The soul is the battleground of every believer in the Church Age, especially because this is the intensified stage of the angelic conflict. What you think is more important than you realize.

11. Recovery from sin is instantaneous through the use of the rebound technique, but recovery from evil takes a long time through post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation.

12. Evil is the human good panacea which attempts to solve the problems of life apart from doctrine and divine establishment. Doctrine and establishment came first, being from the mind of God.

13. Evil is often a distortion of doctrine or a distortion of the laws of divine establishment. Satan's original sin was a distortion of doctrine. Evil distorts law and order, substituting evil, as in crime.

14. Evil comes in many forms: altruistic humanitarianism, philanthropy, religion, legalism, reversionism, socialism, political internationalism, government interference, distortion of the law, bribery in government, cutting down the military, gun legislation, sociology, public welfare, the common wheel, and the United Nations.

b. The whole idea of government trying to abolish sickness, mental illness, economic problems, frustrations, and human problems by legislation and human solutions is evil. The world's problems can never be solved apart from Bible doctrine and the laws of divine establishment.

c. Evil also includes social action, the social Gospel, restriction of human freedom for the greater good, the distortion of law to solve social and economic problems; i.e., the interference of government in business and free enterprise, setting restrictive regulations, legislating car requirements, government quotas, gun legislation, catering to minorities; these are all illegal and distorted laws.

d. However, the greatest of all evils is religion. Legalism and apostasy are the greatest manifestations of evil.

e. Evil includes all systems of Christian function outside of and apart from the local church. God only ordained and authorized one institution, and that is the local church. God has ordained and authorized the local church as the only vehicle for spiritual growth in the dispensation of the Church. No one has authority over believers in the spiritual realm except for the pastor-teacher, who must teach doctrine in the local church.

f. This means that not only are denominations evil, but so are independent service organizations. Most denominations last about 100 years.

g. Evil is what you think as an apostate, reversionistic liberal, a bleeding-heart, guilty type.

15. So the worst and most detrimental thing that can happen to a believer is to come under the influence of evil. The recovery from evil is lengthy and very painful.

16. Evil is every deviation from Bible doctrine and the laws of divine establishment.

d. Adjective PONEROS means evil, worthless, degenerate; as a noun means the evil one (Satan).

1. Evil originated and existed before human history. The means by which it was transmitted from previous creature existence to human history is Satan himself.

3. Evil originated in angelic creation in the greatest creature to ever come from the hand of God.

b. He is the ruler of one-third of all angels, Matthew 8:28, 9:34, 12:26; Luke 11:18-19.

c. If Satan could take on human appearance, as fallen angels did before the Flood, he would be the most beautiful, smartest, and strongest of all human beings. He would have every form of attractiveness.

d. He is the central antagonist of the angelic conflict. Hebrews 1- 2; Genesis 6; 1Peter 3:18-22.

g. He is the ruler of the world, Luke 4:5-7; John 12:31, 16:11; 2Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2. He has set up a system of administration whereby Mr. Hyde can function in Dr. Jekyll.

5. Satan has devised a system whereby people can be nice, lovely, and look good to society, and yet behind the facade of good there lurks an evil, destructive person who is often self-deceived.

6. Satan controls most of Christianity through his cosmic system. The thing that makes people function in the cosmic system is arrogance.

7. Satan's plan is related to beating Christ to the Millennium with his own the production of a perfect world. The more the world follows his plan, the greater the degeneracy which occurs. His plan seeks equality by destroying success and failure with legislation.

8. Satan's plans always look good to the stupid, but it always results in degeneracy. L. S. Chafer put it best in his Systematic Theology, Vol 2, pp. 100-1, 108-111.

9. 1John 3:8, "When anyone commits a sin, he has become the agent of the devil."

a. The old sin nature is usually the source of temptation; volition is the only source of sin.

b. Your decision to sin puts you immediately into the cosmic system, making you the agent of the devil.

c. The works of the devil can only be destroyed by residence and function inside the divine dynasphere. We are the products of our own decisions; therefore, we bring disaster on ourselves.

10. Satan's strategy regarding nations is found in Revelation 12:20; regarding unbelievers in 2Peter 2; Luke 8:12; 2Corinthians 4:34; 2Thessalonians 2:7-10; Colossians 2:8; Revelation 17; regarding believers in 2Corinthians 2:11; to accuse believers in Job 1:6-11; Zechariah 3:1-2; Revelation 12:9-10. 1John 2:1-2 teaches that the Lord defends us.

11. Satan seeks to frustrate the will of God with every believer; i.e., regarding what we think, Ephesians 4:14; where we are located, 1Thessalonians 2:18; and what we do, Jas 4:7-8. He especially seeks to keep us from functioning at gate 4 of the divine dynasphere, where we learn and apply Bible doctrine. He seeks to destroy the believer's focus so that he gets his eyes on other people, on himself (in self-pity), or on things, (e.g., logistical grace is not sufficient).

12. Arrogance is the system by which Satan keeps you functioning in the devil's world without going crazy. His system is designed to distract believers by entertainment, improving the world (crusader arrogance), occupation with temporal solutions to man's problems, social action, the welfare state, communism, fear, and religion.

13. Religion is created by Satan to counterfeit the plan of God. Religion is man seeking approbation from God on the basis of his works. Satan counterfeits the following.

14. Satan's system of false teachers is part of his strategy. They have a phony and hypocritical facade, Matthew 7:15; Romans 16:18. They use human public relations as a system of flirtation, Galatians 4:17-18; 2Timothy 3:5-7. They appeal to arrogance and pride, 2Corinthians 10:12. They promote idolatry as part of the devil's communion table.

1. Evil is a factor that the believer must face which was not judged at the cross. The believer must realize that he cannot confess evil in something like the rebound technique, because evil was not judged at the cross.

e. The believer is not to be involved in good and evil in any way. The believer can avoid good and evil.

f. You cannot be tried twice for the same crime; a mistake being made by the Supreme Court.

2. Human good and evil have been an issue since the fall of man, both before and after the cross. After the cross, the angelic conflict must continue in order to be resolved. The angelic conflict can only be resolved through human volition. Positive volition toward the cross results in faith in Jesus Christ, solving the problem of sin. But salvation could not resolve human good, lust, and evil, because the angelic conflict must continue with some issue.

3. Man must be free to express his volition toward salvation, and toward sin after salvation in the rebound technique. But evil must continue or there is no angelic conflict. This is because Satan must have his "equal time." Therefore, human good and evil continue right down to the Second Advent.

4. Man must not only be free to express his volition toward the cross and toward sin after being saved in rebound, but he must also be free to express his volition in the same way Christ did on the cross when He rejected, separated from, and divorced Himself from human good and evil. This takes a lot of doctrine for the believer to do this experientially. The believer's positive volition toward doctrine develops divine viewpoint thinking which rejects evil.

5. Anything not judged does not have a one-second solution. In one second, you can believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. Likewise, in one second you can confess a sin and be forgiven. But there is no one-second solution to anything dealing with evil.

6. That's why the post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation is a daily thing that must go on and on and on in order that you might be able to resist evil. The more doctrine you have, the more you reject evil.

8. The whole purpose of water baptism as a picture of retroactive positional truth was to teach the rejection of evil.

9. Evil and its various aspects become the greatest distraction to doctrine, because it catches doctrine at the point of your thinking.

1. The mature believer should be able to distinguish between sin and evil and between evil and honor. Hebrews 5:13-14, "But solid food [sound doctrine] is belonging to the mature, the ones who because of academic self-discipline keep having their perceptive faculties well-trained with reference to differentiating between both the honorable and the evil." Therefore, the mature believer rightly divides the Word of Truth so as to distinguish between sin and evil. 2. Motivating evil exists in the thought pattern of the soul. Evil and degeneracy start with a thought.

a. Mt 6:23, "But if your eye is evil, the entire body is full of darkness [cosmic involvement]."

2. The balance of residency of the soul (Bible doctrine plus filling of the Holy Spirit; i.e., residence, function, momentum inside the divine dynasphere) avoids thinking evil.

3. Impersonal love from maximum doctrine in the soul eliminates evil. It takes lots of doctrine to reject evil, Proverbs 23:7.

4. The divine dynasphere is the only real protection against evil. 1Corinthians 13:5, "The love [virtue-love] does not behave dishonorably, is not preoccupied with self, is not hypersensitive, does not think evil." "Love" refers to virtue-love. Personal love can think evil, but impersonal love, a function of the royal family honor code, cannot think evil. It is virtue- love which defeats evil.

5. The believer in the cosmic system is constantly frustrated by evil. Romans 7:19, "For what I desire I do not do, but what I do not desire [evil], this I keep practicing." Romans 7:21. Sincere do-gooders are the major practicers of evil. The more involved you are in sincere human good crusades, the more you intensify your evil.

6. Therefore, the believer is warned to beware of those who practice evil, Philippians 3:2. Even legitimate things are mutilated or distorted. To beware does not necessarily mean to avoid but to understand. You never get over the mutilation of your norms and standards by evil. (Elijah #1-3)

7. Believers are specifically warned not to be influenced by evil but by doctrine in 3 John 11. "Beloved, do not be imitators of the evil but of the good."

8. False doctrine is both evil and insanity. Eccl 9:3 refers to psychotic arrogance.

9. Those who are under the influence of evil always have a price. 1Timothy 6:10, "The love of money is the root of all evils." It is a dangerous temptation to any poor believer to chase after money so as to neglect Bible doctrine. Actually, this verse applies to the love of any detail of life.

10. Influence by evil explains why prayers are not answered, Job 35:9- 13. Rebounding doesn't erase the influence of evil. Job 35:12, "There they cry out, but He does not answer because of the pride of evil men." This explains the pattern of saying no to truth, building scar tissue on the soul, intensifying arrogance into self-pity, self-righteousness, and guilt, and therefore coming to believe the lie.

11. Believers are often led into the cosmic system and evil by their Christian friends.

b. 2Thessalonians 3:2-3, "That we may be delivered from perverse and evil men, for all believers do not have doctrine; but the Lord is faithful and He will strengthen you and protect you from evil."

12. God protects that believer inside the divine dynasphere who has positive volition to doctrine.

c. Psalm 91:10, "No evil will befall you; you who love the Lord hate evil. The Lord preserves the souls of His mature ones; He delivers them from the hands of the evil one." Psalm 119:101.

d. Psalm 121:7, "The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will guard your soul." Proverbs 1:33.

e. Prov 2:11-13, "The wise sees the evil and hides himself, but the stupid goes on and is punished for it."

13. The attitude of the mature believer toward evil is stated in Psalm 84:10. "For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand days in the cosmic system. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of My Lord than to dwell in the tents of evil."

14. Submission to the authority of establishment prevents evil and the influence of evil, Eccl 8:2-5. A leader can do anything he wants in his private life as long as he does his job well as a leader. Rulers do have a right to their privacy.

15. The laws of divine establishment are designed to protect the citizens of the nation from evil. Romans 13:3-4 implies that the unbeliever can function in the divine dynasphere at gate 3 when he follows establishment truth. "Do you desire not to fear the authority? Therefore, keep on doing the good and you will have recognition from it. For it [government] is a minister of God to you for the purpose of good. But if you do evil, be afraid. For he does not wear the sword for nothing."

a. All crime is evil. Crime is extended by a soft society. Evil criminals must be executed. Capital punishment is designed to separate out evil crimes.

b. Evil in the soul is like hydrophobia; it must be removed from society. If it is not, crime rages wild in society.

c. Once under the influence of evil, the criminal will never change; he will always be destructive. However, criminals with no evil can be resuscitated.

d. Certain sins express evil, but not all sins are evil. Certain sins express crime, but not all sins are criminal. All believers are sinful, but that does not mean all believers are criminals.

e. So by protecting against evil, the laws of divine establishment give freedom and protection for evangelization and for the teaching of Bible doctrine.

16. The domination of good in the client nation determines its historical prosperity, while the domination of evil determines its historical judgment, Proverbs 12:20; Psalm 34:16.

a. If the nation through its law does not remove its criminals by death, the Lord will punish the entire nation for their failure. Disaster will come in one or more forms. Isaiah 13:11, "Thus I will punish the world for its evil. I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and abase the pride of the dictator." Isaiah 47:10-11.

b. The only limitation on crime is humility and respect for authority. Micah 1:12 teaches that our failure to cope with evil leads to destruction of the nation. Amos 5:14-15, "Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the court; consequently, the Lord God of the armies will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph."

a. Sin and evil occur in war, but war as a category is not evil. War brings national freedom. The same is true of disease.

d. Disease in itself is not sinful, though sin and evil are associated with disease. Not all people who are sick are being disciplined by God.

1. Cosmic one is called the interlocking systems of arrogance in which the believer grieves the Holy Spirit. Arrogance is to the believer and unbeliever in cosmic one what the filling of the Holy Spirit is to the believer in the divine dynasphere.

2. Cosmic two is called the interlocking systems of hatred in which the believer quenches the Spirit.

a. Mental attitude arrogance is anything related to preoccupation with self to the point of sin, human good or evil. It is satisfaction with self and dissatisfaction with others.

b. Negative volition arrogance is related to preoccupation with self causing apathy toward doctrine. The authority of the pastor or the message is rejected.

d. Institutional arrogance is rejection of the authority, policy, and purpose of the organization.

e. Blind arrogance is the arrogance of legalism. This is being partially divorced from reality (sociopathic rather than psychotic). This includes self-righteous arrogance, which is failure to see in yourself what you criticize in others.

f. Conspiracy arrogance comes after institutional arrogance and results in a conspiracy to overthrow the purpose, policy, or authority of an organization.

g. Criminal arrogance seeks to solve problems through violence. It is total divorcement from reality. It includes terrorist and revolutionary activities.

h. Crusader arrogance is the self-righteous arrogance of trying to straighten out the world. A person places his personal standards above the law or any form of establishment or authority. When criminal arrogance interlocks with crusader arrogance, there is terrorism or revolution.

i. Psychotic arrogance is total divorcement from all reality. It is a result of bad decisions, not genetics. It is intense concentration on self. It is the emotional control of reason.

j. Sexual arrogance is preoccupation with sex and self-gratification. It is preoccupation with the body to the exclusion of the soul.

k. Genetic arrogance is assuming that greatness in life is inherited. Parents who seek recognition through the achievement of their children have this type of arrogance.

l. Political arrogance is a result as well as an interlock with crusader arrogance. It is any human panacea which offers the solution to life's problems. Liberals and conservatives both suffer from political arrogance. It rejects the separation of church and state.

m. Client nation arrogance emphasizes the laws of divine establishment and the function of government leadership in terms of arrogance versus humility. There are three basic forms of legitimate government.

(1) Monarchy is the rule of one man in the interest of the common good, which under arrogance becomes tyranny, i.e., the rule of one man for his own advantage.

(2) Aristocracy is the rule of a group in the interest of the common good. This degenerates to an oligarchy, which is the rule of a group for their own benefit, as the cosmic system influences the nation.

(3) A republic is the rule of the better part of the people in the interest of common good. But when arrogance comes, it degenerates into a democracy, which is the rule of the worst part of the people for their own benefit.

(4) Client nation arrogance is the failure of our elected representatives and arrogant bureaucracy in trying to control the government.

(5) Client nation arrogance is the collective arrogance of a people in cosmic one.

n. In authority arrogance, the individual fails to make the most difficult transition of temporal life, which is going from the authority in the home to freedom in life. The home is organized humility. The parents' authority is enforced humility, and child's response to enforced humility produces genuine humility. Rejection of overt authority in life results in rejection of inward authority of the soul, and that destroys your own self-discipline.

o. Arrogance of Ignorance. Genuine humility is necessary for the transitions from authority in the home to freedom in life and from ignorance at salvation to cognizance at spiritual maturity. Genuine humility is the necessary teachability to make that transition. The arrogance of ignorance is the failure to make that transition from ignorance to cognizance in the Christian way of life.

p. In the arrogance of unhappiness, self-centeredness eliminates any capacity or possibility for happiness. Involvement in cosmic one guarantees unhappiness and leads to erroneous ideas about what constitutes happiness. This means you expect others to make you happy. Entertainment and marriage is for people who are already happy. But with the arrogance of unhappiness, you have a martyr complex which results in trying to control people by giving them a guilt complex. This is how the weak control the strong.

q. The arrogance of disillusion is called iconoclastic arrogance or the feet of clay syndrome.

(1) This begins when you put someone on a pedestal. Then when their feet of clay shows, you become disillusioned and react to whatever they represent.

(2) In other words, arrogance creates an idol of enchantment and illusion, but when the idol is shattered, arrogance is shocked and distracted and disoriented to life.

(3) As a result, the arrogant creator of the idol seeks to destroy the idol, a revenge in which the person can only gain his self-respect by destroying the thing which has allegedly destroyed his self-respect.

r. The arrogance of morality is the self-righteous arrogance of superimposing false standards of morality on others. People major in one moral thing so they can rationalize and say they are better than everyone else in that area. This is superimposing a false standard of morality on others or taking a true standard out of its context, e.g., salvation. Morality is designed to protect human freedom.

s. The arrogance of emotion is irrationality. Arrogant people stop thinking and so their emotion becomes their substitute for thought. This is total preoccupation with self related to emotion. Knowledge is the environment for thinking. Bible doctrine is the environment for decisions. Emotional arrogance fantasizes and therefore collapses under pressure.

t. In the arrogance of pseudo-generosity, a person gives because of a desire for attention, approbation, or to buy friendship or happiness. 2Corinthians 9:7,11 teach that the function of genuine generosity is found in the mind.

u. Arrogance of Christian service. Loss of momentum comes from rejection of doctrine and substituting Christian service for spirituality. Christian service becomes a distraction to momentum. Production is a result of growth, never the means. Perpetuation of Christian service while in the cosmic system is the arrogance of Christian service. Arrogance mistakes Christian service for growth and momentum.

v. The arrogance of discouragement is preoccupation with self under pressure and testing. Unexplained disaster tempts the believer to feel sorry for himself. Being maligned, treated unfairly, or facing the death of loved ones are the kinds of disaster or pressure that bring this on. Matthew 26:58; 1 Kg 19:10. This was Peter and Elijah's problem.

w. Arrogance of Lust. When legitimate desire is linked with arrogance, it becomes lust. Inordinate desire is lust. Desire is not wrong, but lust is. Lust is arrogant preoccupation with one's desires.

x. Pseudo-intellectual arrogance is the superimposition of human I.Q. over spiritual I.Q. Arrogance rejects divine viewpoint. It glorifies human speculation to the exclusion of Bible doctrine, or seeks to reconcile Bible doctrine with false philosophical, psychological, and scientific speculation; e.g., gnosticism.

y. Pseudo-love arrogance is the attempt of anyone to duplicate the principles or function of true love while residing in the cosmic system.

z. The function of suicide is produced by a permanently locked-in arrogance which motivates taking one's own life.

a. Negative volition to doctrine. This person resists doctrine because he is antagonistic to truth, to God, and to the things of God. He is the enemy of God's plan. Evil, before it ever becomes a function or action, is a thought or motive. People are degenerate because of the way they think, not because of what they do. You have to be preoccupied with yourself before you can be negative to doctrine in cosmic two. This is characterized by antagonism toward everyone associated with the divine dynasphere. There are three categories of negative volition.

(1) Negative volition at God-consciousness. This is the point of accountability which occurs at different ages depending on the culture. God-consciousness can occur in a number of ways.

(b) Cosmological thinking says the intuitive law of cause and effect demands the existence of God.

(c) Ontological thinking says that since the human mind possesses the idea of a perfect Being, such a Being must exist. There must be an absolute which gives character to the relative.

(d) Anthropological thinking says that man's soul possesses both volition and conscience with an urge to choose right rather than wrong, and that the structure of society is based on the recognition of virtue and truth.

(e) Theological thinking says that God must exist because men universally believe in His existence. Heathen are heathen because of negative volition at God-consciousness or Gospel hearing, Romans 1:18-25.

(2) Negative volition at Gospel hearing. Rejection of Jesus Christ enters you into gate 1 of cosmic two, 1Corinthians 1:18; 2Corinthians 4:3-4; 2Peter 2:20-22.

(3) Negative volition to doctrine. The believer immediately enters this gate when he rejects the communicator and/or his message. Emotional arrogance is a big reason for this. 2Corinthians 6:11, "You are hindered by your own emotions." You become selective in what you think, thus rejecting anything resembling truth. Then you lean on your emotions for pleasure, thereby misusing emotion, Romans 16:17-18.

b. Cosmic degeneration. When you become antagonistic to truth you enter into a state of degeneracy. Degeneracy is in thought long before it is in actions. Romans 1:24-27 illustrates, "they who exchange the doctrine of God for a lie."

c. Anti-establishment occurs when the soul is antagonistic to the laws of divine establishment and authority. 2Timothy 3:2-3 teaches that this begins in the home with "disobedience to parents." This is ingrained antagonism toward authority. Romans 1:28-32 is the best illustration of anti- establishment.

(1) Man's attempts to improve the world are always sponsored by Satan. Anyone's solution sought apart from divine truth is a cosmic panacea.

(4) "The end always justifies the means," is the motto of the believer in cosmic two. He believes in redistribution of wealth, over- taxation, legislation to solve all problems, sameness in life, big government and little people where citizens are slaves of the state, regulation of private enterprise, confiscation of private property, and utopianism.

(5) Cosmic panaceas lead to violence, terrorism, and revolution under the principle of social engineering.

(6) The state trains the children to be obedient to the dictates of the state rather than to parents. There is a total rejection of freedom and authority.

e. Religion is Satan's counterfeit of the plan of God. Christianity is not a religion, but is a relationship with God through the person of Jesus Christ. Religion is man by man's efforts seeking to gain the approbation of God. 2Corinthians 11 describes religious leaders. 2Timothy 3:7-8, "these religious types oppose doctrine, are men of depraved mind [degenerate], disqualified from blessing with regard to doctrine . . ." Cf. 2Peter 2:1-3.

g. Anthropocentric academic speculation is motivated by pseudo- intellectual arrogance. This is the attempt to reconcile philosophical and scientific speculation with doctrine. When this can't be done, the person rejects doctrine and seeks a substitute. The more arrogant you are, the more you are attracted to academic speculation.

1. Negative volition toward doctrine causes the believer to be changed by evil, Proverbs 5:13-14. Evil changes your thinking.

2. Emotion revolts in the fourth stage of reversionism against its right lobe. This is when people get into many different kinds of evil trends.

3. You can always tell historically when emotion takes over because there is a tremendous change in culture; e.g., in music and drama, which goes from being great, honorable, and romantic to being perverse, sick, imbecilic, and irrational. These pointless things apparently appeal only to those in emotional revolt of the soul. (This is why so many people still instinctively go for sports where there's still some honesty.) But many people are still propagandized by the current music, drama, and art trends. All of this explains why men now have long hair and women have short hair, as they try to run everything in revolt.

4. Emotion has no ability to think, no standards, no honor, no morality, and no establishment.

5. Normal emotion responds to our norms and standards, to doctrine in our soul, to establishment principles in the right lobe, and it recognizes authority.

6. But emotional revolt means rejection of authority. This sets up a vacuum which sucks evil into the soul. Evil in the left lobe produces scar tissue; evil in the right lobe produces hardness of heart.

7. There is no question that Satan controls any believer who has no doctrine in his soul. Therefore, you get into a tremendous amount of human good in reversionism.

1. Every generation has to choose between the grace policy of God, represented by the cross, and the evil policy of Satan. This issue has never left the human race. The genius of God has perpetuated the issue of volition throughout human history and throughout the human race.

2. Therefore, the issue before the royal family is: are you influenced by doctrine or by evil? Our parents in the Garden faced this same issue.

3. Grace is the means by which doctrinal principles are elucidated; evil as Satan's policy is the means by which false doctrine is inculcated, Proverbs 11:18-19, 14:22, 15:3, 16:6, 22:3, 24:1-4; Ephesians 5:16; 2Thessalonians 3:2-3. These passages present some of the following principles.

c. The end of the pursuit of evil for the believer is the sin unto death. This is the most suffering any believer can ever endure, but he deserves every bit of it.

d. Now, just as in the beginning, when you partake of the "forbidden fruit" of evil, you receive tremendous divine discipline. Just as what you eat from a tree becomes a part of you, so when you partake of evil it becomes a part of you. And simply by being filled with human good and evil, you bring on yourself a whole system of self-induced misery and divine discipline.

e. Ephesians 5:16 summarizes all these principles of evil found in Proverbs. You redeem time by the filling of the Spirit and maximum doctrine in your soul, which at the same time kills off evil.

4. Doctrine neutralizes evil in the soul, Psalm 54:5; Romans 12:21. Once under the influence of evil, the only possible recovery comes from learning doctrine.

5. The mandate regarding evil is found in Romans 12:21: "Stop being conquered by evil, but conquer evil by means of the good." This refers to the function of the plan of God, X+Y+Z. The divine system for the administration of the good is residence and function in the divine dynasphere. Therefore, the only way to "overcome evil with good" is to advance in the plan of God through the daily perception of doctrine.

6. Evil distorts grace, Psalm 38:19-20, 52:1. Grace does not come through when you are under the influence of evil.

a. The Psalm 38 passage says that anytime a person follows the absolute good and doctrine, he is subject to many attacks of evil, both subtle and obvious.

b. 1Corinthians 15:33, "Be not deceived; evil companions corrupt good morals." Many people become anti-establishment through their association with those who are influenced by evil, who are in effect evil evangelists.

7. There is no evil in God, Psalm 5:4; Jas 1:13-15. It is impossible for any of God's attributes to be evil. He is minus all the evil things Satan does all the time. That there is no evil in God indicates the great dividing line in the angelic conflict.

1. The supergrace believer is protected from evil. (Here is another reason to get to supergrace!) In supergrace B or no-man's land, all the greatest attacks of evil strike. So when you mature as a believer, you face all kinds of evil.

2. Satan wants you to drop your guard and go negative toward doctrine, Psalm 21:11, 23:4; Proverbs 12:12,20,21; Genesis 48:16. Genesis 50:20, "They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."

3. There is no coexistence with both evil and inner happiness. However, sin and happiness can coexist. Do you know anyone happier than David, or anyone who lived better than David? You can be happy living in your sins.

a. Psalm 37:16-19, "They [mature believers] will not be ashamed in the time of evil; in the day of depression they will still have abundance."

c. Prov 1:33, "He who listens to Me shall live in security, and shall be at ease without fear of evil."

5. The more doctrine you have in your soul, the more you will love the Lord and the more you will hate evil. All thoughts in life are actually fighting over your soul, Proverbs 3:7.

6. The negative believer immediately finds a great deal against which he can react, and he moves into the stages of reversionism. Remember that Satan offers him a pseudo-supergrace status, paragraph, and pseudo prosperity. Satan is capable of rewarding as the ruler of the world.

7. So the constant intake of doctrine is the only insulation from evil, because doctrine goes where evil would reside; i.e., in the right lobe, and there doctrine combats evil.

1. Evil distorts establishment, Psalm 50:16-21, e.g., law and order, the sanctity of marriage.

a. Evil especially distorts divine institution #2, marriage, and divine institution #3, the family.

b. Evil also rejects authority. Psalm 50:18 says "for you hate authority." Rejection of authority in every area of life is evil. This is so prevalent in our day that you would think verse 18 was written recently.

a. Evil begins at certain stages of reversionism, especially from the frantic search for happiness stage and on.

b. All reversionists are evil, for evil is the thinking of Satan and the propaganda of Satan. So anyone in reversionism is under the influence of Satan.

3. Evil rationalizes. Isaiah 5:20, "Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil." Since evil must avoid any guilt reaction, it must rationalize by distorting the conscience and setting up its own norms and standards.

4. Conspiracy and revolution is evil, Psalm 64:4,5; Proverbs 17:11. If a person is anti-authority, he is evil, because evil always attacks authority. No problems can ever be solved by assassination.

5. Evil is self-destructive, Psalm 34:21; Proverbs 24:19-20. This explains why David lived while Saul died the sin unto death. Evil people always try to solve the world's problems by violence; e.g., anti-Semitism, which is three evils and two sins.

7. evil is repaid for good, it always hurts the soul of the one who did good. You haven't lived until this happens to you!

8. God judges evil, Psalm 34:16; Isaiah 13:11. God uses Evil One to punish Evil Two because evil responds to evil. People respond to their leaders, and if the leader is evil, so will the people be evil. As an illustration, Hitler was accepted in his evil, and so was his nation evil.

9. Bible doctrine and evil were here before we came into the world. You cannot change either doctrine or evil, but they can change you. The believer who seeks to change evil is changed by evil.

a. The uptrends of history are caused by the evangelization of mankind, followed by the communication and reception of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.

b. The downtrends of history are caused by a maximum number of people living in Satan's cosmic system under the influence of evil.

c. Therefore, there are no tragedies in history. Historical disaster is related to certain cosmic trends based on evil, e.g., the demand for power exceeds the need for power.

d. Isaiah 47:11, "Evil shall come upon you and you will not understand its origin. Consequently, national disaster shall fall on you, and you will not be able to avert it; suddenly destruction shall come to you, and you will not understand."

11. Remember that evil is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world, and Satan is the greatest creature genius. Using his genius against God led to his evil, for his arrogance led to revolution which led to evil.

12. While evil and sin originate from Satan, the source of man's evil is different. Man's sin comes from his old sin nature, whereas the source of evil is his right lobe in the mentality of his soul. Sin comes from the old sin nature; evil comes from your thinking, from the thoughts of your right lobe and frame of reference. Remember, you are what you think.

13. Good and evil must continue as part of the angelic conflict. Good and evil must continue to challenge us as to which way we will go: Satan's way or God's way.

14. Evil will not be solved until Satan is removed as the ruler of this world, until he is incarcerated at the Second Advent in Gehenna.

15. Evil can only be avoided by establishing a command post of the soul. Hebrews 13:10. Evil can only be handled in each generation by those who are influenced by Bible doctrine.

16. Evil cannot understand life. In evil, there is no such thing as reality. People who are influenced by evil do not know reality nor can they face reality. When disaster strikes, people do not recognize the evil that originated it.

17. Evil is blind to the correct interpretation of history and does not understand life. This is because scar tissue on the soul believes the lie. Evil is divorced from reality. Reality says there is sin and evil in life.

a. Direct control based on His own divine sovereignty will be brought more forcibly to the earth at the Second Advent.

b. Indirect control occurs through the laws of divine establishment. Destroying the laws of divine establishment results in anarchy and revolutions. Any people who have ever tried violent solutions have never found answers to their problems. Violence and revolution has never been the answer. God will demonstrate this at the Gog and Magog Revolution at the Second Advent.

c. Permissive control is God permitting evil to run its course during the angelic conflict.

2. Prov 16:3-4 summarizes the principle. Therefore, evil is going to run its course in human history, but evil should not be a deterrent to your spiritual growth. You advance spiritually in spite of evil. In other words, you don't throw up your hands and say "It's useless!"

3. Isaiah 45:7, "The One forming light and creating darkness [God created the creature who created darkness]; the One manufacturing prosperity and the One creating the evil one; I Jehovah, am the One manufacturing all of these things [Jesus Christ controls history]."

1. A vigorous nation can sin vigorously, but that doesn't mean destruction will fall upon it. Sin is not the issue; evil is.

2. The fourth cycle of discipline is economic disaster. Leviticus 25-26. The fifth cycle of discipline is being taken over by a foreign power. Isaiah 47:10-11, "Because you have trusted in your evil . . . " is a description of nations influenced by evil.

3. Nations not influenced by Bible doctrine or by the laws of divine establishment have a tendency to be influenced by one or more forms of evil. 4. There are three things a nation must have for survival and blessing: evangelism, spiritual growth in local churches by means of pastor-teachers teaching doctrine, and the laws of divine establishment functioning within the framework of the government.

3. Evil is always antagonistic towards grace and always seeks to manipulate grace.

4. God's standards for maturity and qualifications for blessing are the same for every believer: advance to spiritual maturity.

5. It is therefore blind arrogance for any believer to suggest or imply that he has achieved what no other believer ever has, or that he has had some unique experience, or that his life is more important than anyone else's.

6. Blind arrogance divorces the believer from the reality of spiritual things. Blind arrogance comes in many forms: legalism, salvation by works, spirituality by works, maturity by works. All three are signs of evil.

7. So the person who assumes that the plan of God stands or falls on the basis of his behavior is arrogant and under the influence of evil. The plan of God depends on the essence of God, never on what we do.

8. Peter was like the arrogant person who sets up false standards, and then by complying with those false standards concludes that he is a great believer. Arrogance assumes many incorrect things, and always slips so easily into evil. (For more amplification, see Philippians #59.)

9. Like believers in reversionism and evil, the labor union of Matt 20 had erroneous standards. Only blind arrogance made them cling to their standards instead of yielding to the superior standards of management. Labor becomes evil by complaining and judging management. The Bible calls the owner AGATHOS, for he kept his word.

10. So blind arrogance keeps the believer from yielding to the superior standard of God's matchless and perfect grace. Grace is related to doctrine, never to works.

11. Rewards for the believer in eternity depend on God's policy of grace, not on the arrogant, legalistic, anthropocentric evil standards of blind fundamentalism. God neither blesses in time nor rewards in eternity on the basis of arrogant standards of legalists. All His blessing is based on His grace standards.

12. You don't make covenants or contracts with God. When you know and love Him, you depend on His wisdom to deal faithfully with you at all times.

13. So the "first" in this passage are those under the influence of evil. The "last" are the mature believers, depending on God's grace standards.

1. Evil is distinguished from war and disease, Jeremiah 28:8. Neither war nor disease are evil. War is not evil, though there are evil acts in war. But the principle of war is good and noble, for it is a part of the function of establishment to maintain freedom. Most religious organizations make war or disease a part of evil, which is where they get mixed up.

2. Evil is distinguished from sin. 1Chronicles 21:1,17. You can't confess evil as you can confess sin.

c. So David distinguished between sin and evil, though both were a part of his numbering the people. His motivation for doing so was evil.

3. Evil is distinguished from evil in the administration of the fifth cycle of discipline, Jonah 3:10. The people were first thinking evil, which led to the fifth cycle of discipline, which is always administered through evil. But God let them off from the fifth cycle of discipline, allowing the other evil to continue. So there are two kinds of evil.

a. There is evil in a national entity when the people are negative to the laws of divine establishment, or when believers reject Bible doctrine and go into reversionism.

b. The fifth cycle of discipline is called an evil. "An evil to an evil nation." In other words, God matches the punishment to the crime. He uses evil one to judge evil two.

2. Joseph: Genesis 50:20, "You intended evil against me, but God meant it for good."

3. David: Psalm 84:10, 37:25-27, "I have been young, now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread. Depart from evil and do good; therefore, live a long time."

4. Job: Job 28:28, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; to shun evil is understanding of doctrine."

5. Solomon: Proverbs 16:6,17, "And by occupation with the Lord one stays away from evil. The highway of the mature believer is to depart from evil."

6. Isaiah: Isaiah 59:15, "And the one who turns aside into evil makes himself vulnerable."

7. Jeremiah: Jeremiah 23:21-22, 9:3. 8. The Lord Jesus Christ: John 17, "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to guard them from evil."

1. Faith is non-meritorious thinking, a non-meritorious system of perception or thinking. it is in contrast to meritorious systems of perception like rationalism and empiricism. Faith is something that everyone uses. It is the basis for all of the knowledge, all of the perception which you have right up to this moment. Everything that you have ever learned is based upon a faith base. All languages begin with a new vocabulary, everything is accepted by faith. From the very beginning, we accept by faith everything that we learn. Things are identified; math begins with 1+1 is 2. Our vocabulary is developed by faith. Faith is something where we accept another person’s opinion on this or that thing. You are always depending upon the authority and veracity of someone else.

2. In the Greek language we have five words that are pertinent to the study of faith in the Bible. The first of these is a noun called pistij. This means faith or faithful or reliable, or that which is believed. With the absence of the definite article with this noun would indicate the quality of the noun. The definite article added to this noun defines it. So we have the difference between the definition and quality. When the definite article comes with this word is means that which is believed and/or doctrine. So this noun can mean everything from the English word "faith" to the English word "doctrine." Context plus the use of the definite article or the absence of the definite article will determine its exact meaning.

a. The second word is an adjective, pistoj. This means dependable, inspiring trust. It is also used, in the sense of an adjective, faith, believing, the believing ones.

b. Next is the verb pisteuw. Pisteuw means to believe. It is a transitive verb. In the Word of God the object of this transitive verb always has the merit. The subject is non-meritorious. A transitive verb has a subject and an object stated or implied. The subject, for example, in phase one is any member of the human race. The object is Jesus Christ. Anyone believing in Jesus Christ, and the result is salvation. Why? Christ did the work in salvation. He is the object; He has the merit. There is no merit in the subject of this transitive verb. The issue in phase two is a little different. This time the object of faith is doctrine, the subject is the believer priest. The believing is the second stage of GAP. It is doctrine believed that is actually transferred.

c. The next verb, often translated "faith," is just a little off-shade from that. Number four is peiqw. It means really to obey. It has a little different meaning in each one of the tenses. The present tense means to obey. In the aorist tense it means to persuade. In the perfect tense it means to have confidence. But in the present tense it means obedience. It generally what is known an iterative present.

d. The fifth one is pistow and is rather rare. It means to show one's self faithful. It also means to have confidence.

3. The Hebrew etymology. The first of all of the Hebrew verbs from Genesis 15:6 where we get the pattern of Old Testament salvation - ʾâman (אָמַן) [pronounced aw-MAHN]. The root concept of this verb is a foundation, and it means, for example, in the hiphil stem to use God as a foundation and therefore is a basic word for salvation in the Old Testament. "Abraham had believed in the Lord [or had used God as a foundation] and it was credited to his account for righteousness."

a. There are several nouns that go with this verb. In fact, the next three in our etymology are based upon this verb. Emun which means faithfulness. It means to be consistent in whatever you are doing as a believer. That is a masculine noun. The next is a feminine noun, Emunah, and this word means truth, steadiness. The fourth is amen which means simply truth. Then there is an offshoot of this, another noun built on the participle, omen, which means faithfulness. it is often used of God's faithfulness to us. The sixth means doctrine, though not always translated that way. Sometimes it is just translated "truth" - emeth. These are all roots of amen, to believe. Number seven goes back to the verbs - bâţach (בָּטַח) [pronounced baw-TAHKH], the basic faith-rest verb. This was originally a wrestling term - the body slam. From that came the concept of slamming your problems on the Lord, and from that faith in the sense faith-rest. It is also used in Psalm 37:3 and Psalm 91:2. Generally you will find it in the King James version translated "trust." Next is found in Psalm 57:1 - cherish. It is used of a rabbit fleeing from a larger animal in the desert. The rabbit hides in a crack in a rock and because the larger animal cannot get in the rabbit is safe. It really means to trust in the sense of taking refuge in. The ninth is also a verb, found in Job 13:15; Lamentation 3:21,24 - jachal, which means to trust God in great pressure or in great pain. The tenth, found in Isaiah 40:31; Lamentations 3:25, is the strongest of all the words for faith - qawah. It loses its strength in the King James translation because it is generally translated to "wait", like "they that wait upon the Lord." However, the word means that we are hopeless, helpless and useless, just like a piece of thread. You can take a piece of thread in your hand and snap it. That is the way we are. But when you wrap that thread or weave it into a great rope then it cannot be broken. So it means to bind or to twist strands together. Hence, it becomes the strongest of all words for faith and it is often used for faith in the supergrace status or the celebrityship of Jesus Christ status.

4. The Bible itself occasionally uses a descriptive definition for faith. We derive our definition from the etymology of the Hebrew and the Greek. We also derive our understanding from descriptive definitions, like Hebrews 11:1 or 2Corinthians 4:18. Most of the definitions, as these two, describe faith as reality in the unseen things. "We look not at the things which are seen but at the things which are unseen. The things which are seen are temporal but the things which are unseen are eternal. Faith is the evidence of things not seen."

5. In the verb to believe, whether one of the five Hebrew verbs, whether pisteuw or peiqw, the verb that is generally used is a transitive verb. Again, this means that it must have a subject, it must have an object. Because of the differences in languages the subject or the object may not be stated, especially the subject. The subject is often found in the suffix of the verb. But whether stated or not there is a subject and there is an object. Since faith is non-meritorious perception point 5 recognises the principle from the transitive verb: the whole value or efficacy of faith always lies in its object, not in its subject.

6. Classification of the objects of faith. Since there is merit only in the object we need a classification of objects.

a. Salvation. The object of faith in salvation is Jesus Christ the only saviour - Acts 16:31; John 3:18, 36; 20:31.

b. In phase two the object of faith is the Word of God or Bible doctrine. Promises under our basic study of faith-rest are for babies, and sooner or later if you start taking in doctrine you are going to grow up and the object of your faith will be the doctrine itself, and the transfer of that doctrine will lead to the supergrace life. Once you are in the supergrace life you are going to live like an adult spiritually. So the object of faith is Bible doctrine - 2Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 4:1-3; 11:6.

a. All the believing in the world secures nothing but condemnation from God. Having faith doesn't mean a thing because faith is the basic system of perception. The first things you ever learned you learned by faith. Rationalism and empiricism came later.

b. However, the tiniest bit of faith in Christ secures eternal salvation, but it must be in Christ.

c. Therefore the efficacy of faith lies in the object of faith, not in the amount of faith. It is the quality of the object not the quantity of the faith - Acts 4:12.

d. Since Christ did all the work for salvation on the cross the only response to that work is faith in Jesus Christ.

e. Therefore, faith is not something we do but faith is a channel whereby we appropriate what God has done for us.

8. The development of faith. After salvation faith must take on muscle and strength. So how do you develop faith?

a. The daily function of GAP begins to put strength in your faith - Romans 10:17. But why? Because you have an object for your faith and you believe doctrine as it is taught. This puts strength in your faith.

c. The function of faith-rest produces faith - Hebrews 4:1-3, and, again, this is related to GAP.

d. Once you begin to develop a little bit of faith it has to be tested. Suffering is designed to test faith - 1Peter 1:7,8. Same concept as doing weight lifting. Testing is putting pressure on your muscles to test them. The testing, when successful, develops your strength.

e. The quintessence of faith strength is occupation with the person of Jesus Christ - Hebrews 12:2.

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.

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.

c. Pisteuw, a verb. It means to believe, to be convinced of something or someone.

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.

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.

f. Omen, another noun, very close to Amen, which means faithfulness or dependability.

g. Bâţach (בָּטַח) [pronounced baw-TAHKH], a wrestler's term for a body slam, used for the faith-rest technique - Psalm 37:3; 91:2, etc.

h. 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.

i. 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.

j. 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 2Corinthians 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 - 2Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 4:1-3; 11:6.

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.

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."

i. 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 1Peter 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 supergrace believer only - Hebrews 12:2. This is maximum faith, faith in its greatest power.

9. The victory of faith - 1John 5:4,5. The utilisation of doctrine in the soul under supergrace 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.

c. Pisteuw, a verb. It means to believe, to be convinced of something or someone.

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.

e. Omen, another noun, very close to Amen, which means faithfulness or dependability.

f. Bâţach (בָּטַח) [pronounced baw-TAHKH], 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 2Corinthians 4:18.

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.

a. Faith is a non-meritorious system of perception based on confidence in the authority and the veracity of another. Faith is not based on one's own knowledge, as is rationalism or empiricism.

b. Rationalism is reason from the source of knowledge in itself, superior to and independent of any other source of perception. Rationalism says that reality is what you think to be true. Rationalism requires a high I.Q., from which systems of philosophy are often developed.

c. Empiricism is knowledge from perception by observation and experience rather than by theory. All ideas are derived from some sensuous experience using the eyes, ears, nose, touch, etc, having no innate or a priori conceptions.

2. Perception by faith is always non-meritorious. It depends on the authority, veracity, and ability of someone else. Faith requires authority.

3. Faith also means a system of doctrine or a creed perceived by faith; i.e., what is believed.

a. The verb ʾâman (אָמַן) [pronounced aw-MAHN] means to believe, to support, to use someone as a prop, a crutch; to use someone else to be supported. The root meaning is a foundation on which you build something.

(1) In Isaiah 28:16, the hiphil means to cause to believe. The hiphil in Genesis 15:6 uses ʾâman (אָמַן) [pronounced aw-MAHN] for the salvation of Abraham, meaning to use God as a prop and foundation.

(2) Further, ʾâman (אָמַן) [pronounced aw-MAHN] means to prove oneself, to stay faithful to, to remain or continue.

(3) Metaphorically, ʾâman (אָמַן) [pronounced aw-MAHN] means to be faithful, trustworthy, and sure, as in Prov 19:8; Genesis 42:20; 1Kings 8:26; Hosea 5:9.

b. The noun ʾěmûwnâh (אֱמוּנָה) [pronounced eh-moo-NAWH] means faithfulness, security, or that on which security is based, e.g., the integrity of God.

e. The noun ʾěmeth (אֱמֶת) [pronounced EH-meth] means faithfulness, integrity, stability.

f. The verb bâţach (בָּטַח) [pronounced baw-TAHKH] is a wrestling term, which means to trust in the sense of slamming your troubles on God; this has a faith-rest connotation. In Psalm 37:3 and 91:2, it also means to confide in someone.

g. The verb CHASAH means to hide in the cleft of a rock, as a rabbit does when chased by a fox. This verb is used for suffering and adversity. It means to trust in the sense of taking shelter or taking refuge in Bible doctrine; to believe in the integrity of God, Psalm 57:1, 2:12, 5:12, 25:20, 7:1.

h. The verb JACHAL means to trust the Lord in time of great pain or disaster, Lam 3:21,24. In Job 13:15, it means to have hope and to wait. It is used for faith under great pressure, intense suffering, and pain.

i. The verb QAWAH is the strongest word for faith, used in Psalm 25:3. It depicts a fine thread woven into a giant rope that cannot be broken. It is used in Isaiah 40:31 for the faith of a mature believer. In Lam 3:25 it means to wait. This word means that faith which gets its strength from outside of itself, connoting the non-meritorious aspect of faith. All merit lies in the object of faith.

(1) Used as an attribute, Pistis (πίστις) [pronounced PIHS-tihs] is what causes trust or faith, reliability, faithfulness, or integrity, Titus 2:10; 2Thessalonians 1:4.

(2) In the active sense, Pistis (πίστις) [pronounced PIHS-tihs] means faith, confidence, trust, faith as a recognition of and acceptance of Bible doctrine. In the active sense, faith is used in three ways.

(3) The passive meaning of Pistis (πίστις) [pronounced PIHS-tihs] is Bible doctrine, meaning that which is believed, i.e., doctrine, the body of belief, which is obedience to authority. Pistis (πίστις) [pronounced PIHS-tihs] is so translated "doctrine" is such passages as Gal 1:23; 2Peter 1:5; 1Timothy 1:19, 4:1,6; Hebrews 11.

b. The noun pistós (πιστός) [pronounced pis-TOSS], used as an adjective in the passive sense means being trustworthy, worthy of trust, faithful, dependable, and inspiring trust. In the active sense, it means trusting or believing.

c. The verb Pisteúô (πιστεύω) [pronounced pis-TOO-oh] means to believe, to trust something to someone, to use someone as an object of faith, Gal 2:16. It only takes a little more than no faith at all to be saved, Acts 16:31.

d. The verb peithô (πείθω) [pronounced PIE-thoh] in the passive means to come to believe, to obey, to be persuaded or convinced. The perfect passive means to have confidence, to be absolutely convinced, to be certain. The active meaning as in Gal 1:10 means to convince, to persuade, to appeal, to win over. The perfect tense with a present meaning means to depend on someone, to trust in someone, to have confidence.

e. The verb PISTOO means to show oneself faithful; to be convinced; to have confidence, 2Timothy 3:14.

1. Pistis (πίστις) [pronounced PIHS-tihs] is used for doctrine in Hebrews 11:1-3 In fact, doctrine is the reality from which we keep receiving confidence, the proof of matters not being seen; for by means of doctrine men of old gained approval. We can see disasters coming to this country, but we can see beyond that.

2. A description of faith is found in 2Cor 4:18 We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen [essence of God]; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Faith is the means by which we perceive reality in the invisible essence of God. When the integrity of God becomes more real to you than all the things happening around you, you have arrived. This precludes you becoming discouraged.

3. Sometimes both the faith-rest technique and doctrine are described in the meaning of Pistis (πίστις) [pronounced PIHS-tihs], as in 2Cor 5:7 We walk by faith and not by sight. Your eyes are in your soul, and your soul must have Bible doctrine. We see the unseen through doctrine. Doctrine gives us relationship with the integrity of God which sustains us in time of disaster. We see the justice and integrity of God through doctrine.

4. Hebrews 11:6 And without doctrine resident in the soul, it is impossible to please God, for when one is occupied with God, he must be convinced that He is and that He becomes a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Romans 10:17, "Doctrine comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

6. In each verse above, Pistis (πίστις) [pronounced PIHS-tihs] relates faith to the perception of Bible doctrine. Pistis (πίστις) [pronounced PIHS-tihs] means both faith and doctrine. All perception of doctrine is accomplished through the function of faith perception.

7. 1Timothy 1:19 and 4:1 use Pistis (πίστις) [pronounced PIHS-tihs] for the doctrine of demons.

1. Believing is non-meritorious perception. The merit is always found in the object of faith (Jesus Christ) and not in the subject, the one having the faith (the believer).

2. That salvation is by faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ is documented in many passages, including Acts 16:31; John 3:16,18-19,36 6:47, 20:31; Romans 3:22,28, 4:5, 9:30; Gal 2:16, 3:26; 1John 3:23, 5:4-5. Salvation adjustment to the justice of God is believing in Christ.

3. The justice of God is our point of contact with the essence of God because justice judged our sins in Christ on the cross. The mechanics of receiving all blessing from the justice of God is grace. Grace is non- meritorious, compatible with faith, Ephesians 2:8-9.

1. The object of faith is Bible doctrine. This includes both doctrine in perception and in application. Bible doctrine is invisible. Faith is confidence in the unseen. Bible doctrine must be transferred to our right lobe by means of faith.

2. The perception concept is related to post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. The application concept is related to the faith-rest drill or reverse concentration.

3. Once you have Bible doctrine on the launching pad of your soul, then the faith-rest drill in its maximum use applies doctrine to experience.

4. Maturity adjustment to the justice of God demands maximum Bible doctrine in the right lobe, which comes through the daily perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.

5. The intake of Bible doctrine results in maximum blessing to your soul. Blessing does not come because of your self-righteousness, personality, good works, or anything else.

1. The object of faith always has the merit. There is no merit in the subject because faith is a non-meritorious system of perception.

2. All the faith in the world secures nothing but condemnation from the integrity of God. We are born with faith. We first learn vocabulary by faith.

3. However, the tiniest bit of faith in Christ secures eternal salvation. It only takes a little more faith than no faith at all. It is the object of faith that counts, not the worthiness of the one with faith.

5. For salvation adjustment to the justice of God, the object of faith is Jesus Christ. For maturity adjustment to the justice of God, the object of faith is Bible doctrine.

6. Faith is not something we do, but it is the channel by which we appropriate what God has done for us.

7. For rebound adjustment to the justice of God, the object of faith is two-fold, depending on the believer's spiritual growth.

a. The Scripture is the object of faith for the immature believer, 1Jn 1:9; 1Cor 11:31; Psalm 35, 32:5, 38:18; Prov 28:13.

b. For the mature believer, doctrine is the object of faith, and the integrity of God is the basis for understanding the forgiveness of our sins through rebound.

8. Through these adjustments to the justice of God and blessings from the integrity of God, Jesus Christ becomes the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12:2.

1. Faith must be exercised as it develops. Learning doctrine develops faith. As this occurs, faith has the increasing ability of perception, of learning more and greater details in the Word of God. Hebrews 4:1-3.

2. God has blessing which will only be yours if you relate totally to the integrity of God by learning doctrine, 1Peter 1:7-8.

3. Bible doctrine is the royal family's currency. Bible doctrine is the working currency in the life of every believer. Learning doctrine gives you currency to understand the integrity of God.

4. Abraham's circumcision is the classical illustration of the mature believer with maximum adjustment to the justice of God making application of his faith, Romans 4:17-21. Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac was the proof or testing of his mature faith. Genesis 22:1-18.

a. Stage one: Faith claims promises from the Bible. Hebrews 4:1-3, which can be called mixing the promises of God with faith.

b. Stage two: Faith claims doctrinal rationales, like the essence of God rationale, the plan of God rationale, the logistical grace rationale, the a fortiori rationale, the escrow/election rationale, etc. This stage is known as reverse concentration, the application of doctrine.

c. Stage three: Faith reaches doctrinal conclusions and is in control of the situation. This becomes the function of spiritual self esteem. It is the third stage of the faith-rest drill that brings you to spiritual self-esteem.

6. The Victory of Faith, 1John 5:4-5. It is the relationship with the integrity of God which is greater than any difficulty in life.

7. Relationship with the integrity of God is greater than any pressure or disaster in life. It is more important than anything in life, whether failures, successes, pressures, or prosperity.

1. Faith-rest is that function of the believer in which he utilizes Bible doctrine, Bible principles, Bible promises — everything he has ever learned about the Bible. Faith-rest is not only claiming God’s promises, claiming doctrines and principles but it is, at the same time, thinking divine viewpoint. Faith-rest, therefore, is everything by which a believer utilizes Bible doctrine.

2. The mechanics of faith-rest are found in Hebrews 4:1-3. That is the part where we claim certain promises, utilize certain doctrines, and mix them with our faith to launch them. Faith is the launcher and doctrine in the launching pad is actually fired by means of faith.

3. Faith–rest was the basic system for spirituality in the Old Testament among believers — Habakkuk 2:4 Romans 4:17–21 Hebrews chapter 11. The indwelling ministry of God the Holy Spirit is the basis for spirituality in the royal family but this did not occur in Old Testament times and therefore there is a contrast.

4. The inner dynamics of faith-rest. Faith-rest produces in the believer both a relaxed mental attitude and freedom from mental attitude sins — Isaiah 26:3,4 A sustained purpose you will guard in perfect prosperity, because he trusts in you [The believer who is advancing, who has doctrine resident in his soul sustains the purpose and the will of God, and he does so in perfect prosperity — SG2]. Trust in Jehovah forever; for in Jehovah is a rock of ages. The sustained purpose in this context is the daily function of GAP producing the ammunition that is fired from the right lobe of the heart in the believer.

5. The production dynamics of faith-rest is described in numerous passages. For example, faith-rest is absolutely necessary for dynamics in prayer — Matthew 21:22 Mark 11:24. Everyone will face in their lifetime fear, fear of adversity, of danger, of death. There are many types of fear but faith-rest overcomes all of them — Psalm 56:3. This is the faith-rest technique overcoming a mental attitude sin called fear. The overcoming of worry is the function of faith-rest — 1Peter 5:7. Benefit to others is related to the faith-rest technique — Matthew 8:13, the centurion who came to Jesus asking Him to heal his son.

6. Faith-rest is related to supergrace and occupation with the person of Christ — Psalm 37:4,5. The desires of the right lobe are based upon reaching supergrace. You will have not only the capacity for life, not only all of the blessings necessary in the spiritual realm, but you will also have desires compatible with your station.

7. Faith-rest is the modus operandi of the royal priesthood — 1Corinthians 2:5 2Corinthians 5:7.

9. Faith-rest is related to the victory of the angelic conflict — 1John 5:4 … this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. This is the faith-rest technique related to Bible doctrine under conditions of residency of doctrine in the soul.

Spiritual Dynamics 664-669, 99-105 7/30/95; Ephesians 1360ff, 1381ff; Prophecy-Middle East 19 2/7/91

1. The faith-rest drill is one of the ten problem solving devices of the protocol plan of God for the Church. The ten problem solving devices include: the rebound technique, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the faith- rest drill, grace orientation, doctrinal orientation, a personal sense of destiny, personal love for God the Father, impersonal love for all mankind, sharing the perfect happiness of God, and occupation with the person of Jesus Christ.

a. The two power options in the Christian life are the filling of the Holy Spirit and doctrinal orientation.

b. The filling of the Holy Spirit plus the six human thinking skills (or human I.Q.) equals spiritual I.Q. plus Operation Z equals eight problem solving devices on the defensive line of the soul and the execution of the protocol plan of God.

c. As spiritual babies we learn the grace principle of salvation and rebound; this is our grace orientation. When we have this grace orientation, we realize there are things we have to believe, and when do, we make those things a part of our soul. This is the function of the faith- rest drill. We are now moving into spiritual childhood. When we get to the point of having a personal sense of destiny, we enter spiritual adolescence.

2. The beginning of the faith–rest drill is to believe God when He makes promises to us, such as Proverbs 3:5–6 Psalm 37:4–5 1Peter 5:7. In spiritual childhood, we reach out with our faith and claim these promises. But the faith–rest drill has far greater implications than just mixing the promises of God with our faith.

a. Psalm 4:8 I will both lay me down in peace and sleep; for You Lord only make me to dwell in safety.

b. Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of all of them.

c. Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

d. Psalm 55:22 Cast all your burdens upon the Lord and He shall sustain you; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

e. Psalm 56:11 In God I put my trust. I will not be afraid of what man can do to me.

f. Deuteronomy 31:8 And the Lord, He it is who goes before you; He will not fail you or forsake you. Fear not, neither be confused.

3. The faith-rest drill is that problem solving device used by believers in all dispensations for carrying and using the shield of faith.

4. The faith-rest drill holds all the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul. (FLOT is a military acronym for the Forward Line Of Troops on a defensive battle front. ) Without the faith-rest drill, we cannot have ten problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul. The function of the faith-rest drill provides cohesion and coordination of all the problem solving devices.

5. The ten problem solving devices are a part of your very own portfolio of invisible assets, but their cohesion and coordination and their ability to provide support and direction come from the faith-rest drill.

6. The problem solving devices are designed by God for every believer to deal with every adversity, every problem of suffering in this life, but to do so from your own soul, not from someone else's human viewpoint counseling, not from the great attacks of legalism among believers.

7. Believers have choices every time any adversity, any prosperity, or any situation which might be detrimental occurs. It is not a matter of your status quo in life, but a matter of having all the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of your soul.

8. There are three spheres of operation involved in the function of the faith-rest drill: faith mechanics, faith functions, and faith execution.

a. The first sphere of the faith-rest drill is faith mechanics. Faith mechanics has two stages.

(2) Stage two of faith mechanics is the application of the doctrinal rationales to your experience. The doctrinal rationales include: the essence of God rationale, the plan of God rationale, the policy of God rationale, the a fortiori rationale.

b. The second sphere of the faith-rest drill is faith function. There are three categories of faith function.

(1) The first category of faith function is faith perception. This is the function of the second power option in the protocol plan of God--the reality of Bible doctrine circulating in your very own stream of consciousness.

(2) The second category of faith function is the plaintiff function before the supreme court of heaven as a victim of injustice, real or imagined. We can never react to unfairness or injustice in our life without becoming spiritual losers.

(3) The third category of faith function is faith correlation with other problem solving devices. This is the key to why the faith-rest drill is a must on the FLOT line of your soul.

(2) Faith execution demands professionalism--accurate comprehension and use of the problem solving devices.

(3) Faith execution demands integrity--the spiritual strength to make the right choices, the good decisions from a position of strength in the application of the faith-rest drill.

9. God is perfect. Perfect God can only create a perfect plan. The faith-rest drill is a perfect problem solving device, but you must use the whole drill. This perfect plan is designed for imperfect believers.

1. Stage one of faith mechanics is mixing the promises of God with faith. Hebrews 4:1-3.

a. Hebrews 4:1 Therefore, let us fear, lest a promise being unclaimed of entering into His rest any of you should seem to come short of it.

(1) "Fear" is used in the good sense of obligation to execute the mechanics of the faith-rest drill. We are never commanded to be afraid, but we should be afraid of failing in this matter.

(2) "His rest" is sharing the happiness of God--the tranquility and tremendous contentment which comes from understanding God's plan in the midst of the greatest confusion and stress in life. For the Christian, God's rest is entering into His happiness. Your happiness depends entirely upon what thoughts are circulating in your stream of consciousness. You are capable of facing any problem in life and handling it in your stream of consciousness and you are capable of making the right choices in resolving the problem. The true rest is what you have in your soul.

(3) This is the utilization of divine promises in the Bible. The blessing that comes from claiming God's promises and utilizing Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness is the basis of entering into this rest. This is a rest of great tranquility of soul in the midst of the greatest adversities in life. This is also a rest of being able to deal with stress from Bible doctrine resident in your own stream of consciousness.

(4) The believer comes short of God's rest through scar tissue in the stream of consciousness, garbage in the subconsciousness, the arrogance and emotional complex of sins, the control of the soul by the lust pattern. Failure to claim the promises of God through your own faith results in building up stress in your soul. Stress in your soul cannot be cured by any system of counseling. Stress in the soul knocks out the filling of the Spirit, doctrinal orientation, and the coordination of the faith-rest drill among the problem solving devices.

(vi) If a person remains in stress too long, all of his cognitive ability is destroyed and he enters into a psychotic state.

(b) Doctrinal principles of stress and adversity. These principles also apply to prosperity which creates great stress in the soul.

(ii) Stress is what you do to yourself; adversity is what circumstances do to you.

(iv) Stress in the soul contradicts the protocol plan of God for the Church and destroys the spiritual life of the believer.

(v) The conversion of gnosis doctrine to epignosis doctrine through faith perception prevents the conversion of the outside pressures of adversity into the inside pressures of stress in the soul, which is tantamount to sin nature control of the soul.

(vi) Extrapolation from epignosis doctrine circulating in the soul's stream of consciousness produces ten problem solving devices by which you, in the privacy of your priesthood, can resolve your own problems and make good decisions from a position of strength. With ten problem solving devices on the defensive line of your soul, you defensively prevent adversity from being converted into stress in the soul. Offensively you remove stress from the soul. vii. Metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness produces cohesion of soul--a soul that is healthy and normal under the concepts of the word of God.

(5) Claiming the promises of God by faith substitutes contentment and tranquility for stress in the soul. No believer can deal with stress and adversity when he comes short of the temporal rest of contentment and tranquility provided through the ten problem solving devices of the protocol plan of God. The alternative to dealing with pressure and catastrophe in life is the total carnal breakdown of the believer, also known as self-fragmentation. Self-fragmentation results in both Christian moral and immoral degeneracy and involvement in the cosmic system so that the believer cannot be distinguished from his unbeliever counterpart in mental attitude, sin nature function, and the modus operandi of life.

(6) The faith-rest drill coordinates and correlates by claiming the promises of God and applying the doctrinal rationales with God's happiness. When pressure and adversity attacks, you have to have a base of contentment and tranquility from which you use the faith-rest drill under the power of the filling of the Holy Spirit, grace orientation, and doctrinal orientation.

b. Hebrews 4:2 For we also have been evangelized, even as they; but the doctrine of hearing [the word of teaching] did not profit them, because it was not mixed together with faith by those who heard.

(1) The faith-rest drill was operational in all previous dispensations ("they") and is operational today ("we"). Entering into the rest of God is not a matter of evangelization. Comparison of the Church Age believer with the believers of the Exodus generation indicates that the issue is not salvation by faith but the function of the faith-rest drill.

(2) After salvation, the believers of the Exodus generation were not able to use the faith-rest drill because they were negative to Bible doctrine taught by Moses. The Exodus generation had no faith perception, no metabolization of doctrine. It is possible to sit in Bible class and not be profited, because the doctrine is not mixed together with faith.

c. Hebrews 4:3 For we [Church Age believers] who have believed [Bible doctrine as it is taught] enter into the place of rest [+H], just as He said [Psalm 95:11], `As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter into My place of rest,' although His works were finished from before the foundation of the world.

(1) The place of rest was the place of blessing--the place where you depend on the promises of God and doctrinal rationales to handle stress, problems, and adversity in life. They did not enter into Canaan, the place that God had provided for them, because they did not use the faith-rest drill during their time in the desert. Since they did not claim the promises of God as taught in Bible class, God gave them the promise that they would never enter into the place of blessing but would die the sin unto death in the desert.

(2) God provides for believers in eternity past. In eternity past, God provided in grace everything the believer needs in human history to handle every adversity. The faith-rest drill has been provided for every generation in human history. Doctrine is always available to meet any stressful situation in life.

d. Mixing the promises of God with faith is designed to stabilize the mentality of the believer under pressure, confusion, adversity, stress, and disaster. Claiming promises is the way new believers and young believers who have not yet grown up spiritually can function under the faith-rest drill. In time of stress, the believer begins by claiming promises of God and mixing those promises with a weak faith. As the believer grows spiritually, his faith increases.

e. As a result of stage one of the faith-rest mechanics, the believer begins to prevent the outside pressures of life from penetrating into the soul. Faith claims the promises of God; faith applies the promises of God; faith takes control of the situation. The increase of the faith- rest drill in your life means the increase of control over your soul and your spiritual life.

f. Abraham used the first stage mechanics, Romans 4:20-21 Yet, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, being fully persuaded that what God had promised, God was able to execute.

g. When stage one of the faith-rest mechanics is fully operational, the believer fulfills 2Corinthians 5:7 We walk by faith [the faith- rest drill] and not by sight [human viewpoint].

2. The second stage of the faith-rest mechanics requires a much stronger faith and a greater understanding of the word of God. A strong faith now applies doctrinal rationales to experience. In the second stage, we have the development of a stronger faith through the perception of doctrine. With this perception of doctrine, the faith becomes strong enough to do more than just claim a promise from God. In the second stage, we begin to claim doctrinal rationales. Two things are needed for stage two.

a. You need a stronger faith from consistent perception of Bible doctrine (post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation) which means metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness.

b. You need cognition of the whole range of doctrine, which gives the faith-rest drill an option to meet the stress and pressures of life. This fulfills the concept of professionalism and integrity in the modus operandi of the protocol plan of God. Cognition of doctrine has two results related to the faith-rest drill.

(1) Cognition of doctrine results in the development of a stronger faith. Romans 10:17 Faith comes by hearing [positive volition] and hearing by the word of Christ. The word of God is the thinking of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1Corinthians 2:16. Your faith has to become strong and be developed.

(2) Cognition of doctrine results in the development of the doctrinal rationales. The stronger faith claims doctrinal rationales once they are circulating in the stream of consciousness. God does not permit these difficult situations in life to come along until you have at least had a chance to learn doctrine.

d. The second stage of the faith-rest mechanics demands an understanding of five areas of doctrine found in the Scripture: the essence of God rationale, the plan of God rationale, the policy of God rationale which is grace orientation, the a fortiori rationale, and the ten problem solving devices. Doctrinal rationales begin to circulate in the stream of consciousness as a result of reaching spiritual adulthood. Lifting the shield of faith with the doctrinal rationales provides both the tranquility and contentment of soul in great pressure.

(a) By learning about who and what God is, you develop a stronger faith. To mix your faith with the doctrine of divine essence gives you an advance in the faith-rest drill which is absolutely necessary for your spiritual advance.

(b) Spiritual self-esteem is that status of the Christian life where the believer grows up spiritually so that he can advance into the second stage of the faith-rest mechanics. Spiritual self- esteem does not emphasize who and what we are as believers but who and what God is. Hence, the importance of the essence of God rationale. Therefore, spiritual self-esteem understands and executes the protocol plan of God by use of the essence of God rationale. The advance from spiritual self-esteem to spiritual autonomy is rapid when the believer consistently functions under both the essence of God rationale and the plan of God rationale. The believer in spiritual self-esteem is not easily subverted into arrogance or emotional complexes of sins because he is motivated by who and what God is from the essence of God rationale.

(c) Part of the faith-rest drill is the application of the essence of God rationale to stress circumstances, especially those that involve injustice and unfairness to you personally. The mixing of the essence of God rationale with a strong faith is the basis of handling these circumstances. For example, you are the victim of the public lie, the victim of slander, maligning, gossip, or some unfairness from people. By using the application of the essence of God rationale as part of the faith- rest drill you become a plaintiff before the supreme court of heaven. As a part of the essence of God rationale, faith-rest mechanics leave all personal injustices, all vilification, all unfairness in the hands of Jesus Christ as a supreme court justice in heaven. Psalm 55:2 Cast your burden upon the Lord; for He will sustain you. He will never permit the righteous one to be shaken. 1Peter 5:7 Casting all your cares [anxieties, stresses] on Him because He cares for you.

