The Unfailing Love of God
- Before you begin your Bible study, as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, be
sure you have named your sins privately to God the Father.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (Known, Unknown and Forgotten sins)
(1Jn 1:9)
You will then be in fellowship with God, Filled with God the Holy Spirit and
ready to learn Truth from the Word of God.
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and Truth,"
(John 4:24)
THE MAGNIFICENCE OF GOD’S LOVE
“GOD IS LOVE.” THE BIBLE DECLARES: this concise and profound Truth.
But what is the Divine love of God? Do you understand the absolute and
perfect nature of Divine love? Do you have any conception of the simplicity
and complexity of His love? What has the love of God done for you? Are you
cognizant of either the components or the mechanics of His love? Is the love
of God a mystery to you? Unfailing love describes God. He does not exist
apart from love. You can only comprehend Him by comprehending His love.
He deals with you in love. His plan for you is based on His love. The love of
God is the most critical concept you will ever encounter. If you understand
the love of God, you also understand the basis for human love and have the
capacity for wonderful relationships with other people.
During the course of human history, God’s love is revealed by the provision
of Salvation for all mankind, by His fellowship with and provisions for believers
in time, and by His bestowal of the “surpassing riches of His grace” upon
believers for all eternity.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He
loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with
Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in
the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Eph 2:4-7)
The unfailing love of God gives every believer in Jesus Christ these
“surpassing riches” that reflect God’s grace, which cannot be compared to
any human wealth or success in life. In the New Covenant Church Age, these
“riches” include more Spiritual assets than have ever been given in all human
history. Every believer has access to a unique Spiritual life, which was
invented, tested, and proved by the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ during
His first advent. The unique Spiritual life of the New Covenant Age has a
precedent in the Old Testament, (Prov 1:23) and will be duplicated in future
dispensations. When a believer utilizes this New Covenant Spiritual life, he will
glorify God, receive maximum blessings in time, and cope with all the
vicissitudes of life.
And [To get] to know the love of Christ which [Always] surpasses [Human]
knowledge, that you may be filled up to [The completed Divine nature —
Spiritual maturity; 2Pe 1:4) all the fullness of God. (Eph 3:19)
Knowledge of the magnificent Virtue love of God engenders a response in
a devoted Spiritual Virtue love for God. This reciprocal love results in a life of
great happiness and stability, Occupation with Jesus Christ, and an elevated
appreciation of the grace of God.
And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not
see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible
and full of glory. (1Pe 1:8)
The Virtue love of God, however, is frequently distorted; and without the
filling of God the Holy Spirit and Divine Thinking, impossible to grasp!
Because God’s love is superior to human love, humans have no natural ability
to relate to Divine love. His love is self-motivated, unconditional, infinite, and
absolute; while human love is object motivated, conditional, finite, and
relative. People can only confuse the Divine attribute of love with their own
deficient concepts of love unless they become cognizant of God’s essential
nature.
No subject is more exalted to contemplate than the person and essence of
God. His limitless, perfect splendor and majesty are truly unfathomable.
(Rom 11:33)
Moses was confronted with the person of God at the burning bush. He
was commanded to take off his shoes, (Manufactured by man) because he
was standing on holy ground. So awe struck was Moses by this physical
presence of God that he hid his face and was afraid to look. (Exo 3:5-6)
Believers, on the other hand, should not be afraid to look. The revelation of
Scripture allows every believer to see the stunning essence of God and to
understand His essential nature. At no point does the believer feel his
limitations more than when confronted with the overwhelming personage and
unlimited ability of God as revealed in His Word.
By definition, essence is the choicest or most essential or most vital part of
some idea or experience, the intrinsic nature of something, that which
underlies all outward manifestations. The essence of anything is both
permanent and unchangeable, in contrast to that which is accidental,
ephemeral, or superficial. Derived from the Greek noun, (Ousia) “being,
substance, or existence,” essence means inner or intrinsic nature, true
substance, a person’s qualities or attributes. These essential qualities are
invisible but manifested by a person’s expressed thoughts and actions.
The essence of God equals His being or nature, Who He IS. The individual
qualities and perfections of Divine essence are called attributes. They are the
essential characteristics of God’s being, which are eternal, absolute, and
inherent in Him. Divine attributes never change, and they can never be
separated from the whole of His essence.
God Reveals Himself
Although man can never completely define or grasp God, He does reveal
Himself so that man, in a limited way, can comprehend His person and Divine
nature. Man derives true understanding of Him from His self-revelation in the
Bible. The Bible reveals that “God is spirit” [Pneuma] (John 4:24) — God is
immaterial; His essential being is a Spiritual entity. The Greek noun pneuma
means “breath,” and is something invisible but real. God is therefore invisible
to us; but real.
Invisible God exists as three separate and distinct Persons. The word
“Trinity” is used to express three Persons in One Godhead. In the Trinity,
there are three coequal, co infinite, co eternal Persons, with One essence:
the Father; (1Co 8:6; Eph 1:3) the Son;
(Psa 2:7; Col 2:9) and the Holy Spirit. (Exo 31:3; (1Co 3:16)
The Bible states that God is One. (Deut 6:4) The Oneness of God, called His
glory, is the identical essence in all three Persons of the Godhead. (John 10:
30) In the unity of God, there is only one essence, one substance. God is
therefore One in essence, three in Persons. Each member of the Godhead is
a separate Person, individually possessing identical, eternal attributes.
