MAX KLEIN BIBLE MINISTRIES
The Seven Baptisms
Written by: Max Klein
Baptism means identification or association:
Introduction:
1. This meaning began in Homer's time. Homer wrote of the one-eyed giant, Cyclops who had trapped Ulysses and his men in a cave and was eating them one at a time. The ingenious Ulysses devised a plan. He had his men sharpen a large log and together they rammed this log into the eye of the one-eyed Cyclops rendering him blind. They identified (baptized) the sharpened log with Cyclops’ eye which changed Cyclops from a seeing giant to a blind giant. Having blinded the Cyclops, they were able to maneuver their way out of the cave. Another example by Homer: Homer's Odyssey, book 9, used baptism for hot metal identified (baptized) with water when a smith dipped a piece of hot iron into water. This is how a blacksmith would temper swords in the ancient world. After this identification, the sword was made stronger and so less likely to bend.
2. Xenophon said that the Spartan military recruits after finishing infantry training would identify (baptize) their spears with pig’s blood. They would run by a barrel of pig’s blood and thrust their spears into this blood. This ritual, identified their spears with killing and the soldier’s readiness for combat with the enemy.
3. Euripides used the word for a ship identified with the bottom of the sea when it sank. Before sinking, the ship was valuable; after sinking it had no value at all.
4. So "baptize" in the classical Greek meant to identify one thing with another so that the characteristics of the original thing were altered. Therefore, the interpretation of the word "baptism" is identification with something that brings about a change.
5. There are a number of cognates related to this Greek word such as bapto, baptizo, baptisma, baptismos, baptistes, and embapto. A few examples follow:
6. John 13:26, “Jesus then answered, ‘That is the one for whom, I shall dip [the future of the Greek word bapto] the morsel and give it to him. So, when he had dipped [the aorist participle of bapto; the sop now takes on a new meaning that of honor] the sop [the morsel], He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.”
To give someone a sop [a special bit of food usually a piece of bread or meat with a tasty sauce] was the highest honor of a banquet. At a banquet a special piece of bread or meat was prepared along with a special sauce for the guest of honor who would then honor someone by giving it to that person. Jesus as the guest of honor took this sop and dipped it into a special sauce and gave it to Judas. In this way, the Lord Jesus Christ honored Judas as a member of the family of God, and for his ministry as an apostle to the Lost Sheep of Israel. This honor should have given Judas second thoughts regarding his plan to betray Jesus to the Sanhedrin.
7. Matthew 3:7, “but when he [John the Baptizer] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism [identification: the Greek word baptisma], he said to them, “You brood of vipers [poisonous snakes], who warned you to flee from the wrath to come [Baptism of Fire: identification with the fire of Torments and then the Lake of Fire]?”
8. Hebrews 6:1-2, “Therefore, leaving behind the elementary teaching about Christ, let us advance to maturity, not laying again the foundation [of the basics such as]: a change of thinking about dead works [just as an unbeliever must have a change of mind about Christ to obtain salvation, so the believer must have a change of mind about legalism (dead works) in order to obtain the spiritual life], and of faith toward God [Faith-Rest Drill], (2) doctrine of baptisms [the Greek word baptismos; a reference to the seven types of baptism as found in Scripture] as well as the laying on of hands [ritual rebound in the age of Israel], and of resurrection from the dead, and of eternal judgment [the Great White Throne Judgment].
9. Matthew 3:1, “In those days John the Baptizer [the Greek word baptistes; when John baptized someone into the Jordan River, the converts were identified with the plan of God and his kingdom.] came proclaiming [as a herald] in the desert of Judea.”
There are two categories of identification in Scripture namely an actual identification or a real baptism and a representative identification or a ritual baptism which uses water.
The four real or actual identifications with something that has significance.
1. The Baptism of Moses: 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 presents the baptism of Moses, "For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; (2) and all were baptized [the Greek word baptizo] into Moses in the cloud [the Lord] and in the sea." This was a real identification in which Moses was identified with the Lord and the open path through the Red Sea and the Jews were identified with Moses. By the way, none of the Jews got wet, only Egyptian unbelievers who were immersed in the water as a means of death.
2. The Baptism of the Cross is found in Matthew 20:22, “But Jesus answered [Salome by addressing her sons] and said, “You [plural: a reference to James and John] do not know what you [James and John] ask. Are you [James and John] able to drink of the cup [bear the punishment of all the sins of the world] that I am about to drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism [the sins of the world identified with Christ followed by the Father judging them] that I am baptized with [identified with]?” They [James and John] said to Him, “We are able. [the dumbest statement that James and John ever made]” [I selected the longer text as did Jerome.]
3. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Retroactive Positional Truth and Current Positional Truth) occurs at salvation for Church Age believers only.
Colossians 2:12. Having been buried [aorist participle] with Him [Jesus Christ] by means of the baptism [God the Holy Spirit identified us with the burial of Jesus Christ as part of our salvation] by means of which [Baptism] you have been raised up [main verb] with Him [in union with Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father] through faith [at the point of salvation] in the operational power from the source of God who has raised Him [the humanity of Christ was given a resurrection body] out from the dead [physical death].
Romans 6:3-9:
Romans 6:3: Or do you not know that all of us who [a correlative] have been baptized into [identified with] Christ Jesus [Current Positional Sanctification: we are in union with Christ in his life in heaven], have been baptized into His death [Retroactive Positional Truth and so identified with his substitutionary spiritual death on the cross]?
Positionally, (in union with Christ) we share His righteousness, heirship, priesthood, destiny, election, eternal life, royalty, sonship etc. All these making us a new spiritual species in Christ Jesus. The plural correlative hosoi (ὅσοι) means that if we were identified with Christ in heaven and we were, then also we have been identified with Christ in his substitutionary spiritual death in which he removed the power of sin nature. Thus, the sin nature should not have power over our lives.
A few more points will be noted:
1. Note that the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation enters the believer into union with Christ at the right hand of God the Father which union is called current positional truth.
2. This verse also mentions identification with Christ in His spiritual death on the cross which identification theologians call retroactive positional truth. Retroactive positional truth also includes identification with Christ in His physical death and burial as well.
3. Identification with Christ in His death, then, has a two-fold connotation namely all personal sins were judged at the cross and since that is the case, God the Father is free to provide in grace, the Recovery Procedure. The second connotation is that good and evil were rejected by Jesus on the cross since good and evil are a part of Satan’s policy and plan. On the cross, Jesus relied on the proto-type spiritual life which operated under the two power options namely God’s power system.
4. So, the old sin nature’s ruling power over the Christian has been broken since all sins were judged on the cross and the Recovery Procedure has been provided. So, Retroactive Positional Truth has destroyed the sovereignty of the old sin nature over the life of the Christian.
5. Also, since Jesus rejected the good and evil policy of Satan so should the believer reject Satan’s policy of good and evil as the believer applies Retroactive Positional Truth.
Romans 6:4: Therefore, we have been buried together with Him through the identification [Baptism of the Spirit] into His death [physical], in order that just as Christ has been raised up from the dead [on Resurrection Sunday], through the glory of the Father [through the Father’s power], [So also we, the dead in Christ, will be raised from the dead by the power of the Father, and those alive at the Rapture, by the power of the Holy Spirit.] in this manner we also might walk in newness of life [Experiential sanctification should reflect our future ultimate sanctification.].
Christ had to die physically “and Jesus having shouted clearly with a loud voice said, Father, into your hands I deposit my [human] spirit, and having said this, he exhaled” (Luke 23:46). This last exhale caused His soul and spirit to depart from his mortal body resulting in physical death. Just as Christ had to die physically in order to obtain his resurrection body, so we must depart from our body of corruption, or mortality in order to receive our eternal body called our resurrection body.
The Newness of Life:
1. The newness of life provided through the baptism of the Spirit includes positional freedom from producing good and evil. Not only are we free from the tyranny of good and evil but we are also free from having to produce good and evil.
2. The believer has no obligation to improve the devil’s world through social action, socialism, welfare state, communism, environmentalism, or any social gospel, social action, getting involved, etc.
3. The human race is protected from Satan’s policy of good and evil through the laws of divine establishment which promote freedom instead of improvement at the cost of freedom.
4. In addition to the Laws of Divine Establishment the believer is insulated from good and evil positionally through the baptism of the Spirit.
5. Divorced from the Old Sin Nature positionally and its useless activity of human good and the function of evil, the life of the believer can be devoted to glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ through maximum knowledge and application of Bible doctrine.
Romans 6:5: For if we have become united with Him [Christ, the new husband] in the likeness of His death [the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross], and we have, and not only this, but also, we shall be [united in the likeness] of His resurrection [Current Positional Truth: in union with the resurrected Christ].
Romans 6:6: Be knowing this [through Retroactive Positional Truth], that our old man [our former husband, the sin nature dates back to the Garden] has been crucified together [with Him], in order that the [human] body, with reference to its sin nature, [the sin nature located in the body] might be rendered powerless [when we use Recovery Procedure and the two power options], that we should no longer be slaves to the sin nature.
“Our old man has been crucified with Him” meaning that the power of the sin nature has been broken on the cross. Since the power of the sin nature was broken by the work of the cross, we as believers have no excuse for not executing the spiritual life. We will not be able to say to Christ at our evaluation that our sin nature was too powerful for us to execute the spiritual life.
A few points for further clarification:
1. Retroactive positional truth is that phase of the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation which identifies the believer with Christ in His spiritual death, physical death and his burial.
2. In the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross all the personal sins in human history were imputed to Christ, but at the same time the other two trends of the old sin nature were not imputed for judgment.
3. Good and evil is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world and the function of the old sin nature as the sovereign of human life. In fact, the sin nature functions as the agent of Satan.
4. Good and evil were not imputed for judgment on the cross. Hence, in the spiritual death of Christ on the cross they were rejected to remain an issue in the angelic conflict, rejected to be perpetuated in human history as an issue every believer must face, and either overcome through the intake of doctrine or be entrapped by ignorance of doctrine and therefore lose out in glorifying God in time.
5. We are identified with Christ in His spiritual death, which means that we must understand that our sins have been judged and that good and evil has been rejected.
6. It all adds up to the fact that the sovereignty of the old sin nature over human life has been made powerless through retroactive positional truth.
7. The imputation of all personal sins of the human race to Christ on the cross means that the believer through the rebound technique is instantly forgiven sins, cleansed from all wrong doing which includes Satanic good and evil, restored to fellowship and filled with the Spirit.
Romans 6:7: For we who have died [the Christian is identified with the substitutionary spiritual death of Christ: theologically called Retroactive Positional Truth] have been acquitted [positional deliverance] from [the power of] the sin nature.
A few points for further clarification:
1. A dead person is discharged from the obligations of his former sphere of life. This is why the word “death” is used in this context. It is not a literal, physical death we are discussing but identification with Christ in His death.
2. As unbelievers we were under the authority of Satan as the ruler of this world, and under the authority of the old sin nature as the sovereign of human life.
3. Both the power of Satan and the old sin nature have been abrogated through the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation.
4. This passage, then, emphasizes the annulling of the power and the authority of the old sin nature as the sovereign of human life.
5. Positionally, the power of the sin nature has been broken. Experientially, the old sin nature controls to the extent that we fail to understand and utilize the provision and support of logistical grace.
Romans 6:8: Now if we have died with Christ, and we have [retroactive positional truth], we also believe that we shall live in association with Him [the instrumental of association; a reference to Current Positional Truth].
In this verse, the 1st Class conditional sentence shows the relationship between Retroactive Positional Truth with Current Positional Truth. The protasis, the ‘if’ clause states the reality of Retroactive Positional Truth and the apodosis, the concluding clause states the doctrinal inference and the reality of Current Positional Truth. While Retroactive Positional Truth presents positional rejection and separation from good and evil as the policy of Satan and the function of the old sin nature, Current Positional Truth relates the believer to the function of the royal family of God. In other words, they have separate functions.
Romans 6:9: Knowing that because Christ has been raised from the dead [He received a resurrection body], no longer can He die; [physical] death is no longer a master over Him.
Analysis:
1. Retroactive positional truth destroys the sovereign authority of the old sin nature over human life. Current positional truth, on the other hand, destroys the limited authority of physical death in human life.
2. Instead of being ruled by the old sin nature located in the cells of the human body and influencing our souls toward sin, good and evil, we now have a new sovereign, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are identified with Him in His deaths, in His burial, resurrection, ascension and session.
3. Before salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit our lives were under the absolute rule of Satan who is the ruler of this world and under the rule of the old sin nature which is the ruler of life, and under the limited rule of physical death. All of that, of course, has been changed since salvation.
4. Now both retroactive and current positional truth have abrogated the authority and power of these former rulers. The power of Satan over our lives has been broken through identification with the rejection of good and evil namely Satan’s policy and plan and through our position in union with Christ. The power of the old sin nature is broken through retroactive positional truth and the power of physical death is broken through current positional truth.
5. Therefore, having studied these things by principle and by implication we are now ready for application, verses 12 & 13 specifically.
6. Having been positionally liberated from the sovereignty of the old sin nature as an absolute ruler, and the authority of physical death, we must recognise and apply doctrine for the experiential victory commanded in verses 11-13.
Galatians 3:25-28, “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under the authority of [have need of] a school bus. (26) For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. (27) For all of you who were baptized into Christ [identified with Christ through union with Him] have clothed yourselves with Christ. (28) There is neither Jew nor Greek [no racial distinction], there is neither slave nor free man [no social or economic distinction], there is neither male nor female [no gender distinction]; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [All Christians have the same privileges and opportunities to execute the spiritual life.]”
Current Positional Truth, Elaborated:
In the Church Age, Current Positional Truth establishes our relationship with Christ as opposed to religion. It refers to the Church Age believer in union with Christ and is the key to understanding the Church Age and how the royal family came into being. Therefore, it is the basis for distinguishing between Christianity and religion. Christianity is a relationship with God without merit whereas religion is a system of works to gain the approbation of God. Never shall the twain meet!
The mechanics of Current Positional Truth is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, whereby the Spirit enters us into union with Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:13, “For also by agency of the one Spirit we are all baptized [identification resulting in becoming a new spiritual species] into one body [in union with Christ], whether Jews or Greeks [racial distinctions are removed], whether slave or free [class and economic distinctions are removed], even all were made to drink [the aorist passive, the voice of grace] the one Spirit [The Holy Spirit did not ask us whether we wanted to be put into union with Christ or not.].” Ephesians 4:5, “One Lord [becomes our Lord positionally at Salvation]), one faith [faith alone in Christ alone; Acts 16:31], one baptism [Baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place at salvation].”
Current Positional truth guarantees that there will be no judgment for believers in eternity, Romans 8:1, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Thus, the condemnation which occurred at the first birth was removed at the 2nd birth. As a result of being born with the sin nature and the imputation of Adam’s Original Sin, we were condemned to the Lake of Fire for all eternity, but now that has been removed. Romans 5:12, “For this reason just as through one man [Adam] the sin [nature] entered into the world [procreation], and so spiritual death through the sin [the imputation of Adam’s Original Sin to the sin nature], and so spiritual death spread to all mankind, because all sinned when Adam sinned [since we were all genetically in Adam when he sinned, we will receive Adam’s Original Sin].” However, at our spiritual birth, the 2nd birth, our pre-salvation sins were all forgiven including Adam’s Original Sin. After which, the Spirit entered us into union with Christ where there is now no condemnation (Romans 8:1).
Current Positional truth qualifies the believer to live with God forever. To live with God forever, the believer must have eternal life and God’s perfect righteousness, 1 John 5:11-12, “And this is the deposition [testimony] that the God [the Father] has given to us, eternal life, and this life is in his son [Since we are in union with Christ, we share this life.]. (12) and he who has the son [a relationship with the Son] has the life [eternal life] and the one who does not have the son of God [relationship with the Son] does not have the life [eternal life].” 2 Corinthians 5:21, “And He [the Father] made Him who knew no sin [perfection] to be a sin offering [imputation of sins on the cross] as a substitute for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him [current positional truth].” To live with God forever means you must have His life, and you must be as righteous as He is.
Positional truth guarantees the believer’s eternal security, Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death [nothing in death] nor life [nothing in life] nor angels nor principalities [ruling angels] nor powers [human organizations] nor things present nor things to come (39) nor height [nothing in heaven] nor depth [nothing in Hades] nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Eternal life in Christ is for all eternity!
Positional truth belongs to all categories of believers whether they be apostate, mature, immature, spiritually adult, or carnal. Since Current Positional Truth occurs at the point of salvation before experience in the Christian life begins, it doesn’t depend on that experience. 1 Corinthians 1:2, “to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus [at salvation], called saints together with all who call upon the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, their [Lord] and ours.” So, even though you may be carnal or in reversionism, you still have positional truth. Being in union with Christ has nothing to do with what you do [experiential righteousness], or don’t do [failure to execute God’s plan]. Current Positional sanctification is completely the work of God the Holy Spirit and so is not based upon our volition, but on the sovereign decision of God. We make the decision to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but we don’t make the decision to enter into union with Christ “all were made to drink the one Spirit” as per 1 Corinthians 12:13. God the Holy Spirit graciously did that for us and so it cannot be undone.
Current Positional truth creates a new spiritual species in Christ as per 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ and he is, he is a new spiritual species. The old things have lost their power; behold, new things have come to pass.” You become a new spiritual species at salvation by being put into union with Christ. It is what God does for you, and therefore it is grace. It is not what you do after salvation, such as the self-righteous works of legalism. The “old things” have to do with spiritual death and those things related to that death; the “new things” refer to things you receive at salvation such as the 40 assets and the unique spiritual life.
Positional truth should motivate the production of divine good and a pattern of life compatible with royalty as per Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his creation, having been created in Christ Jesus [a new spiritual species with many assets] for the purpose of divine good production [via experiential sanctification] which the God [the Father] has prepared in advance [in eternity past, God the Father provided election and predestination as part of our Portfolio of Invisible Assets], that we in the sphere of them [election and predestination] may pattern our lives.”
Even though a Christian may die the Sin on to Death, he will not lose his position in union with Christ (1 John 5:18-20), and so cannot lose his salvation. In order for a believer to lose his position in Christ, he would have to sin in that status, but since the believer cannot sin in union with Christ, he cannot lose his position in Christ and so cannot lose his salvation. Thus, it is comforting and reassuring to a believer to know that even though a loved one may have died the ‘sin on to death’, he has not lost his salvation.
Because we are in union with Christ, we share His:
1. Eternal life, 1 John 5:11, “And this is the deposition [testimony] that the God [the Father] has given to us, eternal life [At salvation, God the Father imputes this life to the human spirit], and this life is in his son [The Christian also shares the life of Christ through union with Him]. (12) and he who has the son [a relationship with the Son] has the life [eternal life] and the one who does not have the son of God [relationship with the Son] does not have the life [eternal life].”
John 14:6, “Jesus said to him [Thomas], ‘I am the way, the truth and the life [eternal life]; no person [in human history] comes face to face with the Father [having an eternal relationship with the Father] except through Me.’”
2. Perfect righteousness, 2 Corinthians 5:21, “And he (God the Father) made him [Jesus] who knew no sin (perfection) to be a sin offering as a substitute for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him [positional truth]. Sharing the righteousness of Christ, we become the objects of God the Father’s love as per Romans 8:39.
3. Election, Ephesians 1:4, “just as He [the Father] has elected us for Himself in Him [Jesus Christ] before the creation of the world [in eternity past], that we may be set apart [experiential sanctification] and blameless [ultimate sanctification] in the presence of Him [Father].”
4. Destiny, Ephesians 1:5, “By means of love, He has predestined us for the purpose of adoption as adult sons to Himself through Christ Jesus our Lord according to the grace purpose of His will.”
5. Sonship, Galatians 3:26, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
6. Heirship, Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit Himself testifies together [bears witness] with our [human] spirit, that we are the children of God. (17) Now, if we are children and we are, also heirs, on the one hand heirs of God [the Father], and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed [if it is true that], we suffer with Him [pass all three stages of undeserved suffering], that also we might be glorified with Christ.”
7. Sanctification, 1 Corinthians 1:2, “to the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints together with all who call upon the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, their [Lord] and ours.”
8. Priesthood, Hebrews 7:12-19, “For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change in the Law also. (13) For the One [the Lord Jesus Christ] concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe [the tribe of Judah] from which no one has officiated at the altar. (14) For it is evident that our Lord has descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests, (15) and this is clearer still, if another priest arises similar to Melchizedek, and there has, (16) who has become a priest not on the basis of physical requirement [a reference to the Levitical Priesthood] but on the basis of indestructible life [the Lord’s priesthood is forever]. (17) For this reason, it is witnessed, ‘You are a priest forever similar to the order of Melchizedek.’” [We are in union with Christ. Therefore, we are royalty and priests forever. We represent ourselves before God as royal priests.] (18) For, on the one hand, there is a rescinding of the former commandment [the Mosaic Law that authorized the Levitical priesthood] because of its weakness and uselessness (19) (for the Law brought nothing to completion), but on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope [the second door of hope for the Church Age believer—a personal sense of destiny—by which we enter the adult spiritual life] through which we draw near to God.”
Hebrews 7:26-28, “For it is fitting that we should have such a high priest, impeccable integrity, the One who cannot do evil, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; (27) Who does not need daily, like those Levitical priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for their own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He [Jesus] offered up Himself. (28) For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of His [God the Father’s] oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, who has become perfect forever [Jesus Christ is a perfect high priest].”
9. Royalty, 1 Peter 2:9, “ But you and only you are an elect [elect by God the Father] race [as a new spiritual species], a royal priesthood [since Jesus is a king-priest], a holy nation [God’s entity: a nation of priests: every Christian is a priest], a people for God’s own possession [a protected people], so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him [Christ] who has called [in eternity past] you out of darkness [spiritual death and the Cosmic Systems] into His amazing light [his plan];”
10. New Spiritual Species, 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ and he is, he is a new spiritual species. The old things have lost their power [Old Covenant]; behold, new things have come to pass [This would include the New Covenant to the Church.].”
Current Positional Truth changes our relationship with Angels.
1. Through current positional truth the believer is higher than angels positionally.
2. Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father, and so superior to all angels. By virtue of being in union with Christ, every believer is now positionally superior to angels.
3. Positional truth has fulfilled the believer’s triumph with Christ in the angelic conflict. We are victorious with Him already.
4. Furthermore, positional truth demands compatibility with experiential righteousness. Therefore, the believer’s walk on this earth must be compatible with positional truth since we have perfect security in Christ, we have the freedom to choose for Jesus Christ, to love Jesus Christ, to respond to His love, and to fulfill our purpose on this earth.
What positional truth is not?
1. It is not an experience, emotions or ecstasies.
2. It is not progressive; it cannot be improved in time or eternity.
3. It is not related to human merit or ability.
4. It cannot be changed by God, man or angels. It is eternal in nature.
5. It is not obtained gradually as you grow in grace, but in toto at salvation.
6. It is not known apart from the metabolization of doctrine.
7. From understanding the doctrine of positional truth, we progress in our spiritual life, but we cannot improve it since it is perfect at salvation.
8. We are not in Christ because of what we do (execution of the spiritual life) or fail to do (fail to execute the spiritual life), but because of what God has done.
A few points of explanation:
1. The conclusion from positional truth, whether retroactive or current, is that the Christian must apply these doctrines to his spiritual life.
2. In Romans 7:1-4 where we have an illustration of a woman whose first husband has died freeing her to marry another. This is what actually happens to us as believers at salvation. The old sin nature is the husband up to the point of salvation, but at the moment we believe in Jesus Christ positionally the sin nature is dead, as it were, the first husband has died and we have a new husband through union with Christ. Retroactive Positional Truth removes our first husband, the sin nature whereas Current Positional Truth enters us into union with Christ, our new husband.
3. The old sin nature-husband is still around, still seeking to regain his control over his former wife, the believer. But union with the second husband, the Lord Jesus Christ, has broken the first husband’s authority over the former wife.
4. The Baptism of Fire:
Matthew 3:11, “On the one hand I [John the Baptizer] baptize you [believers] by means of water because of a change of thinking [about Christ], but the one coming after me is mightier than I whose sandals I am not worthy to lace [loosen, remove]. He himself will baptize by means of the Holy Spirit [a reference to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Church Age] and by means of fire [a reference to the Baptism of Fire at the 2nd Advent].”
Baptism of Fire: The baptism of fire (identification with fire) is defined as the judgment of unbelievers both Jew and gentile at the Second Advent. They will be removed from the earth and placed in fire for 1000 years until the Last Judgment, Luke 3:16-17; Mathew 25:31, 33. The analogy to the Baptism of Fire is found in Matthew 24:36-41. The one left in the field is the mature believer; the one taken is the unbeliever.
Parables of the Baptism of Fire:
1. The wheat and the tares (the unbelievers), Matthew 13:24-30, 36-40.
2. The good and bad fish (unbelievers), Matthew 13:47-50.
3. The ten virgins: five wise, five foolish (the unbelievers), Matthew 25:1-13.
4. The sheep and the goats (the unbelievers), Mathew 25:31-46.
5. The talent test, Matthew 25:14-30. The one talent man represents the unbeliever.
If Jesus Christ had not been rejected by the Jewish people, then the age of Israel would have continued until its completion (the Tribulation completes the age of Israel). (However, they did reject Jesus Christ as Savior and Messiah and so the client nation was destroyed, and the Church age was intercalated that is inserted before the age of Israel was complete.) After the completion of the age of Israel at the end of the Tribulation, comes the wrath of God namely the Baptism of Fire when the Lord removes both Jewish and gentile unbelievers from the earth and identifies them with fire forever. After which, the Millennial reign begins.
The Three Ritual Baptisms. None are extant at the present time. They are representative identifications in which water is used as a training aid to represent some principle of doctrine.
1. The Baptism of John is found in Matthew 3:2-6, “Saying, ‘Change your thinking [regarding Christ] for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ [The future king was already on the earth] (3) For this is what was communicated through Isaiah, the prophet saying, ‘The voice of one [John the Baptizer] proclaiming loudly in the desert [of Judea]. Prepare [the aorist tense is a one time-decision] the way of the Lord [an idiomatic expression for salvation]. Keep on making upright [the use of the Recovery Procedure followed by the development of experiential righteousness] His paths!’ (Isaiah 40:3) (4) Now, John himself kept on having a garment of camel’s hair [very uncomfortable] and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. (5) Then [after John went where God wanted him to be] Jerusalem kept on going out to him [face to face] and all Judea and all the districts around the Jordan. (6) and they were being baptized [identified with the kingdom] by him [under John’s authority] in the Jordan River [where Israel crossed when they entered the land], and they kept on confessing their sins [post-salvation confession of sins].”
MAX KLEIN BIBLE MINISTRIES
Colossians: Chapter One
A verse-by-verse commentary by Max Klein
Let us bow our heads; If we need to use the Recovery Procedure as found in 1 John 1:9, let us do so at this time that we might be in fellowship. (pause) Father, we thank you for the privilege and opportunity to study your word and for the freedom that you have provided for us here in Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.A.; furthermore, we express our appreciation to God the Holy Spirit who will enlighten us regarding the message this evening. We as priests pray this through the person of our Lord Christ Jesus, our High Priest, Amen.