1) Our Lord as supreme court judge hears every case brought to Him under the mechanics of stage of faith-rest mechanics.

2) However, the believer who makes his appeal as a plaintiff must understand that he or she may be more at fault in the matter, and may suddenly become a defendant in the case instead of a plaintiff. You can very easily malfunction in stage two of the faith-rest mechanics. Do not try to appeal to the supreme court if you are at fault, if you have already made the problem public to others. Do not be shocked if the justice you seek at the supreme court of heaven suddenly comes to you in the form of divine discipline.

3) The plaintiff is judged rather than the defendant for the Lord knows all the facts in the case.

4) Self-righteous arrogance is blind arrogance and all too often fragmented. Therefore, the believer's appeal to the supreme court of heaven for justice results in that believer receiving justice as the guilty party. You have to know your ground and keep your mouth shut.

5) As a victim of injustice, believers often become vindictive, implacable, bitter, and seek revenge through vilification rather than going to the supreme court of heaven immediately. They ought to be rebounding instead of going to the supreme court of heaven.

6) In the case where the plaintiff is the guilty party and is judged by God for sins related to the arrogance or emotional complex, the lust pattern, garbage in the subconscious, or confusion from a fragmented life, do not piously, arrogantly, or self- righteously approach the bench. You have just moved from warning discipline to intensive discipline.

7) The victim of injustice has two options: the function of the faith-rest drill as a plaintiff to the supreme court of heaven or the reaction of mental attitude and verbal sins and succumbing to the temptation of revenge.

1) Before you react to injustice, unfairness, slander, misrepresentation, maltreatment, vilification, character assassination, or some other form of the public lie, remember that there is a supreme court in heaven. You may think you are plaintiff but in reality are the defendant, and guilty.

2) Through the faith-rest mechanics of stage two, the believer can apply the essence of God rationale to the stress circumstances just mentioned by taking your case directly to the supreme court of heaven. You put the matter in the hands of the Lord and remain in a state of tranquility without complaint.

3) Once you are the plaintiff and have used the second stage of faith-rest mechanics to put the situation in the Lord's hands, you must leave your case before the supreme court of heaven. To leave it there, you have to avoid taking matters into your own hands. Here is the virtue of patience. Any reaction on your part cancels your case in heaven and results in divine discipline and punitive action from God toward you.

4) You cannot be a legitimate plaintiff in the supreme court of heaven if you react from scar tissue in the stream of consciousness, garbage in the subconscious, the arrogance complex of sins, the emotional and irrational self-fragmentation, or the lust pattern of the sin nature.

5) Therefore, to fulfill stage two of faith- rest mechanics, the believer must have enough spiritual growth to understand the essence of God rationale and enough humility, patience, and objectivity to be sure that he himself has not caused an alleged injustice or unfairness directed toward those he thinks have been unfair to him.

(2) The plan of God rationale. This includes a thorough understanding of the plan of God and making such applications as: a wrong thing done in a wrong way is wrong, a right thing done in a wrong way is wrong, a wrong thing done in a right way is wrong, and a right thing must always be done in a right way.

(3) The policy of God rationale. The policy of God is grace. The rationale is that God always deals with us in grace.

(4) The a fortiori rationale. Romans 8:31-32 Therefore, with reference to these things, to what conclusion are we forced? If God is for us, who shall be against us? The God [God the Father] who did not even spare His own Son but delivered Him over to judgment as a substitute for all of us, how shall He not also graciously give to us the all things.

(a) A fortiori is a Latin prepositional phrase which means "with stronger reason. " A fortiori is a system of logic related to inference and comparison. A fortiori is a comparison of a greater with a lesser difficulty. A fortiori is a system of debate which takes an accepted fact and by comparison produces an inescapable fact.

(b) If God did the most for us at salvation, it follows with stronger reason that He will not withhold the less. The accepted fact is that Jesus Christ was judged by God the Father on the Cross as a substitute for us. The inescapable fact is that God graciously gives to us all things. These all things which are lesser difficulty for God to give us are our portfolio of invisible assets and ten problem solving devices so you can solve every problem you will ever have. The format of this a fortiori takes a fact of Bible doctrine (the greater difficulty of the Cross) and compares it with the lesser difficulty (graciously giving us all things). (c) This results in an inescapable conclusion--that if God accomplished the greater at the Cross, it is obvious that He can accomplish the lesser in the provision for the believer both in time and in eternity. If the greater benefit (the judgment of the Son) has been given at salvation, God will not withhold the lesser benefit of grace to the believer. If the most difficult was accomplished at the Cross, then it follows with stronger reason that the least difficult can be accomplished for each believer after salvation.

e. The doctrinal rationales result in not only sharing the perfect happiness of God, a personal sense of destiny, and occupation with the person of Christ, but also magnificent spiritual strength to survive any adversity.

f. Doctrinal rationales begin to circulate in the stream of consciousness as a result of the believer being positive and consistent in the intake of doctrine, which results in spiritual adulthood. The metabolization and application of doctrine requires a true scale of values in which Bible doctrine has number one priority in your life. The three stages of spiritual adulthood are related to the doctrinal rationales.

(1) Spiritual self-esteem is the function of cognitive self- confidence in using doctrinal rationales.

(2) Spiritual autonomy is the function of cognitive independence in using doctrinal rationales.

(3) Spiritual maturity is the function of cognitive invincibility in using doctrinal rationales.

g. Certain verses describe claiming the doctrinal rationales by faith or having a strong enough faith to apply doctrine to your experience.

(4) 1Corinthians 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of man but in the power of God. "

a. There is no system of counseling in this world that can replace the function of the faith-rest drill in your life--the utilization of doctrinal rationales.

b. The faith-rest drill executes divine mandates such as forgetting those things which are behind (such as child abuse, injustices in life) and moving on with your own spiritual life.

c. This means that the faith-rest drill has the power to avoid reaction to every injustice, every act of unfairness, every wrong that has ever been committed against you. It has the power to avoid reaction to all injustices in life by putting them through faith in the hands of the supreme court of heaven.

1. The function of faith perception in the metabolization of doctrine. Faith perception is an advanced function of the faith-rest drill. Faith perception is a part of the faith-rest drill.

a. The function of faith perception is never effective unless the believer assigns number one priority to Bible doctrine, which means you are consistent in perception, cognition, inculcation, and metabolization of doctrine. The word of God, communicated by the spiritual gift of pastor- teacher, must have first place in your scale of values if you are ever going to grow up spiritually.

(1) The first power option is the filling of the Spirit plus human I.Q. (which is made up of six thinking skills). The filling of the Spirit parlays human I.Q. into spiritual I.Q. plus Operation Z equals the execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church.

(2) The first power option is the filling of the Holy Spirit, resulting in the understanding of the Bible as it is communicated from the pastor. This requires a consistent use of the rebound technique. This results in the Holy Spirit teaching doctrine as prophesied by our Lord Jesus Christ in John 14:26; 16:12-14.

c. Faith perception begins at the point of hearing. At the point of hearing you are either positive or negative. You have the choice of listening or not listening. God the Holy Spirit teaches positive volition under the filling of the Spirit. Positive volition is the development of your rate of learning and, at the same time, of your ability to concentrate.

(1) The Holy Spirit teaches the human spirit, making doctrine understandable. Then God the Holy Spirit sends the doctrine into the left lobe of the soul. Here the doctrine is understood academically but still has no spiritual benefit.

(2) Now the believer must exercise positive volition toward the doctrine which has been taught. If you believe the doctrine which has been taught, then it is grace metabolization. Once you believe doctrine, it is transferred by God the Holy Spirit to the right lobe of the soul. Here it is circulated by the Holy Spirit in the stream of consciousness and has spiritual value for the first time. Doctrine is circulated through your frame of reference, memory center, vocabulary storage, categorical storage, conscience, momentum department, wisdom department, and removes the garbage from your subconscious.

d. When metabolized doctrine is circulating in the soul, then faith perception takes another giant step. Faith perception establishes all reality in life on the content of Bible doctrine. If the Bible doctrine in your soul is a greater reality than the potential of the area of suffering, then you have taken the second giant step under faith perception. What is the greater reality to you--the outside pressures of adversity or the Bible doctrine circulating in your stream of consciousness under the filling of the Holy Spirit.

(1) The faith-rest drill works in two directions. It recognizes the reality of the suffering. But it also recognizes something far greater--the reality of what God provided in eternity past in order to deal with these problems.

(2) Otherwise, the greater reality becomes the adversity, which enters your soul and becomes stress in the soul. At that point the sin nature controls your soul and you begin to fall apart.

(3) When there is any contradiction between what the Scripture says or our empirical knowledge, faith perception dominates, so that reality comes from Bible doctrine as divine viewpoint over the attractiveness or misery of human viewpoint.

(4) Certain spiritual functions, like prayer, become effective, problem solving devices become operational, and good decisions are made from a position of strength. Believers who never grow up spiritually always want God to make it immediately stop hurting, when adversity comes along. Their reality is not doctrine but the adversity. Therefore, they misuse certain spiritual functions like prayer. They want to use prayer to manipulate God or manipulate people.

e. The function of faith perception results in the rate of learning exceeding the rate of forgetting. You avoid blackout of the soul, scar tissue of the soul, reversionism, and degeneracy. The function of the faith-rest drill is a major factor in preventing the outside pressures of adversity from becoming the inside pressures of stress in the soul.

2. The second function of the faith-rest drill in faith perception is the plaintiff function before the supreme court of heaven.

a. There are many injustices in life in which the believer must use this category of the faith-rest drill to put his problems with people and circumstances into the Lord's hands. This means appealing to the supreme court of heaven and avoiding any reaction: complaining, vilification, denial, projection, self-justification, blaspheming, gossip, slander, maligning, judging of others, malice.

b. When you take something to the supreme court of heaven through the function of the faith-rest drill, you must leave it there and not take it back for your own revenge. Self-righteous people are inevitably going to be troubled in their soul by wanting to protect their self-righteousness. Their self-righteousness is more precious to them than the reality or facts of the case. The greatest avoidance of denial of reality among Christians is protecting and guarding your own self-righteousness. Believers will do anything to protect their self-righteousness. This is one of the great manifestations of scar tissue in the soul.

c. The great mistake is taking your case to the supreme court of heaven and simultaneously to take the case out of the hands of God and try to do something about it yourself. You become liable for triple compound discipline. You are judged by the supreme court of heaven. If you malign others and then appeal to the supreme court of heaven, the other person's discipline is placed on you. Judging belongs to the supreme court of heaven, not to you. If the things about which you slander or judge the other party are true, then the supreme court cancels their discipline. If these things are not true, then they receive blessing and you receive the discipline for every sin you name.

3. The third function of faith-rest drill in faith perception is faith correlation and coordination with other problem solving devices such as sharing the happiness of God and occupation with Christ.

a. When you depend on the circumstances of life for your happiness, it is inevitable that spiritually you will fail miserably and become a loser. People who can make you happy temporarily can also make you unhappy. If circumstances make you happy, then adverse circumstances will make you unhappy. If you succeed in competing with others, then you have a false happiness which is very quickly lost. All the forms of pseudo happiness in this life will never be satisfying to the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, God has provided a happiness in the soul which is far greater than the pseudo happinesses of life.

b. Sharing the happiness of God is not only a problem solving devices but it is God's grace provision for a true and sustaining happiness on earth in the midst of the greatest adversity or prosperity. God's perfect happiness includes: tranquility of soul, contentment of soul, capacity for life, stimulation (which includes exhilaration, enthusiasm, and the invigoration of occupation with the person of Jesus Christ), and the ability to meet changing circumstances with problem solving devices. If you are in reversionism, nothing will make you happy; you are in a frantic search for happiness.

(1) Once a person has tranquility and contentment of soul, he will cease from all crusader arrogance, from trying to interfere with the lives of others, from Christian activism.

(2) Happiness is not a matter of race, gender, class distinction, being rich or poor, or evaluation of others. Our relationships with those whom we love is not the secret to our happiness. People can stimulate you and make you happy for a short time, but they can also make you unhappy unless you have entered into the second stage of the faith-rest drill. Human power can make you happy but it can make you unhappy, if you have power beyond your capacity to use it.

c. Perfect happiness is acquired through consistent cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine. From metabolized doctrine perfect happiness is developed in the soul and stationed on the FLOT line of the soul to defend against stress in the soul and to deal with all the problems of the soul.

d. God is perfect and eternal righteousness; therefore, His happiness is related to His perfect and eternal virtue and integrity. This explains why true happiness in mankind cannot be separated from virtue. God's happiness is not built upon making His creatures unhappy. Your happiness cannot be built on making others unhappy. In His grace policy, God has found a way to share with believers His very own happiness. A happiness which is not dependent on others but on the thinking or the mind of Christ, which is Bible doctrine. A happiness which prevents the conversion of adversity into stress in the soul. Therefore, a happiness which does not change with circumstances. In His wisdom, God does not give this happiness, until there is the capacity to enjoy it. The capacity comes from maximum Bible doctrine metabolized in the soul.

(1) Ephesians 6:16 With all these [items of military equipment], pick up and carry the shield of faith by which you are able to intercept all the flaming missiles of the evil one. God can make you truly happy in using the shield of faith. There is a relationship between the function of the shield of faith and your own happiness. The faith-rest drill, like the happiness of God, is a problem solving device. The former is the actual mechanics of using the shield of faith, the latter is the mental attitude as you do so. Happiness is the state of the your soul.

(2) Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of happiness; At Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

(3) Proverbs 3:13 Happiness to the believer who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding.

(4) John 15:11 I have taught you these things, in order that My happiness may be in you, and that your happiness may be fulfilled. Your happiness will never be fulfilled apart from maximum metabolized doctrine circulating in the right lobe of your soul. This is the heritage of the one who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.

(5) 1Thessalonians 1:6 You also have become imitators of us and our Lord, having received the word in much adversity [outside pressure] with happiness from the Holy Spirit. God's perfect happiness is the spiritual power from contentment and tranquility to resist the conversion of the outside pressures of adversity in life into the inside pressures of stress in the soul. This tranquility and contentment of soul resists temptation from the sin nature.

(6) Philippians 4:11 Not that I speak with reference to need; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

(7) 1Timothy 6:6-8 But your spiritual life is a means of great profit, when accompanied by contentment. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is obvious that we can take nothing out. However, if we have food and shelter, with these we shall be content.

(9) Psalm 128:1 How happy is everyone who is occupied with the Lord, who walks in His ways.

(10) Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your lifestyle be free from love for money, and be content with what you have; for He Himself has said, `I will never leave you, I will never forsake you,' so that we may say with confidence, `The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid of what man can do to me?'

(11) Philippians 4:6-7 Stop worrying about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the tranquility of God, which transcends all understanding, will mount guard in your hearts and minds because of Christ Jesus.

(13) 1Peter 1:3-9 Blessed be the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who on the basis of His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living confidence through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, resulting in an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, unfading, having been guarded in heaven for you, who are being constantly guarded by the power of God through faith [faith-rest drill] resulting in deliverance ready to be revealed in the last time. In this, you greatly rejoice [sharing the happiness of God], even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been under stress by various pressures, that the testing of your faith [faith-rest drill], being more valuable than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire, may be found to result in commendation, glory, and honor at the revelation of Christ, Whom having not seen you love, and though you do not see Him now but believe, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and having received glory, receiving back with interest the ultimate destiny of faith--the deliverance of your souls.

a. The faith-rest drill is a coordinator of the ten problem solving devices on the defensive line of the soul. All the problem solving devices have in common in the function of faith execution. Therefore, the faith-rest drill in its advanced functions of execution provides harmony and coordination among these problem solving devices.

b. The faith-rest drill coordinates the functions of the two power options--the filling of the Holy Spirit and the metabolization of doctrine. As a part of your spiritual life you have to believe 1 John 1:9 to be restored to fellowship with God when in a state of carnality and to recover in the filling of the Holy Spirit. In the function of Operation Z (the metabolization of doctrine) you have to believe Bible doctrine as it is communicated in order to metabolize that doctrine.

c. One of the highest functions of the faith-rest drill is the challenge to utilize faith execution to establish a harmonious relationship in the interactions of the problem solving devices and thereby to prevent to outside pressures of adversity from becoming the inside pressures of stress in the soul.

d. Coordination is defined as the harmonious combination and the interaction of the functions on the defense line of the soul. This coordination and interaction of problem solving devices is directly related to faith execution. The function of the faith-rest drill in the application of the essence of God rationale coordinates personal love for God and occupation with Christ on the defense line of the soul. Doctrinal orientation, a personal sense of destiny, and impersonal love for all mankind demand the function of the faith-rest drill in the application of the plan of God rationale. The grace of God in dealing with mankind demands the function of the faith-rest drill in the application and interaction of this problem solving device with grace orientation. The faith-rest drill coordinates personal love for God with sharing the perfect happiness of God.

3. The necessity for humility is a part of the function of the faith- rest drill.

a. Humility is authority orientation, grace orientation, objectivity, and teachability. Humility is the antithesis of arrogance, the attitude produced by maximum metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness of your soul. You must have a foundation of humility.

(1) Humility transfers reality from self-centeredness and self-absorption to grace orientation and doctrinal orientation. James 4:6; 1Peter 5:5; Num 12:3.

(2) Humility is the quality or status of being humble--a modest sense of one's importance in life. It is the antithesis of the function of the arrogance complex of sins. It is a dignity and poise related to doctrinal orientation--metabolized doctrine circulating in your stream of consciousness. Humility is related to the virtue produced by maximum metabolized doctrine circulating in your stream of consciousness.

(3) The humility of the humanity of Christ in the dispensation of the hypostatic union establishes precedence for humility and grace orientation in our spiritual lives during the Church Age. Philippians 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

b. Humility is the normal condition of the spiritual life where maximum metabolized doctrine is circulating in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness and where the garbage accumulated in the soul (in the subconscious and the stream of consciousness) has been removed, replaced by metabolized doctrine.

(1) Romans 12:2-3 Stop being conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renovation of your thinking, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is the divine good production and the well pleasing to God and the mature status quo. For I say through the grace which has been given to me to every one who is among you, stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to think; but think in terms of sanity, as God has assigned to each one of us a standard of thinking from doctrine.

(2) James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will promote you. God does not promote arrogance and self-absorption. Promotion from God cannot be divorced from humility, humility cannot be divorced from grace orientation, and none of these things become a reality apart from the function of the faith-rest drill.

(3) Psalm 25:9 He guides the humble into what is right; therefore, He teaches the humble His ways.

(4) Proverbs 11:2 When arrogance comes, then comes dishonor; but with the humble is wisdom.

(5) Proverbs 29:23 A person's arrogance will bring him low, but a spirit of humility will attain honor. If God does not promote you, you are not promoted. Believing that is an important part of the coordinating function of the faith-rest drill. If you do believe it, then Bible doctrine has to become the number one priority in your life. Recovery from reversionism, degeneracy, and garbage in the soul depends on the function of the faith-rest drill as a coordinator.

(6) Luke 14:11 For everyone who promotes himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be promoted. We are humbled through the law of volitional responsibility and the three categories of divine discipline. We humble ourselves through objectivity, teachability, authority orientation, cognition, inculcation, perception, and metabolization of Bible doctrine.

c. With humility comes doctrinal orientation, execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church. And with this doctrinal orientation comes promotion. With promotion comes conveyance of your escrow blessings for time.

(1) Proverbs 16:18 warns us that the greatest distraction to our spiritual lives and thereby promotion is the arrogance complex of sins. Arrogance precedes destruction, and before a fall there is a lifestyle of arrogance.

(2) Proverbs 11:2 A person's arrogance will bring him low, but with the humble is wisdom.

(3) 2Corinthians 10:18 For not he who promotes himself is approved, but whom the Lord promotes. God only promotes prepared believers. Believers who have the ten problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul and use them effectively to prevent outside pressures of adversity becoming inside pressures of stress in the soul and using them effectively to clean the trash out of the soul. You never clean out garbage by remembering childhood adversities; you clean out garbage by forgetting those things which are behind.

d. No believer can pick up and carry the shield of faith--the function of the faith-rest drill Ephesians 6--without maximum metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness. Three things are necessary for the believer to utilize the shield of faith: humility as the foundation, professional, and integrity--the power of the spiritual life causing the faith-rest drill to function. This not only applies to the faith-rest drill but to all the problem solving devices. Humility is the foundation for synchronizing professionalism and integrity so that cognition and execution of the protocol plan of God glorifies God. Because of humility, professionalism and integrity function on that foundation. On the foundation of humility, there must be professionalism.

(1) Professionalism is the academic understanding and mechanics of the protocol plan of God. It is cognition of the spiritual skills and how they combine to provide spiritual power and production of divine good. Professionalism means learning and accepting the whole realm of doctrine. Professionalism is the understanding of mechanics without the power to execute those mechanics.

(2) On the foundation of humility, there must also be integrity. Integrity is the spiritual strength to execute the mechanics of the protocol plan of God. It is the use of spiritual power from metabolized doctrine to execute God's will for our lives. This spiritual power and energy is derived only from metabolized doctrine only as it circulates through the stream of consciousness under the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

(3) All spiritual growth and greatness is found in the spiritual strength to execute the mechanics of the faith-rest drill. You get your spiritual strength from the repetitive inculcation of the whole realm of doctrine. It is possible to know the mechanics and not have the spiritual strength to execute it.

(4) While professionalism develops the ability to conceptualize Bible doctrine, integrity or spiritual strength from doctrine executes these things in glorifying God.

(5) Professionalism without integrity is arrogance. Integrity without professionalism is emotionalism. The application of metabolized doctrine to stress conditions demands the coordination of professionalism and integrity on the foundation of humility.

(2) The command post of the heart overrun and put out of action from lack of the ten problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul to act as an instant reaction force to prevent the outside pressures of adversity becoming the inside pressures of stress in your soul.

(4) The activation of the demand syndrome, in which we expect our wishes (often our lust pattern of the sin nature) to be met and gratified.

(5) Failure to take the responsibility for your own decisions. Therefore, assigning the blame for your bad decisions from a position of weakness to other people or other circumstances.

(6) Loss of reality through denial and taking your own flaws and projecting on other people and then blaming them for your problems.

(7) Lack of niche orientation related to the protocol plan of God resulting in no capacity for prosperity related to divine blessing.

(8) Rejection of authority and control and constant lust for change. The purpose of the protocol plan of God is divine control of your life, not change. The purpose of the protocol plan of God is divine will in your life understood, then your response has to be from your own volition, not change in your personality. The lust for change through human ability rejects both the grace provision and the grace policy of God and ignores the two power options of the protocol plan of God (the filling of the Spirit and cognition of Bible doctrine). Such believers become losers who function under three spheres of human viewpoint: they feel entitled to do what they want to do or what some legalist has said they ought to do, they feel exempt from the rules of God which contradict their legalism, they expect others to rescue them and solve all their problems. Losers seek to change their personalities; winners seek to change their character and integrity. Winners change their character through following the protocol plan of God to its logical and spiritual conclusion. Winners make these changes from metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness. God is not looking for self-improvement, but integrity and character, transformation through the two power options on the FLOT line of the soul.

f. 1Peter 5:5-9 You younger ones [young in faith], likewise, be subordinate to the authority of your elders [pastors]; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward each another, because God makes war against the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the powerful hand of God, that He may promote you at the proper time, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Attain spiritual self-esteem, be on the alert. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, stand firm in doctrine, because you know our fellow Christians throughout the world are experiencing the same categories of suffering.

4. The faith-rest drill is related to promotion in the plan of God. No one is ever promoted in the protocol plan of God apart from the function of the faith-rest drill. The faith-rest drill is a harmonious combination of powers in which one or more may predominate but none are in opposition.

E. Old Testament faith-rest was the spiritual life of believers, James 2:21- 24.

1. James 2:21-22 Was not Abraham, our ancestor, justified [vindicated, validated, pronounced righteous] by accomplishments when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? Yes, of course he was. You see that faith [the faith- rest drill] kept on working together with his accomplishments, and from these accomplishments his faith [faith-rest drill] was carried through to completion.

a. Abraham's justification by faith is found in Genesis 15:6 But Abraham believed in the Lord and He imputed it to him for righteousness. Abraham's justification by accomplishments after salvation is found in James 2:21-24 and is an extension of justification by faith. Accomplishments are the actions and deeds of the function of the faith-rest drill, the result of believing the promises of God.

b. The offering of Isaac was one of the unique functions of the faith-rest drill. It was the peak of Abraham's spiritual life. It is recorded in Genesis 22:1-19; James 2:21-24; Hebrews 11:17-19 He assumed that God was able to raise him [Isaac] up from the dead from which he received him back in an analogy. God had no intention of Abraham offering human sacrifice, but it was an evidence test: is God more important to you than the most important thing in your life?

(1) Abraham's justification by accomplishments is not the same as his justification by faith at salvation. The post-salvation fulfillment of the faith-rest drill is justification by works or deeds or accomplishments. Abraham was the friend of God because he executed the spiritual life of the Old Testament. He took the function of the faith-rest drill to the ultimate. When Abraham offered Isaac, he was vindicated, validated, pronounced righteous or virtuous.

(2) Justification by faith is imputed righteousness and occurs at the moment of faith in Christ at salvation. Justification by accomplishments is the Old Testament spiritual life, pronounced or acquired righteousness--the virtue and values which comes from the spiritual life. These accomplishments or deeds are the function of the faith-rest drill, the function of thinking in the soul.

c. The stronger your faith-rest drill, the greater your accomplishments. From Abraham's accomplishments because of the faith-rest thinking his faith was carried through to completion, brought up to its full measure of competence, reached maximum competence. We have the faith-rest drill just the Old Testament believers did, but we go way beyond their faith-rest drill with our unique spiritual life.

d. The faith-rest drill is the modus operandi of your soul, accomplishments of the soul. It is the thinking of the spiritual life. Abraham's accomplishments were to hear the promises of God, believe those promises, and act upon them. The spiritual life is what you think, believing the promises of God. You have reached the peak of validation, vindication by accomplishments when you reach the point of occupation with Christ. The great accomplishment of the spiritual life is thinking doctrine.

e. The thinking of the soul will reflect itself in overt activity which is related to virtue and values and in motivation to fulfill our responsibility in witnessing and other factors related to it. People and values must be in harmony with your spiritual life.

2. James 2:23-24 And the Scripture [Genesis 15:6] which says, `And Abraham had believed in the God [God the Son] and it was imputed to him for righteousness' was brought to completion [attained its objective]. In fact, he was called the friend of God. You see that a person is justified by accomplishments, and not by faith alone.

a. Abraham had already become a believer before he left the third dynasty of Ur and came into the land of Canaan. Genesis 12. In Genesis 15:6-7, he was already a believer. He received justification by faith or validation or vindication by faith prior to Genesis 12. Salvation in the Old Testament is exactly the same as salvation in the New Testament epistles--faith in Jesus Christ. Abraham was not a believer because of what transpired in the first five verses of Genesis 15.

b. The little, shaky faith in the Lord at salvation has now expanded into the faith-rest drill, and that faith was brought to completion. That is how James is trying to encourage Jewish believers scattered throughout the world in 45 A. D. Abraham failed, but eventually he used his faith-rest drill and expanded it to the point where he was able to use it in the offering of Isaac. James was making a point to the Jews that he could only send comfort to those who were believers. James says that you cannot solve your problems unless you are first a believer like our mutual ancestor Abraham.

c. Justification by faith precedes vindication by accomplishments. At the moment he believed in Christ, divine righteousness was imputed to Abraham for justification by faith. As a result of eternal salvation, Abraham's post-salvation spiritual life was brought to completion with the faith-rest drill in the offering of Isaac. His spiritual life was an extension of his salvation faith in the sense that now instead of believing in Christ for salvation, he believed in the promises of God.

d. In the Old Testament, post-salvation spiritual life followed the same pattern with a different category of objects. The object of faith in salvation was always the Lord Jesus Christ. The object of faith in the spiritual life was a series of promises and doctrines which God provided for Abraham to believe. You believe in the Person for salvation. You believe in what the Person provides for spiritual life. When Abraham believed these promises, he was justified, validated, vindicated, pronounced virtuous by the accomplishments, actions, deeds of the faith-rest drill. The post-salvation spiritual life--the faith-rest drill--was an extension from justification by faith. The faith of justification by faith validates eternal life. The faith of justification by accomplishments validates the function of the spiritual life. There is the pronouncement of righteousness because of the execution of the spiritual life.

e. Abraham was called the friend of God when he offered Isaac. This indicates that Abraham had reached spiritual maturity. 2Chronicles 20:7 O, our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it to the descendants of Abraham, Your friend forever? "Friend of God" is the highest accolade given to an Old Testament believer; for it indicates the fulfillment of the spiritual life of the Old Testament through the maximum use of the faith-rest drill.

f. James 2:26 For just as the body without breath in dead, even so faith [the faith-rest drill] without works [the accomplishments of the faith-rest drill] is dead. The believer living on the earth without a spiritual life is a loser. This verse is the analogy to the believer in carnal death. Carnal death is described in Ephesians 5:14; Romans 7:24. This verse does not refer to faith in Christ, but failure to execute the post-salvation spiritual life.

a. Fear sees the problem; faith sees the solution. You do not solve problems with a problem. Believers occupied with the problem inevitably end up trying to solve a problem with a problem. Believers who go to problem solving devices end up solving the problem. You solve problems with a divine solution.

c. The decisions we make today determine our future tomorrow. Making decisions in arrogance is reaction.

d. No victory won in arrogance is a victory won. The supreme court of heaven never sleeps. We do not need to be right; we need to be right with the supreme court of heaven. God makes war against the arrogant believer. Arrogant believers have to be humbled by God. Humble believers have to be blessed by God.

e. Human I.Q. is an unequal genetic product beyond human control, but spiritual I.Q. is equal opportunity under the divine control of the two power options of the spiritual life. God is infinitely greater than His creatures. Therefore, God's knowledge is infinitely greater than human knowledge. This fact escapes those who are preoccupied with self

Fear by R. B. Thieme, Jr. (using his translation where a verse is cited unless otherwise noted)

1. Fear is a mental attitude and a mental attitude sin. Like all mental attitude sins it attacks the soul and anything that attacks the soul is attacking the vital lifeline. The most important part of your life is what goes on in your soul, the real you is the soul. Therefore fear is a part of the makeup of your soul when obviously you do not have the inner residency of Bible doctrine. 1Samuel 17:11, 24.

2. Fear therefore, is the sign of reversionism. 1Samuel 18:12, 29; 21:12; 28:20.

a. 1Samuel 18:12 So Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had departed from Saul. (BSB)

b. 1Samuel 18:28–29 When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, he grew even more afraid of David. So from then on Saul was David’s enemy. (BSB)

a. Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your lifestyle be free from love for money, and be content with what you have; for He Himself has said, `I will never leave you, I will never forsake you,' so that we may say with confidence, `The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid of what man can do to me?'

b. Hebrews 11:27 By means of doctrine resident in the soul he [Moses] gave up the throne of Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king [Thutmose III]; for you see he became strong under pressure as long as he kept seeing the invisible one.

4. Legitimate fear is related to the supergrace believer failing. Hebrews 4:1 Therefore let us fear, lest at any time a promised blessing being unclaimed of entering into his rest, anyone from among you should think subjectively to the point of defaulting [this is reversionism].

5. Love is the absence of fear. Remember that agapê love is a mental attitude. 1John 4:18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. (BSB)

6. Fear as a mental attitude sin is not a part of the divine plan for the believer. Exodus 14:13,14; Joshua 8:1; Deuteronomy 31:8; Isaiah 41:10; 1Chronicles 28:20; 2Samuel 1:7.

a. Exodus 14:13–14 But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (BSB)

b. Joshua 8:1a Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged.” (BSB)

7. Courage or lack of fear is a sign of supergrace status. Psalm 3:6 56:3,11 Hebrews 11:27.

8. Fear as used for occupation with Christ is a part of supergrace status. The word “fear” in the original language has another meaning: “occupation with.” There are certain passages where fear is used in that sense. 2Samuel 23:3 Nehemiah 5:9,15 Ephesians 5:21 Job 28:28 Psalm 19:9 34:11 Proverbs 1:7 9:10 10:27 15:16 Malachi 3:16 1Peter 2:17.

a. Fear is used for a mental attitude sin, characterized by panic when in a dangerous situation. It is a painful emotional distress aroused by impending pain, danger, disaster, evil or by illusions regarding the same. It is worry, apprehension, consternation, or horror. Fear is also an active feeling of dread, of which fright and terror are the more intense degrees.

b. Fear is used for reverence, respect, or awe. It is a reverence manifesting itself in obedience. In this respect, fear is a Christian virtue, 1Peter 2:17.

(1) The concept of fear in Exodus 20:20, "Moses said to them, `Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you so that you will not sin.'" One of the greatest restraints on sin is fear of the righteousness and justice of God. The greatest believer of the Old Testament, Moses, was no exception to this and lost out on one of the greatest blessings of his life-entering the Land-by not respecting the righteousness of God.

(2) In Deuteronomy 17:19 fear denotes respect for God, "It [a copy of the Mosaic Law] shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear [respect] the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of the law and its statutes." Respect for doctrine results in respect for the Lord.

(3) In Leviticus 25:17 fear prevents wrongdoing toward other persons, "So you shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God; for I am the Lord your God." Instead of reacting to the wrongdoing of others, you shall put the entire matter in the hands of God.

(4) Psalm 111:10, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding all those who do it [application of doctrine]; His praise endures forever." Respect for the Lord is the beginning of a lifetime of learning Bible doctrine and having that Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness.

2. The meaning of the word "fear" in the Bible is determined by the context in which it is used.

3. Neglect or rejection of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age and failure to utilize its fantastic problem-solving devices result in many problems, including fear.

4. Fear is lack of thinking under pressure. It is a general problem in life. We are designed by God to be rational creatures; fear makes us irrational. Fear is an irrational and emotional sin.

5. For the believer, fear is failure to learn and apply Bible doctrine to the problems of life, and failure to learn and utilize the problem- solving devices.

6. Fear is a part of the emotional complex of sins. Fear is a whole system of sins which include worry, anxiety, insecurity, incapability of doctrinal application, and therefore inability to use the problem-solving devices.

7. Fear also includes all the problems of emotionalism, for fear is an emotional sin. Many sins involve only thinking (e.g. lust), but fear involves emotion and no thinking.

8. The Christian loser is bogged down and hindered from his advance by various categories of sins and arrogance related to fear.

1. The more things you surrender to fear, the more things you fear. Today you may be worried about only one thing; tomorrow about two things, etc. Soon you become so emotionally involved in fear that you have no identity. Irrationality means loss of identity, which means the accumulation of fear until you are afraid of life. Fear is something that, if not controlled, continues to develop in your life until you have no capacity, and as a believer you become a loser. (One of the motivations for becoming addicted to drugs is fear of life, anxiety, worry, and tension.)

2. The extent to which you surrender to fear, the greater is your capacity for fear. To the extent to which you surrender to fear, to that extent fear controls more and more of your life. Increasing fear means increasing insecurity, which destroys your capacity for love, life, happiness, and blessing. No set of circumstances in life will ever make you happy. There is no way you can have true love or true happiness apart from a healthy mental attitude.

3. The greater your capacity for fear, the more you increase the power of fear in your life.

4. The more you increase the power of fear in your life, the greater your mind set as a loser believer and the greater your chances of failure to execute the protocol plan of God through the mechanics of the spiritual life under equal opportunity. The greater your chances of failure to execute the protocol plan of God, the sooner you cancel your equal opportunity to glorify God. The sooner you cancel your equal opportunity to glorify God, the sooner you live a life of total misery through the law of volitional responsibility.

a. The more things that acquire the power of fear in your life, the greater your capacity for fear. The greater your capacity for fear, the greater your capacity for arrogance and becoming a loser. For fear causes you to become totally preoccupied with yourself. Once in the arrogance complex, all the rest of the mental attitude sins come quickly. The combination of fear and arrogance causes many people to become mentally ill.

b. The more things that acquire the power to promote fear in your life, the more punitive suffering and self-induced misery you bring on yourself.

c. The more things that acquire the power of fear in your life, the greater your capacity for fragmentation and becoming a loser in the Christian life. As a loser, your capacity for life, love, and happiness is completely destroyed.

d. The greater your mindset as a loser-believer while living, the greater the intensification of your fear when dying.

5. Fear is an emotional sin. Emotion has no true courage. It has a pseudo courage. Arrogance and emotional domination of the soul produce cowardice. Fear is irrational and irresponsible. It creates three things: the arrogance skills, the arrogance complex of sins, and the emotional complex of sins. Fear not only removes Bible doctrine from number one priority in the life, but fear fragments and destroys the function of your spiritual life and moves you into the eight stages of reversionism. The last three stages of reversionism destroy all previously learned Bible doctrine and hinder any use of problem solving devices. Fear is a function of self-absorption. To make emotion the criterion for the spiritual life is a wedding between the arrogance skills and the emotional revolt of the soul. Normal emotional activity in the soul functions in subordination to the absolutes of Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness. Emotional response to doctrine and the thinking of the spiritual life becomes a true variable, while emotional activity that dominates and subordinates Bible doctrine to it is rejected by the absolute.

a. Emotion can be normal or evil, good or bad. Regardless of what it is, emotion is never a tool of cognition. You do not learn by emotion. God gave us emotion as a enjoyer of what is truth.

b. Emotion is not a criterion for the spiritual life. Emotions were never designed to be problem solving devices.

c. Sinful emotional activity such as fear, worry, anxiety, hatred, anger, revenge, guilt are reactions without divine approval and totally rejected by the absolutes of Bible doctrine.

d. Emotional reactions, such as emotional revolt of the soul or false spirituality by ecstatics, are a distraction to the execution of the protocol plan of God. Given some testing, the loser believer under emotional revolt of the soul will scream loud and clear, find someone to blame, and fall apart.

e. Emotion as the criterion of the spiritual life converts reality into unrealistic expectation, illusion, denial, projection, hallucination.

f. The believer must distinguish between normal emotional response (like watching a good movie) or abnormal emotional reaction to life in the form of the emotional revolt of the soul (using drugs).

g. Fear as an emotional sin is zero. Zero application to life results in stress, intensity of suffering through additional stress, but fear does not exist in virtue-love, 1John 4:18.

6. The fear principle explains the sin unto death, 1John 5:16b, "There is a sin face-to-face with death." The function of worry and anxiety in living results in the function of fear in dying. There is a sin believers commit while taking the journey through their very own death-shadowed valley: fear, reaction to the fact you are dying, bitterness.

7. Destruction of capacity for life, love, and happiness increases your capacity for arrogance and emotionalism, and therefore, your capacity for fragmentation.

8. So fear is a key that unlocks many doors, starting with the door of arrogance. You cannot be afraid without putting an abnormal emphasis on yourself. To the extent that you become frightened by anything, to that extent you set up a new circuit in your life which is arrogance. From that fear comes many manifestations of arrogance.

a. Jealousy. If you're afraid of losing someone, you become jealous when they show any favoritism toward anyone else.

b. Bitterness. You become bitter toward that person because they don't give you the affection and attention you think you deserve.

e. Revenge motivation. From all this comes a series of functions in your life that absolutely destroy any capacity. Therefore, you cannot be distinguished from the unbeliever, except that you are far worse than many unbelievers. They have handled fear through establishment principles. But you have something so much greater and so much easier compared to how they must handle fear. Yet it's amazing how many unbelievers are superior to Christians in their modus operandi, conquering such things as fear the hard way through establishment principles.

9. Arrogance, fear, worry, anxiety, anger, and emotionalism are all irrational. Irrationality is a total contradiction to the protocol plan of God which manufactures invisible heroes. Fear manufactures losers.

10. Fear is lack of thinking under pressure. Of course, if you don't think under normal circumstances and in prosperity, you will be filled with fear during abnormal circumstances.

11. Fear is the mental attitude of worry, anxiety, apprehension, trepidation, and despondency. Inevitably, fear leads to arrogance, the narcissus syndrome, and even to psychosis.

12. Fear cannot coexist with the function of the protocol plan of God in your life. The function of the protocol plan of God means first the function of Bible doctrine. When you have a point of doctrine, you can say as David did when facing Goliath, "The battle is the Lord's." That overcomes the problem of fear and so releases your ability to go into action, which is exactly what David did.

b. People who live by fear are intimated by life. For the believer who lives in a state of fear, the fear increases like a disease. As the cancer of fear increases, that individual becomes intimidated by life.

c. Fear eliminates a personal sense of destiny, so that the loser believer cannot overcome emotional sins like fear, worry, anxiety, guilt, denial, projection.

d. Fear of death will never prevent your dying, but it will prevent your living.

e. Fear is being overcome by the problem, becoming enmeshed in the disaster. The disaster destroys the spiritual life rather than the advancing the spiritual life as designed by God.

f. A personal sense of destiny is inculcated with the solution, therefore involved in the function of the problem solving devices for the application of doctrine to experience.

(1) Psalm 56:3-4, "What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid of what can man do to me?"

(2) 2Timothy 1:7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and sound judgment."

13. Arrogance produces irrational self-deception, which in turn spawns fear, worry, anxiety, and the unhappiness of self-induced misery.

a. Arrogance causes loss of personality identity. Many women have lost their personality identity because they wanted to feel wanted and loved, but ended up merely being used. This is abnormal self-deception.

b. Some people have great capacity for unhappiness, for they can only complain and grumble about life. The more you develop your capacity for unhappiness, the farther away goes your chance of having any happiness in this life.

c. Because of arrogance, you do not know who you are or what you are, for you cannot see your soul in the mirror.

d. With loss of personality identity, you fall into a total state of fear so that you begin to retreat from any form of reality, becoming psychopathic or neurotic.

e. The only hope is that, while you're still partially normal, to function under post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. For cognition of Bible doctrine inside the divine dynasphere can remove the fear, arrogance, self-deception, and the retreat from reality which makes it impossible for God's grace to break through and be utilized in your life.

f. But when you become a total loser, having no understanding of God's grace, you are totally miserable. So fear is the beginning of the end for you, which you do to yourself.

1. The protocol plan of God is designed to remove all the cobwebs of fear in your soul and replace them with confidence in doctrine, which leads to confidence in the Lord. That is the only true basis for spiritual self- esteem, which is confidence in yourself through Bible doctrine. This inevitably results in the greatest courage in life. It's more than moral courage; it is a mental attitude courage in all relationships and in all circumstances of life.

2. Paul stated this to Timothy who was intimidated by his congregation. 2Timothy 1:7 is a mandate which belongs to the protocol plan of God. "For God has not given to us a lifestyle of fear, but of power, and of virtue-love, and of sound judgment."

a. Every time fear comes into your life, you know you are not living the Christian way of life. You know immediately that you are not executing the protocol plan of God.

b. Power refers to the 100% available omnipotence of God. The omnipotence of God the Father is related to our portfolio of invisible assets. The omnipotence of God the Son is related to the perpetuation of human history so that we can execute the protocol plan of God. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit is related to our very own palace, the operational-type divine dynasphere. Relying on God's power is true courage.

c. True courage is virtue-love, i.e., personal love for God the Father, impersonal love for all mankind, and occupation with Christ.

d. True courage means sound judgment, thinking under pressure, and good judgment at all times. Sound judgment comes from Bible doctrine, not from emotion. The person with real courage is the person with doctrine in their soul. For example, when David faced Goliath, he had doctrinal courage which was far superior to Goliath's loud-mouthed macho courage.

e. The protocol plan of God is a life of courage. The execution of the protocol plan of God is learning courage.

f. What passes for courage is often not courage at all, but macho arrogance and stupidity.

g. Virtue-love represents the problem-solving devices. Sound judgment is the result of utilizing the problem-solving devices.

3. 1John 4:18, "Fear does not exist in virtue-love, but virtue-love drives out fear; for fear causes punishment. In fact, the person who is afraid has not been matured by virtue-love."

a. If you have personal love for God the Father and you understand His integrity, you don't need to claim specific promises for every situation. You rest on the entire essence and integrity and person of God. If you love God, you therefore know God.

b. Therefore, once you have virtue-love, you're not afraid of anything whereby you need promises, for now you know the One who makes the promises. You understand God's integrity, and therefore, you are dependent on Him. If you are dependent upon God and His integrity, then having fear is not only an insult to God, but it is blasphemous and sinful.

c. Fear actually causes two categories of punishment. First, you punish yourself through self-induced misery. Then when fear gets into arrogance, divine punishment follows. So you can be punished three ways by fear: by yourself, by your peers, and by God.

e. Virtue-love, mentioned three times in this passage, represents all the problem-solving devices.

4. So the great problem-solving devices of spiritual adulthood eliminate fear by equating living with dying and adversity with prosperity.

a. Fear of death destroys capacity for life; it is a sign that you are still in spiritual childhood. Death is the last thing in the world that should concern you, for you have no control over the manner of your death or time of your death. When you realize your death is strictly in the Lord's hands, the one time when the Lord's wisdom will prevail over your volition, there is no excuse for having fear of death.

b. Then once you understand there is nothing to fear in death, then you begin to realize there is nothing to fear in life.

c. Fear is a great motivation in life for most people. Yet fear is totally destructive; it destroys love. Making wrong decisions out of fear destroys your capacity for life.

d. Many people spend so much time being afraid of death, or of dying, or of starving, or of being poor, etc., that they do not enjoy life. They have no zest for life and no capacity for life. The one person in this world who has zest and capacity for life is the spiritually mature believer.

e. Fear of adversity destroys capacity for prosperity. When prosperity comes, you're so afraid that you will lose it that, in your fear, you have absolutely no capacity for that prosperity. You may stash it all away for "a rainy day." That's no capacity for life. Therefore, you do not enjoy prosperity when it comes.

5. Fear is the enemy of the protocol plan of God. It destroys any possibility of suffering for blessing in its three stages.

7. The Church Age believer cannot think, apply doctrine, or solve problems through the thinking or mind of another believer. You must have the doctrine in your own soul and solve your own problems. To the extent that you depend upon others for your spiritual application to life, to that extent you are a loser.

1. Fear, like anger, is a sin of emotion. Emotion cannot think, apply doctrine, or function in a crisis. Emotion has no doctrinal content, when the emotional complex of sins are involved. There is emotion which is not sinful. There is good and bad emotion. Fear is the application of nothing to adversity, resulting in less than nothing.

2. When arrogance pulls the pin of the grenade, fear is a part of the fragmented life.

a. In normal emotion, the emotions respond to the authority and thinking of the prefrontal lobes of the soul.

b. In abnormal emotion, the emotion controls the frontal lobes of the soul and blanks out all thinking. Abnormal emotion produces fear, worry, anxiety, anger, and hatred, resulting in violence, which is anger and hatred blocking the normal restraints from the prefrontal lobes.

4. Fear can never think under pressure. Believers in the emotion of fear cannot apply doctrine and handle the problem. When emotion takes over, doctrine is erased.

5. Courage is thinking doctrine and functioning under pressure as if there were no abnormal circumstances, no crisis, or no pressure. Courage is claiming promises in adversity; using the ten problem-solving devices; and functioning under the privacy of your royal priesthood to think, to apply, and to metabolize doctrine with your own intellect. However, fear makes you a loser.

6. The status of spiritual self-esteem begins the grace function of cognitive self-confidence, i.e., thinking in terms of metabolized doctrine in your own right lobe. This is the dynamics of divine viewpoint in the frontal lobes of the soul.

7. The Church Age believer cannot think doctrine, apply doctrine, or solve problems through fear or through the mind of another believer.

8. Fear is emotional. The spiritually adult believer eliminates emotion as a criteria for Christianity, since emotion cannot think, cannot apply doctrine, cannot learn or use the problem-solving devices, and cannot rationalize or estimate the situation from the divine viewpoint.

9. Fear is the emotional means by which people fail under any kind of pressure or even normal circumstances. Courage is thinking doctrine under pressure, claiming promises of God under adversity, understanding the utilizing the ten problem-solving devices of the protocol plan for the Church Age.

10. Since fear is a sin of emotion, it is necessary to understand more about emotion. (See also the doctrine of Emotions.)

a. The emotional believer defines the status of the believer who does not have the ability to think doctrine or to use problem-solving devices.

b. The status of spiritual self-esteem in the Christian way of life begins the grace function of cognitive self-confidence, which is the antithesis of fear. Such a believer who thinks in terms of metabolized doctrine and the ten problem-solving devices can put fear in its proper place and also experience legitimate emotion.

c. The believer in spiritual adulthood eliminates emotion as the criterion for Christianity, since emotion cannot think, cannot apply doctrine, cannot rationalize, and cannot estimate a situation. When emotion is out of line in the soul, it results in irrationality and its accompanying sins of fear, worry, anxiety, and anger.

d. Emotion is not capable of using the problem-solving devices of the protocol plan of God.

(1) Normal emotions respond to your frame of reference. Normal emotions are subordinate to your intellect. When doctrine is in your intellect, emotions can become legitimate if they are subordinate to that doctrine.

(2) Abnormal emotions tear you apart (like a nagging woman). There must be a balance between your emotions and the right lobe of your soul. What you really are is what you think on the inside. Good social protocol has normal emotion related to it. Emotion is often the animation of what we think.

f. The Bible has a great deal to say about the emotions of the soul, often using psychological nomenclature to express the concept of emotion.

(1) The Hebrew word KILJAH refers to the fat pads of the kidneys, but it is used figuratively for the emotions in Psalm 7:9, 62:12; Jeremiah 11:20, 17:10.

(2) The Greek word NEPHROS is used in the New Testament for emotions, translated in the KJV "reins," in Revelation 2:23.

(3) Another Greek word, SPLAGCHNON, is literally translated "guts" or "entrails." It is used for emotions in 2Corinthians 6:12.

(4) Another Greek word, KOILIA, is used for emotions in Romans 8;16 and Philippians 3:19. It also connotes body cavity, stomach, womb, uterus, and intestines. It actually refers to the solar plexus, the nerve center where you feel "butterflies" or activity when excited or nervous.

g. These words for emotion are different from KARDIA, which refers to the intellect or the right lobe of the soul where there is no emotion. The emotions should be subject to the right lobe of the soul, where the doctrine that gives you momentum and wisdom is located.

(1) Jeremiah describes our Lord Jesus Christ as "the Lord of the armies who judges righteously, who tests the emotions and the right lobes" in Jeremiah 11:20.

(2) Jeremiah 17:11, "I, the Lord, search the right lobe, and I test the emotions in order to give to every man according to his modus operandi."

(a) All spiritual momentum and growth and application comes from epignosis doctrine in the right lobe of the soul.

(b) How the Lord judges you depends on which dominates your soul: the heart or the emotions. In the heart, there must be EPIGNOSIS and SOPHIA doctrine.

(c) Note that the Lord searches the heart, but He tests the emotions. He searches the heart for doctrine, and He tests the emotions to see if they are subordinate to the heart or if they control the heart.

(d) If the emotions dominate the heart, then the modus operandi of the believer is heretical, as with pentecostals.

(3) Psalm 26:2, "Examine me, O Lord, and test me; test my emotions and test my heart." In other words, see that my emotions are subordinate to my intellect and to Bible doctrine. The heart must be tested for its content of doctrine and its control of emotions.

(4) Revelation 2:23, "And all the churches will know that I am He who investigates the emotions and the right lobes [hearts]." God is constantly investigating your life. He investigates your heart for doctrine. Without doctrine in your heart, a vacuum is created, causing your emotions to automatically dominate your heart. This results in emotional revolt of the soul.

(5) Proverbs 23:15-17, "My son, if your right lobe [heart] is wise, my own right lobe [heart] will be glad; and my emotions will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. Do not let your right lobe [heart] envy sinners, but live in respect for the Lord all the day."

(a) When you hear truth, you have a norm and standard for truth from doctrine in your heart, and therefore, you respond emotionally.

(b) When you "live in respect for the Lord all day," your right lobe controls your emotions. That refers to occupation with the person of Jesus Christ.

i. When emotion takes over control of the soul, fear and emotion become inseparable. Emotion is irrational arrogance. It has no thought, no doctrinal content, no common sense.

j. Even normal emotion is not the criteria by which you are to evaluate your spiritual life. Your spiritual life is what you think, not what you feel.

k. Believers who make emotion the criterion for their spiritual life generally have four basic problems.

(1) Such a believer's emotional pattern distracts him from the execution of the protocol plan of God, Romans 16:17-18. "Now I urge you, brethren, be alert for those who are causing dissensions and apostasies contrary to the doctrine which you have learned. For such believers do not obey our Lord Jesus Christ, but they obey their own emotions, serving themselves; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts [right lobes] of the stupid."

(2) Therefore, emotion hinders postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation; i.e., the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine. 2Corinthians 6:11-12, "O you Corinthians, our mouth [means of communicating doctrine] has been open face to face with you [in doctrinal teaching]; our right lobes have been enlarged [by learning more doctrine]. Therefore, you have not been hindered by us [Paul, Apollos, Timothy]; you have been hindered by your own emotions."

(3) Such a believer makes a god out of his emotions, Philippians 3:18-19. When emotion becomes your god, you're fragmented and ripe for the tongues movement. Philippians 3:18-19, "Many [cosmic] believers keep walking, concerning whom I have communicated to you many times, and now continue communicating even though weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose destiny is destruction, whose god is their emotion, whose fame is by means of dishonor [whose glory is their shame], who keep on thinking about earthly things [wrong priorities from a fragmented life]."

(4) Such a believer's unrestrained or uncontrolled emotional pattern is the basis for criminality, violence, hatred, anger, total involvement in the arrogance complex, which means bitterness, vindictiveness, jealousy, implacability, self-pity, and guilt reaction. So there is a very close relationship between the arrogance complex and emotional sin. Such a believer's unrestrained or uncontrolled emotional pattern is related to the five categorical problems, especially #2, fear.

l. All you have by applying the emotional sins of fear, worry, anger, and anxiety to the problems of life is nothing, or even worse, the manufacture of greater problems. Nothing (emotion) added to something (your problems) is still nothing.

n. Courage is the ability to think under pressure. Cowardice is the dominance of emotion under pressure.

o. Emotion is irrational arrogance, using feeling or emotion as the criterion for life instead of Bible doctrine.

(1) Normal emotion is under the authority of the right lobe or heart. It responds to the thinking of the epignosis doctrine in the right lobe.

(2) In abnormal emotion, emotion controls the right lobe or mentality of the soul. Though Christians do operate this way, it is not spiritual at all.

q. Abnormal emotion produces sins of worry, fear, anxiety, anger, hatred, and it is the motivation for many other sins such as gossip, slander, maligning, judging, violence and even murder.

r. In the human soul, there exists a male and a female part, just as the human body has both male and female hormones. Intellect is the male part of everyone's soul, and it must dominate the emotions. Emotion is the female part, and it must be dominated by the precordial frontal lobe.

s. Therefore, emotion is a responder and reflector of thinking and/or norms and standards. Emotion is the feeling reflex of the soul.

t. As a system of response and feeling, emotion in itself does not contain the following five things: the ability to reason, content of thought, common sense, vocabulary as a tool for mental function, or doctrinal content.

u. Emotion is never the criterion for Christian experience. This means you are not spiritual because you feel spiritual or because you have an emotional or ecstatic experience.

v. Alleged speaking in tongues is blasphemy; no one has legitimately spoken in tongues since August of 70 A.D.

w. Under the principle of fear, worry, anxiety, and irrational arrogance, emotion is a major distraction to the execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church Age.

y. Emotional arrogance results in constant fear, worry, anxiety, and insecurity in the most secure plan ever provided in this world, i.e., God's protocol plan. Therefore, it is blasphemous to be in a state of fear or worry. Emotional arrogance converts reality into illusion and hallucination.

z. In other words, emotions are wonderful when subordinate to doctrine. Emotions are a disaster when they control your soul. The signs of such control include arrogance, fear, worry, anxiety, and insecurity.

11. Emotion is defined as that complex, biochemical and physiological process or function concerned with the somatic expression of feeling. Therefore, it is obviously not a part of the Christian way of life, which is spiritual.

a. Emotion is the basis for thymopathic behavior, i.e., the disturbances of effects.

c. The conscious sensation of emotions in the soul is a mechanism of emotion in the brain area.

d. The effects of emotion on the organic functions of the body is the parasympathetic effects of the transmission of too many or too few motor nerve impulses to the muscles of the body.

e. The prefrontal lobes are the cortical areas associated with thought, motive, and decision. Normal emotions respond to thought in the frontal lobes, especially the right lobe.

f. Even where the frontal lobes have been removed through a frontal lobotomy, the person is still capable of emotional activity. Such a person's emotions are unstable, illustrating the relationship between emotion and certain sins such as anger, fear, hatred, and anxiety. Emotion without thought is a tragic complication of life.

a. Such sins as anger, fear, hatred, worry, and anxiety are emotional. These sins of emotion result in other sins of emotion, such as violence and murder.

b. Emotion is also related to human power and human influence, but never to divine power and the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.

a. Under the protocol plan of God for the Church Age, emotions are not adequate guides for motives, thoughts, decisions, or actions from the believer.

c. The Church Age believer must learn to distinguish between postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation as the means of executing the protocol plan of God, and emotional experience which can be normal or abnormal. But whether it is normal or abnormal, it is not actually the spiritual life, only a response to it.

d. Normal emotional experience results from subordinating emotion to the intellect. Abnormal emotional experience results in either subordinating the intellect to emotion, or the emotional bypassing of the norms and standards of God's protocol plan.

e. In other words, abnormal emotional experience may express itself in pseudo-spirituality of ecstatic experience which has nothing to do with the filling of the Spirit. Or it may express itself in emotional sins like hatred, worry, anxiety, fear, anger, violence, or even murder.

f. The emotional activity of fear, worry, and anxiety has no cognitive self-confidence from Bible doctrine. Therefore, there is no doctrinal conceptualism and no function of the problem-solving devices of the protocol plan of God.

g. The sinful activity of hatred, fear, anger, and worry promote arrogance undermine momentum in God's plan through the fragmented life.

h. The application of nothing to something is nothing. You cannot apply emotion or its results, e.g., hatred, anger, fear, worry, and anxiety, to the problems of life and ever come up with solutions. By applying emotions in themselves, all you have is more problems and the intensification of your problems.

i. The application of fear to the problems of life only creates more problems and greater problems. So the fear reaction of nothing added to something results in less than nothing, i.e., the vacuum which is the blackout of the soul.

j. The function of fear, with its corollaries of worry, anxiety, anger, and hatred, is both a sin and an abnormal emotion resulting in the arrogance of non-identity. The arrogance of non-identity distracts the believer from executing the protocol plan, and it disorients him to the fantastic problem-solving devices provided under that plan.

k. Since emotion is a biochemical and physiological process concerned with the somatic expression of feeling, it is obvious that emotion is not part of the Christian way of life. The by-products of emotion also cannot be a part of the Christian way of life; in fact, they are a part of the fragmented life.

14. Fear can be related to peer pressure, and it produces two categories of arrogance. Both categories result in fear and instability. This results in a self-identity problem, which spawns other problems. The two categories of arrogance are:

a. The better-than syndrome, in which the believer thinks he is superior to all other believers. But when someone better comes along, he cracks up and gets into emotional sins.

b. The worse-than syndrome, in which the believer thinks he is inferior to all other believers. This produces arrogant subjectivity.

c. Peer pressure arrogance produces irrational self-deception, which in turn results in inordinate ambition, inordinate competition, which multiplies emotional sins, motivating violence, and even murder.

d. Such a believer has reached the saturation point of self- induced misery, and has blocked out the problem-solving devices that could help him.

15. Fear is a contradiction of the protocol plan of God for the Church Age. Contradictions cannot exist in the protocol plan. Therefore, the fragmented life is not a part of the protocol plan.

a. Arrogance contradicts the protocol plan. Emotionalism contradicts the protocol plan. Ignorance of doctrine contradicts the protocol plan. Ignorance of the problem-solving devices contradicts the protocol plan.

b. Contradictions are eliminated through postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation. Contradictions are eliminated and replaced by the ten problem-solving devices.

c. God is perfect; therefore, His plan is perfect. Perfect God has designed a perfect plan for imperfect persons.

d. Fear, worry, and anxiety are a contradiction to God's plan, purpose, and will for your life.

e. No believer can execute the protocol plan while in a state of fear, worry, anxiety, hatred, anger, and other emotional sins.

E. Fear is used as an expression of category one love or occupation with Christ. This is documented in many passages of Scripture, including 2Samuel 23:2-3; Neh 5:9; Job 28:28; Psalm 19:9, 34:11-12, 111:10; Proverbs 1:7, 9:10, 10:27, 22:4; Mal 3:16; Ephesians 5:21.

F. Fear is a mental attitude sin, 1Samuel 18:12,29. 1Samuel 28:20, "The fear of man provides a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord shall be promoted."

G. Fear is a sign of reversionism. 1Samuel 18:12,29, 28:20. Saul was afraid of David.

H. Fear is prohibited in the grace plan of God. Deut 31:6,8; Josh 8:1; 1Chronicles 28:20; Isaiah 41:10; 2Timothy 1:7. "Fear not, for I am with you."

I. Maturity is characterized by courage or lack of fear. Psalm 3:6, 56:3, 11; Hebrews 11:27. This is true even when surrounded in battle.

J. True love is the absence of fear, 1John 4:18. It is impossible to have fear and be occupied with Christ at the same time.

K. There is a legitimate fear of failure to utilize the faith-rest drill and make doctrinal application. Hebrews 4:1. Believers should be afraid of subjective thinking and failure to claim the doctrines, promises, and logistical grace of God.

1. It is possible to learn many doctrines and yet fall apart in historical or personal disaster.

2. Sudden disaster often places the believer under great pressure and moves him into panic where he cannot concentrate on the doctrine he has learned.

3. The difference between fear and courage is the ability to concentrate under great pressure.

4. The coward cannot think under pressure, while the man of courage concentrates under the same pressure.

5. Concentration is required in learning and metabolizing doctrine, but is required to a greater extent under a pressure situation.

6. Adversity, suffering, stress, and disaster have the ability to destroy concentration and cause your rate of learning to exceed your rate of learning.

7. The suddenness or intensity of a disaster hinders the believer from concentrating on doctrine he has already learned.

8. Normal reaction to disaster can be fear and panic, so that the believer cannot apply doctrine.

a. Deut 31:6,8, "Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid of them or tremble because of them for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you. He will not desert you. The Lord Himself goes before you, therefore He will be with you. He will never leave you nor desert you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged."

b. Isaiah 41:10, "Therefore, the Lord is the One who goes ahead of you; do not fear or be dismayed."

10. Believers in all stages of spiritual growth can find themselves suddenly in the fear-panic ploy of the cosmic system from some sudden disaster. Every believer must be prepared for this. Psalm 56:3, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you." Faith always selects something (a promise from God, a doctrine) that is stronger than the pressure that comes from stress.

11. The solution to fear is found in the faith-rest drill, by which the believer claims a promise to stabilize the mind. You cannot function under the faith-rest drill unless you have spiritual strength. 1Corinthians 2:5, "That your faith should not be in the wisdom of man [human viewpoint], but in the power from God [Bible doctrine in the soul]." 2Corinthians 5:7, "For we walk by faith and not by sight."

1. Exodus 14:8 states that when the Jews left Egypt, they left in a state of arrogant defiance. This caused Pharaoh to change his mind about letting the Jews leave and motivated him to pursue and attempt to destroy them.

2. Instead of using prayer and the arrogance skills, the Jews at the Red Sea should have been using the faith-rest drill and other problem solving devices. They should have understood what Moses had been teaching them-that God has a plan for their life. Exodus 14:13-14, "But Moses said to the people, `Do not fear! Take your stand and watch the deliverance of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent."

b. The Jews saw the problem; Moses saw the solution. The people faced the problem and were afraid. Moses faced the same problem and was confident from the application of metabolized doctrine in his soul.

c. You cannot run around expressing fear and at the same time apply doctrine. Fear and the mechanics of the spiritual life are mutually exclusive. You are in one or in the other. You will face your D-day.

d. A sign on the door of an English pub during the battle of Britain during World War II said, "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there."

a. The problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul prevent the outside pressures of adversity from becoming the inside pressures of stress in the soul. The FLOT line prevents this.

b. Adversity is the outside pressure of life. Stress is the inside pressure of life, like fear, worry, anxiety. When there is no problem solving device on the FLOT line of the soul, then the adversity becomes stress and stress overruns the command post of the soul and puts the spiritual life out of action.

c. Adversity is inevitable, even necessary; stress is optional, not necessary. Stress is not necessary when you deploy the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of your soul. You deal with your own problems in the privacy of your soul and avoid panic, fear, and arrogance.

d. God gives you spiritual freedom and human freedom so you can make your own choices and learn to take responsibility for your own decisions.

e. Stress in the soul is tantamount to sin nature control of the soul. Therefore stress in the soul overruns the command post of the heart and puts the spiritual life out of action.

f. People who live by fear are intimidated by life. Fear is a false variable rejected by every absolute of Bible doctrine. 1John 4:18, "Fear does not exist in virtue-love; but virtue-love drives out fear, because fear has self-punishment, and the one who fears has not been matured by means of virtue-love."

(1) Virtue-love is an absolute of Bible doctrine which rejects the variable called fear. The absolute drives out the false variable. The filling of the Holy Spirit produces virtue-love, Galatians 5:22.

1. Emotion can respond to doctrine, but emotion cannot apply doctrine to experience. In an emotional state you become irrational.

2. Emotion is the feeling reflexes of the soul, therefore, never designed by God to be construed as the criterion for the spiritual life.

4. Emotion is not a tool for cognition nor the criterion for the spiritual life.

5. The emotional complex of sins includes fear, worry, anxiety, hysteria, anger, hatred, bitter jealousy, loathing, malice, tantrums, irrational violence, murder, egotistical irrationality related to arrogant self-righteousness, insensitivity about self but hypersensitivity about how others fell about you, denial, projection, self-pity, revenge motivation and modus operandi, guilt.

b. Guilt is emotional feelings of culpability, arrogant preoccupation with the correctness of one's behavior stemming from self- absorption.

c. Guilt is a manifestation of the need for and absence of problem solving devices.

6. Hebrews 13:5-6, "Let your way of life be free from the love of money. Be content with what you have; for He Himself has said, `I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,' so that we confidently say, `The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?'"

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1. The filling of the Spirit is the first power option in the Christian life (the second power option is doctrinal orientation to life) and the second problem solving device for the execution of the protocol plan of God.

a. 1Thessalonians 5:18-19 says, "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God for your benefit in Christ Jesus. Stop quenching the Spirit." When you quench the Holy Spirit by the sin nature controlling the soul, by stress in the soul producing sin, by false doctrine in the soul, or by using defensive mechanisms instead of the problem solving devices, you have no divine power at your disposal. Therefore, the importance of the recovery of the power of the Holy Spirit.

b. The recovery of the power of the Holy Spirit is the subject of Ephesians 4:30, "Furthermore, stop grieving the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." These believers were commanded to stop grieving the Holy Spirit which they were doing. This was a wake up call to get back on track and start living their own spiritual life.

3. Spirituality or the filling of the Holy Spirit links salvation adjustment to the justice of God to maturity adjustment to the justice of God. To make it from salvation to maturity requires the filling of the Holy Spirit and the daily intake of Bible doctrine. We already have perfect righteousness judicially imputed at salvation.

4. The filling of the Holy Spirit is God the Holy Spirit controlling the soul of the believer. Descriptions of the filling of the Holy Spirit in Scripture.

5. The believer starts the Christian way of life with the Holy Spirit controlling the soul. We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit simultaneously at the point of salvation. As soon as we sin, the old sin nature controls the soul. When we rebound, the Holy Spirit again controls the soul. Carnality is loss of the filling of the Holy Spirit. Carnality is neglect of rebound, causing sin to multiply. Sin minus rebound equals carnality. The filling of the Holy Spirit is recovery through rebound adjustment to the justice of God, Proverbs 1:23; 1John 1:9.