(Matt 28:19; (1Pe 1:2) Existing eternally, God is un sustained by Himself or
by any other source. He is the ultimate source with infinite capacity. He is the
source of sustaining, but does not need to be sustained Himself. God has no
beginning. His Old Testament name, Yahweh, means “the Self existent One.”
He is the cause of all existence outside Himself, but He has no cause for
Himself. God’s existence is eternal and unalterable.
The finite human mind has great difficulty contemplating and reflecting on the
infinite and immaterial. Man’s limited frame of reference cannot fully
comprehend or even properly illustrate the invisible, infinite, perfect character
of God.
While there is a parallel between the essence of God and the essence of
man, the parallel is limited. God’s essence is real; man’s essence is real. The
nature of God is unseen; the nature of man is unseen. God’s being has
invisible but real attributes; the soul of man has invisible but real attributes
such as mentality and volition. Beyond these there is no parallel between
Divine essence and the essence of the human soul from which man can draw
understanding.
The only way to grasp the magnificence of Divine love is to examine the
nature and characteristics of God Himself. The Bible, the infallible Word of
God, is the only textbook, the single communiqué about God, His Thoughts
and His Divine love. In fact, the Bible defines God in terms of attributes so
that man can contemplate and understand the character of God.
The attributes of God are sovereignty, righteousness, justice, love, eternal
life, omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, immutability, and veracity. All
of these Divine attributes are of equal value. No one attribute overrides
another; they work in complete coordination and harmony without any
compromise to His essence. All the attributes of Divine essence are present
in God, but they are not always apparent at the same time.
The properties of light illustrate this concept. Every color of the visible
spectrum is resident in a ray of white light, but the individual colors are only
seen under different circumstances of reflection and refraction. Likewise, God’
s essence may manifest certain attributes in one situation but others in a
different situation. In every case, no matter which attribute is reflected, God’s
total, indivisible person is completely involved.
Illustration
Three of these attributes have specific relevance to this study. God
determined that He would deal with sinful man through love, in coordination
with His righteousness and justice.
RIGHTEOUSNESS
God is absolute righteousness — perfect in nature. He is absolute good.
The righteousness of God is the perfect standard of His essence. All of His
attitudes and actions conform to this flawless standard. Therefore,
righteousness is the foundation of His character and the very core of His
being. If He did not have absolute righteousness, God would not be God.
God cannot compromise His righteousness without destroying His perfect
character.
The LORD is righteous in all His ways [Thoughts] And kind in all His
deeds. [Actions] (Psa 145:17)
Since God’s righteousness is impregnable, He cannot sin nor can He be
tempted to sin. He can only condemn sin. Neither is He free to disregard or
forgive sin apart from the satisfaction or propitiation of His righteousness.
God cannot have a personal relationship with anything less than the absolute
standard of His own righteousness; therefore, He must reject all sin and
relative standards of human old sin nature good. (Isa 64:6) Mankind can
never accomplish or achieve the approval of God through his own efforts,
human thoughts work, energy, or morality. But at the moment of faith alone in
Christ alone God’s Own righteousness is credited to every believer (Rom 4:3;
(2Co 5:21) making him acceptable to God in time and eternity.
JUSTICE
God is perfect justice — absolute fairness. God treats all His creatures
alike, without bias or partiality.
“For the LORD your God is the God of gods [Angelic rulers] and the Lord
of lords, [Human rulers]the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who
does not show partiality, nor take a bribe.” (Deut 10:17)
He judges mankind with perfect fairness. He never makes exceptions. He
never overlooks even one sin. The justice of God is the source of both
judgment and blessing. Divine justice always functions in accordance with the
absolute Standards found in His perfect righteousness.
“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways [Standards — Thoughts]
are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is
He.” (Deut 32:4)
The justice of God is portrayed in the most dramatic way at the Cross. In
order to reconcile sinful man to Himself, the justice of God imputed all the
personal sins ever committed in the human race to the Lord Jesus Christ on
the cross and judged every one of them (John 3:16; Rom 3:24-26) He
became the substitute for all mankind.
And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might
die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
(1Pe 2:24)
God’s righteousness approves of the perfect sacrifice of the God man,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and is propitiated or satisfied, by His work on the
cross in payment for the sins of mankind. When a person believes by faith
alone in Christ alone for Salvation, he receives God’s righteousness, and then
he is justified. (1Co 1:30) Justice blesses anyone who possesses this
righteousness.
God’s justice and righteousness combine to form the integrity and or holiness
of God. Although not a separate attribute, the integrity of God is the sum
total of His perfection — the quintessence of His impeccable nature. God’s
integrity is the synchronized operation of His righteousness and justice.
Righteousness and justice work together to prevent any compromise of His
essence (Psa 89:14)
Righteousness is the Principle of God’s integrity; justice is the function of
God’s integrity. What the righteousness of God demands, the justice of God
executes. What the righteousness of God accepts, the justice of God
blesses. What the righteousness of God rejects or condemns, the justice of
God judges.
Fortunately for mankind, God’s love never stands apart from His integrity.
God’s integrity is inseparably united with His love; they are two sides of the
same coin.
Illustration
LOVE
God is love. His love is the absolute Virtue and benevolence of His
Thinking and actions. Love is what God IS as well as what He does. His love
along with righteousness and justice is the cause of all His actions.
Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with passages ascribing love
to God. In the Old Testament, chesed is a Hebrew noun used to denote
Divine love.