Isaiah 66:23-24, “From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind [believers in the Eternal State] will come and bow down before me," says the Lord. (24) And they [The Lord apparently will take believers on a tour of the Lake of Fire] will go out and look upon the dead bodies [the spiritually dead unbelievers in the Lake of Fire] of those who rebelled against me [as Satan and the fallen angels rebelled against God so have all unbelievers]; their worm will not die [an idiom for everlasting], nor will their fire be quenched [the eternal Lake of Fire is forever], and they [in the Lake of Fire] will be repugnant to all mankind [To see those in the Lake of Fire will be a repugnant sight.]."
Matthew 27:51-53, “And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom [to show that entrance into heaven, the Holy of Holies was now available to both Old Testament believers and Church Age believers], and the earth shook, and rocks were split [earthquake], (52) and tombs were opened [by the earthquake], and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep [died] were raised-up [raised from Paradise after the resurrection of Jesus Christ as per the next verse]. (53) And coming out of the tombs [Old Testament saints who died and were buried in or around Jerusalem] after His resurrection, they [in their interim bodies] entered into the holy city [Jerusalem] and appeared to many [possibly to announce the resurrection of Christ for the next forty days and then would have joined the other Old Testament believers in the procession to the 3rd heaven at the ascension of Christ].”
Ephesians 4:8, “Therefore, it says [in the O.T.] when He ascended into the third heaven on high, He [the Lord Jesus Christ analogous to a Roman emperor or general celebrating a Triumphal Procession] led a host of captives [to exhibit prisoners in a triumphal procession which would be analogous to Jesus Christ leading the Old Testament believers from Abraham’s bosom to the 3rd Heaven] in triumphal procession from a state of captivity [Paradise or Abraham’s Bosom in Hades] and He [Christ] gave spiritual gifts to men [just as the one celebrating a Triumph in Rome would hand out gifts to his great officers and soldiers, so the Lord initially gave out spiritual gifts to celebrate His triumph].”
2nd Corinthians 3:7, “Now, if the ministry that brought death [the Ten Commandments which shows that we have an old sin nature and spiritually dead] written engraved [in letters] on stone came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory [of the face of Moses came down from Mt. Sinai and reflected Shekinah Glory of the Lord], fading though it was.”
Only one person had a glory and that was a fading glory. As Moses was teaching the Law, the Jews could not steadily look at him. Moses would put a veil over his face as the glory was fading for he didn’t want them to see the fading glory of the Mosaic Law. Today, we have the unfading glory of the Operational Type Spiritual Life.
2nd Corinthians 3:8, “How [going from the lesser to the greater] will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? [increasing glory in the Church Age; the more you grow spiritually, the more is your glory]”
Colossians 1
Paul wrote Colossians during his first Roman imprisonment between 60 and 62 A.D. (his imprisonment mentioned in Ephesians 3:1; 4:1; Philippians 1:7, Colossians 4:18). Recipients of this epistle are located in the Lycus Valley. Though the primary industry in the valley was sheep herding, there were some professional people as well in the city. The peoples in this valley were primarily Phrygians, the ones who had destroyed the Hittite Empire. It is the Greater Phrygia that is referred to in the New Testament. The towns of Antioch in Pisidia, Colossi, Hierapolis, Iconium, and Laodicea were situated in it. In addition to these Phrygians, there were also Greeks and Jews. It was Antiochus the Great who had transplanted 2000 Jewish families from Babylon to this area.
Epaphras the pastor of the Church in Colossi went to Rome to seek help in dealing with the infiltration of Gnosticism. Gnostics (those in the know) who held to Gnosticism had contended that they had superior knowledge based upon a superior intellect and so looked down upon those believers advancing through faith perception and faith application. They referred to these believers as ‘Pistics’ those who function only under faith since they did not have a high I.Q., the viewpoint of the Gnostics. Paul will point-out that Gnosticism is nothing more than human, philosophical nonsense created by those rejecting God’s truth. Furthermore, whereas their entire philosophical system is based on human knowledge (gnosis), Paul will point out that God’s system for the believer is divine thinking which begins with gnosis (divine knowledge understood) and then through the enabling power of the Spirit becomes epignosis usable divine knowledge in the stream of consciousness. So, whereas gnosis is the entirety for the Gnostics; for the Christian it is only the first stage. Furthermore, Paul will point-out that Gnostics learned a philosophical system through rationalism, whereas the advancing Christian acquires divine thinking through faith perception.
Though the Gnostics ridiculed the use of faith, Paul points out the critical role of faith namely that the Christian through faith not only acquires gnosis, academic knowledge of divine truth in the staging area of his soul, but could also have that converted into a higher and superior form of thought namely epignosis, metabolized divine thinking in the stream of consciousnesses. Finally, using faith application via the power of the Holy Spirit to make application to life and circumstances.
A short brief on Gnosticism: Gnosticism derives its name from the Greek word ‘gnosis.’ It was one of the greatest attacks on Bible doctrine in the 1st century based on intellectual snobbery. Gnosticism combined Greek philosophy, legalistic Judaism and oriental dualism to form an apostate syncretism covered with a veneer of Christian vocabulary. It was an attempt to reconcile philosophy with divine truth. Furthermore, it had an experiential approach which appealed to both the ascetic and the lascivious types. Therefore, Gnosticism was quite successful in the early church and became Satan’s greatest counter attack against Christianity.
Cursing is turned to blessing. Gnosticism forced Paul to develop some technical vocabulary namely gnosis and epignosis to describe the mechanics of the Christian way of life. So, cursing namely this attack upon the spiritual life was turned into blessing namely Paul’s development of these technical words which helps to better understand the mechanics of the spiritual life.
Outline of Chapter 1:
1-2: Salutation.
3-8: Thanksgiving for the plan of God.
9-11: The challenge of metabolized knowledge (epignosis).
12-22: Orientation to the plan of God in contrast to Gnosticism.
23-29: Who communicates the plan of God or the role of the pastor in the Church Age.
Colossians 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will [purpose and design] of God and Timothy.
Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ διὰ θελήµατος θεοῦ καὶ Τιµόθεος ὁ ἀδελφός
Profile of Timothy:
1. He was the son of an unbelieving Greek father and a Jewess. Acts 16:1-3, “Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra [on his 2nd Missionary Journey]. And a disciple [already a believer] was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, (2) and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. (3) Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him [so as not to hinder Jewish evangelism] because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek [and so knew that Timothy though a Jew was probably not circumcised]."
2. He possessed a spiritual heritage from his understanding of the Old Testament. 2 Timothy 3:15, “And that you [as a believer] have known from childhood the sacred Scripture [Old Testament], which is able to teach you with reference to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” [It appears that Timothy became a believer through his understanding of the Old Testament Scriptures]
3. He was ordained to the ministry upon recognizing his spiritual gift. 1 Timothy 4:14, “Stop neglecting the spiritual gift within you [given at salvation by the Holy Spirit], which was bestowed on you for the sake of the prophetic messages [doctrine taught to him by Paul which information had not been written down; This is also brought out in 1 Timothy 1:18 where Paul says, “I am depositing this order with you, student Timothy on the basis of previous prophecies...”] associated with the laying on of hands [laying on of hands represents the principle of identification with like kind] by the presbytery [a group of pastors recognized his spiritual gift].” 2 Timothy 4:5, “But you, be self-disciplined in all things [subordinate everything in life to study], endure hardship [means to endure opposition from evil], do the work of one who proclaims the good news [like a missionary], fulfill your ministry [as a pastor].”
4. He went to Philippi with Paul, Silas and Luke. Acts 16:3, 11, 12, “Paul wanted this man [Timothy] to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. (11) So, putting out to sea from Troas, we [Luke at this point is with Paul, Silas and Timothy] ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; (12) and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days.”
5. The Pauline team (Paul, Silas, and Timothy; Luke remained in Philippi) after leaving Philippi, passed through Amphipolis, Apollonia and then to Thessalonica where they established a church. Because of the danger there, the brethren sent Paul and Silas by night to Berea where they had a great ministry. Timothy remained in Thessalonica [to teach], but later joined Paul and Silas in Berea [the entire team is now in Berea]. Then, religious Jews from Thessalonica came to Berea and stirred up crowds against the Pauline team, but mainly against Paul. So, the believers sent Paul out of the city and then escorted him to Athens while Silas and Timothy remained behind in Berea as per Acts 17:14, 15. When Paul arrived in Athens, he sent word that his team left in Berea were to join him as soon as possible as per Acts 17:15, 16. After Silas and Timothy arrive in Athens, Timothy delivers a report about the Thessalonians to Paul. From Athens, Timothy is sent back [apparently with Silas] to the Thessalonians possibly with 1 Thessalonians circa 52 A.D. to encourage them through his teaching. Paul having left Athens, goes to Corinth (alone). While in Corinth, Timothy and Silas arrived bringing some funds from the Philippian Church and a report regarding the Thessalonian Church. After hearing the report, Paul wrote 2nd Thessalonians circa 53 A.D. from Corinth.
6. For the next five years of his life, we have no record of Timothy. Then, we hear of Paul sending him [from Ephesus] to Macedonia. Acts 19:22, “And having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he [Paul] himself stayed in Asia [Ephesus] for a while [longer during his 3rd Missionary Journey].
7. Explaining why Timothy was sent to Corinth: Apollos goes to Corinth: Quoting from the New Unger’s Bible Dictionary. “After this he [Apollos] preached in Achaia [southern Greece] and especially at Corinth (Acts 18:27–19:1), having been recommended by the brethren in Ephesus (Acts 18:27). On his arrival at Corinth, he was useful in watering the seed that Paul had sown (1 Cor. 3:6). Many of the Corinthians became so attached to him that a schism was produced in the church, some saying, “I am of Paul”; others, “I am of Apollos” (1 Cor. 3:4–7). That this party feeling was not encouraged by Apollos is evident from the manner in which Paul speaks of him and his unwillingness to return to Corinth (1 Cor. 16:12). Apollos was, doubtless, at this time with Paul in Ephesus.” [Apollos had abandoned the Corinthians for Ephesus, and Paul could not persuade him to return.]
8. Paul in Ephesus: Certain members from the Corinthian church came to Paul in Ephesus to report to him the terrible situation in Corinth and this resulted in the Corinthian epistles. 1 Corinthians 16:17, “I rejoice over the coming of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus because they have supplied what was lacking on your part [they provided a ministry of refreshment and also would have given Paul a report].” As a result of this report, Paul wanted to send Apollos back to Corinth, but Apollos would not return. 1 Corinthians 16:12, “But concerning Apollos our brother, I encouraged him greatly to come to you with the brethren; and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.”
9. Since Apollos was unwilling to return to Corinth, Paul reluctantly sent Timothy. 1 Corinthians 16:10-11a, “Now if Timothy comes, [that is if I am not able to persuade Apollos to return to you] see that he is with you without cause to be afraid [Timothy is easily intimidated], for he is doing the Lord's work, as I also am. (11) So let no one despise him [because he is young and not tough], but conduct him forth in peace, [go with him, accompany him, make things peaceful],” The Corinthians were the toughest group of believers in the early church. Since Timothy was raised by his gentle mother and grandmother, he was not equipped to deal with these rough and tough dock workers etc. The Corinthians tossed Timothy around like a football and punted him through the exit door. So, that ministry for Timothy was a failure.
10. However, Timothy was a great Bible teacher and taught successfully in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea and finally in Ephesus where he eventually remained as their pastor. As Paul was approaching his death, he recognized that Timothy was a great pastor if not the best qualified. It would be Timothy who would build on Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. The last person Paul wrote to was Timothy. Among his last recorded words, Paul expressed his desire to see him [Timothy] again. 2 Timothy 4:9-13, “Make every effort to come to me soon; (10) for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. (11) Only Luke is with me. Pick up John Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. (12) But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. (13) When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.” 2 Timothy 4:21, “Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you [Timothy], also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren.”
Colossians 1:2
To the saints [all Christians are set-apart as new spiritual species in Christ] and faithful brethren [growing believers in contrast to the Gnostic believers] in Christ at Colossi. Grace be unto you and prosperity [tranquility, harmonious relationship with God resulting in receiving one’s Escrow Blessings for time and eternity] from God, our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
τοῖς ἐν Κολοσσαῖς ἁγίοις καὶ πιστοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἐν Χριστῷ· χάρις ὑµῖν καὶ εἰρήνη ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς ἡµῶν.
Regarding the Colossian Church, while Epaphras was the pastor, the believers assembled in the home of Philemon, a personal friend of Paul. Both Philemon and Epaphras were apparently converts of Paul while Paul was in Ephesus during the nearly 3 years of ministry there.
“Grace be unto you” God’s plan is based on grace, not some philosophical system of human works like Gnosticism. Grace means freely given and undeserved. God does all the giving; we undeservedly reap all this giving. For example, in grace God provides for all believers the same spiritual I.Q namely human I.Q. plus the Filling of the Spirit equals spiritual I.Q. Any Christian like the Gnostics who implies or states that he, the one with a high human I.Q. alone is able to learn the deep matters of God is in a state of arrogance and does not understand God’s system of grace. 1 Corinthians 15:10a, Paul the great genius stated, “By the grace of God I [using his spiritual I.Q.] am what I am.” 2 Corinthians 13:14, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ [the greatest act of grace took place on the cross] and the love of God [the Father the author of reciprocal love] and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit [the enabling power of the Spirit enables fellowship].” When we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we became the recipients of the greatest possible endowment of grace, and grace pursues the advancing believer his entire life.
“Prosperity” [tranquility, harmonious relationship with God resulting in receiving one’s Escrow Blessings for time and eternity] This introduces the doctrine of Escrow Blessings.
Escrow Blessings for the Mature Believer: Escrow blessing is a metaphor designed to explain the ultimate blessings available to every Christian in time and eternity. A metaphor is the application of a phrase or a concept to an object or concept it does not literally denote in order to suggest a comparison.
A. The definition of escrow with application to the greater blessings of the spiritual life.
1. An escrow is a written sealed agreement entered into by three parties namely, the grantor [God the Father], the grantee [you], and the depositary [our Lord Jesus Christ as the escrow officer], for the transfer of certain benefits.
2. The escrow [the greater blessing that God the Father has created for the believer who fulfills the conditions of the Escrow] is a written sealed agreement [found in the New Testament Scriptures] and is to be conveyed on the performance of some act by the grantee [namely reaching spiritual maturity and passing Evidence Testing], until which time [one fulfills the conditions] it is delivered-over to the depositary namely the Lord Jesus Christ and held in a depository by him pending the occurrence of the grantee reaching spiritual maturity, at which time, he, the mature believer will receive his Escrow Blessings and upon passing of Evidence Testing, at which time, the believer’s Escrow Blessings will be increased).
3. When the event has taken place or the grantee has performed the specified acts, the depositary delivers to him the agreement and the deposit.
4. The depositary or custodian is allowed no discretion, but must follow strictly the terms of the agreement as it concerns the other two parties.
5. The date of our escrow blessings is eternity past.
6. The conditions of the escrow are fulfilled by us in the execution of the unique spiritual life of the Church Age.
B. Scripture.
1. The sealed agreement of God the Father as the grantor is found in numerous passages in New Testament epistles. Ephesians 1:2-3, “Grace to you for your benefit and prosperity [escrow blessings] from God the Father [the grantor of our escrow blessings] and our Lord Jesus Christ [the depositary for escrow blessings]. Worthy of praise and glorification is the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing (escrow blessings) in heavenly places in Christ.”
2. Ephesians 1:18, “I pray that the eyes of your heart [your stream of consciousness] may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the confidence of His calling, what are the riches of the glory [escrow blessings] of His inheritance to the saints.”
3. Ephesians 3:16, “that He may give you for your advantage [Escrow Blessings] on the basis of the riches of His glory [the source of God the Father’s wealth] that you might become strong [through metabolized doctrine in the soul] with power through His Spirit [a reference to the Filling of the Spirit] in your inner person [in your soul].”
4. Philippians 4:19, “My God will supply [make full, fill up] every need of yours on the basis of His riches [the Ten Problem-Solving Devices, also a reference to Escrow Blessings] in glory by Christ Jesus.”
5. Colossians 1:27, “to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you [the Escrow Officer], the confidence of glory [the Lord will distribute your Escrow Blessings upon your reaching spiritual maturity].”
6. In 1 Corinthians 2:9, escrow blessings are a part of our portfolio of invisible assets, “However, as it stands written, ‘Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard [a reference to empiricism] and no mind has conceived [a reference to rationalism] what God has prepared for those who love Him.’” [a reference to Escrow Blessings given at spiritual maturity]
7. This same principle existed for the Jeshurun believers of the Old Testament [believers who had completed God’s experiential-righteous plan for them], Proverbs 8:18, “With me [the personification of Bible doctrine] are riches and honor [Escrow Blessings for time], enduring wealth and prosperity [Escrow Blessings for eternity].”
8. The escrow blessings deposited by God the Father in eternity past are called inexhaustible since they will last for all eternity. Ephesians 3:8, “the inexhaustible riches in Christ.”
9. Sharing the righteousness of Christ is the target or basis for the transfer of Escrow Blessings in time; glorification in resurrection body is the target or basis for the transfer of our eternal escrow blessings.
10. The Escrow Blessings for eternity are given at the Evaluation Platform of Christ at some point after the Rapture of the Church and before the 2nd Advent. 2 Corinthians 5:10, “We must all appear before the Evaluation Platform of Christ [“ἔµπροσθεν (before) τοῦ βήµατος (the evaluation platform) τοῦ Χριστοῦ”] that each of us may be rewarded for his accomplishments in the body on the basis of what he has done whether good [divine production] or worthless [human good produced out of fellowship]. 1 John 4:17, “By this, [reciprocal] love has been brought to completion with us so that we may have confidence in the Day of Evaluation [“ἐν τῇ ἡµέρᾳ τῆς κρίσεως”] because as He [the humanity of Christ] is [in the prototype spiritual life] so also are we [Church Age believers with this same spiritual life] in this world.” The noun krisis translated as evaluation is a cognate of the verb krino which Thucydides used ‘to decide a contest for a prize’. The Lord Jesus Christ will decide whether or not the Christian will get the prize of Escrow Blessings for eternity).
C. Amplification of the Escrow Analogy.
1. In eternity past, the blessings deposited in escrow were made contingent on the future performance of the obligee (the grantee). In other words, your advance to spiritual maturity in the protocol plan of God is the contingent for the transfer of your blessings out of escrow to you.
2. Spiritual maturity is the point that we leave behind the lesser blessings of logistical grace and move into the sphere of the superior blessings.
3. Therefore, when the grantee, under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine, attains spiritual maturity, he receives the first installment of blessings from the depositary, Jesus Christ which first installment of blessing is increased upon the believer passing Evidence Testing. The second installment is conveyed to him at the Evaluation Platform of Christ.
4. In summary, God the Father is the grantor. He delivered in eternity past to God the Son, the depositary, both temporal and eternal blessings for every believer in compatibility with His sovereign desire in election. This is the Magna Charta of Christianity.
5. These blessings are held by Christ as the depositary, pending the grantee’s fulfillment of the protocol plan of God.
6. The temporal blessings in escrow must not be confused with logistical grace blessings. Ephesians 3:20 describes these greater blessings as “exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or think.” By contrast, logistical grace blessings are sustaining blessings.
7. God’s highest and best is in escrow for you, and He has provided you with equal privilege in the royal family of God and equal opportunity in the protocol plan of God to receive these escrow blessings.
D. Election, Predestination, and Escrow Blessings.
1. The sealed agreement of eternity past is therefore analogous to a modern escrow. The grantor, God the Father, deposited these two categories of blessings in escrow for every believer, pending his advance to spiritual maturity by the use of His equal privilege and equal opportunity.
2. In coordination with these special blessings deposited in our Lord Jesus Christ as the depositary, God the Father elected the believer for these blessings in eternity past.
3. God the Father willed the highest and best for every believer and put that highest and best into escrow before He elected that highest and best. In other words, He showed His good faith by depositing in escrow your highest and best first. Then He elected you, giving you equal privilege and equal opportunity, along with the protocol plan of God as the vehicle of conveyance.
4. Under predestination, God provided the protocol plan of God as the means of conveyance, the means of the grantee performing the required act to receive these blessings.
5. The combination of escrow blessings, election, and predestination in eternity past guarantees the conveyance of those blessings to any Church Age believer who is a winner.
6. Not all grantees are winners. In human history, the sovereignty of God and the free will of man coexist by divine decree. You can use your free will to completely fail to receive these blessings. Therefore, in eternity there will be winners and losers, rich and poor forever. The tragedy of this is that all believers have the equal privilege and opportunity to receive their escrow.
7. The righteousness of God demands escrow blessings from the justice of God to any believer who executes the spiritual life. The righteousness of God demands that every believer have equal opportunity to execute God’s plan and receive escrow blessings. The justice of God guarantees that this will happen.
E. The Spiritually Rich and the Spiritually Poor.
1. The spiritually rich are those winners in the protocol plan of God who receive the transfer of their blessings from their escrow.
2. The spiritually poor are losers in the cosmic system who are still supported by God’s logistical grace even in their failure. Although they had equal privilege and equal opportunity, they will never receive their escrow blessings simply because they were negative through either ignorance or cognizance.
3. The spiritually poor cannot lose their salvation and will receive their resurrection body at the Rapture, but will not receive their escrow blessings at the Evaluation Platform of Christ.
4. Regarding escrow blessings, cosmic believers are double losers and the poorer for it. Their first loss is in time. Though they had equal privilege and opportunity at salvation, they failed to fulfill the protocol plan of God. Hence, their escrow blessings for time remain on deposit forever as a memorial to their failure. They are a double loser since they will not receive their eternal escrow blessings as well.
5. Although the names of Christians who fail to receive their escrow blessings are still recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life, those names will be omitted from the honor’s list in eternity.
6. Logistical grace extends equal opportunity to every believer, beginning on the day of his salvation, to receive his escrow blessings. Every believer is kept alive by logistical grace long enough so that he could become a winner.
7. Therefore, every loser is a loser by his own decisions. Though many believers do not take responsibility for their decisions in time, every believer will accept his lower status in eternity future and be happy.
8. Time while on this earth, provides the opportunity for the grantee to attain God’s highest and best under election.
G. Relation Back Doctrine, a technical phrase used in Escrow.
1. This legal doctrine states that the escrow is irrevocable from the date of deposit into escrow.
2. That which God the Father deposits into escrow with our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be withheld from us once we have fulfilled the obligations of reaching spiritual maturity.
3. We must fulfill the obligations of the escrow document prior to the distribution of our escrow blessings. In other words, one cannot pray for these unusual blessings!
4. The date of deposit (eternity past) is the date of irrevocability. The date of conveyance is the date of the fulfillment of the conditions namely the day you reach spiritual maturity.
5. If the conditions are not fulfilled in time, then the escrow blessings remain in escrow forever as a memorial to lost equal opportunity. The loser believer can see his escrow blessings on deposit in heaven forever as a memorial to equal opportunity. The loser believer does not lose his salvation, but does lose his escrow blessings for time and eternity. He will live forever in heaven with only lesser blessings.
H. Concluding Principles.
1. The fulfillment of the protocol plan of God in time leads to a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom.
2. This dramatizes the importance of the spiritual life under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and the consistent perception of doctrine and its spiritual metabolism.
3. Nothing dramatizes the protocol plan of God more than the spiritual blessings held in the eternal escrow.
4. What brings your blessings out of escrow?
a. Stay in the protocol plan of God; when you do get out through sin, quickly use the Recovery Procedure to resume your spiritual advance.
b. Remain under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
c. Metabolize the doctrine you learn and apply it.
5. How will you know when you’re in spiritual maturity? You will recognize your spiritual blessings!
6. Your escrow blessings are actually a conveyance from the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, the depositary, to the perfect righteousness which you possess by virtue of your union with Him. So “in Christ” has added significance as both positional truth and escrow-truth. As He Himself said, “I am the truth...”
7. The challenge is found in Hebrews 10:35-36, “Therefore, do not throw away as worthless your confidence, which keeps on having great distribution of blessing. For you keep on having need of perseverance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive the deposit [of Escrow Blessings] which was promised.” The greater blessings in life are not a matter of prayer, but the execution of the unique spiritual life of the Church Age.
I. The Spiritually Wealthy Christian.
The believer who attains spiritual maturity is classified as a winner, one who glorifies God through the execution of the protocol plan of God, and as an invisible hero who has maximum impact on human history when he reaches spiritual maturity and maximum impact upon angelic history when he passes Evidence Testing. The combination of these two impacts glorifies God to the maximum.
The first thing God ever did for us is the means of glorifying Him. Billions of years ago, God the Father actually deposited into escrow for you as a Church Age believer, greater blessings in two categories namely escrow blessings for time and escrow blessings for the eternal state. Ephesians 1:3, “Worthy of praise and glorification is the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.” The term “spiritual” means that God the Father is the source of these blessings; the term “spiritual” does not mean that all the blessings are “spiritual” in nature for they include many non-spiritual blessings as well.
Spiritual blessing means maximum awareness of life that is you are very much alive, and you savor every moment of life, whether in adversity or prosperity. You have zest for life and an enjoyment of every moment of life, regardless of what it brings. This zest for life excludes being depressed or upset by the ups and downs of life. Spiritual blessing means orientation to objective reality, a maximum amount of objectivity in your life, and the accumulation of all the characteristics of spiritual adulthood. This means a combination of all the characteristics of spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity which results in maximum contentment, tranquility, and happiness in life regardless of your station, circumstances, or status quo in life. Spiritual blessing means maximum use of the Problem-Solving Devices provided by God for spiritual adulthood. (These Problem-Solving Devices are used in varying degrees until you reach spiritual maturity when they are used to the maximum.) The use of these Problem-Solving Devices gives you an edge on life which no one else has. In a moment of time, you can use occupation with Christ, your personal sense of destiny, sharing the happiness of God, personal and impersonal love, doctrinal orientation, grace orientation, the faith-rest drill, the Filling of the Spirit, and the Recovery Procedure; all of which produce a fantastic confidence that is unique and exclusive to spiritual maturity.
Spiritual maturity means maximum blessing in the relationships of your life with God, people, and self. Your relationship with God is fantastic and is based upon a tremendous confidence that, while you have never seen God, you know Him and understand Him as He wants to be understood through the mystery doctrines of the Church Age. You will be blessed in your contacts with all kinds of people, both loving and antagonistic. People can no longer disturb you or cause you to be disillusioned resulting in self-pity etc. Furthermore, you have a relationship with self that is honest and virtuous.
Some of the spiritual blessings specific to spiritual maturity include the following:
1. Maximum contentment, the stability of happiness.
2. Maximum tranquility, the backbone of happiness.
3. Maximum poise, the overt manifestation of happiness.
4. Maximum capacity for life, love, and happiness. This is having a zest for life regardless of your circumstances which means that no system of adversity or suffering can disturb your capacity for life.
5. Maximum production in Christian service from true motivation. This results in receiving gold, silver, and precious stones at the Evaluation Platform of Christ. Your Christian service is related to whatever is your spiritual gift so that you are not in competition with other Christians.
6. Maximum function of your spiritual gift. If you attain spiritual maturity, you need not to be concerned about your spiritual gift for God will see to it that you are using it.
7. Maximum confidence regarding death and resurrection: You cannot have reached spiritual maturity without having confidence regarding both death and resurrection in knowing that you have no control at all over the time, manner or the place of your death nor do you have any control over the time and place of resurrection for death and resurrection are strictly the Lord’s victory meaning that the Lord handles these two events.
8. Maximum virtue instead of self-righteousness.
9. Maximum personality identification which means that you are functioning well through your own personality and not trying to imitate another person’s personality.