6. At the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit indwells the body of the believer. Because the body is the headquarters of the old sin nature, the Holy Spirit sets up His headquarters in the body for counteraction. The battlefield is the soul. This counteraction is spearheaded by the filling of the Holy Spirit. We are always indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit means God the Holy Spirit controls the soul. He does not control when we sin (grieve Him) or perform human good or evil (quench Him). When we rebound (1John 1:9), the Holy Spirit controls our soul again.

a. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is documented in Romans 8:9; 1Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20; Galatians 3:2, 4:6; John 7:37-39, 14:16-17.

b. "Anointing" or "unction" of the Spirit is found in 1John 2:20,27. These terms are synonymous with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but not with the filling of the Holy Spirit, Acts 4:27, 10:38; 2Corinthians 1:21.

c. The objective of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is to break the sovereignty of the old sin nature's rule over human life experientially. The baptism of the Spirit breaks it positionally, Galatians 5:17.

d. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the principle of victory over the old sin nature, while the filling of the Holy Spirit is the function of victory over the old sin nature.

e. While the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is permanent, the filling of the Holy Spirit fluctuates due to the trends of the old sin nature and the function of our volition toward those trends. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit involves the body of the believer; the filling of the Holy Spirit involves the soul of the believer.

7. Since the filling of the Holy Spirit is functional, it is the means of executing the objectives of the Christian way of life. Anything you do in the energy of the flesh is not the Christian way of life.

B. The filling of the Spirit is one of the seven ministries of God the Holy Spirit to us at the moment of salvation.

1. We do not earn and we cannot deserve the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to us. Ephesians 4:30, "Furthermore, stop grieving the Spirit, the God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

2. The Holy Spirit plays a far greater role in the Church Age than any other dispensation except the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. The Church Age is the only dispensation in which every believer is a priest, an ambassador for Christ, and entered into union with Christ. The precedence for the Christian way of life comes from our Lord's ministry on earth, not the Mosaic Law.

3. There are seven ministries of God the Holy Spirit to the Church Age believer at the moment of salvation.

a. Efficacious grace. God the Holy Spirit takes the faith alone in Christ alone of the spiritually dead unbeliever and makes it effective for salvation. The call of God to believe in Christ comes from God the Holy Spirit making the gospel clear to the unbeliever-common grace. The Holy Spirit put His seal on our efficacious grace, guaranteeing that our non- meritorious faith in Christ is effective for salvation. You are saved by grace through faith alone. Ephesians 1:13, "In whom also when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-in whom also when you had believed, you were sealed by means of the Holy Spirit with reference to the promise." The sealing ministry of God the Holy Spirit is His signature guarantee of five different things.

b. Regeneration or being born again. Mankind emerges from the womb with biological life and spiritual death. At the moment of birth, God creates the immortal soul life and imputes to biological life. Jesus said to a religious Pharisee, "You must be born again." The Holy Spirit creates a human spirit at the moment we believe in Christ. At that moment, God the Father imputes His very own eternal life to that human spirit. That is being born again. Human life puts us in a hopeless status-spiritual death; regeneration makes us spiritually alive. Regeneration is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit at salvation in creating a human spirit, which causes the believer to become instantly trichotomous-body, soul, and spirit, 1Thessalonians 5:23; Phile 25. The soul is the residence of human life; the human spirit is the residence of eternal life.

c. The baptism of the Spirit is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in taking every new believer and entering him into union with the person of Jesus Christ. We are in union with Christ forever. This is how the Holy Spirit makes Christ Lord. You cannot make Christ Lord. This is positional sanctification. At the same time as entering us into union with Christ, a new spiritual species is created. Race, culture, and gender are no longer an issue. This adds up to equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the plan of God for the Church. In addition, we are royal family of God and have the eternal life of Christ. We have a double portion of eternal life. We are also the sons of God. We are joint-heirs with Christ. We share His election and His destiny. Acts 1:5; 1Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:26-28; Ephesians 4:4-5. The baptism of the Spirit is not an experience, not an emotion.

d. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 1Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20; 2Corinthians 6:16. The Holy Spirit dwells in the body of every believer as of the moment of faith in Christ for the purpose of making the body of the believer a temple of the Holy Spirit. Your body is made a temple of the Holy Spirit for the indwelling of Christ. Just as in the Age of Israel, Jesus Christ dwelt in the Tabernacle and later the Temple as the Shekinah Glory as a guarantee of blessing to Israel, so He now indwells the body of each believer as a guarantee of escrow blessings for time and eternity.

e. The filling of the Holy Spirit occurs at the moment of salvation by God the Holy Spirit entering us into our very own palace-the operational divine dynasphere. Our Lord was entered into the prototype divine dynasphere at the point of physical birth, since He was filled with the Spirit from birth. The divine dynasphere is a part of our portfolio of invisible assets. There are eight gates in the divine dynasphere:

(3) Gate three is enforced and genuine humility, objectivity, and teachability. God makes war against the arrogant believer but He gives grace to the humble believer.

(4) Gate four is momentum from perception, inculcation, and metabolization of Bible doctrine circulating in the seven compartments of the right lobe of the soul.

f. The distribution of spiritual gifts occurs at the moment of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ was involved in the initial distribution of spiritual gifts at the beginning of the Church Age, Ephesians 4:7-8. But subsequently, God the Holy Spirit distributes all spiritual gifts. All of these gifts are necessary for the function of the team. These gifts only function under the filling of the Spirit plus the metabolization of doctrine.

g. The sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 1:13-14; Ephesians 4:30. This is a guarantee of His ministry of efficacious grace, of eternal life, of eternal security, of our portfolio of invisible assets, and of a resurrection body.

C. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit to the Church Age believer is the same ministry that He had to our Lord Jesus Christ during the First Advent.

1. The first power option of our spiritual life is the same filling of the Spirit that occurred for the first time in history in our Lord Jesus Christ. The relationship of God the Holy Spirit to our Lord Jesus Christ in the incarnation set the precedence for Church Age believers. During the dispensation of the hypostatic union, our Lord's humanity was sustained by the filling of the Holy Spirit. This was prophesied in the Old Testament.

a. Isa 11:2, "And the Spirit [God the Holy Spirit] of the Lord [God the Father] will rest on Him [Jesus Christ], The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and power, The Spirit of knowledge and occupation with the Lord [God the Father]."

b. Isa 42:1, "Behold, My servant, whom I sustain; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations." The fulfillment of this prophecy is declared in John 3:34, "For He [God the Holy Spirit] whom God [the Father] has sent speaks the doctrines from God; for He does not give the Spirit by measure." Matthew 12:28, "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God [and I do], then the kingdom of God has come to you."

c. During the First Advent, our Lord's humanity was filled with the Spirit as a part of the doctrine of impeccability. Luke 4:14, "And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit." Our Lord prophesied in John 14:16-17, 26; 16:13-14 that the disciples would have the Holy Spirit to teach them when the Church Age began. In the context of Luke 4:17-21 our Lord read from Isaiah 61:1, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." Then He declared, "This Scripture is fulfilled in your presence today."

d. During His earthly ministry, our Lord offered the filling of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, knowing that they would need this power because of their key role at that time and in the future. None of them accepted the offer and asked for the Spirit. Luke 11:13, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" Ten days before the Church Age began, on the day of our Lord's ascension, our Lord gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples without their asking. This established a precedent for the Church Age. John 20:22, "And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, `Receive the Holy Spirit.'"

2. At the moment of salvation through faith in Christ we have four principles involved in our relationship to the Holy Spirit.

a. Every believer is indwelt by God the Holy Spirit and cannot lose that indwelling presence of the Spirit all the days of his life on this earth. Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, in order to provide the indwelling presence of God the Son. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit indwells every believer during the Church Age.

b. Every believer is simultaneously filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation and loses that filling the first time he sins.

c. However, the believer recovers the fellowship of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, through the rebound technique.

d. The filling of the Spirit is tantamount to residence inside your very own palace-the operational type divine dynasphere. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit is synonymous with the filling of the Spirit.

3. As the believer understands the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in two dispensations, his love for the Holy Spirit increases by quantum leaps. Our Lord constantly made choices for the function of the two power options in the function of His spiritual life. The two power options-the filling of the Spirit and metabolized doctrine-played a major role in our Lord's earthly ministry.

a. Jn 1:14, "The Word became flesh and He tabernacled among us and we beheld His glory, as of the uniquely born One from the Father, full of grace [grace orientation] and truth [metabolized doctrine]."

b. Heb 9:14, "How much more then shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" The one offering that was greater than all the Levitical offerings was the offering of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. Our Lord offered Himself and remained filled with the Spirit while bearing the judgment for our sins. The filling of the Spirit gave Him the power not to resent any sin that was imputed to Him for judgment.

c. Our Lord on the Cross established a precedence or our life in the Church Age, as explained by Hebrews 12:2, "Be concentrating on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our doctrine, who because of His exhibited happiness, He endured the cross, disregarding the shame, then He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." You cannot separate loving Jesus Christ from loving God the Holy Spirit. We have a far greater power in the filling of the Holy Spirit, so that we do not have to react to injustice.

4. Our love for God the Holy Spirit begins when we metabolize the doctrine of the ministry of God the Holy Spirit at the point of our faith in Christ, when we begin to learn what God the Holy Spirit did for our Lord Jesus Christ, when we begin to learn how the first power option (the filling of the Spirit) that has been given to us is the same power option that sustained our Lord on the Cross. The ministry of the Holy Spirit for us at salvation adds to our love for Him. Your capacity to love God the Holy Spirit is directly related to your capacity to love God the Father and God the Son.

1. The deity of the Holy Spirit is established in Trinity passages which reveal the coequality of the Spirit with God the Father and God the Son, 2Corinthians 13:14.

2. In the Old Testament, God the Holy Spirit is called Jehovah, Isaiah 6:8-9 cf Acts 28:25; Jeremiah 31:31-34 cf Hebrews 10:15.

3. Certain divine attributes are ascribed to the Holy Spirit which emphasize His deity.

a. Eph 5:18, "Stop being intoxicated with wine by which is dissipation [a lifestyle of self-absorption to try and solve the problems of life], but keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit."

(1) Dissipation refers to a disorderly lifestyle, an excessive lifestyle of dependence on the wrong things to solve the problems of life. Loss on control of oneself means loss of clear rationality with regard to the options of life, which is detrimental to your spiritual life. Hence, dissipation is loss of true self-orientation in life.

(2) This is an analogy by antithesis. The present passive imperative of the Greek verb PLEROO means to be filled, to be controlled. It means to fill up a deficiency. The filling of the Holy Spirit fills up our deficiency of power to execute the spiritual life.

(a) At the time of writing the present tense was a tendential present, which indicates an action that is mandated but is not actually taking place. For the rest of the Church Age believers it becomes a durative present tense, which is used for an action or state of being in the past continuing into the present; hence, present linear aktionsart.

(b) The passive voice indicates that the Church Age believer is acted upon by God the Holy Spirit inside the operational type divine dynasphere.

(3) The Greek preposition EN plus the instrumental of agency can be translated "keep on being controlled by means of the Spirit."

(4) The believer is filled with the Holy Spirit when two synonymous conditions occur: the Holy Spirit controls the soul of the believer and the believer resides in his very own palace-the divine dynasphere. Spirituality is the filling of the Spirit.

b. 2Corinthians 3:17ff, "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is [spiritual] freedom. But we all, with an unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory [the humanity of Christ under the filling of the Spirit] to glory [the Spirit filled life of the believer who executes the protocol plan of God], as it were from the Lord, the Spirit."

(2) The Holy Spirit provides spiritual freedom from the control of the sin nature when we are filled with the Spirit.

(3) We have an unveiled face when we are filled with the Spirit and learning the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. The Bible is a mirror in which we see ourselves as God sees us through the objectivity provided by the filling of the Spirit.

(4) The glory of the Lord is humanity of Christ in hypostatic union. We are being transformed into the same image as the humanity of Christ under the filling of the Spirit through seeing ourselves in the word of God through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

c. Eph 3:16, "that He may give you, on the basis of the riches of His glory [your portfolio of invisible assets and the unique assets of the Church Age], to become strong by means of power through His Spirit in your inner being." This is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit metabolizing doctrine in your inner being, circulating that doctrine in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness, and giving you the ability to make right decisions from a position of strength. We acquire strength through the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere. This is what our Lord prophesied for the Church Age in John 14:26, 16:12-14. This was Paul's great teaching in 1Corinthians 2:9-16.

(1) This does not mean spirituality by works, by legalism. The positive side clarifies the difference between the means and result in spirituality. In spirituality, the Holy Spirit is the grace provision, Acts 1:8. The means after salvation is rebound. The result is the filling of the Spirit and the function of the Christian way of life.

(2) Spirituality and spiritual growth are related but they are not the same thing. They are two aspects of the Christian life. Spirituality is an absolute based on the filling of the Spirit. Spiritual growth is a relative concept based on the amount of doctrine circulating in our stream of consciousness. As we advance in spiritual growth, much of the time we are spiritual and sometimes we are carnal.

(3) As an absolute, spirituality or the filling of the Spirit is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to the believer's soul providing not only the teaching of the Word but providing metabolized doctrine circulating in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness.

e. Gal 5:1, 13-18, 22-25 is a dissertation on the importance of the filling of the Spirit as far as the execution of the spiritual life.

(1) Gal 5:1, "It is for [spiritual] freedom that Christ has set us free; therefore keep standing fast and do not become entangled again in the yoke of slavery [carnality]."

(2) Gal 5:13-18, "For you were called to freedom, brethren; do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh [sin nature], but through virtue-love serve one another. For the entire Law has been summed up in one doctrine, in the statement, `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another. Therefore, I command you, keep walking by means of the Spirit, and you will not carry out the lust patterns of the sin nature. For while the flesh [sin nature] desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit is totally opposed to the sin nature; for these two are constantly opposed to each other, so that you do not do the things you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law." The Christian way of life cannot be based on the Mosaic Law. The Mosaic Law was never designed to be a spiritual way of life. The best the Mosaic Law can do is make you very legalistic.

(3) Gal 5:22-25, "But the production of the Spirit is virtue-love, happiness, prosperity, patience, integrity, generosity, faithfulness, humility, self-discipline; against such there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us advance in our spiritual life by means of the Spirit."

a. Eph 4:30, "Stop grieving the Holy Spirit, the God by whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption." This is the retroactive progressive present active imperative of the Greek verb LUREO. Grieving the Spirit is carnality or life in cosmic one. This is a command to stop sinning and persisting in cosmic one without rebound. This command emphasizes the fact that spirituality and carnality are mutually exclusive. They are absolutes, 1John 1:6-7; 1John 2:10-11.

b. The command to not live in cosmic two is found in 1Thessalonians 5:19, "Do not quench the Spirit."

3. The positive and negative commands emphasize imitation as the issue in the spiritual life. We either imitate God or people, Ephesians 5:1.

b. Carnal believers imitate unbelievers, 1Corinthians 3:3; Galatians 5:19-21; 1John 1:6.

F. The filling of the Holy Spirit is related to spirituality, growth, and victory over the sovereignty of the old sin nature, 2Peter 1:2-5. The metabolization of doctrine after the filling of the Holy Spirit supplies your integrity, and your integrity supplies knowledge for growth and passing momentum tests.

G. Since spirituality is the modus operandi of the royal priesthood, it is not subject to the Mosaic Law, Romans 8:2-4.

1. Rom 10:4, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." The Law demands perfect righteousness; believing in Christ provides for us this requirement of the Mosaic Law.

1. Christ is magnified in the inner life of the believer, 2Corinthians 3:3; Ephesians 3:16-17; Philippians 1:20-21.

2. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the basis for the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine, John 14:26, 16:12-14; 1Corinthians 2:9-16; 1John 2:27.

3. The believer is guided by God only while filled with the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:14-16.

4. The true function of worship for the royal family, John 4:24; Philippians 3:3.

5. Effectiveness in the believer's production; e.g., in witnessing, Acts 1:8; in prayer, Ephesians 6:18.

6. The glorification of Christ in the human body, John 7:39 cf 16:14; 1Corinthians 6:19-20.

8. Partnership with the divine essence, 2Peter 1:4. Our partnership with Christ as royal family only functions when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, Philippians 2:1-2.

1. In the Church Age, the believer represents the absent Christ, who is now at the right hand of the Father.

2. Therefore, the purpose of the filling of the Holy Spirit during the Church Age is related to the fact that Christ is absent.

3. Therefore, the character of the filling of the Holy Spirit during the Church Age is different than the character of the filling of the Holy Spirit during the Millennium when Christ is on the earth.

4. Hence, the function of the filling of the Holy Spirit during the Church Age is designed to provide the ability to learn doctrine and to apply doctrine as the fulfillment of the Christian way of life.

5. In this way, the Church Age believer fulfills his ambassadorship, representing Christ who is now at the right hand of the Father. We need special power to do this, and the divine power of the Holy Spirit is the basis on which we operate.

6. Emotion is not our energy. We all have emotion as part of our capacity for life, but emotion is not the filling of the Holy Spirit or the fuel for the Christian way of life. The filling of the Holy Spirit is never emotional in the Church Age.

7. There are two warnings against emotion and ecstatics to the royal family of God.

a. Rom 16:17-18, "Keep an eye out for those who are emotional and contrary to doctrine you've learned. They deceive the stupid by flattering speech."

8. Emotions are designed to respond to knowledge in the right lobe, but emotion is not a Church Age characteristic of the filling of the Holy Spirit. However, it is normal to emote over doctrine you learn.

9. Only in the Millennium when Christ is present on earth does emotion and ecstatics characterize the filling of the Holy Spirit. For in the Millennium, the filling of the Holy Spirit is designed to appreciate Christ, and therefore, emotions and ecstatics are legitimate, Joel 2:28-29.

10. Believers in the Millennium are said to be indwelt with the Holy Spirit, Ezekiel 36:27, 37:14; Jeremiah 31:33.

11. Believers in the Millennium are also filled with the Holy Spirit, Isaiah 29:19, 32:15, 44:3; Ezekiel 39:29; Zechariah 12:10.

1. The believer must be able to distinguish between personality and spirituality. Spirituality is not personality. Yet too often a sweet personality passes for being someone spiritual. Watch out for these types.

2. Spirituality by personality imitation consists of imitating someone who is sweet. People who do this are stupid. They imitate such superficial things as mannerisms, dress, the absence of cosmetics, neglect of grooming; pious speech such as "amen," "praise God," or "God willing;" or mannerisms such as poor posture or expressions of sincerity.

3. Spirituality by "yielding" is a concept that has arisen from the mistranslation of Romans 6:13. "Yielding" is meaningless. It assumes spirituality by dedicating your life, witnessing, or constant prayer. But production is the result of the filling of the Holy Spirit, never the means.

4. Self-crucifixion is alleged to be spirituality. But there is no such thing as experiential self-crucifixion. This is a false interpretation of Romans 6:1-13. This is nothing but extreme asceticism.

5. Spirituality by obeying taboos such as giving up cards, drinking, movies, dancing, smoking, mixed bathing, etc., has no substantiation in Scripture.

a. A taboo is something forbidden by tradition, social usage, or by some form of authority. A taboo is a prohibition set up by a religious group, but is not forbidden by the Word of God.

d. Anything an unbeliever can do is not the Christian way of life. To offend people because they are legalistic is to be just as wrong as the legalist. Evil is always offended by anything related to grace.

e. It is not our objective to superimpose our own idea of right and wrong on others. We have personal taboos, and others have their own. We are each to live our own life as unto the Lord without superimposing our personal standards on other believers. Live and let live.

f. When people are positive to doctrine, don't get in their way with taboos. The exception to this is the right of parents to superimpose standards on their children.

(1) If someone can bully you into setting up a system of taboos for spirituality, you will become a legalist also.

(2) If you reject and react to taboos, often you take it out on doctrine and become a reversionist.

6. Spirituality by relativity says that a person is spiritual because his sins are more respectable than someone else's .In a typical comparison, a subtle type of sinfulness is compared to a shocking type of sinfulness, resulting in a false rationalization. Included in this rationalization is the delusion that there are degrees of spirituality.

7. Spirituality by ecstatics is based on the fact the emotions are not under the authority of the mentality of the soul, which is called the emotional revolt of the soul. As a result, ecstatics and stimulation have no meaning, no foundation, no relationship to reality, and no relationship to spirituality; e.g., the tongues crowd, the holy-rollers. What is regarded as ecstatics is actually a stage of reversionism. This problem exists in believers accustomed to using their feelings for their criterion, and who do the same in their spiritual life.

8. Spirituality by ritualism alleges that spirituality is the consistent observance of certain rituals like baptism and communion.

9. Program spirituality says that becoming involved in church programs determines one's spiritual status. This includes such things as giving, attendance, participation in prayer meetings, bringing visitors, and teaching Sunday school. Program churches are designed to carry weak pastors. This system caters to approbation and power lust.

K. Spirituality is the link between salvation and maturity adjustment to the justice of God.

1. Maturity adjustment to the justice of God is gained through postsalvation epistemological rehabilitation; i.e., the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine inside the divine dynasphere.

2. This process depends upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit in making doctrine understandable to the believer.

3. This means the filling of the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary for the perception of Bible doctrine, John 14:26, 16:12-14; 1Corinthians 2:9-16; 1John 2:27.

4. Without Bible doctrine resident in the soul, there is no maturity adjustment to the justice of God.

5. Without the filling of the Holy Spirit for the teaching of Bible doctrine, there is no growth.

1. Oil is used as an analogy to the filling of the Holy Spirit. It lubricates. Friction wears out machines; oil eliminates friction.

a. By way of analogy, the filling of the Holy Spirit makes it possible for us to assemble with other believers in a local church, where no two are in the same stage of spiritual growth.

b. Certain people will be obnoxious to you. However, the filling of the Holy Spirit protects you from getting your eyes on people, and He gives you understanding and toleration of others.

a. By way of analogy, the filling of the Holy Spirit produces an understanding of others and a tenderness toward others as you realize they have problems also. Consequently, a breach is healed before there is any further difficulty.

b. The filling of the Holy Spirit also heals your bitterness, anxieties, and fear as you grow with doctrine.

3. Oil is used for light. This refers to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in illuminating the Word of God.

4. Oil propels or accelerates, as in diesel fuel. Therefore, the filling of the Holy Spirit is necessary for advance to maturity.

5. Oil invigorates; it provides energy for athletes (rub down). The filling of the Holy Spirit gives energy for the execution of the Christian way of life.

6. Oil warms. The ministry of the Spirit provides the function of the Christian way of life. We are different people when we are controlled by the Spirit.

7. Oil adorns; it is used for grooming. Likewise, the Holy Spirit produces in us a beauty, an animation, a thoughtfulness, and an energy which we would not otherwise have. The filling of the Holy Spirit produces in us everything worthwhile, thereby advancing us in the right direction with concentration, poise, and good manners.

1. The filling of the Holy Spirit comes through rebound. After you rebound, Bible doctrine must be the number one priority in your life. Without that priority, you can lose your advance overnight.

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1. Jesus Christ controls history. Human good and evil must be contained and 5 cycles of discipline are given. Deut. 28

2. First 3 cycles: Leviticus 26:14–22 "But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. (Leviticus 26:14–17)

b. Consumption and fever; and the soul will pine away; the frontal lobes will be shrunk. There will be seed sown in vain. Enemies will come and take it away.

c. God turns His face against them, so their enemies will come in and take over their crops.

d. You will run when no one is pursuing you. That is being a peacenik or a yellow hippie.

3. Leviticus 26:18–20 "And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

a. The sins are always related to the rejected of doctrine. Reversionism type sins. More punishment for reversionism than base carnal sins.

b. When a nation is going down, there is a great amount of power lust going on, with revolutions brewing. Loss of respect for authority; unrestrained power lust.

d. People are running about burning up time uselessly. This is where you just have to be out and doing something because you have cabin fever.

e. Your business goes down. Lack of respect for authority. Hippies on drugs; no respect for parents anymore. 2^nd cycle of discipline. Your land will not yield produce.

4. 3^rd cycle of discipline. Leviticus 26:21–22 Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted.

5. 4^th cycle of discipline: Leviticus 26:23–26 "And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

6. The 5^th cycle of discipline: Leviticus 26:27–38 "But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. "Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

d. Those going through 4 cycles of discipline will eat their children any day of the week.

h. Sabbatical years will be observed. Judah missed 70 sabbatical years in 490 years. You will not have the means to stand up against your enemies....your army will be no good to you.

Whom the Lord loves, He chastens, whether it is an individual, a city or community, or a nation. Because God loves the whole world, there has always been a lot of chastening going on. The history of the Jews as a nation is, in part, a story of the cycles of discipline and recovery they experienced throughout all their generations. There are many parallel lessons to be learned by individual believers regarding the way the Lord handles the individual and nation in Grace when either is disobedient.

This is a study of the doctrine of the Five Cycles of Divine Discipline, as seen in God’s dealing with the nation of Israel in ancient times.

I. The First Cycle, Leviticus 26:14-17. “But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror in the form of wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.”

B. The criterion for invoking the five cycles of discipline is simple: the failure to carry out the laws of Divine Establishment.

C. Each cycle of discipline is worse than the one before, although often in the same forms as a previous cycle.

b. The first form of disease is consumptive diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis and AIDS.

c. The second form of disease is a fever which wastes the eyes and drains away the desire to live. This is mental illness.

b. In the industrial age we have many businesses and corporations that come under this category even though they are not agricultural in nature.

d. The seed is investment capital, and the normal crop would be profit. The enemies of business eat up the profits, and put business under a strain.

a. The effectiveness of the military is undermined by poor leadership, immorality, and cowardice.

b. Instead of serving the nation, the leadership will serve itself, and only use government benefits to grab more power for themselves.

b. This is sublimation - getting involved in all categories of distraction, rather than facing the truth.

d. Sublimation becomes painful discipline because it causes damage to the soul, and increases torment from neurosis.

e. Sublimation is based on the lust pattern of the soul, and often results in addiction.

E. The people of the nation will have a chance to respond to God in repentance after this cycle has been administered.

II. The Second Cycle, Leviticus 26:18-20. “If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land yield their fruit.”

A. This cycle is a multiplication of the first cycle by a factor of 7. This number is not to be taken literally. The number seven is a common metaphor in Biblical literature which means, “a lot” .Here, you would say, “I will punish you for your sins over and over.”

B. In this cycle, the land and the environment itself becomes the enemy of the farmer.

C. The modern analogy would be advertising, marketing, and the consumer, all of which are necessary for the production of profits.

D. Also included by analogy are the raw materials from which products are made. They will become more expensive and less available.

E. This cycle of discipline also begins an economic depression in which food supplies dwindle and poverty begins to take hold in earnest over a large segment of the population.

F. This cycle of discipline factors in the bad decisions made by the people from their position of mental weakness.

b. Decisions which protect the environment too much, and so cause damage to the economy.

G. The people of the nation will have a chance to respond to God in repentance after this cycle has been administered.

III. The Third Cycle, Leviticus 26:21-22. “If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. “I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in number that your roads will be deserted.”

A. The third cycle of discipline multiplies the effects of the second cycle by a factor of seven.

B. The third cycle begins the predominance of the criminal element in society, as the wild animal is a metaphor for crime.

C. In this cycle, there is a great deal of crime against children, and against business.

D. Because of the predominance of crime, the roads are deserted, which means there is virtually no commerce.

E. The people of the nation will have a chance to respond to God in repentance after this cycle has been administered.

IV. The Fourth Cycle, Leviticus 26:23-26. “If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. And I will bring the sword upon you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.”

B. This is the cycle of civil war, or perhaps war but not yet final defeat. The uprising of the antiestablishment element in society will trap the rest of the people of the nation.

C. In the ancient world, the civil war would begin in the countryside and surround the city or town where the rulers of the nation lived.

D. Without the logistical support from the countryside, a siege ensues and food becomes scarce.

E. In addition to this, being trapped in close quarters means that the potential for widespread disease is great, and will happen. These are desperate times.

F. The people of the nation will have a chance to respond to God in repentance after this cycle has been administered.

V. The Fifth Cycle, Leviticus 26:27-39. “If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor you. I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins. Then the land will enjoy its Sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the Sabbaths you lived in it. As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them. They will stumble over one another as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies. You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you. Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their fathers’ sins they will waste away.

C. There will be cannibalism because of food shortages, even cannibalism within the family.

D. There will be widespread death directly attributed to involvement in the addiction cycle. People will be killed by the foreign enemies while participating in their idolatry.

E. The industries of the nation, and most of the buildings, public and private, will be destroyed.

I. This cycle of discipline, even this, may not be too far away for us.! It may be many years, or it may be only a few.

1. The dispensation of Israel began with the Exodus in B.C. 1441 and concluded with the birth of our Lord in 4 B.C.

2. Therefore, most of the Old Testament Canon is devoted to the study of Jewish client nations. There were five Jewish client nations in the dispensation of Israel.

a. The Theocratic Kingdom from the Exodus to the time of Samuel, B.C. 1441 - 1020.

c. The Northern Kingdom from Jeroboam to Hoshea, B.C. 926 - 721. The fifth cycle of discipline was administered to the Northern Kingdom by Assyria, commanded by Sargon II.

d. The Southern Kingdom from Rehoboam to Zedekiah, B.C. 926 - 586. The fifth cycle of discipline was administered to the Southern Kingdom in 586 by the Chaldeans, commanded by Nebuchadnezzar. Seventy years of captivity or slavery extended from B.C. 586 - 516.

e. The restored nation of Judea from Zerubbabel in B.C. 536 - A.D. 70. The fifth cycle of discipline was administered to Judea by the Romans, first under the command of Vespasian and then by his son, Titus.

3. With the fall of Jerusalem in August of 70 A.D., there are no more Jewish client nations until the Second Advent.

4. In the meantime, we live in the times of the Gentiles. That means that only a Gentile client nation can so function before God today.

5. At the present time, we the people of the United States are a Gentile client nation to God.

1. There are five cycles of discipline administered to a client nation, Jewish or Gentile.

a. To the Jewish client nations during the dispensation of Israel, the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, and the first forty years of the Church Age, the five cycles did function.

b. To the Gentile client nations beginning with S.P.Q.R. in 70 A.D. and continuing to the present with the U.S.A., these five cycles are still operational.

e. The fifth cycle of discipline. Leviticus 26:27-38, amplified in Deuteronomy 28:49-67.

3. The cycles of discipline are based on the principle that Jesus Christ controls history directly, indirectly, and permissively.

b. He controls history indirectly through the function of the laws of divine establishment.

c. He controls history permissively through permitting nations to use their own volition to destroy themselves. For no nation is ever destroyed by an outside power before it is first destroyed from within by its own individual and collective bad decisions. Therefore, no nation is ever destroyed by another nation until it first destroys itself through negative volition.

4. Jesus Christ permits the policy of the angelic conflict (the function of free will) to continue and conclude in human history. Therefore, Satan’s policy of good and evil must exist in every generation; there must be a challenge to your attitude toward doctrine.

5. Because Jesus Christ is righteous and holy, He must judge the nations with cycles of discipline.

6. These cycles of discipline are punitive measures against apostasy, reversionism and evil.

1. Leviticus 26:14 “But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all of these mandates,”

a. Obedience in Israel meant the execution of God’s plan for their dispensation. It meant the execution of the three categories of the Mosaic Law. It meant perception of doctrine as it was revealed at that time, first through the Torah and then through the prophets.

b. The mandates refer to the three parts of the Mosaic Law. They are explained further in verse 15.

2. Leviticus 26:15 “If instead you reject My statutes and your soul despises My ordinances, and you fail to carry out all my commands so breaking My covenant,” The Mosaic Law is divided into three parts.

a. The first part of the Mosaic Law is the decalogue, the freedom code made up of ten commandments. These commandments define freedom in terms of morality, privacy, property, and authority. Freedom without authority is anarchy; authority without freedom is tyranny. The ten commandments also define freedom in terms of relationship with God.

b. The second part is called the ordinances, the spiritual code. It graphically presents soteriology and Christology through the various articles of furniture in the Tabernacle and temples, through the modus operandi of the levitical priesthood, through the function of the holy days, and through the levitical sacrifices. This spiritual code presents the Gospel and Jesus Christ as the God of Israel.

c. The third part is the judgments, an establishment code. It includes explanations related to freedom, privacy, marriage, criminal law, taxation (tithing), military policy and freedom through military victory, diet, health, sanitation, quarantine, free enterprise, and profit motivation. It outlaws violence, terrorism, civil disobedience, and revolution.

3. Leviticus 26:16 “Then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror [terrorism], epidemic diseases, and fever will destroy your sight and drain your life; also, you will plant your seed in vain because your enemies will devour it.”

a. “Sudden terror” is the function of terrorism as it existed in the ancient world. It is also a reference to violence, unrestrained criminality, and hostility from other nations.

b. Many epidemics have been the beginning of the end of great nations or empires.

c. The last phrase refers to economic disaster and depression. The illustration used refers to an agricultural economy. In our industrial economy, this refers to inability to compete with foreign markets.

4. Leviticus 26:17 “I will set My face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; consequently, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.”

a. In the first cycle, such defeat by enemies refers to only preliminary wars. But before the other cycles of discipline are administered, there is already loss in warfare. (Our loss in warfare began with Korea and Vietnam.)

b. The Hebrew word for hate here means hate based on envy. The Jews were the recipients of such fantastic blessings from God that they were envied and then hated.

c. “You will flee when no one is pursuing you” is an idiom saying that the general population becomes cowardly, afraid of war. They have no motivation from patriotism or the spiritual life. Therefore, the population will do anything to avoid a war, even surrendering whatever advantage it has in national and international activity.

1. Leviticus 26:18 “If after all these things you will not listen to Me, then I will punish you on an intensified basis seven more times for your sins.”

a. The first phrase implies that some wake up as a result of the first cycle of discipline.

2. Leviticus 26:19 “Then I will also break down [destroy] the arrogance of your power; I will make your sky like iron and your earth like bronze.”

a. Notice that once the first cycle of discipline is administered and it does not turn around the nation, arrogance sets in. Arrogance is a whole complex of sins and evil.

b. Today we have the greatest arrogance in places of power. God actually punishes such arrogance among those in power without the humility to use their power properly.

c. The sky like iron and the earth like bronze refers to a drought. Drought means economic disaster, resulting in economic depression.

3. Leviticus 26:20 “Then your strength will be spent uselessly, for your land will not yield its produce, nor will the trees of the land bear their fruit.”

b. The Bible should be interpreted in the time in which it was written. This was written in during an agricultural economy before the industrial revolution.

4. So the second cycle of discipline is a depression, bad social life, no national pride, and people work hard for nothing (inflation).

1. Leviticus 26:21 “If therefore you remain hostile to Me [negative volition toward Bible doctrine], and you are not willing to hear Me, I will multiply your epidemics seven times more as your sins deserve.”

a. God did not speak directly to them but indirectly through His communicators, which at that time were the prophets.

b. In the third cycle, there is the intensification of epidemics and illnesses in the land. In our day, AIDs will break this country if the trend continues, for it is a very serious problem, and may rival the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages.

2. Leviticus 26:22 “I will send wild animals [criminals] against you and they will rob you of your children; they will destroy your cattle and so reduce your population that your roads will be deserted.” With the end of civilization, violence overflows from both animals and people.

3. In the third cycle, the population is thinned out by violence. Crime gets out of control; commerce is stopped; there are natural disasters.

1. So far nothing but grace warnings have been given. Now God will really judge the nation. There will be great uncontrollable crime, military invasion and partial defeat, disease from overcrowding, a shortage of food causing starvation, and even greater natural disasters. Examples can be found by studying Israel in 68 A.D., 586 B.C., and 721 B.C.

2. Leviticus 26:23 “And if by these things you will not be corrected by Me, but will continue to be hostile toward Me [negative volition from cosmic involvement in the stages of reversionism],”

3. Leviticus 26:24 “Then I will go into opposition toward you [literally, act with hostility toward you], and I will strike you seven times more for your sins.” Again, there is the intensification of the characteristics of all the cycles, with something more added, as stated in verse 25.

4. Leviticus 26:25 “I will bring the sword upon you to avenge the breaking of the covenant, and when you retreat into your cities I will send a plague [epidemic] among you, so that you will be delivered into the hands of your enemies.”

a. One of the great signs of loss of freedom, and replacing it with both moral and immoral degeneracy, is when you see the breakdown of the military establishment. The entire book of Numbers is devoted to setting up a mobilization plan for the military.

b. The part of the covenant that was broken was the military part. There was military disaster as a result. Why did the Jews have to retreat into their cities? Because their cities were fortified, and their armies could not win in the field. Once there are overcrowded cities, disease becomes rampant (as illustrated by the Romans when fleeing from Cannibal).

5. Leviticus 26:26 “When I cut off your food supply, ten women will bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat and never be satisfied.”

a. When an army begins to lose a war on its own soil, the first thing to go is food supply. People start to starve, as the south did in the last year of the War between the States. So one of the inevitable results of the fourth cycle of discipline is the beginning of starvation.

b. Ten women baking bread in one oven means there is food rationing. Therefore, after eating a small piece of bread, you are just as hungry as you were before, and even more so.

1. Now there is nothing to eat. Enemies have taken over the country. People are put into slavery. People are afraid of everything. Everyone has become a coward.

2. Leviticus 26:27 “If, in spite of this, you do not listen to Me but continue to be hostile toward Me [toward the message of Bible doctrine],” The only hope is Bible doctrine; there is no hope beyond Bible doctrine. The only hope for the nation is found in believers.

3. Leviticus 26:28 “Then in My anger I will be hostile toward you [no more grace], and I will punish you seven times more for your sins.”

4. Leviticus 26:29 “Then you will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters.”

a. No longer do you eat bread and rationed food, as in the fourth cycle; now you eat people! Cannibalism is the total malfunction of all establishment principles. One of the strongest of all establishment principles is the family and the love of parents for children. But in those days, parents will eat their children.

b. This type of cannibalism actually occurred between 66 and 70 A.D. among Jews under the seige of Jerusalem by the Roman army. Josephus documented such things. Civilization suddenly departs in the fifth cycle of discipline.

5. Leviticus 26:30 “Then I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars, and stack your corpses on the dumb corpses of your idols, for My soul will despise you.” The high places are the meeting places of false doctrine and cults, especially the phallic cult.

6. Leviticus 26:31 “I will turn your cities into ruins, and lay waste to your sanctuaries; I will take no delight in the fact that you suddenly start offering sacrifices.”

7. Leviticus 26:32-33 “I will make the land desolate so that your enemies will settle in it, and will be appalled by its condition. You, however, I will scatter among the nations, and I will draw out My sword and pursue you, and your cities will lie in ruins.”

b. Being scattered among nations means you go into slavery. This happened three times to the Jewish people.

8. Leviticus 26:34 “Then the land will satisfy its Sabbaths . . . , while you are in the land of your enemies; consequently, the land will rest and be paid its Sabbaths.” The Jews had ignored seventy Sabbatical years, and therefore the Southern Kingdom had seventy years under slavery.

9. Leviticus 26:35 “All the days of its desolation [fifth cycle] it will observe the rest which it did not observe in your sabbatical years while you were living in the land.”

10. Leviticus 26:36 “As for those of you who survive [the fifth cycle], I will make their right lobes so afraid in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a wind-blown leaf will put them into flight. In fact, when no one is pursuing, they will run as though fleeing from an army, and they will fall even when no one is pursuing.” People do die of fright.

11. Leviticus 26:37 “Furthermore, they will fall over each other as if fleeing from the sword, although no one is pursuing them; consequently, you will have no strength.” No strength means no military establishment for freedom, and no patriotic motivation. It’s too late in the fifth cycle of discipline, because it takes a long time to train a military establishment.

12. Leviticus 26:38 “But you will perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will devour you.” Enemies of the Jews were those like Assyria, Chaldea, and Rome.

13. Deuteronomy 28:49-67 is another horrible description of the fifth cycle of discipline.

14. Isaiah warned the Northern Kingdom and Jeremiah warned the Southern Kingdom during the first administration of the fifth cycle of discipline to each of these nations.

H. Historical Examples of the Administration of the Fifth Cycle of Discipline to Jewish Client Nations.

2. The fifth cycle of discipline was administered to the Northern Kingdom, Hosea 4:1-6, in 721 B.C. Elijah, Elisha, Amos and Hosea all prophesied the coming of the fifth cycle of discipline. 2 Kgs 17 gives the historical account. Isaiah 28:1-13 gives the prophetical account.

3. The fifth cycle of discipline was administered to the Southern Kingdom in 586 B.C., Jeremiah 50:17, 7:24-29, because they did not listen to the teaching of doctrine, Jeremiah 15:5-6, 13:10-11,17, 17:27, 35:13.

a. The overt manifestation of Jewish reversionism in the Southern Kingdom was idolatry, Jeremiah 2:27-30, 3:9, 7:17-20, 13:10, 17:1-4.

b. The duration of the first fifth cycle of discipline to the Southern Kingdom was seventy years, all of their sabbatical years. Cf Exodus 23:10-11; Leviticus 25:3-4, 26:33-36; 2 Chr 36:20-21; Jeremiah 25:11-12, 29:10; Dan 9:2, 24-27.

b. They were also warned by the teaching of Paul. The gift of tongues was also a warning to Israel that they were about to lose their status as a priest nation to God.

c. The dispensation of the Church and the completion of the Jewish Age both occur while Israel is out under the fifth cycle of discipline.

5. Grace always precedes the fifth cycle of discipline by the warnings of the first four cycles. In the fifth cycle of discipline, you either are killed or become enslaved.

1. The Northern Kingdom was established as a result of a revolution, based on jealousy of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. 1Chronicles 12:30; Psalm 60:7; 2Samuel 19:40-43.

2. Mental attitude sins like jealousy destroy capacity for love. The Northern Kingdom never had the basis to love God because it was founded on jealousy. A kingdom founded on emotional revolt of the soul will inevitably destroy itself. Being built up by emotional revolt, the actual incident that kicked off the revolution was human good when the people complained to Rehoboam with their grievance.

3. The Northern Kingdom began with Jeroboam in 926 B.C. He was in emotional revolt of the soul.

4. Even though the Northern Kingdom had such a bad start, God in His grace tried to stabilize the Northern Kingdom. God provided for the Northern Kingdom special prophets who warned the Northern Kingdom against apostasy and tried to communicate to them the principles of freedom. Four outstanding prophets were involved in this grace push by our Lord.

5. Amos warned the Northern Kingdom in 787 B.C. during the reign of Jeroboam II. Hosea warned the Northern Kingdom, c.746 B.C., during the fourth cycle of discipline when Tiglath-Pileser III was the Assyrian king. In addition, Isaiah provided some warning, as in the first part of Isaiah 28.

6. The fifth cycle of discipline is described in two passages of the Old Testament, so that both the Northern Kingdom and Southern Kingdom had adequate warning about it; Leviticus 26:27-46; Deuteronomy 28:49-67.

7. The historical account of the fifth cycle of discipline to the Northern Kingdom is found in 2 Kg 17:1-12.

8. The prophetical account of the fifth cycle of discipline to the Northern Kingdom is found in Isaiah 28:1-13 and is mentioned in Jeremiah 3:8.

9. Before judgment came to the Northern Kingdom, and during the two years in which the Assyrians were in the Northern Kingdom and even afterward, Jews of the Northern Kingdom fled to the Southern Kingdom and became citizens there. 1Chronicles 9:3.

10. Therefore, there is no such thing as the “ten lost tribes.” The ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom, from the time of Elijah down to the time when Shalmanezer invaded, constantly fled south. So all the tribes were represented in the Southern Kingdom after the Northern Kingdom fell.

11. The fifth cycle of discipline began in 721 B.C. with the fall of Samaria. The Assyrians’ seige began under Shalmanezer V (who died), and ended when Sargon II defeated the Northern Kingdom in battle, Jeremiah 50:17a.

2. The first administration to the Southern Kingdom of the fifth cycle of discipline is called the Babylonian captivity, Jeremiah 50:17b. The time was 586 B.C. The administrator was the Chaldean Empire under Nebuchadnezzar.

3. The second administration to the Southern Kingdom is the present dispersion, Luke 21:40-25. Its time period is August 70 A.D. to the Second Advent. Its administrator was Rome under Vespasian and Titus.

4. The reason for the fifth cycle of discipline was the rejection of Bible doctrine, Jeremiah 7:24-29, 13:10,11,17, 15:5-6, 17:27, 35:13.

5. The overt cause of the fifth cycle of discipline was apostasy and idolatry (which resulted in rejection of Bible doctrine), Jeremiah 2:27-30, 3:9, 7:17-20, 13:10, 17:1-4.

6. The length of the first administration of the fifth cycle of discipline was seventy years. This was determined on the basis of the Jews having rejected seven Sabbatical years over a period of 490 years, Jeremiah 25:11-12, 29:10; Dan 9:2,24-27.

7. During the present dispersion, there are two substitutes for the nation Israel.

1. This passage is addressed to believers. For in the final analysis, it is the believers who are responsible for the rise or fall of a client nation.

2. Hosea 4:1 “Hear the word of the Lord, you citizens of Israel [Northern Kingdom] because the Lord has a case [indictment] against the inhabitants of the client nation, because nothing of doctrine is taught, nothing about grace is being applied; there is no knowledge of God in the land.”

a. Just as God had an indictment against the Jewish client nations, so today He has an indictment against a Gentile client nation, the United States of America.

b. “Because nothing of doctrine is taught.” There is no demand for Bible teaching in time of apostasy.

c. As a result, “nothing of grace is being applied.” Grace and doctrine go together. When they are both gone, that is one of the reasons for the five cycles of discipline.

3. Hosea 4:2 “Instead, there is lying [dishonesty], deception, homicide, stealing, rape, therefore blood touches blood [idiom for perpetual violence].”

4. Hosea 4:3 “Therefore, the land mourns, and all who live in it languish along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air.”

a. “The land mourns” means the people are miserable under the cycles of discipline. No one is enjoying anything or having any fun. Social life, business life, and spiritual life are gone; there is nothing but abject misery.

b. “All who live in it languish” means loss of national courage, patriotism, vitality, and strength.

c. Animals suffer when people suffer. People are viciously cruel under the cycles of discipline.

5. Hosea 4:4 “Yet let no one find fault [as in evil activism]; let no one offer criticism, for your citizens are like those who contend with the priests [communicators of doctrine].”

a. Activism is the last thing you need to get into when under the cycles of discipline.

b. Criticism is blaming other groups. It is the believer who must take the responsibility for these things himself. It is negative volition and a shrinking pivot that brings these things.

6. Hosea 4:5 “Therefore, you have stumbled in the daylight, and even the prophet will stumble with you in the night darkness; and I will destroy your native country [motherland].”

a. Stumbling in the daylight means cosmic involvement, including crusader arrogance. Daylight means becoming a loser by rejecting Bible doctrine after hearing it, or failing to metabolize gnosis doctrine into epignosis doctrine.

b. “And even the prophet will stumble with you” means prophets become false prophets and they teach false doctrine.

c. Today, hundreds of thousands of pulpits speak of “`peace, peace,’ when there is no peace,” just as they said in Jeremiah’s day, Jeremiah 6:14, 8:11; Ezekiel 13:10, 16. Today, pastors peddle false doctrine while the United States is declining for lack of pivot.

d. There can be no pivot without the pastor-teacher communicating the mystery doctrine for the Church Age. There can be no pivot without the manufacture of invisible heroes.

7. Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed by lack of knowledge of doctrine. Because you have rejected the knowledge of doctrine, I will reject you from being My priest nation.”

a. A client nation to God is a priest nation in that it represents God under three factors. The freedom developed in the client nation means:

(3) Freedom to send missionaries to other countries to communicate the Gospel, and form the converts into indigenous local churches.

b. Today, the United States is a priest nation. It may not be tomorrow. The only hope for this country resides in your soul. If there is negative volition, we will go down. If there is a surge in positive volition, it could form a large enough pivot to deliver this country.

8. This prophecy given in Hosea 4 was fulfilled to the Northern Kingdom. What happened to greater nations than we in the past can certainly happen to us tomorrow

R. B. Thieme, Jr. Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

1. This is an important principle in the interpretation of history from the divine viewpoint.

2. Illustrations of this principle from modern history include the French revolution and Bolshevik revolution.

3. This doctrine will explain any future national suffering, and the reason for the administration of the cycles of discipline to a client nation.

1. After 400 years of slavery, the Jews were destined to become the first client nation to God under the great leadership of Moses. But to warn against making bad decisions as a free people, God gave Moses information regarding the four generation curse. This information explains why problems continue and become worse from one generation to another.

2. Ex 20:4-5 is the first statement on this subject as a part of the decalogue. Exodus 20:4-5, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on earth beneath or in the waters below. You will not bow down to them or be caused to serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of their fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who despise Me.”

a. This passage is a warning against idolatry, practiced by the vigorous and powerful Canaanite giants occupying the land. Part of their power came from demonism related to idolatry.

b. The Ten Commandments were, in effect, the Constitution for Israel, designed to help these former slaves establish the concept of freedom in their new nation. The mandates are designed for the protection of freedom.

3. This curse does not apply to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ or to any establishment-oriented unbeliever. Hating God refers to rejection of Jesus Christ. So this curse never applies to the believer unless he spends his life in the cosmic system. Negative volition is the basis of culpability; becoming a believer breaks this four generation curse principle.

4. Ex 20:6 adds comfort to this curse, “But showing mercy to thousands who love Me and guard My mandates.” Even in the fifth cycle of discipline, God always shows mercy to those who live their spiritual life in accordance with God’s plan for their life. No disaster is greater than the Bible doctrine in your soul.

5. Deut 5:8-10 is the second statement of this curse, and is identical to Exodus 20:4-6. Repetition is for inculcation, so that the rate of learning will exceed the rate of forgetting.

6. The third statement of this curse is Exodus 34:6-7. “Then the Lord passed in front of him [Moses] and proclaimed, `The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in mercy and truth, guarding His mercy for thousands [believers], and forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. He punishes the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the grand children to the third and fourth generation.’”

a. After three or four generations, the curse completely burns itself out and there is always a new start after four generations who have been under this curse. This curse is never given where people respond to grace.

b. The abuse of parents creates environmental handicaps which are passed on to their children. The children, therefore, cannot handle their own flaws and problems because of the environmental handicaps.

c. These flaws are never understood or addressed because the people involved are reacting to the abuse and the failure of their parents.

7. The fourth statement is given in Numbers 14:18. “The Lord is slow to anger, and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin, but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.” Each generation is responsible for its own iniquity which is passed on culturally from one generation to the next.

b. Juvenial crime increases in each generation. Life is cheap in the forth generation.

a. The four generation curse always begins when people reject legitimate authority, and it always begins in the home.

b. Though the Jews were given Moses, the greatest human authority ever given to a people by God, the Jews just out of slavery could only think of their freedom. Therefore, they rejected Moses’ authority, associating authority with the slave master.

c. When people are first emancipated from slavery, they’re prone to thinking that freedom means license to do anything, even to break laws.

2. God’s system for a nation calls for the balance of freedom and authority, which is the basis for the laws of divine establishment.

a. Freedom without authority is anarchy; authority without freedom is tyranny. Both are wrong.

b. Our protection from enemies without is the authority of the military. Our protection from enemies within is the police force and the judge. So it takes authority systems to protect your freedom.

3. Your freedom as a human being does not become operative until after you leave home. Your parents are your first lesson of authority, as authorized by divine institution number three, the family. This is why all national suffering is related to the family, and why the sins of the father are visited on the son.

a. We’re born under the authority of parents, because until we learn to submit to authority, we suffer in life under the law of volitional responsibility. All seeming advantages in life are lost if one rejects authority.

b. So rejection of authority is the most prominent cause for suffering in life. Divine institution number one is your free will, and you choose to accept or reject authority from very early in life.

c. Authority is necessary for the very function of life. You never enjoy your freedom or have capacity for freedom until you understand and accept authority.

4. The first generation of a four generation curse will reject authority beginning in the home, Proverbs 30:11, “A generation who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.”

a. People reject the first basic authority of parents because they want to do what others do.

b. The greatest suffering in life comes from rejection of parental authority. The key to the stability of any nation is the home.

c. You must learn obedience before you have capacity to use freedom. All capacities in life start with capacity for authority. No one learns how to live until they can identify and respect authority, regardless of the person in authority.

d. Arrogance begins with rejection of authority. Satan’s arrogance began by the rejection of God’s authority in eternity past.

5. Verse 12 speaks of the parents who teach their children self-righteous arrogance and consequent hypocrisy in the second generation. “A generation who are pure in their own eyes, and yet they are not cleansed from their filth.” During this second generation, there is the intensification of self-righteous arrogance. This is found in “Christian” homes where there is tremendous legalism and blind arrogance.

6. Verse 13 describes the third generation as having locked-in arrogance. “A generation whose eyes are so arrogant that their eyelids are raised in arrogance.”

7. Verse 14 describes the fourth generation, “A generation whose teeth are swords, and whose jaws are set like knives.”

b. We see something of this today in believers who use violence in their crusader arrogance against such things as abortion. Christian leadership today is advocating rebellion against government, civil disobedience, and violence. These are signs that we’re in the fourth generation.

8. In the first generation you reject authority, in the second generation you have a self-righteous justification for arrogance. As a result, the third generation has locked-in arrogance, and the fourth generation has inordinate ambition and lust for power. The fourth generation is the most corrupt of all, having accumulated all the sins of the past three generations plus their own.

9. Everyone wants power, lusting for everything they want. The fourth generation gets everything by hypocrisy; i.e., being the nice guy, doing anything to get what they want.

10. Our first generation was during World War I during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. The second generation was during the Depression. The third generation was the Vietnam generation. We’re now in the fourth generation, especially among young people. This is a very serious problem, since the fourth generation can cause the destruction of our client nation under the five cycles of discipline.

1. You are not in the four generation curse unless you are culpable. Culpability is always based on volition, the volition of each individual in any generation of human history. You are only responsible for your own sins and not the sins of your parents. The four generation curse never exists except where the children of the fourth generation commit the sins of their parents in the third generation.

a. Culpability is liability for divine punishment or discipline from the supreme court of heaven. God holds you responsible for your sins.

b. Culpability is based on the volition of each person in each generation regarding the sins of their parents.

c. No one is culpable unless they repeat the sins of their parents from their own volition or follow the volition of other apostates in their own generation.

2. Deut 24:16, “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; everyone will be put to death for his own sin.”

3. Only those children who react to child abuse or who learn from their parents the evil of their parents and become culpable are involved in the four generation curse. Apart from one’s own culpability no one is under the four generation curse. The sins of the parents have to be repeated in the children of the next generation for culpability and punitive action to be administered. Though you have to sin for yourself to be culpable, the point is that you are influenced. You have a tendency to repeat the sins of your parents, i.e., the arrogance, the vanity, and the mental attitude sins. Choosing to repeat these sins from your own volition results in passing these down to the fourth generation, where all hell breaks loose in revolution, violence, and the destruction of a nation.

4. Apart from your own culpability, no one is under the fourth generation curse. It can be broken in any generation. The simplest way to break the curse is by faith in Christ and the subsequent execution of the protocol plan of God.

5. The sins of the father have to be repeated in the next generation for culpability and punitive action to be administered from God.

6. Otherwise, where there is no culpability, the law of grace applies. Deut 7:9, “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God guarding the covenant and His mercy to the thousandth generation of those who love Him and keep His mandates.” Salvation by grace through faith breaks this curse every time for the individual. This verse particularly refers to reaching personal love for God and spiritual self-esteem.

7. Ps 100:5, “For the Lord is good, and His love endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations.” The word “good” refers to God’s perfect essence. God deals personally with those who break the four generation curse.

8. Jer 31:29-30 says God only visits the sins of the parents on the children of those who reject or disobey Him.

1. Deut 6:4-9, SHAMA ISRAEL, ADONAI ELOHENU, ADONAI ECHAD. This is translated, “Listen [hear], O Israel, Jesus Christ is our God, Jesus Christ is unique.” This verse emphasizes the importance of the client nation providing freedom for people to make positive or negative decisions toward the Gospel and doctrine. This verse defines the necessary ingredients for a client nation.

a. The qal imperative of SHAMA means to be motivated to listen and hear. A client nation must have a people who have humility and are willing to learn Bible doctrine. This teachability overflows to every area in life.

b. ADONAI ELOHENU, “the Lord is our God,” means that as goes the believers, so goes the nation. The size of the pivot determines the prosperity of the nation. Nothing else really counts. No client nation is ever conquered by another nation; it can only go down by destroying itself.

c. ADONAI ECHAD, “the Lord is unique,” means that believers must be motivated to advance to spiritual maturity whether in the ritual plan of God during the Old Testament or in the protocol plan of God during the Church Age. Though the principles of spiritual advance are similar in both dispensations, there are major differences. One is that Israel had visible historical impact under the ritual plan of God; but in the Church Age, the believer is to have invisible historical impact by executing the protocol plan of God.

2. Deut 6:5 defines the motivation necessary to advance spiritually. “Love the Lord your God with all your right lobe and with all of your soul and with all of your strength [power—the three stages of the adult spiritual life].” Having all the doctrine you can get into your stream of consciousness is love for God. This is harmonious rapport with God, which is the spiritual life.

3. Deut 6:6-7, “These words [doctrines] which I am commanding you today shall be in your hearts [stream of consciousness]; you will teach [inculcate] them to your children and shall talk about them: when you sit in your home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, when you get up in the morning [before you go to bed and when you wake up].” The four generation curse is broken by salvation through faith in Christ plus perception and metabolization of doctrine by parents teaching children the spiritual life. You teach by repetition—inculcation. 4. Deut 6:9, “Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” 5. See also Deut 7:9; Psalm 100:5; Jeremiah 31:15-16.

1. In Deut 21, God taught Moses the hard way to break the four generation curse, which is the solution for the incorrigible. Deut 21:18-21, “If a parent has a stubborn and rebellious son [incorrigible teenager, incapable of being corrected, unmanageable] who does not obey his father and mother, consequently, he will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall seize him and bring him before the judges in the court of his town. They shall testify to the judges, `This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey us; he is immoral and a drunkard.’ Then all the men in the town will take him out and stone him to death. You must purge evil from among you; all Israel will hear it and be restrained.” Capital punishment restrains evil; capital punishment restrains crime.

2. To perpetuate the client nation, the four generation curse must be broken either through evangelism and doctrinal teaching or through the punishment of the incorrigible juvenile delinquents.

3. In every generation, there is always a certain number of young people whose arrogance and rejection of authority results in immoral behavior, e.g., rape, drug addiction, burglary, arson, violence, etc. Crime is one of the greatest dangers to freedom. If crime is not controlled by the judicial system, your freedom is gone.

4. One preventative solution is to teach your children when they are young, as taught in Deut 11:18-21, “You will inculcate these doctrines of Mine in your right lobes and minds. Tie them as notes on your hands, and as training aids tie them around your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit down at home, when you travel, before you go to bed, and when you wake up. Write these on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord promised to give to your ancestors, as long as the heavens remain above the earth.”

a. Parents are to teach doctrine to the child’s heart (stream of consciousness)—the spiritual understanding.

b. Parents are to teach doctrine to the child’s mind—the academic understanding.

5. The key to the perpetuation of the client nation is always related to the next generation of young people—whether or not they receive proper training in authority orientation, are evangelized, grow in grace, and form a pivot.

1. Children have often been used by parents as justification for their own negative volition toward God’s will and God’s plan.

2. Two generations of Jews were destroyed as a result of the four generation curse: the Exodus generation, and the generation captured by the Babylonians. In each case, the loser generation had rejected Bible doctrine and used their children as an excuse for their apostasy and failure. And in each case, the children who were used as an excuse turned out far better than their parents, and they broke the four generation curse.

a. Verses 1-25 describe the reconnaissance team sent out by Moses to determine the best way to capture the land. The team returned with two different opinions.

c. Verse 30 is the minority report from Caleb and Joshua. Caleb silenced the people who were already upset from hearing that giants inhabited the land. Numbers 13:30, “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and spoke, `We should by all means invade the land and take possession of it, for we will definitely overcome it.’” Caleb had mixed the promises of God with his faith. He looked at the land of Canaan from the divine viewpoint. He was in harmonious rapport with God.

d. Verse 31-33 is the majority report. Numbers 13:31-33, “But the men who had gone on the mission with him said, `We cannot attack these people, for they are stronger than we are.’ So they disseminated a bad report to the Israelites about the land they had explored, saying, “...There also we saw the giants.’” The carnal believer looks at the problem. They were frightened by the giants; they were in a state of emotional revolt of the soul.

4. Num 14:1-4 is the failure of the first generation, the beginning of a four generation curse, but which was cut off in the next generation. “That night all the people stayed up all night and screamed; consequently, they cried all night [expression of their negative volition and frustration]. And all Israel grumbled [griped] against Moses and Aaron, and the entire congregation said to them, `If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if we had only died in this desert! And now, why is the Lord bringing us into this land to be killed by the sword? And our wives and children will be taken as plunder? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt [in slavery]?’ So they said to each other [worked each other up], `We will elect a new leader and go back to Egypt.’”

5. The doctrinal viewpoint is given in Numbers 14:6-10, represented again by Joshua and Caleb. Part of the message in verse 9, “Do not rebel against the Lord; do not fear the people of the land. We will eat them up [their protection is gone]. The Lord is with us; do not be afraid of them.” Verse 10 is the reaction of the people, “But the congregation said, `Let’s stone them.’”

6. The pardon of the Exodus generation through the intersession of Moses is found in Numbers 14:20-23, “Therefore the Lord answered, `I have pardoned them on the basis of your word [the intersession of Moses]; nevertheless, as surely as I live, and as surely as the glory of the Lord shall fill all the earth none of the men who have seen My glory and My miraculous signs which I have performed in Egypt and in the desert, where they tested Me ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I promised to them with an oath to their fathers, nor shall any of those who despised Me see it.’” God had given them the most gracious pardon in all of human history. But no sooner were they pardoned and forgiven and they were off again into sinning. The continued sinning until they died the sin unto death. Despising the Lord means failure to fulfill the spiritual life given by the Lord. The pardon of the Exodus generation had no impact on their scar tissue of the soul.

7. Num 14:29-34 is the statement of God’s discipline to the first generation. “In this desert, your bodies will fall, every one of you, twenty years old or more, who was counted in the census and who has grumbled [complained] against Me. Not one of you will enter the land, except Caleb and Joshua. As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land that you have rejected. But you, your bodies [corpses] will fall in this desert. Your children during this time will be shepherds, here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness until your corpses lie in the desert. For forty years, one year for each of the forty days you explored the land, you will suffer for your sins, and you will know what it is to have Me against you.”

a. The second generation would not only go into the land and conquer it, but they would enjoy it! The difference between the first and second generation was attitude toward Bible doctrine. So the four generation curse was broken in the second generation.

b. God used the suffering experienced by the second generation to provide for them providential preventative suffering, in order to strengthen their spiritual self-esteem so that when they marched into the land, they would form a strong pivot.

c. So this was a combination of two categories of suffering, both the law of volitional responsibility and divine discipline. They had self- induced misery and divine discipline.

1. In the New Testament, there is one great illustration of the four generation curse, found in Matthew 2:14ff, Matt 14, and Acts 12, 24, and 25. It’s the story of a half Jewish and half Arab family.

2. Its first generation was that of Herod the Great. Herod had every opportunity for salvation, but he rejected Christ as Savior. Herod killed three of his own sons, forty five members of the Sanhedrin, and all the children in Bethlehem, Matt 2. God used Herod to postpone the Jewish revolt against Rome for 100 years.

3. Herod the Great was followed by his son, Antipas the Fox, Matt 14, representing the second generation under the curse. He took his wife, Herodius, the wife of his uncle Philip, from the third generation. Antipas had the greatest opportunity to believe in Christ, Luke 23:4-12. He died in misery and poverty.

4. The third generation was Herod Agrippa I, mentioned in Acts 12. He also rejected Christ for salvation and was responsible for the martyrdom of James.

5. The fourth generation was represented by three of the great- grandchildren of Herod: Herod Agrippa II, and his sisters Bernice and Drucilla. All three heard the preaching of the Apostle Paul, and all three rejected it. Acts 24-25 is the story of Felix and his wife Drucilla, the sister of Herod Agrippa II. Bernice became the mistress of the emperor Titus.

1. Jeremiah 11 delineates the old covenant, the Mosaic Law, which was basis of freedom. But that was rejected so that the Jews went back into slavery.

2. In Jeremiah’s day, the four generation curse on idolatry reached its peak. Therefore, the fifth cycle of discipline was administered, Jeremiah 16:10-13.

3. So in Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah looks way out ahead to the Millennium, where he sees Christ returning to the earth and perfect environment. There he sees the New Covenant, which will give to the world the greatest freedom it has ever known.

4. Therefore, maximum knowledge of doctrine in the Millennium will break the four generation curse under the function of the New Covenant to Israel, Jeremiah 31:29-34.

R. B. Thieme, Jr. Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

Special: the Higher Purpose of Freedom, 7/4/95; Jeremiah 80; PPG 3,8 6/19/84; Ephesians 287, 325 7/8/86

1. Freedom is the status of human volition as the uncaused cause of human function. Live and let live is the principle of freedom. Freedom is legitimate self-determination. It is exemption from necessity apart from human consent. Freedom is self-fulfillment. Freedom is exemption from arbitrary control and exploitation. Freedom is related to privacy, property, and authority. Therefore, it emphasizes the need for the laws of divine establishment which define legitimate authority, designed for the protection of freedom.

2. The second concept that comes from volition in the soul is privacy, which is the environment for the establishment of freedom. Freedom always demands that the individuals under it have their privacy. This includes for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ the privacy of the priesthood. You have a double privacy.

3. Freedom includes the right to possess, enjoy, benefit, or to make profit from the acquired things of this life, that is, the true concept of property. Property is defined as the sum total of one’s possessions, tangible and intangible. Under freedom, the individual has a right to make a profit and to possess personal and real property. Ownership means any valuable right or interest which can be considered as a source of wealth.

4. Freedom includes authority. Authority under the laws of divine establishment include personal volition, marriage, family, government. Authority without freedom is tyranny. Freedom without authority is anarchy. Under the laws of divine establishment, freedom and authority are mated. You cannot have one without the other. Freedom without the authority of doctrine is antinomianism. Authority without the freedom of the royal priesthood is legalism.

5. Both life and property are sacred under the laws of divine establishment. The laws of divine establishment recognize the sacredness of property, privacy, and life as the function of human freedom. Therefore, human cannot exist or be effective apart from human responsibility. The freedom of a nation is no more effective than the morality, virtue, integrity, and sense of responsibility of all of its citizens. Freedom and authority must coexist on the basis of integrity—the virtue and values attained by a nation in any given generation of its history.

a. Criminality is the internal enemy to freedom. Law enforcement is the part of establishment designed to apprehend and punish criminals. Once a person is convicted of a crime, they have no rights under the Scriptural view of law until they have served their sentence. Capital punishment is authorized by the word of God as the greatest control of criminality when properly practiced. Genesis 9:5–6 Matthew 26:52 Romans 13:3–4 Exodus 21:12 Numbers 35:30

b. The external enemy to freedom are other nations. There are two general categories of nations: those that are power oriented and function under some system of tyranny, and those nations that are freedom oriented and function under the laws of divine establishment. Without Jesus Christ ruling the earth at the second Advent, there will always be wars. Freedom from power oriented nations comes from freedom through military victory.

7. The greatness of a nation can only be measured by the virtue of its freedom and the integrity of its authority.

a. Psalm 119:45, “And I will seek freedom, for I seek Your doctrines, O God.”

b. John 8:32, “and you shall know the doctrine, and the doctrine [truth] shall make you free.”

c. Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free; therefore keep standing fast and do not become entangled again in the yoke of slavery.” In context, this refers to slavery to the arrogance skills, slavery to legalism and activism, slavery to the dictates of the sin nature.

a. Freedom can neither guarantee nor manufacture equality in the human race. Some use freedom to advance under the principle of self-determination; others use freedom to retrogress. There is no equality in heaven. Eternal reward is determined by the use of volition in time.

b. Freedom is a reality and equality is a myth. The function of freedom guarantees inequality. Equality is the device of the arrogant and the disoriented person. Forced equality is not only the policy of tyrants, but is the basis for Satan’s eschatological cosmos diabolicus.