For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness [Chesed] is everlasting, And
His faithfulness to all generations. (Psa 100:5)
Some other passages on God’s love: (Exo 34:6; Deut 7:9; (1Ki 8:23;
(1Ch 16:34; Psa 57:10; Psa 86:15; Luk 11:42; Rom 5:5; Rom 8:39; Eph 2:4;
2Th 3:5; (1Jn 4:9)
For centuries scholars have debated over the precise definition of chesed,
but by long study of its etymology has given us a clear understanding of the
meaning of this word. The best translation of chesed is not “goodness” or
“lovingkindness” but “unfailing love.”
In the New Testament, (1Jn 4:16) unequivocally states,
God is love. [Agape] (1Jn 4:8; 1Jn 4:16) “Love” in this verse is the
qualitative Greek noun, agape. In this context agape is a predicate
nominative, meaning that God and agape are equated. Therefore, the quality
of love is intrinsic to God, to His essential Being or nature. John is also using
agape, a noun of action, in an intransitive sense meaning God’s love does not
require an object. God’s attribute of love can exist independently of any
object.
We understand human love as an attitude that must be inspired by an
object, but that kind of love is exactly what God does not possess. God’s
love is an inherent quality of absolute benevolence that does not require
inspiration to be gracious, generous, or merciful. He always possesses love
and gives of Himself whether there is an occasion or an object. Even with
such compassion God’s love is always rational. His love always functions in
an objective, but kindly manner. God’s love is neither emotional nor is it
sentimental as is human love. His love is not complicated by ignorance,
silliness, or absurdities.
Love with Divine Attributes.
As part of His essence, the love of God can never be isolated from His
other characteristics. All of the attributes of God work in complete
coordination and continuity with no one attribute surpassing or overriding
another, each one remaining constant and harmonious with the others. The
love of God is a clear example of this coordination and harmony.
God’s love is never independent of His sovereignty. He never makes a
Decision apart from His love. In fact, His love is totally compatible with all His
Decisions. God is perfect love in all His will and work.
Since God is eternal life, His love is eternal. His love has always existed
un-sustained by Himself or any other source. His Thoughts and love existed
before the creation of angels, the universe, or man; (Prov 8:22-36) before
anything existed apart from God Himself. There never was or will be a time
when God does not have perfect love. (Psa 136:1-26) Therefore, He does
not fall in love or begin to love.
The omniscience of God has always known all about the sins and failures of
every human being, yet His love is never disappointed, frustrated or
diminished by such knowledge. Neither is His love increased by His
knowledge of the old sin nature good deeds of any human being. His infinite
Mentality focuses on everything at once, so that His love is not subject to
changes made by His creatures.
Because God is omnipotent, His love is all powerful. God has infinite energy
and power with which to love. He can do all things that are not contradictory
to His Own nature. God’s power can accomplish all things that do not
contradict the absolute Virtue and benevolence that is His love. Since God is
omnipresent, His love is eternally, wholly, and simultaneously present
everywhere. There is no place on earth where the love of God cannot reach
mankind. Therefore, nothing can stand between man and the love of God.
“The earth is full of the unfailing love of the LORD.” (Psa 33:5; corrected
translation)
God’s immutability guarantees that the content and capacity of His love never
changes. No form of creature sinfulness, failure, vacillation, or rejection can
disappoint, frustrate, or diminish God’s unfailing love. His love is infinite and
eternal; it does not increase or decrease. expand or diminish. God’s love is
unfailing because He never fails. God’s Veracity, the absolute Truthfulness of
His Word, is the basis for the infinite capacity of His perfect love. Divine love
is revealed and integrated into every category of Thought and every form of
knowledge that resides in His absolute Being.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and Truth go before You. (Psa 89:14)
For the Word of the LORD is upright, And all His work is done in
faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the
lovingkindness of the LORD. (Psa 33:4-5)
From this foundation of integrity rises the superstructure of God’s love.
Integrity is not love itself, but the power, the stability behind love. Integrity
makes love work. God’s love is perfect because of His perfect integrity.
“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of
faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.” (Deut 32:4)
The solidarity of God’s attributes is behind everything He Thinks or does.
Therefore, none of His attributes can be separated from or act independently
of His total essence — His love can never be detached from His
righteousness and justice. He cannot compromise His righteousness and
justice in order to deal with imperfect humanity strictly out of love. God’s
integrity guards His love in all that He does toward man.
THE LOVE OF GOD IS AT THE CENTER of one of Satan’s greatest
distortions in the angelic conflict. The devil, as “the ruler of this world,” is
dedicated to perverting and twisting God’s love in the minds of man.
(Jdg 16:14-21; Prov 7:18-23; Prov 14:20; Jer 5:31; Matt 6:5; Matt 6:24;
Luk 11:42) What do you constantly hear? “Don’t go to war with the enemies
of freedom; don’t execute the criminal who commits a capital crime.” After all,
people say, “What would Jesus do?” Love them! Quoting Scripture almost
exactly they say, “Isn’t God love?” But quoting Scripture and understanding
the Truth of Divine love are two entirely different things. The widely distorted
concept of Divine love, as understood by many, is not only contrary to
Scripture, but is responsible for much of the apostate thinking within
Christianity.
So what about this thing called love? If Satan is determined to distort your
thinking and deceive you, how then can you come to know the real love of
God? What is the Truth about God’s love?