10. Maximum impact: As an invisible hero, you have invisible but real impact in four categories: personal, national, international (as a qualified missionary) and finally angelic.
11. Maximum ability to interpret historical trends and to evaluate life from the divine viewpoint.
You are not in any way influenced by the worst things that happen to believers such as: arrogant self-righteousness, pious hypocrisy, legalism, Satanic good rather than divine good, crusader arrogance, and all the other functions of pseudo-spirituality. Instead, you have maximum grace orientation to life, maximum dependence upon the grace policy of God, therefore, eliminating human dynamics as having any part of the spiritual life, and maximum utilization of the unique features of the great power experiment of the Church Age.
How you as a mature believer execute your life. You live within your human limitations in life. You live within the limitations of your environment, and you do so without embarrassment, regret, inordinate ambition, or inordinate competition. You have a dynamic spiritual life (not necessarily a dynamic personality) which glorifies God in every circumstance. Therefore, you have finally arrived at complete niche orientation, at the point where you can say God’s plan has been executed in your life.
Other spiritual blessings include cognitive invincibility, mental stability, orientation to reality, and grace orientation to life, which includes grace thinking and subsequent grace motivation, grace decisions, and grace actions. Therefore, you have maximum control of your life through the function of the Problem-Solving Devices of spiritual adulthood. This eliminates the three Cs of the disorganized life: (1) Competitiveness from arrogance, a destroyer of life. (2) Comparativeness from subjectivity. (3) Conspiracy from inordinate ambition.
Categories of Temporal Blessings (Prosperity).
1. Although the emphasis is on spiritual blessings, God does provide the mature believer with temporal blessings as a promotion. However, if God doesn’t promote you, you’re not promoted. God doesn’t promote any mature believer above his limitations, or into a sphere of activity where he would be distracted or his spiritual life neutralized.
2. All mature believers have spiritual prosperity, which is maximum occupation with the person of Christ. Spiritual prosperity means equating living with dying and adversity with prosperity.
3. Temporal blessings vary with the individual mature believer and with his environment. But some of the categories can be noted.
a. Establishment prosperity include the blessings of privacy and freedom, the enjoyment of both life and property, protection from crime, reprisal, violence, and vindictiveness from others, contentment under national disaster, and acceptance by one’s own peers whether they like you or not.
b. War and national emergency prosperity include the blessings of efficiency, success, promotion, and for some leadership whether soldier or civilian during periods of emergency.
c. Professional prosperity is maximum success or efficiency in a profession, whether law, medicine, engineering, science, military, teaching, law enforcement, athletics, art, music, literature, etc.
d. Business prosperity, where pertinent, means success in business as an owner or an executive of a large corporation, success as a salesman, administrator, laborer, etc.
e. Social prosperity is the possession of loving, faithful, reliable, and stable friends, and maximum enjoyment of your relationships with them. Furthermore, it is the ability to handle all sorts of social situations with enthusiasm and happiness.
f. Romantic prosperity can mean a wonderful relationship with a member of the opposite sex where happiness replaces sinfulness. Sinfulness refers to the whole realm of mental attitude and verbal sins for those sins destroy romance much more often than the obvious overt sins of unfaithfulness and adultery. Romantic prosperity is perpetuated under all circumstances of adversity and prosperity.
g. Mental prosperity such as the ability to concentrate, to organize both your thinking and your life, the ability to analyze, to synthesize, and so to have greater cogitation and perspicacity. Mental prosperity is having courage namely the ability to think under pressure, to possess wisdom, common sense and a sense of humor under any circumstance. Furthermore, mental prosperity includes freedom from the mental sins of fear, worry, anxiety etc. namely having a relaxed mental attitude so that you are able to live a normal life under even the most trying of times.
h. Cultural prosperity is maximum capacity for good entertainment, the enjoyment of the best in music, art, literature, drama, history, and whatever your hobbies may be, from horticulture to equitation.
i. Health prosperity is given to some mature believers, but if you have violated too many principles of health already or you just have an unhealthy body, you may not have this category of blessing. Even so, you will have the ability to cope with your lack of good health.
j. Leadership dynamics, though not for everyone, is a blessing for some by virtue of either their genetics or spiritual gift, or it can be acquired. This is the ability to take any assigned responsibility and do it efficiently, cheerfully, and effectively. Therefore, it is the ability to assume authority and responsibility without loss of virtue and integrity, and without tyranny. This is true leadership, not micromanagement or petty bureaucratic behavior.
A couple of passages refer to some of these prosperities.
a. Proverbs 8:18, “Riches and honor are with Me [doctrine], enduring wealth and virtue.”
b. Psalm 23:5-6, “You have prepared for me [David] a table in the presence of my enemies. You have anointed my head with oil. My cup [of blessing] is overflowing. Only prosperity and grace pursue me all the days of my life [escrow blessings for time], and I will remain in the house of the Lord forever [escrow blessings for eternity].”
The impact related to spiritual maturity and escrow blessing is as follows: personal, national, international and angelic impact.
Personal Impact is a category of blessing by association with the winner or invisible hero. All relationships and contacts with an invisible hero result in blessing. There are two categories of blessing by association namely direct and indirect. Direct blessing from God to those persons associated with the winner or invisible hero. This means fantastic blessing is given to those who are undeserving but who have a relationship with a mature believer. This includes family, friends, loved ones, business associates, and pets. Indirect blessing from God comes by means of the mature believer. Because he possesses all the virtues of spiritual maturity, the mature believer is thoughtful, considerate, kind, tolerant, and often very generous, though in a quiet way. Because of his attainment of spiritual maturity, he shares his wisdom in conversation, and shares whatever else he has. Therefore, to be in his presence is a pleasure. Furthermore, you can be assured that he will not verbally sin against you nor stab you in the back. The mature believer shares both his virtuous personality and his material blessings with those associated with him. He is a source of stability in the life of those around him.
There are six areas of blessing by association.
a. The spiritual periphery refers to those associated with the mature believer in the local church, prayer meeting, prep school, mission board, or in some Christian service organization.
b. The family periphery refers to those associated with the mature believer as husband, wife, father, mother, children, relatives, and even pets.
c. The social periphery refers to friends associated with him.
d. The geographical periphery refers to those associated with the mature believer in his neighborhood, city, county, state, nation, and even foreign countries where the well-prepared missionary may go.
e. The professional or business periphery refers to those associated with the mature believer in business, in schools, on athletic teams, medical clinics, law firms, law enforcement organizations, engineering firms, banks, corporations, symphony orchestras, and military organizations.
f. There is blessing by association after death. Those loved ones who are left behind receive the greatest insurance policy provided by association with the mature believer. This could be classified as heritage blessing for the next generation of those who have been associated with the mature believer. Blessing by association continues after the death of such a believer; it extends to the next generation, and sometimes even to the third. This explains how bereaved ones associated with the dead mature believer, regardless of their spiritual status (even unbelievers) receive blessing and prosperity by association. Again, this is part of the explanation as to why some wicked prosper.
National Impact of the Invisible Hero.
1. The mature believer or winner in the protocol plan of God becomes a part of the pivot in the client nation to God, and if he passes Evidence Testing becomes a member of the Pleroma Club (those receiving the fullness of blessing from God).
2. The size of the pivot in the client nation becomes the basis for blessing or cursing to that nation. A large pivot of mature (those having reached spiritual maturity) believers including some pleroma believers (those having passed Evidence Testing) means national blessing, national prosperity, and historical preservation. A small pivot of mature believers means the administration of national discipline from God. (This also applies to the number of Pleroma believers though it does not require many of these to preserve a nation.) For example, in the Exodus Generation initially only one had completed the spiritual life (reached spiritual maturity and subsequently passing Evidence Testing) namely Moses and so was the basis for the deliverance and the preservation of Israel. In Deuteronomy, Moses coined a word to describe this category of believer, the righteous one, in Hebrew the Jeshurun believer (equivalent to the Pleroma believer of the Church Age, the one receiving the fulness (pleroma in the Greek) of blessing from God.
3. The principle is that as goes the believer in the client nation to God, so goes that client nation. In other words, if too many Christians fail spiritually, the nation will enter a downward spiral that no politician will be able to reverse.
4. As the pivot shrinks, the client nation to God declines and is eventually destroyed by the administration of the fifth cycle of discipline.
5. Reversionism and apostasy among believers result in national disaster, while having anywhere from 5% to 10% mature believers means national prosperity.
6. This can be called the salt principle, as per Matthew 5:13 or Mark 9:50, where we are said to be “the salt of the earth [land].” This is the pivot and pleroma principle.
7. The client nation to God provides many wonderful things such as: freedom for evangelism, for Bible teaching and the function of the local church, for missionary activity, and for Christian service, free enterprise; and fulfillment of manifest destiny. So, a client nation to God has tremendous responsibility to its own nation and even internationally.
International impact occurs through missionary function.
1. One of the important functions of a client nation is to send out spiritually mature missionaries.
2.The mature missionary must have wisdom, avoiding legalism, and correctly making an issue only out of the Gospel and doctrine. He must understand salvation, the mystery doctrines of the Church Age and of course the spiritual life as found in the New Testament epistles, and to be able to give a clear exposition in the native language.
3.When mature believers go to non-client nations as missionaries, they are the real source and usually the only source of blessing to that non-client nation except for their limited function under the Laws of Divine Establishment.
4. So, through indigenous modus operandi to non-client nations, there is blessing for nations that have no other source of blessing other than the Laws of Establishment. A non-client nation can be blessed by association even with just one missionary who is a winner and an invisible hero.
Angelic Impact of the Invisible Hero:
The Angelic Conflict and Evidence Testing
Evidence testing is Satan’s cross-examination of every witness presented by God in the historical trial of all fallen angels. In human history, man’s thoughts, motives, decisions, and actions are entered as evidence, exhibits, precedents, and arguments in Satan’s appeal trial. Every believer who attains maturity is an argument or witness for the Prosecution, the Lord Jesus Christ against Satan. Evidence testing is Satan’s cross-examination of every witness presented by God.
No believer qualifies as a witness in the angelic appeal trial until he has attained spiritual maturity, tantamount to the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God. The three stages of spiritual adulthood (spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity) are the prerequisites for facing and passing the three categories of suffering for blessing, providential preventative suffering, momentum testing, and evidence testing. Passing evidence testing as the highest category of suffering for blessing and is the undeserved suffering which has an angelic impact. Furthermore, passing Evidence Testing is the fulfillment of why God created the human race namely to resolve the Angelic Appeal Trial.
Every believer who attains spiritual maturity is a witness for the prosecution, either in the formal trial of Old Testament history, or in the rebuttal phases of the First Advent and Church Age, or in Satan’s closing argument during the Tribulation or in the Lord’s closing argument of the Second Advent and the Millennium.
In Evidence Testing, the Lord allows for the mature believer to be tested to the extreme to prove the power of the spiritual life and the strong relationship the mature believer has with the members of the Trinity. Thus, evidence testing is an honor given to mature believers. If this undeserved suffering is successfully passed, it will be used as evidence against Satan in the angelic appeal trial.
The two categories of evidence testing are as follows: the relationship to the plan of God test is illustrated by our Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 4:1-11 and the relationship to life test is illustrated by Job. Whether it be this category or that category, evidence testing is administered only to the mature believer, for only he is qualified to be a witness for the Prosecution. Apparently, the spiritually mature believer does not take both tests, and which one he receives is a matter of the sovereignty of God.
A few more points on Evidence Testing.
1. By means of passing evidence testing, the winner or invisible hero becomes a witness for the Prosecution in the rebuttal phase of Satan’s appeal trial which is coterminous with human history. Evidence testing is designed for the maximum glorification of God in the historical extension of the angelic conflict. (Usually, evidence testing comes to the mature believer without warning, since it is generally administered by Satan who will in that case do his best to discredit the believer.) To resolve Satan’s appeal trial in favor of the Prosecution and to see if the source of blessing of the mature believer is greater than the blessing itself.
2. Sometimes, the Lord removes temporarily the Escrow Blessings received at spiritual maturity as part of Evidence Testing. The temporary loss of escrow blessings in time provides the ultimate in spiritual experience. To be deprived of everything and to be totally occupied with the Lord is the highest function in the spiritual life. Job said in Job 1:21, “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” While the blessing may be removed, the source cannot be and will not be removed. If you still have the Source, even though the blessing is gone temporarily, you still have that Source and the possibility of even greater blessings. As long as you have the Source, you have everything even when you have nothing.
3. Dying Blessings belongs to the Invisible Hero, the mature believer who has taken Evidence Testing. This represents the doctrine of dying grace which is the dying status of the winner or mature believer. Whether he has a quick and painless death or a prolonged and painful one, the mature believer will have the greatest blessing of his life as he crosses the high golden bridge between time and eternity. God gives him through the objective reality of the absolute truth of Bible doctrine the greatest tranquility that his soul will ever experience. The believer in spiritual maturity has learned how to die, since he has also has learned how to live. In spiritual maturity he dies magnificently as unto the Lord. Philippians 1:21, “For as far as I am concerned, living is Christ, and dying is profit.” Psalm 23:6, “Only prosperity and grace shall pursue me [prosperity looks for the mature believer] all the days of my life [dying is the last segment of living].”
Colossians 1:3
We keep giving thanks to the God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ [means that the Father sent the Son], praying at all times concerning you.
Εὐχαριστοῦµεν τῷ θεῷ πατρὶ τοῦ κυρίου ἡµῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πάντοτε περὶ ὑµῶν προσευχόµενοι,
Thanksgiving:
Thanksgiving toward God and his plan is based upon receiving something without earning it. Even the Greek verb for thanksgiving Εὐχαριστέω has as its infix the Greek word for grace χαρις. This is the basic infix for all the Greek words for thanksgiving. The more you understand grace the better your concept of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving toward God then, is simply grace orientation expressing itself toward God.
1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Be thankful for the blessings of life, be thankful for the adversities of life for both have a grace application. We are to thank the Lord for everything that comes into our life, and we are able to do this if we have the ability to apply the Ten Problems Solving Devices to any problem, difficulty, or disaster in our lives.
Thanksgiving is also a part of worship. Thanksgiving is that form of worship in which the Church Age believer acknowledges the gracious benefits received from the three members of the Trinity which worship requires power. This power for worship is found in John 4:24, “God is a spirit, and those who worship Him must worship by means of the Spirit [the Filling of the Spirit] and by means of truth [doctrine resident in the soul].” Thanksgiving has no meaning, even for believers, until they are consistently functioning under the spiritual skills. Thanksgiving is not some shallow, fleeting system of gratitude for something. Thanksgiving is a moment-by-moment mental attitude produced by metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness. Thanksgiving is the mental attitude forged from cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine plus subsequent capacity for life from metabolized doctrine in the right lobe. Colossians 2:7, “Having been rooted and having been edified in Him, and being stabilized by means of doctrine as you have been taught, overflowing with thanksgiving.”
There is a relationship between your consistent perception of Bible doctrine and your attitude of thanksgiving toward God. Bible doctrine gives capacity for gratitude. Colossians 1:12, “Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us for a share in the endowment of the saints in the light [of the infallible word of God].” Thanksgiving is the expression from capacity for appreciation of God and the mental attitude of gratitude toward God. Only winner-believers have capacity for true thanksgiving. Ephesians 5:20, “always be thankful with reference to all things toward God, even the Father, through the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Thanksgiving is first of all directed toward God, and as an overflow it is capacity for life and appreciation for what one has in life. Thanksgiving is an index of the spiritual status of the believer. The greater the content of metabolized doctrine in the believer’s right lobe, the greater the capacity for mental attitude-thanksgiving in the life. Thanksgiving reaches its peak in personal love for God. 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” Revelation 7:12, “Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and ability belong to God forever and ever. Amen.” Psalm 100:4, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, honor His person.”
Food should be accepted with thanksgiving, 1 Timothy 4:3-5, “[men] who forbid marriage [and advocate] abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. (4) For everything created by God is beneficial, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving. (5) for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer” This applies to all food, anytime, anywhere. God has created food to be received with thanksgiving. Thanksgivings before meals is a part of grace orientation with special emphasis on the appreciation of God’s logistical grace provision. Thanksgiving and asking God to sanctify the food, protects the believer’s health from any possible impurities in the food and so that the food will fulfill the requirements of the body when metabolized.
Capacity for blessing means thanksgiving potential. Thanksgiving potential depends on the amount of Bible doctrine in the soul of the believer, so that the believer who is blessed is occupied with the Giver as well as the gift. And to enjoy the gift, the person who is thankful must be occupied with the Giver. True happiness is loving the Giver more than the gift. Capacity for life is to enjoy the Giver more than the gift.
Thanksgiving and Prayer:
Thanksgiving is a function of prayer. Ephesians 1:16, “I do not cease giving thanks for you, and I make mention of you in my prayers.” Colossians 1:3, “We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.” Philippians 4:6, “Stop worrying about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”
Giving causes thanksgiving. 2 Corinthians 9:7-12, “Each person to the degree he has determined [not a percent] by means of his right lobe [by means of his thinking from metabolized doctrine] so give, not from distress of mind [never give because you are pressured], not under compulsion of emotion [giving is worship so worship must be related to doctrine, not emotion] for God loves a grace-oriented [gracious] giver. (8) God is able to make all grace abound to you [the grace-oriented believer] that always having a sufficiency in everything [money to give] you may have an abundance for every good deed. (9) Just as it stands written [a quote from Psalm 112:9], “He scatters abroad [God gives money to certain people]; he gave it to the poor. His righteousness abides forever.” (10) Now he who supplies seed [capital] to the sower and bread for food, He God will supply and multiply your store of seed [your capital] and increase the harvest of your righteousness [Christian service]. (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. (12) This service [giving is recognized as Christian 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.”
Prayer:
“Praying at all times concerning you” Paul continuingly prayed for the Colossians. What Paul commanded the Thessalonians to do, he did. 1 Thessalonians 5:17, “Pray habitually [Make prayer a habit].” The Greek adverb adialeiptos (ἀδιαλείπτως) does not mean ‘unceasing’. Can you imagine trying to pray for 24 hours each day without ceasing that is to attempt to pray while eating and sleeping. It would be absurd. Pictorially, the Greek adverb would look like this: _ _ _ _ _ _, not a continuous unbroken line ___________. Another words, it is not praying for 24 hours daily without a break. That would not only be ridiculous but also impossible! However, it does mean that one should have scheduled prayer as well as interspersed spontaneous ones.
Sequence for Private Prayer:
1. Recovery Procedure: 1 John 1:9, “If we name [acknowledge] our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us [cancel] our sins for our benefit and to purify us from all wrongdoing.” Use of the Recovery Procedure is the first and most important consideration. Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart [in my soul], The Lord will not hear [my prayers].”
2. Thanksgiving: Thanksgiving is appreciation and gratitude for all that God has done in grace (freely given and undeserved). The more you love God and the more you appreciate Him, the greater is your “attitude of thanksgiving.” In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
3. Intercession: Intercessory prayer is praying for others. This aspect of prayer is a ministry of Christian service in which you provide a barrage of support for those in need. Ephesians 6:18-19, “With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the [power of the] Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. (19) Also, pray on behalf of me (Paul), in order that the correct message might be given to me, in the opening of my mouth with confidence to communicate the mystery pertaining to the Gospel.”
Prayer for others falls into two categories: believers and unbelievers. When you pray for unbelievers, it is primarily for their salvation (Romans 10:1). Although you cannot ask God to abrogate the volition of unbelievers, you can ask Him to bring some circumstance into their lives that will direct their attention to Christ. You can also pray for a personal opening to witness to someone with whom you are in contact. Regarding believers, there are several categories for which you can pray such as the following: Pray for those who have certain spiritual gifts of communication such as pastors, evangelists, and missionaries (Acts 12:5). Comparatively, few believers actually possess these communication gifts, but all believers are in full-time Christian service and can share in these ministries through prayer. Pray for those in positions of authority in the church. Pray for those who work in the church. Pray for those who are ill. Pray for missions. Pray for loved ones and friends (Acts 21:5). Pray for those in the military, the police, and the fire department. You also are mandated to pray for those who despitefully use you, for those who seek to do you harm and hurt, whether they be believers or unbelievers. Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. (Luke 6:28; cf. Matthew 5:44) You also are mandated to pray for the nation and its leadership. Moses made some of the greatest intercessory prayers in history for the reversionistic nation of Israel (Exodus 32:11-13; Numbers 14:13-19). Such intercessory prayers are part of the deliverance of the client nation which has fallen into reversionism. 2 Chronicles 7:14, “And My people [client nation] who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their evil ways [reversionism], then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
4. Petition: Petition is praying for your own needs. This is listed last, though it is not necessarily the least important. We all have personal needs or problems of one kind or another. In such cases, “Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16a). Petitions address those particular circumstances for which there is no direct statement or solution from Scripture. (If provision for your own needs or solutions to your problems are found in the Word of God, do not petition for those things. For example, we are Filled with the Spirit automatically when we use the Recovery Procedure. Therefore, do not pray a meaningless prayer by saying, “Fill me with the Spirit.”
As you learn Bible doctrine and advance to maturity in the spiritual life, you will understand both the constraints and the fantastic opportunities of your prayer life. In spiritual maturity, you will reduce the number of your personal petitions while expanding your capacity for intercessory prayer.
A few statements regarding prayer:
1.We do not use prayer to hire God to do what we want done.
2.Too many believers use prayer to get their own way, not God’s way.
3. Prayer must be compatible with God’s will and God’s way, not our will and our way.
4. Prayer must recognize who and what God is, not who and what we are.
5. Prayer is not designed to get us out of trouble, but to express our helplessness, our humility, our total dependence on God rather than on human ability and power. Prayer is our recognition and orientation to His grace and His mercy toward us.
6. Prayer is not designed to manipulate God, but to perform and conform to the will of God.
7. Prayer is not what we want but what God wants for us.
8. Prayer is our recognition and orientation to the grace of God.
9. Prayer is an expression and extension of Bible doctrine resident in the stream of consciousness of the soul. We fail in prayer because we fail to understand and utilize Bible doctrine.
10. Prayer was never designed to fulfill our lusts and desires, but prayer was designed to fulfill the will, plan, and purpose of God for our lives and to give us access to heaven while still living on earth.
Ten reasons why prayer is not answered:
1. Lack of faith: Matthew 21:22, “And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer [according to His will], believing, you shall receive [logical future].”
2. Lack of prayer: James 4:2c, “You quarrel and fight [out of fellowship], and you do not have [when you are in fellowship] because you do not ask [failure to pray when you should be praying].”
3. Selfishness: James 4:3, “You ask but you do not receive because you ask for yourself that you may squander it on your lusts [in your frantic search for happiness].”
4. Carnality in general: Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart [the believer out of fellowship with God], the Lord will not hear [my prayers]”
5. Lack of compassion: Proverbs 21:13, “He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor, will also cry himself and not be answered.”
6. Lack of domestic tranquility: 1 Peter 3:7, “You husbands in a similar manner, live with them according to knowledge [the husband must understand women in general and his wife in particular], as the weaker vessel [dependent upon her husband for fulfillment as a responder], since she is a woman; and show her honor as a joint-heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.”
7. Pride or self-righteousness: Job 35:12-13, “There, they cry out [in prayer], but He does not answer because of the pride of the evil men. (13) Surely, God will not listen to an empty cry [prayer] nor will the almighty regard it.” [Elihu speaks to Job]
8. Lack of the Filling of the Spirit: Ephesians 6:18, “By means of every prayer and petition, be praying on every occasion of prayer in the [Filling of the] Spirit, also with reference to this prayer, be on the alert with all persistent determination and petition on behalf of all saints.”
9. Lack of obedience: 1 John 3:22, “Furthermore, whatever we have asked, we receive from him because we keep his mandates and keep on doing the things that are pleasing in his sight.”
10. Lack of compliance with the divine will: 1 John 5:14, “In fact, this is the confidence which we have toward him [God] that if [3rd class conditional sentence with an indirect middle] we ask anything according to his will, he [God the Father] hears us [and answer that prayer].”
Five Mistakes in Prayer:
1. The Christian assumes that God has emotion which He doesn’t and so prays with emotional appeal. This Christian does not understand anthropopathisms and so thinks that God actually has emotions such as regrets, anger, loathing, compassion etc. and so prays with emotional appeal.
2. The Christian thinks that prayer is a problem-solving device when it isn’t. This type of Christian usually prays for miracles. Even Paul failed in this regard for Paul’s prayer in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 was not only asking for a miracle, but it was also a violation of the integrity of God. God mandated from his righteousness that Paul receive undeserved suffering in order to advance to the next level of spiritual growth. So, Paul’s prayer in effect was a prayer to halt his own spiritual advance. Jesus on the other hand knew that one does not use miracles to solve personal problems and so refused to use prayer to solve the personal problem of hunger as found in Matthew 4:3-4.
3. The Christian prays for things that are resolved in other ways for example the Christian who prays for protection or food when he is already being provided with these via God’s Logistical Grace Pipeline.
4. The Christian whose prayers are in conflict with the integrity of God for example a Christian may pray to make America great again when the righteousness of God is demanding severe punishment for the U.S.A or a Christian who pray for rain in a drought-stricken area when the Lord has already instructed the Weather Angels to bring about that drought.
5. Generally, don’t ask for personal blessings since God wants to give you much more than you could ever pray for. Ephesians 3:20, “Now to him [to God the Father] who is able to do infinitely more than all we could ask [in prayer] or think on the basis of the power [the Filling of the Spirit and metabolized doctrine] that keeps working in us for our benefit.” Now obviously, if a Christian either doesn’t understand or rejects this verse, he will pray for all of his personal needs.
Colossians 1:4
Having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and the impersonal love which you have toward all the saints.
ἀκούσαντες τὴν πίστιν ὑµῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὴν ἀγάπην ἣν ἔχετε εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους
The Faith-rest Drill (producing confidence and tranquility in the soul):
Walking by faith is a drill which must be practiced. This drill of applying God’s word to one’s difficulties and pressures produces tranquility in the soul. When the believer lives by faith, he applies biblical promises, principles and doctrines by faith to his experience. Living by faith is trusting in God’s thinking, not one's own false thinking. For example, God is perfect justice and as such he can only be perfectly fair to all his creatures, all the time. Therefore, it is an incorrect emphasis if you should state emphatically that people and life are unfair to me, rather the emphasis should be placed on God’s justice and fairness to you. Don't you realize that if a person treats you unfairly, God can discipline that person and provide extra blessing for you? Applying God’s word to your pressures, difficulties and disasters is a drill practiced.
Take your choice of either tranquility or stress! As the believer applies God's word to his problems and pressures, he will possess tranquility in his soul. Tranquility means two things: complete confidence in God, and freedom from mental agitation caused by emotional sins. When the believer is controlled by such mental sins as fear, worry, anger, hatred, jealousy, bitterness, self-pity etc., he will have stress in his soul. For example, if he worries about his family problems, stress will occur. This can be illustrated with the following simple formula: (problems + mental sins = stress). Stress produces an agitation in the soul, whereas applying Bible doctrine by faith produces a phenomenal tranquility in the soul: (problems + applying Bible doctrine by faith = tranquility).
Applying Biblical promises, principles and doctrine by faith has always been a part of the believer's spiritual life. Abraham was promised a great progeny by God through his wife Sarah (Genesis 12:2, 13:6) for God certainly would not encourage Abraham to produce his progeny through adultery. At first Abraham did not have the spiritual strength to believe this promise and in discouragement assumed that his progeny would come through Eliezer (Genesis 15:2, 3). Even when Abraham was 86 years old, he still did not believe that God could manufacture a progeny through his wife, Sarah and so did produce a progeny through an Egyptian woman. The little brat Ishmael via Hagar was not to be the fulfillment of Genesis 12:2 (see also Genesis 16:1-3, 16).