9. Freedom is the motivation of the grace-oriented person who follows the principle of live and let live.

10. Freedom is the policy of God in the creation of the human race to resolve the angelic conflict. The very fact that God created us with volition indicates that He intended us to exercise our free will as a part of the angelic conflict.

11. Freedom should be dogmatic and inflexible about the essentials of life, and flexible and pliable about the non-essentials. Therefore, freedom is common sense and orientation to reality.

12. Freedom must have content of thought. Spiritual thought content is revealed in the Word of God.

a. Establishment freedom is the heritage of physical birth, beginning with the imputation of human life at birth to the soul.

(1) When God imputes human life to the soul and Adam’s original sin to the old sin nature, He provides human freedom at the same time.

(2) All members of the human race are born free, but not all are born equal. All people are born free in the sense that all are born with volition.

b. Mankind was created by God and placed on the earth to resolve the prehistoric angelic conflict. To this end, he was given freedom, with establishment as its protection. Mankind has only one thing in common with angels, and that is freedom or free will.

c. Human freedom is the true environment for the function of man’s volition. It is the only real environment for the function of establishment freedom.

d. God has delegated establishment authority to command, to train, to prepare people for life, to employ, to teach, to act as an agent for a principle; e.g., for business, marriage, family, team, city, or nation.

e. Freedom cannot exist without authority. Authority without freedom is tyranny; freedom without authority is anarchy. Both tyranny and anarchy destroy human freedom.

f. Temporal freedom is designed for the entire human race under the laws of divine establishment. It is based on the function of human volition, privacy, and the sacredness of property and life.

(1) Volition is legitimate self-determination. It is exemption from necessity apart from human consent. It is self-fulfillment. It is exemption from arbitrary control or exploitation. The function of volition is the privilege and franchise of mankind.

(2) Privacy is the environment of human freedom. Only criminals have no right to privacy.

(3) Property is the expression of freedom. The very fact that you own anything is indicative of the fact that you live in an environment of freedom.

(a) Property is the right to possess, to acquire, to benefit, and to make a profit from acquired things in life. Property is defined as anything subject to ownership, i.e., the ownership of tangible things.

(b) Ownership is the manifestation of human freedom. Ownership, in the broad sense, is any viable right or interest which may be considered as a source of wealth, whether it is property, money, business, or brick-a-bra.

(4) Life, as well as property, is sacred. Mankind must possess life to exercise and function under the principle of freedom.

g. The laws of divine establishment as found in Romans 13:1-10 recognize the sacredness of privacy, property, and life as the means of functioning under temporal freedom. Those who violate these sacred rights are criminals who have no right to privacy, property, or even life under certain conditions.

i. Human freedom is for all believers and unbelievers in a nation. Human freedom must be earned and deserved; therefore, it is not directly related to the grace plan of God in which you cannot earn or deserve anything.

j. Both the believer and unbeliever are responsible for human freedom. The unbeliever is just as responsible as the believer to maintain human freedom. The believer, therefore, must serve in the military just as the unbeliever must. No distinction is made between believer and unbeliever in terms of obligatory military service.

k. Freedom in a nation is no more effective than the morality, virtue, and sense of responsibility in all of its citizens.

(1) Morality in itself is not the issue for the believer, because morality by itself without God leads to arrogance. But morality does protect establishment freedom. Virtue, which is higher than morality, is what is required of believers.

(2) Morality is required of the unbeliever; virtue is required of the believer. All citizens should have a personal sense of responsibility.

l. Human freedom is earned by the recognition of the laws of divine establishment. It is preserved through the military establishment and law enforcement. The military protects our freedom from enemies without; law enforcement protects our freedom from enemies within.

m. Human freedom demands separation of church and state. Believers have no right to superimpose so-called “Christian laws” on the state; that’s evil.

n. Human freedom demands separation of the military and state. The United States is one of the few countries that recognize this principle. Hence, our military has always been subordinate to our civilian government, which is a great protection against military dictatorships.

p. Human freedom demands separation of business enterprise and the state. This separation is crucial to the full function of free enterprise, without which there is no successful economy. Every business, unless it is criminal, has every right to be successful, to make as much money as possible, and to be efficient.

q. Human freedom is purchased by military victory against enemies outside the state, and by successful law enforcement against criminals who are enemies inside the state.

r. Exodus 20:1-17, the ten commandments, lists mandates for the entire human race for the preservation of human freedom.

a. Just as establishment freedom is the heritage of physical birth, so spiritual freedom is the heritage of the new birth or regeneration. 2Corinthians 3:17-18, “Now the Lord is the Spirit [God the Holy Spirit is deity], and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with an unveiled face looking into a mirror to produce a reflection of the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into that same image from glory to glory, as it were from the Spirit of the Lord.”

(1) Spiritual freedom is the environment for all believers to execute the unique spiritual life of all time.

(2) The believer must never use his spiritual freedom to endanger or hurt the divine blessings which accompany such freedom. Any believer who does not execute the four spiritual mechanics and objectives of the Christian way of life is hurting this nation.

(3) The believer must use his spiritual freedom to advance through the function of the four spiritual mechanics and thereby attain the two tactical and two strategic objectives of the spiritual life.

(4) Our unveiled face is the positive believer in the consistent function of the two power options—the filling of the Spirit and metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness. The mirror is the word of God. We look into the word of God to produce the reflection of the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union.

(5) Galatians 4:19 summarizes this concept, “until Christ is formed in you.”

b. Spiritual freedom is for believers only. It is the function of spiritual freedom that is the basis for the execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church.

c. The function of spiritual freedom is based on cognition and utilization of the spiritual skills: the filling of the Spirit, metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness, and ten problem solving devices which you deploy on the FLOT line of the soul as you learn the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.

d. Human freedom cannot exist or be effective without human responsibility. This is also true of spiritual freedom; we have responsibility.

(1) First, we cannot have spiritual freedom without making the decision to believe in Christ.

(2) Thereafter, we must make thousands of daily decisions to live inside the divine dynasphere, under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine. Spiritual freedom only exists inside the divine dynasphere.

e. You get a taste of spiritual freedom at salvation. The moment you believe in Christ, the Holy Spirit enters you into your divine dynasphere, the only place of spiritual freedom. When you sin, you’re out; grieving the Holy Spirit in cosmic one, or quenching the Holy Spirit in cosmic two. Then you no longer have spiritual freedom because you are in Satan’s dungeon.

f. Spiritual freedom is the basis for equal opportunity for every Church Age believer to execute the protocol plan of God for the Church. We have equality to succeed or fail under the freedom God has provided.

g. Spiritual freedom is destroyed by the function of the arrogance skills—self-justification, self-deception, self-absorption.

h. The believer can live and function without temporal freedom, but he cannot execute the protocol plan of God without spiritual freedom.

b. There is relativity of degeneration among power-oriented nations; i.e., the level of degeneration, whether moral or immoral, varies among power-oriented nations.

c. For example, the USSR is very strict with strong law enforcement. But as a power-oriented nation, they have their own form of evil. They have eliminated evil on the street, e.g., the little guy, the criminal, and drugs. But Soviet evil exists on a much larger scale, as evidenced in Afghanistan, where an entire population is being murdered. Therefore, the USSR can be called Evil One.

d. On the other hand, the USA has grass roots evil today. Grass roots evil is characterized by the all-ruling “public opinion.” Our general public opinion is pitiful, lacking intelligence and understanding of any kind. This contributes to our bureaucratic pettiness.

(1) As a result, the current mindset is characterized by evil; e.g., if a business is too successful, tax it; if it is more than too successful, break it up and destroy it (as was done to AT&T).

e. Revelation teaches the principle that Evil One eventually destroys Evil Two. This will soon apply to the USA if we continue on our present course.

f. Russia is a typical illustration of a power-oriented empire. Communism rejects individual freedom and subordinates everything to the state. Therefore, they can enforce morality. This is manifest in their unbeliever legalism. For example, if you drop a piece of paper, your fellow comrade will report you. This leads to very self-righteous attitudes. Hence, Russia’s evil is moral degeneracy.

g. By contrast, the USA is being destroyed at the grass roots level by both believers and unbelievers who practice both moral and immoral degeneracy. Our moral degeneracy is manifested in crusader arrogance. Our immoral degeneracy is manifested in many ways: drug addiction, openness of homosexual society, and all the many anti-establishment functions which undermine society.

b. However, we live in a world of nations who are power-oriented rather than freedom-oriented, and they function under principles of tyranny.

c. Whether a Christian lives under a government of freedom or tyranny, he still possesses the divine dynasphere at salvation and the higher freedom of spiritual freedom. Therefore, he can execute the protocol plan of God whether he lives in a nation and environment of freedom or of tyranny.

d. There are believers without temporal freedom in communist countries, yet they are still free to fulfill the plan of God. God makes special provision under logistical grace to keep them alive to execute His plan.

e. For example, a positive believer in communist Russia can advance from gate #4 to gate #8, because in the divine dynasphere he has the spiritual freedom to do so. If he has positive volition, God will provide the information.

f. Actually, spiritual freedom can coexist with either temporal freedom or tyranny, because spiritual freedom is the private state of the believer residing in his own palace.

g. Spiritual freedom in the divine dynasphere can actually function with or without human freedom. Some of the greatest believers in the Roman Empire were slaves with very limited or no human freedom. But inside the divine dynasphere, they advanced to spiritual maturity under spiritual freedom and became great believers in the Roman Empire.

h. However, most believers today are not using their spiritual freedom. They are functioning in cosmic one, grieving the Spirit, preoccupied with themselves in arrogance, and they are functioning in cosmic two, quenching the Spirit, carried away with their own intellect and occupied with other people. As a result, this great spiritual freedom of the Church Age is being rejected.

a. Only spiritual freedom can fulfill the protocol plan of God. Human freedom depends upon the work of man, but spiritual freedom is a part of the riches of God’s grace.

b. Human freedom depends upon human works; spiritual freedom depends on the filling of the Spirit which only exists in the divine dynasphere.

c. Many wonderful works have been performed to protect our human freedom under the principle of freedom through military victory. Many police officers have dedicated their lives to our human freedom. Though these are good and honorable human works, they are still human works. Your human freedom doesn’t depend on you, but on a lot of other people, such as the police officer, the judge on the bench, good government administrators, good lawmakers, good supreme courts, your neighbors, and all citizens.

d. The Constitution of the United States is one of the greatest documents in all of human history. It guarantees our “religious freedom.” But even religious freedom is not spiritual freedom. Religious freedom is the freedom to worship as you please, to accept and believe in Christ or to reject Him. This means you are free to be involved in any religious sect or organization. All this is actually a part of human freedom.

e. Spiritual freedom cannot be guaranteed by the Constitution. Spiritual freedom can only be guaranteed by your own positive volition toward Bible doctrine, and by your residence, function, and momentum inside your very own palace, the operational-type divine dynasphere.

f. Therefore, spiritual freedom is the monopoly of the believer in Christ. It exists only in the divine dynasphere. You walk into spiritual freedom when you believe in Christ.

a. Establishment freedom is the heritage of physical birth. Spiritual freedom is the heritage of regeneration.

b. Spiritual freedom is can function with or without establishment freedom, depending upon the circumstances of life. Establishment freedom or lack of it is related to public modus operandi in the nation, while spiritual freedom is invisible. It is related to the privacy of your royal priesthood under the filling of the Holy Spirit and the metabolization of doctrine.

c. Establishment freedom is based on human morality and virtue, both in thinking and action as illustrated by the function of law enforcement and the military establishment.

d. Spiritual freedom is non-meritorious, because it is related to the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past and the provision in time of the four spiritual mechanics.

e. Establishment freedom recognizes the principle that freedom without authority is anarchy and authority without freedom is tyranny. Freedom is the virtue of its people and the integrity of its authority.

(1) Human freedom emphasizes self-determination in the function of human volition, and takes responsibility for one’s own decisions.

(2) Therefore, human freedom demands a personal sense of responsibility in all citizens, believers and unbelievers, and subordination to all legitimate authority in life, e.g., parent, coach, teacher, professor, police officer, judge, senior officer, or boss.

(3) Human freedom is relative, based on the type of government and the policy of a nation or empire for its citizens.

(4) Human freedom is a merit system which depends on law enforcement, self-restraint, self-discipline, thoughtfulness of others, and freedom through military victory. Human freedom is no stronger than the thinking or mental attitude of leadership at the local, state, and national levels.

f. Therefore, spiritual freedom is an absolute. The carnal Christian does not have spiritual freedom; only the believer who is said to be spiritual has spiritual freedom.

g. The greatest decision of human freedom is to believe in Jesus Christ for salvation. However spiritual freedom, by way of contrast, requires that you make constant decisions to live your very own spiritual life. Therefore, as the Romans put it: WINQIT QUI PATITUR, translated “He is a winner who perseveres.”

1. There is no more dramatic passage in the Bible than the principle of spiritual freedom found in 2Corinthians 3:17-18. “Now the Lord is the Spirit [Holy Spirit], and where the Spirit of the Lord is [in the body of the believer and in the divine dynasphere], there is [spiritual] freedom. But we all [royal family], with an unveiled face [filling of the Spirit], beholding as in a mirror [Word of God] the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image [cf. Galatians 4:19] from glory [humanity of Christ in prototype divine dynasphere] to glory [momentum of believer in divine dynasphere], just as from the Spirit of the Lord [enabling power].”

2. This passage starts out by telling us that the Holy Spirit is God. It is one of the rare passages that document the deity of the Holy Spirit. Here He is called KURIOS, a Greek word for deity.

3. The filling of the Spirit is the means of living the Christian way of life, and/or the enabling power to execute the protocol plan of God.

4. Galatians 5:16, “Walk by means of the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.”

5. When we look into the mirror of the Word of God, it is not our reflection we see, but the mirror of the Word produces the reflection of Jesus Christ as the Shekinah Glory.

6. “Being transformed into the same image” is a reference to Galatians 4:19: “My little children, I am sweating you out until Christ is formed in you.” Christ being formed in you is the key to 2Corinthians 3:18.

1. Free will in man is the only thing that man has in common with angels. Human freedom, therefore, is an extension of the angelic conflict into human history. Man was created to resolve the angelic conflict. And man’s freedom functioning on a non-meritorious basis resolves certain aspects of that conflict.

2. Therefore, the greatest issue in human freedom is evangelism. However, in the function of evangelism, a public invitation to believe in Christ is a violation of the privacy of human freedom. It is a misinterpretation of Romans 10:9-10.

1. God has provided the laws of divine establishment to protect the volition, rights, privacy, and property of individuals.

5. The two most honorable professions in the world in relation to human freedom are the police force and the military.

6. Human freedom is protected by authority for the purpose of continued evangelism and teaching of Bible doctrine in Satan’s world.

F. The Spiritual Function of Freedom. Non-meritorious human positive volition can function in three ways under God’s plan of grace.

2. In rebound by acknowledgment of sin, where the justice of God is free to forgive us and enter us back into the divine dynasphere.

3. In the protocol plan of God by positive volition toward the teaching of the Word of God, in order that we may reach the point of spiritual maturity, Galatians 5:1.

1. Jesus Christ set the precedent at the cross. Hebrews 5:8. He was free to reject the cross, but He recognized the Father’s authority and became obedient even unto death, Philippians 2:8.

2. Matt 26:39 says that our Lord was totally obedient. His obedience at the cross results in our spiritual freedom which we have inside the divine dynasphere, Galatians 5:1.

3. The application to us is that we need to exercise self-discipline and consistently use our freedom for the perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine.

1. Freedom demands responsibility. We are free, but we are not irresponsibly free.

2. All people have a responsibility to obey the laws of establishment. Morality is the human safeguard for freedom.

3. Moral responsibility demands waiting for one’s right partner in life, good manners, paying taxes, serving in the military, and obeying the law.

4. Good manners are a sign of being inculcated with the principle of freedom. You curtail your freedom by thoughtfulness for others. A self- disciplined man is always a gentleman. A gentleman is someone who recognizes that others have freedom as well, and he subordinates his freedom to them.

5. True love cannot be coerced; it must be freely given. When true love is given, it demands in return privacy, caring, and cherishing that love.

1. The adult individual must be free to make his own successes or mistakes. Therefore, he must take the responsibility for all his decisions.

2. A person is not mature until he is able to take the responsibility for his own decisions on a consistent basis.

3. Parents must realize that there comes a time in their child’s life when he becomes an adult and must make his own choices, good or bad.

2. Ignorance is no excuse. Whether you knew it was a sin or not, you still wanted to do it. Therefore, you and you alone are responsible for your own sins.

4. Criminals are criminals because of the decisions of their own volition to violate freedom and try to get away with it. Therefore, criminals must lose their freedom and be punished.

5. The old sin nature never functions apart from total agreement of human free will. Volition plus temptation from the old sin nature produces sin.

6. The first sin ever committed was committed by a woman. She didn’t understand what she was doing was sin, but God still held her responsible.

1. Knowledge of doctrine frees the believer from slavery to the old sin nature, permitting him to accurately live the Christian way of life, John 8:32. Doctrine frees us to have a relationship with God in time.

2. Jesus Christ provided us with spiritual freedom to serve God and advance to maturity, Galatians 3:13, 5:1.

4. This freedom is related to the ministry of the Holy Spirit, 2Corinthians 3:17, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is [spiritual] freedom.”

5. The “Word of God” is called the law of liberty because it defines the believer’s freedom to glorify God through Bible doctrine, James 1:25, 2:12.

6. Positive volition to Bible doctrine is the basis for freedom in the client nation, Psalm 119:45. This is why freedom is part of our national heritage.

7. The Ten Commandments are the Magna Charta of human freedom. Exodus 20:2. Deuteronomy 5:6. The Year of Jubilee, wherein everyone started all over every fifty years, was designed to maintain and perpetuate the freedom of a nation. Leviticus 25:10.

8. As the Mosaic Law provided freedom in the Age of Israel, so today the Holy Spirit provides freedom in the Church Age, 2Corinthians 3:17; Romans 8:2-4.

9. Slavery was a national issue in Jeremiah’s day, Jeremiah 34:8-17. Jeremiah constantly warned against soul slavery. The people’s souls were shackled, and slavery of the soul always ends up in physical slavery or death.

10. Eternal liberty belongs to the children of God, Romans 8:21. Our eternal freedom is related to the doctrine of redemption, Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18-20.

11. Experiential sanctification provides daily freedom to serve God, Romans 6:16-20; while positional sanctification provides freedom from slavery to the old sin nature, Romans 6:7. If you’re going to serve God, you must have freedom from the old sin nature, even though the old sin nature is still in you.

12. Bible doctrine learned and metabolized under operation Z provides freedom from soul slavery, John 8:30-36; James 1:25, 2:12.

13. Therefore, liberty is the modus vivendi of Christianity, Galatians 5:13; 1Peter 2:16. That means that every believer, even with a small amount of doctrine, ought to understand freedom, free enterprise, patriotism.

14. Legalism seeks to enslave the believer and destroy that liberty, Galatians 2:4. This is why false teachers, though in slavery themselves, promise freedom to their victims, 2Peter 2:19.

15. Freedom provides that stability of soul necessary for both occupation with Christ and worship, 2Chronicles 29:31.

16. Since salvation and the inculcation of doctrine provide freedom for the soul, human slavery does not hinder the believer from serving God, 1Corinthians 7:20-23. This is why Paul told believer slaves to not break out of slavery, for they are God’s freemen and can continue to serve God. And to those who were free, he told them to consider themselves God’s servants, free to serve Him. Galatians 3:28 teaches the same principle.

a. Giving is an expression of worship which commemorates the grace policy of God. Giving in the Church Age is the function of the believer’s royal priesthood, and since it is, giving must be accomplished in privacy without being pressured. There are four categories of Christian service, one of them is giving.

b. The first category of Christian service is the function of your spiritual gift under the filling of the Holy Spirit. The second category of Christian service is related to your royal priesthood and it includes prayer, giving, and the execution of the protocol plan of God through learning, thinking, solving. Christian service is related to your royal ambassadorship and that includes evangelism, personal witnessing, administration in the local church, function in the mission field, working with young people or functioning in the various legitimate Christian service organisations. The fourth category of Christian service is related to the laws of divine establishment and it includes military service, law enforcement, government, but never activism.

c. Giving is further defined as the presentation of money or other valuable commodities which may be used in the sustaining the ministry of communication in the spiritual gift of either evangelism or pastor-teacher.

2. Motivation is the major issue in giving. People think in terms of the amount given but that is wrong. In fact, even if you cannot even give you can still give through your mental attitude. Mental attitude is the key to giving, not the amount given — 2Corinthians 9:7. “ … for God loves a grace-oriented believer” — corrected translation. Grace orientation, problem-solving device number 4, is the true basis for giving. 2Corinthians 9:8 goes on to say that when you find this kind of person God provides the money to give — “for God is able to make all grace abound unto you.” God graciously provides extra finances for the grace giver to give. For the only legitimate system of giving is a grace giver giving to a grace cause.

a. Verse 9 is a quotation from Psalm 112:9 — Just as it stands written, He scatters abroad [God gives extra money to certain people], He gave to the poor; His righteousness abides forever. God provides under grace but God’s grace righteousness also meets at the point of grace giving.

b. Verse 10 — Now He who supplies seed to the sower [capital] and bread for food, shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;

c. Verse 11 — You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

d. Verse 12 — This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God.

e. There is a passage that starts with a mental attitude, never giving under compulsion, and ends up in many expressions of thanksgiving to God. Giving is a mental attitude based upon a problem-solving device — grace orientation.

3. Giving is an expression of mental attitude in every circumstance of life, 2Corinthians 8:2.

4. Giving must express an attitude toward the Lord before it can express an attitude toward people, 2Corinthians 8:5.

5. Giving depends on consistent function of post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation - perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine, 2Corinthians 8:7 — “But just as you excel in everything, in faith-rest, and in doctrine, and in knowledge, and in all diligence, and in love [impersonal] from you to us, and also you excel in this grace giving.” They excelled in giving not on the basis of whether they liked someone or not but on the basis of impersonal love, the virtue of the subject rather than the attractiveness of the object.

a. Precedence for giving is derived from the dispensation of the hypostatic union and is predicated on grace, 2Corinthians 8:9 — “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich [He was eternal God], yet for your sakes he became poor [true humanity in hypostatic union], so that you through his poverty [being judged for our sins on the cross] might become rich.”

b. Giving is a mental attitude related to an overt act, 2Corinthians 8:12 — “For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable on the basis of what one has [willingness counts for giving], not on the basis of what one does not have.”

c. Therefore giving is related to motivation from metabolised doctrine in the right lobe of the soul, 2Corinthians 9:7 — “Each one as he has determined in his right lobe, so give; not from distress of mind, or under compulsion: for God loves a gracious giver.” The key to giving is grace orientation.

d. God in His matchless grace provides both the spiritual motivation and the monetary capital for grace giving, 2Corinthians 9:8.

e. God in His matchless grace provides both the monetary capital for grace giving and makes it part of your Christian service, 2Corinthians 9:10.

f. Generosity of mental attitude results in generosity of giving, 2Corinthians 9:11 — “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.”

g. Giving is a part of Christian service, 2Corinthians 9:12 — “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanksgiving to God.”

h. The concept of giving is also related to two spiritual gifts: the gift of pastor-teacher and the gift of evangelism. The problem here is that the gift of pastor-teacher must make an issue out of two things as a recipient of support from believers. He must make an issue out of the Gospel and, therefore, while he does not have the gift of evangelism he evangelises. And he must make an issue out of “after salvation what?” — what is the Christian way of life? the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. Therefore the pastor must constantly use his spiritual gift to proclaim the Gospel when it is in a passage. If you make an issue out of money you cannot make an issue out of the Gospel. The pastor must never make an issue out of money — 2Corinthians 11:7, “Because I preach the gospel to you without charge …” 2Corinthians 11:8 — “I robbed other churches [like Philippi], taking wages from them to serve you;” Paul wasn’t supported by the Corinthians. He couldn’t have made an issue out of the Gospel and the mystery doctrine. So the Philippian church supported Paul in Corinth.

i. The pastor exchanges spiritual blessings to the congregation in exchange for material blessing from the congregation. Hence the fulfilment of the principle: mutual blessing by association. Philippians 1:5 — “Because of your contribution from the first day until now for the purpose of spreading the gospel;”

j. Giving reflects the mental attitude of the congregation towards their right pastor, Phil. 4:10 — “I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed you have been concerned but you lacked opportunity to give.”

k. Giving is the application of Bible doctrine on the part of the congregation, Philippians 4:14 — “And you yourselves also recognized that in the beginning of my ministry with reference to the gospel, when I had departed from Macedonia, not one church contributed to me in the application of doctrine of giving and receiving, except you [Philippians] only.”

l. Giving is a grace production in Christian service, Philippians 4:17 — “Not because I seek the gift from you; but I seek after the grace production of divine good which accumulates to your account.”

m. Giving to one’s right pastor is maximum blessing to the pastor and pleasing to God, Philippians 4:18 — “Moreover I have received all of your gifts and I have an abundance: I have been filled with blessing, having received from Epaphroditus the things [money] from you, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.”

n. The grace concept of giving is found in both the Old and the New Testament. Proverbs 11:24 - “There is the one who gives generously, yet he becomes more prosperous; and there is also the one who holds back in giving what is fitting, and he becomes impoverished.”

o. There is a second principle in Proverbs 11:25 — “The generous person will be prosperous: and he who gives water will himself also be caused to have water” — agricultural economy relating, of course, to irrigation.

p. The grace concept of giving in the New Testament: 1 Cor. 16:2 — “On the first day of the week let each one of you put aside, and save on the basis of his prosperity, that no collections be taken when I come.”

1. Glory is used in a number of ways in the scripture. The first way it is used is connected with the essence of God. The essence box is the glory of God. Since His essence is perfect glory is used for the entire essence box. E.g. Romans 3:23, “… all have come short of the glory [essence box] of God.” Ephesians 1:17; Deuteronomy 5:24; Psalm 21:5 are used as illustrations of where the word “glory” is used for the essence of God. Since God has an inherent glory one of the objectives of Bible doctrine is the realisation of this inherent glory and provision.

2. Glory is used for the edification complex of the soul. The first objective of the Christian way of life is the ECS. Ephesians 3:21; Colossians 1:27; 1Peter 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:14.

3. The right woman is the glory of the right man — 1Corinthians 11:7,15. When right woman finds her right man she so responds to him as to become his glory. The woman’s long hair is the sign of her glory but her soul’s function is the actual glory. Just as the ECS reflects the glory of God when a man finds his right woman she reflects his glory.

4. The grace of God is also described as glory — Ephesians 1:6. That is another way in which the believer demonstrates the glory of God with his capacity for grace in the supergrace life. In the supergrace life grace pursues him. The pursuit of grace means living by grace and living by grace glorifies God.

5. The provision of God’s grace is also called wealth — “the riches of his glory,” Ephesians 1:18; 3:16; Philippians 4:19.

6. There is a glory in the future which is beyond human cognisance. This is called the glory of eternity. Heaven and eternal life are described as glory in 1Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:10; 1Peter 5:10; 2Peter 1:3.7.

7. There is another rather negative use of the word glory in scripture. Human glamour is described as glory in 1Peter 1:24; Philippians 3:19. This is a limited use of the word.

8. Glory is used to describe the wonders of the universe — 1Corinthians 15:40,41.

9. Glory is used to describe the resurrection body of the believer — 1Corinthians 15:43; 2 Thessalonians 3:14.

10. Glory is associated with operation footstool and the presentation of the Church as the bride of Christ at the second advent — Hebrews 2:10.

1. Glory is used for the essence of God. Many times when glory appears in the scripture it refers to who and what God is. Romans 3:23 — sin is failure to measure up to the character of God; Ephesians 1:17; Deuteronomy 5:24; Psalm 21:5.

2. Glory is also used for the edification complex of the soul [ECS] — Ephesians 3:21; Colossians 1:27; 1Peter 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:14.

5. The provision of God’s grace is called “the riches of glory” — Ephesians 3:16; 1:18; Philippians 4:19.

6. Heaven and eternal life are described as glory in 1Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:10; 1Peter 5:10; 2Peter 1:3.

8. Glory is used to describe the wonders of the universe — 1Corinthians 15:40,41.

9. Glory is used to describe the resurrection body of the believer — 1Corinthians 15:43; 2 Thessalonians 2:14.

10. Glory is related to the angelic conflict. It is associated with operation footstool and the presentation of the Church as the bride of Christ at the second advent — Hebrews 2:10.

1. The glory of God refers to the sum total of His divine essence or to some part of divine essence.

2. The Greek word DOXZA means brightness, radiance, splendor, magnificence, fame, renown, honor, or glory.

3. The Hebrew word KABOD means honor, glory, riches, nobility, splendor, and majesty.

4. Glory always has the connotation of honor inherent in a person, distinction, greatness, renown, fame, nobility, or majesty. In Romans 5:2, glory refers to the integrity of God.

1. David in recognizing God’s grace and rulership over Israel states the principle of the glory of God in Psalm 21:5.

2. There is a point at which we see God for the first time. Deuteronomy 5:24, “Behold, the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness.” Glory refers to His integrity; greatness refers to His other attributes.

3. You cannot see the greatness of God until you can see the glory of God. Seeing the glory of God is seeing the integrity of God through pertinent Bible doctrine.

a. Romans 3:23 says that to fall short of the glory of God is to fall short of His integrity. God’s perfect righteousness rejects sin.

b. Ephesians 1:17, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom even from the source of revelation by means of epignosis knowledge from Him.” The integrity of God refers to His righteousness and justice. God’s glory is the source of the epignosis doctrine in our right lobes which causes occupation with Christ.

1. Glory is used for the indwelling of Christ and its implications. Colossians 1:27, “To whom the God decreed to make known what is the wealth of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the confidence of glory.”

a. We have Jesus Christ indwelling us, as well as God’s perfect righteousness imputed to us.

b. The indwelling of Jesus Christ is the guarantee of our escrow blessings from the justice of God the Father, since these blessings are deposited in Christ, the escrow officer.

2. Glory is used to describe the maturity of the believer. Mature believers form the basis for the recognition of God’s glory. Ephesians 1:5-6, “Having predesigned us with the result of the appointment of adult sons for Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the benevolent purpose of His will, resulting in the recognition of glory from the source of grace, from which He has pursued us with grace in the Beloved.”

a. Ephesians 1:17-18, “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom even from the source of revelation by means of knowledge from Him..., that the eyes of your right lobe may be enlightened, in order that you all may have a permanent knowledge, knowing what is the hope of His calling [maximum blessing], and what is the riches from the source of the glory, the inheritance of His saints.”

b. Ephesians 3:16, “In order that He might give you according to the riches from His glory, to become strong by means of power through His Spirit with reference to the inner man.”

c. Philippians 4:19, “Now my God shall fill up the deficiency of all your needs according to the standard of His riches in glory by means of Christ Jesus.”

4. The mature believer has received this glory, 1Peter 1:7-8. Receiving glory is blessing from the integrity of God to the mature believer.

5. Glory is used to describe the strategic victory of Christ in the angelic conflict.

a. Hebrews 2:10, “To have led to glory many sons.” God brings many sons to glory by judging our sins, so that, when we believe in Christ, we enter into a relationship with His glory. We receive the imputation of God’s perfect righteousness, which is the potential for blessing from the integrity of God.

b. 1Timothy 3:16, “Christ taken up into the place of glory” refers to the third heaven, the location of the integrity of God.

6. The royal family is called to eternal glory since Christ is seated in the place of glory. The formation of the royal family comes under the phrase, “being called to eternal glory,” 1Peter 5:10; 2Peter 1:3. This is the status of the royal family being called into eternal relationship with the integrity of God.

7. The resurrection body is described in terms of glory, 1Corinthians 15:43. Our resurrection body is raised in glory because we are in the status quo of everlasting life. We will live forever in a state of glory. In 2Thessalonians 2:14, “the attainment of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” refers to having a resurrection body exactly like His.

8. The right woman is called the glory of the right man, 1Corinthians 11:6,7, 14-15. Her long hair is a glory to the woman. Long hair on the male is dishonorable.

10. God is glorified and receives glory forever in the function of ultimate sanctification and the deliverance of the ultra supergrace believer, 2Timothy 4:18.

The plan of God, operation grace, was provided for man before man was created. Therefore man cannot earn and cannot deserve this grace. Under grace God does the work and man is only the beneficiary. Under supergrace God does the pursuing and man does the benefitting.

1. Grace is all that God is free to do for man on the basis of the cross. God is free to express His love through grace and He does this without jeopardizing His essence. No one can truly give apart from freedom and God gives out of total freedom because of the cross to us. Grace is the work and the plan of God on behalf of man beginning at the cross. It is God’s plan and God’s policy for mankind. It is a plan, a policy, a function, a mechanic, a divine modus operandi, a divine modus vivendi.

2. Under the principle of concept grace depends upon the essence of God, therefore grace depends on who and what God is. Grace is what God can do for man and still be consistent with His own character.

3. The believer must sort out the difference between grace and legalism. Legalism is man’s ability and works intruding upon the plan of God. Man’s works cannot coexist with God’s works. Such an implied coexistence is blasphemy. Grace excludes human works.

4. Grace, sanctification, and the angelic conflict all meet in the plan of God. The greatest thing God can do for a believer is to make him exactly like His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the only celebrity of the Church Age. Ultimately it is the objective of God’s plan to make everyone like His Son. Man was created to, resolve the angelic conflict and since man was given free will it is inevitable that he would fail. Adam through his free will sinned. Jesus Christ had to become a human being and not an angel in order to resolve the angelic conflict — Hebrews 2;14-16. In other words, the first Adam lost the victory through the fall and the last Adam wins the victory through the cross — Colossians 2:14. Grace found a way to take man created inferior to angels and make him superior, and this is accomplished in all three stages of the plan of God for mankind.

a. Stage one is positional sanctification in which the believer enters into union with the glorified Jesus Christ. Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, this is an application of current positional truth. Every believer is in union with the Lord Jesus Christ therefore believers are positionally higher than angels. When Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father in His humanity He is higher than angels, we are in union with the God-Man, Jesus Christ, and we are now positionally superior to angels.

b. Stage two is our life on this earth and under the construction of the edification complex of the soul and the entrance into the supergrace life it is possible for our experience to represent in an effective way what was provided for us at the point of salvation. In other words, the supergrace life is the only normal Christian life which expresses the priesthood of the believer. Believers who do not grow up never live the normal Christian life. So stage two is designed through grace whereby God can tale a believer living in the devil’s world in the intensified stage of the angelic conflict and make it possible for this individual to adequately represent the Lord Jesus Christ.

c. Stage three is comparable to phase three in which the believer receives a resurrection body exactly like that of the Son of God, minus the old sin nature, minus human good. As a result he is exactly like the Son of God fulfilling Philippians 3:21, and this is the ultimate.

5. Every believer has tasted the grace of God at least once — Hebrews 6:4; 1Peter 2:3. At the moment of salvation every believer receives from God 36 things and he never loses these things. This grace package of salvation cannot be cancelled or destroyed either by God Himself, by angels, or by mankind. Among the 36 things received by grace at salvation we have the principle of propitiation in 1John 2:2 whereby the believer regardless of spiritual status is always under maximum love from God. But grace can only find a place to lodge where there is capacity for grace and capacity for grace only comes through the supergrace life.

6. The occupational hazard for believers is disorientation to grace in the field of reversionism. Under these conditions, in Galatians 5:4, reversionism is called “falling from grace,” and in Hebrews 12:15 it is called “missing grace.” So reversionism is a great danger after one has erected and edification complex structure.

7. The divine attitude in grace: God is constantly waiting to pour out His grace to every believer in phase two — Isaiah 30:18,19.

8. Grace in phase two is found in such passages as Psalm 103:8-12; Romans 3:23,24; 4:4; 5:20; Ephesians 2:8,9; Hebrews 2:9.

a. The prayer of the supergrace life — Hebrews 4:16. You will use prayer to the maximum once you enter the supergrace life.

b. Grace is suffering — 2Corinthians 12:9,10. Supergrace suffering is designed for greatest possible blessing.

f. Grace in the production of divine good — 1Corinthians 15:10; 2Corinthians 6:1.

10. Grace and giving — 2Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 4:14-18. Grace orientation is the bona fide motivation for the thought pattern involved in giving.

c. If man can do anything meritorious in the plan of God it is no longer perfect.

d. A plan is no stronger than its weakest link. For this reason grace excludes all human merit, all human ability. Grace also excludes any form of human good.

g. All human good is associated with the greatest mental attitude sin of pride. Reversionism is characterised by pride, jealousy, and other mental attitude sins.

13. There are four areas of pride which reject God’s grace. This explains Satan’s pride, human pride, why pride is the worst and most devastating of mental attitude sins.

a. The pride of the believer who rejects the doctrine of eternal security. To say that you can commit a sin that is greater than the plan of God is blasphemous. Hebrews 12:28.

b. The pride of the believer who succumbs to pressure and adversity. He thinks his pressure and suffering is greater than the grace provision of God — 2Corinthians 12:8-10.

c. The pride of pseudo spirituality, the believer who thinks his human systems of spirituality are greater than the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. These systems usually include some system of personality imitation, observation of taboos, confusing the means and the result, assuming that witnessing to 10 people a day is the filling of the Spirit whereas in reality the filling of the Spirit results in effective witnessing, relativity which says in affect “My sins are more refined than your sin, therefore when I compare myself with you I’m spiritual and you are carnal,” the operation of the holy roller who thinks that their pseudo tongues somehow has spiritual content.

d. The pride of the believer in emotional revolt of the soul who assumes that his feelings and his emotions and his experiences are more important than Bible doctrine — 2Corinthians 6:11,12.

14. Grace is related to the divine assets of John 1:12,16,17; 1Corinthians 1:4,5; Ephesians 1:6,7.

15. The principle of supergrace is taught in James 4:6 were it is called “greater grace.”

b. The supergrace of the believer in phase two — Philippians 4; James 4; Ephesians 3:19,20, 2Corinthians 12:8-10.

Notice a progression of grace in our context. In Ephesians 1:6 we have “his grace.” In verse 7, “the ruches of his grace.” In 2:7, “the exceeding riches of his grace.” There is a principle involved here. Once grace starts pursuing you you go from grace to the riches of His grace to the exceeding riches of His grace.

1. Grace is all that God is free to do for man on the basis of the cross, on the basis of propitiation. God is actually freed from the confinements of His own perfect character to do something for us. So grace is God’s freedom to express His love to mankind without jeopardising any part of His essence. The cross freed God to save us and to save us permanently. Therefore grace is the plan of God, grace is the work of God, the expression of God’s perfection. Grace means very simply that God does all the work and man does all of the benefiting without work. Grace is a plan, a policy, a function, a mechanic of divine modus operandi.

2. Grace depends upon the essence or the character of God. Therefore grace depends on who and what God is. Grace is what God can do for man and be consistent with His own character or essence. This is why propitiation is so important.

3. The issue. The believer must sort out the different between grace and legalism. Legalism is man’s ability, man’s works, man’s actions intruding into the plan of God. Anything that man throws into the plan is no good. If is was accepted it would neutralise or destroy grace. The plan of God, however, is not destroyed or neutralised because grace rejects our talent, our ability, our plans, our concepts, anything that we have and regard as beneficial. Man’s plans and God’s plans cannot coexist. This immediately sets up in the soul a great conflict.

4. Grace, sanctification, and the angelic conflict all meet. The principle is that under grace the greatest things that God can do for any believer is to make that believer like His Son who is the only celebrity of the Church Age, as well as the head of the Church. Man was created to resolve the angelic conflict, therefore when the first Adam blew it through his free will and sin [the Fall] Jesus Christ as the last Adam became human — not an angel, as per Hebrews 2:14-16. The first Adam lost the victory through the Fall and the last Adam wins the victory through the cross and then operation footstool — Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 2:14. So grace found a way to take man, created inferior to angels and in fallen condition, and make him superior to all angelic creatures. This is accomplished in three stages of sanctification.

a. Stage one: By means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit whereby every believer is entered into union with Christ every believer became positionally higher than angels — Hebrews chapters 1& 2.

b. Stage two: Because of this it is possible under the construction of the ECS and the entrance into the supergrace life to become experientially higher than angels. There is nothing that tears the devil up more than for some believer to reach supergrace because positionally the devil can’t do anything about what happened in a second. But he can try to head off building a cup in the soul because one the believer has a cup God starts pouring, and He pours, and He pours. Once the ECS has been constructed and once the believer enters into supergrace and maintains it then he is under what is known as experiential sanctification. At this point God is able to so benefit in the devils world human beings to a greater extent than the devil’s own original crowd, angels, are benefited. Demons are miserable, that’s why they are always trying to possess a body. When God through grace can start pouring in your cup and benefit you way above the demons it just tears them all apart. While God is blessing you God is glorified. The other side of the picture is that the demons are weeping and wailing. It tortures them to have you blessed under supergrace. The biggest issue in your life is supergrace blessing.

c. Stage three: That is when the Church receives their resurrection body and becomes the bride of Christ. When Church Age believers receive the resurrection body at the Rapture this is ultimate sanctification, and at that point the believer in Jesus Christ is physically superior to the angels.

5. The entrance factor into grace. Every believer has entered the grace of God. That means he has tasted grace at least once, the moment he believed in Jesus Christ — Hebrews 6:4; 1Peter er 2:3. At the moment of salvation every believer receives 36 things and hey are irrevocable, they are just as immutable as God Himself. This grace package at salvation cannot be cancelled or destroyed either by God or by angels or by human beings. At the same time God is freed to love you regardless of your experiential status of this life. Maximum love frees God to pour out maximum grace, but grace can only find a place to lodge where there is capacity for grace, and that is the supergrace life. Therefore God in grace has provided supergrace in order that this might be demonstrated to us, to angels, to the entire heavenly convocation. By the way, grace never goes where grace is not wanted. The issue here is Bible doctrine. God found a way through doctrine, through GAP, to put this into operation.

6. The occupational hazard of believers in the field of grace: ignorance, lack of cognisance with regard to the concept of grace, therefore leading to disorientation of grace, leading to the field of reversionism — Galatians 5:4; Hebrews 12:15. Reversionism is the greatest enemy, the greatest antagonist to the whole plan of God in operation phase two.

7. The divine attitude: God is constantly waiting to pour grace into the cup of the soul — Isaiah 30:18,19. When a believer reaches supergrace he has supergrace capacity and God pours.

8. Grace in phase one is documented from the following passages: Psalm 103:8-12; Romans 3:23,24; 4:4; 5:20; Ephesians 2:8,9; Hebrews 2:9.

9. Grace in phase two sees the believer in time and every aspect of our life is related somehow to grace, like prayer in the supergrace life — Hebrews 4:16; in the field of suffering — 2Corinthians 12:9,10; growth through the function of GAP — 2Peter er 3:18; stability — 1Peter er 5:12; Hebrews 13:9; modus vivendi — 2Corinthians 1:2; Hebrews 12:28; the production of divine good — 1Corinthians 15:10; 2Corinthians 6:1.

10. Grace and giving. The best part of giving comes when maximum materialistic blessing meets maximum doctrine in the normal function of the supergrace life. Giving becomes meaningful as an act of priestly worship — 2Corinthians chapters 8 & 9; Philippians 4:14-18.

c. If man can do anything meritorious in the plan of God it is no longer perfect, and obviously not longer grace.

d. A plan is no stronger than its weakest link. For this reason grace excludes human merit and human ability. Grace also excludes human good. Do-gooders never make it under the plan of God.

g. All human good is associated with the great mental attitude sin of pride. Pride seems to be the expansion of the self-consciousness of the soul in reversionism to the point of total disorientation to the grace of God.

a. The pride of the believer who rejects the doctrine of eternal security. To reject eternal security you have to be very proud because inevitable the person who does thinks that his sins are greater than the plan of God. He is more impressed with his sins than he is with what God has done for him.

b. The pride of the believer who succumbs to pressure and adversity and who thinks that his sufferings are greater than the grace provision of God — 2Corinthians 12:7-10.

c. The pride of pseudo spirituality: the believer who thinks that his human systems are greater than the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in his life. The systems may be anything from personality imitation, observation of taboos, confusion of means and results, the concept of relativity (my sins are more refined than your sins, therefore I am spiritual), the speaking in tongues, the ecstatics, the asceticism, the programs, the ritualism, all are involved in that type of pride.

d. The pride of the believer in emotional revolt of the soul. he assumes that his feelings, his emotions, his experiences, and his areas of reaction — disillusion, boredom, discouragement, self-pity, loneliness, frustration, jealousy, bitterness, being jilted or phased out. These are reactors that lead to the frantic search for happiness which triggers emotional revolt and which comes back and intensifies the ones involved. So there is an intensification of reactors through emotional revolt.

13. Grace is always related to divine assets — John 1:14,16,17; 1Corinthians 1:4,5; Ephesians 1:6,7.

14. The principle of supergrace — James 4:6, “greater grace/supergrace.” Supergrace in the life of Jesus Christ is described in John 1:14-17; in the life of the believer in phase two is described in chapters like Philippians 4; James 4; Ephesians 3:19-21; 2Corinthians 12:8,10.

15. The concept of the pursuit of grace — Ephesians 1:6. The pursuit of grace is the perpetuation of supergrace in the believer’s life. God is glorified when we are blessed under supergrace.

16. Under grace [supergrace] the believer reaps what God sows — Psalm 13:5; under reversionism the believer reaps what the believer sows — Psalm 13:5.

a. Grace is all that God is free to do for man on the basis of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

b. Grace is God’s freedom and consistency to express His love to mankind without compromising or jeopardising His essence.

c. No one can truly give and rightly give apart from freedom. God gives out of total freedom because of the cross, because of propitiation.

d. Consequently grace is the plan of God on behalf of man beginning at the cross. Grace is actually a one-word description of God’s plan. Therefore …

e. Grace is also God’s policy. God’s policy in dealing with the believer is always in grace.

f. Grace in summary is the plan, the policy, the function, the mechanics of divine modus operandi. Under grace God does all the work, all of the providing, and man does all of the receiving and all of the benefiting totally apart from human merit.

2. The concept: Grace depends upon the essence or the character of God. Therefore, grace depends on who and what God is. Grace is what God can do for man and be consistent with His own character. Grace is God’s relationship with the believer as well as God’s way of salvation. So that under its concept grace is all that God can do for man from salvation to eternity, totally apart from man’s merit, man’s ability, man’s talent, man’s planning.

3. This brings up an issue: The great enemy to grace is legalism. Legalism is simply, by definition, man’s intrusion in the plan of God with his own works, his own ability, his own talent, his own schemes, and using these in order to gain the approbation of God. Legalism has many forms. One form of legalism is religion: man by man’s efforts seeking to gain the approbation of God. One thing Christianity is not is religion. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ you are in the plan of God, the plan of God is grace. Grace excludes religion, grace squeezes religion out of your soul like a strong man squeezes a sponge and squeezes the water right out of it. Religion is the worst enemy of man. Religion is the devil’s ace trump — Satanic systems of human ability and works used as substitutes for God’s works in grace. The believer must learn to sort out the difference, then, between grace and legalism, between grace and religion. The believer often clings to some talent or some ability, some plan, some gimmick, and actually tries to infiltrate into the plan of God with this gimmick. But anything that man adds or throws into the plan of God, if accepted, would destroy operation grace. The plan, operation grace, is never destroyed or neutralised because grace rejects all energy of the flesh, all human talent, all human ability, and all human viewpoint ideas. Therefore you must understand the issue that legalism and grace can never coexist. One entire book is devoted to this, the book of Galatians. Great portions of the book of Romans are devoted to this subject, and throughout the Word of God you will constantly see references to the fact that grace and legalism are mutually exclusive. In other words, a little leaven of legalism leavens the entire lump.

a. The glorification of Christ by resurrection, ascension and session is the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. When our Lord was brought back from the dead and ascended into heaven and seated at the right hand of the Father, that point is the strategic victory of the angelic conflict. The reason it is related to the angelic conflict is brought out by Hebrews 1: now Jesus Christ as a man in a resurrection body is higher than all angels. He is supreme and superior to all angels. He sits there as the God-Man in hypostatic union forever. Now He is higher than the angels and some day we in resurrection bodies will be physically greater than angels. In the meantime we are positionally greater than angels. This is the strategic victory that broke the back of Satan in his great angelic revolution. This dramatic victory interrupts the Jewish age in order that the royal family of God might be formed. Until Jesus Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father there never was a royal family. All believers were family of God, now we are royal family.

b. Positional sanctification is a part of God’s grace plan. Under positional sanctification the greatest thing that God the Father could do for the believer is to make him like His Son, Jesus Christ. This is accomplished positionally at the point of salvation by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. All the Old Testament believers were regenerated by the Holy Spirit at the moment of faith in Christ. This act of regeneration is tantamount to being in the family of God forever. The same thing was accomplished at salvation for every believer in the Church Age. For the first time in history the baptism of the Spirit occurred through which every believer was entered into union with Christ. This is what God did when Jesus Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father. He began the great process of calling out a royal family. By being entered into union with Christ immediately, at salvation, you became superior to all angelic creatures. Man was created to resolve the angelic conflict, therefore when the first Adam failed through sin Jesus Christ became true humanity and won the victory at the cross, according to Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 2:14. So that believers in union with Christ have two factors of grace: positionally all Church age believers are higher than angels, and all Church Age believers are royal family of God forever. Therefore, paragraph one of our new contract is called the new covenant to the Church or the new contract.

c. We are in a new grace contract, and in this new grace contract paragraph one is the entering paragraph. It provides for royalty plus the fact that each member of the royal family is positionally higher than angels. This is grace, we don’t earn it or deserve it. In addition, the royal family all have the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit as a sign or as the escutcheon of the royal family. The sealing of the Spirit is our security.

d. The second part of the paragraph deals with experiential sanctification. Paragraph two of the new contract provides for the tactical victory of the angelic conflict. This is, again, a strictly-speaking grace provision of God where He has provided numerous things for tactical victory:

i. The principle of living grace by which the believer remains alive in the devil’s world. What good to have a contract unless you could stay alive? Satan would like to destroy you and all royal family. Satan would like to rid the earth of the royal family of God, even as he would like to rid the earth of the Jew. The Jew must be destroyed, says Satan, because God has unconditional promises to the Jew. And God is going to keep the Jew alive in spite of Satanic efforts. The same thing is true of the Church or the royal family of God. God guarantees under paragraph two of the new contract to keep us alive in the devil’s world for a determined length of time. The length of time is strictly a matter of the sovereign policy of God. How long we live is strictly up to Him.

ii. He has provided for us a pastor-teacher. He has provided the local church as a classroom, and the Bible as a text book. In other words, He has provided spiritual factors for the spiritual growth of the royal family. He has provided factors in life that we might grow physically; He has also provided the spiritual factors for growth.

iii. He has provided a grace apparatus for perception whereby Bible doctrine can be transferred from the page of the Bible to the soul of the royal family, and the system is a grace system of perception, it has nothing to do with human IQ.

iv. Through GAP, the filling of the Spirit, and academic discipline, the local church exists for your spiritual growth. It is the only place for spiritual growth.

e. So in paragraph two we have the perpetuation of supergrace status through God’s grace provision. Experiential sanctification, therefore, or paragraph two, is designed to take you as a member of the royal family of God on earth to take you from salvation to the supergrace status. That is where the normal function of the royal priesthood begins. And your tactical victory compliments the strategical victory of Christ seated at the right hand of the Father. The supergrace blessings that you receive as you reach SG2 are in three categories: spiritual blessings, temporal blessings promoted by God, and dying grace.

f. The third and final paragraph of the new contract has to do with ultimate sanctification. This deals with eternity.

5. All three paragraphs in the new contract: paragraph 1, salvation — all that God does at the moment we are saved, the moment we believe in Christ; paragraph 2 — all that God does for us in time; paragraph 3 — all that God does for us in eternity. These paragraphs all form the new contract to the church. This is the contract under which we live and in all three paragraphs there is no room for human merit or human ability.

a. Stage one is saving grace. Every believer hast tasted the grace of God at least once, and that was the point of his salvation — Hebrews 6:4; 1Peter er 2:3. The moment of salvation brings the believer 36 irrevocable items of grace. These cannot be cancelled and they cannot be destroyed. Because of propitiation every believer is also under maximum love from God — 1John 2:2. Maximum love frees God to pour out maximum grace, but grace can only benefit where there is a capacity for grace. The capacity for grace, like capacity for life is based upon the amount of doctrine resident in the believer’s soul. However, the believer is saved by grace which is all the Trinity has accomplished for our salvation — Romans 3:23,24; 4:4; 5:20; Ephesians 2:8,9.

b. Stage two is living grace. Living grace is all that God must do to keep the believer alive and on the earth in this dispensation. Under that principle God provides everything.

c. Stage three is supergrace, which is equivalent to maturity in the spiritual life. In 1Timothy 1:14 supergrace is described as the abundant life. Supergrace is the adult stage of spiritual growth, attended by maximum blessings from God which glorify God. Supergrace is the ultimate in spiritual growth in time and the basis for the normal function of the normal priesthood. Supergrace is the sphere of life in which the royal family reaps what God sows in eternity past. Therefore the fulfilment of Romans 8:28. James 4:6 says, “But he gives greater grace [or supergrace], and therefore he says, God opposes the arrogant [reversionist] but gives grace to the humble.” Ephesians 1:6 — “Resulting in the recognition of glory from the source of his grace, from which he has pursued us with grace in then beloved.” Cf. Ephesians 3:20,21; 1:16-19.

d. Stage four is dying grace. This is the permanent change of station from time to eternity, the greatest blessing that can exist in life, the highest decoration of life. Dying grace is the experience of physical death under special grace provisions whereby no matter what the type of death may be it is nothing but blessing all the way. The principle of dying grace links the supergrace blessings of time with the surpassing grace blessings of eternity — Hebrews 11:13. Therefore dying grace is the extension of the glory road over the chasm between time and eternity. It is that high golden bridge by which we go from paragraph SG2 to paragraph SG3. Cf. Psalm 33:18,19; 116:15; Philippians 1:20,21.

e. Stage five is surpassing grace. This is the second of the special blessing and reward paragraphs for the believer. This one lasts forever; this one is in eternity. This is above and beyond the normal blessings of heaven which belong to all believers. Beyond these normal blessings of heaven are the special blessings and rewards for the mature or supergrace believer — Ephesians 2:7. Again, God is glorified forever for those believers who are decorated in eternity.

a. Grace is the means of growth — 2Peter er 3:18. All growth comes through knowledge of doctrine. Knowledge of doctrine gives us love for Jesus Christ.

b. Grace is the basis for stability in life — Hebrews 13:8,9; 12:28; 1Peter er 5:12.

8. The failure to utilise grace. This is describes as reversionism — Galatians 5:4, reversionism is defined as drifting off course from grace; Hebrews 12:15, reversionism is described here as falling back from the grace of God. Whichever definition you use they all add up to neglect of Bible doctrine.

9. Grace and suffering. 2Corinthians 12:7-10, we have the importance of the grace apparatus for perception [GAP], the importance of the constant and daily intake of Bible doctrine. The grace principle meets every exigency of life.

b. A perfect plan can only originate and function from the source of a perfect God.

c. If mankind can do anything meritorious in the plan of God it is not longer perfect. Why? Man is imperfect, he cannot contribute to a perfect plan. His imperfection only contributes imperfection, therefore man’s contributions are excluded.

d. A plan is no stronger than its weakest link. There are no weak links in God’s plan.

e. Grace excludes, therefore, all human merit, all human ability, all human good, all legalism, all self-righteousness and arrogance.

f. Legalism, therefore, is the enemy of grace. There is no place for legalism or human good in the plan of God.

g. All legalism and human good is associated with the greatest of mental attitude sins which is pride. Arrogance has no place in God’s grace plan.

a. The pride of the believer who rejects the doctrine of eternal security. The believer who rejects eternal security thinks that his sins are greater than the grace plan of God. This is the quintessence of arrogance.

b. The pride of that believer who succumbs to pressure and adversity. He assumes that his sufferings and adversities are greater than the grace provision of God.

c. The pride of reversionism. The reversionist assumes that his form of reversionism is greater than supergrace blessings. He assumes that his emotions, his ecstatics, his experiences, his legalistic functions, or even his phallic stimulations are more important than Bible doctrine, the daily function of GAP and the resultant supergrace blessings.

d. The pride of pseudo-spirituality. The pseudo-spiritual believer thinks that his system of spirituality, his system of energy of the flesh, is greater than the true function of God the Holy Spirit in his life and in the life of the royal family. In his arrogance he becomes a holy-roller, becomes involved in the tongues movement, he ejaculates verbal nonsense which he calls tongues, or enters into spiritual functions like witnessing and prayer in the energy of the flesh, or observes the taboos in the name of asceticism, or functions under some point program which impresses him and impresses his friends. He changes his personality to become sombre, or he changes his personality to be one of the ‘happy boys’, but whatever he does it is pseudo and it is phoney.

Translation of Hebrews 13:9 (this was inexplicably tacked on to the end of these doctrines of grace.

Hebrews 13:9b — “not with meats”, the strong negative o)uk plus the instrumental of brwma which means food. It is in the plural here and it should be translated literally, “not by means of food.” This is a reference to the food taboos of Judaism which are mentioned in Romans 14:1-4. It means a system of pseudo spirituality here. Our spirituality does not depend on what we take into the mouth, it is what we take into the soul that counts.

“which” is a prepositional phrase — e)n plus the locative of the relative pronoun o(j. It should be translated “in which.”

The next phrase “have not profited” is the aorist passive indicative of wfelew which means to profit. Here it has the negative o)uk, so “they have not been profitable” or “they have not been benefited.” The aorist tense is a constative aorist contemplating the action of the verb in its entirety. It means that there is no spiritual benefit in observing certain food taboos; health to the body but no spiritual blessing to the life. The point is that the issue is found in spiritual food, not in physical food. The passive voice: legalistic believers who are observing food taboos for spirituality are not benefited [spiritually] by these taboos. The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal idea from the viewpoint of reality. Food is very important to your health but of no importance in your spiritual life.

“that have been occupied therein” — the word “therein” is not found in the original; “that have been occupied” is a present active participle of the verb peripatew which means to walk, and the linear aktionsart of the present tense indicates that people have kept walking. It doesn’t mean occupy, it means to walk. They have walked in a system or a pattern of life where they used food taboos as a system of spirituality. But they are not benefited by food taboos — much better that they get on Bible doctrine.

Translation of verse 9 — “Do not be carried away [into reversionism] by means of diversified and alien doctrines. For it is a noble thing that the right lobe be stabilised by means of grace; not by foods in which those who keep walking were not benefited [spiritually].”

1. Taboo reversionism is a form of legalism in total opposition to God’s grace plan.

3. Only Bible doctrine resident in the soul of the believer can stabilise and add to the spiritual life of the royal family.

4. In the Church Age each member of the royal family must function under his own priesthood and totally reject any form of legalistic dictatorship.

5. The only legitimate taboos in the life of a believer are those things which you give up as a result of taking in doctrine and growing up spiritually.

6. Under these conditions of spiritual growth Bible doctrine will dictate certain taboos and spiritual growth causes one to change his scale of values and his lifestyle. But don’t get saved and give up something immediately because what you give up and what you take on is going to be based upon the values that will develop in your life. That scale of values will come with Bible doctrine.

7. Any change in your lifestyle is based upon doctrine resident in the soul and the filling of the Spirit applying this doctrine. Taboos are not the result of legalistic bullying but spiritual growth and the attainment of the supergrace status.