Without objective knowledge from the Bible, man remains subjective in his
thinking about God. Subjective man equates Divine love with human love. He
inevitably says, “We love, so God must love in the same way we do.” But, a
description of human love does not heighten your perception of Divine love.
The Bible, the infallible Word of God, is your only textbook, your single
source of cognition about God and His love.
For the time will come when they will not endure Sound Doctrine; but
wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves
teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears
from the Truth, and will turn aside to myths. (2Ti 4:3-4)
God created man “in His Own Image.” (Gen 1:27) Unfortunately, “man is
returning the favor.” Too many people, including even seminary professors
and pastors, reduce theology to the humanization of God. Rather than using
the infallible Word of God as their textbook, they redefine God from their own
frames of reference. They create a god with whom they can feel close and
with whom they can relate. This is a tragic reversal from a Theological to a
humanistic perspective.
“Dissatisfied with conventional images of an authoritarian or paternalistic
God, people are embracing quirky, individualistic conceptions of God to suit
their own Spiritual needs... Even many traditionalists increasingly envision a
God who is far more formless, accessible, and above all ’down here’...
Religious leaders say perhaps the most direct cause is the anti-authoritarian,
individualistic strain that has gradually worked its way into the mainstream
Divinity school curriculum. The seminaries that train clergy are now dominated
by baby boomers who came of age in the ‘60s and are less wedded to
traditional orthodoxies. These gentler, almost mystical forms of Theology
have found a receptive audience in today’s affluent society... They are
compiling a Spiritual life from a variety of religious influences along with a
dash of yoga, psychotherapy, or whatever moves them.”
Long on emotionalism and short on knowledge of Divine Thinking, people
are confused about Salvation, about the Spiritual life, about God and His love.
They superimpose human affections and emotions on God, reducing His love
to sentimental nonsense. They try to manipulate His love by weeping and
wailing and promising to do better. They try to buy God’s love with money or
bribe Him with good behavior. They hope that in the name of love, God will
somehow ignore sin and evil and disregard His perfect standard of absolute
righteousness and His justice.
For man to restrict God by ascribing to Him human characteristics and
behavior that He does not possess is blasphemous! This is humanizing God.
When man humanizes God, in effect there is no God! God’s Thoughts and His
love are infinitely superior to human descriptions, human thinking and love.
(Deut 7:9; Isa 55:8-9)
The believer in Jesus Christ must abolish all humanistic, subjective, and
emotional notions of God’s Virtue love. God does not have human old sin
nature emotion. His Virtue love is never vacillating, inconsistent, or
temperamental. His love is not dependent on attraction, rapport, or deeds as
is human old sin nature love. His love cannot be bribed, purchased, or
influenced by any category of human merit, works, or worthiness. How then
do you comprehend Divine love in unsentimental, objective terms? You ONLY
can comprehend it by means of the Spiritual Thinking of the Word of God,
revealed through the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit!
CATEGORIES OF DIVINE LOVE
God’s Love for Himself
To begin comprehending Divine love you must first understand God’s love
for Himself. God loves His own perfect essence — He loves Who and What
He IS. In His infinite knowledge, He knows Himself to be beyond comparison,
worthy of admiration to an infinite degree. For this reason, He loves Himself
to an infinite degree. This is not arrogance because God is completely
deserving of all respect. This self-love is a reflection of the absolute self-
confidence, self-possession, and self-assurance that are eternally His.
Each member of the Godhead loves Who and What He IS. Not only does
Each love Himself, but all three members of the Godhead possess the
perfect Virtue and perfect capacity to love and be loved by the other
members of the Trinity. There never was a time that God the Father did not
love God the Son and God the Holy Spirit; or that God the Son did not love
God the Father and God the Holy Spirit; or that God the Holy Spirit did not
love God the Father and God the Son. (John 17:24) Divine love for the other
members within the Godhead has always existed. Their integrity, Their
compatibility, and capacity to love each other has never been less than total.
They enjoy the most magnificent, eternal relationship and nothing can or will
ever change that relationship. Not even when God the Father had to judge
and forsake the humanity of Christ as He bore the sins of the world in His
body, (Mark 15:34; (1Pe 2:24) did He ever cease to love His Son.
God’s love for Himself and for the other members of the Trinity does not
compromise His essence in any way. Why? The objects of His love are
coequal, coeternal, and possess perfect righteousness. God always loves
His Own perfect righteousness. All three possess the same perfect
righteousness that is loved by the other members of the Trinity. However,
God cannot love sinful mankind in the same way He loves Himself and the
other members of the Trinity. Since His love is inseparably united with His
integrity, His righteousness would be compromised if He directed His perfect
love toward an imperfect, sinful object.
Scripture makes it clear however, that God does love sinful mankind. In
order to understand how He can love sinful man, you must categorize His love
into Divine personal and Divine impersonal love. God’s absolute righteousness
is the criterion for both categories.
God’s Love for Mankind. Personal and Impersonal
God’s infinite, eternal, immutable, benevolent Personal love is directed
only toward perfect righteousness. Divine personal love is therefore
conditional; it emphasizes the absolute virtue of the object. To be the
recipient of Divine personal love, the object must possess perfect
righteousness. There never was or will be a time when God does not
personally love perfect righteousness, anywhere it is found, including in
man.
Such was not the case in the perfection of the Garden of Eden. Since God
created Adam perfect, he was a fitting object for Divine Personal love. As
perfect humanity Adam was not equal with God nor did he have God’s nature
or righteousness, but neither did he violate God’s righteousness and justice.