It takes time to build up a strong faith as illustrated by Abram. The promise of a great progeny was initially given to Abram when he was still residing in his hometown, the 3rd Dynasty of Ur (Ur of the Chaldees). After leaving the 3rd Dynasty of Ur, Abram finally arrived in Canaan at the age of 75 (Genesis 12:4). Then, after arriving in Canaan, it took Abram another 24 more years to accumulate enough Bible doctrine in his soul to develop a faith strong enough to believe that he would have a son through Sarah. Romans 4:19-21, “And so not becoming weak in that faith, he completely understood his own body which had become [sexually] dead when he was approximately one hundred years old likewise, he completely understood the deadness of Sarah's womb [passed menopause]. He [Abraham] staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what God had promised [a son through Sarah], God is able also to perform.” You see, as Abraham learned more and more about God, his confidence in God increased. Romans 10:17 states, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” The believer listens to the Word of God today, and a little faith is developed. Then he listens tomorrow, and a little more faith is developed, and then the following day, and he continues to do so for his entire life. In this way his faith becomes stronger and stronger.
This stage-by-stage development of faith is illustrated by one of the Hebrew words for faith, qawah. This was the word used to describe the binding process which would produce a strong rope and is used to illustrate the strong faith of the mature believer waiting on the Lord (Isaiah 40:31). In order to make a strong unbreakable rope, one would begin with a single strand of thread which in itself would be very weak. However, when this single strand is twisted around a second strand and then around another and another, a strong rope is developed. The principle is as follows: As more and more strands are twisted together, the stronger the rope becomes. This process involved in making a strong rope depicts how faith is developed in stages. The first strand of faith is extremely weak. However, as the believer twists more and more strands of faith together, he will eventually have a strong faith. As baby believers, our faith is like a single fine thread with little strength. However, as the believer learns more and more doctrine and gains experience in applying his faith to pressure situations, he develops a strong, ropelike faith. At that point he will be able to walk by faith with great strength (2 Corinthians 5:7).
Before the Church Age, the spiritual life of the believer emphasized living one’s life by faith. For example, the Jews of the Exodus generation were taught how to walk by faith while they were still in Egypt. In Egypt, they were all taught about the promise which God made to Abraham namely that God would give the Jewish people a country of their own, a prosperous land “flowing with milk and honey”. So, when Joseph was dying, he made his brethren swear to take his bones out of Egypt and bury them in the promise land (Genesis 50:25). So, Joseph’s bones remained unburied, which meant that the Jewish families living in Egypt would pass by the vault of Joseph, and the Father would have the opportunity to teach his children not only teach about the integrity of God via God’s promise of a land of Milk and Honey, but also why Joseph refused to be buried in Egypt. In this way they learned to trust in the Lord. Moreover, they were taught that their spiritual life was to trust in the promises of God just as Joseph believed the promises of God. Thus, the Jews had a spiritual life before they crossed the Red Sea, before they received the Mosaic Law (the Mosaic Law taught about the cross, about confession of sins and many things related to establishment, but it didn't teach the spiritual life). The spiritual life of these believers was living their life by faith in God’s promises, principles, and doctrines.
Faith Testing:
When God gives a spiritual life to the believer, He is going to continuously test that believer’s spiritual strength. Therefore, the Jews were tested regarding their spiritual life as they were leaving Egypt. As the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day, God the Son, the only manifest person of the Trinity, led them deliberately into a trap. He led them into a cul-de-sac at the Red Sea. There were mountains to the north and south and the Sea was to their front. Suddenly, behind this great multitude of Jews, arose a great cloud of dust. Pharaoh Amenhotep II was leading the greatest military force in the world at that time. Facing this great military force was over a million untrained Jewish slaves. The only Jewish people with any military training were Moses and possibly Joshua and Caleb. This was a hopeless situation from the human viewpoint. However, nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). As a matter of fact, this was a test of faith because God had already promised the Jews that they would worship him at Mount Horeb. So, all, these Jewish adults needed to do was to apply what they already were taught. If they had done this, they would have passed the test. Now what did God already promise the Jews” Exodus 3:1, “Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the desert, and came to Horeb, the Mountain of God.” Exodus 3:12, “And He said, certainly I [God] will be with you [Moses], and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain [Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai being the same].”
Although there were more than one million Jewish adults, only Moses had the spiritual strength to apply this promise to this hopeless situation. While those Jews were immersed in fear and screaming about dying, Moses said, “Do not fear. Stand still and watch the deliverance of the Lord. The Lord will fight for you today” (Exodus 14:13). The Jews should have passed this test, but they kept concentrating on the problem - namely the advancing Egyptian military, rather than the solution - trusting in God’s promises. Initially, Moses concentrated on the advancing Egyptians in order to understand the situation, but when he realized that their situation was militarily hopeless, he concentrated on a divine solution, a solution based on his confidence in God and the promise which God had given him. So, he walked by faith and remained very calm in this tense situation.
An Example of Fear and Stress:
(Exodus 14:10) “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified and screamed to the Lord.” The Jews used faith in salvation; now they needed to apply the promises of God by faith to this pressure situation at the Red Sea. If one does not use faith for salvation, it is hopeless, so also if one does not use faith in the spiritual life, it is hopeless. Colossians 2:6 states, “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus your Lord [a metaphor for believing in Jesus Christ as one’s savior], so be walking in him [the spiritual life after salvation]”. We used faith for salvation, now we must use faith for the spiritual life. The only difference is the object of faith. In salvation the object of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. In the spiritual life, the object of faith is the thinking of Jesus Christ.
To the arrogant Exodus generation, security was more important than their relationship with the Lord. As a result of that generation’s emphasis on personal security, they became involved in the emotional sin of fear and irrationality. God does not answer prayer when the believer is out of fellowship and controlled by his sin nature as per Psalm 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart [stream of consciousness], The Lord will not hear [will not answer my prayer].” The Jews should not have attempted to pray out of fellowship with God and in a state of emotion, the prayer of “Help! Help!” Rather, they should have prayed to the Father thanking him for this opportunity to watch the Lord’s power in delivering them at the Red Sea. Fear, however, destroyed their perspective of the situation.
Strength in Faith, Weakness in Emotion:
Now, after God had delivered the Jews, they sang beautifully praising him for their deliverance, but singing does not imply spiritual strength. These believers were not praising and singing because they respected and loved the Lord rather in their emotional exuberance, they were expressing their appreciation to God for delivering them. Their appreciation was based on their emotional relief from having been delivered, not on their appreciation and love for the Lord. To these Jews the most important priority in their life was their safety, not a harmonious relationship with Lord. Praising God and singing hymns has meaning if one has a close relationship with God based on knowledge. However, if the believer is ignorant of God and His plan, his relationship with God will be related to emotion. An emotional relationship has no strength!
One can relate to a hymn cognitively or emotionally or both since a hymn contains both lyrics and melody. The purpose of the lyrics is to stimulate thought whereas the purpose of the melody is to stimulate one’s emotion pleasurably. If the believer understands and appreciates the lyrics of a hymn only then can he benefit from his singing and at the same time enjoy the melody. However, if the believer does not understand and appreciate the lyrics of a good hymn, his singing has no spiritual value and becomes a meaningless emotional activity related only to the melody. “The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my deliverance. This is my God, and I will praise him. My father's God; I will extol him.” (Ex. 15:2) “The chiefs of Edom were dismayed; the leaders of Moab, trembling grips them; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.” (Ex. 15:15) This was a beautiful and doctrinal hymn which undoubtedly Moses had written and they had sung with great emotional zeal after having been delivered. However, as we will see, emotional zeal did not carry them very far.
The Exodus Generation never learned to apply the Word of God by faith to their pressures in life, but continued to operate under emotional zeal. Three days after the Jews sang ‘the Lord is my strength’, they demonstrated that they had no spiritual strength at all for they immediately began complaining under the pressure of a simple test. Then, one year later after singing about how confident they would be in combat, and how fearful the Edomites, Moabites and the inhabitants of Canaan would be of them, the Jewish army refused to enter the land and wept all night in their fear of the Canaanites! So, the Edomites, Moabites and the inhabitants of Canaan didn't need to worry about that generation of Jews for those men were too cowardly to fight their way into the land (Numbers 14:1-11). You see, a believer can sing and praise God until he passes out from exhaustion, but all of this is meaningless unless that believer has strength in his soul from knowledge of God and a continuous fellowship with Him. These Jews produced sinful emotion on one side of the Red Sea and non-sinful emotion on the other side of the Sea. They swung from one end of the emotional spectrum (fear) to the other end (relief from being delivered). Only Moses had divine thought in his soul and true capacity to handle all situations in life. So, when he sang, it had meaning. For the rest of the Jews singing was meaningless, because every time they [with exception of Joshua and Caleb] had a pressure situation, they would worry and fear about their safety and never even once considered God’s provision and plan for their lives. So, they continued to complain and complain until they died in the desert because the majority of these Jews never learned to apply the Word of God by faith to their experience.
Hebrews 4:2-3, “For we also have been evangelized as they had been [the Jews of the Exodus generation were believers], but the word they heard [after salvation] did not profit them, because those who heard it, did not mix it [knowledge of the Word] with faith [failure in faith-perception]. For we who have believed [faith-perception and application regarding the promises, principles and doctrines of God’s word] enter into the rest [of contentment and tranquility from trusting in God].” Emotional zeal as a substitute for the intake of doctrine causes the believer to fail; faith perception and application of God’s Word causes the believer to succeed.
Taken from Colossians 1:4, “Love [impersonal] which you have toward all the saints” which statement explains the impersonal love the Colossians have toward other Christians. Paul explains this love to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians13:4, “Love is not swayed by emotion [is forbearing], love is kind [merciful], love is not jealous, it does not brag [is not shamelessly disrespectful in thought, speech and behavior, insulting, presumptuous], is not inflated with arrogance [the advance stages of arrogance].”
The Greek word, “makrothumeo” most basic meaning is “not to be swayed by emotion” (not caused to swing from one side to another; not influenced by emotion). It also means to be free from the emotional reaction of annoyance; free from the irrationality that occurs when one is under pressure. It is composure under pressure and adversity. Since it is not affected by emotion, it has a steadfast patience. In the Ionic Greek which is older than the Attic Greek, it meant long-suffering toward someone (to bear injuries, insults, trouble without complaint or emotional reaction).
Explaining the above words further: Love does not make decisions based on emotion; rather it makes decisions based on its components of knowledge, truth, righteousness and justice. Love is merciful toward people, an expression of the believer’s capacity for graciousness based on his thorough understanding and appreciation of grace, a component of his love. The advanced believer with capacity for love knows that his happiness and blessings come from God so that he is not easily tempted into jealousy etc. by the Sin Nature. The advanced or mature believer with integrity in his soul only boasts in God’s plan and grace. Instead of being inflated with arrogance, he is filled with respect and love for God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 13:5-7, “does not behave dishonorably [indecently, or unmannerly], is not self-seeking [self-promoting; preoccupied with self, self-indulgent, irrationally ambitious] it is not provoked [does not become irritated, bitter, angry, petty, hypersensitive], does not react to evil [is not mindful of wrongs, does not react to the injustices or wrongs that comes into his life, does not think in terms of retaliation, does not react to hatred or antagonisms], (6) does not rejoice over injustices [violation of truth], but joyfully sides with the truth [rejoices in the truth]. (7) It covers all things [keeps all things confidential: true love respects the privacy of another; it literally means to throw a cloak of silence over all things: avoids gossip, maligning, judging, vilification], always believes [advance function of the faith-rest drill] always has confident expectation [regarding one’s personal destiny both in time and in eternity], always perseveres [always maintains his relationship with God in a state of happiness under the testing of the three stages of the adult spiritual life],”
Colossians 1:5
Because of the confident expectation [of Escrow Blessings in time and in eternity] preserved for you in the heavens [Escrow Blessings] which you have heard before [constative aorist: this subject was taught before] in the sphere of the Word of the truth of the Good News [through Bible Teaching].
διὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα τὴν ἀποκειµένην ὑµῖν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ἣν προηκούσατε ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
Ephesians 1:3, 4, “Worthy of praise and glorification, the God even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who [the Father] has blessed us with every spiritual blessing [escrow blessings] in the heavenly places in Christ, (4) just as He [the Father] has elected us for Himself in Him [Jesus Christ] before the creation of the world, that we may be set apart [experiential sanctification] and blameless [ultimate sanctification] in the presence of Him [Father].” Confident Expectation formulated in the Plan of God Rationale.
Since X Radical is not pertinent to this passage, let’s begin with Y Radical.
Y Radical: In the X radical there were two real imputations; real in the sense that there was a target namely something was imputed to something. However, in this radical, we have two judicial imputations; judicial in that they do not have a target. Judicial means that God the Father as a judge made a judicial decision to impute something although it was not deserved. In judicial imputation one (J1), since Jesus agreed to take-on the responsibility for all the sins of humanity namely to be a substitute for the unrighteous human race, God the Father then judged the impeccable humanity of Christ for the penalty of all the sins of humanity. The second judicial imputation (J2) is the imputation of the Father’s perfect righteousness to the believer at the point of his salvation. God the Father, as judge was able to make this gracious judicial decision, since His righteousness was satisfied by the work of the cross.
This sets up Potential 2 (P2), the potential of receiving ones Escrow Blessings at spiritual maturity. This requires learning the pertinent doctrines of the mystery doctrines of the Church Age and other doctrinal information as well. It not only requires learning this material but applying it as well. On the way to spiritual maturity, the Christian will be required to pass two major undeserved tests namely Providential Preventive Suffering and Momentum Testing. Having passed these two tests, the Christian will have confidence (H2) that at his spiritual maturity, the Lord as the Escrow Officer will distribute to him his escrow blessings for time which blessings will be substantially increased at passing Evidence Testing.
Radical Z: Whereas in Radical X, we had the unbeliever, in Radical Y, we have the growing believer, and finally in Radical Z, we have the mature believer. We begin with two Real Imputations namely imputations with targets. These two will set up Potential 3, the potential for receiving the Christian’s eternal Escrow Blessings. The imputation of eternal life (EL) to his newly created human spirit at salvation, and the imputation of his Escrow Blessings for time (EBT) to the Christian’s perfect righteousness which he possesses courtesy of being in union with Christ. These two real imputations set up Potential 3 (P3), the potential of receiving his eternal Escrow Blessings. This is accomplished by stabilizing his position as a mature believer and preparing himself to take the most difficult of all undeserved test namely Evidence Testing. Once he has accomplished this, he will have absolute confidence (H3) that at the Evaluation Platform of Christ, he will receive his eternal Escrow Blessings which blessing will bring maximum glorification of God forever.
Logistical and Escrow Blessings:
The Basis for Logistical and Escrow Blessings: both of these blessings are based on the principle that a perfectly righteous God can only bless what is perfect. For example, God is able to bless the Elect Angels since they possess perfect angelic righteousness; God was able to bless Adam and his wife, Ishah in the Garden since they both possessed perfect human righteousness. God was able to bless all the believers before the Church Age and will bless all believers after the Church Age since they possess God’s perfect righteousness imputed to them at their salvation. God is able to bless the Christian of the Church Age since he possesses the righteousness of God the Father and the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ via the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The unbeliever cannot be blessed eternally since he does not possess perfect righteousness, but in time on this earth can receive some blessing through his function under the Laws of Divine Establishment which in themselves are perfect.
Logistical Grace Blessings:
The first member of the Trinity took on the title, God the Father which title is commensurate with his role toward humanity. As a human father provides the necessities of life, protection and some blessing for his family so God the Father provides logistical grace support. Since He is the one providing the support, it is reasonable to assume that this support is directed toward the imputed righteousness which He provided for the believer at salvation.
Logistical Grace provision does not require capacity, and therefore is not based on one’s experiential righteousness. This logistical support begins at salvation and continues through-out the life of the believer. (In a few cases, this support may be removed from the mature believer to glorify God in a special way as was the case of Lazarus).
Escrow Blessings for time and eternity.
Since the Lord Jesus Christ is the Escrow Officer, it is reasonable to assume that this blessing is directed toward the perfect righteousness that we are clothed with by our position in Union with Christ. Since we are clothed with the righteousness of the God-man, this righteousness would include His perfect divine and human righteousness. As the Escrow Officer, the Lord will distribute this blessing at spiritual maturity and having passed Evidence Testing, this blessing will be increased, and the Lord will distribute Escrow Blessings at his evaluation of the believer at the Evaluation Platform of Christ.
Since these blessing require spiritual maturity etc., they are related to the believer’s experiential righteousness which will provide the capacity for these blessings though not the target for these blessings. The target for these escrow blessings in time and in eternity is the righteousness which the Christian has through union with Christ. Escrow Blessings in time require maximum capacity through the attainment of spiritual maturity and the subsequent passing of Evidence Testing. Escrow Blessings for eternity requires not only a soul full of doctrine, but also a resurrection body for the execution and the enjoyment of these blessings.
Colossians 1:6
[The good news] being present in you even as it is in all the world [the gospel and Bible teaching entered Satan’s domain; Satan then counterattacked with Gnosticism], and is constantly bearing fruit [paraphrastic construction which is one of the strongest expressions in Greek] and increasing even as also in you from the day you heard [the constative aorist tense: after believing they kept on learning] and began to fully understand the grace of the God [Grace Orientation] in the sphere of doctrine [Doctrinal Orientation]. [The next step after Grace Orientation and Doctrinal Orientation is Spiritual Self-Esteem.]
τοῦ παρόντος εἰς ὑµᾶς, καθὼς καὶ ἐν παντὶ τῷ κόσµῳ ἐστὶν καρποφορούµενον καὶ αὐξανόµενον καθὼς καὶ ἐν ὑµῖν, ἀφí ἧς ἡµέρας ἠκούσατε καὶ ἐπέγνωτε τὴν χάριν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐν ἀληθείᾳ·
From the time that the Colossians heard the gospel they continued to take in doctrine under the function of the Two Power Options, and they were growing as a result. The whole basis for service, for living, for being on this earth after salvation is to learn Bible doctrine so that doctrine within you may produce according to the divine plan.
“Even as it is in all the world” A pivot (a group of mature believers) was being formed in the Roman Empire and even beyond the Roman Empire. Approximately, thirty-five years after Paul writes this epistle in other words after two generations, the pivot of mature believers in the Roman Empire will be large enough to bring-in the Golden Age of the Roman Empire (96 to 192 A.D. (As goes the believer in a client nation so goes that nation.) The Golden Age of the Roman Empire was one of the most glorious centuries in all of human history.
Colossians 1:7
Even as you also have been taught [the constative aorist tense indicating the consistent teaching of Epaphras] from the ultimate source of Epaphras, a beloved fellow slave [a fellow pastor loved by Paul] who is a faithful minister of Christ [because he studied and taught etc.] on behalf of you.
καθὼς ἐµάθετε ἀπὸ Ἐπαφρᾶ τοῦ ἀγαπητοῦ συνδούλου ἡµῶν, ὅς ἐστιν πιστὸς ὑπὲρ ἡµῶν διάκονος τοῦ Χριστοῦ,
The Colossians had one pastor and a good one. Epaphras didn’t have an assistant pastor nor were there a multiplicity of elders to keep Epaphras in line. He studied and prepared his lessons as unto the Lord. In order to have time to study, he would have had some administrative gifts functioning in his church in Colossi.
Colossians 1:8
Who [Epaphras at Colossi] has also reported to us [Paul and his theological team in Rome] about your love [personal love for God the Father motivating impersonal love] by agency of the Spirit [the Filling of the Spirit]. [Their capacity for love implies that many in the congregation have reached Spiritual Self-Esteem and some undoubtedly have passed Providential Preventive Suffering]
ὁ καὶ δηλώσας ἡµῖν τὴν ὑµῶν ἀγάπην ἐν πνεύµατι.
The same Greek phrase (ἐν πνεύµατι θεοῦ: by agency of the Spirit of God) which is found in this passage is also found in Matthew 12:28, “But if I [Christ] cast out demons by agency of the Spirit of God (ἐν πνεύµατι θεοῦ) and I do [an actual 1st class condition], then the Kingdom of God has come to you [since the future king is with you].”
Impersonal love implies that the Colossians have reached Spiritual Self-Esteem/Personal Sense of Destiny. However, it is not certain that they have verified their impersonal love by passing Providential Preventive Suffering. One of the most critical areas in the spiritual life is between Spiritual Self Esteem/Personal Sense of Destiny and the taking of Providential Preventive Suffering test. Upon hearing this report, would explain why Paul and his team immediately began offering prayer as per verse 9 ff. Spiritual Self-Esteem/Personal Sense of Destiny must be verified and validated by passing Providential Preventive Suffering.
Definition and Description of Spiritual Self-Esteem:
1. Self-esteem might be defined as respect for self, satisfaction with one’s self, or a good opinion of one’s self, superficial definitions. Self-esteem is confidence in what you know, and how to put it into operation. What has only been a characteristic of a few great leaders in history is now available to each of us as believers.
2. Spiritual self-esteem is maximum humility through Grace Orientation and minimum arrogance. It is confidence in God, confidence in the Word of God metabolized in your soul and circulating in your stream of consciousness through Doctrinal Orientation. It is not confidence in the energy of the flesh. Psalm 118:8-9, “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to have confidence in mankind. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to have confidence in princes.”
3. Spiritual self-esteem as related to the first four Problem-Solving Devices of the protocol plan of God.
a. Spiritual self-esteem is confidence in the Recovery Procedure rather than having guilt regarding the heinousness of one’s sins. (One’s personal sins are never as important as what our Lord Jesus Christ did on the Cross about our sins. We will fail and shock ourselves from time to time.)
b. Spiritual self-esteem is not dependance on emotions for the Christian at this stage has learned that there is no emotion in the spiritual life other than emotional appreciation and stimulation because of one’s spiritual life. The believer at this point has tremendous understanding and confidence in the Recovery Procedure, and so avoids guilt. So, he does not try to compensate for his sins through some form of penance.
c. Spiritual self-esteem emphasizes the reality of the Faith-Rest Drill over the reality of one’s problems, adversities, disasters and stress situations. Spiritual self-esteem is grace orientation rather than environmental orientation. Too often, we think that our happiness depends on our environment. Environment is not an issue in life; the issue is to execute God’s plan in whatever environment one finds himself.
d. Spiritual self-esteem is doctrinal orientation rather than empirical orientation. This the Jews of the Exodus did not understand at the Red Sea. Bible doctrine must be more real to us than what we see, touch, hear, taste, and smell.
e. Spiritual self-esteem has a personal sense of destiny from metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness under the Filling of the Holy Spirit. The believer in this status realizes that he has reached the first tactical objective and that he must now pursue his first strategic objective which is occupation with Christ at spiritual maturity. At this strategic location, he digs-in and fortifies his position by preparing to take Evidence Testing, his second strategic objective. Once he has taken these two strategic objectives, he will have received his maximum Escrow Blessings for time which will guarantee his Escrow Blessings for eternity. Thus, Escrow Blessings for time and for eternity produces maximum glorification of God.
f. Spiritual self-esteem is the beginning of tranquility and contentment in every circumstance of life whether it is good or bad. Only when he has obtained Spiritual Autonomy will he share the happiness of God.
g. Spiritual self-esteem is the first stage of spiritual adulthood, the status of giving number one priority to Bible doctrine, resulting in dependence on God’s grace rather than depending on human power and dynamics. It is the first step in becoming an invisible hero.
4. Since spiritual self-esteem is grace orientation, it is the quintessence of humility rather than any form of arrogance. It is consistency in being filled with the Spirit, consistency in cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine, consistency resulting in the execution of the protocol plan.
Spiritual Self-Esteem includes the following characteristics:
1. The maintenance of humility, without which there is no authority orientation or teachability in life;
2. Avoidance of inordinate ambition and inordinate competition, which destroys spiritual self-esteem.
3. The development of spiritual common sense and good judgment related to the divine viewpoint of life.
4. Correct and accurate application of Bible doctrine through both grace and doctrinal orientation prevents any distortion of doctrine or attempt at self-justification.
5. Divine viewpoint replaces human viewpoint so that the believer has the mindset in this dispensation which the humanity of Christ had in the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. Philippines 2:5, “Keep on having this mental attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”
6. Good decisions from a position of strength (being in fellowship with the Spirit) replace bad decisions from a position of weakness (being out of fellowship with God). This means that the Christian spends most of his time in fellowship with the Holy Spirit otherwise he would not have esteem.
The Profile of Spiritual Self-esteem:
1. Spiritual self-esteem is synonymous with a personal sense of destiny.
2. The doctrinal status of cognitive self-confidence means that doctrinal conceptualism is fully realized, but not fully developed. You have attained the first objective, but that objective is not stabilized. You have a tremendous amount of doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness, but you also have tremendous vulnerability to the sins of arrogance and the emotional complex of sins. The rapidly advancing believer is vulnerable to failure.
3. Spiritual self-esteem frees the adult believer from legalistic bullying (from being bullied by legalist) and from being distracted by dependence on other people.
4. Spiritual self-esteem begins using advanced Problem-Solving Devices through personal love for God the Father and impersonal love for all mankind. These two problem solving devices are a stabilizer and motivator for continued spiritual advance. Although he has begun to use them, they have neither been verified nor validated. Both verification and validation occur upon passing Providential Preventive Suffering at which time the believer advances to Spiritual Autonomy.
5. Spiritual self-esteem eliminates emotion as a criterion for the spiritual life and so is the beginning of freedom from irrationality. The spiritual life is a system of thinking under the Filling of the Holy Spirit from metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness, and by recall and applying this metabolized truth to one’s situation.
6. When Spiritual Self-Esteem begins to deploy the two advanced Problem-Solving Devices namely personal love for God the Father and impersonal love for all mankind, it establishes a strongly organized system of humility and spiritual poise. Personal love for God the Father begins to replace the former focus of eyes on self, and eyes on people.
7. Spiritual self-esteem recognizes that emotions are never the basis for the spiritual life. Spiritual Self-Esteem begins the process of the sophisticated spiritual life with the subordinating of the emotion to the intellect. The intellect of spiritual self-esteem is defined as maximum metabolized doctrine circulating in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness.
8. Spiritual self-esteem does not feel threatened by malice, revenge, vilification (to utter slanderous and abusive statements), vituperation (to use harsh condemnatory language) or violence and does not feel threatened by the majority viewpoint or what others think of him.
9. Spiritual self-esteem continues to make Bible doctrine the number one priority in the life and fulfills the command of Philippians 3:16, “Keep on advancing in ranks by the same system.”
10. Spiritual self-esteem is not discouraged by setbacks in life. Therefore, it is free from self-pity, which is the thumb-sucking function of self-absorption.
11. The momentum of spiritual self-esteem eliminates the three high risk factors on entering the adult spiritual life namely the arrogance complex of sins, emotion as a criterion for the spiritual life, and incompetent problem solving.
12. Spiritual self-esteem begins with the effective harmonizing of the Problem-Solving Devices. It upgrades and enhances the basic Problem-Solving Devices, where they coordinate with personal love for God the Father and impersonal love for all mankind.