8. Anything forced out of the life by doctrine is certainly legitimate. So here is the great principle. The royal family must function on the basis of doctrine in the soul causing the believer to be spiritually self-sustaining in his priesthood and stabilised by the grace of God. The congregation of royalty must concentrate on the teaching of doctrine, the message of the pastor-teacher, recognising his authority in the pulpit, and as a result, taking in doctrine. In other words, you develop your own dictator. Doctrine in your soul is your absolute dictator. The kingdom of royal priests does not exclude authority but emphasises becoming spiritually independent and grace oriented. Therefore it is extremely important that you continue to be consistent in your intake of doctrine in order that inside of your soul might be the absolute dictator of your life — Bible doctrine. When doctrine in your soul becomes the absolute dictator you are doing the will of God.

c. God has a plan for your life. If God reveals Himself, He also reveals a plan for Church Age believers specifically. Your life was designed for invisible impact in five categories. Nothing is more significant than your life as a believer.

d. God’s plan is based on God’s policy. God’s policy is always grace. Grace is the system for the administration of God’s plan for the Church.

i. Pre-salvation grace. This is the work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross, being judged for our sins as our substitute. This includes three things.

a) Common grace. This is the work of God the Holy Spirit taking the spiritual phenomena of the gospel and presenting it to the mind of man as a reality. The unbeliever is spiritually brain dead, so that God the Holy Spirit must make spiritual information understandable to spiritually dead mankind. The unbeliever cannot understand the things of God, 1 Cor 2:9-16.

b) The divine call. Having understood the issue of the gospel, to believe in the person and work of Christ, God now invites the unbeliever to believe what he has heard and understood.

c) Efficacious grace. This is the work of God the Holy Spirit taking that faith alone in Christ alone and making it effective for salvation.

ii. Salvation grace. This includes the forty things that God gives us at the moment of salvation.

a) This is the more or greater grace of Jam 4:6. Postsalvation grace is found in 1 Pet 5:12, “I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.”

b) There are distortions of grace. 2 Tim 2:1, “You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

c) Grace is the means of conveying the power of God to the life of the ordinary believer. 1 Pet 5:5-6, “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. `God makes war against the arrogant believer but gives grace to the humble believer.’ Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may promote you at the proper time.” 1 Cor 15:10, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” Eph 1:6, “To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

d) God always operates within some sphere. In the plan of God for the Church Age believer, the sphere in which grace operates is union with Christ. In Eph 2:7, this grace will continue in the eternalstate, “That He might show us in the coming ages the surpassing riches of His grace in generosity toward us in Christ.” Eph 6:24, “Grace be with all believers who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptibility.” Loving the Lord with incorruptibility is a reference to occupation with Christ. 2 Thess 2:16, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father who has loved us and given to us for our benefit eternal comfort and good confidence in the sphere of grace, comfort your hearts and strengthen you in all production and good doctrine.”

f. The consistency of grace. Consistent grace is the Church Age believer, saved by grace and living by grace. God is consistent. There is no legalism in salvation; therefore, there is no legalism in the Christian way of life. Sooner or later, God takes every believer and brings them to the end of their human resources, making them totally dependent upon divine provision. Acts 13:43, “Now when the meeting of the synagogue had broken up, many of the Jews and of the God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas, who began speaking to them and were urging them to continue in the grace of God.”

g. Every believer owes both the salvation plan of God and the grace of God a hearing. 2 Pet 1:2, “Grace and tranquility be multiplied to you in the [epignosis] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”

a. Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind without compromising His divine essence. Grace means favor, kindness, and mercy.

b. Grace is free, unmerited favor and love from God alone, not from our works or because we are attractive to God. God’s love comes in two categories for us.

i. God has impersonal love for the unbeliever in the status of spiritual death. Jesus Christ had impersonal love for all mankind, when He went to the Cross and received the imputation of our sins. God the Father had impersonal love when He imputed all of our sins to Christ and judged them.

ii. God has personal love for the believer because the believer receives the imputed righteousness of God.

c. Grace means that all things from God, including salvation by grace through faith, are received from God as a free gift totally apart from any form of human merit or any system of human works. They are never merited or earned by mankind. They never compromise divine essence or divine effort in bestowing blessing on mankind. Jn 1:12.

i. Grace is benefit from God totally a part of the work of God and totally apart from the works of mankind. No one has ever been blessed by God because they tithe or because they are moral. The Christian way of life is infinitely greater than morality. Morality is a function of the energy of the flesh and is for the human race. Morality is the result of self-determination; grace is the result of God’s determination.

ii. The virtue mandated of the believer is infinitely greater than morality. The inner life of virtue is not something we can do in ourselves; it is something that God has provided for us in grace. He has given us the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, thoughts that have to be metabolized in the soul for motivation and a life far greater than the function of the energy of the flesh.

iii. Anything an unbeliever can do is not the Christian way of life. Morality can be accomplished by the unbeliever. Morality is necessary for freedom in the human race. The purpose of codex three of the Mosaic Law was to protect freedom, privacy, property, and life.

d. Grace is the manifestation of God’s holiness, power, virtue, efficacy, mercy, compassion, indulgence, forbearance, pardon; unmerited favor based on the exclusive work of God. Grace includes three categories of divine blessing from God. Grace is unmerited favor and divine provision for mankind before, during, and after salvation. Three categories of God’s grace include:

i. Pre-salvation grace which includes all that God is free to do for the spiritually dead person, that is, common grace, the divine call, and efficacious grace.

ii. Salvation grace which includes all that God has accomplished to save spiritually dead mankind, that is, the saving work of Christ on the Cross, the judgment of God the Son by God the Father, the revelation of this message by God the Holy Spirit, and the forty things God does for us at salvation.

iii. Postsalvation grace includes total divine provision of God for the fulfillment of His plan, His will, and His purpose for our lives. Postsalvation grace includes all that God does for the believer totally apart from any human merit on the part of any

a) Postsalvation grace is described in Jam 4:6, “He keeps on giving greater grace. Therefore, it says, `God makes war against the arrogant believer but gives grace to the humble believer.’” Greater grace means greater than pre-salvation grace, greater than salvation grace. It is the greatest grace of all. Postsalvation grace includes more grace than anything else in life. Jn 1:16, “From His fullness, we have all received even grace in exchange for grace.” We have exchanged salvation grace for postsalvation grace.If we are saved by grace, then we should live by grace. Jn 1:17, “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

b) The phrase “Grace for your benefit and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.” occurs many times in Scripture: 2 Cor 1:2; Gal 1:3; Eph 1:2; Phil 1:2; Col 1:2; 1 Thes 1:2; 2 Thes 1:2.

d) Gal 2:21, “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law (and it does not), then Christ died in vain.”

e) Eph 3:2, “Since you have heard about the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for your

f) 2 Thes 1:12, “In order that the person of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified by you and you by Him, on the basis of the grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

g) 2 Tim 2:1, “You, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”

h) 1 Pet 5:5-6, “...clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God makes war against the arrogant believer, but gives grace to the humble believer. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may promote you at the proper time.”

i) 1 Pet 5:12, “I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.”

j) Eph 1:6, “to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

k) Eph 2:7, “that He might show you in the coming ages [millennium and eternal state] the surpassing riches of His grace in generosity toward us in Christ Jesus.”

l) Eph 6:24, “Grace be with you all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptibility.”

m) 2 Thes 2:16-17, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who loved us and has given to us eternal comfort and good of intrinsic value confidence in the sphere of grace, comfort your right lobes and strengthen yourselves in all production and good of intrinsic value doctrine.”

n) 2 Pet 3:18, “But keep on growing in the sphere of grace and in the sphere of knowledge about our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Glory to Him both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

e. Orientation is defined as doctrinal cognition of the believer, his true status in relationship to the plan, will, and purpose of God.

a. There are two categories of mankind who are the recipients of God’s grace policy.

i. God’s grace is extended to the unbeliever who is spiritually dead. The unbeliever is under total depravity, total separation from God, and total helplessness to do anything to gain the approbation of God.

ii. God’s grace is extended to believers in this dispensation through the protocol plan of God.

b. Under the first category, grace is all that God is free to do for mankind on the basis of the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

c. Under the second category, postsalvation grace is extended to every believer in Jesus Christ. Under this category, grace is all that God is free to do for each Church Age believer without compromising His essence.

d. Under the divine policy of grace, only the ability and power of God counts and meets the needs of helpless mankind in two categories: spiritual death and as believers in Jesus Christ.

e. God has found a way to save us, to give us eternal life, and God has found a way in His grace policy to help us in our helplessness as believers. We never lose our helplessness.

f. Under His grace policy, God does more than help us: He blesses us, He provides our needs, He provides life support, and He gives blessing to us whether we are winners or losers.

i. The same justice of God that judged our sins on the cross also sends blessing to the righteousness of God indwelling the believer, because he receives God’s righteousness at the moment he believes in Christ.

ii. So the justice of God, one-half of divine integrity, sends blessing to the indwelling righteousness of God, the other half of divine integrity.

i. Rom 5:8, “God demonstrates His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died as a substitute for us.” The Greek preposition HUPER plus the genitive plural of advantage indicates that it is to our advantage that Christ became a substitute for us. The greatest advantage we have ever had in life is that Jesus Christ became a substitute for us.

ii. 1 Pet 3:18, “Christ also died once for our sins, the righteous One as a substitute for the unrighteous ones, that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh but made alive by means of the Spirit.” Even as unrighteous ones we have an advantage because we have a substitute—Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ brings us to God, not our commitment, baptism, works, or giving up anything.

iii. 1 Pet 2:24, “He [Jesus Christ] Himself carried our sins in His own body on the wood [Cross].”

v. Gal 3:13, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by means of becoming a curse as a substitute for us; for it stands written, `Cursed is everyone who hangs on the wood [Cross].’”

h. There are three reasons for faith alone in Christ alone for eternal salvation: efficacious grace, the Greek word TETELESTAI, the direct statement of Scripture.

a) When the spiritually dead person responds to the divine call (or invitation to eternal salvation), he simply believes in Jesus Christ. This is a thought in the soul of a spiritually dead person. We are spiritually brain dead and are helpless to have a spiritual thought. When you respond with faith in Christ to the divine call to believe in Christ, the grace of God the Holy Spirit takes faith in Christ and makes it effective for eternal salvation.

b) If you add anything to non-meritorious faith alone, then the Holy Spirit cannot make that faith effective for salvation. If you add anything, it cancels your faith; you have contradicted the grace of God completely. Many people are not saved because they have added some work to their faith. If you add anything, you have rejected Christ as savior. God the Holy Spirit cannot make human works effective for salvation. He cannot make your making Christ Lord or making a commitment for Christ or giving up something or any legalistic function effective for salvation. We do not cooperate with God for our salvation; God provides it all by Himself.

c) The only thing we have that is compatible with the grace policy of God is faith alone in Christ alone. The faith of the spiritually dead person indicates positive volition and non-meritorious function compatible with grace.

d) The Holy Spirit, in common grace, makes the gospel understandable to the spiritually dead person. Then God the Father invites the spiritually dead person to believe in Christ. Then the spiritually dead person believes in Christ for salvation. Then God the Holy Spirit makes the spiritually dead person’s faith in Christ effective for salvation. When works are added the omnipotence of the Spirit does not cause faith to be effective for salvation, because divine omnipotence and human power are mutually exclusive. Consequently, human works added to faith in Christ cancels faith; for human works is human power, which is rejected by grace.

e) The legalist tries to fit all believers into his own pattern and mode of thinking. When the professed believer does not comply with the legalist’s erroneous ideas, the legalist is shocked, frustrated, and proclaims that the professed believer was really not saved in the first place. The legalist says that the professed believer really was not saved because all he did was believe in Christ. From this legalistic thinking comes the heresy and blasphemy that you have to believe and make a commitment, that you have to believe and feel sorry for your sins, that you have to make Christ Lord of all, that you have to believe and be baptized, that you have to believe and live a good moral life, that you have to believe and have an emotional experience, that you must feel saved, that you must come forward and make a public profession of your faith, or that you must invite Christ into your heart.

a) This word was uttered by our Lord on the Cross while He was still alive. His physical death had nothing to do with our salvation. When the last sin was judged, our Lord said, “It is finished.” He was telling us that His work of substitutionary spiritual death—being judged for our sins—was finished. Then He died physically and dismissed His soul and spirit from His body. Christ did not die physically for our sins. His physical death only meant that His work on earth during the Incarnation was finished. When our Lord said TETELESTAI, He was speaking from His humanity.

b) Jn 19:30, “Therefore, when Jesus had received the wine, He said, `Finished in the past with the result that it stands finished forever.’ He pushed His head forward and delivered over His human spirit.” This is the intensive perfect passive indicative of the verb TELEO, which means to achieve, to succeed, to complete, or to finish.

iii. The direct statement of Scripture. Grace is a gift from God. Since it is a gift, it cannot be earned or deserved.

a) Jn 16:8-9, “And when He [the Holy Spirit] comes, He will convince the world concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me.”

b) Jn 3:15-16, 18, “Every one who believes in Me has eternal life. For God loved the world so much that He gave His Son, the unique One, in order that any one who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. ...He who believes in Him is not judged, but he who does not believe is judged already because he has not believed in the person of the uniquely born Son of God.”

c) Jn 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not believe shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him.”

d) Jn 6:47, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has eternal life.”

e) Jn 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.”

f) Jn 20:31, “These things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you might have life through His name.”

g) Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. And likewise, every one of your family [can do the same thing and be saved].”

i) Gal 2:16, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law.”

j) Rom 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because it is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.”

k) Rom 3:20-22, “Because by the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified in His sight; for through the Law is the knowledge of sin, but apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets [Old Testament], even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.”

l) Rom 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the Law.”

m) Rom 4:4-5, “But to the one who works for salvation, his wages are not calculated on the basis of grace, they are calculated on the basis of debt. But to him who does not work for salvation but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly [the spiritually dead person], his faith receives credit for righteousness.”

n) Rom 4:14, 16, “For if those who are by means of the Law heirs, then faith has been made void and the promises have been canceled.” “For this reason, it is by means of faith, in order that it might be on the basis of grace.”

o) Rom 5:1,15,17, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we are jubilant in the hope of the glory of God.” “But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.” “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through that one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through that One, Jesus Christ.”

p) Eph 2:8-9, “For by means of grace you have been saved [with the result that you remain saved forever] through faith; and this [concept of salvation by grace alone through faith] is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God; not from works, in order that no one may boast.”

q) Phil 3:9, “And may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ.”

r) 2 Tim 3:15, “And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

s) 2 Tim 2:11-13 teaches that we cannot lose our salvation, even if we deny our faith in Christ, “Faithful is the Word; for if we have died with Christ [and we have], we shall also live with Christ. If we endure, we shall reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will also deny us [blessing in eternity]. If we do not believe [faith-rest], He remains faithful, He cannot deny Himself.” The Father, Son, and Spirit cannot deny us because they dwell in us as of the moment of salvation.

t) 1 Jn 5:11-13, “This is the deposition that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has this life. He who does not have the Son does not have this life. These things I have written to you who believe in the person of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.”

u) Jn 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe in His name.”

v) Eph 1:6-7, “Resulting in the praise of the glory of His grace, by which [grace] He has graced us out in the Beloved. In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, on the basis of the riches of His grace.”

w) 2 Tim 1:8-9, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering with reference to the gospel on the basis of the power of God, who saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”

x) Heb 2:9, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than angels for the sake of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God might taste death as a substitute for all of us.”

a. Under the grace policy, all believers are mandated to grace orientation. 1 Pet 5:12, “I have written you briefly, exhorting and testifying, that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.” We are to stand fast in grace orientation. We are not to be confused by legalism or impressed with our works. We are to stand fast in grace.

b. The believer who fails to execute the command to “stand fast in grace” is described in terms of God’s grace policy in three ways.

c. The Church Age is the dispensation of the grace of God. Eph 3:2, “Inasmuch as you have heard about the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for your benefit.” Never before in human history has the grace policy of God provided so much for the ordinary believer. Never has the ordinary believer been so benefitted by living in the Church Age and believing in Jesus Christ.

a. God has a plan for your life which is called the protocol plan of God. Its policy is grace. Precedence for the Christian way of life during the Church Age originated from the modus vivendi and modus operandi of the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ in hypostatic union. During the First Advent, the humanity of Christ pioneered for the Church Age believer the function of the three spiritual skills.

i. Our Lord’s humanity did not depend on His deity but upon the filling of the Spirit, Heb 9:14; Isa 11:2, 42:1; Jn 3:34; Lk 4:14; Mt 12:28.

ii. Metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness of our Lord Jesus Christ was the second spiritual skill. Jn 1:14 says He was full of doctrine. He pioneered such problem solving devices as grace orientation, Jn 1:14, 16; doctrinal orientation, Jn 1:14; sharing the happiness of God, Jn 15:11; occupation with Christ, Heb 12:2. There is no problem or difficulty too great for the problem solving devices to be able to handle.

iii. Our Lord’s humanity executed God the Father’s plan for the humanity of Christ during the Incarnation by remaining totally sinless, and therefore qualified to bear the judgment for our sins, and then by going to the Cross and bearing the sins of the world as a substitute for us.

b. The precedence for this grace policy is the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. Jn 1:14, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we saw His glory as of the uniquely-born One from the Father, full of grace and truth [doctrine].”

i. In the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ as the Shekinah Glory dwelt between the cherubs in the Tabernacle, a guarantee of blessing to Israel.

ii. Now He is a guarantee of blessing to the Church as He tabernacles among us by indwelling us. God the Holy Spirit indwells us to provide a temple for the indwelling of Christ.

iii. Only those believers with metabolized doctrine circulating in the seven compartments of the right lobe of the soul through the filling of the Spirit saw the glory of Christ during His hypostatic union.

iv. Our Lord Jesus Christ had grace orientation on the FLOT line of His soul as a problem solving device. He also had doctrinal orientation on the FLOT line of His soul as a problem solving device.

c. Jn 1:16, “For out from His fullness we have all received even grace [postsalvation grace] in exchange for grace [salvation grace].”

i. The function of the spiritual skills are the fullness of Christ. This is a direct statement of precedence for the origination and the source of the unique spiritual life of every believer of the Church Age. The function of the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union is the source of spiritual life for every Church Age believer. We take our precedence for the spiritual life from the dispensation of the hypostatic union.

ii. We have all received our portfolio of invisible assets the moment we believed in Christ, and there is no exception. If you are negative toward Bible doctrine, there is no one in the world, no counsellor who can help you.

iii. The preposition ANTI plus the ablative of exchange from the Greek noun CHARIS means “grace in exchange for grace.” The first use of the word CHARIS refers to postsalvation grace. The second use of the word CHARIS refers to the grace we received at salvation.

iv. Our first cognition of the grace of God occurred when we understood that Jesus Christ became true humanity for the purpose of going to the cross, in order to become our substitute in being judged for our sins. The substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross is where grace begins for us. As the perfect God-man, Jesus Christ became our Savior. This was why He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man comes unto the Father but by Me.”

v. We did not earn or deserve this wonderful salvation that our Lord Jesus Christ provided for us. In response to what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, we believe in Jesus Christ for eternal life; for believing is compatible with grace since it is a non-meritorious system of perception. Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that [salvation] is not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”

vi. So the first grace we received was pre-salvation grace. When we were spiritually dead, totally helpless, and unable to do anything about it, the Holy Spirit made the gospel clear to us. Then, when we believed in Christ, the Holy Spirit made our faith effective for salvation. At that moment, God did forty things in salvation grace.

vii. Salvation by grace through faith demands the continuation of postsalvation grace for spiritual growth, 2 Pet 3:18.

6. Biblical Illustrations of Grace Versus Legalism During the Dispensation of the Hypostatic Union.

a. The precedent case is the woman taken in adultery, Jn 8:3-11, “Now the scribes and the Pharisees arrested a woman seized violently in the act of adultery, and forcing her to stand before the crowd, they said to Him, `Teacher, this woman was seized in the very act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman; You there, what do You say?’ And they kept on repeating this, and they persisted in testing Him, that they might have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down, and started to write on the ground with His finger. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, `He who is without sin among you, let him be the first one to throw a stone at her.’ And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And when they heard this statement, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the leaders, finally He was left alone with the woman standing before Him. Then Jesus stood up and said to her, `Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?’ Then she replied, `No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, `Neither do I condemn you; go your way. From now on sin no more [in this area].’”

ii. The scribes and the Pharisees were officers of the Jewish supreme court, the Sanhedrin. They were both lawyers and the religious leaders of the land. They represent religious self-righteousness and the arrogance skills. They are comparable to the Christian activists of today. The witnesses in this case were the judges of the supreme court of Israel. The lawyers spied on the woman, followed her around, violated her privacy and then arrested her. As members of the court, they should not even have been involved in her arrest.

iii. The Hebrew word Rabbi means “teacher.” They say this in sarcasm, ridicule, and rejection of Christ. In contrast, this woman had already become a believer.

iv. They are quoting to the humanity of Christ what the deity of Christ had dictated to Moses on Mt. Sinai, when He gave him the Law. They are telling the One who commanded Moses. They are antagonistic and disrespectful toward our Lord. They are activists, evil, and really want to trap, discredit, and destroy the ministry of our Lord. They ended up destroying their own nation.

a) What punishment did the Law demand? Deut 22:22-27 gives us four categories. If a man commits adultery with a married woman, both shall die, verse 22. If a man fornicates with a woman or commits adultery with a married woman, both the man and the woman shall die, verse 23-24. If a man rapes a woman, then only the man shall die. If a man seduces a virgin, and they are discovered, the guilty man will pay a fine to her father and then marry her.

b) Notice that the man is always emphasized and there is male involvement. But the officers of the court did not bring the guilty man before our Lord. The man is just as guilty, if not more so as the initiator. Because only the woman was brought before Jesus, this appears to be a case of conspiracy against the woman. The judges of the Sanhedrin have themselves violated the Law by indicting the woman and not the man and are guilty of the sins of arrogance, which are far worse than anything the woman has done. The Sanhedrin was prejudiced against this woman. The law is no greater than those who administer it.

v. Jesus could not condemn the woman without condoning the evils of religious activism. They want Jesus to say she is guilty so they can bring a blasphemy charge against Him and stone both of them at the same time. Our Lord isolated himself from religious activism. He gave the Sanhedrin the silent treatment, which condemned them. Jesus had no intention of condoning their evil and joining their activism against the woman. What Jesus wrote on the ground with His finger is not the issue in this passage and beside the point. We do not know what He wrote. It is not important. It was an act of divorcing or isolating Himself from these legalists and religious activism. Jesus could not condemn the woman as they wished without condoning the greater evil and sinfulness of religious activism. Grace and activism are mutually exclusive.

vi. Our Lord spoke to present the higher issue related to the spiritual life and the objective: to avoid activism, civil disobedience, crusading. The fulfilling of the protocol plan of God for the Church is far greater than any system of whitewashing the devil’s world, such as Christian activism. It was the Jewish law that the chief witnesses against the accused had to be the first ones to throw the stones to stone the accused to death. In this way, witnesses in court took the responsibility for their testimony in court and what they had seen. The law is no greater than those who administer the law. While Jesus does not condone the woman’s sin of adultery, neither does He condone the greater sins of legalism and activism.

a) Religious activism is manifested always by the use of the arrogance skills (self-justification, self-deception, self-absorption). Religious activism uses the arrogance skills to justify self, deceive self, and become preoccupied with self.

b) There is nothing wrong with the Mosaic Law, but there is something terribly wrong with those administering it. Jesus calls these judges of the Sanhedrin hypocrites in Mt 23:14, 16, 23, 25, 27, 39. Hypocrisy reaches its peak in the function of the arrogance skills. Mt 23:27, “Woe to you, scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. For you are like white-washed tombs, which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and

c) There never was any grace orientation in the function of religious activists during the dispensation of the hypostatic union, nor will there be any grace orientation by religious activists during the dispensation of grace (the Church Age).

e) The mandate of the word of God during the Church Age is to use the spiritual skills to execute the protocol plan of God and not to enter into Christian activism, 2 Pet 3:18.

f) Religious activists used the law as an instrument to attempt to destroy our Lord’s ministry, to discredit, to malign, to judge, to create a public lie about the impeccable person of the humanity of Christ. They used the guilty woman as the bait in the trap, the evil motivation to discredit both the living Word—Jesus Christ—and the written word.

g) Only Jesus Christ was qualified to throw a stone. He was a witness to this act of adultery in eternity past as omniscient God. He was without sin in His perfect impeccable humanity.

vii. The woman called Him “Lord.” She was a believer and recognized Jesus as her God and savior. 1 Cor 12:3 says no one can call Jesus “Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. The arrogant officers of the court only called Him “Teacher.”

viii. Our Lord did not condemn her because of the divine policy of grace. He commands her to stop sinning in this category of sins. It does not imply sinless perfection, but another area of sin overcome by the function of the spiritual skills. For the positive believer, God’s grace policy is a greater deterrent than the condemnation of legalism. People respond to grace, but react to legalism. The grace policy of our Lord provides a far greater self-motivation to resist temptation than the fear and guilt function of the emotional complex of sins.

ix. This woman would shortly live in the dispensation of the Church. Her death would have cut her off from the opportunity of self-determination related to rebound to recover her fellowship with God along with other believers when the Church Age began. This would deprive the woman of her equal opportunity and equal privilege to execute the protocol plan of God.

x. This passage is definitely a part of the word of God. This passage is not found in Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and was apparently removed from Codex A and C. It is found in Codex D; Codex 225 places it after Jn 7:36; another places it after Jn 7:44. Jerome says that in his day it was contained in many of the Greek and Latin manuscripts. Augustine said, “This text was thrown out by enemies or weak believers from fear that it might encourage their wives to infidelity.” tract 33. This passage was omitted in some manuscripts as an attack on grace.

a) The story could not have been invented, as it runs contrary to the ascetic and legalistic tendencies of the ancient Church, which could not appreciate it. Legalism lives in fear that a grace passage of Scripture will somehow corrupt believers. For example, 1 Jn 1:8-10 is not liked by legalists.

b) Because of the function of the arrogance skills, legalism cannot stand or appreciate grace in any form of the grace orientation concept. Grace teaching and grace orientation attack self-justification. Self-justification rejects grace, resulting in self-deception. Self-deception results in self-absorption, causing pseudo works and Christian activism, which is dead works and evil.

c) The arrogance of legalism cannot stand the grace policy of God and is, therefore, distracted from the protocol plan of God. Therefore, legalism lives in fear that grace will somehow corrupt believers. But the legalist Christians are actually the corrupted ones.

b. Jesus and The Prostitute in Lk 7:36-50. “Now one of the Pharisees kept asking Him to dine with him. And He entered the Pharisee’s house, and reclined at the table. And behold, there was a woman in the city who was a prostitute; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet, and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, `If this man were a prophet [but he is not], He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, because she is a prostitute.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, `Simon, I have something to say to you.’ And he replied, `Say it, Teacher.’ `A certain moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii [a Roman silver coin worth one day’s wages], and the other fifty. When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him more?’ Simon replied and said, `I suppose the one whom he forgave more.’ Then He said to him, `You have judged correctly.’ Then turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, `Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not stopped kissing My feet. You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, because she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.’ Then He said to her, `Your sins have been forgiven.’ And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to think to themselves, `Who is this person who even forgives sins?’ Then He said face-to-face with the woman, `Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’”

i. This incident is not the same as the incident in Jn 12:1-8, when Mary anointed the feet of Jesus in the house of Lazarus. Nor is it the same incident as occurred in the Simon the Leaper, when an unknown woman anointed the head of Jesus, Mt 26:6-13; Mk 14:1-3.

ii. This Pharisee was not hostile, but a user. He wanted to use Jesus to gain some sort of power with the crowds following Jesus. Legalistic people are always users. They use people and discard them when done with them. It is interesting to note that the Pharisee held the banquet Roman style.

iii. This prostitute had been following Jesus, become a believer, and wanted to give something back to the Lord for what He had given her. Her weeping was a gentle, continuous weeping. She had fantastic humility and was very feminine. There is no grace orientation without humility. She had bought the cheapest perfume, which indicates that she was probably no longer working as a prostitute.

iv. The Pharisee thought to himself that Jesus could not possibly be a prophet, since He let such a person touch Him. He thinks she is doing something terribly wrong. However, she is doing nothing wrong. Legalistic people always make wrong assumptions because all of their thinking is based on self-justification, self-deception, and self-absorption. Jesus was a prophet and a king-priest after the order of Melchizedek. Jesus read the Pharisees’ thoughts and answers his thoughts with a parable.

v. Simon had bored indifference to the parable. Simon’s answer condemned himself. Jesus turned his back on Simon and spoke to Simon. Jesus did not make an issue out of her former prostitution. The issue was who followed good manners, the aristocratic Pharisee or the former prostitute? She had class; Simon was a jerk. A kiss was a customary welcome or greeting. She know the right thing to do and did it.

vi. The moment the prostitute believed in Christ, her sins were forgiven forever. She loved Jesus a lot, but Simon never got around to loving Jesus. When Jesus told her that her sin had been forgiven, He used the Doric Greek form of the verb, indicating that she is already a winner spiritually.

vii. The rest of the people at the banquet were negative to the gospel along with Simon. They had the same opportunity to believe as she did. The perfect tense of the Greek verb SOZO (to save) not only indicates eternity security but also self-motivation to continue her spiritual growth. We have been saved by grace through faith; let us continue to live by grace through the function of the spiritual skills.

viii. So that she would not be harmed, Jesus gave her a command to go. Negative, arrogant, legalistic people are dangerous. There was harmony between her developing capacity righteousness and divine blessing.

c. Our Lord’s association with tax-collectors and prostitutes made an issue out of grace.

i. Mt 9:10-11, “And it came to pass that as He was reclining at a table in a house, behold many publicans and sinners came and joined Jesus and His disciples at the table. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with the tax-collectors and prostitutes?”

ii. Mk 2:16, “And when the Scribes and the Pharisees saw that He was eating with prostitutes and tax-collectors, they said to His disciples, “Why is He eating and drinking with tax-collectors and prostitutes?”

iii. Mt 11:19, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Behold, a gluttonous man and a wine-gulper, a friend of the tax-collectors and prostitutes!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” The Pharisees and scribes are an example of vituperation and vilification, creating a public lie about the only perfect person who ever remained so on this earth. They could not discredit Him, so they lied about Him. Our Lord ate food, but was not gluttonous. They did not call Him a drunkard, since they could never find Him drunk. So they compromised and called Him a wine-gulper. Everyone drank wine in the ancient world.

iv. Mt 21:32, “For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax-collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.” Rarely did a religious person believe in Christ during the Incarnation.

v. Lk 15:1-2, “Now all the tax-collectors and the prostitutes were coming near Him to listen to Him. And both Pharisees and scribes were constantly complaining about it, and they said, `This man constantly welcomes prostitutes and dines with them.”

i. “Then He also spoke this parable face-to-face with certain ones who had trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and regarded others with contempt: `Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself in this way, “O God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, evil doers, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.” But the tax-collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but he kept striking his chest, saying, “O God, be propitiated toward me, the sinner that I am!” I say to you, this man went down to his home having been justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.’”

ii. One of the big thrusts of psychology is “to trust in yourself.” They call it self-esteem. It is part of the modus operandi of the arrogance skills. It is very subtle arrogance. Once you are born again, you can forget all about human self-esteem. We are totally dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ and absolutely not trusting in yourself. Trusting in yourself is human viewpoint. Your personal sense of destiny is your spiritual self-esteem and is far, far greater than human self-esteem. There are no weaknesses in God’s plan; all of the weaknesses are in us. Therefore, the importance of humility, not self-esteem. You do not need human self-esteem; you need humility and doctrine circulating in your soul. You need to depend on what God has provided.

a) Publican was a dirty word. The publican was employed for a tax contractor. The ARCHITELONES was a chief tax-collector or publican. The other type of tax-collector was a TELONES. The chief publicans were Romans and hated by all patriotic Jews. The chief publicans were contracted by the Senate to collect money from their district. If he were a Roman, he was already a loser back in Rome, and sent to Judea to try and make his fortune. They hired Jews to work for them collecting taxes, who were equally hated. Whatever they could collect beyond what was required in taxes, they could keep in their own pocket. The word publican became a bad word. The actual publicans were divided into two categories: the GABBI were those who collected general taxes, like income tax; the MOKHSA were those who collected taxes on imports, exports, road taxes, bridge taxes, harbor taxes, town taxes, pack animal taxes, axil taxes. Taxes were a terrible burden on the people and the economy.

b) The publicans were despised and hated as a class of people, so that their unpopularity was only exceeded by the Pharisee and scribe hatred of the prostitutes. Prostitutes were hated by the wives, scribes, Pharisees, and others because they were users. Users were men, including scribes and Pharisees, who relieved their sexual tensions with prostitutes, and then, in the function of self-justification, excused their evil with the arrogance skills. The religious crowd were users. The publicans were out to steal money. The publican was generally a loser at home, who came to Israel as a renegade, managing an arbitrary tax system to extort money and make his fortune was he was collecting taxes. If he was a Jew, he was despised as a traitor to his country and an enemy of the people.

iv. This parable illustrates a condemnation of the modus operandi of the arrogance skills. To maintain their position, the Pharisees practiced every form of evil from religious activism, hypocrisy, self-justification, self-deception, self-absorption to tyranny. To protect your self-justification you must deceive yourself by denying your own flaws and projecting them on others. This is self-deception and practiced by the scribes and Pharisees. In his self-righteous arrogance and self-justification, the Pharisee assumes in self-deception that God is impressed with his works. He has created a role model out of himself, and he assumes that God agrees with him. The Pharisee was a religious man only trying to impress God with how good he is. The tax-collector was a humble man, who recognized his need for eternal salvation.

v. The publican in the parable could have been either a Roman proselyte or a Jew. He was probably a Jew because he was going into the Temple. The Pharisee was not going to pray to God about his needs or pray for others, but he is going to tell God how good he is. The Pharisee’s self-deception was that he thought that he was not a sinner like other people. Self-deception results in denial and projection, malice, vilification, revenge, bitterness, implacability, hatred, self-pity. The arrogance skills all start to work together in religious activism.

vi. Notice that the tax-collectors and the prostitutes did not criticize our Lord for dining with the self-righteous religious Pharisees and scribes, but the scribes and Pharisees criticized Him just as soon as He dined with the tax-collectors and the prostitutes. The Pharisees are users. Users despise both those whom they use and those with any power or authority over them. When people gain power and try to keep power which is not legitimately theirs, it is inevitable that they will produce a maximum amount of evil and confusion. This is what the Pharisees were doing.

vii. The Pharisee is maligning the tax-collector for being a tax-collector while he is telling God how good he is about paying his taxes under the Mosaic Law. We superimpose on God our false values as a part of the function of the arrogance skills. He is saying that he never cheats on his income tax.

viii. The tax-collector was positive at God consciousness; the Pharisee was negative. The tax-collector had genuine humility. He came to God with nothing but his own need to be saved and helplessness to do anything about it.

ix. The aorist passive imperative of the Greek verb HILASKOMAI means to be merciful, gracious, or propitious. The tax-collector is asking for a propitious sacrifice which will satisfy God the Father regarding its efficacy. Here is Jesus Christ presenting the gospel in the most fantastic way to religious activism. The tax-collector is saying, “There must be a sacrifice which satisfies God and I can trust in that sacrifice.” God can only be gracious if there is a perfect sacrifice which is propitious. God the Father is absolutely satisfied and pleased with the work of Jesus Christ, bearing our sins on the cross. If God the Father was not satisfied with the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, there would be no salvation. He is the only sacrifice that satisfied the Father, Heb 2:17, “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” The statement of the tax-collector anticipates the salvation work of Jesus Christ on the cross in some manner. He knew and understood the Levitical sacrifices.

a) There are two Levitical offerings related to the propitious sacrifice of Christ for our sins: the burnt offering of Lev 1:1ff (this teaches propitiation with emphasis on the salvation work of Jesus Christ), the food or grain offering of Lev 2:1ff (this teaches propitiation with emphasis on the impeccability of the humanity of Christ which qualifies Him to be judged for the sins of the world).

b) Propitiation addressed to the entire human race is found in 1 Jn 2:2, “and He Himself is a propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the entire world.” Propitiation addressed to believers is found in 1 Jn 4:10 and Eph 5:2, “and begin walking in the sphere of virtue-love, just as Christ also loved you, and delivered Himself over as a substitute for us, an offering [food offering of Lev 2—propitiation with emphasis on the person of Christ] and a sacrifice [propitiation with emphasis on the burnt offering of Lev 1—work of Christ] to God as an order of fragrance [propitiation].”

x. The tax-collector refers to himself as “the sinner that I am.” The definite takes this man’s sins and separates them from everyone else’s .What a contrast between the Pharisee’s attitude of arrogance and the tax-collector’s attitude of humility.

a) When the tax-collector entered the Temple, he did not demand the impossible from God—that God be propitious toward him because of a perfect sacrifice for sin, but the Pharisee demanded the impossible—that he be saved by means of his works.

b) The tax-collector recognized the grace of God extended to him through the doctrine of propitiation as he learned it from the Levitical offering.

xi. The tax-collector was a believer. He had been justified by his faith. Grace is the function of the sovereignty of God which establishes the policy for God’s relationship with mankind. Faith is the function of human volition in response to grace. Faith is total dependence on the work of God, therefore, the exclusion of human merit or human works. Grace excludes all human works and merit both before, during, and after salvation. Faith is Christ does not denote human commitment. The commitment is made by God, not by us. Faith is not a commitment but total dependency.

1. Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind without compromising His essence or His divine attributes. Divine love is the motivation for God’s grace policy toward mankind. Grace is undeserved blessing, which God freely gives to mankind. Grace is the divine system that permeates biblical theology and all Christian experience.

2. Grace includes the provision of God for mankind in eternity past related to the doctrine of divine decrees. This is emphasized in common grace, so-called because it is common to all mankind. The benefits of common grace are experienced by all mankind without discrimination or prejudice toward

a. The work of Jesus Christ in sustaining the universe by the word of His power is a manifestation of common grace. Col 1:17; Heb 1:3.

b. The function of the universe to both the just and the unjust is another manifestation of common grace, Mt 5:45.

c. Everything that God does to prevent the human race from self-destruction is a manifestation of common grace.

d. The greatest manifestation of common grace is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in making the gospel perspicuous to the spiritually dead unbeliever.

3. Salvation grace is motivated by divine impersonal love for the unbeliever, who is in the status of spiritual death. Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8. Impersonal love for the spiritually dead unbeliever becomes personal love for the born-again believer because of the imputation of divine righteousness. Grace also means that all things from God, including salvation by grace through faith, are received from God totally apart from any form of human merit or human works.

a. Part of salvation grace is antecedent grace. Antecedent grace emphasizes the fact that God’s grace precedes and has preceded human life on earth. All human decisions of history and works and endeavor of mankind are preceded by the grace of God.

i. Motivated by divine love, God’s antecedent grace takes the initiative in eternity past based on His divine omniscience. God knew all the knowable in eternity past and made provision for every situation in life.

ii. Grace does not start with mankind. Grace started with God. Therefore, grace is not earned, merited, or deserved by human beings. It is freely given to us, totally apart from any human resources, any merit, any ability. Grace is the initiative of God.

iii. 1 Jn 4:10, “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins.”

b. Salvation grace takes cognizance of the hopeless and helpless state of mankind from the point of his physical birth.

i. Human life begins at physical birth. Only God can create human life. Biological life is the result of procreation. Whatever man can create is not human life. When biological life emerges from the womb, God creates soul life and imputes it to biological life, which begins human life. Simultaneously, God imputes Adam’s original sin to the genetically formed sin nature. The result is that all members of the human race are born spiritually dead (with the exception of Jesus Christ, who was born without a sin nature due to the virgin pregnancy and birth).

ii. Spiritual death means total separation from God, total depravity, and total helplessness.

iii. Salvation grace means that Jesus Christ, in a state of impeccability, was judged on the cross as a substitute for us. Salvation grace means all things that God has done for us to provide eternal life. All things from God are received from God totally apart from any form of human works. Therefore, salvation grace can only be received on a non-meritorious basis—by faith alone in Christ alone.

a. Efficacious means effective as a means of having or showing the desired result; producing the desired effect.

i. The salvation work of Christ on the cross is efficacious in that it is a combination of unlimited atonement and propitiation. The grace aspect of unlimited atonement means that Jesus Christ was judged for all the sins of the entire human race and God the Father was satisfied with that work. The implication is that every member of the human race has the same equal opportunity for salvation. Because our Lord was judged for every sin in human history on the cross, sin is no longer the issue in salvation.

ii. Faith alone in Christ alone is efficacious for eternal salvation. God the Holy Spirit takes the faith of the spiritually dead unbeliever and makes that faith effective for salvation.

c. Efficacious grace is related to the salvation work of Christ on the cross as illustrated by unlimited atonement and propitiation. The preposition HUPER plus the genitive of advantage always connotes substitution. The genitive of advantage indicates the person(s) on behalf of whom something is done in a substitutionary sense. The object of this preposition is the anarthrous construction (no definite article) from the adjective PAS used as a substantive, which always means “everyone without exception.” (See Bauer, Arndt, and Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Second Edition, page 632, point 2.)

i. Heb 2:9, “But while He was made inferior to angels for a brief time, we see Jesus, who now has been crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that He, by the grace of God, might taste death as a substitute for everyone without exception.”

ii. 2 Cor 5:14-15a, “For the love for Christ keeps on motivating us; in fact, we have reached this conclusion, that One died as a substitute for everyone without exception, therefore all died; and He died as a substitute for everyone without exception...”

iii. 1 Tim 2:6, “who gave Himself a ransom as a substitute for everyone without exception, ...” The result of unlimited atonement is the fact that God the Father is satisfied with the efficacious, substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Furthermore, God has given everyone equal opportunity for salvation, first through God consciousness, and then through gospel hearing.

iv. Rom 5:6, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died as a substitute for the godless ones.” Godless means the human race. The result of unlimited atonement is propitiation, 1 Jn 2:2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for the entire world.”

d. Common grace and efficacious grace combine under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. Eph 2:8-9, “For you have been saved with the result that you keep on being saved forever by means of grace through faith; and this [salvation (the demonstrative pronoun is in the neuter rather than the feminine)] not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”

e. Grace depends entirely upon who and what God is. Grace is undeserved blessing from God based on the function of all three members of the Trinity. Grace is the divine side of salvation; faith is the human side. Grace has all the merit; faith has no merit at all. Grace is the decision of the sovereignty of God; faith is the non-meritorious decision of the human being.

5. The Church Age believer is saved by grace and mandated to live by grace. Grace is the manifestation of the virtue, holiness, power, mercy, compassion, patience of God.

a. Postsalvation grace is motivated by divine personal love because the believer possesses the imputed righteousness of God. This makes the pattern of postsalvation grace logistical grace. Grace is undeserved blessing from God based on who and what God is.

b. Postsalvation grace is unmerited favor, the total divine provision of the persons of the Godhead for the believer’s fulfillment of God’s plan, will, and purpose for the Church Age.

a. In the English language, the word antecedent means the action of going before, preceding, existing before, and has the connotation of precedence. This is called prevenient grace in theology. Prevenient means “going before, existing before.”

b. Dr. Philip E. Huges’ definition on page 480f in The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology is very good. “Prevenient grace is grace that comes first. It precedes all human decisions and endeavors. Grace always means that it is God who takes the initiative and implies the priority of God’s action on behalf of needy sinners. This is the whole point of grace: it does not start with us; it starts with God. Grace is not earned or merited by us. It is freely and lovingly given to us with no resources or deservings of our own. ...God took action. Moreover, when we were helpless, without any ability to help ourselves or to make any contribution to salvation. The sinner’s state is one of spiritual death, that is to say, total inability. That is why the apostle reminds the Ephesian believers that salvation came to them when they were dead in sins. From which there follows only one conclusion, namely, it is by grace they were saved. Both now and for all eternity, the Christian will be indebted to the immeasurable riches of God’s grace, displayed in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. But for the prevenience or priority of divine grace all would have been lost.”

c. For our study of grace, it means that which precedes and exists both in eternity past, in time, and in the future. This concept applies to post-salvation grace just as much as pre-salvation and salvation grace.

2. Antecedent grace is the divine initiative in the exercise of God’s grace policy to establish a relationship with mankind totally apart from human merit, human works, or human resources. Antecedent grace is the divine initiative in providing grace blessing from God to mankind, dating back to eternity past as illustrated by the believer’s escrow blessings for time and eternity. Antecedent grace excludes any human merit before salvation, at salvation, or after salvation. We have nothing to brag about. We could not do a thing. So God took the initiative. This is also true about the Christian way of life.

3. There are two categories of antecedent grace: the divine initiative of eternity past, and the divine initiative in time. Man responds to divine initiative. God always takes the initiative. He did so in eternity past and continues to do so in time.

a. Antecedent grace includes the divine initiative in eternity past. This is God’s grace provision for the postsalvation modus operandi of the Church Age believer. This includes our very own portfolio of invisible assets, everything we need to live our very own spiritual life. Billions of years ago, God provided a grace portfolio with our name on it. It includes our very own spiritual life, the spiritual skills, the uniqueness of the Church Age, the equality we have in the execution of the protocol plan of God.

b. In the divine decrees, the omniscience of God knew simultaneously all the knowable about human history and made special provision for every Church Age believer to have equal privilege and equal opportunity to execution the protocol plan of God for the Church Age. This is the major issue in resolving Satan’s appeal trial of eternity past. Eph 3:2, “since you have heard about the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for your benefit.”

c. Antecedent grace is dramatized by the fact that every Church Age believer has equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the protocol plan of God. Antecedent grace includes election and predestination.

i. Election is the expression of the sovereignty of God in eternity past as a part of antecedent grace, in which every believer has been made a royal priest and been given logistical grace.

ii. Predestination is the provision of the sovereignty of God in eternity past as a part of antecedent grace. It is the provision of the sovereignty of God for every Church Age believer under equal privilege of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and subsequent positional sanctification, in which we are placed into union with Christ and created a new spiritual species, and given the equal opportunity of being entered into your very own palace, the divine dynasphere with a portfolio of invisible assets.

d. Antecedent grace includes the divine initiative in time. Grace orientation can only respond to the divine initiative of antecedent grace in a totally non-meritorious manner. Whatever the response is to postsalvation grace, it must be the same non-meritorious response as occurred with pre-salvation and salvation grace.

a. Pre-salvation grace includes the creation of soul life and its imputation to biological life, the imputation of Adam’s original sin to the genetically formed sin nature, God-consciousness, and common grace. Efficacious grace at the moment of salvation is antecedent grace with reference to postsalvation grace. We respond to common grace by listening to what is said. We respond to efficacious grace by believing in Christ for salvation. Both hearing and believing are non-meritorious.

b. Postsalvation grace includes the doctrine of precedence for the Christian life. The grace policy of the hypostatic union, God’s grace to Israel, the salvation work of Christ on the cross, the precedence for the spiritual life of the Church Age are antecedent grace to us in the Church Age.

c. The response to common grace is non-meritorious. The response to efficacious grace is non-meritorious. The response to postsalvation grace is non-meritorious—learning and applying the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. All the unique characteristics of the Church Age are a part of antecedent grace.

d. Postsalvation grace includes all that God has done for the believer apart from human merit. This means that the Church Age believer is saved by grace and that he is mandated to live by grace. Grace is the manifestation of the holiness of God, divine virtue, including the power, the mercy, the compassion, the patience of God.

e. Postsalvation grace is motivated by divine personal love based on the fact that the believer receives and possesses forever the imputation of divine righteousness from God at the moment of salvation. Because of the baptism of the Spirit and subsequent positional sanctification, the believer in Christ shares the righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. This gives us capacity righteousness in two categories, so that we have capacity for blessing from God.

a. There are two categories of antecedent grace: divine initiative in eternity past and divine initiative in human history.

b. Human response to antecedent grace must always be non-meritorious, excluding human works and all energy of the flesh human

c. Human response to the divine initiative of antecedent grace begins with the decision to hear the gospel message, therefore, positive volition toward common grace.

d. Human response to the divine initiative of antecedent grace continues with faith alone in Christ alone, therefore, positive volition at the point of efficacious grace.

e. Human response to the divine initiative of antecedent grace concludes with consistent function of the spiritual skills, resulting in the execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church, therefore, positive volition toward postsalvation grace.

f. Therefore, human response to the divine initiative of antecedent grace begins with hearing the gospel in common grace, faith alone in Christ alone in efficacious grace, and both learning and using the spiritual skills in postsalvation grace.

1. This is the function of grace orientation as problem solving device on the FLOT line of the soul.

a. The divine initiative is antecedent grace means there are two sources of grace orientation as a problem solving device: the divine initiative of eternity past and the divine initiative in time (precedence from the function of the humanity of Christ during the dispensation of the hypostatic union).

b. Grace orientation as problem solving device can only function in relationship to doctrinal orientation (another problem solving device on the FLOT line of the soul).

c. Grace orientation emphasizes the divine side of postsalvation grace, while doctrinal orientation emphasizes the believer’s side of postsalvation grace.

d. In grace, God initiates and the believer responses. The initiation of grace demands the response of grace.

f. Grace orientation completely eliminates any form of legalism, human merit, human ability, human works, human resources.

g. Therefore, grace orientation as a problem solving device is the correct and accurate response to antecedent grace.

h. Grace orientation teaches the believer how to respond to the divine initiative of antecedent grace.

2. Grace orientation always functions on the basis of precedence from the modus operandi of the humanity of Christ in the dispensation of the hypostatic union.

a. Jn 1:14-17 tells us that grace and truth were problem solving devices used by our Lord. They functioned together. Our Lord received the function of His spiritual skills from the divine decrees, from the divine initiative of eternity past. In eternity past when Christ agreed to go to the cross, God the Father provided everything for the humanity of Christ to execute the plan of God for the hypostatic union. This was antecedent grace.

b. We take our function of the problem solving devices from the divine initiative in time, that is, from the modus operandi of the humanity of Christ in the dispensation of the hypostatic union. Our Lord had eight problem solving (He did not need to rebound or be occupied with Himself.) He used these problem solving devices to establish precedence for us. We have two things going for us: the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past and precedence from the function of the humanity of Christ in the dispensation of the hypostatic union. You have the same assets that the humanity of Christ had, when He walked on this earth.

i. The humanity of Christ functioned under the filling of the Spirit, 9:14; Isa 11:2, 42:1; Jn 3:34; Lk 4:14-18; Mt 12:28; Heb 9:14, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the agency of the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

ii. The humanity of Christ functioned under grace orientation and doctrinal orientation, Jn 1:14, 16.

iii. The humanity of Christ functioned under impersonal love, Lk 23:34, “But Jesus kept on saying, `Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.”

iv. The humanity of Christ functioned under perfect happiness, Jn 15:11, “I have taught you many things that My happiness may be in you, and that your happiness may be made fulfilled.” The ultimate precedent in the dispensation of the hypostatic union is sharing the perfect happiness of God. Sharing the perfect happiness of God is the most fantastic experience the believer can have. Grace orientation and doctrinal orientation start to produce occupation with Christ and perfect happiness. Heb 12:2 says that Jesus Christ is the originator, pioneer, and perfecter of our doctrine, “Be concentrating on Jesus, the originator of our doctrine, who because of His exhibited happiness He endured the cross, and disregarded the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

c. The humanity of Jesus Christ voluntarily restrained the use of His own divine attributes in the pressure situations of the dispensation of the hypostatic union in order to establish precedence for the spiritual life of the ordinary believer in the dispensation of the Church. This is the basis for encouragement in the problem solving device called grace

3. The challenge of grace orientation in the Church Age is the result of the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past in the provision of our portfolio of invisible assets and divine initiative in time or the precedence from the dispensation of the hypostatic union.

4. Grace orientation and doctrinal orientation always work together. Grace orientation emphasizes the divine side of postsalvation grace, whereas, doctrinal orientation emphasizes the believer’s response to grace. There is no growth except in the sphere of grace, 2 Pet 3:18, “Keep on growing in the sphere of grace and in the sphere of knowledge about our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. Glory to Him both now and in the day of eternity. Amen.”

a. Grace orientation is the sphere for growth. When you get outside the sphere of grace (through sin, legalism, etc.), you stop growing spiritually and become a loser. You cannot fulfill the Christian way of life outside of the sphere of grace. Christian service is not divine good apart from the function of the spiritual skills. Without the sphere of grace and gnosis we cannot glorify God.

b. Doctrinal orientation begins when you use grace orientation to metabolize doctrine—faith perception converting gnosis into epignosis. Doctrinal orientation is epignosis doctrine circulating in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness. Faith perception brings grace orientation together with doctrinal orientation. You cannot have grace orientation without doctrinal orientation or doctrinal orientation without grace orientation.

5. The doctrine of precedence emphasizes the uniqueness of the Church Age and the grace provision for the ordinary believer, hence, the divine initiative of antecedent grace in human history. Eph 3:2, “If you have heard about the dispensation of the grace of God (and you have), which was given to me for your benefit...” It is for our benefit that we are in this dispensation.

6. The encouragement that comes from grace orientation is found in 2 Thes 2:16-17, “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God the Father, who has loved us and has given to us eternal encouragement and confident expectation in the sphere of grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen your spiritual life in all [spiritual] production and good of intrinsic value

a. God’s impersonal love toward us is a part of the eternal comfort of grace and a problem solving device on the FLOT line of the soul. God’s love toward us is divine self-esteem in eternity past, the divine initiative of antecedent grace, divine impersonal love of eternity past, divine personal love in human history to those who have believed in Christ.

b. Eternal encouragement is the divine initiative of antecedent and future grace. God has provided encouragement for the lowest moments in our lives. Good of intrinsic value confident expectation in the sphere of grace is the anticipation of the escrow blessings of the eternal state. This may be classified as the divine initiative of eschatological expectation, the anticipation of future grace in the eternal state.

c. You have no encouragement apart from the divine initiative of antecedent and future grace. We do not need comfort; we need encouragement. Encouragement of heart comes from metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness. The Greek word PARAKALEO means to encouragement, to comfort, to exhort, to summon someone for help or advise. All the meanings are pertinent to the function of grace orientation. In grace orientation, the believer summons metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness of the heart for encouragement, for comfort, and for self-exhortation of the soul. There is no greater power than the power of the infallible word of God circulating in your stream of consciousness, where it forms grace orientation and doctrinal orientation. Grace orientation functions in the soul long before it functions in your life.

d. The Greek word STERIZO (strengthen) means to fix something so that it stands upright and immoveable. This came to mean someone who was strong in their spiritual life. God has provided the grace so that you can stand upright in your spiritual life, not phased by the stresses, adversities, and pressures of life.

e. The good of intrinsic value doctrine produces an invisible production that changes the course of history. Production here emphasizes the creation of the invisible hero with invisible impact in the Church Age. Metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness must precede the production of divine good. Spiritual skills must precede production skills for the performance of divine good. Production skills minus spiritual skills equal dead works, human good, and the believer producing evil. Evil from dead works includes Christian activism, social engineering, civil disobedience, the intrusion upon the privacy of the individual and the destruction of human freedom.

f. You are to encourage your own hearts in sphere of grace and strengthen your spiritual life in the sphere of invisible production and good of intrinsic value doctrine. The doctrine is invisible in the soul; the production is invisible. It is your own free will that must respond to grace orientation. It is your own free will that must learn doctrine in order to respond to grace.

1. The purpose of the divine initiative of antecedent grace in the Church Age is found in 2 Thes 1:12, “in order that the person of our Lord Jesus may be glorified by means of you, and you by means of Him on the basis of the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.”

a. Our Lord Jesus Christ is glorified when the Church Age believer responds to the divine initiative of antecedent grace. The function of the spiritual skills and the execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church is the major concept. You being glorified by our Lord is the inevitable result of the divine initiative of antecedent grace with historical impact of the invisible heroes, the pivot of mature believers. The conveyance of escrow blessings for the eternal state at the judgment seat of Christ also fulfills the principle.

b. We are glorifying eternal God when we glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Life becomes very meaningful when you realize there is a grace way of glorifying God. The purpose of the divine initiative of antecedent grace was to give you a life of meaning, purpose, and definition, a life where you can have the most wonderful things and glorify God by means of them.

c. Grace orientation is the basis for getting ready to develop in your life a personal sense of destiny.

2. Common and efficacious grace are related to the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past, 2 Tim 1:9, “[Our Lord] who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not on the basis of our works, but on the basis of His very own purpose and grace which has been given to us for our benefit by Christ Jesus in eternity past.”

a. At the moment of faith in Christ, there is a tremendous response to the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past. Faith in Christ is a response to antecedent grace of eternity past. The forty things you receive at the instant of faith in Christ are also a response to antecedent grace in eternity past. The new believer enters immediately into postsalvation grace. Grace is God’s initiative, not ours. Our initiative is the response of total helplessness and humility.

b. The call of God is God’s invitation to believe in Christ. This is also a part of the divine initiative of antecedent grace.

c. No matter how you look at it, grace is always the work of God, the divine initiative. Grace and human works are mutually exclusive. You cannot do anything, you are helpless. God has invited us to a life on the basis of grace which was given to us from eternity past. You have the greatest individual responsibility God ever assigned to any people, but it is on the basis of grace.

d. God’s grace was given to us (PRO CHRONOS plus the ablative plural of separation from AIONIOS) “before the times in eternity.” This idiom means “in eternity past” or “before the beginning of time.”

i. In the plan and purpose of God, grace and human works cannot and do not coexist. Grace and legalism do not mix in time.

iv. Where human merit and human works are inserted into God’s plan erroneously by misinformed or ignorant believers, it is no longer God’s plan, will, or purpose for the believer.

v. The believer cannot glorify God through the function of his personality, merit, resources, works, or any gimmick or system of gimmicks which he may develop.

vi. God can only be glorified by what God has done for mankind in grace, more grace, and greater grace.

3. The divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past and in time is taught in Eph 1:6, “resulting in the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has graced us out in the Beloved [Jesus Christ].” The glory of God is seen in His essence and in the function of His grace. Each Church Age believer has a portfolio of invisible assets prepared by the grace of God in eternity past to be used in human history.

4. The divine initiative of eschatological grace in the eternal future in taught in Eph 2:7, “that He might show us in the coming ages the surpassing riches of His grace in generosity toward us in the sphere of Christ Jesus [i.e., in union with Christ].”

a. The coming ages include the millennium and the eternal state. Every winner-believer knows that he will have the surpassing riches of Christ’s grace in the future. In eternity past, God provided everything we need through antecedent grace to attain the surpassing riches of His grace for the eternal future. We could not do anything to obtain the surpassing riches of His grace. God blesses you because of what He did for you in eternity past and in time.

b. What is more important: you and anything you do or your portfolio of invisible assets? There is nothing you can attain in this world that is worth that fantastic grace God has provided for you in eternity past. There is no attainment in the world that is worth distraction from Bible doctrine.

5. The divine initiative of antecedent grace is related to the pivot of mature believers in Rom 11:1-6, “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? Definitely not! For I also am an Israelite, out from the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, when he complained to God about Israel? `Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.’ But what is the divine answer to him? `I have kept for Myself seven thousand honorable men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.’ Therefore, in this same way also in this present time, there has come to be a remnant on the basis of the election from grace. And if it is because of grace [and it is], it is no longer from the source of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.”

a. God has not rejected the Jew. God has demanded a spiritual birth, so that there is neither Jew nor Gentile. Paul begins this passage by saying that the physical decent of nature birth is worthless for salvation. The transmission of divine promises and imputation of divine blessing are made as a result of being born again. A spiritual birth must take place. To inherit the unconditional covenants to Israel, the Jew must be born again through faith alone in Christ alone.

b. The omniscience of God knew in eternity past all the knowable of history, including the volition of His people, Israel. God knew each Jewish believer who would live in the Church Age and did not reject them. No believer, Jew or Gentile, is ever rejected by God.

c. Paul now uses Elijah as an illustration. Elijah was complaining to the supreme court of heaven about the negative volition of Israel. The northern Kingdom of Israel was about to be destroyed as a client nation to God. Elijah was involved in arrogant self-absorption by thinking he alone is left as a believer in Israel.

d. Elijah said HUPOLEIPO (I am the only one left). God said to Elijah KATALEIPO (I have kept for Myself). There were still seven thousand people in the land of Israel who were part of God’s pivot.

i. One of the results of the divine initiative is that God always has a remnant of the elect of grace, a pivot of believers in any client nation. The only reason we are still here as a client nation is because we have invisible heroes, unknown except in heaven. They are using the spiritual skills to execute the protocol plan of God for the Church.

ii. The remnant according to the election of grace, i.e., the pivot, shrinks when the arrogant skills replace grace. Grace and works cannot coexist in the plan of God. Grace and works are mutually exclusive. Grace excludes the arrogance skills and the arrogance skills exclude grace. Where the arrogance skills prevail among believers, the pivot shrinks and the client nation to God is eventually destroyed by the supreme court of heaven.

iii. As a result of this pivot of mature believers, the client nation of northern Israel would continue for 150 more years (B.C. 871 - B.C. 721). Elijah and Elisha turned the client nation around. God continued to bless that nation only because of who and what those believers were.

e. In the same way, there is a pivot at the time of Paul’s letter, just as there is a pivot right now in client nation America. As goes the believer, so goes the client nation. Our security as a nation does not depend on the decisions of the President, Congress, or any other politician. Our security depends on the antecedent grace of God directed toward the pivot of mature believers. The pivot of Israel established precedence for the pivot of mature believers in Gentile client nations to God in the Church Age.

f. Grace always has been and always will be the basis for the existence of the pivot of mature believers. Grace and works cannot coexist in the plan of God. Grace and works are mutually exclusive. Grace excludes the arrogance skills (self-justification, self-deception, self-absorption). When arrogance skills prevail among believers, the pivot shrinks and the client nation is judged by the supreme court of heaven. Where grace prevails through the function of the spiritual skills, the pivot expands and the client nation to God is blessed by association with those mature believers. One ounce of legalism or activism destroys grace as the only basis for executing the protocol plan of God, Gal 5:9.

6. The divine initiative of antecedent grace is related to occupation with the person of Christ, Eph 6:24, “Grace be with all believers who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptibility.”

a. It is possible to have a superficial love for God which is strictly corruptible. The only love that counts is an incorruptible love. Believers with corruptible love do not have the ten problem solving devices on the FLOT line of their soul.

b. Incorruptibility is spiritual capacity righteousness, which belongs to the believer who executes the protocol plan of God through the spiritual skills provided through the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past.

7. The divine initiative of antecedent grace is related to the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. Eph 3:7-8, “Through which gospel, I have become a minister on the basis of the gift from the grace of God which was given to me on the basis of the function of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace has been given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable wealth of

a. The function of all spiritual gifts are based on the function of divine power.

b. Invisible God plus invisible power plus invisible assets equals invisible heroes.

a. Human freedom is the sphere of operation for human volition. We operate within the framework of our own volition. In order to resolve the prehistoric angelic conflict, the sovereignty of God and free will of man coexist in human history. Mankind has one thing in common with the angels—human volition. Freedom is the true environment for the function of human volition.

b. There are two categories of human freedom: establishment freedom for both the unbeliever and believer and spiritual freedom for the Church Age believer only. Spiritual freedom is designed to give every believer equal privilege and opportunity to execute God’s plan, will, and purpose for the Church Age.

i. Freedom under the laws of divine establishment includes the following factors.

a) Volition. The function of human volition in the soul, the state of human volition as the uncaused cause of human modus operandi. Freedom is the legitimate self-determination, exemption from necessity apart from human consent or human self-fulfillment, and exemption from arbitrary control and exploitation from others.

c) Property. Property is the right to possess, to enjoy, to benefit, or to make profit from acquired things in life. Ownership of tangible things is a part of the concept of property. Profit is a good word in the Bible. Profit is the basis for true economy. Socialism is evil because it destroys human freedom and self-determination. Property is defined as the sum total of one’s own possessions, tangible and intangible. Under freedom, the individual has the right to make a profit as well as the right of possession of personal and real property.

d) Authority. Authority under the laws of divine establishment includes personal volition, marriage, family, and government as divine institutions. Parental authority is the fifth commandment and is a part of this concept. When you have authority without freedom, that is tyranny. When you have freedom without authority, that is anarchy. The word of God does not subscribe to either tyranny or anarchy.

e) Life. The laws of divine establishment recognize the sacredness of privacy, property, and life as the means of the function of human freedom.

c. Human freedom cannot exist or be effective apart from human responsibility. The freedom of a nation is no more effective than the morality, the virtue, the integrity, and the sense of responsibility among its citizens.

i. The internal enemy is criminality. The eighth commandment (You will not steal) recognizes the sacredness of property. The sixth commandment (You will not commit homicide) recognizes the sacredness of human life. Law enforcement is that part of establishment which is designed to apprehend and punish crime. Once a person is convicted of a crime, they have no rights until they have served their sentence. Capital punishment is authorized by the Scriptures, Gen 9:5-6; Mt 26:52; Rom 13:3-4; Ex 21:12; Num 35:30.

ii. The external enemies of a nation are other nations who are power oriented and function under some system of tyranny against nations who are freedom oriented. Part of establishment law is protection of freedom oriented nations from power oriented nations through the biblical principle of freedom through military victory.

a. Ps 119:45, “And I will walk in freedom, For I seek Your doctrines.” This is the function of spiritual freedom in perception of doctrine.

b. Jn 8:32, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” This is a reference to spiritual freedom.

c. Gal 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free. Keep standing fast in that freedom and do not become entangled again in the yoke of slavery.” The yoke of slavery is faith plus works for salvation, the arrogance skills, legalism and activism, the distractions of human viewpoint and false doctrine.

d. Grace is involved in our spiritual freedom, 2 Cor 4:17, “The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.” Spiritual freedom is the environment for equality of all believers to execute the protocol plan of God. The filling of the Spirit provides spiritual freedom and equal opportunity to utilize the divine initiative of antecedent grace for the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God for the Church.

e. 2 Cor 3:18, “But we all, with an unveiled face looking into a mirror to produce a reflection—the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory [the divine initiative of antecedent grace in time in which the humanity of Christ established precedence for the Christian way of life] to glory [the utilization of the spiritual skills to execute the protocol plan of God}, as it were from the Spirit of the Lord.”

i. The filling of the Spirit is the unveiled face. The unveiled face is the positive believer approaching the word of God through the filling of the Holy Spirit.

iii. The “Spirit of the Lord” is a reference to the deity of the Holy Spirit.

a. Human freedom for all mankind is based on the laws of divine establishment. Human freedom recognizes the sacredness of privacy, property, and life. Human freedom recognizes self-determination as a function of human volition in the soul. Human freedom emphasizes the individual as taking responsibility for his own decisions. Human freedom is authority oriented, so that under establishment authority the principle of live and let live becomes operational.

b. Spiritual freedom is for believers only. The function of spiritual freedom is based on cognition and utilization of the three spiritual skills (the filling of the Spirit, metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness, and ten problem solving devices deployed on the FLOT line of your soul). Spiritual freedom is the basis for equal opportunity for every Church Age believer to execute the protocol plan of God. Spiritual freedom is destroyed by the function of the arrogance skills.

c. Establishment freedom is the heritage of physical birth. Spiritual freedom is the heritage of regeneration. Spiritual freedom can function with or without establishment freedom, because establishment freedom or lack of it is related to public modus operandi in a nation or its equivalent, while spiritual freedom is invisible, related to the filling of the Holy Spirit. Establishment freedom is based on human merit and virtue both in thinking and action, illustrated by the function of law enforcement and military establishment. Spiritual freedom is non-meritorious because it is related to the divine initiative of antecedent grace both in eternity past and the divine initiative of eschatological grace at the Rapture and the eternal state.

1. God’s grace initiates the believer’s grace orientation response. It takes grace orientation to respond to God’s grace initiative.

ii. In time—precedence for believer grace orientation response from the function of the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union.

3. Grace orientation as a problem solving device, when it is deployed on the FLOT line of the soul, can only respond to the divine initiative of antecedent grace or the divine initiative of eschatological grace in a non-meritorious manner. God initiates grace and has from eternity past. We respond to grace when we have the proper problem solving device of grace orientation on the FLOT line of the soul. This is when the grace response becomes effective.

4. Grace orientation responds to the divine initiative of grace through the function of the three spiritual skills (the filling of the Holy Spirit, the metabolization of doctrine, plus execution of the protocol plan of God). This is what results in maximum response to both antecedent grace and eschatological grace.

5. Grace orientation as a problem solving device only functions in relationship to operation Z.

6. There can be no believer response to the divine initiative of antecedent or eschatological grace apart from maximum metabolized doctrine circulating in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness.

7. Therefore, grace orientation is defined as the response of epignosis to the divine initiative of antecedent grace and eschatological grace.

8. Grace orientation is defined as the correct and accurate response to and application of both antecedent grace and eschatological grace.

9. This implies that grace orientation not only teaches the believer how to respond to the divine initiative of grace but how to apply God’s perfect and matchless grace to every circumstance of life. The filling of the Holy Spirit plus human I.Q. equals spiritual I.Q. plus operation Z equals grace orientation.

10. In the grace policy of God, the divine initiative always precedes the grace response. The grace response occurs in at least six differentcategories: common grace, efficacious grace, postsalvation or living grace, dying grace, resurrection grace, and eternal state grace.

11. The divine initiative of grace always provides equal opportunity for the grace response of mankind. Man cannot create equal opportunity; only God can do so. This means that all members of the human race have equal opportunity for eternal salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. This means that all members of the body of Christ have equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the protocol plan of God for the Church.

a. In the divine decrees, we have the sovereignty of God and free will of man coexisting in human history. The order of the divine decrees or lapsarianism is:

i. God decreed the creation of all mankind with free will in a state of perfection. This was done to resolve the prehistoric angelic conflict and to bring many sons into glory, as per Eph 2:10.

ii. God decreed to permit the fall of mankind through the function of his own volition, mankind’s own self-determination. This duplicates Satan’s fall and the subsequent existence of all fallen angels.

iii. God decreed to provide eternal salvation for all mankind under the doctrine of unlimited atonement, 2 Cor 5:14-15; Heb 2:9; 1 Tim 2:6. Christ died as a substitute for everyone without

iv. God decreed to leave the reprobate (those who remain in spiritual death because they reject Christ as savior) to their just condemnation, Jn 3:18, 36. There are two opportunities under equal opportunity for regeneration—God consciousness and gospel hearing.

v. God decreed simultaneously in eternity past both election and foreordination or predestination for the believer only. Both election and predestination are a part of the divine initiative of antecedent grace. Election and predestination provide equal privilege and equal opportunity from the divine initiative of antecedent grace for every Church Age believer to execute the protocol plan of God.

a) There are three elections in history: the election of true Israel, Rom 9:6, the election of the humanity of Christ in the dispensation of the hypostatic union, and the election of the Church as the body of Christ in the royal family of God.

b) Election is the expression of the sovereignty of God who wills the highest and best for every Church Age believer. Therefore, equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the protocol plan of God. Under the equal privilege of election, every believer is a priest of a royal priesthood. Our Lord is the royal high priest as a king-priest, Heb 7. Under the equal opportunity of election, every believer has equal opportunity because of logistical grace. Our royal priesthood and logistical grace are a part of antecedent grace.

c) Predestination is the grace provision of the sovereignty of God for every believer in every dispensation. Through His grace policy, the sovereignty of God has provided everything necessary to sustain every believer in every dispensation of human history. In the Church Age, every believer has equal privilege and equal opportunity under predestination for the execution of the protocol plan of God. The equal privilege under predestination is the baptism of the Holy Spirit and subsequent positional sanctification. The equal opportunity under predestination is our very own portfolio of logistical grace.

vi. God decreed to apply salvation to everyone who believes in Jesus Christ; hence, the decree to save the elect through faith alone in Christ alone, Eph 2:8-9.

b. The decrees provide the equality factor. The filling of the Holy Spirit plus human I.Q. equals spiritual I.Q. plus metabolization of doctrine equals the equality factor for every believer. There is no racial issue, cultural issue, sexual issue, social issue, or economic issue.

c. The divine initiative of antecedent grace of eternity past has provided equal privilege and equal opportunity for every Church Age believer to execute the protocol plan of God. There is no inequality in the filling of the Spirit or in operation Z (the metabolization of doctrine). Inequality occurs with the tremendous variation of thinking skills among members of the human race. However, God the Holy Spirit converts human I.Q. into spiritual I.Q., creating a system of equality for the perception and application of Bible doctrine. The six thinking skills are:

i. Comprehension. It is the function of the filling of the Spirit to take the inequalities of human comprehension and provide equality of all believers for doctrinal perception. The filling of the Spirit converts the inequality of I.Q. into equality.

ii. Memory. The equality is provided by the inculcation and repetition of teaching. The rate of learning must exceed the rate of forgetting doctrine. The process of learning Bible doctrine combines the first two thinking skills, and the result is conditioned thought pathways or memory pathways of the soul. The rate of learning is the rate at which the believer develops new memories, printing more and more doctrine on the neurons of the brain. The rate of learning must always exceed the rate of forgetting.

a) From metabolized doctrine circulating in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness through the filling of the Holy Spirit, ten problem solving devices are formed and deployed on the FLOT line of your soul.

1) The prevention of the outside pressures of adversity from becoming the inside pressure of stress in the soul.

2) The application of metabolized doctrine to postsalvation experience, which includes the establishing of your spiritual values.

5) The basis for victory over the four great battles in the soul: the battle of stress in the soul, the battle of sin in the soul, the battle of false doctrine in the soul, the battle of defense mechanisms in the soul.

6) The mastery and the utilization of the problem solving devices, causing the elect angels to stand up and cheer.

7) The execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church—the attainment of spiritual maturity.