No conflict existed between God and the first human in the perfection of the
Garden. In Personal love God provided Adam and the woman with face to
face revelation of Himself, so they could orient to Him as the basis for their
Thinking and living. From this personal love God provided everything they
needed, blessing them body, soul, and spirit. However, there was one
reference to the righteousness and justice of God in the Garden: the
prohibition against eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In spite of the prohibition, Adam and the woman chose to sin by eating the
fruit of the tree, and everything suddenly and dramatically changed. The
Standard of God’s perfect righteousness had been violated, and they were
instantly condemned by the justice of God. Adam and the woman were now
the possessors of a sin nature, they were Spiritually dead and no longer
capable of having a Spiritual relationship with God. Consequently, God
turned from Divine Personal love in the Garden to Divine Impersonal love
toward Spiritually dead Adam outside the Garden, and subsequently all
mankind.
The Reality of Divine Love
Adam was the representative or federal head of the human race. As such,
his decision to sin was a decision for every member of the human race. (Rom
5:12) As descendants of Adam we are all condemned at birth, not because
of our personal sins, but because of Adam’s original transgression. Adam’s
sin nature becomes our sin nature through genetic transmission, and Adam’s
original sin becomes our sin by imputation. “As a result, we are all born
hopelessly lost, Spiritually dead, and, like Adam immediately after the Fall,
we cannot be the objects of God’s Personal love, nor can we have a Spiritual
relationship with Him. Yet God still desires a Personal love relationship and
provides the means for Spiritually dead mankind to have that relationship.
Being Spiritually dead, utterly separated from God, and with only relative
righteousness at best, (Psa 39:5) we have nothing to commend us to Him or
make us worthy of His love. We do not have the ability to attract His love;
neither do our good old sin nature deeds inspire Him to love us. Without
possessing His perfect righteousness, there is nothing that we can do to
impress God, to gain His favor, or to meet His perfect Standards. But, that
does not mean that God does not love us. The solution for fallen man is found
in His Impersonal love, which at the Fall became God’s point of contact with
Spiritually dead mankind.
Unlike God’s Personal love, His Impersonal love is unconditional. Divine
Impersonal love does not depend on the merit of the object, but on the
integrity of the Subject. God loves us because of Who and What He IS, not
because of who and what we are. His Impersonal love for Spiritually dead
mankind is based on God’s Own perfect essence and His love for Himself.
The Impersonal love of God, then, is the most powerful love that has ever
existed.
GOD’S PERSONAL AND IMPERSONAL LOVE
The Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated the prevailing power of this love by
His attitude throughout His trials and crucifixion. That attitude manifested itself
on the cross when He said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what
they are doing.” (Luk 23:34) In spite of the fact that He was nailed to the
cross, He could still demonstrate Impersonal love. Divine Impersonal love
takes precedence over the flaws and sins of the human race.
God’s gracious gift of His Son is the greatest possible demonstration of God’
s Impersonal love for all mankind. This love is mankind’s only hope for a
family relationship with God.
“For God so loved the world, [With Impersonal love] that He gave His
Only begotten [Monogenes, “uniquely born”] Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
The betrayal of Christ was the fulfillment of the original promise given to
Adam in the Garden after he fell. The “seed” of the woman, the Savior, the
Messiah, would be bruised on (And or with) the heel. (Psa 41:9; John 13:18)
“And I will put enmity Between you [Satan] and the woman, And between
your seed and her Seed; He [Christ] shall bruise you [Satan] on the head,
And you [Satan] shall bruise him [Christ] on [And or with] the heel.”
(Gen 3:15) cf. (Gal 3:16)
He would be born of a woman, would die, and would break the power of sin
and Spiritual death with His own substitutionary Spiritual death and judgment.
On the cross the justice of God the Father imputed all the sins of human
history to the humanity of Christ and JUDGED HIM! (Isa 53:10-12) That
judgment was the penalty for sin; which was rightfully ours. By taking upon
Himself the penalty for all our sins, He satisfied once and for all the
righteousness and justice of God. He removed the barrier between the
absolute righteousness of God and the relative righteousness of man.
Because Jesus Christ voluntarily became “sin on our behalf, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him,” the justice of God is free to credit
His righteousness to you at the moment of Salvation without any compromise
of His essence. (2Co 5:21) As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are now
“justified,” acceptable to God, because you possess His righteousness. (Rom
3:21-22; Rom 4:1-10; Rom 4:20-25; Gal 2:16) Your relative human
righteousness is no longer an issue. Justification guarantees your eternal
relationship with God. God personally loves His Own righteousness, which He
credited to you. By this act of His justice, you become the object of God’s
unfailing Personal love. You now have a personal relationship with God
through Jesus Christ.
THE EXPRESSION OF THE UNFAILING LOVE OF GOD — GRACE
Grace is the magnificent expression of God’s unfailing love — His policy of
unmerited favor bestowed on fallen, sinful humanity. Grace is freely given by
God and undeserved by the recipient. Mankind can do nothing to earn or be
worthy of grace. Grace is all that God is free to do for mankind based on the
saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Antecedent Grace
Since God’s unfailing Virtue love is eternal, grace as the expression of
that love existed in eternity past. I call this “antecedent grace.” This grace
preceded all human life, all function of human volition, and all the works of
mankind. Since antecedent grace existed prior to man’s creation, man’s
existence cannot influence grace, antecedent grace is grace that comes first.