13. One of the most critical periods of spiritual growth occurs when the believer reaches spiritual self-esteem. He has spent many hours in Bible class to reach this objective. So, at this point, he may be getting a bit tired of repetition and so may face the problem of boredom, and may even desire a little emotional activity. Also, at this point, many Christian are tempted to be a user of God rather than a worshipper of God. On top of all of this, he now faces his first undeserved suffering test. This is one of the two greatest areas of failure in the spiritual life, the other occurs at salvation. The Colonel referred to this period at Spiritual Self-Esteem as the ‘menopause of the spiritual life’.
Colossians 1:9
Because of this [their love as a spiritually advanced congregation] we [Paul, Luke, Timothy, Titus] also from the day we [Paul and his theological team] heard the report from Epaphras, do not cease to pray on your behalf, constantly asking with the result that you might be filled with [subjunctive mood: Paul and his team express their desire, but the fulfillment will depend upon their continued positive volition toward the Word] the metabolized knowledge of His purpose [and design] in all wisdom and spiritual understanding [caused by the Filling of the Holy Spirit].
∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἡµεῖς, ἀφí ἧς ἡµέρας ἠκούσαµεν, οὐ παυόµεθα ὑπὲρ ὑµῶν προσευχόµενοι καὶ αἰτούµενοι ἵνα πληρωθῆτε τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ θελήµατος αὐτοῦ ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ καὶ συνέσει πνευµατικῇ,
Paul and his team prayed for a fully developed stream of consciousness. So, a few points regarding that subject:
The Stream of Consciousness:
1. The Frame of Reference is the first compartment which is defined as the conceptual structure where concepts, principles and doctrines like pieces of a puzzle, are placed in their proper places to form the spiritual life of the Church Age. The frame of reference is where you have the giant computer system that puts new information into its proper area and correlates it with information, principles and doctrines you have previously learned.
2. From the Frame of Reference, the Holy Spirit then sends all this data to the second compartment namely the memory center. Whereas the frame of reference is the area of retention for metabolization of doctrine, the memory center is the area for recall. The memory center is also the mechanism for circulating doctrine into the other compartments of the stream of consciousness. The memory center is an index to your rate of learning Bible doctrine. (Principle: the rate of learning must always exceed the rate of forgetting. When the rate of learning is greater than the rate of forgetting, the total quantity of metabolized doctrine increases both in your frame of reference and in your memory center. When the rate of forgetting is greater than the rate of learning, then the total quantity of metabolized doctrine decreases both in the frame of reference, memory center, and in circulation throughout the rest of your stream of consciousness.) Recall is necessary for the execution of the spiritual life so that in an instant of time you can come up with the right principle, the right answer to make the right moves. In summary, the memory center is the circulating link between the frame of reference and the other five compartments of the stream of consciousness. Lamentations 3:20-23, "Surely my soul remembers and is humbled within me. This I recall in my thinking. Therefore, I have confidence. The unfailing love of the Lord indeed never ceases, for His compassions never come to an end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Psalm 119:16, "In your doctrines I will delight; I will not forget Your doctrine." 1 Corinthians 11:24, "And when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, 'This represents My body, which is a substitute for you; keep on doing this in remembrance of Me.'"
3. The third compartment is the Vocabulary Storage. You can never think beyond your remembered vocabulary, and you can never develop a system of knowledge without technical words etc. So, Vocabulary Storage is the location of all technical theological nomenclature, biblical metaphors, teaching acronyms through which Bible doctrine is classified and categorized. You must learn such vocabulary as the Recovery Procedure, faith-rest, dispensations, hypostatic union, protocol plan of God, portfolio of invisible assets, substitutionary spiritual death, common and efficacious grace, election and predestination, reciprocity, the indwelling of God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and God the Son, the baptism of the Holy Spirit just to name a few. After salvation, the believer as a spiritual baby must learn a vocabulary by which to think, express, apply, and utilize Bible doctrine. You cannot think without vocabulary. Jeremiah 15:16, "Your words were found and I ate them [positive volition], and Your words became for me a source of superabundance of happiness and a delight to my heart, because Your name was engraved in my soul, O Lord God of the armies." Moses made it clear that Bible doctrines are composed of words. Deuteronomy 8:3, "And He humbled you and let you be hungry, then He fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your ancestors know, that He might cause you to know that mankind does not live by food alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord."
4. The fourth compartment is Categorical Storage where Biblical information is organized into its subject matter. By comparison of Scripture to Scripture, biblical subjects emerge and are brought together into divisions of doctrine, formed for the purpose of classification and utilization. Vocabulary and categorical storage are essential for understanding the mechanics of the spiritual life and causing spiritual advance. Can you imagine not understanding well the following doctrines such as dispensations, salvation, hypostatic union, logistical grace, and the angelic conflict just to mention a few doctrinal categories.
5. The fifth compartment is Conscience in which is stored norms and standards, and priorities related to the absolutes of Bible doctrine. The Greek word for conscience is suneidesis which means 'to know with an absolute standard.' The English word conscience comes from the Latin, consciari which means "to know with." Conscience is the mental faculty by which one distinguishes between right and wrong and motivates the believer under the Filling of the Spirit to do what is right and not to do what is wrong. Romans 2:15, "in that they show the work of the Law printed in their hearts, their conscience confirming the testimony, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending themselves." Accusing and defending oneself is the function of the norms and standards of the conscience of the believer. Acts 23:1, "And 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.'" Acts 24:16, "In view of this, I myself keep on doing my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men." 1 Timothy 3:9, "but holding to the mystery doctrine with a clear conscience." We never have true happiness in our soul without a clear conscience. 1 Peter 2:19, "For this is grace, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly." 1 Peter 3:16, "and be having a good conscience, so that in the things in which you are slandered, those who malign your good in Christ will be put to shame." The believer in reversionism destroys his conscience through scar tissue of the soul, 1 Timothy 4:1-2, "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later periods of time [the hypostatic union, Church Age, and Tribulation] some [believers] will become apostate from doctrine, paying attention to deceitful spirits [false teachers] and doctrines of demons by means of hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience with a branding iron." The branding iron is scar tissue in the soul from rejection of the truth. Precedence from the humanity of Christ in the dispensation of the hypostatic union is taught in Hebrews 9:14, "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." Metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness and its application purifies the conscience from dead works.
6. Momentum is the 6th compartment of the stream of consciousness which results in the execution of the unique spiritual life. Momentum comes from achieving the four objectives in the spiritual life; two are tactical and two are strategic. The first tactical objective is a personal sense of destiny which is tantamount to spiritual self-esteem. The first strategic objective is spiritual maturity which then becomes a tactical base from which the second strategic objective is taken namely maximum glorification of God. When Paul wrote 2 Timothy in 67 A.D., he had parlayed spiritual maturity into maximum glorification of God. In other words, through his phenomenal momentum, he had taken all his tactical and strategic objectives. 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the doctrine.” An analogy to spiritual momentum is found in 1 Peter 2:2, "Like newborn babies eagerly desire the unadulterated milk of the word, that by means of it you may grow as a result of salvation." 2 Peter 3:18, "but keep on growing in the sphere of grace and the knowledge about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." The major Greek verb in the momentum department is auxano which means "to grow". The minister communicates the truth as a part of the function of momentum as per Ephesians 4:15, "but communicating the truth associated with love, we may cause them to grow up with reference to the all things with reference to Him, who is the head, Christ." 2 Thessalonians 1:3, "We ought always to give thanks to God concerning you, brethren, as is fitting, because your faith has fantastic growth, and the love of each one of you toward one another keeps on growing ever greater."
7. The Seventh or last compartment of the stream of consciousness is wisdom. Wisdom is the sphere for the application of metabolized doctrine to your experiences after salvation. Therefore, the wisdom compartment is directly connected to the execution of the unique spiritual life of the Church Age. The Hebrew word for wisdom is chakmah, the Greek is sophia. Proverbs 2:2, "Make your ear to concentrate on wisdom, apply your heart to understanding." Proverbs 2:10, "For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge of doctrine will be pleasant to your soul." Proverbs 18:15, "The heart of the wise acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge." Ephesians 1:7-8, "By whom we have redemption through His blood [propitiation, reconciliation and redemption], resulting in the forgiveness of our trespasses, on the basis of the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us by means of all wisdom and a way of thinking," The wealth of God is measured in terms of doctrine and wisdom in the soul. Colossians 1:9, "For this reason also, since the day we heard, we do not cease to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled up with knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding."
Colossians 1:10
That you might begin to walk [the ingressive aorist tense in the infinitival form: The infinitive denotes the major purpose in life for the believer which is the absorption of doctrine being converted into dynamic function for God.] worthy of the Lord, pleasing God [the Father] in all things constantly producing in the sphere of every good work [good produced under the Two Power Options], constantly receiving growth by means of metabolized knowledge from the source of God.
περιπατῆσαι ἀξίως τοῦ κυρίου εἰς πᾶσαν ἀρεσκείαν, ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ ἀγαθῷ καρποφοροῦντες καὶ αὐξανόµενοι τῇ ἐπιγνώσει τοῦ θεοῦ,
Spiritual Walking:
1. Walking depicts modus operandi. It can also depict modus vivendi. (Modus operandi is overt function; modus vivendi is soul function). Walking in the New Testament is used, therefore, for the function of the believer during his time on earth.
2. Walking is compatible with one day at a time. Just as walking requires one step at a time so one’s spiritual life requires living one day at a time.
3. There are three spheres of the believer’s walk. The first is in doctrine, 3 John 3, “For I was very happy when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you indeed were walking in truth.” The second is in the Holy Spirit, Galatians 5:16, “But I say, keep walking by means of the Spirit [remain under the authority and power of the Filling of the Spirit], and you will never ever fulfill [carry out, gratify] the lusts of the flesh [sin nature].” The third is by faith, 2 Corinthians 5:7, “for you see [explanation], we walk [the Christian nearing Spiritual Self-Esteem] by faith [application: the Faith-Rest-Drill], not by means of sight [empiricism, human viewpoint].” Putting all three together, walking is a description of the spiritual life, Ephesians 5:15, “Therefore, understand how accurately you must walk not as fools [believers without truth, without the Filling of the Spirit and without the use of the Faith-Rest Drill] but as wise [believers using the Two Power Options and walking by faith],”
Colossians 1:11
By means of every enabling power [the Two Power Options] constantly being strengthened according to the standard of the ruling power of His glory [God provides everything needed for the Christian’s advance], resulting in all staying-power [applying doctrine under undeserved suffering with happiness] and steadfastness [not distracted by emotions] associated with happiness [When the believer has the capacity to apply doctrine under the pressure of suffering, he is happy and remains happy; this is a reference to sharing the happiness of God].
ἐν πάσῃ δυνάµει δυναµούµενοι κατὰ τὸ κράτος τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ εἰς πᾶσαν ὑποµονὴν καὶ µακροθυµίαν, µετὰ χαρᾶς
Colossians 1:12
Constantly being thankful [an expression of sharing the happiness of God] to the Father [dative of dignity], having qualified you [plural] for a share of the inheritance of the saints in the light [in God’s plan and system as opposed to Satan’s system].
εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ πατρὶ τῷ ἱκανώσαντι ὑµᾶς εἰς τὴν µερίδα τοῦ κλήρου τῶν ἁγίων ἐν τῷ φωτί·
Thanksgiving:
Thanksgiving toward God and his plan is based upon receiving something from God without having to earn it. Even the Greek verb for thanksgiving Εὐχαριστέω has as its root, the Greek word for grace χαρις, the basic root for all the Greek words for thanksgiving. The more you understand grace the greater is your appreciation for God’s plan. Thanksgiving, then, is simply grace orientation expressing itself toward God.
1 Thessalonians 5:18, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Be thankful for the blessings of life; be thankful for the adversities of life for both blessings and adversities can be used in God’s plan to advance you spiritually. Environment should not weaken you, enslave you or destroy you. When the Christian has the ability to apply the Ten Problems Solving Devices successfully to any type of environment, he will be consistently thankful.
Thanksgiving requires power and is that form of worship in which the Church Age believer acknowledges the gracious benefits received from the three members of the Trinity. The power for worship is found in John 4:24, “God is a spirit, and those who worship Him, must worship by means of the Spirit [the Filling of the Spirit] and by means of truth [doctrine].” The enabling power of the Holy Spirit with the power of metabolization of doctrine utilizing the Problem-Solving Devices equals true thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has no meaning, even for the believer, until he is consistently functioning under God’s empowered plan.
Thanksgiving is a part of the daily function of the Ten Problem-Solving Devices deployed on the FLOT line (forward line of troops in a defensive position) of the soul. Thanksgiving is not some shallow, fleeting system of gratitude for something. Thanksgiving is a moment-by-moment mental attitude produced by metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness. Thanksgiving is the mental attitude forged from cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine plus subsequent capacity for life, love and happiness. Colossians 2:7, “Having been rooted and having been edified in Him, and being stabilized by means of doctrine as you have been taught, overflowing with thanksgiving.” There is a relationship between your consistent perception of Bible doctrine and your attitude of thanksgiving toward God. Ephesians 5:20, “always be thankful with reference to all things toward God, even the Father, through the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Thanksgiving is an index of the spiritual status of the believer. The greater the content of metabolized doctrine in the believer’s stream of consciousness, the greater the capacity for mental attitude thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving reaches its peak in personal love for God the Father and occupation with the person of Christ. Thanksgiving fulfills the divine mandates as per Ephesians 5:20, “Always be thankful with reference to all things to God even the Father through the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 9:15, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” Revelation 7:12, “Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and ability belong to God forever and ever. Amen.” Psalm 100:4, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, honor His person.”
Thanksgiving is a function of prayer. Ephesians 1:16, “I do not cease giving thanks for you, and I make mention of you in my prayers.” Colossians1:3, “We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you.” Colossians 4:2, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.” Philippians 4:6, “Stop worrying about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Giving causes thanksgiving, 2 Corinthians 9:7-12, “Each person to the degree he has determined [not a percent] by means of his stream of consciousness [by means of his thinking from metabolized doctrine] so give, not from distress of mind [never give when you are pressured to do so], not under compulsion of emotion [giving is worship so worship must be related to doctrine, not emotion] for God loves a grace-oriented [gracious] giver. (8). God is able to make all grace abound to you [the grace-oriented believer] that always having a sufficiency in everything [money to give] you may have an abundance for every good deed. (9) Just as it stands written [a quote from Psalm 112:9], “He scattered abroad [God gives money to certain gracious believers]; he gave to the poor (through his agents). His righteousness abides forever.” (10): Now, he who supplies seed to the sower [God provides the capital] and bread for food, He God will supply and multiply your store of seed [your capital] and increase the harvest of your righteousness [Christian service]. (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. (12) This service [giving is recognized as Christian 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.”
Food should be accepted with thanksgiving, 1 Timothy 4:3-5, “[those] who forbid marriage [and advocate] abstaining from foods, which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. (4) For everything created by God is beneficial, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving. (5) for it is sanctified [to be nourishing to the body] by means of the word of God and prayer” This applies to all food, anytime, anywhere. Thanksgiving and asking God to sanctify the food, protects the believer’s health from any possible impurities in the food and so that the food will fulfill the requirements of the body when metabolized.
Capacity for blessing means thanksgiving-potential. Thanksgiving-potential depends on the amount of Bible doctrine in the soul of the believer, so that the believer who is blessed is occupied with the Giver as well as the gift. True happiness is loving the Giver more than the gift. Capacity for life is to enjoy the Giver more than the gift.
“A share of the inheritance” explained:
Jesus Christ is the heir of all things, Hebrews 1:1-2, “In the past, God [Father] spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days [New Testament times], He has spoken to us by His Son, Whom He has appointed the heir of all things, because of Whom [Jesus Christ], He has also designed the ages [dispensations around Christ].” This inheritance begins at the point of the Millennium.
Heirship is based on personal faith in Christ. Titus 3:7, “That being justified by His grace, we might become heirs on the basis of the confidence of eternal life.” Revelation 21:7, “He who overcomes [victory of salvation for eternal life] shall inherit these things. Furthermore, I will be His God; and he will be My son.”
Heirship is based on sonship which occurs at the moment of faith in Christ. John 1:12, “But as many as received Him [the concept of salvation], He gave to them, the power to become the children of God, to those who believe in His person.” Galatians 3:26, “You are the sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
This fulfills the concept of heirship found in Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit Himself testifies together [bears witness] with our [human] spirit, that we are the children of God. (17) Now, if we are children and we are, also heirs, on the one hand heirs of God [the Father], and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed [if it is true that], we suffer with Him [pass all three stages of undeserved suffering], that also we might be glorified with Christ.”
A few points on heirship:
1. Heirship demands blessing. To be the heir of God, the Father requires comparable blessing.
2. Heirship, then, is related to the concept of blessing from the integrity of God in time and in eternity. The imputation of divine righteousness is the first step in providing blessing from the integrity of God.
3. Because God the Father imputed to us His righteousness at salvation, He is able to provide many other assets including Logistical Grace provision and will provide a resurrection body at the Rapture of the Church along with many other blessings which blessings are for all believers.
4. However, in order to receive the greater blessings for time and eternity, we must suffer with Christ. He suffered undeserved suffering as His humanity was advancing spiritually, so we must pass all the undeserved suffering tests namely Providential Preventive Suffering, Momentum Testing and finally Evidence Testing. At our spiritual maturity, He as our Escrow Officer will give us our Escrow Blessings for time. This is apparently imputed to the righteousness which we share in union with Him. After passing Evidence Testing, He will roughly double our Escrow Blessings and then at the Evaluation Seat of Christ shortly after the Rapture, He will distribute to us, our eternal Escrow Blessings.
Heirship is based on positional sanctification and resultant adoption. The Church Age believer is royal family of God because of positional sanctification (union with Christ). In union with Christ, God has adopted each one of us as adult sons with an inheritance, Roman style. Ephesians 1:11, “in whom also we have received an inheritance, having been predestined [in Christ] with reference to a predetermined plan [protocol plan of God] from Him who works all things in conformity with the purpose of His will.” (Note: At regeneration, the believer enters into the family of God; In union with, Christ, the believer through adoption becomes a member of the Royal Family of God with an inheritance)
The Holy Spirit at salvation provides the signature guarantee of our inheritance, Ephesians 1:13, 14, “In whom also when you heard the message of truth [common grace] the gospel of your salvation in whom also when you had believed [efficacious grace], you were sealed [with a signature guarantee] by the Holy Spirit with reference to the promise [eternal salvation], (14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance, for the release of your assets for the praise of His glory.” Hebrew 9:15, “And for this reason he is Mediator of a new covenant [the New Covenant to the Church] in order that since a death [substitutionary atonement] has taken place resulting in redemption from the transgressions which were under the first covenant [the ritual system and priesthood found in the Mosaic Law to Israel] so that those having been called [those who understand and respond to the gospel message understood by Common Grace] might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
The believer’s inheritance is secure forever, 1 Peter 1:4-5, “We have 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 [doctrine] resulting in a deliverance, ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Our attitude toward our inheritance should be thanksgiving, Colossians 1:12, “Constantly being thankful to the Father who qualified us for a share of the inheritance of the saints.”
Colossians 1:13
Who [Father] has delivered us [rescued us from the awful power of Satan at the point of salvation] out from the authority of the darkness [the kingdom of Satan], and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love;
ὃς ἐρρύσατο ἡµᾶς ἐκ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ σκότους καὶ µετέστησεν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς ἀγάπης αὐτοῦ,
The Cosmic System, Satan’s system of Darkness:
The cosmic system is Satan's strategy as the ruler of this world to control believers as well as unbelievers. (However, our study will primarily deal with Satan’s strategy regarding believers.) Satan's cosmic system is composed of two separate power spheres namely Cosmic 1 and 2. Cosmic One is Satan's exploitation of believers through their own arrogance. Cosmic Two is Satan's propaganda to educate and promote antagonism toward anything related to God, or anyone learning or teaching His word. Cosmic one represents Satan's attitude from the time of his prehistoric fall up to the prehistoric angelic trial. Cosmic Two represents Satan's attitude from the time of Adam's fall in the garden to the end of the Millennium. Cosmic One emphasizes arrogance and subjectivity. Cosmic Two emphasizes antagonism and intolerance toward the plan, purpose, and will of God, as well as toward all Christians executing it. Thus, Cosmic One is Satan's philosophy in the prehistoric angelic conflict. Cosmic Two is Satan's philosophy in human history as the ruler of this world.
COSMIC ONE:
1. Emphasizes arrogance; preoccupation with self.
2. Targets the self-consciousness of the soul.
3. Results in preoccupation and obsession with self to the exclusion of God and man.
4. Emphasizes self in contrast to God and objective reality.
5. Represents Satan's attitude at the time of his prehistoric fall.
6. Represents Satan's philosophy in the prehistoric angelic conflict when he was obsessed with self in maximum arrogance.
7. The believer in cosmic one assumes [takes-on] the arrogance of Satan in the pre-historic angelic conflict.
8. The believer is a slave to self.
COSMIC TWO:
1. Emphasizes animosity, hatred, antagonism toward God, and His plan.
2. Results in antagonism toward Christ as the living Word and doctrine as the written Word.
3. Stresses human viewpoint over Divine viewpoint.
4. Represents Satan's attitude from the time of man's historical fall to the end of human history.
5. Represents Satan's philosophy as ruler of this world after the fall of man. For this reason, he is obsessed with destroying the plan of God.
6. The believer in cosmic two becomes inculcated with the antagonism of Satan and so becomes a slave to Satan.
Ephesians 2:2, "in which sphere [in spiritual death] you formerly walked [as an unbeliever] according to the lifestyle of this cosmos [Satan’s cosmic system], according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit [Satan] who is now operational [working via Cosmic 1 & 2] in the sons of disobedience [believers not executing the spiritual life]."
The religious Jews who lived during Christ’s 1st Advent did not understand Christ since they rejected revelation from God. Certainly today, cosmic unbelievers and cosmic Christians cannot understand the Christian who is advancing in the spiritual life and executing God’s plan though a Christian can understand those in Satan’s cosmic system through the Word of God.
Colossians 1:14
By whom [Jesus Christ] we have redemption [this work occurs at salvation] resulting in the forgiveness of sins [at salvation, the forgiveness of all pre-salvation sins occurs and after salvation, every time the believer names his post-salvation sins to the Father, they are forgiven as well];
ἐν ᾧ ἔχοµεν τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν, τὴν ἄφεσιν τῶν ἁµαρτιῶν·
A few points for clarification:
1. The following translation is an incorrect one and in effect defines redemption as the forgiveness of sins. “In whom, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” This incorrect translation translates the word ‘forgiveness’ as if it were an apposition which it cannot be.
2. In classical Greek, the apposition is found only in the Nominative or Genitive cases, and never in the Accusative case except in a few case found in the Koine Greek. Paul in defining a very important doctrine such as Redemption would never use the less accurate Koine Greek.
3. Furthermore, it makes no sense when one translates ‘forgiveness’ as appositional since ‘forgiveness of sins’ does not define Redemption. Redemption is Jesus Christ paying the ransom price of sins through judgment which has nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins. During the last three hours on the Cross, Jesus suffered judgment only.
4. In this sentence, we have a double accusative of object and result. The first accusative namely ‘redemption’ is the primary object of the verb. The second accusative namely ‘forgiveness’ is the ‘secondary accusative of result’ which follows as a result of the first clause, ‘we have redemption’.
5. So, when an unbeliever makes a decision to appropriate the work of Redemption through faith in Christ, his pre-salvation sins are forgiven immediately as part of the salvation package and he is entered into fellowship with God the Holy Spirit where he remains until which time, he commits his first post-salvation sin. At which time, he has the option to name his sin or sins to God the Father. If he chooses to do so, he will be forgiven and entered again into fellowship with God the Holy Spirit.
6. Man’s volition was not involved when God the Father made the decision to judge Jesus for every sin of the human race. Man’s volition is involved in the forgiveness of both pre-salvation sins and post-salvation sins.
7. Only the person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ for his salvation is forgiven of his sins. Therefore, the unbeliever is never forgiven of his sins since he does not want fellowship with God.
8. Forgiveness and fellowship are the two sides of a coin: on the one side is forgiveness, on the other side is fellowship.
9. As soon as a person is forgiven of sins, he has fellowship with God. Since the unbeliever does not desire fellowship with God, there is no need for forgiveness. Hypothetically, if both judgment and forgiveness had taken place on the cross, all members of the human race would have fellowship with God whether they had believed or not: totally weird and bizarre.
Redemption and its relationship to Mediatorship:
The saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross whereby every human being is purchased from the slave market of sin in which he was born in real, spiritual death. Redemption is viewed from the standpoint of a ransom paid on the cross for our salvation. Redemption is realized when a person is born-again by faith in Jesus Christ.
In the doctrine of soteriology, there are three key concepts: redemption, reconciliation, and propitiation. The phrase "the blood of Christ" applies to all three doctrines. Redemption is toward sin. Reconciliation is directed toward mankind namely mankind is reconciled to God. Propitiation is directed toward God, meaning that the integrity of God the Father is satisfied by the work of Christ on the cross.
What did Jesus Christ have to do to become our redeemer? In order to become our redeemer, Christ had to become a free and perfect member of the human race for He could not provide salvation by remaining as He was in eternity past as deity only for a redeemer must be judged for the sins of the world and since deity cannot be judged for the sins of the world, he had to take-on humanity. This was not only necessary for being a redeemer, but also for mediatorship for whoever is the mediator between God and man must be equal with both parties. Jesus Christ is both undiminished deity and perfect, impeccable humanity. Therefore, as God He is equal with party of the first part, God the Father. As true humanity, He was born perfect as Adam was created perfect. So as the God-man, He becomes the mediator between God and man and our redeemer.
The doctrine of Redemption was taught by means of animal blood in the Old Testament. Hebrews 9:22, "And according to the standard of the Law, nearly all things were cleansed with animal blood, and without the pouring out of animal blood there is no forgiveness [for without the shadow there is no reality]." You see, sacrificial animal blood was the shadow, a teaching aid of the reality. The reality would take place on the cross. Without the shadow, there is no reality. Without the reality there is no payment of sins on the cross. Without the payment of sins on the cross, there is no basis for forgiveness of sins. The payment for the penalty of sins means that judgment took place on the cross. Forgiveness takes place at salvation and thereafter.
Old Testament believers like Job and David applied such doctrines as Redemption and Resurrection to their circumstances. Job 19:25, "I know that My Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand in the latter day upon the earth [in resurrection body]." David said in Psalm 34:22, "The Lord redeems the soul of His servants [at salvation not the body]."
‘The blood of Christ’ a phrase which unites the animal sacrifices with the work of Jesus Christ on the cross by using animal blood as a representative analogy for the substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus. When the carotid of an animal was severed, blood gushed-out and since the life of an animal is in his blood, the gushing-out of animal blood meant that the animal would die. The physical death of the animal through bleeding to death was used as a representative analogy for the substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus on the cross. In other words, the death of Christ on the cross was not a physical death through bleeding to death, but God the Father punishing the humanity of Christ for the penalty of every sin of humanity. The physical death of the animal depicted the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. Ephesians 1:7, "By whom we have redemption through His blood (propitiation, reconciliation and redemption), resulting in the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace." Colossians 1:14, "By whom we have redemption resulting in the forgiveness of sins." 1 Peter 1:18-19, "We have not been redeemed with corruptible things [including blood], such as silver and gold, from our empty manner of life, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ [the phrase ‘blood of Christ’ related to an animal sacrifice; in other words, for those who insist that it was literal blood, should also insist that he was truly a lamb], a lamb without spot and without blemish." Thus, the phrase, the blood of Christ depicts, by analogy, the saving work of Christ on the cross.