8) The invisible impact of the invisible hero, the source of the greatest happiness in this life.

c) As the number of doctrinal memories increase, the number of divine viewpoint thoughts also increase. This results in the formation of doctrinal rationales. These doctrinal rationales are applied to our experience through the function of the faith-rest drill. The same faith-rest drill that claims the promises of God takes these doctrinal rationales and applies them to our experience.

d) When the rate of learning exceeds the rate of forgetting, the believer advances in his spiritual life under the function of the spiritual skills. When the rate of forgetting exceeds the rate of learning, there is a rapid decline in the function of your very own spiritual life.

iii. Problem Solving. Problem solving devices are a grace gift from God which replace human viewpoint solutions, such as: psychology, defense mechanisms, and other things that remove the believer from the reality of God’s grace.

iv. Decision Making. Decision making is precisely correct procedure in the utilization of doctrinal facts and relating them to the function of the problem solving devices.

v. Creativity. This is originality in thought and expression of thought. For the believer, this is the recovery of Bible doctrine from the written page of the word of God. Many doctrines have been rejected, suppressed, distorted, twisted, so that they often remain obscured for many generations. Creativity includes the effective and powerful presentation of each truth through the filling of the Holy Spirit.

vi. Awareness. Awareness is the application of metabolised doctrine through the function of the ten problem solving devices deployed on the FLOT line of the soul. Awareness is having knowledge in the stream of consciousness, being informed, knowledgeable, and alert about things around you. Awareness wades through all the pressures and opposition to Bible doctrine with concentration, self-motivation, accurate spiritual values to continue advancing toward the objective of spiritual maturity and the glorification of God. Awareness becomes alert and operational, when the believer has a personal sense of destiny. Awareness rejects self-defense mechanisms. Awareness is a part of true happiness in life. Awareness is spiritual perspective of life. Awareness has to do with your thoughtfulness of others and relating to others apart from the function of the sin nature.

a. As a born-again believer with a perfect plan from God, you do not need to get into psychology to solve your problems. There is a place in medicine for psychiatry. Many believers have departed from the faith because they have become enmeshed in psychology. Grace orientation has nothing to do with defense mechanisms.

b. Denial is a defense mechanism in which a person fails to acknowledge some aspects of external reality which would be apparent to others. It can be no perception of reality in certain areas or in all areas, or rejection of reality.

c. Projection goes together with denial. Projection is the function of ascribing to someone else your own attributes, faults, and flaws; hence, a mechanism in which a person falsely attributes his or her own unacknowledged impulses, feelings, thoughts, sin nature modus operandi, etc. It is the sin nature adjustment to human relationship involving the first two arrogance skills (self-justification and self-deception). Denial plus projection describes the pattern of a lot of people who are under the control of the sin nature. In projection, the believer’s tendency toward legalism or activism or both, not only demands self-justification but results in the sins of the arrogance complex, therefore, the beginning of self-deception.

d. Rationalization is a defense mechanism in which a person devises self-serving or reassuring but incorrect explanations for his or her own behavior or that of another person. These three defense mechanisms put together forms a person who has built a psychological web in which they are enmeshed. They always deny their own failures and blame others. Rationalization can be related to the third arrogance skill (self-absorption).

e. The first three defense mechanisms add up to or result in a forth defense mechanism called dissociation. Dissociation is a defense mechanism in which a person sustains alteration in the integrity functions of the stream of consciousness (you move away from normality). For the believer, this is disastrous, because alteration in the integrity of the stream of consciousness results in the suppression of any Bible doctrine that has been metabolized. Damage to the stream of consciousness through dissociation results in reversionism.

f. If you try to solve your problems by denial, projection, or rationalization, you have, in effect, rejected the spiritual skills. Defense mechanisms and the spiritual skills are mutually exclusive. You are in either one or the other.

g. In denial, the believer is divorced from the reality of divine initiative of antecedent and eschatological grace. Therefore, denial becomes the environment for self-justification. Projection results in self-deception. Rationalization results in self-absorption.

h. Each of the first four defense mechanisms makes a contribution to the arrogance skills. The result is reversionism. Reversionism begins with reaction. Any time we react to anything, we move toward the sins of the arrogance and emotional complex and become irrational in our reactions. When we react to doctrine and reject doctrine, we go in for a frantic search for happiness in our dissociation. This results in operation boomerang or the law of volitional responsibility. Emotional revolt of the soul follows. You are insensitive toward others and hypersensitive about self. You move into the emotional sin of guilt, which becomes motivation for self-justification and Christian activism. If there is spiritual recovery, then you enter into permanent negative volition. Once this happens, the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness are covered with a blackout of the soul and scar tissue of the soul. Finally, the believer substitutes the arrogance skills for the spiritual skills and abandons all spiritual skills for the rest of his life. This is reverse process reversionism.

i. Reaction formation is a defense mechanism in which the believer in reversionism substitutes thoughts, feelings, behavior which are diametrically opposed to his previously established spiritual values. Out of reaction formation comes intellectualization, in which a believer engages in excessive abstract thinking to avoid the disturbing feelings which result from the law of double punishment. The law of double punishment is the results of volitional responsibility plus the three stages of divine discipline (warning, intensive, dying discipline). Intellectualization is a reaction in the realm of thinking. It is anti-doctrinal thinking, designed to avoid what the Lord is doing in dealing with the person. The purpose of divine discipline is to break these defense mechanisms and to bring us back to reality.

j. There are other defense mechanisms which bolster individual failure, so that the believer does not respond to the divine initiative of antecedent grace.

i. Isolation is a defense mechanism in which a person is unable to experience cognitive and effective components of his previous spiritual advance. He cannot apply doctrine to experience because the doctrine is gone.

ii. Autism is a defense mechanism which is the ultimate result of the function of the arrogance skills. It is self-absorption characterized by extreme withdrawal into excessive daydreaming or retreat into fantasy in the pursuit of human relationship or fantasy regarding effective action and using fantasy as a problem solving device.

iii. Delusion is a defense mechanism which is a false personal belief based on incorrect inference about external reality (doctrinal reality in the stream of consciousness). Delusion is firmly sustained despite of what the Bible mandates or

k. All of these defense mechanisms relate to the failure of the believer to execute the will, plan, and purpose of God for the dispensation of the Church. Grace orientation is not these defense mechanisms or psychological functions.

a. Grace orientation is a problem solving device, number four battalion deployed on the FLOT line of the soul. The function of grace orientation is the believer’s response to the divine initiative of grace in two categories—antecedent grace in both eternity past and in time and eschatological grace.

i. Antecedent grace in eternity past is related to the believer’s portfolio of invisible assets, the divine decrees, everything provided for the believer in eternity past. Antecedent grace in time is dramatized by the precedence established for the Christian way of life through the function of the humanity of Jesus Christ in the dispensation of the hypostatic union.

ii. Eschatological grace is the divine initiative of grace in our future: dying grace, resurrection grace, and eternal state grace. We can only respond to antecedent grace in a totally non-meritorious manner. Grace orientation responds to the divine initiative of antecedent grace through the consistent function of the spiritual skills, resulting in the execution of the protocol plan of God. Grace orientation anticipates the divine initiative of eschatological grace through the function of those same spiritual skills.

b. Grace orientation is the correct and accurate application to both the divine initiative of antecedent grace plus the divine initiative of eschatological grace.

c. Grace orientation, by definition, teaches the believer how to respond to the divine initiative of grace and how to apply God’s perfect and matchless grace to every circumstance of life.

d. Grace orientation completely eliminates any form of human works, human merit, legalism, crusader arrogance, human achievement arrogance, self-righteous arrogance, or any form of human resource.

e. Defense mechanisms are human resources. Therefore, defense mechanisms are not compatible with grace orientation. In fact, defense mechanisms and grace orientation are mutually exclusive functions. Grace orientation cannot be divorced from doctrinal orientation. The combination of grace orientation and doctrinal orientation results in advanced problem solving devices.

14. Sharing the perfect happiness of God comes from grace orientation and doctrinal orientation. The believer who is a winner is provided God’s very own happiness as a grace provision as he uses grace orientation and doctrinal orientation. Happiness does not come from the function of the defense mechanisms. In fact, defense mechanisms postpone, either temporarily or permanently, happiness from God. Sharing the happiness of God results from the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past. Sharing the happiness of God is based on the attainment of spiritual capacity righteousness. There is no true happiness in life apart from virtue or integrity. Through spiritual capacity righteousness from the spiritual skills, virtue and happiness can never be separated. The grace antecedence for plus H is spiritual capacity righteousness.

a. Jn 15:11, “I have taught you these things, that My happiness may be in you, and that your happiness may be fulfilled.”

c. Prov 3:13, “Happiness to the person who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding.”

d. Ps 43:4, “Then I will go to the altar of God, To God the happiness of my happiness; And upon the lyre I shall praise Thee, O God, my God.”

e. Ps 16:11, “You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of happiness; At Your right hand there are pleasures forever and ever.”

ii. Contentment of soul—plus H insulates the believer against the injustices of life, the adversities of life, and the people who cause these things.

iii. Self-motivation in life—plus H is a stimulation factor related to self-motivation, and therefore, a source of enthusiasm, contentment, exhilaration, tranquility of soul in every circumstance of life.

iv. Capacity Righteousness—plus H cannot exist without capacity righteousness. God never blesses the believer beyond his capacity. Spiritual capacity righteousness comes from the function of the spiritual skills and the execution of the protocol plan. Spiritual capacity righteousness results in plus H and is the basis for personal love for God, impersonal love for others, and occupation with Christ. 1 Pet 1:8; Ps 128:1, “How happy is everyone who is occupied with the Lord, who walks in His ways.” Ps 146:5-6, “Happiness belongs to the one whose help is in the God of Jacob, Whose confidence is in the Lord his God. Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who guards truth forever.”

a. Antecedent arrogance occurred in eternity past with the fall of Lucifer, son of the morning.

i. Satan’s motivation of arrogance is recorded in Isa 14:14, “I will make myself like the Most High God.” All precedence for the arrogance skills and for the sins of the arrogance complex originate from the prehistoric revolution of Lucifer, who is known to us as Satan or the Devil.

ii. In Ezek 28:14-17, we have a detailed account of the original function of arrogance. “You were the anointed cherub who guards [the throne room], And I placed you there. You were in the holy mountain of God; You walked in the middle of the stones of fire. You were blameless in all of your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you. By the abundance of your slander you were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; Therefore I have cast you as defiled from the mountain of God. And I have excluded you, O guardian cherub, out from the middle of the stones of fire. Your right lobe was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom because of your glamour. I cast you to the earth; I placed you before kings, that they may see you.”

iii. As a result of antecedent arrogance, we have the creation of mankind to resolve the prehistoric angelic conflict. A part of that conflict is the Church Age. Never before in history has so much been given to the ordinary believer as in this dispensation.

b. The are three arrogance skills: self-justification, self- deception, and self-absorption.

i. The arrogance skills are the greatest enemy of the grace of God and the greatest distraction to fulfillment of the protocol plan of God through the spiritual skills. The arrogance skills produce more loser believers than any other single factor. The arrogance skills are the source of legalism and the arrogance complex of sins.

ii. Christian activism is one of the great illustrations of how all three of the arrogance skills coordinate to distract the believer from the protocol plan of God.

a) The evil function of Christian activism demands self-justification. Christian activism contends that the means justifies the end, and therefore, that leads to the greatest possible self-deception. However, a wrong thing done in a wrong way is wrong; a right thing done in a wrong way is wrong; a wrong thing done in a right way is wrong. Only a right thing done in a right way is right.

b) The combination of self-justification and self- deception in the believer always result in the defense mechanisms of denial and projection. Denial is always self-deception because it divorces the believer from spiritual reality and the true content of the infallible word of God. Projection is always self-justification at the expense of someone else. Self-justification and projection results in a phenomenal outburst of both the arrogance complex of sins as well as the emotional complex of sins.

c) Christian activism becomes a part of this, and is therefore described in the Scripture as dead works, human good, and evil. The inevitable result of this course of action is locked-in arrogance, called self-absorption. Combined with denial and projection, self- absorption results in the sins of vituperation, vilification, malice, judging, maligning, gossip, the creation of the public lie. All of this is the manifestation of the arrogance skills in Christian activism. Add to this the other sins of the arrogance complex and the spiritual skills are completely immobilized and replaced by the arrogance skills.

d) Spiritual skills and arrogance skills cannot coexist in God’s plan. Either you function under the spiritual skills and advance to maturity, glorifying God, or you fail completely by being involved in the arrogance skills. When the arrogance skills are operational, the spiritual skills are defunct. When the spiritual skills are operational, the spiritual skills are defunct.

e) All distractions and deviations from the protocol plan of God are justified through the function of the arrogance skills. Self-justification or crusader arrogance and Christian activism result in self-deception. Self-deception leads to denial, total divorcement from the reality of Bible doctrine and the evils of Christian activism as well as other forms of legalism. Self-absorption rejects and reacts to any suggestion that Christian activism is evil.

2. Self-righteous arrogance, which is also crusader arrogance, results in self-justification. The arrogant believer is constantly justifying self. Self-justification enters into the defense mechanism of denial and the use of projection. Part of self-deception is being so divorced from reality that you take your own flaws and superimpose them on those around you. It is described in 1 Jn 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Gal 6:7, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a person sows, this he will also reap.” When the believer sows in the arrogance skills, he reaps the most miserable life and becomes a psycho-believer. Hos 8:7, “He sows to the wind and reaps the whirlwind.” Gal 6:3, “If anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself and the truth is not in him.” Self-deception results in self-absorption. Self-absorption is found in Jam 3:14, “But if you have bitter jealousy and strife in your heart, be not arrogant, and stop lying against the truth.”

a. Jam 4:6, “But He keeps on giving greater grace. Therefore it [Prov 3:34] says, “God makes war against the arrogant [believer], but gives grace to the humble [believer].” God cannot give grace to the arrogant believer.

b. Jam 4:14-15, “Yet you do not know what kind of life is yours tomorrow. You are just a vapor trail that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. But as it is, you boast [in your arrogance], `If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.’” Believers are designed to have maximum historical impact, but the arrogant believer has no impact at all.

c. Jer 9:23-24, “Thus says the Lord, `Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the powerful man boast in his power, let not the rich man boast in his riches. Let him who boasts, boast this, that he understands and knows Me. That I am the Lord who exercises grace, justice, and righteousness on the earth.’”

d. 2 Cor 10:17-18, “But he who boasts, let him glory in the Lord. Not he who commends himself is approved, but whom God promotes.” Boasting in a bad sense is arrogance. Boasting in a good sense is the spiritual skills. God never promotes apart from His grace policy related to spiritual capacity righteousness. God promotes those who are grace oriented. God promotes on the basis of consistent function of the spiritual skills. Promotion, then, is a matter of doctrinal inculcation and grace orientation.

e. 1 Pet 5:5b-6, “...and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God makes war against the arrogant believer, but He gives grace to the humble believer. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may promote you at the proper time.”

f. The antidote to the conflict between grace and arrogance is given in 2 Pet 1:2-4, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you for your benefit by means of epignosis doctrine about God and Jesus our Lord, because His divine power has given to us for our benefit everything with reference to life even your spiritual life through the epignosis knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and virtue, through which things He has given to us for our benefit His most valuable and great promises, that through these things you might become partners in the divine endowment, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” The multiplication of grace refers to the divine initiative of antecedent and eschatological grace. The final objective in the fulfillment of the spiritual life is the glory of God, and the means of getting there is the virtue of every believer, and that virtue is the function of the three spiritual skills. The arrogance skills wipe all of this out. Becoming partners in the divine endowment means equal privileges and equal opportunity for the function of the spiritual life and glorifying God. It also means equal dividends in the three spiritual skills for the execution of the protocol plan of God.

g. Rom 12:2-3, “And stop being conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renovation of your thinking, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is absolute good and well pleasing and the mature. For I say through the grace which has been given to me to every one who is among you stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to think; but think in terms of sanity, as God has assigned to each believer a standard of thinking from doctrine.” Being conformed to this world is the thinking of the arrogance skills. The arrogance skills conform to this world. The spiritual skills are the renovation of your thinking.

i. Prov 16:18, “Arrogance precedes destruction, and before a fall there is a lifestyle of arrogance.”

ii. Prov 23:29, “A persons arrogance will bring him low, but a lifestyle of humility will attain honor.”

iv. Prov 13:10, “Through arrogance comes strife, but wisdom is with those who receive instruction.”

h. 2 Tim 3:2-7, “For mankind [believers] will be lovers of self [self-absorption], lovers of money, boastful and arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful [failure to attain spiritual capacity righteousness], without a sense of responsibility, devoid of natural affection, implacable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good [without spiritual values], treacherous, thoughtless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a superficial form of the spiritual life [legalism], but they themselves have repudiated its power; in fact avoid such persons as these. For among them are those who creep into households and seduce silly women who are loaded down with sins, led on by their multifarious lusts, always learning and never able to come to an epignosis knowledge of the truth.”

i. The inevitable result of staying with the arrogance skills described in this passage is the destruction of your spiritual life.

ii. Believers living in the arrogance skills have repudiated the power of the spiritual life, i.e., the spiritual skills, which have been given to them for the execution of the spiritual life. They have rejected their very own portfolio of invisible assets. Every believer who rejects the fact of his own spiritual life provided for him in eternity past does not develop the spiritual skills. Every disaster becomes a warning to him that he is not living the spiritual life.

iii. We are to avoid such believers as these because often their influence through friendship or through some relationship makes it possible for them to influence a person away from the spiritual skills. They can be a very dangerous influence on your life.

iv. “Those who creep into households and seduce silly women” describes the trend toward antinomianism, which is motivated by sex, drugs, criminal lust, etc.

v. Once you are involved in the arrogance skills, you may come and listen to the teaching of doctrine, but you are never able to come to an epignosis knowledge of doctrine. Instead, you are always learning something related to the arrogance skills, such as psychology.

i. Very few people are loved the way they want to be loved or treated the way they want to be treated. When this attitude is combined with the arrogance of unhappiness or subjective preoccupation with self, the result is the arrogance of subjectivity. Out of this comes the fragmented life, which is a totally unhappy life.

ii. The fragmented believer is not loved the way he wants to be loved and is frustrated and does not have the solution to the misery and frustration which comes with the use of these arrogance skills. The believer who does not translate the way he wants to be treated is unstable and often jumps from church to church, idea to idea, and from social group to social

iii. Unrealistic expectation is self-deception, in which the believer seeks to solve his frustrations by adding arrogance to arrogance. This ends up in the arrogance preoccupation with self, which is self- absorption. Unrealistic expectation is self-absorption. Unrealistic expectation never takes responsibility for one’s own bad decisions from a position of weakness. Blaming others (or projection) results in the usual consequences related to arrogance: jealousy, bitterness, hatred, vindictiveness, implacability, self-pity, revenge, slander, maligning, gossip, trying to make others feel guilty so you can manipulate them. The believer fragments his own life, but he always blames others for his miserable state.

iv. The arrogance of subjectivity is constantly trying to change other people to conform to one’s own unrealistic expectation. This is the arrogance of manipulation. That ends up in self-absorption. Self- absorption is unrealistic expectation, never realizing that you can only change yourself, you can never change anyone else.

v. The arrogance of unhappiness or subjective preoccupation with self is associated with unrealistic expectation. Unrealistic expectation intensifies the problems of the spiritual life to the point of no return apart from the problem solving devices. The fragmented believer, involved in subjective preoccupation with self, assumes that certain things will bring happiness, such as, a friendly church. People, money, prosperity and success cannot make you happy, only perception of Bible doctrine can produce the sharing of the happiness of God.

vi. Self-deception is the great problem of the so-called “free-spirit.” This person recognizes freedom without responsibility and freedom without authority, which is anarchy. This person is always looking for happiness. But the more the free-spirit seeks happiness, the more happiness eludes him. You are not happy because you are free to do what you want to do. You are free to use your own volition to destroy your own spiritual life and become frustrated, unhappy, and miserable. The free-spirit associates happiness with some form of stimulation, excitement, and self-indulgence. The free-spirit can never find happiness, because he seeks it in success, power, money, approbation, fame, pleasure, health, sex, romance, friendship, marriage, control of others. The problem of the free- spirit can only be resolved by understanding and utilizing the spiritual

i. Iconoclastic arrogance is subjective preoccupation with other people resulting from disenchantment, disillusion, or the feet of clay syndrome. Iconoclastic arrogance creates an idol through excessive or misguided admiration or love for another person.

ii. When the iconoclastic believer discovers some sin or flaw in the object of their love, they become disenchanted and reacts. The reaction is part of the arrogance skills. Putting someone on a pedestal is part of those arrogance skills.

iii. The believer with iconoclastic arrogance is angry at self, but then must justify self, and finally must deceive oneself about the truth of the matter. He must retain that humanized dignity he has established within himself. Therefore, he has to be right no matter what the facts of the case may be.

iv. With the arrogance skills you can only put someone else on a high pedestal for a short time or you can put yourself on a pedestal. When you discover the feet of clay of the person you have put on a pedestal, you are shocked and react. When you react, you have to do two things: you have to justify yourself for being dumb enough to make an idol out of that person, and in so doing, you get into self-deception.

v. Iconoclastic arrogance destroys friendship, romance, marriage, business relationships, church relationships. It is the message of the pastor that counts, not the person of the pastor. Occasional disappointment with others is normal and easily handled through the function of impersonal love. But iconoclastic arrogance results in permanent destruction of the spiritual life.

a) The arrogant iconoclast never blames himself for what he has done in creating and destroying an idol. This is the second arrogance skill—self-deception. In his irrational state of arrogance, he or she fantasizes, and then blames the idol for being created by his own arrogance and for being a normal person with a sin nature.

c) Illusion created by arrogance becomes illusion destroyed by arrogance. What arrogance creates, arrogance also destroys. A person functioning under the arrogance skills will never have any real, genuine, permanent relationships in life. They are all superficial and all depend on other people feeding your arrogance.

e) Iconoclastic arrogance and the feet of clay syndrome is the inevitable results of getting out of fellowship and just neglecting the spiritual skills. The result is the polarization of the old sin nature trends resulting in self-justification and self-deception.

f) The arrogant reaction of idolizing and rejecting your own icon is the vanity of transferring the blame for your failure onto the icon you have created. This is denial plus projection.

g) Once you transfer the blame for your disillusion, disenchantment, disappointment to the idol you have created, then you malign, slander, judge, and seek to destroy the idol you have created.

i) The feet of clay syndrome is arrogant irrationality of rearranging the doctrine of hamartiology (sin) to make it compatible with your own self-righteousness and with your own legalism regarding the trend of your own sin nature. Self-righteous arrogance inevitably results in creating a system of self-justification. Self-justification removes you from reality; you enter into denial; you try to compensate for all of this through projection.

i. Role is defined as a proper or customary function of an individual. Society and people in general have assigned certain customary functions to certain activities in life. When anyone departs from his role model, he is slandered, maligned, criticized, and rejected. People have a predilection for demanding that everything in life be in its proper place. Consequently, society resents any deviation from assigned role models. Therefore, out of this, society develops a double standard which comes from the arrogance skills.

ii. While a person may excuse his own sins, failures, and flaws, he condemns the role model for the same sins, failures, and flaws, often not realizing he is condemning the role model for his very own failures. This is the normal function of denial in trying to justify self. On the one hand, judging the role model for sins from your own trend of the sin nature is hypocrisy, while on the other hand, judging the role model for sins from the opposite trend becomes self-absorption. Self-absorption results in reinforcing self-deception and reinforcing the pattern of life: I must always be right, therefore, I must find a way to justify self.

iii. Role model arrogance gravitates toward the trend of self-righteous arrogance and legalism. Therefore, you have self- justification. Role model arrogance manufactures hypocrites out of self and victims out of the role model. That is self-deception.

iv. Role model arrogance rejects the problem solving devices and substitutes arrogant subjectivity of preoccupation with self and others.

v. Role model arrogance ignores the fact that you cannot change others, you can only change yourself. Role model arrogance demands that others change and become compatible with the arrogant skills of the person in role model arrogance or suffer the consequences.

vi. Role model arrogance distracts the person in the pew by placing emphasis on the personality or the lifestyle of someone else in the congregation, or the pastor.

vii. Role model arrogance is a part of iconoclastic arrogance and the feet of clay syndrome. The double standard of role model arrogance originates from the polarization of the sin nature’s trends toward self- righteous arrogance or legalism, and therefore, self-justification. Role model arrogance (self-justification) plus unrealistic expectation (self- deception) combine to form the tragic flaw of legalism in the believer (self-absorption).

viii. The fragmented life of legalism rejects the grace policy of God and enters into a serious of sins related to anti-grace, rejecting, therefore, the divine initiative of antecedent and eschatological grace. The bad combination of unrealistic expectation and role model arrogance forms the tragic flaw of the double standard that never escapes the believer so involved. The bad combination of unrealistic expectation (self- deception) and role model arrogance (self-justification) results in the polarization of the sin nature trends, and this finally results in self- absorption. All of this is the great enemy of the Christian way of life.

1. David gave us a preview of coming attractions in the function of grace orientation as the problem solving device of the Church Age. David knew all about how God had provided for him in eternity past.

2. God’s grace policy in the promotion of David is stated in 1 Sam 16:7, “But the Lord said to Samuel, `Do not look at his outward appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.’” David had the doctrinal rationales and knew how to apply them to his situation. He understood and used the faith-rest drill. He understood and used grace orientation.

3. Psalm 23 was written during the Absalom revolution, when David had fled from Absalom at the lowest point of his life. David had lost everything, when he fled. Every phrase in this psalm has a remarkable statement of David’s deployment of the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of his soul. This is a psalm of grace orientation. David realized that believers had been distracted by prosperity. There are two great metaphors in this psalm: the shepherd and the sheep (verses 1-4) and the host and the guest (verses 5-6). Both of these metaphors are designed to teach us the divine initiative of grace.

a. Ps 23:1, “A song of David. The Lord [Jesus Christ] is the one who keeps on shepherding me, I cannot lack anything.”

i. In Jn 10:11, when Jesus Christ said “I am the good [honorable, noble] shepherd; and the good shepherd lays down his life as a substitute for his sheep,” He was making a direct reference to this psalm as the future king of Israel in His humanity. The Lord Jesus Christ is the shepherd to all who believe in Him. You become a sheep under the divine initiative of antecedent grace by personal faith in Jesus Christ. You come into this relationship with God totally apart from any merit. The analogy to sheep indicates the great power of Jesus Christ as the God-man and only savior and the total helplessness of the believer. Grace excludes works at salvation and in postsalvation experience. There are seven categories of sheep analogy.

a) A sheep cannot guide himself. It has no sense of direction. As believers we have no direction after salvation. We are in lag time after salvation and must be positive to the three spiritual skills to advance spiritually. The Lord has provided for us the word of God as our shepherd. We are totally helpless as sheep to break out of lag time.

b) A sheep cannot clean himself apart from the shepherd. Antecedent grace has provided the rebound technique to clean ourselves.

c) A sheep is helpless when injured. Only the Lord Jesus Christ has provided through the divine initiative of antecedent grace what it takes to recover from our own failures.

d) A sheep is defenseless. God has provided the defense systems in the ten problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul. God has provided for our protection through capacity righteousness and logistical grace.

e) A sheep cannot find food or water. Our Shepherd has provided for us our spiritual food and the water of the filling of the Holy Spirit.

f) A sheep is easily frightened or panicked. Our Lord has provided our security.

g) While the sheep produces the wool, that wool belongs to the shepherd only. Our Christian service belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ; it is what He has provided for us.

ii. The second line indicates the application of the divine initiative of antecedent grace through the concept of logistical grace. The Lord always meets the needs of any believer. It is never what you want, but what the Lord wants that counts. What the Lord wants is your happiness. At the lowest point in David’s life he said he cannot and did not lack anything. David knew logistical grace was available to all believers under every circumstance.

iii. This verse expresses the believer’s relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ whether he is in fellowship or out of fellowship, whether winner or loser, whether spiritual or carnal, whether positive or negative. This is grace policy. God’s grace from eternity past is available to you even though you are a loser and do not even know anything about it. Even in intensive divine discipline, you do not lack for anything. No loser ever lost his portfolio of invisible assets. Your spiritual life is still there, even though you do not live it.

iv. This verse expresses the divine initiative of antecedent grace in logistical grace. Grace is in place forever and you can do nothing to cancel it or lose it. You do not have the power to cancel God’s grace by anything you do.

v. Without logistical grace, there would be no equal opportunity for every believer to fulfill the protocol plan of God by becoming an invisible hero. It is the objective of God’s plan for the believer to manufacture from the divine initiative of antecedent grace a winner—an invisible hero with invisible impact on history. However, there is a warning, 2 Cor 6:1, “We urge you: do not receive the grace of God in vain.” 2 Tim 2:1, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Pet 5:12, “This is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.”

vi. Logistical grace supplies the information and power for a personal sense of destiny. This eventuates in spiritual adulthood. David still had the righteousness of God demanding blessing. Logistical grace includes life support, blessing, and equal opportunity to execute the protocol plan of God for every believer, winner or loser.

a) Jn 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life as a substitute for his sheep.” This is amplified in Rom 5:8. In this concept, the good Shepherd was judged for the sins of the world. This is analogous to the divine initiative of salvation grace.

b) Jesus Christ is the great Shepherd. That is analogous to the divine initiative of living grace. Heb 13:20-21, “Now the God of peace, who brought up again from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, Jesus our Lord, equip you with every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

c) Jesus Christ is our shepherd, analogous to the divine initiative of dying grace. Jesus Christ is the one who provides for us our very own death-shadowed valley and accompanies us through that valley. Ps 23:1, “Because the Lord keeps on shepherding me, I cannot lack for anything.” Compare verse 4; it is impossible for the believer who utilizing living grace not to have dying grace. Since you cannot lack living grace, you cannot lack dying grace.

d) Jesus Christ is the chief Shepherd. This is analogous to the divine initiative of eschatological grace in time. 1 Pet 5:4, “And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” The crown of glory belongs to the believer who utilized everything in living grace.

b. Ps 23:2, “He causes me to lie down in pastures of choice grass; He leads me to waters of refreshment.”

i. Lying down in pastures of choice grass is a picture of tranquility from the three spiritual skills for learning doctrine. The believer must be relaxed and objective when he learns doctrine. “Choice grass” refers to the uniqueness of Bible doctrine as part of the infallible word of God.

ii. Being led “to waters of refreshment” refers to the application of doctrine to your life, doctrinal orientation or operation Z. True happiness and refreshment is what goes on in your soul. Metabolized doctrine circulating in your stream of consciousness is your spiritual refreshment. There is a right way of application of doctrine and a wrong way of the application of doctrine. God the Holy Spirit teaches us how to apply doctrine. When adversity hits your soul, if you have the problem solving devices deployed on the forward line of your soul, then they handle the adversity. That is refreshment and how you apply doctrine correctly. The only legitimate means of applying doctrine (the problem solving devices) is given to you by the grace of God.

iii. The application of doctrine to experience establishes your spiritual values. The application of doctrine apart from the use of problem solving devices results in false application, the function of arrogance skills, distraction from the objective of the spiritual life.

iv. The waters of refreshment include specific categories of the spiritual life: operation Z and metabolized doctrine. The spiritual advantages of Bible doctrine do not exist until that doctrine is located and circulating in your stream of consciousness. Then you can solve your own problems in the privacy of your own priesthood.

c. Ps 23:3, “He restores my soul; He guides me in the wagon wheel tracks of righteousness because of His person.”

i. The soul out of fellowship must be restored. Antecedent grace provided for the restoration of the soul from a state of sinfulness. Restoration of the soul for the Church Age believer is restoration of the filling of the Spirit, recovery of fellowship with God, and perpetuation of the spiritual life through the function of the three spiritual skills. Where there is neglect of rebound, there is no spiritual life.

ii. Grace orientation must be distinguished from grace provision. The subject of grace provision is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The subject of grace orientation is the believer functioning under the third spiritual skill—the problem solving device of grace orientation. In the divine initiative of antecedent grace at salvation, there is only one party involved—the Trinity. The divine initiative of imputed righteousness from God the Father and receiving the righteousness of Jesus Christ through the baptism of the Spirit at salvation does not depend on the believer’s volition. Both came directly from the divine initiative of grace and no volition was involved. In the divine initiative of eschatological grace, there is also no human volition involved. Both antecedent and eschatological grace are the direct provision of grace. There is indirect grace which involves your volition. God provides the spiritual skills, but the volition of the believer is involved in a non-meritorious sense. Grace orientation is a response to the filling of the Spirit plus the perception and metabolization of

a) Direct initiative. No human volition is involved. Whether you want it or not, God is going to bless you. God has given you imputed righteousness and you share the righteousness of Christ. God has given you the righteousness to live with Him forever.

b) Indirect initiative. Human volition is involved. You are given grace assets to use your volition to develop spiritual capacity righteousness. In eternity past, God the Father deposited for you greater blessings for time and eternity. These blessings are in escrow and the conditions of the escrow are the divine initiative of indirect grace. God provided the spiritual skills as the grace means of fulfilling the conditions of the escrow. Positive volition will use the spiritual skills to execute the protocol plan of God, develop capacity righteousness, and receive these escrow blessings.

iv. The “paths of righteousness” refers to spiritual capacity righteousness, which is the only capacity righteousness given indirectly to every believer through the spiritual skills.

a) The spiritual skills are the divine initiative of antecedent grace provided in our portfolio of invisible assets in eternity past. The fact that spiritual capacity righteousness is indirectly given means that believers must use their own volition to rebound and learn the word of God well enough to become familiar with the spiritual skills and how to use them. God never blesses a believer beyond his capacity. God can bless a loser believer with lesser blessings because He gave him the capacity for logistical grace blessings at salvation, when He imputed His very own perfect righteousness to that believer. When attaining spiritual capacity righteousness, the believer must chose the grace provision of the spiritual skills over his own human good, morality, dead works, and evil.

b) The Lord both leads us and guides us into the paths of righteousness. In the dispensation of the hypostatic union, the Lord Jesus Christ leads us into the paths of righteousness by setting the precedence in his humanity. The path made by the wagon wheels is already there for us to follow. Jesus Christ leads the way. In the Church Age, He guides us by providing the three spiritual skills for the execution of the protocol plan of God.

d. Ps 23:4, “In additional to this [previous verse], when I walk through a death-shadowed valley, I cannot fear evil [the manner of dying]; because You [are] with me; Your rod [divine discipline] and Your staff [divine deliverance], they comfort me.”

i. In addition to living grace, the Lord has provided dying grace. The shadow represents your dying. Your body which intercepts the light represents metabolization of doctrine. Your capacity for life is your capacity for death. Uses of the word “death-shadowed” in Scripture.

a) In 1 Chr 29:15, a person’s life is compared to a shadow in that it has no permanence and disappears rapidly.

b) In Job 17:7, “death-shadowed” is used to describe the failing condition of a person in their last illness. But here the word has another connotation. A shadow is a dark figure or an image cast on a surface by a body intercepting light. The dark side of the shadow is dying, while the intercepted light is Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness.

c) In Job 12:22, he said, using this same noun, “He reveals deep doctrines from darkness [dying] and brings the death-shadow into light.”

d) In Job 24:17, Job speaks about the unbeliever facing death, “For the morning is the same to him as the death-shadow; for he familiar with the terrors of the death-shadow.” The unbeliever is so frightened by death that what time of day or what’s going on outside means nothing to him.

e) Job 34:22, “There is no darkness or death-shadow where the workers of inequity may hide themselves.”

f) In Job 38:17, the Lord speaks to Job about this subject, “Have the gates of death been revealed to you. Or have you seen the death-shadowed gates?” In all of Job’s testing, the Lord never allowed him to face death.

g) There is a dissertation on the grace deliverance of the loser-believer related to this word. Ps 107:1-2, 10-15, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His grace is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, ...There were those who dwelt in darkness and in the death-shadow, Prisoners in stress and chains, Because they have rebelled against the doctrines of God, And spurned the instruction of the Most High. Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; They stumbled and there was no one to help. Then they cried out to the Lord in their danger; He delivered them out from their distresses. He brought them out from darkness and death-shadows, And broke their chains apart. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His grace, And for His wonderful dealings with the sons of men!”

ii. The dark side of the shadow is the experience of dying. The intercepting light is the metabolized doctrine applied through the problem solving devices under the filling of the Holy Spirit. The divine initiative of eschatological grace has provided for every believer his very own death-shadowed valley. (The only exception is the rapture generation.) No two death-shadowed valley is the same. Some are very short and sudden. Some are long and twisting. The same grace principle applies to all believers. The whole point in being prepared for dying is to intercept the light of the word of God, so that when you go through the death-shadowed valley, you have the light of the word of God circulating in your very own stream of consciousness.

iii. “Evil” refers to anything related to dying. The Hebrew word for evil (RA) is used in Jer 39:12 for injury, in Amos 6:3 for a time of distress, in Isa 45:7 for disaster, other passages use it for disease and violent death. It is associated with disease, adversity, pain, distress, disaster, harm, violence, dying because of someone else’s evil. Every believer has his very own death-shadowed valley. It is a time of ultimate blessing for those who have been consistent in the perception, metabolization, and application of doctrine. You never have to worry about your dying, because God picks the time, the manner, and the place. This is what it means to have your very own death-shadowed valley. God keeps you alive long enough to have the capacity to handle every twist and every turn in your death-shadowed valley. When you cannot handle those things in dying, it is because you did not have spiritual capacity righteousness.

iv. We can have no fear, when going through our very own death-shadowed valley, because the Lord Jesus Christ goes with us. Jesus Christ goes through the death-shadowed valley with every believer. This is David’s application of dying grace, occupation with Christ, and a personal sense of destiny. There is no excuse for any believer ever having to be afraid of dying, regardless of how you die, as long as you have used the three spiritual skills. Fear is an emotional sin, the believer’s failure to use the spiritual skills. The fear principle explains the sin unto death, 1 Jn 5:16b, “There is a sin face-to-face with death.” The function of worry and anxiety in living results in the function of fear in dying. There is a sin believers commit while taking the journey through their very own death- shadowed valley: fear, reaction to the fact you are dying, bitterness. Having your own death-shadowed valley means that God decides the time, the manner, and the place of your death. The experience of walking through your very own death-shadowed valley is the grace decision, the wise decision, the loving decision of the sovereignty of God. When we take that journey through the death-shadowed valley, it is God’s victory, which He has given to us.

a) 1 Cor 15:55, 57, “O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?” but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

b) No fear in living means no fear in dying, Ps 56:3- 4, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in You; In God, whose doctrine I praise; In God, I have put my trust; I will not be afraid.”

c) 1 Jn 4:18, “Fear does not exist in virtue-love; but virtue-love drives out fear, for fear causes punishment; in fact, the person who is afraid has not been matured by virtue-love.” Fear intensifies the problems of dying and shuts down the tremendous blessings of going through your own death-shadowed valley.

v. If you do not have the problem solving devices deployed on the FLOT line of your soul when the pressure experience of dying comes, then the adversity will become stress in your soul, and the sin nature will control your soul and put your spiritual life out of action when you need it the most. Divine mandates prohibit fear, Deut 31:6; Isa 34:5, 41:10. Failure to utilize the problem solving devices to overcome fear, worry, and anxiety in the living phase of your life as a believer will result in walking through your very own death-shadowed valley without benefit and without blessing. The dying phase of the spiritual life is designed for the greatest blessings of grace.

vi. A detailed description of the death-shadowed valley is given in 1 Pet 1:3-9, “Blessed be God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who on the basis of His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living confidence through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are guarded by the power of God through faith because of salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though for a little time, if necessary, you have been grieved by many testings, that the testing of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in the praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the deliverance of your souls.”

vii. The Jews of the Exodus generation went through their death-shadowed valley while committing the sin face-to-face with death. 1 Cor 10:1-12 teaches that the things that happened to the Jews in the Exodus generation happened as an example for us in the Church Age and were written for our instruction.

a) In verse three, we have the phrase, “He restores my soul.” This is a reference to the rebound technique. The result of rebound gives us the freedom and opportunity to continue our very own spiritual life.

b) In verse three, it also says, “He guides me into wagon tracks made by wheels of righteousness.” This is a reference to spiritual capacity righteousness, attained by the use of the three spiritual skills. Our guidance comes through understanding from the New Testament Scriptures what has been provided for us to glorify God.

c) The attainment of spiritual capacity righteousness through the consistent function of the spiritual skills results in the conveyance of escrow blessings for both time and eternity.

d) Since the wagon tracks of righteousness lead the believer to his very own death-shadowed valley, the capacity for living grace becomes the capacity for dying grace. This is the connection between verse three and verse four.

e) The attainment of spiritual capacity righteousness in living grace becomes the capacity for blessing in dying grace. How well or miserable you die depends on your volition toward doctrine.

f) The attainment of spiritual capacity righteousness in living grace is the basis for no fear (Ps 23:4) and profit (Phil 1:21) in dying grace.

ix. There is a relationship between verse one and verse four in the shepherd metaphor. Because the Lord is the one shepherding me, I cannot lack anything [in living grace]. Because the Lord Jesus Christ as my grace shepherd accompanies me in the journey through the death-shadowed valley, I cannot be afraid of how I am dying. There is a definite relationship between the capacity for living grace and the capacity for dying grace. When, through the spiritual skills, the believer attains spiritual capacity righteousness, there is no fear in the manner of dying and profit in the journey through your very own death-shadowed valley. Therefore, the attainment of spiritual capacity righteousness in living grace is the basis for profit in dying grace. This is tantamount to occupation with Christ in living grace being parlayed into profit in dying grace. If you do not use the problem solving devices now, then you will not use them when you go through your death-shadowed valley.

x. In the middle of verse four we move back to living grace. The rod is blessing from divine discipline. The staff is blessing from deliverance. The rod keeps us alert and gives us reality to the grace of God and all that He has done. The rod refers to God’s grace in the administration of divine discipline to every believer, when the indwelling righteousness of God demands discipline from the justice of God. What the righteousness of God demands, the justice of God executes. This is true for both blessing and discipline. The purpose of divine discipline is to lovingly bring us back into line.

a) Prov 22:8, “He who sows iniquity will reap trouble; for the rod of His wrath will be ready.”

b) 2 Sam 7:14, “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me. When he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and strokes from the sons of men [I will discipline him through other people].”

c) Ps 89:30-32, “If his sons forsake My law, And do not walk in My judgments [the establishment code of the Mosaic Law], If they violate My statutes, And do not keep My commandments, Then I will visit their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes.”

d) Prov 10:13, “Wisdom is found on the lips of a discerning person, But a rod is for the back of him who lacks heart [metabolized doctrine].”

e) Prov 13:24, “He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him is careful to disciplines him.” Children will never have a sense of authority unless they are fairly and justly disciplined.

f) Prov 22:15, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of discipline will remove it far from him.”

g) Prov 23:13, “Do not hold back discipline from a child; although you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with the rod and deliver his soul from

h) Prov 26:3, “A whip is for the horse, a bridal for the donkey, but a rod for the back of fools.”

i) Prov 29:15, “A rod and reproof give wisdom; But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.”

j) Divine discipline as a blessing to the believer is taught in the following passages.

k) Prov 3:11, “My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord, Or despise His reproof, For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, Just as a father, the son in whom he

l) Ps 119:75, “I know, O Lord, Your judgments are righteous, And that in faithfulness You have afflicted

m) Heb 12:5-6, “Furthermore you have forgotten the exhortation which is communicated to you as sons, “My son, do not despise the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

xi. The word rod connotes the two categories of punishment: the law of volitional responsibility and the law of divine punitive action.

xii. The rod is a source of comfort because of the evils of guilt. Guilt causes people emphasis to supercede God emphasis, resulting in guilt manipulation by legalism. Guilt eliminates grace orientation from the FLOT line of the soul. The rod brings us back, replacing the arrogance skills with the spiritual skills.

xiii. The rod is deserved suffering. But there is also the staff, which is used to deliver the sheep from danger. Deliverance from danger and divine discipline are both designed for comfort.

e. Job 5:19-27 illustrates the same concept of grace deliverance in living grace and dying grace. “In six troubles He will deliver you, Furthermore in seven evil will not touch you. In famine He will preserve you from death, And in combat from the stroke of the sword. You will be hidden from the lash of the tongue, You will not be afraid of violent death when it comes. You will laugh [a relaxed mental attitude and sense of humor] at death and famine, even from wild animals of the earth you have nothing to fear. For you will be secure from the stones of the field; And the beasts of the field will be at peace with you. Therefore you will know that your tent [human body] is at peace [prosperous, secure], For you will visit your home and fear no loss [of escrow blessing]. You will know also that your descendants will be many, And your offspring as the grass of the earth. You will come to the grave in full age, Like the shucking of corn in its season. Behold this, we have researched it, this is the gist of it; Hear it, and apply it to yourself.”

i. The believer cannot be removed from this life apart from the sovereign decision of a very wise and living God.

ii. Until God makes that decision, nothing can remove the believer from this life.

iii. The divine initiative of dying grace is God’s decision; therefore, in His great love and wisdom, He decides time, manner, and place of our death.

iv. Our death is God’s victory, and He has transferred the victory to the believer by giving him his own death-shadowed valley. He has provided Bible doctrine and the three spiritual skills, so that our dying experience will actually be the greatest blessing of our life on this earth.

v. No believer can be removed from this earth until God decides to take him home. No one has the right to question God’s grace, God’s decision, or God’s timing in taking us or our loved ones through our death-shadowed valley. There are no accidents in the Christian way of life.

vi. Grace orientation must never be driven off the FLOT line of the soul by the death of a loved one, so that there is be no mental attitude sins. We utilize the faith-rest drill, a personal sense of destiny, and grace orientation to leave the matter in the hands of the supreme court of heaven, while we keep moving. We cannot destroy our spiritual life because those whom we love have died and gone to heaven. Grace orientation in life prepares for grace orientation in dying. You have the power from the spiritual skills to carry on. The attainment of spiritual capacity righteousness in living grace is the profit and blessing in dying grace.

f. Ps 23:5, “You have prepared [deployed] a table in front of me for my benefit in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.”

i. Verses 5 is the hospitality metaphor. Jesus Christ is the host and David is the guest. As the host, Jesus Christ provides in the divine initiative of grace a table (the three spiritual skills with emphasis on problem solving devices), the anointing (grace promotion), and the overflowing cup (escrow blessings for time and eternity). God has provided everything we need for our journey through this life, through our death- shadowed valley, and for the eternal state.

ii. This psalm was written at the lowest point in David’s life, when he had to flee from his son Absalom’s revolution. David’s enemies had formerly been his closest friends. Grace orientation responds to all categories of grace in a manner compatible with grace: no works, no merit, no human good, no intrusion into God’s plan with human resources. David was at the lowest point of his life and at the highest point of his grace orientation, when he wrote this psalm.

iii. God is the host and provided a table, analogous to the problem solving devices. Food on the table refers to doctrine metabolized, forming the problem solving devices. We are the guests at God’s table. The prepared table refers to the extrapolation of the problem solving devices from metabolized doctrine and deploying them on the FLOT line of the soul. God has provided the problem solving devices from the first two spiritual skills and deployed them on the FLOT line of the soul. David will use the problem solving devices to win the war against Absalom. David will not lose his anointing as king, 1 Sam 16:13; 2 Chr 21:7. As a guest, David will not lose the table—problem solving devices. As a soldier, David will not lose the battle. As a king, David will not lose the throne and his dynasty will continue forever as a part of God’s unconditional Davidic covenant. As a mature believer, David will not lose his overflowing cup—escrow blessings.

a) The problem solving devices are designed to make the believer spiritually self-sustaining in dealing with every circumstance and problem of life. Adversity is the outside pressure of life; stress is the inside pressure of the soul. The problem solving devices have the only solution for you in every circumstance of life. The problem solving devices are the divine initiative of grace for the prevention of the outside pressures of adversity from becoming the inside pressures of stress in the soul. The counterattack against stress in the soul is rebound. David already has a FLOT line deployed before him in his soul. The table which God provided for David was the problem solving devices in his soul. In his soul, the victory was already there.

b) The problem solving devices are part of the divine initiative of grace for accurate and precise application of metabolized doctrine to experience.

c) The problem solving devices are the divine initiative of grace providing the only perfect environment for the soul in history.

d) The problem solving devices are the divine initiative in providing spiritual values and self-motivation for perpetuation of your spiritual life.

e) The problem solving devices are the divine initiative of grace for providing the greatest happiness and blessing in life regardless of the circumstances of life.

f) The problem solving devices are the divine initiative of grace for winning battles in the soul: stress, sin, false doctrine, defense mechanisms.

iv. Distinguished guests were customarily met at the door when they entered the banquet hall and were anointed with some expensive oil or perfume. The anointing of the head with oil is a reference to promotion. David will not lose his promotion as king. Anointing in the ancient world was a symbol of promotion.

a) The antagonism and conspiracy of David’s enemies cannot cancel, destroy, or remove God’s promotion of David. What God provides in grace, only God can remove. God’s promotion of you is based on your spiritual life and cannot be cancelled by the antagonism of others. You can destroy yourself, but conspiracy of others cannot remove God’s promotion.

b) Whom God promotes, cannot be demoted by mankind. Your promotion is related to what is in your soul, and your enemies cannot take that away from you.

c) If God does not promote you, you are not promoted. You are not promoted because of what others think of you.

d) Even though David is facing the adversity of revolution, the power of evil men cannot overthrow the power of God. “For greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world,” 1 Jn 4:4. Absalom became arrogant and coveted his father’s throne, but “God makes war against the arrogant believer and gives grace to the humble,” Jam 4:6; 1 Pet 5:5-6. The fall of Absalom is described in Lk 14:11, “For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be promoted.” Never covet what the Lord has not given you under the divine initiative of grace. Jam 4:10, “Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will promote you.”

e) God promotes at the proper time, at the right time, 1 Pet 5:6. Grace orientation is the believer response to the divine initiative of grace.

f) A personal sense of destiny motivates the continuation and perpetuation of the development of the function of the spiritual skills resulting in promotion. Promotion implies three things: execution of the protocol plan for the Church and subsequent glorification of God, the distribution of escrow blessings for time and eternity, and becoming an invisible hero with an invisible impact. The attainment of spiritual capacity righteousness guarantees being filled with all the fullness from God (Eph 3:19). This is the reality of escrow blessings and the capacity for them. This is your promotion.

g) God is glorified by your promotion. The promotion is related to the function of spiritual skills, the attainment of spiritual adulthood. Because of the divine initiative of grace all believers have equal opportunity for promotion. If we fail to be promoted, it is because we fail to learn and use those spiritual skills.

h) If God does not promote you, you are not promoted. God promotes prepared believers. Prepared believers are grace oriented. They are oriented to the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past (your portfolio of invisible assets), the divine initiative of antecedent grace in time (common, efficacious, salvation and postsalvation grace—living and dying grace), the divine initiative of eschatological grace in time (dying grace, interim life, resurrection, judgment seat of Christ, escrow blessings for eternity, ruling during the millennium), and the divine initiative of eschatological grace in the eternal state (a new universe).

v. A good host provides three things: the prepared food, the anointing of the honored guest, and the overflowing cup. The overflowing cup is the spiritual capacity righteousness for promotion plus the conveyance of your escrow blessings for time.

a) In the Absalom revolution, David will lose his beloved son Absalom, but he will not lose his spiritual skills, his promotion to king, nor his escrow blessings for time.

b) The table, the anointing, and the cup are often compared to hospitality in the ancient world. The Lord Jesus Christ is the host at the table. David is our Lord’s guest. The cup of blessings is grace hospitality from our Lord. The Host initiates grace hospitality; David responds with grace orientation.

c) Under the ancient laws of hospitality, it does not matter who is the guest, but it does matter who is the host. Hospitality depends on the host, not on the guest; hence, the divine initiative of grace. David as the guest is the recipient of grace blessing. He will not lose the table, the anointing, or the overflowing cup. He is separated from them, but has not lost anything. David will not lose his cup. His escrow blessings for time are assured.

d) What is true for David is true for you. When you possess your escrow blessings because you have executed God’s plan, you cannot lose them.

g. Verse six is the third metaphor—the military metaphor. Ps 23:6, “No doubt about it, both prosperity [benefit, happiness] and grace will pursue me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

i. God is the aggressor in the divine initiative of grace. When God pursues David, there is great blessing. The momentum of offensive action on the part of the divine initiative of grace results in the blessing of grace pursuit. For the believer who is faithful in the function of the spiritual skills, the divine initiative of grace results in the pursuit of grace in two categories.

a) The believer’s grace orientation to the divine initiative of antecedent grace in time.

b) The believer’s grace orientation to the divine initiative of eschatological grace in the eternal state.

ii. The greatest offensive action in history occurs in the Church Age as the divine initiative of grace. We are on the defensive against Satan, as per Jam 4:7; 1 Pet 5:9; Eph 6:13. But the deployment of grace orientation on the FLOT line of the soul results in individual offensive action. The FLOT line of the soul is not only designed for defensive action against Satan, but is at the same time a staging area for offensive action—the individual initiative of the Church Age believer. This individual initiative demands consistent use of the spiritual skills for advance to the high ground of spiritual maturity and the greatest impact any one can have in history. Christian offensive action is designed to utilize the divine initiative of grace to become a winner believer.

iii. You do not have to look for grace. In His fantastic mercy, God has provided prosperity and grace, and He pursues you with them. Grace pursues us; we do not pursue grace. Ps 89:20, 49 show that David was always pursued by grace.

iv. “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” is a reference to the divine initiative of eschatological grace in the eternal state. No one will ever be depressed in the eternal state. Peter describes the house of the Lord in 2 Pet 3:13, “We are looking forward with confidence to a new heavens and a new earth in which perfect righteousness dwells.”

4. Grace orientation is grace response to what God has provided in grace. The response of grace at salvation is a one time decision: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Grace orientation in problem solving devices involves daily decisions regarding rebound, metabolization of doctrine, and the deployment of the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of your soul.

a. As the fourth battalion on the FLOT line of your soul, grace orientation is the believer’s response to the divine initiative of grace.

b. The FLOT line of the soul is not only designed for defensive action against Satan, but at the same time the FLOT line of the soul is the staging area for individual initiative of the believer in offensive action to take the high ground of spiritual maturity. The individual initiative of the believer demands the function of the spiritual skills for the advance to maturity.

c. The fact we are pursued by grace means that grace orientation is one of two battalions (problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul) is assigned to offensive action. The other battalion assigned to offensive action is impersonal love for all mankind.

d. The offensive action of grace orientation is directed toward all members of the human race. The support for this offensive action is impersonal love for all mankind.

J. The Distraction From Grace Orientation By the Arrogance Skills, 2 Cor 12:7-10.

1. 2 Cor 12:7, “And for this reason [the function of blind arrogance] that I should not begin to become arrogant, because of the extraordinary quality of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh for my benefit, an angel from Satan that he might torment me—that I should not begin to become arrogant!”

a. The arrogance skills (self-justification, self-deception, and self-absorption) are the greatest distraction to the function of the spiritual life. Even Paul had to be warned and protected from the arrogance skills. Paul was so concerned about arrogance that he repeated himself twice in the same verse, “that I should not begin to become arrogant.”

b. The thorn in the flesh was not eye trouble, malaria, migraine headaches, insomnia, epilepsy, baldness, speech impediment, being single, or Jewish persecutions. Paul does not complain about it. Paul tells us in verse ten what the thorn in the flesh was: people testing (he was slandered a lot), thought testing (there was a lot of unusual pressure on him), injustices (persecutions), and troubles. This demon could not possess Paul, because all believers are indwelt by God the Holy Spirit. The thorn demons probably worked through unbelievers. The thorn in the flesh produces preventative arrogance skills and momentum from the spiritual skills.

c. Paul was so concerned about the thorn in the flesh, he prayed for it to be removed. But this was the wrong thing for which to pray. There is a reason and purpose for every thing that happens to the believer. Prayer is not the solution. Prayer is not a problem solving device; it is the result of the problem solving devices. Whatever the function of the thorn demons, it brought Paul to the status of preventative arrogance.

d. The filling of the Spirit never demands that you justify yourself. When we sin, fail, or are trying to excuse our sinfulness, we try to justify our sins. This is self-justification. Then we deny our sins or superimpose our own flaws on others through projection. This becomes self- deception. Then we become preoccupied with ourselves as a part of self- absorption. This is the cycling of the arrogance skills, which moves the believer away from sanity, Rom 12:2-3.

a) Ezek 7:10, “Behold the day. Behold it is coming. Your doom has gone forth. The rod of discipline has budded, because arrogance has blossomed.”

b) Prov 16:18, “Arrogance precedes destruction, And before a fall, there is a lifestyle of arrogance.” This lifestyle of arrogance is a recycling of the arrogance skills.

c) Prov 23:29, “A person’s arrogance will bring him low; But a lifestyle of humility will attain honor.” Humility is grace orientation.

d) Self-justification and self-deception is the subject of 1 Jn 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin [self-justification], we are deceiving ourselves, and the doctrine is not in us.” Self-justification says, in effect, “I am right, everyone else is wrong.”

e) Gal 6:7, “Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a person sows, that will he also reap.” Self-deception ignores this principle. Hos 8:7, “They that sow to the wind reap the whirlwind.” Prov 22:8, “He who sows wickedness, reaps trouble; And the rod of His wrath is ready.

f) Gal 6:3, “If anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

ii. Self-absorption draws heavily from the arrogance complex of sins for application to experience. The arrogance skills perform a similar function to the spiritual skills. The arrogance skills make application of the sins of the arrogance complex and the sins of the emotional complex to experience. It is a blessing to be around these kind of people, because this is the way you grow up spiritually. The things that you want to get rid of and do not like are the very things that take you over the hump to the high ground of spiritual maturity. Do not complain about adversity.

iii. For example, the arrogant sin of bitterness is applied to experience through self-absorption. Bitterness is a reaction sin of arrogance. If you are bitter against anyone, you are cycling arrogance rather than functioning under the spiritual skills. People who are bitter inevitably think they are all right and the other person is all wrong. Bitterness is a reaction sin of arrogance. Bitterness, as an arrogant sin of self-absorption, refuses to take the responsibility for one’s own bad decisions from a position of weakness. When you stop taking responsibility for your bad decisions, you are divorcing yourself from reality, you will enter into denial, and eventually you must go to self-deception. Malice is a recycling of bitterness and motivates revenge.

a) Jam 3:14, “If you are bitter and jealous and have strife in your right lobe, stop being arrogant and lying against the truth.”

b) Eph 4:31, “All bitterness, both anger and wrath, both quarreling and slander must be removed from you along with all malice, but become kind toward one another [grace orientation], compassionate [impersonal love], even forgiving each other just as God also by means of Christ has forgiven us.”

c) Heb 12:15, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled.”

d) 1 Tim 6:4-6 describes the believer functioning under the arrogance skills. “He is arrogant and understanding nothing; he has a morbid obsession about controversies and verbal conflicts [they have to win an argument; they have to be right], from which originate jealousy, strife [you become a trouble maker], abusive language, evil suspicions; consequently, constant friction between persons of depraved mind [this is describing a Christian marriage] and deprived of doctrine, who assume that the spiritual life is a means of profit, but the spiritual life is a means of great profit, when accompanied by contentment.”

1) Trouble makers are self-deceived and will justify themselves come what may. They think they are right because they have a certain biblical doctrine, and that doctrine is already being covered over with scar tissue, because they are wrong. They are wrong because there is no grace orientation. Grace orientation is the first battalion on the FLOT line of the soul as a problem solving device to retreat when you begin to cycle arrogance skills.

2) Every time you cycle the arrogance skills you are adding to the depriving of yourself of doctrine, because you are building scar tissue on the soul exactly as the Exodus generation did.

3) The arrogant believer assumes that if you are spiritual and line up with God, then God is going to bless you and you will not have any adversity. There is blessing in the spiritual life, but not always the way the arrogant believer thinks. If the Lord had answered Paul’s prayer to take away his adversity, then Paul would never have reached maturity. Contentment is sharing the perfect happiness of God, a problem solving device. The profit is in using the problem solving devices.

e) Jam 3:16, “Where jealousy and strife exist, there is unruliness [in the soul] and evil deeds.”

f) 2 Cor 12:20, “For I am afraid that perhaps when I come I may find you to be not what I wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish; that perhaps there may be strife, jealousy, anger, flared tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances.” Where a congregation of believers are dominating by the cycling of the arrogant skills, it is a congregation in confusion.

g) Jam 4:2, “You continue to lust and do not have [doctrine]; you murder; furthermore you are jealous; consequently, you are not able to obtain [the problem solving devices]; instead you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.”

iv. The solution is given in Gal 5:25-26, “If we live by means of the Spirit, let us also advance by means of the Spirit. Let us not become arrogant, challenging one another, being jealous of each other.”

2. 2 Cor 12:8, “Concerning this I implored the Lord three times, `Make it go away from me.’”

a. It is not wrong to pray for people that are sick and it is not wrong for people who are sick to pray for help, but prayer is not a problem solving device. You were designed to learn and utilize the spiritual skills and deploy the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of your soul.

b. We live in an age of the greatest power that has ever been given to the ordinary believer. The power at your disposal is phenomenal, but you will never touch it without straightening out your values and functioning on a consistent basis with the spiritual skills. You do not need a miracle from God; you have far superior power to miracles. God does not need to perform miracles, when He has given us assets that were pioneered and tested by Christ in the dispensation of the hypostatic union. You have more power available to you than all of the Old Testament miracles put together.

c. Offering this prayer three times was an abuse of prayer by Paul. Paul prayed intensely and urgently for this suffering to be removed. Paul was wrong to use prayer because this called for the use of the problem solving devices. If God had answered Paul’s pray, Paul would have missed out on one of the greatest blessings of life—spiritual maturity—and it would have set Paul back in his spiritual life. The Lord did not even answer Paul until after he had prayed the wrong prayer three times.

d. What the Lord does not remove by way of intense suffering, He intends for us to resolve through the ten problem solving devices on the FLOT line of your soul. You do not pray about adversity, you use your problem solving devices. Four problems hit Paul at the same time and he lost control of the FLOT line of his soul. Stress had temporarily gotten into his soul.

e. Prayer is a vehicle for use of certain problem solving devices. Prayer is not a problem solving device.

i. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me,” relates the problem solving device of rebound to prayer.

ii. Prayer is a vehicle whereby grace orientation makes application to our experience. “Coming boldly to the throne of grace” means that it is the problem solving device that makes prayer effective, not prayer solving a problem. The solution comes through grace orientation, not through prayer.

iii. The faith-rest drill uses prayer, Matt 21:22, “Everything you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”

iv. Jude 20, “Praying by means of the Holy Spirit,” indicates that the filling of the Spirit as a problem solving device is related to prayer.

f. Prayer is a function of our royal priesthood whereby we fulfill petition for our own needs and make intercession for others.

g. Thorn in the flesh suffering is designed for development and utilization of grace orientation on the defense line of the soul. Paul’s suffering in 2 Cor 12:7-10 is designed to be part of the principle of Rom 8:28, “For we know that to those who love God, He causes all things to work together for good, even to those who are called on the basis of a predetermined plan.”

i. Paul’s thorn in the flesh suffering is the divine initiative of grace. It is a grace gift from God designed for the function of the problem solving devices, specifically grace orientation. You must face a thorn in the flesh experience prior to reaching maturity.

ii. Thorn in the flesh suffering is a case of God working all things together for good. Therefore, the deployment of grace orientation and personal love for God the Father are the two things which go together in this concept. God will cause the thorn suffering in Paul’s life to work together for good, not through prayer, but through the function of the problem solving devices.

iii. God’s plan calls for suffering for blessing in order to execute His protocol plan for the Church. It is inevitable that we will have spiritual combat experience, and we will be either winners or losers at that point.

iv. It is the combination of thorn suffering and the deployment of the problem solving devices on the FLOT line which executes the protocol plan of God. We are mandated to take the defensive against Satan and take the offensive in the spiritual life by growing up spiritually. If you are going to grow up, you are going to do so through grace orientation on the FLOT line of your soul. The spiritual life is offensive; it is designed for advancing. However, you maintain the defensive against Satan. Spiritual combat is not a matter of prayer, but a matter of using the problem solving devices. People misuse prayer by asking for things they already have or asking for things they should not have.

v. Execution of the protocol plan of God not only glorifies God but also creates the invisible hero, the unique product of God’s grace.

vi. If God answered Paul’s prayer and removed the suffering, it would destroy the only offensive action that Paul had to take the high ground of spiritual maturity. The offensive is the day-by-day function of the spiritual skills, not against Satan but toward God.

vii. Spiritual momentum from the spiritual skills glorifies God through the execution of His plan, will, and purpose.

h. It is part of God’s plan for Paul at this time to combine his suffering with grace orientation and personal love for God the Father, in order to make the final advance to the high ground of spiritual maturity. Out of this will come the greatest blessing of Paul’s life. When you have finally been trained for combat, God sends you the most difficult suffering of your life so you can use the problem solving devices, not prayer. Paul asks God to make it go away. If God had done what Paul had ask, God would have had to remove the blessing. To answer Paul’s fervent prayers would have set back Paul in his spiritual life.

i. The function of the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul take precedence over any system of prayer or begging God for the removal of the suffering and adversity involved. Suffering is your friend, not your enemy. You do not want suffering for blessing to be removed. Use your problem solving devices. Certain categories of suffering for blessing are absolutely necessary for spiritual momentum for the execution of the protocol plan of God for glorifying God. When you pass this kind of a test, the elect angels are standing and cheering you.

i. There is far greater power in the problem solving devices deployed for action against suffering than the power of suffering to destroy the spiritual skills with the arrogance skills.

ii. Therefore, what suffering God does not remove, He intends for us to bear; not through prayer, which is not a problem solving device, but through problem solving devices, especially grace orientation.

iii. The problem solving devices are designed to deal with every category of suffering in life. Therefore, in many cases, the suffering is designed for blessing. Every category of suffering is designed through the problem solving devices to add momentum and blessing to your spiritual life.

iv. Remove the suffering and you remove the blessing. Take suffering out of your life and you have destroyed your momentum. When you pray “Oh, God take the suffering away,” you are a loser in the spiritual life because you have rejected the grace of God by not using the problem solving devices.

v. Suffering is designed by God as a field training exercise, preparing us for every crises in life. The removal of suffering is not a solution, but the means of using the ten problem solving devices for application to the suffering. The solution is in using the problem solving devices. God intends for us to go through suffering with flying colors. Paul’s three prayers were asking God to make him stop advancing to maturity—to take the suffering away so he would not have to use the problem solving devices. God was not about to answer this prayer.

vi. David won the battle before the battle began through the use of problem solving devices, not because he prayed. The battle is always won before the battle begins when you have ten problem solving devices on the FLOT line of your soul.

vii. In suffering, the solution is not prayer, but the function of the ten problem solving devices deployed on the FLOT line of your soul. The divine initiative of grace delivers in suffering, not from suffering.

b) Prayer has many wonderful and fantastic uses, but is not a problem solving device. Effective prayer is a result, but never the means of spiritual momentum. Like all forms of Christian service, prayer is a result of the spiritual skills and spiritual life.

c) Prayer is a vehicle for the function of the basic problem solving devices: rebound, filling of the Spirit, faith-rest drill, grace orientation, doctrinal orientation. Prayer is effective because of the function of the problem solving devices. Prayer has no effect without them.

d) Believers who pray for a miracle never understand the power and grace of God. Miracles are performed by the sovereignty of God without the help of believer’s prayers. The believer who prays for a miracle does not understand the grace of God. Most people praying for miracles are recycling the arrogance skills and are losers full of self- absorption.

j. Paul made the wrong application of prayer. He used prayer as the wrong solution for suffering. Paul is doing a right thing in a wrong way. Prayer is not a problem solving device. The answer is not prayer but the function of grace orientation on the FLOT line of his soul. Paul’s prayer is tantamount to a retreat from the FLOT line of his soul. The solution to suffering is the divine initiative of grace—the provision of the three spiritual skills.

i. Suffering is not your enemy. Suffering is your friend, when it is designed by God for your blessing. You want your friend to stay so you can use the problem solving devices.

ii. The divine initiative of grace includes the principle of suffering for blessing. The greatest advances in the spiritual life are made through the barrage of suffering. No one is ever strong by avoiding the barrage of suffering.

iii. The divine initiative of grace includes spiritual momentum through suffering, not spiritual momentum avoiding suffering.

iv. When the believer is functioning through the spiritual skills, suffering is designed for his blessing and for his advance.

v. When suffering is designed for blessing, suffering is your friend, not your enemy.

vi. The spiritual skills plus suffering for blessing equal momentum in the spiritual life, which results in the execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church. This is where you take the offensive in the spiritual life.

vii. Execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church results in: glorification of God, invisible impact for Christ, conveyance of your escrow blessings for time and eternity, and going through your very own death-shadowed valley in the most magnificent way.