It precedes all human decision and endeavor. Grace always means that it is
God who takes the initiative and implies the priority of God’s action on behalf
of needy sinners. That is the whole point of grace: it does not start with us, it
starts with God; it is not earned or merited by us, it is freely and lovingly
given to us who have no resources or deservings of our own... God took
action, moreover, when we were helpless, (Rom 5:6) without any ability to
help ourselves or to make any contribution toward our Salvation. The sinner’s
state is one of Spiritual death, that is to say, of total inability, and his only
hope is the miracle of new birth from above. (John 3:3) That is why the
apostle reminds the Ephesian believers that Salvation came to them when
they were “dead” in sins, from which there follows only one conclusion,
namely, that it is by grace that they were saved. Both now and for all eternity
the Christian will be indebted to “the immeasurable riches” of God’s grace
displayed in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus... But for the antecedent,
or priority, of Divine grace, all would be lost.
This Divine Concept of antecedent grace is to include not only grace that
preexisted man and his Salvation, but also post Salvation and eschatological
grace, (The grace of the eternal state) — the entire scope of God’s infinite
grace.
Antecedent grace is, therefore, the expression of God’s love from eternity
past that offers a relationship to mankind in time and eternity, apart from
human merit, human works, or any other human resources. Antecedent grace
emphasizes that from eternity past the unfailing love of God designed the
Divine solutions for every situation man will ever face in this life — without
exception! Unfailing love and antecedent grace, as part of the Divine decree,
are the beginnings of the plan of God for man.
THE DIVINE BEGINNING FOR TIME
From antecedent grace comes the Divine beginning for time. The grace of
God provides for mankind from birth through death. This temporal grace
includes: common, (God the Holy Spirit making the Gospel understandable
for the Spiritually dead unbeliever) efficacious, (God the Holy Spirit making
the unbelievers faith effective for Salvation) logistical, (God provisions for the
believer to reach Spiritual maturity) and dying grace. (The Spiritual believers’
transfer from time to eternity)
And my God shall supply all your needs according to [On the basis of] His
riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Php 4:19)
Common grace is the convicting or convincing ministry of God the Holy
Spirit, to the world regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment;
(John 16:8-11) that is, the pre Salvation clarification of the Gospel. In His
ministry of common grace, God the Holy Spirit acts as the missing human
spirit so that Spiritual information is comprehensible to the unbeliever.
(1Co 2:13-14)
When the unbeliever responds to the Gospel with non-meritorious faith alone
in Christ alone, the Holy Spirit, through His ministry of efficacious grace,
acknowledges that faith and makes it effective for Salvation (Eph 2:8) The
function of man’s positive volition alone could never result in eternal life
without the gracious work of God the Holy Spirit providing the power to
produce the intended result of Salvation.
Logistical grace is God’s complete provision for the believer’s every physical
and Spiritual need. Whether carnal or Spiritual, every believer is qualified to
receive logistical grace support and blessing because of God’s imputed
righteousness.
(Psa 37:25; Php 4:19) Logistical grace keeps believers alive; (Psa 68:19-20)
supplies basic life support such as air, food, shelter, clothing, transportation;
(Matt 6:25) protects us in the devil’s world; (Psa 4:8; Heb 1:14) and provides
equal opportunity and privilege to rebound, learn the Word of Truth, and grow
Spiritually. (Matt 4:4) Wherever the believer goes and whatever he does, he
will always be supported by the matchless grace and Personal love of God.
“Do not be anxious then, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we
drink?’ or ‘With what shall we clothe ourselves?’ For all these things the
Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all
these things.” (Matt 6:31-32)
Dying grace is the special provision of the love of God in which the mature
believer experiences great blessing and happiness in dying, even though he
may be enduring tremendous pain and suffering. (Php 1:21) His dying
moments are God’s final opportunity to vindicate the Divine Thinking in his
soul.
Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.
(Psa 116:15)
THE DIVINE BEGINNING FOR ETERNITY
From antecedent grace also comes the Divine beginning for eternity. This
initiative for eternity includes the provision of your resurrection and residence
in heaven. Once you depart from this life, God’s eschatological grace is
expressed in several ways. Whether you die as a winner or loser in the
Spiritual life there is identical victory — residing in heaven face to face with
the Lord, (2Co 5:8) in a place of no more sorrow, no more tears, no more
pain, no more death, the first things have passed away. (Rev 21:4)
Not all believers will receive the same awards and distribution of escrow
blessings in eternity. There is no equality of rewards in heaven. Escrow
blessings will be distributed based on the construction of the Spiritual life in
time and its accompanying production. (1Co 3:10-15) If the believer fails to
execute the Spiritual life, his escrow blessings will remain on deposit forever
as a memorial to lost opportunity. Yet the love and grace of God have
provided every believer an equal opportunity in time to receive full distribution
of his escrow blessings in eternity as well as the means through which to
execute the Spiritual life.
Antecedent grace in eternity past, then, is the expression of God’s unfailing
love in providing the redemption solution for every person who will ever live,
temporal solutions for the problem every believer will ever face in this life, and
eternal rewards beyond anything imaginable. These grace initiatives are the
manifestations of God’s personal love from eternity past for every believer.