Redemption removes the condemnation of the Mosaic Law. Galatians 3:13, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us. For it stands written [Deuteronomy 21:23], 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on the wood.'" He became a curse for us by bearing our sins. Every violation of the Mosaic Law that we have ever committed was born by Christ on His own body on the cross.
Redemption is related to mediatorship. Hebrews 9:14-15, “How much more [a fortiori] shall the blood of Christ [His work on the cross], who through the agency of the eternal Spirit [God the Holy Spirit sustained Him], offered Himself without blemish [no personal sins] to the God [the Father], purify your conscience from dead works [If a Christian should understand the cross and how Jesus through His spiritual life was able to handle such a great judgment, it should motivate the Christian to remove dead works from his conscience] to serve [as royal priests] the living God. (15) And for this reason he is Mediator of a new covenant [the New Covenant to the Church is found in the New Testament epistles] in order that since a death [substitutionary atonement] has taken place resulting in redemption from the transgressions which were under the first covenant [the ritual system and priesthood found in the Mosaic Law to Israel] so that those having been called [those who understand and respond to the gospel message via Common Grace] might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
1 Timothy 2:5-6, "For there is one God [in essence], and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, (6) who gave Himself as a redemptive ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time [God brings the gospel to the unbeliever at the exact right time]."
Now, let’s explain the phrase, “Resulting in the forgiveness of sins”.
Regaining fellowship with God through the Naming of our Sins, not to be confused with the Faith-rest Drill:
1 John1:9, "If we name our sins, he is faithful and righteous with the result that he forgives us our sins for our benefit and purifies us from all wrong doing [everything done when the believer is out of fellowship with God]."
ἐὰν ὁµολογῶµεν τὰς ἁµαρτίας ἡµῶν, πιστός ἐστιν καὶ δίκαιος ἵνα ἀφῇ ἡµῖν τὰς ἁµαρτίας καὶ καθαρίσῃ ἡµᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀδικίας.
Staying in fellowship is very important in the Christian way of life. Therefore, we must learn how to recover fellowship after committing sin for restoration to fellowship. God has designed a simple procedure which R.B. Thieme Jr. called the ‘The Recovery Procedure’. Although it is simple, it must be followed exactly.
Naming our sins to God the Father is a conditional procedure and not a promise to be applied by faith. A promise is a divine declaration or assurance that something specified will or will not happen, whereas a procedure is a course of action (naming our sins) by which a result is obtained (forgiveness of our sins). A promise requires faith; a procedure requires only action.
This verse does not say, “If we believe and cite our sins”. The believer cannot walk by faith when he is out of fellowship. So, God has given the believer a simple procedure for restoration to fellowship. Simply name your sins to Him that is to God the Father, and He will restore you to fellowship.
The Faith-rest drill, namely walking by faith cannot be accomplished when we are out of fellowship with the Holy Spirit. The Faith-rest drill is applying Bible doctrine to our experiences and requires divine power for execution. This divine power is provided by the Filling ministry of God the Holy Spirit, only when we are in fellowship. Walking by faith is a part of the spiritual life. When the believer is out of fellowship, his spiritual life comes to a halt until he gets back into fellowship.
Restoration to fellowship precedes any function of faith. In the function of the Faith-rest drill, the soul must be controlled by God the Holy Spirit. When the believer is out of fellowship, his soul is controlled by his sin nature. When the believer is controlled by his sinful nature, he is in a totally helpless and hopeless situation. This is why God had to provide a grace solution to this dilemma. This grace solution is a simple procedure, not a faith-exercise.
The Christian must realize that he is either in fellowship or out of fellowship with God at all times. He is not partly in fellowship and partly out of fellowship. When the believer is obedient to Bible doctrine under the Filling of the Holy Spirit, he is in fellowship and walking in the light. ‘Walking in the light’ is related to the soul, and not the body or its emotions. Therefore, fellowship is not something we ‘feel’. No believer should say, ‘I feel close to God’ or, ‘I feel like I’m out of fellowship with God’. Rather, the believer must understand that he loses fellowship with the Holy Spirit and enters into darkness whenever he sins. When in darkness, he must enter the light again through confession of sins.
Fellowship always follows forgiveness! When a person first believes in Jesus Christ as his Savior, his pre-salvation sins are forgiven, and he is placed immediately in fellowship with God the Holy Spirit. After salvation, when he decides to sin, fellowship with the Holy Spirit is broken and the believer enters into darkness. At this point the believer is helpless and needs a grace solution that he may again walk in the light. (When the Christian is out of fellowship and walking in darkness, he is in a totally hopeless situation. It is hopeless because the believer out of fellowship is under the control of his sin nature and so is unable to utilize whatever metabolized doctrine is in his soul.) Therefore, the solution to this problem of loss of fellowship comes from God’s gracious forgiveness, the only solution. Once he is forgiven, he is back in fellowship.
This passage (1 John 1:9) starts out with the following clause, “If we name our sins [a reference to known sins].” The Greek particle εαν (ean - if) and the Greek verb ὁµολογῶµεν (homologomen - to acknowledge, name, or cite) in the subjunctive mood forms a 3rd class conditional sentence in the Greek. The 3rd class conditional sentence emphasizes the free will of the individual and has the connotation of ‘maybe’. The believer may name his sins correctly to God the Father or he may not. When John wrote this passage under the ministry of the Holy Spirit, he recognized that many Christians would fail to properly cite their sins to God the Father.
Not only does the subjunctive mood recognize free will, but also does the imperative mood. A father may say to his daughter, “If you get married (subjunctive mood: potential, possibility, probability), I will give you an expensive wedding present.” Since she has free will, she may never receive that gift. A city mayor may command drivers to drive within a certain speed limit within the city. However, this does not mean that all drivers will comply. Scripture recognizes free will through its use of the subjunctive and imperative moods.
God provided 1 John 1:9 as the only way to recover our fellowship with Him. Since God gave it to us, it is our responsibility to use it. So, every time the believer gets out of fellowship, he should immediately name his sins to his heavenly Father. This is his responsibility.
The believer is not only responsible for acknowledging his sins, but he is also responsible for the act of his sins. Therefore, when you sin, don't blame others. Don't ever say, “He or she made me angry”. This is failure to take responsibility for your own sins. No person can make you angry. You made a decision to become angry, or to worry, to become jealous, to gossip, to fornicate. That was your decision, not the decision of someone else.
‘Homologeo’ (to cite, to state) is a classical Greek word originally used in the Athenian courts of the 5th century B.C. (The apostle John used this word that we might understand how forgiveness relates to the judgment of the cross.) How was this word used in the Greek judicial system? This verb was used of a criminal stating his crimes before a judge in a courtroom. After the criminal was found guilty, the judge would demand that the criminal acknowledge his guilt by stating his crimes (‘homologei tas harmatias sou’, translated ‘acknowledge your crime’). In stating his crimes, the criminal was not permitted to get emotional. He was not permitted to state his remorse, apologize or weep. The judge demanded that the criminal only state the facts regarding his crime, after which the judge would assign the appropriate punishment prescribed by law. Law, not emotion, was the criterion in the Athenian Court.
Judgment is followed by forgiveness. The cross was a courtroom trial presided over by God the Father, the presiding judge by whom Jesus, a substitute for the guilty human race, was sentenced and punished for all the sins of humanity. During the trial there was only judgment, not forgiveness. Colossians 1:14 states, “By whom [Jesus Christ], we have redemption [a primary accusative of object] resulting in the forgiveness [a secondary accusative of result] of sins”.
The key word in the first clause of recovery is homologeo. This word ‘homologeo’ contains no emotion, not even 1%. No tears, no regret, no begging, no promise to do better, and no ritual. Just acknowledge your guilt and state your sins to God the Father. How you feel about your sins during your confession is totally inconsequential. Just follow the procedure and name your sins; don’t try to impress God with your emotion [just as there is no emotion required for salvation and the spiritual life].
Now, it is true that sometimes when you sin, you may experience some regret which in turn may motivate you to name your sins to the Father. This is okay, but not necessary. The truly honest Christian admits to himself that he wanted to commit that sin and just names it without going through the emotion of regret. Desiring to get back in fellowship is sufficient motivation; emotion is not necessary. However, if a Christian remains out of fellowship for a prolonged period of time, he will become very emotional and may even be entering into the early stages of neurosis. So, when he finally decides to get back in fellowship, he may not be able to refrain from weeping as he confesses his sins to God the Father. This is okay as long as he is not trying to impress or bribe God the Father with his tears.
The clause “If we name our sins” refers to known and remembered sins. Now, please realize that certain sins are very subtle. So, in some cases you may not even realize that you have sinned. Obviously, if you don't know what you have thought or done was a sin, or if you have forgotten your sin due to an elapse of time, you cannot name it. For example, if you do not realize that worry is a sin or you have forgotten that you had lied about something, then you will not realize your responsibility to name it to God the Father. So, the word “sins” refers to known sins that you remember, not unknown or forgotten sins. These known sins must be named to the proper person of the Trinity. The citing or acknowledgment of sins in the Church Age is addressed to God the Father (Mark 11:25, 26; Luke 11:2).
God the Father is immutable, and so He is always faithful. Therefore, every time you name your sins to Him, He forgives you of your known and unknown sins and restores you to fellowship. He is never wearied by your confessions nor becomes irritated by your failures. He is always forgiving.
He is not only faithful, but also perfectly righteous. So, God cannot forgive us in grace until his righteousness is completely satisfied. This takes us back to the cross, the scene of the greatest courtroom case in all of history. God the Father was the judge. As a righteous judge, he demanded a perfect sacrifice be punished for all the sins of the world. The only perfect sacrifice was the Lord Jesus Christ. So, the justice of God the Father punished the humanity of Jesus Christ (He bore our sins on his body) for every sin of every human being in history. When it was finished, the righteousness of God the Father was completely satisfied and therefore, was free to offer forgiveness to anyone believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and His work on the cross.
Don’t add any work to the propitiatory work of our high priest, Jesus Christ on the cross. All sacrifices have to be offered by a priest. Since Jesus Christ was a high priest, he was able to offer himself as a sacrifice which propitiated completely God the Father. So, since there is nothing which needs to be added to the work of the cross, just name your sins. Don't make an issue out of yourself. Make an issue out of the cross by just stating your sins. When a Christian adds the human work of tears, promises, regret, begging, liturgy etc. while naming his sins, his confession becomes unacceptable to God. God cannot accept any work that competes with the perfect work of Our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
The Greek word ἵνα (hina) with the subjunctive mood introduces a result clause and should be translated “with the result that”. Since the righteousness of the Father was completely satisfied by the work on the cross, he is free to forgive us of our sins and to purify us from all wrong doing (grieving, quenching and lying to the Spirit and all the human good, sin and evil related to it.).
The Greek word αϕιηµι (aphiemi) means to forgive and the Greek word καθαριζω (katharizo) means “to cleanse” or “to purify”. The father forgives us of the sins which we state, but also the ones we do not state. When the Christian uses the Recovery Procedure he is saying in effect, Father, I know that you have punished Jesus for all of my sins, so on that basis forgive me of my sins (the sins I mention and the ones I have forgotten or am not cognizant of). Now, the next word is ‘katharizo’ and relates to the soul, and so should be translated “purify”. God not only forgives us of our sins, but he purifies us from all wrong doing and restores us to fellowship. Wrong doing incorporates everything that the Christian does when he is out of fellowship; it includes Grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), Quenching the Holy Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and Lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3) and everything related to these such as sin, human good and evil. (By the way it is usually prolonged wrongdoing that leads to the Sin unto Death (1 John 5:16, 17)).
Many times, when we sin and get out of fellowship, God administers discipline. We are not punished for the sin itself since Jesus Christ already paid in toto the penalty for every sin. We are being punished by the love of God namely the component of justice so that we will avoid guilt and learn to obey and respect Him (Hebrews 12:6). Forgiveness and purification do not imply that our suffering will stop. However, whatever suffering still exist after getting back into fellowship, becomes suffering for blessing.
In summary the opportunity to name one's sins to God the Father and get back in fellowship is a gift of grace. This gift was not intended to encourage sinning, but to provide the believer with the opportunity to continue in the spiritual life and to complete the objectives of the spiritual life - to grow in grace and knowledge.
Colossians 1:15
Who [Jesus Christ in His deity] is an exact image of the invisible God, the first born [first to be born perfect with a human spirit and the Filling of the Spirit; later others in the Church Age will be born again and Filled with the Spirit] of all creation [with reference to a particular part of all human creatures namely the Church Age].
ὅς ἐστιν εἰκὼν τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου, πρωτότοκος πάσης κτίσεως,
A few paragraphs for elaboration:
As the unique person of the universe, Jesus Christ possesses two natures that are inseparably united in “hypostatic union” without loss or mixture of separate identity, without loss or transfer of properties or attributes, the union being personal and eternal. He is undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever.
God the Son is the only visible member of the Trinity who became the God-Man at the Incarnation, John 1:14, “And the Word [title for the deity of Christ] became flesh, and dwelt among us [during the 1st Advent], and we [the apostles] beheld His glory, the glory as of the uniquely born one [born without a sin nature, without the imputation of Adam’s sin, and simultaneously as He received his human life, the deity of God the Son united with his humanity] from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
His title, ‘Lord’ which is Kurios in the Greek and Yahweh (Jehovah) in the Hebrew, proclaims His deity. The name Jesus may be translated as ‘Savior’ is the name of His humanity and signifies His redemptive work on the cross, Matthew 1:21, “She will give birth to a son and you [Joseph] will call His name Jesus for He will save [Jesus is a transliteration of the Hebrew name “Joshua /Yehoshua” meaning “The Lord is (our) salvation”] His people [the Jews] from their sins [on the cross: since this passage is discussing the Jews, it excludes the gentiles]” The designation “Christ,” meaning “the Anointed One” or “Messiah,” indicates that He will rule in the Millennium as king over Israel and the world.
God the Son made a decision in eternity past to become the God-Man, Philippians 2:6-8, “Who though He existed in the essence of God did not think equality with God a gain [a treasure] to be seized and held, (7) but, he laid aside his privileges [deprived Himself of the proper function of deity for the duration of the 1st Advent] taking on the form of a servant, having become in the likeness of men [overtly but not inwardly: no sin nature], and being found in outward appearance as a man. (8) He [his humanity] humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of [substitutional spiritual] death, that is the death of the cross.”
Jesus had to be true humanity and he had to be descended from the line of David. Matthew 1:18, 21, “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: His mother, Mary [descended from David via Nathan] had been contractually married to Joseph [descended from David via Solomon] but before [emphatic form in the Greek] they had come together [in sexual intercourse], she was found to be pregnant from the source of the Holy Spirit. [She provided 23 chromosomes from the line of David and the Holy Spirit provided 23 male chromosomes.] (21) She will give birth to a son and you [Joseph] will call His name Jesus for He will save His people [the Jews] from their sins.” Romans 1:3, “concerning his son who was born from the seed of David according to the flesh [true humanity],”
Jesus Christ has three royal families namely Divine, Davidic and the Church. As eternal God, Jesus Christ is royalty. His title is Son of God equal with the Father and with the Holy Spirit who are His royal family. Jesus Christ in His humanity was born into the Jewish royal family. As the Son of David, the entire family of David which preceded Him and which followed Him are His royal family. As a result of his strategic victory over Satan, the resurrected and ascended humanity of Christ was seated at the right hand of the Father and given the designation, King over kings and Lord over lords (to be fulfilled at the 2nd Advent), and with this new title he would be given a royal family namely the universal church.
Jesus Christ is in the Divine Decree: Romans 1:4, “who was marked-out, [by the Divine Decree] Son of God [emphasizes the identity of Christ before the virgin birth/incarnation] by means of power according to the Holy Spirit [the proto-type spiritual life given to the humanity of Christ as per Isaiah 11:2] by means of resurrection from death [physical death: the plural of this noun is many times used for the singular], Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The deity of Christ is called the Son of God because of his role as it relates to the human race. It does not imply that the Son is subordinate, obedient or inferior to God the Father for they are co-equal, co-eternal and co-infinite and have the same attributes etc. As such, God the Son obeys no one. Just as God the Son functions like a son so God the Father functions like a father toward mankind, but God the Son is not a son, and God the Father is not a father.
He, the deity of Christ bears every attribute of deity and is eternally related to the other two members of the Trinity. John 1:1, 3, “In the beginning [in eternity past] was the Word [a title of God the Son], and the Word was face to face with God [the Father], and the Word was God. (3). All things came into being through Him [the deity of Christ], and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.” Colossians 2:9, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; (28) and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. (29) My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. (30) I and the Father are one [having the same essence].” Hebrews 1:3a, “Who [Jesus Christ] being the radiance of His [God the Father's] glory, and the exact image of His [God the Father’s] essence [deity of Christ];”
Jesus not only had to be born perfect, but He also had to be genetically related to King David, in order to assume the title “Son of David” (Isaiah 9:7; Luke 1:32; Matthew 21:9). However, as we have already discussed, the sin nature comes down in copulation through the father. So, He, the humanity of Christ could not have a genetic father for if He had had a genetic father, he would have been born as we were born, with a sin nature. This would have automatically disqualified Him from being our savior. On the other hand, He had to have a genetic mother since the Messiah had to come from the line of David. Since Mary was descended from David and Bathsheba through their youngest son, Nathan, she was qualified to be that mother.
When Jesus was born, God created a soul for him and placed it in his biological life resulting in human life. At the same time, the Son of God (the deity of Jesus Christ, possessing all the characteristics of God as the second person of the Trinity) united with the Son of David, the perfect humanity of Jesus Christ. This resulted in one person possessing two natures: the God-Man. His status as the unique God-Man meant that the Lord Jesus Christ became the mediator between righteous God and fallen man, qualified to provide the work of reconciliation for all mankind on the cross.
Colossians 1:16
Because by agency of Him, all things [the universe, angels, and the soul of man] were created [the aorist tense indicating a point of time in which creation out of nothing took place] both in the heavens [angels and their pre-historic conflict] and on earth [the souls of the two humans]; visible [human souls in bodies seen by angels] and invisible [the structure of the universe and angels not seen by humans], whether human governments [of national entities], or constituted authorities, or rulers [angelic hierarchy] and authorities [angelic bureaucracy], all things stand created through [to indicate completion] Him and for him [for his purpose].
ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐκτίσθη τὰ πάντα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, τὰ ὁρατὰ καὶ τὰ ἀόρατα, εἴτε θρόνοι εἴτε κυριότητες εἴτε ἀρχαὶ εἴτε ἐξουσίαι· τὰ πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰς αὐτὸν ἔκτισται,
Creations out of Nothing:
Angels: Psalm 148:2, 5, “Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. (5) Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded, and they were created [barah: instantaneously out of nothing].”
הַלְלוּהוּ כָל-מַלְאָכָיו; הַלְלוּהוּ, כָּל-צְבָאָו.
יְהַלְלוּ, אֶת-שֵׁם יְהוָה: כִּי הוּא צִוָּה וְנִבְרָאוּ.
Universe: Genesis 1:1, “In eternity past, God [God the Father, the planner; God the Son, the creator; God the Holy Spirit, the revealer and restorer] created [barah: instantaneously out of nothing] the heavens [the universe excluding the earth; stellar space was designed for the pleasure and residence of the angels] and the earth [with animal and plant life designed for the angels; later it would be restored for human habitation with different fauna and flora].
בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ.
Mankind: Genesis 1:27, “So God created [barah: instantaneously out of nothing] man in his own image [the soul of man], in the image of God he created him; male and female he created [barah: instantaneously out of nothing] them [the souls of Adam and Ishah].”
וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ, בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ: זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, בָּרָא אֹתָם.
Other passages dealing with Reconciliation:
Acts 10:34-36, "Then Peter opened his mouth and said, `I most certainly understand that God is not one to show partiality, (35) but in every nation the person who reverences Him and accomplishes the purpose of imputed righteousness is acceptable to Him. (36) The doctrine which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace [reconciliation] through Jesus Christ: He is Lord of all.” Reconciliation teaches the removal of the enmity between man and God through the agency of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, this reconciliation is appropriated or ratified by personal faith in Christ.]
Our passage, Colossians 1:19-20, “Because in him [Christ] he [God the Father] has determined with pleasure that all the fullness [of blessing] should have permanent residence [in Jesus Christ].” (20) And through Him [Christ] to reconcile the all things to Himself [God the Father], having made reconciliation through the blood of His Cross [propitiation, reconciliation and redemption] through Him [Jesus Christ] whether things on earth [believers alive] or things in heaven [believers who have died].”
Ephesians 4:3, “Be diligent [pursue with perseverance assiduously] to guard [preserve, maintain] the unity of the Holy Spirit by means of the bond of reconciliation [between believer and God].”
Ephesians 6:15, “After you have put combat boots on your feet [prepared to communicate the gospel message], with the readiness to communicate the Gospel of reconciliation.”
Romans 5:8-11, "But God demonstrates His love [impersonal love] toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died on behalf of us [substitutionary spiritual death]. Much more then, having been justified by His blood [His work on the cross with emphasis on reconciliation], we shall be delivered from wrath through Him. For if, while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son [and we were], much more, having been reconciled, we shall be delivered by His life. And not only this, but also we glory in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through Whom we have received reconciliation."
Greek words dealing with Reconciliation:
1. The Greek verb katallasso means to change someone from a state of hostility into a state of tranquility and peace, from enmity to reconciliation. The Greek noun katallege means reconciliation.
2. The Greek compound verb apokatallasso, an intensified form of the verb, is found in Ephesians 2:16 and Colossians 1:22. It means to transfer from a certain status (real spiritual death) to another quite different status (eternal salvation).
3. The Greek noun eirene is translated "peace." It is a synonym for reconciliation, emphasizing the saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross as removing the enmity between man and God, the removal of the barrier between man and God.
The Peace Offering of the Levitical sacrifices portrayed the doctrine of reconciliation, Leviticus 3:3, “From the sacrifice of the peace [reconciliation] offerings he shall present an offering by fire to the Lord [God the Father], the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails [the fat representing the perfect righteousness of Christ],”
Reconciliation was prophesied in Isaiah 57:17-21, "Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain [function of evil in Judah], I was angry [anthropopathism to express the divine attitude toward evil in that client nation]; I struck him [anthropomorphism to express divine judgment toward evil]; I hid My face [anthropomorphism to express divine rejection of evil]; therefore, I was angry, but he went on turning away [continual apostasy] in the way of the right lobe [mental attitude of black-out of soul, life in cosmic system]. I have seen his ways [his evil ways], but I will heal him [reconciliation]. I will lead him and restore comfort to him and to his mourners [perpetuation of pivot in Judah], creating the praise of his lips. Peace [reconciliation] to him who is far off [gospel to Gentiles through Israel as missionaries] and peace to him who is near [evangelism in Israel], says the Lord. `Therefore I will heal him [remove the barrier as a result of positive response].'"
Jesus Christ as a Mediator provided the work of Reconciliation:
1 Timothy 2:3-6, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of our Savior, the God (4) who (God the Son is the antecedent of this relative in the Greek) desires all mankind to be saved and to come to a metabolized knowledge of the truth (5) for God is one [in essence] and the one [person of the Godhead] even (is) a mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus (6) who gave himself a redeemer [as a ransom: freed us from the slave market of sin], a substitute for all, [resulting in] the testimony [of the gospel message] given at the proper time (the unbeliever receives the gospel at the right time in his life).”
The Greek word mesites has both a general meaning and a technical meaning. The general meaning refers to anyone who arbitrates, one who gives advice. The technical meaning refers to Jesus Christ in hypostatic union as a mediator between God and fallen mankind.
Moses, not Jesus was the arbiter of the Mosaic Covenant. Jesus Christ could not function as mediator of this Covenant since He was not yet in hypostatic union. Jesus Christ first became a mediator at his birth but did not function in that capacity until the cross at which time He provided the work of reconciliation. Since the Mosaic Law was given to Israel in 1441 B.C., Moses functioned as the umpire, the arbiter of the Mosaic Covenant between God and the people of Israel.
Unconditional covenants do not require an arbiter. On the other hand, conditional covenants require an arbiter (a mediator in the general sense), and since the Mosaic Law was conditional, Moses was made the umpire. Whereas the unconditional covenants such as the Abrahamic, Land and Davidic required neither an arbiter nor a mediator.
In the Mosaic Law there was no equivalency. Another words, Moses was not equal with God and man. Therefore, there was no mediator in the technical theological sense, but in the general sense of an arbitrator. Moses was the arbiter, the umpire of the Mosaic Law.
In its technical sense, a mediator must be equal with both parties regarding integrity. Jesus Christ as God has perfect divine integrity and so has equivalency with both God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ in His birth had equivalency with Adam as he was created perfect. Furthermore, Jesus remained impeccable during His entire life and so exceeded the integrity of the 1st Adam. Jesus on the cross as a mediator reconciled mankind to God.
“Reconciliation through the blood of His Cross” (from verse 20 above)
Regarding the phrase, “The Blood of Christ” see the booklet with this title by R. B. Thieme Jr. for a detailed explanation regarding this subject. In the preface of this booklet, there is an introduction to this subject titled, “THE BLOOD METAPHOR.”
THE BLOOD METAPHOR
THE BLOOD OF CHRIST symbolizes the most important event ever to occur throughout the ages of angelic and human history. The phrase, “the blood of Christ,” is a metaphor for the saving work of Christ on the cross. The cross was the terrible price Jesus Christ paid for our so-great salvation. Unless believers understand the true connotation of this figurative phrase, they cannot fully appreciate what Christ has done for them. This is a sensitive subject for many believers. For some the blood of Christ has been associated with a lifetime of emotional experiences. Since childhood they have heard the blood mentioned in hushed, reverent tones; they have vigorously sung the hymns about the “wonderworking power in the blood”; or they have grown up with the idea that there was a special power in the red liquid that circulated through Jesus’ mortal body. Without even knowing its source, some believers cling to the old dogma that Christ carried His blood with Him to heaven in a bowl. This specious idea from the Dark Ages continues to perpetuate a form of mysticism around the physical blood of our Lord.
While some believers are ignorant of the doctrine of the blood of Christ from a simple lack of expository teaching, others are ignorant as part of a devastating system of hidden arrogance in their souls. The first category of individual has enough objectivity to listen and learn; he simply needs biblical information. The other type, however, is affected by a much more serious and complicated malady. Instead of being interested in what the Bible has to say, he considers his own view of the blood to be more important than God’s view. He would rather resist divine viewpoint than permit his pride to be deflated. To such a believer, the true doctrine of the blood is not simply a matter of learning something new and important; it is a challenge to his colossal arrogance. As the old saying goes, “Do not confuse me with the facts!” The only antidote is humility—recognition of the authority of the pastor-teacher who consistently teaches the Word of God. Bible doctrine will deflate pride and establish true spiritual growth on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.
There is no biblical basis for attributing mystical or unusual properties to the physical blood of Christ. The term, blood of Christ, is far more significant than any magical power falsely ascribed to His bodily fluids. We will see in great detail that His physical blood has absolutely nothing whatever to do with substitutionary atonement.