3. 3. 2 Cor 12:9, “Then He assured me for my benefit, `My grace has been and still is sufficient for you; for My power is put into effect [made operational, accomplished, carried out, fulfilled] in the status of weakness [grace orientation]. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may reside in me.’”

a. “My grace has been and still is sufficient for you” is an idiom, meaning, “You need nothing more than My grace.” God assured Paul that he was on the right track in his spiritual life. He only needed to go back to grace orientation to handle the problem. It is not prayer that handles the problem of suffering, but the problem solving devices. There is no effective prayer without the problem solving devices in your soul first.

b. Grace orientation is the believer’s response to the divine initiative of grace. Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind without compromising His essence or nullifying His attributes. Grace is undeserved suffering, undeserved support, which God freely gives to all mankind. Grace is the divine system that permeates biblical theology and all human experience. Grace does not start with mankind, but originates with God. Therefore, grace is not earned, deserved, or merited by human works, human resources, or human ability. God’s grace precedes human life on earth, and is, in fact, part of His divine essence. Motivated by divine love, God’s grace takes the initiative in eternity past and, combined with divine omnipotence, provides the most fantastic things for you as a believer. “My grace has been” is the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past, “and still is” is the divine initiative of antecedent grace in time.

c. Grace orientation responds to the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past as well as in time. Grace orientation is the response of metabolized doctrine to the divine initiative of antecedent and eschatological grace. In the grace policy of God, the divine initiative of grace always precedes the grace response. This is true in common grace, efficacious grace, logistical, living grace or postsalvation, dying grace, and eschatological grace.

d. Which comes first, the problem solving device or prayer? Rebound, the filling of the Spirit, the faith-rest drill, grace orientation, and doctrinal orientation must all be operational in the soul before God will even listen to your prayers. A personal sense of destiny means you are using prayer effectively. Personal love for God the Father is the motivation for prayer. Your prayers are never answered where you do not have impersonal love. Sharing the happiness of God is self-motivation for effective prayer. Occupation with Christ is the only way you can ever understand certain areas of prayers.

e. The divine initiative of grace related to the power of Christ is the issue in 2 Cor 12:7-10 and in Phil 4:13, “I have the power [portfolio of invisible assets] to attain all things [execution of protocol plan of God] through Him [Jesus Christ] who keeps on pouring the power [filling of the Spirit and metabolized doctrine] into me.” The filling of the Spirit is a grace gift from the Lord Jesus Christ to the royal family as the first power option of the protocol plan of God. The second power option is the infallible word of God, which is called “the mind of Christ” in 1 Cor 2:16. These two power options are the power which our Lord keeps on pouring into us and were given to us as a matter of grace. This is why when we are weak (not depending on our own human ability, talent, power, personality), we are strong.

i. As a result of the heritage of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dispensation of the hypostatic union, we have two power options and one great precedence. Whether you ever use these three or not is optional; it depends on whether you learn, understand, or are interested in learning these things.

ii. You are the only one who can live your spiritual life. No one else can live it for you. But you cannot live it without divine power and precedence, the divine power of the divine initiative of antecedent grace in eternity past and in time.

f. The Lord’s power is made operational or put into effect in the status of weakness. This is not the weakness of the loser, but weak in the sense of grace orientation. Grace orientation looks at your suffering the way it looks at your blessings—from the standpoint of the FLOT line with the problem solving devices. You have the capacity for both blessing or suffering.

i. Weakness emphasizes the status of the believer with grace orientation on the FLOT line of his soul. When you have grace orientation on the FLOT line of your soul, you recognize your own inability to solve your problems, and, above all, any one else’s .Grace orientation is the total absence of human merit, human ability to solve problems. Once you have grace orientation on the FLOT line of your soul, then you use the power and precedence of Christ. Grace orientation is self-motivation of the believer to use the power of God through the spiritual skills.

ii. The grace of God excludes all human power, all human dynamics, all good works leverage. When you use good works leverage, you use it in two directions: toward people and toward God. They use their life as leverage to manipulate other people and God.

iii. Grace depends on who and what God is, not your attempt to redecorate God to suit yourself. You have not been called to redecorate people to suit your taste. Human solutions are no solutions.

v. The divine initiative of grace provides for the deployment of problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul.

vi. Therefore, grace orientation is the self-motivation of the believer to use the power of God through the three spiritual skills. The power is located in the first two spiritual skills; the precedence is located in the third spiritual skill. You can have power and precedence or you can have pride and prejudice, and no one can make that decision for you.

g. The final statement in this verse is an elative conclusion. It is one of the greatest statements on the grace of God that has ever existed. The word “elative” describes a grammatical construction and a very rare classical Greek idiom. The elative conclusion puts grace in its proper perspective. An elative is a combination of a superlative and a comparative adjectival or adverbial form denoting inclusion and exclusion. The superlative always takes the position of what is included and the comparative always takes the position of what is excluded. The superlative always tells you what is God’s solution and the comparative tells you what is not God’s solution. In this passage, grace orientation is included as God’s solution and prayer is excluded as not God’s solution.

i. Elative is grammatical nomenclature for a combination of a superlative and comparative to denote superiority, inclusion, and exclusion. What is excluded (human solutions) is never a part of God’s plan. What is included is grace. Human solutions and divine solutions are mutually exclusive.

ii. The elative emphasizes solution to suffering rather than reaction to suffering. Paul’s prayer for the removal of suffering is reaction to suffering, the dominance of self-absorption plus the arrogance complex of sins. All wrong solutions intensify suffering. Illustration: adversity converted into stress.

iii. The power of the elative is dramatically portrayed in the fact Paul says boasting in weaknesses (grace orientation) is better than prayer. This is not true when you are using prayer properly and the divine solution of the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul. Boasting in weakness is a testimony to the deployment of grace orientation on the FLOT line of the soul. Boasting is grace orientation, recognition of helplessness. Prayer for the removal of thorn suffering is the wrong approach; it is a human solution. Suffering for blessing is something for which you cannot pray. You can pray for illness, sickness, all kinds of problems and difficulties, but not for a thorn in the flesh.

a) Paul was using prayer as leverage to try to get God to do Paul’s will, not God’s will. He used prayer as leverage to try and superimpose his own will over the sovereignty of God.

b) Paul’s three intensive prayers converted a legitimate spiritual function into an instrument of legalism and blasphemy.

c) This is why God the Holy Spirit must often make intercession for us in prayer. Rom 8:26-28, “And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes with groaning too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what is the thinking of the Spirit, because He makes intercession as a substitute for the saints on the basis of the will of God. Now we know that to those who love God He causes all things to work together for good, to those who are called according to His predetermined plan.”

d) There is no effective prayer apart from the problem solving devices deployed on the FLOT line of the soul. The problem solving devices are the only accurate and legitimate means of the application of doctrine to experience.

e) Prayer is not a problem solving device; for prayer depends on the problem solving devices for its effectiveness. Prayer is not designed to manipulate other people or to use leverage to manipulate the sovereignty of God.

f) Under the sponsorship of the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul, prayer becomes a very powerful instrument for Christian service and for your own petitions to God.

iv. Better to boast about weaknesses than to pray for the removal of suffering for blessing.

v. Paul cannot boast in the divine solution, because the divine initiative of grace is designed for weakness. Therefore, Paul would much rather boast in that which lines up with grace. By boasting in his weaknesses, Paul is using grace orientation. He recognizes that only God can do anything about his thorn suffering.

vi. The elative emphasis provides shock emphasis, i.e., boasting is better than prayer in this case, because the thorn suffering is suffering for blessing.

vii. Boasting in weakness emphasizes the doctrine of power and precedence. Grace orientation says in effect that the divine solution is based on the function of divine power and precedence. The divine power is located in the first two spiritual skills and the precedence is located in the function of the humanity of Christ in hypostatic union.

viii. Paul is boasting in the helplessness brought on by the thorn in the flesh suffering. Paul is now boasting in the fact there is no human solution, no prayer solution, no manipulation of God through leverage.

ix. The function of grace orientation on the FLOT line of the soul is the divine solution which glorifies God.

x. The divine initiative of grace is designed to glorify God, never mankind. Any time you can boast, it is not glorifying God.

xi. The prepositional phrase “about my weaknesses” the dative plural of reference is like the accusative; for it extends the action of the verb “boasting” to human weakness. The elative emphasis combines the superlative with the comparative to emphasize a very important point of doctrine: God has a monopoly on solutions that work. Human solutions are no solutions. The elative emphasis presents the fact that prayer for deliverance and miracles often becomes legalism and arrogance. How dare you ask God for a miracle when He has provided for you the greatest portfolio of invisible assets in history. That’s arrogance. God has provided for Paul the solution, and it is not prayer. The prayer for the removal of the thorn is the blasphemy of ordering God to follow Paul’s desire and judgment in the matter rather than God’s sovereign wisdom and judgment in the matter. By boasting about his weaknesses, Paul acknowledges his understanding of the grace solution of God and is saluting the grace solution of God. What is relevant is not the fact that Paul is hurting. What is relevant is the fact that God has provided the solution.

h. The word “weakness” emphasizes the total helplessness of the believer to solve the problems of life through human ability, human viewpoint, human works, or human merit, therefore, no human leverage to manipulate God through prayer, morality, legalism, or the emotional complex of sins. Paul used prayer as instrument of legalism. “Weakness” emphasizes the status of the believer in the deployment of grace orientation on the FLOT line of the soul. “Weaknesses” means no illusions about human solutions to the problems of life. Grace always depends on who and what God is, never on who and what mankind is. Human solutions are no solutions.

i. In boasting about his weaknesses, Paul is giving testimony to the doctrine of power and precedence, because the doctrine of power and precedence says that only the divine initiative of grace can solve problems. “Boasting” is preceded in the Greek by the elative emphasis—by a superlative adverb and a comparative adverb. It denotes the superiority of the divine solution and the exclusion of the human solution. The elative emphasis is greater and more than, greatest and more than, best and more than. Boasting about weaknesses, therefore, is a testimony to the exclusion of human ability to solve problems and the inclusion of divine solutions to solve problems. Boasting in weaknesses is a testimony to power and precedence, the doctrine of the word of God, which is the very backbone of your spiritual life. Both the power and the precedence came from the humanity of Jesus Christ during His first advent. He gave the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine to Church Age believers.

i. Weakness in suffering demands the application of grace orientation to the situation for that suffering to be converted into blessing.

ii. Suffering does not transmit or bear its meaning in itself, but suffering becomes a spotlight for focusing attention on the divine initiative of grace.

iii. The issue in adversity is not the suffering but the divine solution, the grace solution, the deployment of the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of your soul.

iv. Remove the suffering and you remove the solution. You become strong through divine solutions.

v. Remove the suffering and you remove the blessing. Asking God to take away the suffering is trying to make your will God’s will.

vii. Blessing is in the solution, not in the suffering. You cannot have blessing apart from divine solutions to life. You cannot have blessing and solution apart from deploying the ten problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul. The existence of suffering is the challenge to apply the divine solutions, therefore, if you remove the suffering, you remove the blessing. No one takes the high ground of spiritual maturity without advancing through the barrage of suffering for blessing. There is no way you can have blessings without divine solutions. There is no way you can have solutions without suffering.

k. The divine initiative of grace permits the suffering, provides the grace solution, which creates blessing and glorifies God. All divine solutions are grace solutions, which exclude human solutions. God is definitely going to give you suffering for blessing, so that, through your daily perception of doctrine, you will deploy the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of your soul, and not try to use prayer as leverage to coerce God to make the suffering go away. You do not solve your problems by praying for them, but by using the problem solving devices. The Lord said suffering is not a matter of prayer, but a matter of grace orientation.

i. The elative conclusion emphasizes the fact that divine solutions are grace solutions which exclude human solutions, including the misuse of prayer. The elative emphasizes the absolute doctrine that the divine solution is infinitely superior to both human problems and the human attempt to solve those problems apart from the use of God’s problem solving devices—the divine solution.

ii. Grace solutions exclude all human solutions, including legalism, psychology, defense mechanisms, arrogance skills, the arrogance complex of sins, leverage, and manipulation. When you use leverage and manipulation toward other believers, it is called legalism. When you do so toward God, it is called blasphemy.

iii. The elative conclusion emphasizes the fact that the deployment of the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul turn the protocol plan of God into offensive action, taking the high ground of spiritual maturity, provides the believer with the divine solutions and momentum in the spiritual life, blessing in the spiritual life, glorification of God, and the dynamics of invisible heroship through the function of the spiritual skills. The elative conclusion emphasizes the solution to suffering rather than reaction to suffering.

iv. The elative conclusion emphasizes inclusion and exclusion—what the divine solution is and what the divine solution is not. The divine initiative of grace permits thorn suffering and provides the divine solution. The divine initiative of grace excludes blasphemy of trying to manipulate God through prayer, which turns prayer into an instrument of legalism.

a) Believers place great emphasis on quick solutions. For example, people are no better in marriage than they are as people. Therefore, the solution to marital problems is exactly the same as the solution to thorn problems—the elative emphasis.

b) The elative emphasis is the way of explaining what is the answer and what is not the answer. The elative emphasis says divine solutions are the only solutions, and divine solutions are activated through the consistent function of the three spiritual skills.

c) Divine blessings come from divine solutions. Divine solutions include grace orientation on the FLOT line of the soul. Therefore, “My grace has been and still is sufficient for you. My power is put into effect in the status of weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses.” God’s initiative of grace permits thorn suffering and provides the perfect, unique, grace solution.

vi. “Boasting about weakness” is recognition of helplessness to solve the problem through human ability. “Weakness” emphasizes the total helplessness of the believer to solve the problems of life through human ability, human works, and human merit. “Weakness” also emphasizes the fact that good works and evil are never problem solving devices. Weakness means no illusions about human solutions to the problems of life. Neither prayer nor Christian service are ever effective without the function of the three spiritual skills. “Boasting in weaknesses” is Paul’s recognition that power and precedence removes prayer as a problem solving device. “Boasting in weakness” is grace orientation. Better to boast in weakness than to pray for the removal of suffering for blessing. The elative conclusion: the divine solution is the only solution.

a) Weakness is always searching for solutions, but always comes up with human solutions (which include the misuse of prayer and Christian service).

b) Grace orientation motivates weakness to search for strength. Therefore, out of weakness comes strength. Human strength is incompatible with divine power, but human weakness is compatible with the power of God, when problem solving devices are making a reconnaissance to come to the divine solution for weakness.

4. 2 Cor 12:10, “Therefore, on behalf of Christ I am content with my weaknesses, with vilifications, with adversities, with persecutions, with troublemakers; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

a. There is great power and strength in weakness. “Weaknesses” here indicates the thorns, and is used here in the sense of helplessness, incapacity, and being powerless. Weaknesses are the basis for the function of grace orientation. Weaknesses is used here to present four categories of thorn suffering.

i. Vilification means being the victim of someone else who is functioning the arrogance skills, resulting in the arrogance complex of sins and eventuating in the emotional complex of sins. This is being the victim of the antagonism of someone else.

a) There is a Christian bureaucracy which administers the first thorn through vilification, vituperation, or the function of malice. It does this through hard core legalist believers recycling the arrogance skills. They are totally immature believers.

b) There is a problem of arrested development of human maturity as unbelievers which overflows into postsalvation experience and becomes a great hindrance to that believer. There are two basic failures in life which result in the arrested development of human maturity: the function of negative volition toward authority and the function of childhood defense mechanisms used in adulthood. Defense mechanisms combine with the three arrogance skills to arrest your human advance to maturity. As a believer, you become a member of a hard core legalistic bureaucracy, which administers vilification and vituperation to growing believers. This can be called the postsalvation immaturity hangover.

c) The arrogance bureaucracy spends all of its time trying to straighten out everyone else. They try to make others over into what they think people should be. They are horribly critical of anyone who is not like them. This bureaucracy exists in every church. They are troublemakers.

d) What is the pattern of this immaturity hangover from childhood? The function of the arrogance skills continue to follow the pattern of recycling with devastating results: perpetual sin nature control of the soul, the arrogance skills are parlayed into the arrogance complex of sins and the arrogance complex of sins result in the irrationality of the emotional complex of sins, the trends of the sin nature result in self- righteous arrogance and the stubbornness of legalism or escape into antinomianism, the stages of reversionism, and Christian moral or immoral degeneracy.

1) The imbibing stage of the hangover is analogous to the problems of childhood, adolescence, and youth. The drunkenness status is the use of defense mechanisms to deal with the problems of childhood and youth.

2) The defense mechanism which helped you as a child destroys you as an adult. The defense mechanisms are part of the childhood inebriation, childhood factor. Arrogance skills are part of the hangover in adulthood. Being rejected and ridiculed by your peers, you build a wall of denial around yourself that keeps out reality. Confrontation with other children leads to projection. In denial, there is either no perception of reality or rejection of reality. Because you are in denial, you never see themselves as wrong in anything. Projection is the sin nature adjustment to human relationships involving all of the arrogance skills. In self-deception, you fail to recognize that you have caused some of the problem between yourself and others.

3) Self-deception is closely related to rationalization. Rationalization is a defense mechanism in which a person devises self-serving or reassuring but incorrect explanations of his or her own behavior or that of another person. In this self-serving, you always explain your behavior as right and proper and justified, and that of someone else as wrong. Whatever doctrine you have learned is damaged by continued use of the defense mechanisms as an adult. Problems in adulthood bring you right back to childhood defense mechanisms rather than the use of the problem solving devices of the protocol plan of God. This leads to dissociation.

4) There is a definite relationship developed between the defense mechanisms and the arrogance skills. The arrogance skills become an almost automatic function for you to survive. You solve all of your problems in day-dreaming. This is self-absorption, autism, isolation, resulting in delusion. You belong to a bureaucracy which will always function to same way—the administrating of thorn suffering through vilification of others. Your motivation will be jealousy, bitterness, malice, implacability, revenge motivation, etc. The result of autistic fantasy (day-dreaming) is unrealistic expectation. This is how you get beyond your capabilities. v. As an adult, the false panaceas of life come into function. The false panaceas of life result from failure to understand and utilize the problem solving devices as the only legitimate system for the application of doctrine to experience. Delusion creates false panaceas such as prayer as a panacea to the problems of life. You cannot recover in a day what you lost over a long period of time. There is no permanent solution to the problems of life apart from the spiritual skills, especially the use of the problem solving devices.

5) The sin nature control of the life creates this arrogance bureaucracy. This bureaucracy is made up of Christian moral degeneracy. One of the functions of the pastor is to protect you from these Christians by teaching you the doctrine to see these people for what they are and how to use the problem solving devices to deal with them. You cannot persuade the hard core legalist that he is ever wrong. They are dogmatic, stubborn, and never wrong. Self-righteous arrogance justifies everything they are doing. Their self-deception develops false panaceas (e.g., that marriage and prayer can solve all the problems of life) and advocates utopian socialism as the solution to human suffering. Self- absorption adopts human morality as the substitute for the dynamics of the spiritual skills and subsequent virtue.

6) The Christian bureaucracy rejects the doctrines of the infallible word of God as taught by the pastor-teacher. Believers become agents for the administration of the first category of thorn suffering. This bureaucracy also has an unbeliever part, as illustrated by Judaism. God uses the wrath of the bureaucracy to praise Himself. God uses the bureaucracy by letting them run amuck. Because no one reaches maturity until he passes the thorn in the flesh suffering, which lasts over a period of time. Believers out of fellowship with no interest in doctrine are the worst monsters in the human race.

ii. The second thorn in the flesh is the outside pressures of adversity found in eight categories. The second thorn suffering definitely requires that you have the ten problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul to prevent the outside pressures of adversity from becoming the inside pressure of stress in the soul.

1) Historical disaster or national trauma— economic depression, tyranny from crime, malfunction of law enforcement in the courts, vigilante distortion of law, riots, anarchy, anti-semitism, defeat in warfare, government encroachment upon the freedom of its citizens.

2) Criminal disasters—murder, rape, robbery, burglary, victim of violence, terrorism, child abuse, kidnapping, incest.

3) To be a victim of malice, revenge, vituperation, vilification, rejection, injustices of various

4) Loss of health—disease, pain, suffering and terminal illness. It is very legitimate to pray for the illness and suffering of others.

8) Rejection—a victim of discrimination, violence, abuse, oppression, passed over for promotion, loss of employment, a victim of unfairness, a victim of irrational and antagonistic government bureaucracy, a victim of the meanness of some group in general.

b) Adversity is what others and circumstances do to you; stress is what you do to yourself. Adversity is inevitable; stress is optional. Stress is the temporary destruction of your spiritual life. Stress in the soul is tantamount to the sin nature control of the soul. Stress in the soul overruns the command post of your soul (your right lobe that circulates metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness). Stress in the soul contradicts the protocol plan of God for the Church.

c) The problem solving devices counterattack and drive stress out of the soul, so that the FLOT line is restored for accurate and legitimate application of Bible doctrine. The FLOT line is restored by the rebound technique.

iii. The third thorn in the flesh is persecution, which includes all manner of unjust treatment—husbands persecuting wives, wives persecuting husbands, bosses persecuting workers. All of these categories had combined at the same time to test Paul.

iv. The forth thorn in the flesh is continued mental pain, perpetuated anguish in the soul, troubles brought on by a troublemaker. Troublemakers are the products of the recycling of the arrogance skills. They are totally preoccupied with self. Do-gooders are great troublemakers. All troublemakers demand attention, and if they do not get it, they react and make trouble. All they care about is how they feel and the fact you are not giving them any attention.

a) Troublemakers are always trying to make up to you, be nice to you, and get your affection back. They never understand the problem.

b) The believer has to bear the same anguish, the same mental pain, the same pressure again and again and again. 2 Cor 4:8, “We are afflicted, but not crushed.”

c) The worst troublemaker always works through other people to get to you, to hurt you. They bring down on you all the people you love and admire. When approbation lust is not satisfied with sufficient attention, the arrogant believer begins to manufacture trouble through good deeds or vilification.

d) The troublemaker eventually gets worse unless they use the problem solving devices, because they get farther from reality from emotional sins. The recycling of the arrogance skills and subsequent function of the arrogance complex of sins produces both the neurotic and psychotic tendencies, coupled with the emotional complex of sins, which is a state of complete irrationality.

b. “For when I am weak [helpless, powerless, incapacity], then I am strong.” When we are weak, then we are candidates for divine help; for the function of the problem solving devices. Weakness does not imply failure, but helplessness, being in a powerless state. Weakness means inability to solve the problem through human resources, human ability, human works. Weakness means total dependence on grace and power from God for the solution. Weakness emphasizes the divine initiative of grace. All human solutions are relative, and the relative solutions contradict the protocol plan of God. Anything outside of the divine solution only intensifies the suffering and results in stress in the soul.

i. Strength in weakness comes from solutions, divine solutions to suffering for blessing.

iv. The divine solution is grace delegated through the three spiritual skills which emphasize the deployment of the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul.

v. Anything outside the divine solution intensifies the suffering and complicates the life with more stress. Stress begets stress in the soul, when you use human solutions instead of divine solutions.

vi. Stress in the soul perpetuates sin nature control of the life, overruns the command post of the soul, and puts your spiritual life out of action. When you use prayer over problem solving devices, you intensify the suffering and receive no answer to prayer.

vii. Strength in weakness is the monopoly of the divine initiative of grace, which begins in eternity past with your very own portfolio of invisible assets and extends into time with consistent function of the spiritual skills, resulting in the invisible hero. All invisible heroes have strength in weakness.

a. Once the believer is oriented to grace and has made Bible doctrine number one priority in the life, that believer is qualified to move on to the other problem solving devices.

b. The thorn in the flesh is designed to prevent arrogance and to accelerate your spiritual growth. What the Lord does not remove, He intends for us to bear through the function of the ten problem solving devices deployed on the FLOT line of the soul. The thorn suffering is designed for the deployment and offensive action of these problem solving devices to take the believer to spiritual maturity. There is far greater power in the problem solving devices deployed against suffering than the power of suffering to destroy the spiritual skills with the arrogance skills.

i. The problem solving devices deployed on the FLOT line of your soul through the function of the power options are designed to deal with every category of suffering in life, converting suffering into spiritual momentum and blessing, the glorification of God.

ii. Remove the suffering and you remove the blessing. Take suffering out of your life and you destroy spiritual momentum.

iii. Suffering is designed by God as a field training exercise to prepare you for the real great crises in your life.

iv. David faced crisis and won battles before the battle began through the deployment of problem solving devices on the FLOT line of his soul. “The battle is the Lord’s.” David did not use prayer in the crisis but the problem solving devices deployed through the consistent use of spiritual skills. Prayer is not a problem solving device. The problem solving devices do not depend on prayer. Effective prayer is the result of the function of the problem solving devices and the spiritual skills. Effective prayer is the result not a means of spiritual momentum.

c. Suffering is not your enemy. Suffering is your friend, when it is designed by God for your blessing. God has made the wrath of man to praise Him. The divine initiative of grace includes spiritual advance and momentum through suffering, not by taking the suffering away. Suffering designed for blessing, combined with problem solving devices is designed to move you to the high ground of spiritual maturity. Blessing is not in the removal of suffering but in solving the suffering, and the suffering is solved through the problem solving devices.

d. The believer who begins with divine grace ends up with divine power. Grace orientation is the believer’s response to the divine initiative of grace. Grace excludes all human ability and power to provide equality for the execution of the protocol plan of God. Grace excludes arrogance and legalism, to include using prayer as leverage to impose your will over God’s will. Grace orientation responds to the four divine initiatives of grace for time and eternity through the consistent function of the three spiritual skills. Since grace is the divine policy which originates from God, it cannot and it must not be compromised with human merit, human works, human ability, or legitimate human function like prayer. The grace policy of God precedes grace response from mankind. The divine initiative of grace provides equal opportunity for grace response from mankind; this includes equal opportunity for salvation by grace through faith and for the believer equal privilege and equal opportunity to fulfill God’s plan in time.

e. Without the ten problem solving devices on the FLOT line of the soul, Paul has nothing left but helplessness and powerless incapacity, which he calls weakness. Weakness does not mean failure, but helplessness. No human ability, no function of prayer can resolve the problem. Problems are resolved by what God has given to us—the ten problem solving devices. Weakness emphasizes the believer’s helplessness to solve the problems of life through human ability, human works, and human merit. Weakness means no illusions about human solutions, such as psychology, prayer manipulation, guilt manipulation, or the leverage of legalism.

f. The elative conclusion denotes the inclusion of the divine solution as the absolute and only solution, while also denoting what is excluded as a solution to problems—prayer. The divine solution is the only solution, and is related to the three spiritual skills. Prayer is excluded as a problem solving device. The elative establishes spiritual priorities in life. Boasting in weakness is Paul’s recognition that the doctrine of power and precedence removes prayer as a problem solving device.

i. Paul cannot boast in his prayer life, his three ineffective prayers, which were an attempt to superimpose his own will over the sovereignty of God. This is the blasphemy of leverage in prayer. Believers who use leverage in prayer are involved in the arrogance skills and try to manipulate others.

ii. Suffering minus problem solving devices results in irrationality and emotional sinning.

iii. God would be totally unfair and not God, if He catered to Paul’s emotional blasphemy in this particular prayer.

iv. The thorn suffering is God’s grace provision for Paul’s blessing. The solution, therefore, is not in prayer for the removal of the suffering, but the function of the problem solving devices. Under such conditions, suffering is your friend.

v. The emphasis on the elative is problem solving, grace orientation or boasting in helplessness. Better to boast in helplessness than to pray for the removal of suffering.

vi. The elative conclusion recognizes that the divine solution is the only solution; for the divine solution glorifies God. Where grace is involved, God is glorified. The elative conclusion emphasizes the absolute of Bible doctrine related to your spiritual life. Human solutions are infinitely inferior.

vii. The function of grace orientation on the FLOT line of the soul glorifies God, never mankind. The believer minus the problem solving devices is bankrupt for solutions to the problems and adversities of life.

viii. Blessing is in the solution, not in the suffering. Take away the solution and the suffering will put you down every time. Divine power is only available through grace orientation. Divine blessing is in the divine solution, not in the suffering. Take away the suffering and you take away the divine solution. Take away the divine solution and you take away the blessing. Take away the blessing and you take away your spiritual skills by which you and you alone live your spiritual life.

ix. No one advances to the high ground of spiritual maturity apart from moving forward through this barrage of suffering. The divine solution is an option that must be recognized daily.

x. Grace solutions always glorify the source of grace, which is God, whose grace policy permits the suffering and provides the solution.

xi. Divine power is only available on a grace basis. Each spiritual skill (filling of the Holy Spirit, metabolization of doctrine, function of the problem solving devices) indicates how the power of God resides in us. When the believer begins with grace, he ends up with divine power.

g. The thorn in the flesh is defined under four categories of weakness or helplessness: being a victim of vilification from others, having outside pressures of adversity, being the victim of unjust treatment in life, and having continual mental pain from being the victim of a troublemaker. If you are positive to doctrine and deploy the problem solving devices on the FLOT line of your soul, you cannot blame the past for any present failure. You cannot blame your parents, a former spouse, or anyone else for your current failures. When the positive believer begins with grace, he ends up with divine power. Strength in helplessness comes from divine solutions. Divine solutions are delegated to us through the problem solving devices. Anything outside the divine solution intensifies suffering in your life and results in more stress in the soul. Strength in weakness is strictly the divine initiative of antecedent grace, beginning in eternity past with our portfolio of invisible assets and extending into time with the consistent function of the three spiritual skills.

1. The Hebrew word for Hades is sheol, and it refers to a vast subterranean area of the departed dead of the human race and certain categories of angelic creatures. It is estimated to be in the heart of the earth but that is not necessarily it. Several passages imply this but the location is really unknown. The implication comes when Abaddon, the most incorrigible of the demons, is released from the Abyss and there is an opening there and they come right up out of the earth. That is where we decide that it must be in the heart of the earth. The dying are said to go to sheol in Numbers 16:30; Ezekiel 31:15,17. Those who are believers of the Old Testament were said to be delivered into the power of sheol, Hosea 13:14; Psalm 49:16. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation, Hades is used for the Hebrew sheol. Prior to the resurrection of Christ all human dead went to Hades where two compartments were designed to receive them, namely Paradise and Abraham’s bosom. Between the two there was a great gulf fixed. All unbelievers are still in torments until the great white throne judgment. In addition there are two compartments in Hades for fallen angels, and they are separate compartments — Tartarus and the Abyss. Tartarus is reserved for the fallen angels involved in the infiltration and cohabitation of Genesis chapter six. They are called “sons of God,” beni-ha-Elohim. The Abyss is a special prison for certain demons whose restraint is necessary for the continuation and perpetuation of human history. They had to be removed from the scene in order for the angelic conflict to continue.

2. Hades: the first compartment. Nomenclature: Paradise/Abraham’s bosom. It is defined as the place where all the Old Testament believers went after physical death. Illustration: Luke 23:39-43, “And one of the criminals who was hanging there hurled insults at him [at Christ], saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Deliver yourself and us!’ But the other criminal answered, and rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not have respect for God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? In fact, we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but he [our Lord] has done nothing wrong.’ And he kept repeating, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!’ And he [Jesus] replied to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise’.” Paradise is the residence, then, of the Old Testament believers who died up until the Church Age.

Our second passage on Paradise is found in Ephesians 4:8-10, “For this reason the scripture says [according to Psalm 68:18], ‘When he [Christ] had ascended up on high, he led captives [Old Testament believers] in a triumphal procession from their state of captivity [Paradise],” hence they were transferred from Paradise to the third heaven. [This is also taught in Matthew 27:52-53] (Not this doctrine only, that he ascended, what does it imply except that he [Christ] also descended into the lower parts of the earth? The one who has descended is the same person also who ascended far above all the heavens),” the third heaven, the new Paradise.

3. The prophecy is given in Psalm 16:10, “For you will not abandon my soul in Sheol; neither will you allow your Holy One [Jesus Christ] to undergo decay [reference to His resurrection].” His soul came out of Hades, not Hell, for the resurrection, Acts 2:27,31, the fulfilment.

4. The second compartment is called Torments. This is the residence of all unbelievers until the end of the Millennium. In the great white throne judgment, Revelation 20:11-15, “Hades emptied its dead,” the second resurrection for judgment in the lake of fire. There are only unbelievers in the second resurrection. In Luke 16:19-31 we have the details of Torments and the great gulf fixed. In the description of the last judgment in Revelation 20:13 Hades “gave up the dead which were in it.” Verse 14 says, “Both death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This [the lake of fire] is the second death.”

1. The Hebrew word SHEOL originally meant in post-Biblical Hebrew the deep parts of the sea. But both Sheol and the Greek word Hades are used to refer to anything that is subterranean and large. Therefore, they are used for the vast subterranean place of the departed dead of the human race and the abode of certain fallen angels.

2. Both Sheol and Hades are mistranslated “hell” which adds to the confusion.

3. HADES is used from classical times and before for the underworld and the realm of the dead.

4. Sheol is sometimes used for the grave, as in Genesis 37:35, 42:38; 1Samuel 2:6 and other passages.

5. The dying are said to go to Sheol, which is not the grave, but to the underpart of the earth. This is a reference to the soul, Numbers 16:30; Ezekiel 31:15, 17.

6. Prior to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all human dead went to Sheol or Hades where two compartments were designed to receive them. Old Testament believers went to Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom. Unbelievers went to Torments.

7. Those who are believers in the Old Testament are said to be delivered into the power of Sheol, Hosea 13:14; Psalm 49:16.

8. However, since the resurrection of Christ, Old Testament believers have all been transferred to the third heaven as a part of the triumphal procession.

1. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, two categories of divine power were used.

a. The omnipotence of God the Father sent His human spirit in heaven back to His body in the grave. Thus the Father became an agent in the resurrection, Acts 2:24; Romans 6:4; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 2:12; 1Thessalonians 1:10; 1Peter 1:21.

b. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit sent His soul from Hades back to His body in the grave. Thus the Holy Spirit became an agent in the resurrection, Romans 1:4, 8:11; 1Peter 3:16.

2. The principle is that the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is now available to every Church Age believer as a member of the royal family of God. Ephesians 1:19-20, “And what is the surpassing greatness of His power to us who have believed for the working of His superior power, which [superior power] He [God the Father] put into operation [made operational] by means of Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in heavenly places.”

3. The same omnipotence of God will raise the Church Age believer at the Rapture of the Church. 1Corinthians 6:14, “Now God has not only raised the Lord, but He will also raise us through His power.”

a. If our soul and spirit are already in heaven, God the Father will provide our resurrection body.

b. If we are alive as a part of the Rapture generation on earth, God the Holy Spirit will provide our resurrection body.

C. Scriptural Documentation for Sheol or Hades. Ephesians 4:9, “(Now this doctrine that ascended, what does it imply, except that He also went down into the lower regions [Sheol or Hades] of the earth?”

1. Job 11:7, “Can you discover the depths of God? Can you discover the limits of the Almighty? It is as high as the heavens; what can you do? Deeper than Sheol; what can you know?” In other words, Sheol is used here for the location of all Old Testament believers. Isaiah 14:9, “Sheol from beneath is excited over you to meet you when you come.”

2. 1Samuel 2:6, “The Lord kills; the Lord makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and He raises up.”

1. Paradise is where the Old Testament believers resided after death before the resurrection of our Lord.

3. Tartarus is where certain fallen angels, called BENI HA ELOHIM in Genesis 6, reside.

a. The Abyss is the location of the demon king, Satan’s right hand man, called Abaddon. He will have quite a future in the Tribulation. Abaddon is mentioned once in the New Testament and nine times in the Old Testament. In Revelation 9, he breaks out of this jail with the help of Satan who has now been cast out of heaven and can never return there again.

1. Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom is a part of Sheol or Hades where all the Old Testament believers went immediately after death. Once departed from the body, their soul and spirit went to Paradise.

2. David wrote a thanksgiving psalm regarding his deliverance from death. In Psalm 116, he states that had he died, his soul would have gone to Sheol. Psalm 116:1, “I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my supplications.” God in His grace spared David, who should have died. Psalm 116:2, “Because He has turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.” This states briefly that his prayer has been answered. He is grateful that he is still alive. Psalm 116:3, “The cords of death entangled me, and the terrors of Sheol came upon me. I found distress and sorrow.” He was dying miserably. Psalm 116:4, “Then I called on the name of the Lord, `O Lord, I beseech You, deliver my soul.’” Psalm 116:5, “The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.”

3. In David’s prophecy of Psalm 16:10, he said, “You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, neither will You permit Your Holy One to undergo decay.”

a. Notice that David makes a distinction between the grave where the body is located and Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom where the soul is located.

b. David is not speaking about himself, for his body has undergone decay. His soul went to Paradise after he died. David was prophesying about the soul of the humanity of Jesus Christ in Hades after His physical death.

c. No Old Testament believer could go to the third heaven until Jesus Christ had been judged for his sins on the cross. At that point, the Old Testament believers were all transferred in a triumphal procession into the presence of God in heaven.

d. Today, after the cross, when any believer dies, his soul and spirit is absent from the body and face to face with the Lord in heaven.

4. We know Psalm 16:10 does not refer to David but is a prophecy referring to Jesus Christ because it is quoted by Peter in Acts 2:27. “Because you will not abandon My soul to Hades, nor allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” This verse is then interpreted in Acts 2:31. “He [David] looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades nor did His flesh have time to suffer decay.” Our Lord only spent three days in Hades.

5. . Paul also interprets Psalm 16:10 in the same way in Acts 13:35. “Therefore, He also says in another place [Ps 16:10], `You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.’” Paul explained what that meant in Acts 13:36-37. “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, died, and he was buried among his ancestors and he did undergo decay. But He whom God raised did not undergo decay.” This is a reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, with emphasis on the fact that His human soul returned to His body in the grave by the power of the Holy Spirit before His body could decay.

6. 1Peter 3:18, “For Christ also died once and for all, the righteous as a substitute for the unrighteous, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh but made alive by means of the Spirit.”

7. Where in Hades did the soul of our Lord go? The answer is found in Luke 23:39-43. “And one of the criminals who was hanging there hurled insults at our Lord, saying, `Are you not the Messiah? Deliver yourself and us!’ But the other criminal answered and rebuked him, saying, `Do you not respect God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we have received what we deserve for our deeds; but He has done nothing wrong.’ Then he kept repeating to Jesus, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And He replied to him, `Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.’”

a. Even all the criminals knew the message that our Lord Jesus Christ was the Messiah and the Savior.

b. Again, Paradise is the first compartment of Hades. Ephesians 4:9, “(Now this doctrine that He ascended, what does it imply, except that He also descended into the lower regions of the earth?)”

c. This refers to our Lord’s human soul which went to Paradise after His physical death.

d. The soul of our Lord in physical death joined the souls of all the Old Testament believers already there, i.e., all believers who had died during the Old Testament plus all who had died during the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, which would include Lazarus and John the Baptist.

e. In resurrection, the soul of Jesus Christ was returned to His body in the grave by the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit.

8. The resurrection of Jesus Christ resulted in transferring all the believers in Paradise into the third heaven. Ephesians 4:8, “Therefore, it [Ps 68:18] says, `When He ascended into heaven, He led a host of captives [Old Testament believers] in a triumphal procession from a state of captivity, and He gave gifts to men.”

a. No believer resided in heaven until Jesus Christ was judged for our sins and was resurrected. That is analogous or tantamount to the triumphal procession.

b. The explanation of this is given in Matt 27:51-53. “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook, and the rocks were split, and the tombs were open, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resuscitated. And coming out of the tombs, they entered intothe holy city and appeared to many.”

c. This passage tells us the time when all believers who had died were transferred from Paradise in Hades to the third heaven or “New Paradise.” To show this transfer was occurring, some were permitted to come out of their tombs, take their former bodies in resuscitation, and announced it in the city.

9. Paul visited the third heaven after he was stoned to death, and he saw these believers there, 2Corinthians 11:25ff.

a. On the occasion when Paul was stoned to death, he was permitted to visit the third heaven or new Paradise before he was resuscitated and returned to the earth.

b. Paul describes his experience in heaven in 2Corinthians 12:2-4. “I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago – whether in the body, I do not know, or out of the body, I do not know; God knows — such a person was caught up into the third heaven. I knew such a man — whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know; God knows — how he was caught up into Paradise, and he heard inexpressible doctrines which a person is not permitted to speak.”

i. Fourteen years previous would have been around 57 A.D. when Paul was in Lystra.

ii. Paul’s experience here was to show that in the Church Age, we do not go to Paradise in Sheol after our death, but all believers since the resurrection of Jesus Christ go directly to heaven at the point of physical death, with the exception of the Rapture generation.

1. Torments is the residence of all unbelievers since the beginning of time. Psalm 9:17, “The unbelievers will turn to Sheol just as nations who forgot God.”

2. Why is anyone in Torments, destined to be judged at the Last Judgment? John 3:18, “He who believes in Me is not judged; but He who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the uniquely-born Son of God.” The only reason a person goes to Torments, later to be condemned to the Lake of Fire, is because he has rejected Jesus Christ as Savior.

3. The first resurrection is for believers only and is formed of four companies.

b. Bravo company is the resurrection of the Church at the Rapture. Since rank has its privileges, the royal family is next in resurrection.

c. Charlie company is the resurrection of all OldTestament saints and Tribulational martyrs at the end of the Tribulation.

d. Delta company is the resurrection of all millennial saints at the end of the Millennium.

4. The second resurrection is for unbelievers only and occurs after the Gog and Magog Revolution at the end of the Millennium. At that point, “Hades will deliver up its dead.” Those dead are located in Torments. They will stand before our Lord seated on the Great White Throne.

a. The unbelievers will not be judged on the basis of their sins, because their sins were already judged on the cross, and the law of double jeopardy applies. Revelation 20:11-15 makes very clear the basis for their indictment. Two sets of books are opened.

i. The Book of Life contains the names of believers only. Anyone who dies without believing in Jesus Christ has his name blotted out of this book.

ii. The Book of Works lists all an unbeliever’s good works. Yet in their totality, they all add up to –R (relative righteousness). -R cannot have fellowship with +R (perfect divine righteousness), so they are condemned to the Lake of Fire forever.

b. The Lake of Fire was designed for the fallen angels. Man was created to resolve the angelic conflict. Those people who go the way of fallen angels, rejecting Jesus Christ, will share the Lake of Fire with fallen angels forever. Luke 16:19-31 is not a parable, but is a true story. Parables never mention proper names. Furthermore, parables are always identified or explained as parables. The narrative in Luke 16:19-31 is a true story, entitled “Dead Men Tell Tales.” This true story describes the first and second compartments of Sheol or Hades during the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union.

d. Verse 19 introduces a wealthy unbeliever. “Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, and he lived in luxury every day.”

i. There is nothing immoral, wrong, or sinful about being rich. That is an evil philosophy which has extended into communism. There are certain problem solving devices connected with being rich and having an abundance of possessions, just as there are certain problem solving devices connected with being poor. In other words, there are no set of circumstances in life that are free from problem solving devices

ii. There is no excuse for the rich lording it over those less fortunate, and there is no excuse for the poor envying the rich.

iii. When a nation has rich people, it means that nation follows the principles of free enterprise, which are a part of the laws of divine establishment. Therefore, having wealth in a nation is a good and healthy sign that the nation is doing well and right, rather than poorly. The idea of redistribution of wealth is an evil that enslaves the masses, as illustrated by those under the domination of the Russian experiment since 1917.

iv. One of the great problem solving devices of being rich is to ignore the fact that there is life after death. Many become self-indulgent, and forget Mark 8:36-37, “What shall it profit a person if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what shall a person give in exchange for his soul?” So they give no thought to eternity and life after death. Yet time is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity.

v. Hence, the tendency of the wealthy person is to ignore the fact that only through personal faith in Jesus Christ can an individual have eternal life. “What shall a person give in exchange for his soul?” In other words, there is no way you can buy your way into heaven. Jesus Christ purchased our salvation on the cross, as taught by the doctrine of redemption.

vi. Like anything else in life, money has it problem solving devices and money has its benefits. Money often creates illusions, e.g., money means happiness or security, or that money can buy anything. That is not true. Money cannot buy eternal life, happiness, love, or virtue. It is not true that you are happy because you have money or miserable because you are poor. Happiness and misery are not based upon one’s economic status. People with very little can be extremely happy; people with very much can be very miserable, and visa versa.

vii. Those who lust for money become a slave to money. But those who acquire wealth through the grace of God have discovered how to make money their slave. But the person who regards money as his #1 priority in life becomes a slave to money. Apply the priority principle. You concentrate on whatever is your #1 priority. Then you organize your life around priority #1. Therefore, you organize your thinking around priority #1. This determines the outcome of your life.

viii. The rich man in verse 19 spent all his concentration, time, and life on self-indulgence. Therefore, the Mark 8:36-37 says to him, “What shall it profit a person if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what shall a person give in exchange for his soul?”

ix. Some of the most important things in life cannot be purchased with money, such as eternal life, +H or sharing the happiness of God, love and virtue. Again, those who lust for money become slaves to money, and it’s one of the worst categories of slavery in the world. This principle applies to power as well. Those who lust for power are slaves to power, but those who acquire power through the grace of God can enjoy it without abusing it or stepping beyond their capacity for it.

x. Matt 6:24 says “No one can serve two masters. For he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon [the god of riches].” Mark 10:25, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle [small gate in the main gate through which only a man could pass] than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Rich people and poor people are saved exactly the same way, by faith in Jesus Christ. So why is this true? Because the rich man tends to be preoccupied with himself and his life on this earth to the extent that he has forgotten about eternity. He is not interested in Jesus Christ.

xi. This man is described as dressing well and living in the lap of luxury. There is nothing wrong with dressing well and there is nothing wrong with luxury as such. There are problem solving devices with wrong emphasis on status symbols of life, money, power, success, approbation, pleasure, material things, luxury, social life, sex, health; i.e., anything that takes precedence over Bible doctrine.

xii. The wealthy unbeliever enjoys life so much that he forgets about death and eternity. He forgets Hebrews 9:27, which says “It is destined for mankind to die once, but after this the

xiii. So this rich man lusted for wealth and became the slave to wealth. As a slave to money and pleasure, he had no time for the Gospel until it was too late, i.e., after he died.

e. Verse 20 introduces a suffering believer. “And a certain poor man named Lazarus who had been thrown down at his gate, covered with sores [cancerous ulcers],”

i. Lazarus had been thrown or cast at the rich man’s gate, and he would lie there until he died. When our Lord gave this message, Lazarus was already dead. If Lazarus were still alive at the gate of the rich man, the perfect tense of BALLO would have used. But the pluperfect tense indicates that he eventually died there. The perfect tense looks back on the past from the standpoint of the present. The pluperfect tense looks back on the past from the standpoint of the past.

ii. The passive voice of BALLO indicates that Lazarus was acted upon by a cruel mob: they just tossed him away there. Lazarus was helpless and couldn’t move from that spot. We see the great cruelty of man toward helpless man.

iii. The verb BALLO in the passive voice is intransitive, meaning that it makes a complete affirmation in itself and does not require a direct object to complete its meaning. The passive voice means Lazarus didn’t produce or participate in the action; he was a victim of the action. Hence, this was cruel and unnecessary treatment. It was violence against the weak and helpless.

iv. The mob didn’t like Lazarus, and the mob didn’t like the rich man. Evil men do not discriminate; they despise the rich, the poor and the helpless.

v. The dramatic perfect tense of the verb ELKOO, translated “covered,” is used to bring a past event vividly and dramatically into the present. The Narrator describes the past event in such a way that his readers are led to think for a moment that they are present and witnessing this terrible treatment of Lazarus and his body covered with ulcers.

vi. The passive voice means Lazarus didn’t deliberately acquire these sores; it was something that happened to him.

vii. There is a definite parallelism between Lazarus and Job. Both were mature believers facing evidence testing, but with different results.

b) Both were covered with sores and ulcers. Hence, both Job and Lazarus had loss of health and were maltreated by people because they were repulsive to the eyes of the beholder.

c) Both Job and Lazarus had loss of health, but there was a difference. Job recovered his health and lived a long time. Hence, Job emphasizes living grace in evidence testing. Lazarus never recovered his health and eventually died. Hence, Lazarus emphasizes dying grace related to evidence testing. Luke 16:21, “And he kept desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.”

viii. In other words, Lazarus was normal; he still had normal desires. When he was hungry, he desired food. He was so terribly hungry that he simply desired the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Because he was starving, Lazarus was normal and had an intense desire for foods. Even crumbs from the table would have been wonderful.

ix. The only friends Lazarus had were dogs who had much more compassion than the rich man and his friends or the mob and their cruelty.

x. Remember that Lazarus was suffering for blessing, a suffering which glorified God to the maximum; a suffering that makes Lazarus one of the great all-time believers, recognized as such by our Lord.

xi. Lazarus was totally isolated from any form of human companionship or human compassion. Therefore, it was so important for him to use problem solving devices, such as doctrinal orientation, grace orientation, personal love for God, impersonal love for all mankind who treated him so cruelly, +H (sharing the happiness of God), a personal sense of destiny, and occupation with the person of Christ.

xii. The intensity of his suffering is noted in the phrase “he kept on desiring to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table.” The fact that he was in great pain did not in any way slow down his appetite.

a) Lack of basic necessities of life: he had no food, no shelter, and virtually no clothing so that his skin was exposed for all to see.

b) Lazarus had none of the things the rich man had. No one even cared for him except dogs. It’s amazing how dogs can be so compassionate and sympathetic toward people who are suffering, whereas rational people, in the cruelty and vile evil of their old sin nature, have absolutely no compassion.

xiv. Lazarus was cut off from any form of love, friendship, or compassion. In fact, he experienced only cruelty from people. People ostracized him, rejected him, and ridiculed him. Though he was totally helpless and weak, they pushed him around and threw him around, and finally tossed him at the rich man’s gate. Lazarus’ only compassion came from dogs.

xv. But Lazarus was a mature believer and realized the importance of his suffering. He would demonstrate to both mankind and angels the importance of eternity compared to time. In contrast, the rich man was demonstrating daily that to him, only time was important; eternity didn’t matter.

xvi. We apply to Lazarus 1Corinthians 10:13, “No testing has overtaken to you but such as is common to mankind. But God is faithful, who will not permit you to be tested beyond what you are able to bear, but with the testing, He will also provide a solution, a way of escape, so that you may be able to endure it.” Therefore, Lazarus did not complain or fall apart, even though he had normal desires.

xvii. Solomon was a believer who had everything in life, and yet he was very miserable. Lazarus was a believer who had nothing, but he was very happy with +H. Lazarus demonstrates the principle of being happy without having anything at all. For while Lazarus had nothing, he had the problem solving devices, like +H, and used them.

xviii. If Lazarus had been depressed, he would have had no appetite. The very fact that he had an appetite indicates he was functioning under the ten problem solving devices. Lazarus was a normal person under extreme and intense suffering for blessing. Therefore, he was not depressed or unhappy. His desire for even crumbs from the rich man’s table indicated how normal he was, having an appetite in spite of suffering. Most people in such situations become depressed and have no appetite at all. The fact that Lazarus was hungry not only indicated that he was normal, but that he was handling his situation through the use of the problem solving devices.

xix. Lazarus suffered to demonstrate the importance of eternity compared to time. Time is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity, according to Jas 4:14. Time is the only opportunity to have eternal life. 2Corinthians 6:2, “Now is the time to accept Christ; now is the day of salvation.” It takes only one second in time to believe in Jesus Christ, yet the rich man didn’t even take that one second to do so; Lazarus did. We do not know the original status quo of Lazarus; we only know what he faced before he died and entered Paradise.

xx. Time is the special opportunity for the believer to glorify God, and to demonstrate to the angels the greatness of God’s justice, wisdom, and grace policy. Philippians 4:11, “Not that I speak on the basis of want, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances may be.”

xxi. Time is the mechanics for resolving the angelic conflict. Lazarus was one of the greatest testimonies to angelic creatures as to what is important in life.

xxii. For the believer, time is the opportunity to glorify God, and to demonstrate to angels the greatness of God’s justice and

xxiii. Lazarus and the rich man have now been dead for over 2000 years. If we could interview them in their eternal state this is what they would say.

a) Question: “Lazarus, how do you feel about your suffering at the rich man’s gate and the abuse you took prior to that?” Answer: “It was nothing. Time is just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. Now I have billions and billions of years to enjoy the most indescribable and fantastic blessings of the eternal state.”

b) Question: “Rich man, how do you feel about your lifetime of wealth, influence, power, and pleasure on earth?” Answer: “I regret every second of my prosperity and power, for it blinded me to my need of eternal salvation, a relationship with God, which I could have had both in time and eternity. And yet I must take the responsibility for my own decisions and my own perspective.”

c) From this, we can distill the soliloquy of the rich man in Hades. “I would do anything to change places with Lazarus. For over 2000 years, I have been tormented in the flames of Hades. I curse the good times that blinded me to the importance of eternity. The horrors of my eternal state have erased all the pleasures of my lifetime, and the worst is yet to come. I understand that I will be resurrected, stand before a Great White Throne, face Jesus Christ whom I rejected, and be judged and cast into the Lake of Fire. It is unbearably hot here in Hades, but it will be a billion times worse when I am cast into the Lake of Fire. “Why, oh why didn’t I listen to the Gospel when I had the chance? Why didn’t I even stop once at my own gate and speak with that terribly and horribly abused man, Lazarus? Why didn’t I stop and talk to him? If I had, he would have given to me the Gospel, and perhaps I would have responded and then I would not be in this horrible place. I did hear the message of both Jesus and John the Baptist, His herald. But I paid no attention; I laughed it off and went on my way. “Woe is me forever and ever and ever and ever.”

f. Verse 22 gives the perspective of death. “Now it came to pass that the poor man died, and he was carried by angels into Abraham’s Bosom [Paradise]; then [some time later] the rich man also died and was buried.”

i. Lazarus was a believer in the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. He was a mature believer, and therefore he departed from his body under the principle of dying grace.

ii. Note, however, that there was no burial of Lazarus. His body was not even taken to a potter’s field. That would bother the superficial Christian. Yet what happens to your body after you leave it is of absolutely no consequence. You will never occupy that body again. Perhaps Lazarus’ body was discovered dead several days after he was already in Paradise. Perhaps they simply threw his body in the garbage cart. So what? What happens to the body is of no consequence.

iii. It was the custom of the ancient world to gather the bodies of the poor and either dump them in the garbage or burn them, or bury them in a potter’s field. When the bodies were repulsive, they didn’t make it to a potter’s field, but were usually dumped in the garbage heap outside the town. The garbage heap outside of Jerusalem was called Gehenna, a large area where garbage was burned. Gehenna became one of the synonyms for hell.

iv. But the soul and spirit of Lazarus are absent from the body and, as it were, “face to face with the Lord.” Lazarus was probably carried by the pursuivant angels to Abraham’s Bosom. These were special angelic officers in the angelic college of heralds.

v. Being very wealthy and prominent as a personality, the rich man probably had a very unusual and ostentatious funeral with a beautiful coffin and mausoleum, attended by numerous mourners, including five brothers who were also unbelievers and who inherited his money. But the rich man’s soul was sent to Torments, the second compartment of Hades.

g. Verses 23-26 is the rich man’s dialogue and call for help. Verse 23, “And in Hades, he [rich man] lifted up his eyes, being in Torments, and he saw Abraham far away and Lazarus [in his bosom] at the place of honor.”

i. In Torments means there is already a prelude of suffering before the Lake of Fire.

ii. The noun KOLPOS means chest, bosom, or breast. However, it is actually used for a place of honor at a meal. So this doesn’t mean Lazarus was actually lying on Abraham’s bosom, but was in a place of honor. This indicates that Lazarus died as an invisible hero.

iii. So Lazarus was carried into a place of honor, called Abraham’s Bosom, the place of Jewish believers who attained spiritual maturity. Abraham is the father of the new racial species called the Jew. Therefore, Abraham is designated as the place of honor. Jesus Christ is called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are the regenerate descendants of the new racial species.

iv. Jesus said to the dying Gentile thief, “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise,” Luke 23:43. Therefore, both Gentile and Jewish believers entered into the compartment of Hades called Paradise after their death. However, one section was a place of honor for the Jewish believers who attained spiritual maturity. Lazarus was one of the great heroes of Israel of all time.

h. Verse 24, “And he [rich man] screamed and said, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this

i. The rich man was also a Jew, but he was a Jewish unbeliever. Abraham is the father of the entire Jewish race, and in that sense the rich man was right in calling him “Father Abraham.”

ii. “Have mercy on me” was something Lazarus never said at the gate of the rich man. As a mature believer, he accepted the events of his life as being exactly what God wanted. He demonstrated that to be totally impoverished, in maximum pain, and rejected by everyone so that only dogs have any compassion as a part of evidence testing is the ultimate honor to one of the greatest believers of Old Testament times!

iii. Apparently there is no water in Torments, for there is no necessity for water there. But the rich man still can only think in terms of life. Even after his death, he cannot think in terms of eternity.

iv. Unbelievers after death can experience and feel the pain of fire and everything associated with it. They will feel that pain of burning for all eternity because they reject Jesus Christ as their Savior. And it never stops hurting.

v. Though he understands he is suffering in fire, all he wants is water. Yet the answer to his suffering could only be found in time, through personal faith in Jesus Christ. Notice that this is a real flame and real fire, and it never stops hurting.

vi. Why is the rich man asking for this relief, instead of asking what can be done to get him out of there? Because the rich man heard John the Baptist and Jesus Christ and others give the Gospel. He knew when he rejected Christ what to expect; now it’s all come to pass.

vii. While Lazarus suffered at his gate wanting only water and food yet using the problem solving devices, the rich man had all the food and water he could want and walked by Lazarus without compassion. It is amazing how uncompassionate evil people are always the first to want mercy though have no mercy for others, but are totally indifferent toward them.

viii. The bodies of Lazarus and the rich man both lie in graves, and their souls reside in Sheol or Hades. Lazarus as a Jewish believer resides in the place of honor in Paradise called Abraham’s Bosom. The rich man as a Jewish unbeliever resides in the second compartment of Hades, called Torments, waiting for the second resurrection when he will be transferred to the permanent Lake of Fire.

ix. Note that the soul never sleeps; only the body sleeps in the grave. Note that the soul can see and recognize people after death without the use of the body. The rich man had no problem recognizing Lazarus who was flung at his gate. This teaches the important principle that the soul has the ability to see and recognize others beyond the grave. Furthermore, the soul can think and communicate after death. From this we might conclude there is an interim body after death.

x. Death does not end it all. Physical death merely transfers homo sapiens from time into eternity. From this passage, we note that dead men tell tales.

xi. The cry for mercy must come in time; in eternity it is too late. 2Corinthians 6:2, “Now is the time of acceptance; now is the day of salvation.” Now is the moment to be prepared for eternity by personal faith in Jesus Christ. Live your life in the light of eternity.

xii. Furthermore, the call for mercy must be directed toward the One who can save. Abraham can do nothing. It is only Jesus Christ who can save. Neither Abraham nor Lazarus can help the unbeliever in the eternal state. Both Abraham and Lazarus are simply sinners saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The only chance for eternal life is while one is alive on earth.

xiii. Hades or Sheol is the temporary residence of all unbelievers until human history is completed. From Hades, all unbelievers will be transferred to Gehenna or the Lake of Fire after the Great White Throne Judgment. Actually, the Lake of Fire was prepared for the devil and his angels, according to Matt 25:41.

xiv. Both Hades and the final Lake of Fire are only for unbelievers. John 3:18, “He who believes in Him [Jesus Christ] is not judged, but he who does not believe has been judged already because he has not believed in the name of the uniquely-born Son of

xv. God does not desire that any person in the human race go to Torments in Hades and then the Lake of Fire. 2Peter 3:9, “He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to a change of attitude toward Christ.” Therefore, life is often extended so that every chance is given for everyone to believe in Christ. No one will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire who hasn’t had multifarious opportunities to personally believe in Jesus Christ.

xvi. Both Torments in Hades and the Lake of Fire are vividly described in Matt 9:48, “where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” Everyone should hear the screams of those who die burning in total agony, so that they will understand the importance of believing in Jesus Christ! In eternity, the screams never stop; they go on forever and ever and ever, simply because they refused the so-great salvation provided by Jesus Christ.

i. Now Abraham is allowed to reply to the rich man in verse 25. This dialogue was permitted not only to answer this one man’s question, but to settle the issue for all who were listening who had the same problem solving devices and wanted the same relief from Lazarus. Verse 25, “But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now [in eternity] he is comforted here.’”

i. An adult man is called “child” because he was divorced from reality, because of his unrealistic expectations.

ii. That Lazarus was “comforted here” means he was given a special place of honor in eternity. Whatever he had to endure to make a point to the angelic creatures, which is a great part of evidence testing, was nothing compared to the honors he received in the eternal state.

iii. The rich man had the same opportunities as Lazarus to believe in Jesus Christ and have eternal life, yet he rejected Jesus Christ. None of the rich man’s wealth, power, or prosperity could buy him eternal life. As he used his power and wealth for his own pleasures, it became a trap which obscured the importance of the Gospel.

iv. On the other hand, Lazarus believed in Jesus Christ. Even though he went through suffering for blessing, he had all the fantastic doctrine and problem solving devices to handle it magnificently. We do not know exactly how long Lazarus suffered in that terrible state. But however long it was, he never got out of step; he used the problem solving devices.

j. Verse 26, “And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you cannot, and none of us may cross over there.”

i. The chasm is invisible but real. No one can break through it. There is a barrier between Paradise and Torments, the place of agony. The barrier is impassable.

ii. There is no hope in eternity for those who reject Jesus Christ in time. There is no such thing as purgatory. There is no “half-way house” to heaven. The place of your eternal state is determined by your attitude toward Jesus Christ in time.

iii. 1John 5:11-13, “And this is the deposition: that God has given to us [believers] eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has this eternal life; He who does not have the Son does not have this eternal life. These things I have written to you who believe in the person of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.”

k. Verses 27-29 is the second dialogue and the second call for help from the rich man. Verses 27-28, “Then he said, `Now I beg you, Father Abraham, that you would send him to my father’s house — for I have five brothers — that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’”

i. Before, the rich man pleaded for mercy; now he’s begging! Lazarus never pleaded for mercy, nor did he beg. The rich man should have taken notice of Lazarus, enduring all that suffering and not complaining. By contrast, he had given relatives thousands and thousands of dollars, and they still bitched!

ii. Note again the use of the vocative “Father.” Abraham is the father of the new racial species of Israel, and the rich man is a Jew.

iii. The rich man calls his mansion “the house of my father.” Lazarus, tossed at the gate of that mansion, was the last call for salvation. The five brothers saw Lazarus lying there, too. In effect, Lazarus was the evangelist at their gate. His pulpit was that gate. Everyone saw how he suffered and how he didn’t complain. They must have known he possessed something far greater than they had. Yet they all walked by Lazarus daily without giving heed to that final message.

iv. All five brothers are unbelievers. The rich man didn’t want his brothers to also die and end up in Torments with him. The funeral message to the friends and loved ones of the unbeliever is: “The deceased is now suffering in Torments because he did not believe in Jesus Christ. Yet he loves you so much that he wouldn’t want you to join him there, and I will tell you how to avoid it. Hell is no place for loved ones and old friends to have a pleasant reunion. Hell is a place of agony and suffering, only intensified at the end of human history by the transfer to the Lake of Fire. “In other words, if you have friends or loved ones who have died as unbelievers, their desire for you is to stay out of that place. They’re probably begging someone like Abraham to send someone back from the dead to tell you the story of salvation.”

v. So terrible is the perpetual agony of the unbeliever beyond the grave that he desires that the Gospel be presented to loved ones left behind so that they might believe in Christ and have eternal life and avoid the place of Torments.

vi. The present active subjunctive of DIAMARTUROMAI means to warn, to testify, to witness, to declare emphatically. The tendential present tense indicates an action proposed but not actually taking place. The rich man proposes the action. The subjunctive mood is used in a final clause to indicate the purpose of the action of the main verb.

vii. The same wealthy estate which distracted the rich man now distracts his five brothers who had inherited the family fortune. No longer is there a Lazarus lying at their gate. Wealth often causes the rich to ignore or avoid the reality of the eternal state after death.

l. Verse 29, “But Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’”

i. Moses and the Prophets is the Jewish word for the Old Testament; Torah is a synonym. Moses and the Prophets refers to the Old Testament Scriptures which clearly reveal the Gospel. Isaiah 53 is one of the greatest Gospel messages in all the Word of God.

iii. If these five brothers reject the Biblical testimony regarding Jesus Christ, they will not accept the testimony of one who returns from the dead. The testimony in the Bible is much more powerful than the testimony of someone coming back from the dead! That’s how powerful the Word of God is! The idea of returning Lazarus from the dead to testify to the five brothers is useless.

iv. Remember that another Lazarus had been resuscitated from the dead by Jesus, and many Jews who had attended his funeral came back to see him alive; yet many still didn’t accept Jesus Christ as Savior. John 11:45-46, “Therefore, many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary saw what had transpired and believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.” John 12:37, “But though He performed many miracles before them, yet they were not believing in Him.” The testimony of the Word of God is far more powerful than miracles.

a) One reason why we do not have miracles today is because something far more powerful has been given to us, i.e., the New Testament Scriptures. Never before the Church Age was the New Testament Canon completed and given. It is much more powerful than miracles.

b) If people will not accept the Gospel message found in the Bible, they will not accept the testimony of someone brought back from the dead by a miracle.

c) A miracle is the easiest thing for God to perform because it does not require the volition of mankind, but only the sovereignty and omnipotence of God.

d) In the Tribulation, two Jews, Moses and Elijah, will be brought back from the dead to witness in Jerusalem. Yet their message will be rejected. When they are martyred, there will be great rejoicing in Jerusalem.

m. In the third dialogue, verses 30-31, there is another call for help. Verse 30, “But he replied, `No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’” The future active indicative of METANOEO means to change your thinking or mind about Christ. Upon hearing the Gospel and before anyone believes, he must first change his mind about Christ.

n. Verse 31, “But he replied to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets [the Word of God], neither will they be persuaded if someone is resuscitated from the dead.’” This means that negative volition gets locked in and nothing will change it. This also means that the Word of God is infinitely more powerful than any miracle.

a. Tartarus is the residence of certain fallen angels who became involved in an invasion of the earth. This special category of fallen angels are called BENI HA ELOHIM in the Hebrew, translated “sons of God.” They are demons who are not operational at the present time.

b. Tartarus is mentioned in 2Peter 2:4 as the place where these fallen angels reside. “For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned [Gen 6:2] but incarcerated them in Tartarus with chains of thick darkness, He delivered them over to judgment, being constantly guarded.”

i. The aorist active participle of TARTAROO means to be imprisoned or incarcerated in Tartarus.

ii. “When they sinned” is a temporal participle referring to a time in history, not to prehistoric angelic times.

c. Without mentioning Tartarus by name, a similar passage is found in Jude 6. “And the angels [BENI HA ELOHIM of Genesis 6:2] who did not keep their own domain, but who deserted their proper abode, He has incarcerated them in everlasting chains of thick darkness for the judgment of the great day.”

i. Now they can see nothing. In Genesis 6, they saw the beautiful women of the earth and lusted for them, and so made their invasion on earth.

ii. The fact of their invasion is documented by a phenomenal amount of extant literature from Homer to the fourth century B.C.

iii. Everything that happened in Genesis 6 occurred over a period of 500 years. Unfortunately, it is called mythology, which it is not.

v. The “judgment of the great day” occurs when all fallen angels are cast into the Lake of Fire, as anticipated by Matt 25:41.

d. Who are these fallen angels and what did they do? The answer is found in Genesis 6. But as introduction, we note the Satanic attacks on the line of Christ in the Old Testament.

i. When Cain murdered Abel in Genesis 4, that was a Satanic attack on Adam’s seed. It was an attack on the first promise given to Adam after he sinned, that God the Father would provide a Savior from Adam’s seed, who would come through the woman as the childbearer. Romans 5:12ff.

a) Satan and fallen angels understood that the Savior would come in the line of Adam as true humanity through the woman. Therefore, Satan knew he had to cut off that line from Adam to Christ.

b) So in that first generation, Satan inspired Cain to murder Abel, a believer. But then the line continued on through Seth, so that Satan realized that murder wouldn’t work to cut off the line.

ii. Therefore, in an attempt to destroy all true humanity, fallen angels invaded earth and copulated with females, producing half-angel half-human beings, documented in Genesis 6:1-6. Had all true humanity been destroyed in this way, Jesus Christ could have never come into the world.

a) In fact, only one family of eight people were still true humanity out of millions of people living on earth. Those eight people were Noah and his wife, plus his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their three wives.

b) The tracing of that family of Noah from Genesis 4 - 11 is one of the most important factors in our so-great salvation. For Jesus Christ could not come unless true humanity remained on the earth.

c) So the angelic infiltration of Genesis 6:1-6 was the greatest attack ever made on the virgin birth and incarnation of Jesus Christ.

d) Noah’s sons all made great decisions, in all marrying ladies who were still true humanity.

e) Therefore, the Flood destroyed that entire super race of half-angels, half-men.

f) Since there is no longer any possibility of angelic infiltration into the human race, the greatest objective of Satan from the flood to the point of the virgin birth was to kill the Jews, especially those in the Messianic line.

iii. The line of Christ went from Shem to Abram, a Chaldean from the third dynasty of Ur. Upon hearing God’s promises to Abraham regarding the Savior as his descendent, Satan made attacks on Abraham’s seed.

a) The first attack occurred when Sarah found herself in the harem of an Egyptian king in Genesis 12:10-20.

b) The second attack occurred when Pharaoh, Thutmose III, ordered the entire male line of Israel to be killed in Exodus 1:10, 15-16.

c) Thutmose III's son, Amenhotep IV attempted to destroy all Israel in Exodus 14:13-19.

d) After the line went from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Messianic line was passed on through Judah.

iv. The Davidic Covenant promised David that his Son would be the Messiah. Now Satanic attacks focused on David’s line.

a) Jehoshaphat arranged a marriage between his son, Jehoram, and Princess Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel, the queen of the Northern Kingdom. Here was a classic case of man’s plans trying to unite the kingdom. Jezebel was a Phoenician who married the king, so that his kingdom would also include all of Phoenicia. This story starts in 2 Chr 18:1. It was strictly a sex marriage, and the sex was related to the phallic cult and human sacrifice. In the process of all this, Jehoram killed his brother, 2 Chr 21:4.

b) Then the Arabs invaded and killed all the sons of Jehoram except one, called Ahaziah or Jehoahaz, 2 Chron 21:16-17, 22:1.

c) Then Athaliah, the mother of Jehoahaz killed everyone in the royal seed, and the only survivor was Joash, 2 Chron 23:3. At this point, the entire line of Christ was reduced to one person. But the line of Christ has been preserved.

d) Hezekiah was childless when attacked by Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, Isaiah 36:1, 38:1, 39:7. But God preserved Hezekiah against death in the battle, again preserving the line of Christ. Later Hezekiah had a son.

vi. There was the final attack on the virgin Mary when she was pregnant. The dilemma of Joseph when he discovered Mary’s pregnancy is found in Matt 18:1-20. If he was a legalist, he would have followed Deut 24:1 and had Mary stoned. But Joseph had a marvelous, honorable attitude, for he was an aristocrat, descended from Solomon (Matt 1). The Coniah curse (you will never have a son that will be the Messiah) was fulfilled in the virgin birth, in that Joseph was not the real father of the Messiah.

vii. The edict of Herod killed all children in Bethlehem, Matt 2:13-18. Due to a great signal corps, Herod learned that the wise men left the land by a different route and would not report back to him. So knowing when the virgin birth occurred, he took two years to develop all his plans, tracing genealogies, etc., so that he ordered every child in Bethlehem two years old and younger to be slaughtered. But God told Joseph in a dream to go to Egypt before that happened, so that Jesus Christ was spared.

e. These are a few of the remarkable stories of how God’s grace provided for us a Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.

f. Prior to the incarnation, Satan attacked the line of Jesus Christ in an attempt to frustrate the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. During the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, Satan made every attempt to frustrate our Lord getting to the cross.

i. That’s why you read “they picked up stones to stone Him; but He passed through the crowd unnoticed.”

ii. The very treatment our Lord received in His seven trials was an attempt to kill Him before He could get to the cross.

iii. Even on the cross, Satan was not through. He inspired people to say, “If you are the Christ, come down from the cross. Save Yourself and us.”

iv. We’ll never know this side of heaven what it took for our Lord to make it to the cross as a perfect human being, and to receive the imputation and judgment of our sins.

g. Since the cross, resurrection, ascension, and session of Jesus Christ, Satan has only one way to win, and that is by frustrating the fulfillment of the four unconditional covenants made to Israel, i.e., the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic, and New Covenants. Yet these will all be fulfilled in the Millennium. But all these covenants have in common the necessity of Jews being alive, and therefore all anti-Semitism is Satanically-inspired.

h. The Tribulation will demonstrate all the ways in which Satan tries to destroy the Jews, Revelation 6-19. But of course the Jew will be preserved by the grace of God. Anti-Semitism is Satanic in nature. Its purpose is to frustrate the plan of God which centers in Israel. Anti-Semitism reaches its peak in Revelation 12, in the middle of the Tribulation.

i. One of the greatest attacks on the line of Christ and one of the most subtle forms of anti-Semitism occurred in Genesis 6 before the Jew even existed. The result of this angelic attack was the creation of a third compartment in Sheol or Hades called Tartarus.

i. A fable is a story, like the fox and the grapes, in which the characters and plot neither pretend reality nor demand credence. Fables are fabricated as a vehicle of moral or didactic instruction.

ii. Myths are stories of anonymous origin, prevalent among primitive people. By the people to whom they were first addressed, they are accepted as true. Myths concern supernatural beings and events, or natural beings and events influenced by supernatural agencies. Many of the so-called myths of ancient Greece are related to two Greek nouns.

a) TARTAROS was a part of the Greek underworld called Hades. It was a place of sunless abyss below Hades in which Zeus imprisoned the Titans.

b) Those who dwelt in Tartarus were called TARTARITES. This word was used in reference to the Titan wars, which are a distorted picture of Genesis 6 and the events that precede Genesis 6.

i. There are demons with angelic bodies who are not permitted on the earth. They are all incarcerated in Tartarus.

ii. There are demons without bodies, or disembodied spirits, who are permitted to function under the command of Satan on planet earth.

c. In Genesis 6, the demons with bodies were visible to human beings. Furthermore, they were very beautiful and attractive, having male bodies.

d. The demons with bodies were involved in an antediluvian attack on the human race which resulted in their incarceration in Tartarus. The motivation for their attack was to destroy the possibility of the incarnation beginning with the virgin birth.

e. The operational demons of the postdiluvian civilization are disembodied spirits. They do not seek sex with females, as did their predecessors, but they seek the invasion of the human body.

f. Only unbelievers can be demon possessed. The demon invasion of the soul through satanic and false doctrine has two categories of victims: unbelievers can also be demon possessed, and believers in Jesus Christ who cannot be demon possessed because each member of the Trinity indwells the body of every Church Age believer.

g. The word antediluvian refers to the period of time before the Flood. The antediluvian civilization began with the creation of mankind and terminated with the Flood.

h. Only eight believers survived the Flood (Noah and his family), because they were the last members of the true human race left on the earth. They were the only ones who had survived the infiltration of fallen angels.

i. Civilizations, like dispensations are a category of human history, but a different category.

i. Each civilization begins with believers only and terminates with a cataclysmic judgment.

ii. Each civilization has its own climate, environment, and its own characteristics within species. During the antediluvian civilization, the earth was not yet tilted on its axis; there was no bacteria. Therefore, there was perfect climate.

iii. Mankind has a different lifespan in each civilization. In the antediluvian civilization, people lived 800-900 years.

iv. Animal life in each civilization has differences within the species. However, there is no transmutation of species. The only species that no longer exists was the half-human half-angelic creatures, destroyed completely by the Flood.

i. The antediluvian civilization goes from the creation of man to the Flood. During this civilization, there was an angelic sexual invasion of the human race. Genesis 6. This can be classified as a genetic attack on the human race designed by Satan to frustrate the incarnation and the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. In fact, it was Satan’s greatest attack to hinder the cross.

ii. The postdiluvian civilization began with the recession of the universal Flood, and it continues until the Second Advent of Christ.

a) The demons involved in the sexual attack in the antediluvian civilization are now incarcerated in the compartment of Hades called Tartarus. The only demons operational today are disembodied spirits, so that any such sexual attacks can never occur again.