God also determined in eternity past to demonstrate His Impersonal love for
the unbeliever at birth, at the cross, at God consciousness, and at the Last
Judgment. GOD’S UNFAILING IMPERSONAL LOVE FOR ALL MANKIND
— MAN’S OPPORTUNITY
GOD CAN NEVER COMPROMISE His Own perfect essence. The justice of
God stands guard over the essence of God. When God’s absolute
righteousness was violated at the Fall, the justice of God had to condemn
sinful man so that His essence would not be compromised. Justice
condemned all mankind but Impersonal love offers the redemption solution.
God’s Impersonal love is demonstrated to every unbeliever throughout his
life. In fact, the Impersonal love of God never fails the unbeliever. God offers
throughout the life of every human being a personal relationship through His
Impersonal love as expressed by His policy of grace. Because of God’s
unfailing Impersonal love, everyone has an opportunity for that personal
relationship with God though faith alone in Christ alone.
The focus of this chapter is how God’s unfailing Impersonal love is
demonstrated toward mankind. This study will detail the five critical points
when God coordinates His impersonal love with His Divine attributes of
omniscience, righteousness, and justice, to provide every aspect of the
redemption solution for mankind’s sin problem.
God’s first point of contact demonstrates His unfailing Impersonal love that
took place in eternity past when He decreed the plan of Salvation for
Spiritually dead mankind. He makes contact a second time at birth when soul
life is imputed to biological life, thereby creating human life. When the baby
emerges from the womb and takes that first breath, God’s Impersonal love
has made contact. God’s third point of contact was at the cross where He
judged every sin in human history, past, present, and future, and provided the
redemption solution. His fourth contact with the unbeliever occurs when
positive volition is expressed at the moment of God consciousness, which
impels God to provide a presentation of the Gospel. The objective of these
points of contact is regeneration through faith alone in Christ alone. These
points demonstrate God’s unfailing Impersonal love that is in constant contact
with the unbeliever throughout his lifetime, and leave him without excuse for
rejecting the Gospel and or God’s Word. (Rom 1:20) When a person dies in
unbelief, his name is “blotted out of the book of life,” and the final point of
contact will be at the Last Judgment. (Psa 69:28; Rev 20:15) These five
points of contact embody the absolute fairness that is the justice of God and
demonstrate His impersonal love.
GOD’S FIRST POINT OF CONTACT: IN ETERNITY PAST
When God created the universe in eternity past, He created a vast angelic
host. (Col 1:16) In His omniscience He knew the destiny of these super
beings even before He created them. Since nothing is hidden from the
omniscience of God, there never was a time when He did not know all about
these creatures. He perfectly understood what was to unfold for them.
The angels were created perfect, without sin, and were totally acceptable
to God’s absolute righteousness. He created them rational beings and gave
them free will. The most exalted of all these angels, the “anointed cherub,”
Lucifer, the “star of the morning,” was appointed by God to guard His throne.
(Isa 14:12; Eze 28:14) But Lucifer became arrogant, rebelled against God,
and persuaded one third of all the angels to join his revolution. (Rev 12:4)
This revolt inaugurated the prehistoric angelic conflict. With earth as the
central battlefield, a state of war existed. The words ascribed to Lucifer
after his fall — “devil” and “Satan” meaning “adversary” or “accuser”— are
not names, but titles. (Job 1:6-12; Job 2:1-5; Zec 3:1-2; Rev 12:10) These
titles infer that God held a trial for the revolutionaries. God was the
prosecutor and judge; Satan acted as his own defense attorney. The
righteousness of God considered all the evidence and pronounced a guilty
verdict. God’s perfect justice sentenced Satan and all the fallen angels to
spend eternity in the lake of fire. (Matt 25:41; Rev 20:10) But why has this
judgment not yet been executed? (Job 1:7) Since Satan and his angels have
been sentenced, but have not yet been cast into the lake of fire, a conclusion
can be drawn. Satan objected to God’s sentence as unfair: “How can a loving
God cast His creatures into the lake of fire? And if we have freewill why must
we think with God’s Thoughts.” Satan impugned the Virtue love of God.
Yet, even before the events unfolded, God’s antecedent grace had
formulated the solution to this angelic conflict. He had devised a plan to
resolve Satan’s appeal, revealing His perfect love to the angelic hosts, both
fallen and elect. The revelation and demonstration of His eternal, immutable,
unfailing love is found in His Divine decree.
To put this demonstration of His love into motion, God brought a new type of
creature on the scene. Created lower than the angels (Psa 8:3-5; cf. Heb 2:
7) but still rational and endowed with free will, mankind would be a witness
for the prosecution against Satan’s appeal. (Job 1:6-8; Job 2:1-3; (1Co 4:9)
The same circumstances and options that belonged to prehistoric angelic
history would exist in human history. Like angels, mankind would possess
freedom to choose for or against God and His Standards. The resolution of
the angelic conflict lay in man’s exercise of volition for or against the plan of
Salvation found in the decree of God.
The Divine Decree
Before mankind existed God’s omniscience knew every fact about
creation and every circumstance that would take place in human history. He
had complete knowledge in eternity past of every person who would ever live,
including how each individual would exercise his volition. God knew every
event, every thought, and every decision in the life of every person. He also
knew who would believe in Christ and who would reject Him. (2Th 2:13)
Everything in the life of every human being is part of God’s decree in eternity
past. The Divine decree expresses God’s eternal, infinite, unchangeable will
toward man and His complete authority over creation. The decree is God’s
antecedent grace plan.
The sovereign decree of God guarantees the futurition of all events, but does
not directly cause those events. The decree merely establishes what will be
caused. The fact that a thought or action on your part is in the decree does
not mean that God caused that thought or action. The cause is your free will.