In the Bible, αἷµα (haima), “blood,” can have several literal meanings which include human blood and animal blood. However, when the New Testament speaks of the blood in relation to the sacrifice of Christ, it does not refer to literal blood. “The blood of Christ” is always a figure of speech. The Greek lexicographer, Walter Bauer, devotes an entire paragraph to the figurative use of the word in relation to Christ. He describes “the blood and life as an expiatory sacrifice . . . especially the blood of Jesus as a means of expiation.” Likewise, Vine states, “the blood of Christ . . . betokens His death by the shedding of His ‘blood’ in expiatory sacrifice [absolving or declaring free of guilt].” Bullinger categorizes phrases such as “justified by His blood” (Rom. 5:9), “redemption through His blood” (Eph. 1:7), “brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13), and “released us from our sins by His blood” (Rev. 1:5) as double metonymy [a figure of speech: the name of a concept for that of another to which it is related] referring to the “merits of His atoning death.” Further, Kittel’s Theological Dictionary confirms that “the blood of Christ in the New Testament is simply a pregnant verbal symbol for the saving work of Christ.” “Pregnant verbal symbol” means figurative language. In other words, Christ did not bleed to death to pay the penalty of sin. The term, blood of Christ, is a metaphor for His expiatory death in which He received the judgment that removed the penalty of sin.
Colossians 1:21
And you, yourself who at one time had been in a state of alienation [from a vacuum established in their souls] and hostile in your thinking [from blackout and in some cases scar tissue of their souls] by means of worthless work [from operating outside of God’s plan].
Καὶ ὑµᾶς ποτε ὄντας ἀπηλλοτριωµένους καὶ ἐχθροὺς τῇ διανοίᾳ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τοῖς πονηροῖς,
Ephesians 4:17-18, “Therefore, I communicate this and because of the Lord [a reference to the Dispensation of the Hypostatic Union in which Jesus establishes the precedence for the spiritual life of the Church Age], I insist that you no longer walk [have a lifestyle] even as the gentile's walk in the vacuum of their thinking [Because the unbeliever has very little truth in his soul, he cannot defend against false concepts], (18) Having been darkened [by a lack of light (truth)] in their understanding [way of thinking] and having been alienated from the life of God [unbelievers and believers in degeneracy] because of the ignorance which is in them [in their souls], because of the hardness [callousness, scar tissue which produces hostility] of their hearts [of the mentality of their souls].
Colossians 1:22
But in the body of His flesh through death [His substitutionary spiritual death] because in Him, the Father determined with pleasure to set you apart without blame and irreproachable in the presence of Him [in ultimate sanctification].
νυνὶ δὲ ἀποκατηλλάγητε ἐν τῷ σώµατι τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου, παραστῆσαι ὑµᾶς ἁγίους καὶ ἀµώµους καὶ ἀνεγκλήτους κατενώπιον αὐτοῦ,
The Substitutionary Spiritual Death of Christ on the Cross:
1. The need for a substitutionary spiritual death: Adam and his wife suffered a real spiritual death when they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This involved the loss of their human spirit and acquisition of a sin nature. Hence, since the sin nature is part of the makeup of cellular genetics, all Adam’s descendance are born with the sin nature within their cells and with the imputation of Adam’s Original Sin imputed to that sin nature at birth. This means that all of mankind is helplessly located in the slave market of sin. This required someone outside of the slave market of sin to provide a ransom to free mankind. Thus, the need for an impeccable person to pay the penalty of every sin of mankind.
2. He, Jesus was born in trichotomy (body, soul and human spirit) without a sin nature and so no imputation of Adam’s sin followed. Furthermore, since He never committed a personal sin, he retained his human spirit. Thus, the humanity of Jesus arrived at the cross in a state of impeccability and trichotomy. In that state, his humanity was qualified to bear the punishment of all the sins of humanity.
3. Before going to the cross, Jesus agreed to accept the punishment of all the sins of the human race, “My Father if it is possible and it is [Jesus had to be willing to go to the cross], let this cup [of the sins of the human race] pass from me, yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39b)
4. Jesus personally never died a spiritual death since he never sinned, rather he bore the burden of mankind’s spiritual death on the cross namely He was punished for the penalty of the sins of all mankind. He suffered this death to pay the price of Adam’s real spiritual death and that of his progeny.
5. Jesus Christ was portrayed as a male lamb unblemished and spotless (no sin nature and no personal sins) 1 Peter 1:18-19, “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” Jesus remained impeccable while being judged for the sins of the world. 2 Corinthians 5:21, “And he [God the Father] made him who knew no sin [remained impeccable both before the cross and on the cross] to become a sin offering [The Greek word can be translated sin offering: received the responsibility for and the judgment of all the sins of the world] as a substitute for us so that we might become the righteousness of God [the Father] by Him [by the work of Christ on the cross].”
6. So, Jesus’ substitutionary spiritual death means that He died as a substitute for the sins related to our spiritual death namely the billions of sins which were committed in addition to Adam’s original sin. In other words, he paid the penalty for our sins in toto.
7. All the while Jesus was on the cross, he was functioning under the two power options namely the Filling of the Holy Spirit and metabolized doctrine in his human soul – not once was He out of fellowship. In this way, Jesus Christ demonstrated the power of the Proto-type Spiritual Life. After He had proven the power of this Proto-type, He gave to each Church Age believer, the Operational type Spiritual Life.
8. Judgment means a break in fellowship! On the cross, from noon to 3 p.m., God the Father punished Jesus for the penalty of every sin of the entire human race (unlimited atonement). The omniscience of the Father imputed all the sins of mankind to Jesus during the last three hours on the cross while the Justice of the Father using his omnipotence then judged the humanity of Christ on the cross, while the deity of Christ was sustaining the universe. While bearing the penalty of the sins of the world namely His substitutionary spiritual death, Jesus had no fellowship with the Father, separation from fellowship with the Father until the work was accomplished on the cross. Death implies separation.
9. Matthew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour [3 P.M.] Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” translated [from the Aramaic into Greek], “My God, my God [addressing God the Father], why have you [in the singular] forsaken [abandoned] me?” David prophesizes the shout in Psalm 22:1a, “My God, My God why have you forsaken Me far from helping Me.” This was answered in Psalm 22:3a, “because you [Father] are holy [righteous and just].” The Father had to judge Jesus for every sin of mankind. Judgment implies abandonment and forsaking. There was no help nor fellowship during this judgment on the cross. So, this shout was prophesied in the Hebrew of Psalm 22; shouted out in Aramaic and translated into Greek (Matthew 27:46).
10. Jesus understood why he had to be forsaken but shouted out this rhetorical question for our benefit. It was a rhetorical question which had already been answered in Scripture as per Psalm 22:3a namely because the integrity of God demanded the punishment of all sins of mankind via a perfect sacrifice.
11. Jesus Christ born in trichotomy remained in the status of trichotomy on the cross as proven by his unique death namely his human spirit went into the care of God the Father, his soul went with God the Holy Spirit to Hades and his body remained in the grave.
12. Jesus Christ was not a curse, but became a curse as per Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law having become a curse for us, for it is written ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’”
13. Hebrews 12:2, “Be concentrating on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our doctrine, who because of the happiness that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame [from being identified with all these despicable sins], and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Just as Jesus endured under great pressure, not reacting in bitterness, hatred, and self-pity, so we must endure under great pressure in order to achieve and preserve happiness. There is no happiness without the ability to endure under pressure.
14. During the lifetime of the humanity of Christ, he was never forsaken by God the Holy Spirit whether it be before the cross or on the cross. The Holy Spirit always provided the enabling power for Jesus to execute the Father’s will during his entire life on this earth. So, from His birth to His physical death on the cross, He always had available and used the two power options namely the metabolized doctrine in his soul and the enabling power of the Spirit.
15. In this way, Jesus Christ demonstrated the power of the Proto-type Spiritual Life. This spiritual life called the Operational Type Spiritual Life, he gave to each Church Age believer.
16. Judgment not forgiveness: On the cross, there was only judgment, not forgiveness. Forgiveness is the result of the judgment of the cross. Forgiveness occurs for the first time, when a person believes in Jesus Christ. At that time, God the Father forgives that person’s pre-salvation’s sins as part of the salvation package. After salvation, when the Christian sins, he must use the Recovery Procedure as explained in 1 John 1:9.
19. R. B. Thieme Jr. first taught this doctrine in 1986 during the teaching of the Ephesian series, a doctrine which has been buried for over 1500 years and is still unknown by most Christians since it is not known and subsequently not taught by any professor in any major theological seminary today.
Colossians 1:23
If you [congregation] persist in the doctrine, having laid the foundation [after basic doctrine is learned, more complex doctrines can be learned] both stabilized [from a foundation of doctrine] and not being swayed [because of one’s stability] from the source [Jesus Christ] of confidence in the Gospel which you have heard and was publicly proclaimed to all creation [homo sapiens] under the heaven [planet earth], in which I, Paul, have become a minister;
εἴ γε ἐπιµένετε τῇ πίστει τεθεµελιωµένοι καὶ ἑδραῖοι καὶ µὴ µετακινούµενοι ἀπὸ τῆς ἐλπίδος τοῦ εὐαγγελίου οὗ ἠκούσατε, τοῦ κηρυχθέντος ἐν πάσῃ κτίσει τῇ ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν, οὗ ἐγενόµην ἐγὼ Παῦλος διάκονος.
Colossians 1:24
I now rejoice [sharing God’s happiness] in my sufferings on your behalf [the Colossians] and fill up in turn the deficiency [the pastor must fill-up the deficiency by teaching the mystery-doctrines], the things lacking [doctrine] with reference to the pressures of Christ in my flesh [Paul in his body shared in the pressures which Christ faced in his ministry prior to the cross] on behalf of His Body, which is the Church.
Νῦν χαίρω ἐν τοῖς παθήµασιν ὑπὲρ ὑµῶν, καὶ ἀνταναπληρῶ τὰ ὑστερήµατα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ σαρκί µου ὑπὲρ τοῦ σώµατος αὐτοῦ, ὅ ἐστιν ἡ ἐκκλησία,
Paul as a minister of God’s word rejoiced in his suffering both undeserved and deserved. It is inevitable that a minister will suffer undeserved suffering on behalf of his congregation. Also, out of Paul’s suffering due to reversionism, came blessing to his congregation. The greatest concentration of doctrine is found in the prison epistles: Philippians, Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians.
Explaining why a Great believer like Paul was happy:
James 1:12, “Happy is the believer who endures [stays under these pressures and sufferings with happiness] testing [Providential Preventive Suffering, Momentum Testing, and Evidence Testing], for having become approved [at the Evaluation Platform of Christ] he shall receive the wreath of life, which he [the Lord] has promised to those who love Him [enduring devotion and respect for the Lord Jesus Christ].” The greatest happiness comes to the believer who completes the spiritual life, because in doing so he obtains the happiness which God has designed for the mature believer. The happiness of spiritual maturity is a system of integrity and thinking, a happiness not dependent upon people or things, but related to loving God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Since the mature believer has both enduring devotion and respect for God, he has the power, the inner strength to handle any test or suffering in life. After the believer develops a personal love for Jesus Christ, he will receive his final test in life, then upon passing this test he will be approved by the Lord and receive “The Wreath of Life”. This decoration is awarded to invisible heroes for maximum production of divine good through the execution of the protocol plan of God, and through the fulfillment of his responsibilities related to his spiritual gift, his ambassadorship, and his royal priesthood. The Wreath of Life is awarded for consistent filling of the Holy Spirit, consistent perception of Bible doctrine, and consistent use of the Problem-Solving Devices resulting in the completion of the spiritual life.
“Fill up in turn the deficiency” The Greek word “pleroo” means to fully possess, to fully influence, to fill up a deficiency and to fill with certain qualities. “Ante” means in place of and “ana” means renewal or once again. So, “antanapleroo” means to take ones turn to fully possess, to fully influence etc. From beginning of time, God has always provided communicators to fill up a deficiency, to fully influence believers with Bible doctrine etc. In the Old Testament these people were called prophets and priests. In the New Testament we had the apostles followed by the pastors.
Paul faced undeserved suffering.
1. The entire body on earth is benefited by Paul’s pressures. Colossians is a good example of communicating doctrine under pressure for Paul had just come out of reversionism and was presently under house arrest in Rome.
2. All communicators of doctrine at some time face discouragement, disillusionment, disenchantment with people. It is easy for a pastor to become a cynic.
3. Through doctrine learned and communicated, the attitude of the minister is related to happiness from his relationship with the Lord. Paul could have become permanently discouraged by many of his congregations, but he wasn’t.
A list of Paul and his team’s pressures and adversities.
1 Corinthians 4:11-13, “Even to this present hour, we [Paul and his team] both hunger and thirst [many times they suffered hunger and thirst], and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated [the recipients of brutality and violence], and are homeless [they had no certain dwelling places in contrast to how the Corinthians were living [which would apply to the Colossians]; In addition to these pressures, Paul also had great pressure from his tremendous responsibilities.] (12) and we toil, working with our own hands [to exert great energy to make a living]; when we are reviled [being harassed, criticized by the Corinthians and others], we bless [we do not retaliate]; when we are persecuted [thrown into jail, scourged etc.], we endure [we handle this without stress etc. signs of great spiritual growth]; (13) when we are slandered, we try to conciliate [entreat; speak kindly of those slandering]; we have become as the scum of the world [this is how they were viewed by the unbelievers], the dregs of all things [garbage], even until now.”
Colossians 1:25
Concerning which [body is the Church] I have become a minister on the basis of this dispensation from God having been given to me for your benefit [it is to the advantage of the communicator to be oriented to dispensations] for the purpose of [communicating it to] you [directional] to fulfill [every time the communicator teaches] the Word of God [Bible doctrine must be taught to the congregation in the frame work of dispensations.].
ἧς ἐγενόµην ἐγὼ διάκονος κατὰ τὴν οἰκονοµίαν τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν δοθεῖσάν µοι εἰς ὑµᾶς πληρῶσαι τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ,
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. Paul fully possessed doctrine (pleroo) that he might be able to communicate it to others to fully influence them, to fill up their deficiency in doctrine, to fill them with the high quality of the word of God.
As Saul of Tarsus, he started out to become 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 the Mystery-doctrines.
Dispensations:
Dispensations are periods of human history as taught only in the Scripture. Dispensations are divine categories of human history; therefore, both the divine outline and the divine interpretation of human history. 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 for God’s plan is not the same for every dispensation. In fact, the plan is quite different in each dispensation. The believer’s orientation to both time and to human history is vitally necessary for understanding God’s plan and God’s purpose. Dispensations constitute the divine administration of history.
The following Greek words oikonomia, chronos, Kairos and aion have more than one meaning. So, it is best to see them in context which will be given below.
The Greek 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). It was used in the Attic Greek by Xenophon 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 connotes policy, administration, and the provision of God for believers in a period of history. This word is used in Ephesians 1:8-10a, "From which [riches of grace] He has made us [Church Age believers] super-rich by means of all wisdom and understanding (9) when He revealed to us the mystery of His will according to His gracious intention which He [God the Father] planned in Him [Jesus Christ], (10a) with reference to the dispensation [oikonomia] of the fullness of times [Kairos: the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, pre-canon and post-canon period of the Church Age]"
The Greek word chronos 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. Shortly before Christ ascended into heaven, His disciples pressed Him regarding the timing of future events in Acts 1:6-7, “And so, when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, ‘Lord, is it at this time [chronos: the time for the 2nd Advent] You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?’ (7) He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times [the time of the Rapture, the time of the 2nd advent etc. chronos] or epochs [kairos] which the Father has fixed by His own authority.’” Occasionally chronos is used in the Bible for a segment of time and has a dispensational connotation as per Romans 16:25, “Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the proclaiming of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery [of the Church Age] which has been kept secret for long [aionios] ages past [chronos: dispensations of the gentiles and Israel].”
The Greek word kairos means time as an epoch or era, a chronological order or system, a period characterized by a distinctive development within that period as from the pre-canon to the post-canon periods of the Church Age. In various passages kairos refers to the Church Age as per Romans 8:17, 18, “Now, if we are children and we are, we are also heirs, on the one hand heirs of God [the Father], and joint heirs with Christ. If indeed, we suffer [go through undeserved suffering] with Him, that also we might be glorified together with Christ. (18) For I conclude that the sufferings of the present period [Kairos: the dispensation of the Church Age] are not comparable to the glory which is destined to be revealed in us.” Luke 21:24, “and they will fall by the edge of the sword [1.9 million at the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.] and will be led captive [97 thousand] into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under-foot by the Gentiles until the times [Kairos: in this context is more than a dispensation] of the Gentiles are fulfilled [70 AD to the 2nd Advent].”
The Greek word aion is also used for dispensations. Colossians 1:25-27, “Of which [Church] I have become a minister on the basis of this dispensation [oikonomia] from God, which has been given to me for your benefit, that I might implement your deficiency of the Word of God, (26) that is, the mystery [of Church Age doctrines], which has been hidden from past ages [aion: used also for dispensations ] and generations, but now has been revealed to the saints [is a technical term for Church Age believers], (27) to whom God has decreed to make known what is the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles [in dramatic contrast to the exclusive spiritual position of Jews in the now-suspended Age of Israel] [which mystery is] Christ in you [the indwelling of Christ in every believer, a characteristic unique to the Church Age only], the hope of glory [the believer’s confidence of fulfilling the plan of God for this dispensation].”
The Divine Outline of History:
A. The Theocentric Dispensations
The Age of the Gentiles
1. Positive Volition (the garden: the creation of mankind to his fall)
2. Negative Volition (from the Fall circa 10, 000 B.C. to Abraham’s entrance into the Land, circa 2095 B.C.)
3. Jewish Patriarchs (Abraham’s circumcision circa 2060 B.C. to Moses’ deliverance of the Jews from Egypt in 1441 B.C.)
The Nation Israel:
1. Theocracy: 1441 B.C. to 1020 B.C.
2. United Kingdom: 1020 B.C. to 926 B.C.
3. Divided Kingdoms: Northern Kingdom from 926 B.C. to 721 B.C.; Southern Kingdom from 926 B.C. to 586 B.C.
4. Chaldean Captivity (Babylonian Captivity): 586 B.C. to 516 B.C.
5. Judea: 516 B.C. temple rebuilt; 445 B.C. walls rebuilt and military established until its fall in August of 70 A.D.;
B. The Christocentric Dispensations
The Hypostatic Union from the birth of Jesus at circa 4 B.C. until His ascension in 30 A.D.; it forms a wall between Israel and the Church.
The Church Age from the Day of Pentecost in 30 A.D. to the Rapture;
C. The Eschatological Dispensations
1. The Tribulation (the completion of the Dispensation of Israel as Daniel’s 70th week)
2. The Millennium (The final dispensation also the third civilization namely the Pre-diluvian, the post-diluvian and the Millennial Civilization followed by the Eternal State)
This completes our brief outline of human history from God’s perspective.
Colossians 1:26-27
"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]. (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 confidence of glory."
τὸ µυστήριον τὸ ἀποκεκρυµµένον ἀπὸ τῶν αἰώνων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν γενεῶν ñ νῦν δὲ ἐφανερώθη τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ, οἷς ἠθέλησεν ὁ θεὸς γνωρίσαι τί τὸ πλοῦτος τῆς δόξης τοῦ µυστηρίου τούτου ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ὅ ἐστιν Χριστὸς ἐν ὑµῖν, ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς δόξης·
The Mystery-Doctrines:
Vocabulary based on the Ancient Cults:
The Greek word musterion is a reference to the secrets of the ancient cults. Only those who were initiated into the fraternities and sororities of these cults knew the mystery doctrines or their secrets. The mystery cults of the ancient world were all demonic. Some of the famous mystery cults included: The mystery cult of Eleusis related to the goddess Demeter (Ceres) adopted by Athens, the mystery cult of Isis which was the cult of Egypt, the mystery sorority of Dionysus for women whose rites included heavy drinking, drugs, ritual shouting and ecstasies, wild frenzied dancing, lesbian homosexual perversions, and human sacrifice. Then, there was the mystery cult of Mithras for men only, and also only for men were the worshippers of Cybele who often castrated themselves in the madness of the rites, and for our final example, the Orphic mystery cult which centered around the singer Orpheus. Though these cults were said to be famous, infamous would be a better word to use.
Therefore, a vocabulary was developed in the Attic Greek for these cultic functions. The Greek word museo means to be initiated into the mysteries of the fraternity or sorority. This initiation was comprised of learning through inculcation, the secrets and doctrines of the fraternity (sorority) which secret doctrines were never to be revealed to outsiders. The Greek word muste referred to those who were initiated, to those who persevered until they actually learned all the fraternity (sorority) doctrines which doctrines were called mystery (musterion in the Greek).
Paul borrows the Greek word, musterion of the ancient cults to explain the Church Age and its unique doctrines:
The word musterion came down into the Koine of the New Testament. Musterion referred to the content of the doctrine, the actual principles and points that had to be learned to understand the spiritual life of the Church Age. The apostle Paul who used this word twenty-three times in the New Testament, took this noun away from the Greek fraternities (sororities) and gave it, under the ministry of the Holy Spirit, a Biblical definition which stands in the Word of God forever.
The meaning of Mystery (musterion in the Greek) in the Church Age:
The word “mystery” (musterion in the Greek) refers to Church Age doctrines that were never revealed in Old Testament times. In the Old Testament, the Church Age with its unique spiritual assets was completely blacked-out. None of the following unique doctrines were known to the Old Testament writers of Scripture such as:
1. The six things provided by the Holy Spirit at salvation namely the Baptism of the Spirit, Regeneration, Indwelling of the Spirit, a spiritual gift, Sealing of the Spirit, and the Filling of the Holy Spirit Though Regeneration and Efficacious Grace are provided as well, they are not unique to the Church Age.
2. The new spiritual species of the royal family of God whereas the Jews were a new racial species;
3. The unique Protocol Plan of God with its precisely correct procedure,
4. The equal privilege and equal opportunity of every Church Age believer to execute the protocol plan of God,
5. The Portfolio of Invisible Assets,
6. The unique royal commissions of the royal priesthood and the royal ambassadorship,
7. The indwelling of each member of the Trinity in the body of every Church Age believer,
8. The 100% availability of divine power (the omnipotence of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit),
9. The dispensation of invisible heroes having personal, national, international, and angelic impact.
10. Marriage in the Church Age which may need a little elaboration is also part of the Mystery doctrine. No unbeliever could fulfill the phrase “as unto the Lord” as found in Ephesians 5:22 and the clause, “just as the Lord loved the Church and gave himself as a substitute for her” as per Ephesians 5:25. As a matter of fact, only mature believers have the ability to obey these commands. However, growing believers should be challenged to advance to spiritual maturity in order to fulfill these mandates. Furthermore, these commands found only in Ephesians were never given to any Old Testament believer. Moses, for example was never given the command found in Ephesians 5:25 since to execute these commands requires the power of the ‘mystery doctrines’ as found in the New Testament Epistles and the power of the Filling of the Holy Spirit. So, this passage was designed for Church Age believers only. In the Old Testament both unbeliever-marriage and believer-marriage were under the Laws of Establishment whereas in the Church Age, the Christian marriage is not only under the Laws of Establishment, but is related to the spiritual life as well. Thus, the standard of believer-marriage in the Church Age was raised to the highest possible level. This makes Christian marriage in the Church Age unique and a part of the mystery doctrines. Ephesians 5:32, “And this mystery [regarding marriage] is great, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and with reference to the Church.” The divine institution of marriage during the Church Age is far more important and has greater repercussions than in any other period of human history because it is related to the mystery doctrines of the Church Age and to the Angelic Conflict.
The Church Age and the Mystery Doctrines are not mentioned in the Old Testament; the Church Age and these doctrines are skipped-over:
There are a number of Old Testament passages which could have mentioned the Church Age but passed over it. Between the following passages the Church Age occurred and so could have been revealed, but it was passed over in silence: Daniel 2:40-41, “Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron [the Roman Empire]; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so like iron that breaks in pieces, it [the Roman Empire] will crush and break all these in pieces. [skipping over the Church Age] (41) And in that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay [the consolidation of the Revived Roman Empire in the Tribulation].” Now for our second passage: Daniel 7:23-24, “Therefore, he said [the interpretation from the angel], ‘The fourth beast shall be a fourth empire upon earth [the Roman Empire], which shall be diverse from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and crush it. [After speaking about the Roman Empire, Daniel skips over the Church Age and proceeds to the Tribulation.] (24) And as for the ten horns [the Revived Roman Empire], out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another [a little horn, the dictator of the Revived Roman Empire] shall arise after them; and he shall be different from the previous ones [Satan’s servant, the dictator of the Revived Roman Empire] and he shall conquer three kings.” Now, for third passage: Hosea 5:15-6:1, “I will go away and return to My place [loss of Client Nation status] Until they [historical Israel in the Old Testament] acknowledge their guilt [during Israel’s 5th Cycle of Discipline coterminous with the Church Age] and seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me. (6:1) Come, let us return to the Lord [at the 2nd Advent]. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us [under the 5th Cycle of Discipline], but He will bandage us [restore Israel at the 2nd Advent].”
Jesus prophesized in part regarding the Mystery-Doctrines:
John 14:20, “In that day [Pentecost] you will know [they did not understand it when Jesus taught it] that I am in My Father [identification of Jesus Christ with the essence of God], and you in Me [Baptism of the Spirit], and I in you [Indwelling of Christ in every Church Age believer].” Acts 1:5-8, “For John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized by Holy Spirit [identification with Christ in heaven] not many days from now. (6) Then, indeed, these coming together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, do You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel [His millennial reign]? (7) And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put under His own authority. (8) But you shall receive power, the Holy Spirit coming upon you [the Filling of the Holy Spirit]. And you shall be witnesses [both to unbelievers of the human race and to angels with regard to the angelic appeal trial] to Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’”
The Mystery-doctrines for the Church Age as taught by Paul:
These mystery doctrines are now revealed, Romans 16:25-26, “Now to Him who is able to establish [stabilize] you [through the spiritual life] according to my good news and the preaching of Jesus Christ, on the basis of the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret [concealed] for long ages past [past dispensations]. (26) But now [in the Church Age] has been revealed through the prophetic Scriptures [of the New Testament] by the decree of the eternal God, having been made known to all the Gentiles, for the purpose of obedience [to the plan of God] from doctrine.” Ephesians 3:2-6, “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. By reading this, you ought to be able to understand my technical knowledge about the mystery of Christ which was not made known to mankind in other ages [other dispensations], so that it has now been revealed to His holy apostles, even the prophets, by the Spirit; that Gentiles are fellow-heirs and members together of the same body and sharers together of the same promises in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.” Never before in human history has the grace policy of God promised so much for the ordinary believer, no matter how insignificant his life may be.
Pastors are mandated to teach the Mystery-doctrines:
1 Corinthians 4:1, “Let a person regard us [communicators of God’s Word] as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:7, “But we communicate God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden assets which God predestined before the ages for the purpose of our glory.” These doctrines of the Church Age will manufacture invisible heroes when Christians are willing to learn them from having correct Biblical priorities. 1 Timothy 3:9, “With a pure conscience, keep holding the mystery, even the Church Age doctrine.” Colossians 1:25-26, “Concerning which [body which is the Church] I have become a minister with reference to the dispensation from God having been given to me for my benefit [it is to the advantage of the communicator to be oriented to dispensations] for the purpose of [communicating it to] you [directional] to fulfill [every time the communicator teaches] the Word of God [Bible doctrine must be taught to the congregation in the frame work of dispensations.] (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 [the Royal Family of God].” Since this mystery is now revealed, there is no excuse for ignorance.