1) In demon possession, the demon invades the body of an unbeliever only. If an unbeliever believes in Jesus Christ, the demon is removed immediately.

2) Demon influence is the demon invasion of the human soul through satanic thought or satanic theology. Anyone residing in the cosmic system, believer or unbeliever, comes under demon influence.

c) Just before the termination of the postdiluvian civilization, there are three great demon army military attacks on mankind during the Tribulation, Revelation 9, 17.

1) The first demon army to attack the human race is led by a prince of demons called Abaddon, Revelation 9:1- 12. This first demon army is stationed at present in the Abyss, the fourth compartment of Sheol or Hades.

2) The second great demon assault army is led by four demon generals, Revelation 9:13-21.

3) The third demon assault army is led by Satan himself. His purpose is to destroy all Jews. Anti- Semitism is always Satanic in its origin and function. It is possible that the last two demon armies are also stationed at present in the Abyss, but they launch their assault at different points in the Tribulation.

iii. The millennial civilization begins with the Second Advent of Christ and terminates with the Gog and Magog Revolution, led by Satan himself, and with the final judgment of human history.

k. It should be noted that the antediluvian angelic attack and the Tribulational angelic attacks involve invasions by visible demons. However, during the postdiluvian civilization, all demon attacks are invisible, except in the Tribulation.

l. While invisible believers cannot enter into sexual activity with human beings, demon possession and demon influence is the basis for the phallic cult practiced by human beings. The phallic cult includes not only human sacrifice but extensive sexual activities related to drugs and demon possession. The ethnic demonology of Greece, Rome, Phoenicia, the Canaanites, and the Germanic as well as other Indo-European mythologies always include the phallic cult and human sacrifice, as well as great violence.

m. A study of Genesis 4-6 gives a clear picture of what life was like on earth before the Flood. The violence then was far greater than at any time since. There are many stories, classified as myths (and are not), which document this violence. The life of Hercules is a good illustration.

a. Gen 6:1, “Now it came to pass that when homo sapiens began to become numerous on the surface of the earth, that daughters were born to them.”

i. This is a description of a tremendous population explosion on planet earth. The Hebrew word HA ADAM refers to mankind as a category of creation, i.e., the human race.

ii. With any population explosion, there is always an excess of females. These daughters were very beautiful. The ratio of women to men in this population was excessive.

iii. The increase of the population meant there were more sin natures. More sin natures means more evil, more lawlessness, and more violence on the earth. Because more sin natures without a system of establishment government means that people are open to making any decisions they want. Yet true freedom means the right to make certain decisions within the constraints of the laws of divine establishment. But without such constraints, there are too many options for the sin nature. This resulted in a tremendous amount of homicide, rape, terrorism, and violence on the earth.

iv. There was no establishment, but there was culture. Probably the greatest musical and writing culture of all time existed in the midst of a population with the greatest intelligence of all time.

v. So great was the evil on the earth that by the tenth generation from Adam, only one family remained in the status of regeneration, and that one family applied doctrine in a special way to avoid any sexual relationship with half-human, half-angelic creatures. Eight were in Noah’s family, and the ninth believer was Noah’s grandfather Methuselah. The warning of the coming of the Flood was Methuselah’s departure from this life.

vi. The concentration of evil on the earth was so great, yet it did not destroy the human race! A concentration of evil never destroys the population of the earth, though millions of people may be raped, murdered, tortured, and victimized in every way. The population of the earth goes right on. Unrestrained criminality cannot and will not wipe out the human race.

vii. By the tenth generation from Adam there was no reference to the Sethites, or Cainites as separate families and tribes, because the two lines had amalgamated. This is illustrated by the marriage of Naamah to Ham. The Cainite line was filled with disillusion from their study of science, culture, urban society, and had rejected the happiness God had designed for man by rejecting Christ as Savior. Their society pursued intellectual matters and hedonistic pleasure. The antediluvian population was generally unregenerate, reversionistic, and involved in the cosmic system. Genesis 6:2, “Now the sons of God [demon pantheon on Mount Olympus] saw the women of mankind, that they were beautiful, so they seized [raped] for themselves women from all they had selected [whomever they chose].”

viii. The “sons of God” is clearly a reference to angelic creatures. For the Hebrew BENI HA ELOHIM is used for angelic creatures only.

ix. When the word beautiful is used in the Scripture, it means these women were extremely beautiful.

x. The Hebrew verb LAQACH means to seize violently, to take by sheer strength, to overpower and seize these women against their will to have sex with them.

xi. The Hebrew phrase BENI HA ELOHIM is used four times in the Old Testament. All four times it refers to angelic creatures only. Note that in verse 1, HA ADAM is the phrase used to refer to mankind.

xii. So the “sons of God” refer to the demon pantheon on Mount Olympus and the Titans like Iobates. The duplication of the Greek pantheon was made by the Phoenicians, Canaanites, Romans and others.

xiii. The “sons of God” refer to demons only, as also found in Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7, and Daniel 3:25.

b. The myths concerning the Titan wars present the mythological account of Tartarus; its basis is true.

a) The Titans are the personification of the convulsions of the physical world; e.g., volcanoes and earthquakes.

b) Cyclops is the name of the second category of children. The name of the first cyclops is the Terror of Rolling Thunder. The second cyclops is called Lightning Flash; the third is called Thunderbolts.

c) The third category are called the Hundred-Handed Monsters, also composed of three beings.

ii. So the couple had nine children total. Uranus the father feared the Hundred-Handed Monsters, so he put them in Tartarus. Their mother Gaea was indignant, and called on her older children, the Titans, for help.

iii. But only one of the Titans would help; he was called CHRONOS, meaning time or chronology. Chronos attacked his father and became the ruler of heaven and earth. Chronos married his sister Rhea, and they had six children, three boys and three girls. The girls were named Vesta, Series, and Juno. The boys were called Pluto (Hades), Neptune, and Jupiter (Zeus).

iv. Chronos had learned from his parents that he would be dethroned by one of his own children. So he swallowed each child when it was born. But when he got to the sixth one, his mother gave him a stone in swaddling clothes to eat and concealed Jupiter (Zeus in Greek) in the Island of Crete.

v. Assisted by his grandmother Gaea, Jupiter constrained Chronos to disgorge his cannibal repast, and first came up the memorable stone, which was then placed for safe keeping at Delphi. Then followed the five children.

vi. Then came the war of the Titans. Jupiter and his brothers and sisters fought against Chronos. In the war that followed, Iobates and all the Titans except Oceanus fought on the side of Chronos. Jupiter and his brothers and sisters fought on the other side and won the war. The war was won by Jupiter when he went to Tartarus and released the Hundred-Handed Monsters.

vii. As a result of winning the war, Jupiter and his brothers and sisters made Mount Olympus their capital. From then on, the story of Greek mythology is about the empire of Zeus (Jupiter) who became the god-ruler of the world to the Greeks. Zeus gave to his brother Neptune (Poisendon) the kingdom of the sea. He gave to his other brother Pluto (Hades) the underworld.

viii. The Titans who were defeated were sent to Tartarus. Atlas, the son of the Titan Iobates, was doomed to carry the heavens on his shoulders. Iobates had three famous children: Pandora, Prometheus, and Atlas.

ix. In the empire of Zeus from Mount Olympus, there was the beginning of a series of incidents found in two forms: myths and Genesis 6:1-13. The Biblical story is completely and totally accurate. The myths that came out of this are simply distortions of the truth. The background for them is truth.

x. When the war between the Titans and Zeus was over and the Titans were imprisoned in Tartarus, this is a picture of how God dealt with BENI HA ELOHIM. The children of Zeus included Athena or Minerva, who sprang from his brain full- grown and fully armed. By his wife Juno he had Aries, Vulcan, and Hebe. By Latona he had Apollo (Phoebus) and Diana (Artemis). By Diona he had Venus (Aphrodite). By Mais he had Mercury (Hermes).

xi. The males represented by BENI HA ELOHIM, translated “sons of God,” actually refer to demons like Zeus (Jupiter). These demons had bodies, which they used to seduce and impregnate females of the human race during the antediluvian period of history.

xii. BENI HA ELOHIM included Zeus, Apollos, Neptune, and Pluto, which are actually demon names. The sons of the gods were Titans like Chronos, Iobates, Oceanus, Tethys, Hyperion, Thammuz, Rhea, etc. Every name found in Greek mythology is either a demon name or a “hero” name.

xiii. The sexual attack to destroy true humanity on the earth and prevent the First Advent of the humanity of Christ is illustrated by one demon alone, Zeus (Jupiter), who had several notable sexual encounters with female members of the human race which started the genetic problem. Let us note this one example of the genetic attack on the human race

a) (a) Zeus is one of the BENI HA ELOHIM. He seduced a woman named Semele, who had a son half-angelic, half- human, named Bacchus (Latin) or Dionysus (Greek).

b) Zeus seduced the woman Alchimine. By her he had a half-human, half-angelic son called Hercules or Herucles.

c) By a third woman, Danae, he had a half- human, half-angelic son called Perseus. The original Persians of the ancient world claimed their ancestry from Perseus.

d) By a fourth woman, Lyda, he had four children who were half-human, half-angelic: Castor, Clytemnestra, Pollux, and Helen. It is claimed that only Castor and Pollux were his children; Clytemnestra and Helen were children by Lyda’s human husband.

e) By a fifth woman, Europa, he had three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon.

f) By a sixth woman, Electra, he had Dardanus, from whom the Trojans claim their origin.

i) By a ninth woman, Antiope, he had Anthion and Zeuthus who built the walls of Thebes.

j) By a tenth woman, Aegena, he had a son named Aeetes, the ancestor of both Aeschylus and Ajax. Genesis 6:3, “Then Jehovah [God the Father] said, `My Spirit [Holy Spirit] will not always plead the cause of God in man’s soul forever, for in his going astray, he is flesh [mortal]. Therefore, his days will be one hundred and twenty years.’”

xiv. This verse refers to the antediluvian ministry of the Holy Spirit. One of the greatest periods of evangelism in all of history resulted in millions of people hearing the Gospel, and yet there were only nine converts before the civilization was destroyed!

xv. The common grace ministry of the Holy Spirit is emphasized here. Remember that being born spiritually dead, we are totally depraved, totally separated from God, and totally helpless to do anything about it. Furthermore, we are spiritually brain dead; unable to understand the Gospel. But God the Holy Spirit makes the Gospel perspicuous under the doctrine of common grace.

xvi. The Holy Spirit pleads the cause of God in man’s soul, because the soul of man is spiritually brain dead. The cause of God is salvation. It is impossible for us to understand the Gospel on our own; that’s why the Holy Spirit pleads the cause of God, i.e., makes the Gospel perspicuous.

xvii. From the time of Genesis 6:3 to the time of the Flood, there would be an elapse of 120 years. At that point, God the Holy Spirit would no longer plead the cause of God in salvation, because the flood would wipe them out.

xviii. Only the nine human beings mentioned above believed in Jesus Christ. The half-human, half-angelic creatures heard the Gospel as well, and they could have believed in Christ and saved their human side, but none of them ever did. There were millions of them.

xix. Time is the only chance you have for eternal life. You can only make a decision in time to believe in Jesus Christ.

xx. Evangelism would continue 120 years more in the antediluvian civilization before the Flood came and destroyed the last opportunity for the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in common and efficacious grace.

xxi. The grace policy of God never executes judgment on mankind before every grace opportunity has been given to believe. Grace precedes judgment. Therefore, from the time of the angelic infiltration and the genetic attack on true humanity, there would be 120 years of Gospel preaching.

xxii. In 120 years, the entire human race would be corrupted by half-human, half-demonic people. The half-demonic side rejected the Gospel, even though it was probably given clearer, better, and more forcefully in that period of time than in any period of time since.

xxiii. By the grace of God, the true humanity of Christ would be born as a descendant of Shem, one of the eight survivors of the Flood.

c. Gen 6:4, “The Nephalim [fallen ones, half-human half-demon creatures] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward when the sons of God [demons] had sex with females of the human race, and had children by them, these children were the heroes who, from ancient history, were famous men.”

i. Notice that in this passage, three categories of creatures are mentioned: HA ADAM is true humanity, BENI HA ELOHIM are angels with bodies, and HA NEPHALIM are the progeny of the first two combined, i.e., half-human, half-angelic creatures.

ii. HA NEPHALIM means “the fallen ones.” They are the subject of all the mythology of Greece, Rome, Canaan, and Germany. Numbers 13:33, “There we also saw giants [Nephalim], the sons of Anach [part of the Nephalim], and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and we were in their sight.” They were giants, not the Nephalim of Genesis 6.

iii. Half-human and half-demonic creatures had superb strength and super intellect.

iv. These are the Greek heroes of antediluvian times. They include Orpheus, Perseus, Theseus, Minos, Hercules, Jason, Pelius, Castor, and Pollux. They are in contrast to the later heroes of the Trojan War, like Ulysses, Aeschylus, and Ajax, who were humans in postdiluvian times.

v. So the Nephalim included people of great power and intellect, like Dionysus or Bacchus, Anthion, Aesculapius the great physician, Prometheus, Pelops, Apollo.

vi. As a result of this demon attack, the fallen angels involved were confined to Tartarus, the third compartment of Sheol or Hades.

vii. The demons who function in the postdiluvian civilization under the command of Satan no longer have sexual capabilities; they are disembodied spirits.

a) In the antediluvian civilization, the demons who invaded the earth had angelic bodies and sexual capabilities. With their bodies, these demons were able to have sex with human females, resulting in the Satanic attempt to destroy true humanity on the earth. It almost succeeded except for the grace of God in the cataclysmic universal flood.

b) In the postdiluvian civilization, all demons are disembodied spirits, and therefore limited to the following functions: demon possession, which is the demon invasion of the human body and taking it over, and demon influence, which is the infiltration of Satanic or false doctrine into the human soul as per 1Timothy 4:1-2.

ix. Jude 6 tells what happened to the first category of demons who infiltrated the human race. “And the angels which kept not their status quo but abandoned their proper place of residence [in the second heavens], He has guarded them in eternal chains under thick darkness for the judgment of the great day.” Tartarus is described as “chains of thick darkness” in all Greek

x. These demons are mentioned again in 2Peter 2:4, “For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned [Gen 6:2], but incarcerated them in pits of darkness [in Tartarus], reserved for judgment.”

d. Gen 6:5 is the divine evaluation of the Nephalim period. “Then the Lord observed that the evil of homo sapiens was great on the earth, and that every motive of the thoughts of his heart [right lobe] was only evil continually.”

i. In the period between the angelic infiltration and the Flood, a period of 120 years according to Genesis 6:3, there were many unusual characteristics.

a) It was a period of the greatest music in history; evil people produced the most fantastic music in history, yet also the greatest violence.

b) It was a period of the greatest scientific achievement in history, yet at the same time a period of great lawlessness. It was the greatest academic civilization in history.

c) Along with culture of art and music, there was also great immorality. Along with fantastic luxury, there was wanton cruelty (similar to the Athenians later).

b) Bacchus was the demon god who promoted the phallic cult. He started the first sorority in history, and the women were called Maenads (which later became a word for sexual insanity).

1) The sorority emphasized emotion taking over the soul and suppressing thinking, therefore blacking out reason. Hence, it included a demon penetration of the soul.

2) The function of the sorority was to seek total freedom to give women more choices than they had ever had in their homes under their parents and husbands. In other words, this was to free them from authority. The function of the sorority was to establish a total freedom and escape from human limitations by entering into sexual orgies with demons. Hence, the demon penetration of the mind or soul was followed by the demon penetration of the female body.

3) The bacchus cult began with a lot of good music, dancing, working everyone up, and drugs. Both a sexual orgy and violence resulted. The women abandoned themselves to the demons. The Maenads (mad ones) not only abandoned themselves to demons in a lustful frenzy, but they became extremely violent. They often killed one another. They lost all reason. So that along with sexual lust, there was tremendous killer lust.

4) King Pentheus of Thebes (Greece) became suspicious of three women in his household: his wife, his mother, and his sister. One night after pretending to be asleep, he followed them as they slipped out of the house and attended a meeting of the Dionysian sorority. There he saw these women become involved in an orgy.

5) King Pentheus couldn’t stand it any longer, so he went in to rebuke these three women. They all literally clawed him to pieces with their hands, screaming and shouting.

1) This is the story of Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi. Apollo was the demon god of light who was very much involved with the kingdom of darkness and Satan himself. Apollo was one of the first champions of the angel of light principle from demons. He was the champion of lucidity. He was called the god of the sun. Apollo is his Latin name; Phoebus is his Greek name.

2) On Mount Parnassus, Apollo killed a gigantic python. It was alleged to have been fifty feet long, and if so, it weighed about 350 pounds. In Apollo’s honor, the Pythian Games were held.

3) The demon-possessed priestess who served the demon god Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi prophesied and controlled the lives of many famous people.

4) Apollo represents the doctrine of demons found in 1Timothy 4:1-2, as well as demon thinking in cosmic two. Apollo represents the intellectual departure from God, in contrast to Bacchus (or Dionysus) which represents the emotional, orgastic departure from God’s will.

1) Mythologically, this pattern is related to Aesculapius, the demon god of healing. Aesculapius was the progeny of Apollos and a human female called Coronas (Arsenio).

2) To understand how demon healing works, we must note two great demon-princes who serve their king, Satan.

(1) Abaddon or Apollyon is found in Revelation 9. He is the demon in charge of overt warfare. He commands the Abyss, from which he will bring forth the first great demon army in the Tribulation.

(2) Beelzebub is the prince in charge of covert warfare against the human race. He has charge of operation mole, which is Satan’s plan to give demons and Satan’s human servants credibility in the Christian community. Satan’s human deceivers include sorcerers who perform feats of necromancy, exorcists, so-called “divine healers,” and people involved in signs from Satan, including the actual reproduction of the gift of tongues. Beelzebub is the demon in charge of the eggastromuthos demons who, when they possess the body of an unbeliever, actually reproduce the gift of tongues as it occurred on the Day of Pentecost and for forty years thereafter.

3) Beelzebub, as the demon in charge of undercover operations, sponsors activities to give credibility to Satan’s human servants. Satan’s human servants are easily identified as people who allege to perform miracles of healing. No one has been healed by a miracle by a person since 96 A.D.

4) God occasionally will directly heal a person in response to prayer. But the great power in the post- Canon period of the Church Age is the power of the Word of God. Jesus Christ only healed to give a hearing to His message.

5) Beelzebub is the head of a great demon organization which practices miracles of healing.

(1) Matt 12:24, “When the Pharisees heard it, they said about Jesus, `He casts out demons only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.’” When Beelzebub orders demons who are causing illness out of a human body, there is instant healing of that body. There are three categories of illness: physiologically-induced illness, mentally-induced [psychosomatic] illness, and demon-induced illness. Mark 3:22, “The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, `He is possessed by Beelzebub, and he casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’”

(2) Lk 11:15, “But some of them said, `He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons.’”

6) So certain forms of demon possession cause illness, so that when the victim goes to a so- called divine healer (who is working for Satan), Beelzebub orders the demons to withdraw which means there is an instant and real cure. Therefore, people think that divine healer has great power and must be from God. This is how even believers are led astray. This system provides honor and credibility to servants of Satan who practice the healing art.

iv. The saturation of evil was illustrated by violence, murder, rape, and human sacrifice.

a) Lykaon, the King of Arcadia, sacrificed his son and then sat down and ate his corpse. He was demon- possessed. This is patterned after Chronos, who ate his children when they were born.

b) King Pentheus of Thebes was torn to pieces by the sorority of Dionysus, which included his wife, mother, and sister.

c) Atrius, the King of Mycenae, seduced the wife of his brother, Thyestes, whom he banished from the kingdom. When Thyestes was pardoned by his brother and allowed to return, Atrius invited him to a banquet in his palace. As he sat down, he was served two of his sons who were murdered and cooked for his convenience.

d) When Hercules returned home after his famous twelve labors, he murdered his wife and children.

e) Adonis was loved by both Aphrodite (Venus) and Persephone, the Queen of Hades. Zeus settled the rivalry by decreeing that Adonis should spend one-half a year with Venus above earth, and one-half year with Persephone in Hades. This story was used to describe seasons. For each year, Adonis must die and spend time with Persephone. Therefore, human sacrifice was practiced to send him down. To be sure he comes back up, more people were sacrificed.

f) Pember, Earth’s Earliest Ages, p. 135, “And hence, there sprang up a thick crop of frauds and assignations of open quarrels and violence, till the whole earth was filled with corruption and bloodshed...” High culture never prevents violence.

g) If the flood occurred in 2245 B.C., then the angelic infiltration would have been about 2365 B.C. Genesis 6:6, “Therefore, the Lord Himself repented that He made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His right lobe.”

v. The niphal reflexive of NACHAM means to have a change of mind. It is the exact equivalent of the Greek METANOEO, and has the same meaning. It is impossible for God to sin, and therefore He does not “repent from sin.”

vi. This is an anthropopathism, which ascribes to God human feelings, passions, thoughts which God does not actually possess; e.g., hatred, anger, scorn, benevolence, compassion, longsuffering, and repentance. But in order to explain a divine policy, such a feeling or thought is ascribed to God. Therefore, to describe a change of divine policy, “repent” is used. Many times in history God has had to judge segments of the human race.

viii. God’s “right lobe” is an anthropomorphism, which ascribes to God a part of human anatomy which God does not possess, in order to express a divine function.

ix. God would give 120 years to this half-human race, under the principle that grace precedes judgment. At that time, there would be a total destruction of the human race apart from eight persons.

e. The divine decision regarding the antediluvian civilization follows in Genesis 6:7. “Then the Lord decreed, `I will blot out mankind whom I have created from the surface of the earth, from man to animals to reptiles to birds of the sky, for I have changed My mind that I made them.’”

i. Apparently, the antediluvian reptiles and animals were much larger than the ones today. We know something about the antediluvian animals from the investigation of an ice pack in Siberia. So all animals and reptiles and birds were to be destroyed, except for those preserved in the ark.

ii. The saturation of evil was so great that the human race had reached a point of total self-destruction. This was a part of the satanic plot to destroy true humanity on the earth so that Jesus Christ could not come in the flesh. Yet only as perfect true humanity could Jesus Christ come and be judged for our sins.

iii. Therefore, to protect the remnant of believers, God had to destroy the antediluvian civilization. This divine decision was totally compatible with God’s grace policy, which is extended to us today. The only way that God could keep His divine promise that there would be a Savior, and that “whosoever believes in Him will never perish but have eternal life,” was by destroying the corrupted part of the human race so that only true humanity would be preserved beyond the great catastrophe of a universal flood.

iv. Noah and his family were the last human beings who had not been corrupted by the angelic infiltration that produced the Nephalim. There must be a line of true humanity which extends from Noah to the true humanity of Jesus Christ. This explains the necessity to destroy the antediluvian population, which by now was a super race of half-angelic, half human beings.

i. “Eyes” are an anthropomorphism, ascribing to God human anatomy which He does not possess, used to express in human language a concept we can understand.

ii. Noah and his family were both genuine human race and regenerate human race. They had personally believed in Jesus Christ as He was revealed in the great evangelistic push as of that dispensation.

g. Gen 6:9, “The following is the family history of Noah, a justified person [a believer], who was uncontaminated in his genealogy [still true humanity]. Furthermore, Noah walked with God [a mature believer].”

i. Being justified means Noah had personally believed in Jesus Christ. Therefore, he was justified by faith.

ii. Therefore, since Noah was both justified and uncontaminated in his genealogy, he was the exception to Genesis 6:7, when the Lord said, “I will blot out mankind whom I have created from the surface of the earth.” All mankind was to be blotted out because mankind had become Nephalim, i.e., half-human and half-angelic. Had that continued, there would have been no possibility of the Lord Jesus Christ becoming true humanity and being judged for our sins. Then there would have been no way God could keep His Word to Adam and the woman.

iii. The reason why the family history or genealogy of Noah is so important is because it is true humanity all the way from Adam and the woman to Noah. That Noah walked with God indicates he was a mature believer as well. Genesis 6:10, “And Noah had three sons, namely Shem, Ham, and Japheth.”

iv. Every member of the human race is descended from either Shem, Ham, or Japheth, or the many combinations that have developed since then.

v. Abraham was in the line of Shem, and at age 99 he began the new racial species of the Jew. The Jewish line continued only through Isaac and Jacob, both believers. Jacob’s twelve sons are the basis for the entire Jewish race. Our Lord came from the line of Judah. Genesis 6:11, “Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God; furthermore, the earth was saturated with violence.” Genesis 6:12, “Consequently, God looked at the earth and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”

vi. The effectiveness of the genetic attack on the earth by demons resulted in true humanity being almost extinct on planet earth.

vii. The source of salvation must come from the true humanity of Jesus Christ. 1Peter 2:24, “He carried our sins in His own body on the cross.” As God, He could have nothing to do with sin. He had to become true humanity. Hence, there was the necessity for destroying the hybrid race of the half-human, half-angelic creatures.

viii. The demons (BENI HA ELOHIM, sons of God) were removed to Tartarus, while the corrupted humanity was removed to Torments in Hades.

ix. God protects the believer, fulfilling His will in time of extreme catastrophe. Whenever God has to judge the world to protect the human race from self-destruction, He always protects the believer from this extreme catastrophe, which in this case was a universal flood which destroyed all Nephalim and all animal life on the earth except what was in the ark. But no matter how great the catastrophe, it is the mature believer who always survives. The pivot of mature believers always survives catastrophe.

h. Gen 6:13, “Then God said to Noah, `The end of all flesh has come before Me [idiom: I’m thinking about the destruction of the antediluvian race), for the earth has become saturated with violence. Behold, I am about to destroy them with planet earth.’”

i. It’s interesting to note that one of the greatest cultures of all time occurred during the antediluvian civilization. The music, literature, and drama was far greater than anything produced since. Yet the greatest violence also existed. Culture and violence always go together, for it occurred again during the fifth century B.C. Athens, during the Renaissance, and today in the United States.

ii. So when a population gets to this point of saturated evil and violence, God intervenes with judgment. There will never again be a universal judgment of the earth, like the Flood. The earth will only be destroyed once more in its entirety, and that will occur at the end of the Millennium. At that time, God will cause a nuclear explosion that will destroy the earth and universe entirely.

iii. Under the principle that Jesus Christ controls history, there must be, from time to time, great judgments, so that certain segments of the population which are self-destructive can be wiped out.

iv. Jesus said the same thing when He said, “He who bears the sword will perish by the sword.” This does not refer to the soldier in the military or police officer in law enforcement, but to the criminal who is self-destructive in the human race. This is why capital punishment is no necessary. If we don’t destroy the criminal element through capital punishment, then God will do so in a terrible catastrophe.

v. How did God “destroy them with planet earth?” Genesis 7:11, “He opened up the fountains of the deep.” Remember the water that flooded the entire earth came from below the surface of the earth. The rain that came from above contributed a very small portion to the flood, only about 2%.

vi. This verse stresses the importance of God’s grace in judgment. It is seen in the work of our Lord on the cross. It is also seen in our Lord’s removal of evil empires from time to time to avoid the self-destruction of the human race.

1. In 1Peter 3:18-22, we have the only real winner in history, the One who did more to win than anyone else, and the One whose victory is more significant than anyone in human history.

a. 1Peter 3:18, “Because Christ also died once for our sins, the righteous One as a substitute for the unrighteous ones, that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive by means of the Spirit.”

i. The trichotomous humanity of Christ remained impeccable during the entire time He was on the cross, though He underwent the greatest temptations anyone ever faced. He was the “lamb without spot and without blemish.” He continued residing inside the divine dynasphere during three hours of the most intense suffering to ever exist in human history.

ii. There are two reasons why our Lord remained the “righteous One.” First, He was sustained by the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit inside the prototype divine dynasphere. Hebrews 9:14. Secondly, He used the problem solving devices, especially +H or sharing the happiness of God. Hebrews 12:2. Both of these sustaining factors are now available to you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

iii. The Greek preposition HUPER plus the genitive of advantage from ADIKOS, “as a substitute for the unrighteous ones,” refers to us all. The Greek noun ADIKOS includes both moral and immoral degeneracy, everything that makes up our failures when we’re under the control of the old sin nature.

iv. If you have personally believed in Jesus Christ, you have been brought to God. Jesus Christ is the only one who can bring us to God, and who can give us eternal life.

v. The entire satanic plot was an attempt to keep Jesus Christ from being “put to death in the flesh.”

vi. The omnipotence of the Holy Spirit had custodianship of our Lord’s human soul after His physical death. God the Holy Spirit was the means by which our Lord was “made alive by means of the Spirit.”

vii. The rest of this passage explains what happened to our Lord’s soul between the phrases “having been put to death in the flesh” and “but made alive by means of the Spirit.” Under the custodianship of God the Holy Spirit, His soul not only went to Paradise, but He also visited Tartarus. So our Lord’s human soul was in Hades for three days. While there, He went to Tartarus.

b. 1Peter 3:19, “by means of whom [God the Holy Spirit], He [human soul of Jesus Christ] went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison.” The “spirits in prison” are the BENI HA ELOHIM of Genesis 6:1ff. Those fallen angels who were judged and incarcerated in Tartarus when the universal flood occurred on the earth, Jude 6; 2Peter 2:4.

c. 1Peter 3:20, “who [imprisoned demons] once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, while the ark was being constructed, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were brought to safety through water.”

i. The patience of God waited 120 years. That period received that most intensive Gospel proclamation in all of human history. Every one of the Nephalim had a chance to believe in Christ, and every one of them said no. In the vacuum of their souls, they continued to worship the gods of Mount Olympus, who were not gods but demons.

iii. The water that drowned the unbelieving world was also used to deliver the eight souls who were believers and true humanity. They are called “eight souls” because the soul is saved, not the body. We receive an interim body, and then a resurrection body.

d. 1Peter 3:21, “which also is an antitype [copy, representation] of the baptism [of the Holy Spirit] which now saves us — not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but a pledge of a good conscience toward God — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

i. At the moment of our salvation, the baptism of the Spirit made us members of the royal family of God. Each member of Noah’s family in the ark is analogous to the believer who is union with the person of Jesus Christ. Union with Christ delivers each member of the royal family of God.

ii. Those eight souls were an antitype 10thor copy of what happens to us in the baptism of the Holy Spirit. For they were delivered from the catastrophe of the Flood by being inside the ark, just as we are delivered from the Lake of Fire by being in union with Christ, due to the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Just as they were safe in the Ark, so we are safe in union with Christ.

iii. The parenthetical phrase is to make sure you understand this does not refer to water baptism.

iv. Your conscience was developed at the moment you believed in Jesus Christ as Savior, when God the Holy Spirit entered you into union with the person of Jesus Christ, making you royal family of God and a new spiritual species. So the pledge of good conscience toward God begins with becoming a new spiritual species and a member of the royal family of God.

e. 1Peter 3:22, “who [Jesus Christ] is at the right hand of God [the Father], having ascended into heaven after angels and authorities and powers had been subordinated to Him.”

i. When Jesus Christ ascended, He was seated at the right hand of God the Father and received His third royal warrant. When we believe in Jesus Christ, we are put into union with Him as He is seated at the Father’s right hand. This means we are positionally in heaven at the right hand of the Father right now; this is the doctrine of positional sanctification.

ii. Since Jesus Christ ascended, He is now higher than all angels in a human body! This is unprecedented in all of history! This means that positionally, you are also higher than all angelic creatures. Furthermore, in the future when you receive your resurrection body, you will be physically higher and superior to the angels, the original creation of God.

2. When our Lord Jesus Christ went to the fallen angels of Genesis 6 in Tartarus He announced to them a victorious proclamation, that they had not succeeded in their great attempt to prevent Him from coming in the flesh as true humanity.

a. The Holy Spirit transferred our Lord’s human soul from Paradise to Tartarus to make His proclamation.

b. He announced that He had come into the world as true humanity. Then our Lord gave those demons an entire dissertation on the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, and how He had been judged for the sins of the world. He told them how their plot had failed, for true humanity had remained on the earth with Noah and his family.

3. We only have part of what our Lord said to those fallen angels recorded in Hebrews 2:9-17. Hebrews 2:9, “We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than angels [in His humanity], now crowned with glory and honor because He suffered death, that by the grace of God He might taste [spiritual] death for everyone.” True humanity is lower than angels. In a resurrection body we will be higher than angels. Hebrews 2:10, “For in bringing many sons into glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the Author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” Hebrews 2:11, “For both He who sanctifies [Jesus Christ through agency of the baptism of the Spirit] and those who are being sanctified [royal family], are all from one [idiom: all of the same family], for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,” Hebrews 2:12, “saying [Ps 22:22], `I will proclaim Your name to Your family [royal family of God]; in the middle of the congregation I will sing Your praise.’” In antiphonal worship, Jesus Christ is praised as the strategic victor in the angelic conflict. Hebrews 2:13, “And again [Isa 8:17], `I [personification of all Church Age believers] will put my trust in Him.’ And again [Isa 8:18], `Behold, I [victorious Christ] and the children [royal family] whom God [F] has given to Me.’” Not only did Jesus Christ succeed in coming in the flesh, in spite of that angelic attack, but at the same time a royal family was formed. God the Father has given to our Lord a royal family as an award for His third royal patent. Hebrews 2:14, “Since therefore the children share common blood and flesh [true humanity], He also Himself, in the same manner [virgin birth], shared their humanity, in order that through death [substitutionary spiritual death] He might destroy [neutralize, render powerless] him [Satan] who has the power of death, that is, the devil;” In spite of the demon attack of Genesis 6:1-11, true humanity continues to reside on the earth in the postdiluvian civilization. Hebrews 2:15, “and might deliver those who, through fear of death, were subject to slavery all of their lives.” When we celebrate the Lord’s table, we celebrate the highest freedom ever attained in this life, i.e., spiritual freedom. Fear, such as fear of death, makes the human race a slave. Hebrews 2:16, “For obviously, He [humanity of Christ] did not assume the nature of angels, but He did take on the seed of Abraham [new racial species of Jew].” Hebrews 2:17, “For this reason, He had to be made like His brethren [royal family] in every way, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” This is the victorious proclamation in part.

1. This fourth compartment of Hades is the jail for a certain postdiluvian demons who have been incarcerated there because they disobeyed the rules for the angelic conflict in human history.

2. ABUSSOS means abyss, and is mistranslated “the deep” in the KJV, Luke 8:31; Romans 10:7 and in Revelation 9:1-2, 11, 7:17, 11:7, and 20:1-3 where it is called “the bottomless pit.” Romans 10:7 tells us it is a part of Sheol; cf. Amos

3. Our Lord had a dialogue with a demon-possessed man of Luke 8:30-31. After He cast the demons out, they begged Him not to order them into the Abyss. “And Jesus asked him, `What is your name?’ And he replied, `Legion,’ for many had entered him. And they begged Him not to command them to depart into the Abyss.”

a. The fact that they called themselves “Legion” means they were organized into a military force.

b. The demons knew they had violated certain principles and could be tossed into the Abyss. A demon army is being formed there of all fallen angels who violate the rules of the angelic conflict.

c. Demons who violate certain rules of the angelic conflict during human history are banished into the Abyss. Apparently at least 1000 demons indwelt this man, contrary to the rules of the angelic conflict.

4. The Church is the focal point of the invisible warfare today; therefore we are required to become invisible heroes. However, the Abyss is related to visible warfare in the Tribulation.

5. The Abyss is the present barracks for the first demon assault army under the command of Abaddon (Hebrew) or Apollyon (Greek). This first demon assault army will invade the earth during the Tribulation, Revelation 9:1-12. They are released from their prison to become part of the administration of punishment to unbelievers. At this time, the invisible angelic conflict will become visible. Hence, there will be visible heroes among believers; e.g., Moses and Elijah and the 144,000 Jewish evangelists. These events indicate a tremendous and radical change in God’s plan after the Rapture of the Church occurs.

6. A second demon assault army is said to be stationed underneath the Euphrates River. It will be sent into action at the sounding of the sixth trumpet, Revelation 9:13-21. This demon assault army will actually kill one-third of the people of the earth who are involved in the cosmic system.

7. The third demon assault army is commanded by Satan himself. It now resides in heaven. It will attack upon the sounding of the seventh trumpet, Revelation 11:15-12:17. This army will be involved in warfare in heaven. It will be defeated by the angelic order of battle led by Michael the archangel, Revelation 12:7-8. As a result of this defeat by Michael and the elect angels, the third demon assault army will attack planet earth, Revelation 12:9. This attack is specifically directed against the Jews. It is Satan’s final attempt to wipe out every Jew on the earth. Anti- semitism is one of the greatest systems of evil from Satan.

8. There is a special demon-king, Apollyon, now residing in the Abyss who will indwell and empower the dictator of the revived Roman Empire in the Tribulation, Revelation 17. Revelation 17:8, “The beast that you saw [revived Roman Empire] was [Roman Empire in time of John, 96 A.D.] and is not [fall of Roman Empire in 476 A.D.] and will come out of the Abyss and go into

9. The Abyss will be the millennial jail of Satan where he will serve 1000 years of prison sentence. Revelation 20:1-3, “And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the Abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he seized the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for one thousand years. And he cast him into the Abyss, and he both shut and sealed it over him so that he should not deceive the nations any longer until the thousand years were completed.”

10. When the two witnesses, Moses and Elijah, finish their ministry in the Tribulation, they are killed by Abaddon, the king of all demons in the Abyss, Revelation 9:11 cf 11:7.

1. During the First Advent, healing was used to verify and establish the fact that the Messiah had come to Israel. Healing was not used to alleviate suffering, but to present the Messiah.

2. There is no “healing in the atonement.” That is a false satanic doctrine. “Healing in the atonement” would imply lack of eternal security: a sick Christian would be a lost Christian.

3. God often provides illness as a means of divine discipline, 1Corinthians 11:30.

4. Good health is not a sign of spirituality or salvation. Beware of judging those who have lost their health.

5. In the pre-Canon period of the Church Age, God the Holy Spirit sovereignly bestowed a temporary gift of healing on certain men to establish their credentials as apostles and other communicators of doctrine. Healing established the man as from God. 1Corinthians 12:11.

6. All temporary spiritual gifts were designed to take up the slack in the Church Age until the Canon was completed and circulated.

7. However, once the Bible was completed (96 AD), all temporary gifts were withdrawn to be replaced by doctrine.

8. Certain gifts, such as miracles and healing, were no longer necessary to establish the authority of Bible teachers and doctrinal communication.

9. Temporary gifts include prophecy, miracles, apostleship, healing, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Tongues ended after 70 AD, since it was a sign to warn the Jews of the coming fifth cycle of discipline as prophesied in Isaiah 28.

10. Since healing was designed as a credit card rather than to alleviate suffering, it was always removed once the authority of the communicator was established.

11. For example, Paul in Acts 19:11-12 cf Philippians 2:27; 2Timothy 4:20 when he could no longer heal his close friends.

12. God can always heal anyone, but healing is not the order of the day in this stage of the angelic conflict. God never heals through an individual, only through prayer. Those who allege they can heal are totally evil. Healing will be the order of the day again in the Tribulation.

13. No human being has any gift related to healing now that the Canon has been completed. However, in our Lord’s day Jesus performed acts of healing to focus attention on Himself as the God-Man, the Messiah, and the God of Israel.

R. B. Thieme, Jr. Bible Ministries 5139 West Alabama, Houston, Texas 77056 (713) 621-3740

C. Demon induced illness: When demons possess unbelievers they can produce certain kinds of diseases. Also Satan and/or demons are permitted at times to affect believers’ health from the outside. No believer can be indwelt by a demon.

1. Satan was permitted (from the outside) to buffet Paul with a thorn in the flesh type of disease or pain — 2Corinthians 12:7.

2. Satan was responsible for Job’s illness — Job 2:6-8. Permitted by God (since Job is a believer).

a. Acts 10:38, “ … and healing all who were oppressed by the devil.” These illnesses had as their source the devil.

b. Luke 13:16 (vs. 10-17) The cause of this woman’s disease is demon possession. The doctors could not heal her — because she was bound by Satan. Doctors today are baffled with demon induced illness. [This is not a passage against doctors!]

c. There are two ways of getting well according to James 5. Prayer here is the spiritual aspect, praying for the individual. The anointing of oil is medical help. This was doctoring in those days — see the parable of the Good Samaritan )Luke 10:30-37) Oil was used medicinally. (Don’t read our modern medicine picture into New Testament times!)

d. In Luke 13 Christ heals. Note that in cases where demon possession causes illness the casting out of the demon cures the illness. This is termed healing — Matthew 10:1; Mark 1:32-34; 6:13; Acts 8:7; 19:12.

e. In cases where demon possession did not cause illness they just cast out, no mention of healing.

4. Satan uses demons to cause deafness, dumbness (Not all of this is caused by demons, however) and paralysis — Matthew 9:32-33; 12:22; Mark 5:5; 9:17-18.

a. Matthew 7:21-23. This passage describes a very prevalent situation today in the large “mass healing” meetings.

(1) The use of “me, Lord, Lord” refers to the constant use of the name of Jesus Christ in apostate meetings of the healing and tongues variety — 7:21.

(3) “prophesied” … cast out demons … done many wonderful works (in thy name — in the name of Jesus Christ)

(5) “ye that work iniquity” Their prophecies, casting out demons and many wonderful works are called iniquity (sin). God’s power is not sin, therefore this power by which they operate is Satan’s.

(6) For example: A demon-possessed faith-healer (unsaved) will be very nice, very well-dressed, very well versed in using the name of Jesus Christ repeatedly — doing everything IN THE NAME OF JESUS. Note the use of “in thy name” in Matthew 7:22.

(7) He will use emotion, he will take up a huge offering, he will have an empiricism (senses) approach. The people who come up to be healed may have demon induced illness, or they may not. But the demon possessed individual cooperates with the individual with the demon-induced illness. When he shouts “heal” the demon comes out of the victim and the demon induced illness is no more. The whole crowd of simple and stupid believers or non-believers watching shouts, “Praise God,” etc. If the faith healing is not demon possession — and the victim is not demon possessed it is purely psychosomatic. The emotionally charged atmosphere makes the person think they have faith and that they are healed.

b. 2 Thessalonians 2:9, “ … with every kind of power and signs and lying wonders.” This is Satanic power in the Tribulation, and its mystery of iniquity is already at work in the Church Age.

1. He heals sovereignly when He does and on the basis of grace, and who and what He is.

2. God does not heal through a spiritual gift of healing, there is no spiritual gift of healing since the canon of scripture has been

3. There is no bona fide faith-healing operating on the earth. All are deceivers and frauds, very stupid, very sincere, and very much showmen in enacting their thing. (Healing was a temporary spiritual gift in the pre-canon period of the early church)

b. Handkerchiefs dipped in the Jordan, or in some radio preacher’s olive oil from the Holy Land.

f. Generally this appeals to the toothless, brainless simpleton, the unthinking emotional crowd.

b. People don’t get healed because they “have faith.” Then the gimmick — they are told if they didn’t get healed, “Well, you didn’t have enough faith.”

c. In every case where God heals, it does not depend upon the faithfulness of the individual, the faith of the individual, the works of the individual, it depends upon the sovereignty of God, not human approbation. God does at times sovereignly heal people.

6. There is not “healing in the atonement” as taught by A.B. Simpson and others. Isaiah 53:5 in the Hebrew is “By His bruise we are drawn together.”

7. So the first of four reasons why people have a miraculous healing is the healing is directly caused by God.

a. Caused by medical research and application: It seems to be prevalent among certain types of modern-day believers to poo-hoo doctors, medical research, they are “going to directly depend upon God.”

b. But they use hearing aids, wear glasses, have false teeth. Even Paul had physician friend (Luke) with him at times on his travels — and Luke practiced medicine.

(2) Faith-healer in cooperation with the devil (whom he calls Jesus) heals in connection with demon-induced illness.

III. Illness caused by a change of mental attitude: Psychosomatic. The frontal lobe gets upset, and it sends signals down to the body and that causes everything from hypertension to rash.

A. Now when the mind affects the body, and suddenly there is an emotional charged experience when a very determined and sincere type says you are going to be healed — it actually in some cases was only a change of mental attitude.

B. Here is an individual who is convinced mentally that he has a tumor, cancer, warts, an ulcer or something else.

c. There is a great deal of emphasis on the “wonderful crowds” present, a lot of public relations, testimonials to prove that “God is working.” Their motto is diametrically opposed to Christianity, they say seeing is believing, feeling is believing, touching is believing, hearing in believing, smelling is believing (Jesus filled the room with a heaven-sent fragrance) This is empiricism. Only faith unlocks the Word, first in salvation and then proper spirituality.

d. There is tremendous emphasis on the offering, and some project like a tent or truck to proclaim the gospel.

e. And more singing, and maybe a verse or two on what Jesus did with handkerchiefs and oil.

g. All of this is pure deception, and phony all the way. I™ is the chief form of apostasy today. On the basis of Bible doctrine don’t get mixed up with it.

2. Now as the healing exhibit moves into high gear he does his ‘formula’ on the stage and it is a sight deal all the way. The Word says, “We walk by faith, not by sight” — 2Corinthians 5:7; Colossians 2:6.

b. The emotional surge of the meetings has given them the adrenalin that they need to throw their crutches away.

c. Purely psychological: Doctors are saying that 60 per cent of the patients that walk in their office and say, “Doc, I’ve got an organic problem, a physical problem,” actually have a mental hang-up. Get the mental hang-up removed and their physical body doesn’t ache.

1. The Holy Spirit is eternal God and is coequal with the Father and the Son, 2Corinthians 13:14. He has the same essence as God the Father and Jesus Christ.

2. The Holy Spirit is called "God" using the sacred JHWH in Isaiah 6:8-9 cf Acts 28:25; Jeremiah 31:31-34 cf Hebrews 10:15-16.

4. The deity of the Holy Spirit is taught in the New Testament, 2Corinthians 3:17.

1. The Holy Spirit had a special ministry of divine revelation to Old Testament believers; primarily, but not exclusively, to those who had the gift of prophesy. The Spirit had a ministry to every writer of Old Testament Scripture. Every writer was controlled by the Spirit in what he wrote.

a. 2Peter 1:20-21 Understand this first, that all prophesy from Scripture does not originate from one's own interpretation; for prophesy was never produced by the will of mankind, but men communicated as they were being carried along by means of the Holy Spirit.

b. 2Timothy 3:18-19 All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for training which is righteousness, that the man of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

(1) The Greek word THEOPNEUSTOS, meaning God-breathed, refers to two things: inhale and exhale. In addition to revelation as the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we have the doctrine of Inspiration.

(a) The inhale: God the Holy Spirit communicated to human authors of the Old Testament God's complete and coherent message for both that generation and for all future generations.

(i) Jeremiah 1:9 Then the Lord [God the Holy Spirit] stretched out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, `Behold, I have put words in your mouth.'

(ii) Mark 12:36 David himself said by means of the Holy Spirit, `The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit down at My right hand until I put your enemies beneath your feet."

(b) The exhale: the human authors wrote down in their own language the divine message from God.

(2) The result is the correct and accurate doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture, which says: God so supernaturally directed the writers of Scriptures, that without waving their human intelligence, their vocabulary, personality, literary style, feeling, or any other human factor, His own complete and coherent message to mankind was recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture, the vary words bearing the authority of divine authorship.

2. The ministry of the Holy Spirit to the Old Testament writers in the doctrine of inspiration included three categories.

a. The TORAH. This was written by Moses, who had both the gift and office of prophet.

b. The NABIIM, which includes Joshua, Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Zachariah. The human authors had the office of prophet.

c. The KETHUBIM, which means "the writings." The human authors had the gift of prophesy only: David, Solomon, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah.

1. It was extended to very few believers and only for special purposes. The Spirit's ministry in the Old Testament was to less than one percent of believers. There was no indwelling or filling of the Spirit in the Old Testament.

2. The purpose was to empower and enable certain believers to accomplish the will of God under certain and varying circumstances.

a. In the Old Testament this ministry was always to a few believers, but in the New Testament the Spirit's ministry is to all believers.

b. Because people do not understand this, there is a great deal of confusion. Pentecostal groups have picked up the ministry of the Holy Spirit to the Old Testament saints and have attempted to bring it into the Church Age.

3. This ministry is called enduement, or being clothed with the Spirit (LABACH). Enduement means to empower; to invest or endow with some gift, quality, or faculty of power; to clothe with power or ability above and beyond human ability.

b. Skilled labor to make Aaron's high priestly clothes. Exodus 28:3; and to build the tabernacle. Exodus 31:3.

e. Othniel and certain judges were empowered to kill Israel's enemies, Judges 3:10; Gideon to kill Arabs, Judges 6:34; Jephthah, Judges 11:29; Samson to kill a lion, Judges 14:6, and the Philistine army, Judges 15:14ff. All of these passages link the empowering of the Holy Spirit with killing the enemy or ruling the nation, and not as a part of spirituality.

f. Saul was empowered for ruling and communicating, so that the people could identify their leader, 1Samuel 10:9-10.

g. David, whose great feats were accomplished in the power of the Spirit, 1Samuel 16:13. David was perpetually empowered with the Spirit.

i. The human authors of the Old Testament, 1Peter 1:11-12; 2Peter 1:20-21. These men knew all about Jesus Christ in His first advent. They preached by means of the power of the Holy Spirit.

5. There were three carnal believers in the Old Testament whom the Holy Spirit empowered.

6. The Holy Spirit empowered a few Old Testament believers to perform miracles. There were three great periods of miracles.

c. During the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union by the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 12:28; Luke 4:14-18.

2. The disciples were told to ask for the Spirit, but did not, Luke 11:13. So before the beginning of the Church Age and after His resurrection Christ gave them the Holy Spirit, John 20:22.

E. Old Testament believers who received the Holy Spirit could lose the Holy Spirit as a matter of discipline.

1. During the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, there were a few believers who were filled by the Holy Spirit, such as John the Baptist. However, the most important ministry was the ministry of the Holy Spirit to the humanity of Christ.

2. The filling of the Spirit is always related in the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union or the Church Age to the divine dynasphere.

a. The humanity of Christ dwelt in the prototype divine dynasphere; we have the operational type divine dynasphere. This is why the filling of the Spirit which we have takes its precedence from the filling of the humanity of Christ.

b. The humanity of Christ was both indwelt and filled with the Spirit. That is precedence for out relationship with the Holy Spirit in the Church Age.

c. Efficacious and common grace are the same in every dispensation. Salvation is the same in every dispensation, but not the ministry of the Spirit to the believer.

a. Isaiah 11:2, "And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and knowledge, and occupation with the Lord."

(1) When anyone has the Holy Spirit, they have their own counsel and understanding. They do not have to go to anyone else for counseling. With doctrine, you have the ability to counsel yourself.

(2) "Wisdom" is doctrine that causes spiritual growth. "Understanding" is exposure to the teaching of doctrine. With doctrine, you do not depend on anyone with influence or power to do anything for you; you will depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit.

(3) "Knowledge" is understanding and being able to us the problem solving devices, which only the Spirit can reveal.

b. Isaiah 42:1 quoted in Matthew 12:18 Behold My Servant [Jesus Christ], whom I sustain. My Chosen One, in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit on Him.

c. The Spirit filling Christ is the fulfillment of John 3:34 For He whom God has sent speaks the doctrines of God; for He does not give the Spirit by measure.

d. Matthew 12:28 Jesus said, `If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom has come to you.'

4. Our Lord was sustained in His humanity by the Spirit. He did not use His own divine attributes to glorify Himself or to fulfill anything in the strength of His divine power. It was a part of the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union that our Lord would depend on the Father's provision, including the Father's provision of the Holy Spirit. This would establish a precedent for the royal family of God in the Church Age.

5. Our Lord offered the filling of the Holy Spirit to any of his disciples who would ask for Him.

a. This is why it says, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." That was Jesus giving a promise to the disciples to show them the mechanics for getting the filling of the Holy Spirit prior to the Church Age.

b. Luke 11:13 If you being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children [and you do], how much more shall your Father from heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for Him. We do not ask for the Holy Spirit during the Church Age, since we receive Him as of the moment of salvation.

c. None of the disciples ever did ask the Lord for the filling of the Spirit. Consequently, just prior to the ascension, our Lord gave the Holy Spirit to the disciples without their asking. Why? Because He knew that in the ten days before the Church Age began, they would be tested beyond their power. Therefore, He gave them the power, so that they would be in fellowship and ready for the Church Age to begin on the day of Pentecost. John 20:22, "And when Jesus had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, `Receive the Holy Spirit.'"

G. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age to the royal family is unique.

1. Regeneration and efficacious grace are the same in all dispensations. The Holy Spirit makes the Gospel a spiritual reality to the unbeliever in every age.

2. But in the Church Age the key is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which enters us into union with Christ.

3. Christ was appointed royalty at the session. But He is alone and must have a royal family to compliment His third royal patent, His battlefield royalty "sit down at My right hand until I make your enemies the footstool for Your feet."

4. God the Father stopped the Jewish age to provide a royal family for our Lord as the "King of kings and Lord of lords."

5. Therefore, because we are royalty, God the Holy Spirit does more for us at salvation than for believers of any other dispensation.

b. He creates a human spirit for the imputation of eternal life, the ministry of regeneration.

c. He enters us into union with Christ as a guarantee of our escrow blessings, the baptism of the Spirit.

d. He enters us into the divine dynasphere for the power to execute the protocol plan of God, the ministry of the filling of the Holy Spirit. (The system of spirituality for Old Testament saints was not related to the Holy Spirit but to the faith-rest drill.)

e. He indwells us to provide a temple for the indwelling of the Shekinah glory (our Lord), the ministry of indwelling.

g. He guarantees our escrow blessings and eternal security, the sealing ministry of the Spirit.

6. Every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and cannot lose that indwelling.

7. Every believer is filled with the Spirit at the point of salvation (because we are entered into the divine dynasphere) and loses the filling of the Spirit at the point of post-salvation sinning or carnality. The filling of the Spirit is only valuable when we know doctrine. The filling of the Spirit is the means of learning doctrine.

8. Recovery of the filling of the Spirit occurs through the use of the rebound technique, 1John 1:9, not by asking for the Spirit.

1. The ministry of the Holy Spirit to the Jewish Age believer was quite different than His ministry to the Church Age believer.

3. In the Church Age the Holy Spirit does much more for the royal family than He did for the believer in the Old Testament, or will do for the believers in the Millennium.

4. Fundamentalist Christianity today sometimes fails to make this distinction, resulting in apostasy and heresy.

5. The ministry of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament was limited to a very few believers and was very different than His ministry to believers in the Church Age.

6. Not only was His Old Testament ministry limited to a few believers, but it could be taken away because of the believer's carnality and reversionism.

7. The Holy Spirit may be quenched or grieved in the Church Age, but He continues to indwell every believer. Sin neutralizes the filling of the Spirit until rebound occurs.

8. In the Church Age we are never commanded to ask for the Spirit, since we receive Him at salvation.

9. In the Church Age we are only commanded to be filled with the Spirit. This is accomplished by the use of the rebound technique, 1John 1:9.

10. In the Old Testament a believer could ask for the Holy Spirit and pray for His continued presence.

1. All the Trinity passages reveal the coequality with other members of the Godhead — 2 Corinthians 13:14 indicates the total deity of the Holy Spirit.

2. The Holy Spirit is also called Jehovah in the Old Testament, this is a title of God — cf. Isaiah 6:8,9 with Acts 28:25, or Jeremiah 31:31-34 with Hebrews 10:15.

Principle: You cannot hurt someone else until you have first of all hurt or grieved God the Holy Spirit who indwells all members of the royal priesthood.

4. The filling of the Holy Spirit is God the Holy Spirit controlling the soul of the believer. Descriptions of the filling of the Holy Spirit in Scripture.

a. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is documented in Romans 8:9; 1Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20; Gal 3:2, 4:6; John 7:37-39, 14:16-17.

d. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the principle of victory over the old sin nature, while the filling of the Holy Spirit is the function of victory over the old sin nature.

B. The filling of the Spirit is one of the seven ministries of God the Holy Spirit to us at the moment of salvation.

1. We do not earn and we cannot deserve the ministry of God the Holy Spirit to us. Ephesians 4:30, "Furthermore, stop grieving the Spirit, the God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption."

3. There are seven ministries of God the Holy Spirit to the Church Age believer at the moment of salvation.

c. The baptism of the Spirit is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in taking every new believer and entering him into union with the person of Jesus Christ. We are in union with Christ forever. This is how the Holy Spirit makes Christ Lord. You cannot make Christ Lord. This is positional sanctification. At the same time as entering us into union with Christ, a new spiritual species is created. Race, culture, and gender are no longer an issue. This adds up to equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the plan of God for the Church. In addition, we are royal family of God and have the eternal life of Christ. We have a double portion of eternal life. We are also the sons of God. We are joint-heirs with Christ. We share His election and His destiny. Acts 1:5; 1Corinthians 12:13; Gal 3:26-28; Ephesians 4:4-5. The baptism of the Spirit is not an experience, not an emotion.

(3) Gate three is enforced and genuine humility, objectivity, and teachability. God makes war against the arrogant believer but He gives grace to the humble believer.

(4) Gate four is momentum from perception, inculcation, and metabolization of Bible doctrine circulating in the seven compartments of the right lobe of the soul.

C. The ministry of God the Holy Spirit to the Church Age believer is the same ministry that He had to our Lord Jesus Christ during the First Advent.

a. Isaiah 11:2, "And the Spirit [God the Holy Spirit] of the Lord [God the Father] will rest on Him [Jesus Christ], The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and power, The Spirit of knowledge and occupation with the Lord [God the Father]."

b. Isaiah 42:1, "Behold, My servant, whom I sustain; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I will put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations." The fulfillment of this prophecy is declared in John 3:34, "For He [God the Holy Spirit] whom God [the Father] has sent speaks the doctrines from God; for He does not give the Spirit by measure." Matthew 12:28, "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God [and I do], then the kingdom of God has come to you."

2. At the moment of salvation through faith in Christ we have four principles involved in our relationship to the Holy Spirit.

b. Every believer is simultaneously filled with the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation and loses that filling the first time he sins.

c. However, the believer recovers the fellowship of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, through the rebound technique.

a. John 1:14, "The Word became flesh and He tabernacled among us and we beheld His glory, as of the uniquely born One from the Father, full of grace [grace orientation] and truth [metabolized doctrine]."

b. Hebrews 9:14, "How much more then shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" The one offering that was greater than all the Levitical offerings was the offering of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. Our Lord offered Himself and remained filled with the Spirit while bearing the judgment for our sins. The filling of the Spirit gave Him the power not to resent any sin that was imputed to Him for judgment.

1. The deity of the Holy Spirit is established in Trinity passages which reveal the coequality of the Spirit with God the Father and God the Son, 2Corinthians 13:14.

2. In the Old Testament, God the Holy Spirit is called Jehovah, Isaiah 6:8-9 cf Acts 28:25; Jeremiah 31:31-34 cf Hebrews 10:15.

3. Certain divine attributes are ascribed to the Holy Spirit which emphasize His deity.

a. Ephesians 5:18, "Stop being intoxicated with wine by which is dissipation [a lifestyle of self-absorption to try and solve the problems of life], but keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit."

(b) The passive voice indicates that the Church Age believer is acted upon by God the Holy Spirit inside the operational type divine dynasphere.

(3) The Greek preposition EN plus the instrumental of agency can be translated "keep on being controlled by means of the Spirit."

(2) The Holy Spirit provides spiritual freedom from the control of the sin nature when we are filled with the Spirit.

c. Ephesians 3:16, "that He may give you, on the basis of the riches of His glory [your portfolio of invisible assets and the unique assets of the Church Age], to become strong by means of power through His Spirit in your inner being." This is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit metabolizing doctrine in your inner being, circulating that doctrine in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness, and giving you the ability to make right decisions from a position of strength. We acquire strength through the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit inside the divine dynasphere. This is what our Lord prophesied for the Church Age in John 14:26, 16:12-14. This was Paul's great teaching in 1Corinthians 2:9-16.

e. Gal 5:1, 13-18, 22-25 is a dissertation on the importance of the filling of the Spirit as far as the execution of the spiritual life.

(1) Gal 5:1, "It is for [spiritual] freedom that Christ has set us free; therefore keep standing fast and do not become entangled again in the yoke of slavery [carnality]."

a. Ephesians 4:30, "Stop grieving the Holy Spirit, the God by whom you have been sealed for the day of redemption." This is the retroactive progressive present active imperative of the Greek verb LUREO. Grieving the Spirit is carnality or life in cosmic one. This is a command to stop sinning and persisting in cosmic one without rebound. This command emphasizes the fact that spirituality and carnality are mutually exclusive. They are absolutes, 1John 1:6-7; 1John 2:10-11.

b. The command to not live in cosmic two is found in 1Thessalonians 5:19, "Do not quench the Spirit."

3. The positive and negative commands emphasize imitation as the issue in the spiritual life. We either imitate God or people, Ephesians 5:1.

b. Carnal believers imitate unbelievers, 1Corinthians 3:3; Gal 5:19-21; 1John 1:6.

G. Since spirituality is the modus operandi of the royal priesthood, it is not subject to the Mosaic Law, Romans 8:2-4.

1. Romans 10:4, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." The Law demands perfect righteousness; believing in Christ provides for us this requirement of the Mosaic Law.