So, it is the pastor’s job to inculcate the mystery-doctrines, to inculcate through repetition. Ephesians 3:9, “And to make perspicuous what is the dispensation of the mystery.”
There is a link between the great power experiment of Hypostatic Union and the great power experiment of the Church Age.
Colossians 2:2, “That their right lobes may be encouraged, having been held together by means of love, and resulting in all the riches from the full assurance of technical knowledge [insight] resulting in metabolized knowledge of the mystery of the God, that is, Christ [who utilized the Filling of the Spirit].” Note the linkage between the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and the great power experiment of the Church Age. The humanity of Christ pioneered maximum utilization of divine omnipotence inside the prototype spiritual life. We have the operational type spiritual life for the utilization of that same power. 1 Timothy 3:16, “And by consent of all, great is the mystery of the spiritual life: the unique One [Jesus Christ] who appeared in a human body was vindicated by means of the Holy Spirit; He was observed by angels; He was proclaimed among the nations; He was the object of faith in the world; He was taken up into glory [ascension and session].” Our Lord’s humanity resided inside the prototype spiritual life where He depended entirely upon the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit and metabolized doctrine. Today we have exactly what the humanity of Christ had. He functioned in the prototype; we have the operational-type. The strategic victory of our Lord during the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union resulted in a second Christocentric dispensation: the great power experiment of the Church Age. The great power experiment of the Church Age derives its precedence from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union. So, the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union has two applications. First, it serves as a permanent line of demarcation between the dispensation of Israel in the Old Testament and the dispensation of the Church in the New Testament. Secondly, it also serves as a precedence for the unique spiritual life of the Church Age with its mystery doctrines.
Distinguishing between the Age of Israel and the Church:
The modus operandi of Israel is based on being a new racial species. The modus operandi of the Church is based on being a new spiritual species. Therefore, Israel did not have the 100% availability of divine power as we have nor did Israel have the indwelling of all three persons of the Trinity, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the universal priesthood of the believer, the universal royal family of God composed of all believers, the equal privilege and equal opportunity of both Jews and Gentiles, the modus operandi of the protocol plan of God, and the extremely high mandates required in Christian marriage.
Using the Mosaic Law for the spiritual life of the Church Age instead of the Mystery-Doctrines:
Throughout the Church Age, there has been the prevalence of using the Mosaic Law for the Christian way of life. The Mosaic Law became the center of attention for explaining the Christian way of life, and self-determined morality became the order of the day instead of Spirit-filled virtue. The result of morality combined with arrogance related to Sabbath observance, tithing, ritual muttering of the alleged Lord’s Prayer. All these things are not the Christian way of life. For the protocol plan of God for the Church Age derives its precedence from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union, not from the Old Testament and not from the Mosaic Law.
In conclusion, the dispensation of Israel provides no precedence for the Church Age. All precedence for the protocol plan of God is taken from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.
Colossians 1:28
Whom [Christ] we [communicators of God’s word] proclaim [to the unbeliever the gospel and the believer the spiritual life], warning every person [every Christian about failing in the spiritual life], and continually teaching [about how to become a winner] every person [believer] in all wisdom [through the pastor’s intense study, he acquires great wisdom which he must teach to his congregation] that we may present every person mature in Christ.
ὃν ἡµεῖς καταγγέλλοµεν νουθετοῦντες πάντα ἄνθρωπον καὶ διδάσκοντες πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ, ἵνα παραστήσωµεν πάντα ἄνθρωπον τέλειον ἐν Χριστῷ·
Wisdom:
1. Wisdom comes from the truth of God’s word. The more truth one builds-up in his soul, the more the potential for wisdom.
2. Every doctrine when applied to life, people or circumstances produces wisdom.
3. The more the Christian learns about the spiritual life of the Church Age, the more wisdom he obtains about that subject.
4. Wisdom is one of the greatest riches in life and so the more wisdom one acquires, the wealthier he becomes.
Colossians 1:29
For which purpose [the execution of God’s Plan] I also labor to the point of exhaustion constantly striving for the objective [the pastor must discipline himself to faithfully study and teach] on the basis of His [Holy Spirit’s] working which is effective in me [Paul speaking for himself, but representing the communicative gifts] by means of the power [of God the Holy Spirit working through the power of metabolized doctrine].
εἰς ὃ καὶ κοπιῶ ἀγωνιζόµενος κατὰ τὴν ἐνέργειαν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐνεργουµένην ἐν ἐµοὶ ἐν δυνάµει.
Paul worked to the point of mental exhaustion. Every pastor must discipline himself to do the same.
Divine Establishment:
A few points of Introduction:
1. God has ordained certain laws for the survival and freedom of the human race (believer and unbeliever) during the course of human history. Anarchy exists when segments of society ignore these laws for the Laws of Divine Establishment provide the freedom to fulfill the divine plan as ordained in the divine decree under many types of government.
2. 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.
3. These laws directly affect freedom, civilization, authority, evangelism, spiritual growth, and the perpetuation of the human race. They are as important to us as is the Law of Gravity.
4. The Laws of Divine Establishment define freedom in terms of privacy, property and legitimate authority. There is no such thing as the enjoyment of life or freedom without the proper use of authority. All systems of freedom function under authority. Freedom without authority is anarchy; however, authority without freedom is tyranny.
5. The Laws of Establishment function through the four Divine Institutions: the individual, marriage, family, and nationalism.
The Divine Institutions: institution one, the individual; institution two, marriage established in the Garden; institution three, family established at the Fall; institution four, nationalism established after the Flood.
The First Divine Institution is the Individual with free will. The use of his volition is his authority, a component of the soul which is made up of self-consciousness, a conscience which must be filled with divine norms and standards, a mentality which operates through the biological brain, and volition as the authority of the soul.
The spark or breath of life is imputed to biological life at birth resulting in a soul having life which we call human life. Remember that in the Garden, God breathed into the biological life of Adam the breath of life, a spark of His own life which resulted in a soul having life aka human life. At the point of one’s death, this soul having everlasting life will be transferred to an interim body until the Rapture at which time the soul having everlasting life will be transferred into the resurrection body.
Freedom does not imply equality. 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. If the individual uses his volition to adhere to the Laws of Establishment and avoids arrogance, he will develop great capacity for life, with humility and integrity. If he should be a Christian who has advanced spiritually all the way to spiritual maturity, he will be qualified for the next divine institution namely marriage along with the unbeliever who has developed his capacity from the Laws of Establishment only.
The Second Divine Institution is Marriage with the authority vested in the husband. Monogamy is a permanent relationship between one man and one woman as ordained by God to remind mankind that He has from the beginning a design. In other words, if God intends for a man to get married, he will bring the right woman to him at the right time as per Genesis 3:22-24, “and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he fashioned [literally built] into a woman and brought her to the man [The Lord brings the woman to the man at the right time]. (23) Then, the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh [the same species]; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out from Man.’ (24) Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother [form their own corporation] and have sexual intercourse with his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
Their relationship, established in the garden, was continued after the fall. It has never been cancelled in any generation. Thus, 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, Ecclesiastes 9:9, “Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life [describes the life of the unbeliever] which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil [his occupation] in which you have labored under the sun.”
Marriage is the basis for stability in society and for the formation of civilization. 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.
The Third Divine Institution is the Family with the authority vested in the parents. God has provided certain divine laws, such as the authority of the parents, to protect, care, nourish, provide, train, and discipline children to prepare them for a normal life. Children must be trained to respect the privacy, property, and rights of others, not to abuse freedom, and to have respect for authority. Furthermore, parents must teach poise, objectivity, respect for police, patriotism, and their sons, the willingness to serve in order to protect national freedom. Christian parents must also evangelize and provide pre-doctrinal training for their children, Deuteronomy 6:6-9, “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. (7) You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. (8) You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. (9) You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” It is the responsibility of parents not only to instill respect for the Word of God, but also the recognition of the authority of their pastor-teacher.
The Fourth Divine Institution is Nationalism. If the entire human race were under one rule with the exception of the Millennial reign of Christ, it would self-destruct. To perpetuate the human race and bring history to its logical conclusion, God has designed the nation to protect the freedom and rights of its citizenry. The formation of the Jewish nation set up the perfect standard of what a national entity should be. The Biblical proof that nationalism is authorized by God is found in Genesis 10:5, “From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the sons of Japheth into their lands, each with his own language [formed at the Tower of Babel], by their families, in their nations.”
Since there was no nationalism before the Flood (circa 10,000 B.C., the approximate date of the Fall to 5,000 B.C., the approximate date of the Flood) evil spread quickly during the Pre-diluvial period. So, the Lord instituted nationalism for the post-diluvian civilization.
After the Flood, God’s policy was nationalism, but the descendants of Noah wanted internationalism. Genesis 11:1-9, “Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. (2) It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the Land of Shinar and settled there. (3) They [the descendants of Noah] said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.’ And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. (4) They said, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower [equivalent to the United Nations] whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth [as separate nations].’ (5) The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. (6) The Lord said, ‘Behold, they are one people [one international community], and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do [a movement toward internationalism and centralizing world power], and now nothing which they purpose to do [in consolidating power into the hands of a few] will be impossible for them [there will be no limit to their evil]. (7) ‘Come, let us [the Godhead] go down and there confuse their one language [by creating many languages to encourage nationalism], so that they will not understand one another's speech.’ (8) So, the Lord scattered them [via the introduction of languages] abroad from there over the face of the whole earth [for many languages encouraged nationalism and separation]; and they stopped building the city. (9) Therefore, its name was called Babel [the ancient United Nations’ building], because there, the Lord confused the one language [by creating many from it] of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth [via the introduction of many languages].”
Well defined Nationalism was on the basis of Israel and the Mosaic Law. Deuteronomy 32:8, “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the Gentile peoples [formed nations] on the basis of the number of the sons of Israel” [In the Old Testament five Client Nations came from Israel which Client Nations were a blessing to other nations such as Assyria via Jonah; In other words, everything revolved around Israel even when they were out of pocket, they were still a blessing to Persia.]
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 proven 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.
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 for power can be used to seize property, remove rights and destroy privacy.
4. An economy must be based on free enterprise and capitalism for it is these that bring prosperity to a nation. Labor has no right to dictate the policy of management. Smart management always takes good care of its workers however. 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 corps, nobility, patriotism, and integrity of a nation through its literature, art, music, and drama.
7. There should be a system of government which functions under its power without abusing its power to destroy freedom and establishment. 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.
The Decalogue, the believer’s responsibility related to freedom; even though given to Israel only as per Exodus 20:1, it is for our instruction as well:
The Decalogue is found in Exodus 20:1-17 (Deuteronomy 5:6-21). As these commandments are written in our English Bible, they are prefaced by the phrase, "You shall 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 per se but with the subject of human freedom. It just so happens that certain sins are an attack on human freedom.
The Ten Commandments define human freedom in terms of attitude toward God, people, and property: just a brief statement about each.
The first commandment is not only a prohibition of idolatry, but national recognition that Jesus Christ controls history. "You shall have no other gods before Me.”
The second commandment: While the first commandment prohibits mental or soul idolatry, the second prohibits overt idolatry, "You shall not make for yourself an idol.” Demonism destroys human freedom, while overt idolatry destroys a nation.
The third commandment prohibits the use of taking the name of the Lord God in vain. This means to use God as a front for your lying, cheating, stealing, or perjury. God's name is used properly in worship, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, the expression of personal love for God, and doctrinal communication. God's name should not be used to persuade people into a false position. God's name is not to be used for human projects which allege the will of God. “It is God’s will that we do this.”
The fourth commandment is a memorial to the grace of God. The Sabbath recognizes that people who work for a living must have time to rest and time to consider the grace of God. 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.
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 and it all begins with respect for one’s parents.
The sixth commandment emphasizes the establishment-principle of live and let live. "You shall not murder." Killing is authorized for capital punishment and for those in the military fighting for freedom. Murder on the other hand is not only a sin but the basic violation of human freedom. 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.
The seventh commandment "You shall not commit adultery." Adultery is the voluntary act of sexual intercourse of a married person with someone other than his or her lawful spouse. Adultery refers to sexual activity outside the divine institution of marriage. Sex was designed by God to be an expression of love inside a marriage between a husband and wife. Therefore, 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.
The eighth commandment emphasizes the right of private property under the Laws of Divine Establishment. Since a person’s property is sacred, stealing is prohibited. Just because someone has accumulated wealth under the free-market system does not mean you have the right to steal either directly or indirectly via legislation. It belongs to them. There is nothing wrong with being wealthy, or successful. It is not anti-Christian. Some people will become wealthy under free enterprise. "You shall not steal." Thus, stealing is a sin, a crime, and a violation of the Laws of Divine Establishment. The command demands that government protect both the lives and property of those in the nation.
No one has the right to steal. Stealing is a basic disorientation to life. People who have accumulated things in life have a right to those things. When oriented to life, you never have to steal even to stay alive. When you are tempted to steal, that is a warning that you are not oriented to life properly. Legislators in governments steal through high taxes and through the dilution of their currency causing price-inflation. In effect these governmental officials are functioning as criminals.
The ninth commandment emphasizes the protection of human freedom through objectivity in the function of the law. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Laws of evidence demand truth in courtroom testimony. This verbal sin is sinful and anti-establishment. Hearsay is not admissible as testimony. You can't live and let live and gossip at the same time. Law cannot function objectively with perjury; society cannot live objectively where gossip and maligning goes unchecked.
The tenth commandment demands restraint on the lust pattern of the old sin nature. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor."
Establishment and Evangelism.
1. None of these things would be meaningful without knowing that establishment was designed to allow evangelizing where positive volition exists, and to protect where negative volition exists.
2. Divine institutions and the Laws of Divine Establishment are designed to protect human freedoms for the purpose of true evangelism. Unbelievers must be free to accept or reject the Gospel without coercion or punishment.
3. Regarding the local church, 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. 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 based on the Separation of Church and State.
5. A person's relationship with God or lack of it should be a matter of privacy and personal choice.
Establishment and Christianity should support each other.
1. Romans 13:1-7, “All human beings [literally ‘every soul’], obey governing authorities, for there is no authority except delegated by God, that is, those which do exist have been delegated by God. (2) Therefore, those who resist the authority have opposed the ordinance of God [divine institutions]; in fact, they who oppose shall receive discipline [personal judgment or punishment] onto themselves. (3) For governing authorities [of an establishment type nations] are not a cause of fear for good function [those who follow the Laws of Establishment] but for evil function [criminality]. Really, do you desire not to fear the authority? Keep on doing the good [be lawful and obey the mandates of the Laws of Establishment] and you will have recognition from it [from the authority of an establishment-type of government]; (4) For he [the governmental authority] is a minister of God to you for the purpose of good [use your freedom to advance to maturity under the plan of God]. But if you do evil [the criminal] keep on being afraid for he does not wear the sword for nothing [the sword was used in the ancient world for capital punishment of crime]; for you see he is a minister of God for the purpose of divine wrath to him who practices the evil. (5) For this reason, it is necessary to be subordinate to governing authorities, not only because of punishment [literally wrath, in other words fearful of punishment], but also because of conscience [where your norms and standards are located]. (6) So, for this reason [an inference from the above verse] also keep on paying taxes, for they are public servants of God who make a career out of this same thing. (7) Therefore, discharge your obligations to all: to whom taxes, taxes, to whom custom, custom, to whom respect, respect, to whom honor, honor.”
2. Matthew 21:22, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's [obey the Laws of Divine Establishment], and to God, the things that are God's [execute the spiritual life]."
3. 1st Peter 2:13-14, “Subordinate yourselves, because of the Lord, to every human institution [those in authority in the structure of a national entity] whether to a king [the system of authority in a national entity, common in the ancient world] as the one in authority, (14) or to governors [other forms of government: the Roman procurator] as sent by it [Rome] for the punishment of evildoers and the honor of those who do good.” [You became an establishment person the day you believed in Christ. So, you should be a true conservative as a Christian.]
You cannot have freedom, use freedom, enjoy freedom until you recognize the authority that enforces freedom/provides freedom. All freedom depends upon authority. There is no freedom where there is no duly constituted authority. Government represents the principle of authority. So, just because there are scoundrels in government, does not change the principle. Sooner or later the Supreme Court of Heaven will catch-up with the scoundrels. The same is true for police organizations. This organization may have a few scoundrels, but this does not mean that we should eliminate the police organization. Furthermore, it does not mean that we should take the law into our own hands.
The royal family-honor code includes duty to state or nation, patriotism as opposed to internationalism. Two erroneous extremes of Christianity: a) The state should be subordinated to the church which is erroneous. b) The church should be subordinated to the state which is also wrong. The correct view is separation of church and state. However, the government has the responsibility to protect the church in its civil rights, while the church sustains the state by the formation of a pivot of mature believers. For example, Paul himself was protected by Roman authority from Jewish legalism in Jerusalem in 58 A.D.
All authority is delegated authority from God:
A few points for clarification:
1. Governmental authority does not derive its power from the people; the power is derived from God.
2. Whether hereditary kings or rulers in a republic their authority has one source namely the integrity of God.
3. What God has ordained, the believer has no right to contradict.
4. All rulers at all levels are responsible to God for any abuse of their authority.
5. For example, God permitted the Russian revolution of 1917 because the Romanov rulers abused their God-given authority through anti-Semitism.
6. God does not sponsor revolution, but God permits revolution as the natural historical result where authority is abused without check. Even though a country is moving toward a revolution, it may not occur if there should exist a pivot large enough (a large group of mature believers) to offset such a catastrophe.
7. The Lord many times uses evil to punish evil. For example, even though Adolf Hitler was extremely evil, the Lord Jesus Christ who controls history squelched all the assassination attempts against this evil man. For you see, the Lord was going to use Hitler to punish the Germans for their anti-Semitism and the murder of millions of Jews. At the right time, He would remove this monster.
8. However, when civil power contradicts the Word of God, it subverts and denies the very source of its own authority.
9. Human arrogance and rejection of authority leads to anarchy. Human power in anarchy leads to despotism and tyranny.
10. The elevation of establishment and morality in compliance with the Laws of Divine Establishment via the intake of truth will accomplish more than revolution ever could, no matter how justifiable the revolution appears to be.
11. While military victory provides freedom for a nation that adheres to truth, establishment authority in obedience to the Laws of Divine Establishment maintains that freedom so that evangelization and spiritual growth can easily function within the national entity.
Establishment and National Discipline.
1. This includes the concept of the Pivot (a group of mature believers), which when large enough, means that mature believers 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.
2. When divine judgment falls, it always comes in the form of historical disaster. Idiotic governmental policy is a warning that the end is near.
3. If the pivot of mature believers is large enough or there is sufficient numbers of pleroma believers (those who have successfully taken Evidence Testing), the nation will be delivered. If these groups are too small, the nation will be destroyed. Every nation also has 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 great evil. For example, in the United States in the year of 2023, most Christians are trying to execute the spiritual life outside of God’s plan which in effect becomes a religion.
5. Historical disaster separates the pivot from the spin-off (those in apostasy and reversionism), but the pivot is preserved, Isaiah 28:3-8, “That wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards, will be trampled underfoot [in 721 B.C. by the Assyrians]. (4) That fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley, will be like a fig ripe before harvest-- as soon as someone sees it and takes it in his hand, he swallows it. (5) In that day, the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people [protection for the advanced believers]. (6) He will be a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. (7) And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions. (8) All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth [drunkenness was their national sin].” 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 was Judah in B.C. 701. When the apostate believers of Judah were destroyed, the nation prospered. If a nation doesn't cleanse itself under the Laws of Divine Establishment, then the justice of God cleanses that nation if He intends to preserve it.
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. The first four cycles are cleansing, the last one is eradication.
Colossians 1:17
And He [His deity] keeps on being before all [creations] and the all things [universe, angels and mankind] by agency of Him continue to exist [preservation].
καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν πρὸ πάντων καὶ τὰ πάντα ἐν αὐτῷ συνέστηκεν.
The Sustaining of the Universe:
1. The continuation of the universe and all its creatures depends upon the omnipotence and immutability of Jesus Christ, Colossians 1:17, our passage; Hebrews 1:3a, “Who [Jesus Christ] being the radiance [flashing forth] of His [God the Father's] glory, and the exact image of His essence [deity of Christ]; furthermore, He sustains all things by the Word of His power.”
2. So-called scientific laws simply do not exist. These are divine laws rather than scientific. Science did not create these laws, has no way of enforcing them, cannot guarantee that they will continue tomorrow.
3. These so-called scientific laws are based upon the statistical assumption that the universe which operates according to a fixed norm will continue to do so. While science can observe these laws, science cannot guarantee them.
4. The universe with its matter, energy, and operating laws of God will not always exist as it does at the present time, 2 Peter 3:10-12, “But the day of the Lord [a protracted period: the 2nd Advent to the end of the Millennium] will arrive like a thief [suddenly: fear, panic and shock] in which [day: genitive of time within which] the heavens will vanish with a sudden roar and the elements [chemical structure of the universe] will be dissolved with intense heat [possibly thermal action from nuclear fusion], both the earth and its works [the Book of Works used as the basis of indictment at the Last Judgment] will be investigated [the Greek future passive of heurisko has strong manuscript support and is a reference to the Last Judgment]. (11) Since all these things are in the process of being dissolved in this manner [the elemental structure of the earth], what kind of people [directed at the believer] ought you [Christian] be in a dedicated spiritual lifestyle [which will glorify him]. (12) Anticipating and earnestly desiring the coming Day of God [eternal state], because of which the burning heavens will be dissolved and the elements [atomic structure of the universe] will melt with intense heat?” Revelation 20:11, “Then, I saw [the eschatological vision of the last courtroom of human history] a great [the importance of the judge] white [the integrity of the judge] throne, and he [the Lord Jesus Christ] who was sitting on it [the judgment bench] from whose presence [face] planet earth and heaven [the earth’s atmosphere and stellar space] fled [will attempt to escape figuratively from the justice of the Lord. Since the earth and heaven were the locations of many sins, pseudo good and evil, they must be destroyed.] Consequently, no place was found for them [The earth and heaven [earth’s atmosphere and stellar space] will be destroyed.”
5. Known scientific laws and phenomena depend entirely upon the faithfulness of God, which is omnipotence plus immutability and veracity. Every text and every discovery of the pattern of the universe is a treatise on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday [a reference to His deity and to His stability during the First Advent] and today [Jesus Christ in resurrection body at the right hand of the Father], also forever.”
6. To allow grace to run its full course in the Angelic Appeal Trial, Jesus Christ is holding the universe together right now, tomorrow, the next day, and the next. However, these laws can be changed or overruled by the sovereignty of God as illustrated in 2 Peter 3:10-12. However, the promises and doctrines of the Bible are unchangeable. The universe will change but the Bible will not. So, you have more stability in the Bible than you have in the universe. While God has promised to maintain the universe under its present state for history, it will change. In contrast, the believer will remain forever, even surviving the destruction of the present universe.
We have just seen Him as the creator and the sustainer of the universe. Now, we will see Him as the head of the Church.
Colossians 1:18
And He keeps on being the Head [the ruler] of the Body [a description of Church Age believers in Positional Sanctification], the Church, who is the origin [of the Church; the church universal is formed through union with Christ], the first born [first to be born perfect with a human spirit and the Filling of the Spirit; resurrection gives Jesus the privileges of the first born: rulership, priesthood and the double portion] out from the source of the death [resurrection came out of physical death] that He might become the holder of the highest rank [King over kings and Lord over lords].
καὶ αὐτός ἐστιν ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ σώµατος, τῆς ἐκκλησίας· ὅς ἐστιν ἀρχή, πρωτότοκος ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, ἵνα γένηται ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτὸς πρωτεύων,
The word body is a reference to the church which is in the feminine, a responding body. This body then is designed to respond to the mind of Christ and/or Bible doctrine. This body was formed on the Day of Pentecost. Matthew 16:18, “And I also say to you that you are Peter [petros: a chip out of a rock], and on this rock [petra: a mountain of rock: on Christ] I will [future] build My church, and the gates of Hades [Satan] shall not prevail against it [Satan cannot prevent the formation of the body of Christ namely the Church].” The Church began on the Day of Pentecost, fifty days after the resurrection of Christ. Acts 1:5, “John truly baptized with water; but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The firstborn refers to three things: rulership, priesthood, and the double portion. For example, Reuben as the first born of Jacob, should have received all three of these privileges of the first born. However, because of his relationship with Jacob’s two concubines, he lost the rulership to Judah, the priesthood to Levi and the double portion to Joseph. Under the privilege of primogenitor, Christ is the ruler of the Church, the high priest of the Church Age royal priesthood, and He has received a double portion namely Israel and the Church.
A brief statement on the Baptism of the Spirit: Romans 6:3, “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into [identified with] Christ Jesus [Current Positional Sanctification: we are in union with Christ in his life in heaven], have been baptized into His death.” [identified with his substitutionary spiritual death on the cross]?
Positionally, (in union with Christ) we share His righteousness, heirship, priesthood, destiny, election, eternal life, royalty, sonship etc. All these making us a new spiritual species in Christ Jesus, a new organism namely the universal church.
Colossians 1:19
Because in Him [Jesus Christ], it was the good pleasure [of God the Father] that all the fullness [quintessence of blessing and happiness of the Proto-type spiritual life] should dwell [the maximum spiritual life resided in Jesus which qualified Him for the work of Reconciliation].
ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ εὐδόκησεν πᾶν τὸ πλήρωµα κατοικῆσαι
Colossians 1:20
And through Him [Christ] to reconcile the all things to Himself [God the Father], having made reconciliation through the blood of His Cross [propitiation, reconciliation and redemption] through Him [Jesus Christ] whether things on earth [believers alive] or things in heaven [believers who have died].
καὶ διí αὐτοῦ ἀποκαταλλάξαι τὰ πάντα εἰς αὐτόν, εἰρηνοποιήσας διὰ τοῦ αἵµατος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ, [διí αὐτοῦ] εἴτε τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς εἴτε τὰ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς.
Reconciliation:
The doctrine of reconciliation is defined as that category of soteriology (the biblical doctrine of salvation) which explains the removal of the barrier between God and mankind through the salvation work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross. In this definition, mankind is reconciled to God, not vice versa. God is never said to be reconciled to mankind. Although the work of reconciliation took place on the cross, it must be appropriated (or ratified) through faith in Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, "Now all these things are from God who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation [the responsibility to evangelize the unbeliever]. (19) Namely, that God [Father] by means of Christ [agent of reconciliation] was reconciling the world to Himself by not imputing their sins to them [the members of the human race], having deposited in us the doctrine of reconciliation [this deposit is the understanding of reconciliation in the Christian’s soul]. (20) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We invite you on behalf of Christ to become reconciled to God [by believing in Jesus Christ]. (21) He [God the Father] caused Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be made sin as a substitute for us in order that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Ephesians 2:14-17, “For He himself is our reconciliation [welfare, benefit, harmony, and blessing], the One having made both [Jews and Gentiles] one, and has abolished the dividing wall of the barrier; (15) Having canceled in His flesh [He bore our sins on his body] the barrier, the law of the commandments by means of the ordinances so that He might create in himself the two [Jews & Gentiles], resulting in one new species [in union with Christ], causing harmony and blessing; (16) And that He might reconcile unto God the both [Jew & Gentile] in one body [the Church] through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity [by removing the barrier]. (17) Also, having come, He [Jesus Christ] communicated reconciliation to you [how to be reconciled with God], the far away ones [the Gentiles], and to them, near [the Jews].”