The decree acknowledges your free decisions, then makes them certain to
occur. God does not interfere with your free will. In fact, God is the One who
determined that you would have free will. God has therefore decreed that
both His sovereignty and the free will of man will coexist in human history.
(John 7:17; Php 2:13;
(2Pe 3:9)
Therefore, when God factored in all the thoughts, decisions, and actions of
every human being who would ever live, He was fully aware that man would
choose the route of Satan. Man would choose to revolt against God just as
Satan had revolted. Man would sin by choosing to disobey God.
Although God despises the very notion of sin, He still enters all of man’s sins
into the decree because His omniscience knew that given free will, man would
commit them. Thus, the decree does render sinful acts as certain — sins will
occur — not because they have been decreed, but because man chose to
commit them. The very fact that sin and evil, (Satan’s thinking) are certified in
the decree is proof that man’s volition is truly free. God decreed that all of
man’s decisions, even those that are contrary to His will, would certainly take
place so that the course of history is just as man thinks it, wills it, and does it.
O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit
down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You
scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all
my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You
know it all. (Psa 139:1-4)
Even though in His omniscience God knew every sin and act of
wrongdoing we would ever commit and every failure and flaw we would ever
have, (Prov 15:3; Heb 4:13) God’s love for us never diminished, never
wavered, never changed. Instead, from His Impersonal love and antecedent
grace He decreed that each of us would have an opportunity to be reconciled
to Him by being born into His family through His grace, (Eph 2:8-9) and have
a Personal love relationship with Him through the Lord Jesus Christ. In
summary, God’s first point of contact with us was in eternity past when, from
the source of His absolute knowledge of mankind, He sovereignly decreed to
deal with us on the basis of Impersonal love. Once He commits Himself to us
in love, it never changes, and He has committed to love us in the Divine
decrees.
GOD’S SECOND POINT OF CONTACT: AT BIRTH
The second point of contact occurs at the birth of each human being. At
that moment, a demonstration of Divine Impersonal love and antecedent
grace is accomplished through two imputations. First, God creates soul life
and His justice imputes it to the biological life of the fetus when it emerges
from the womb. Through this imputation God creates human life in the
newborn. The simultaneous creation of soul life by God and its imputation to
biological life is the cause of man’s being born physically alive.
The second imputation — the imputation of Adam’s original sin to the
genetically formed sin nature in the body of the infant — occurs jointly with
the first. This results in Spiritual death, which makes every person totally
unacceptable to God and utterly separated from Him. Because of God’s
perfect righteousness, and Adam’s choice to disobey, God’s justice must
condemn all of Adam’s progeny. Consequently, all are born physically alive,
but Spiritually dead — a hopeless situation for man.
At first the imputation of Adam’s sin to every person at birth may seem unfair.
In fact, this imputation represents the genius of God’s grace plan,
condemnation must precede Salvation. Being born Spiritually dead makes
every person a candidate for God’s saving grace. (Rom 6:23; (1Co 15:21-22)
While God’s righteousness and justice must condemn everyone at birth, His
Impersonal love provides the means to become born again — Spiritually alive.
“At the right time” in human history, the judgment of sin demanded by God’s
righteousness was executed by His justice at the cross. (Rom 5:6;
(2Co 6:2; Gal 4:4-5) God’s grace and Impersonal love provide equal
opportunity for every condemned person in all of history to be saved from his
hopelessly lost condition. Therefore, the second point of contact, the two
imputations at birth, gives each person the potential of Salvation from
Spiritual death.
GOD’S THIRD POINT OF CONTACT: AT THE CROSS
The Cross is the greatest demonstration of God’s love and grace in all of
history. On the Cross God the Father imputed all the sins of all mankind to
His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, and judged Him. This imputation and judgment
by God is the third point of contact of His justice and Impersonal love with
Spiritually dead mankind and is the basis of our so great Salvation. Justice
must always condemn sin; grace as the expression of Impersonal love offers
the Cross. To those who accept this redemption solution, justice imputes God’
s perfect righteousness.
Christ is God’s grace gift to mankind. God the Father loved the world so
much, (And in this manner) that He sent His Son to take upon Himself the
penalty of sin that rightfully belonged to all men.
(John 3:16) Because of God the Father’s Impersonal love for all mankind, He
made the Lord Jesus Christ who knew no sin to be sin for us. (2Co 5:21)
Jesus Christ became our substitute.
But God demonstrates His own [Impersonal] love toward us, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us. [Huper, “as a substitute for,” plus the
genitive plural of, ego, “us”] (Rom 5:8)
In order to be the Savior, the undiminished Deity of God the Son took on
true humanity. (Php 2:6-8; Heb 10:5) Christ did not have a sin nature nor did
He receive the imputation of Adam’s original sin because of the virgin
pregnancy. Consequently, Jesus Christ was born acceptable to the
righteousness of God. During His thirty three years on the earth, Jesus Christ
was tempted in all things, even directly by Satan himself, yet He remained
impeccable, without personal sin. (Mat 4:1-11; Heb 4:15) He alone perfectly
fulfilled every demand of the Mosaic Law. He was the only possible sacrifice
for sin — “the [Sacrificial] Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
(John 1:29)
Jesus Christ “endured the cross, despising the shame.” [Disregarding —
Thinking very little of the same involved] (Heb 12:2) He had been insulted,
abused, and virtually skinned alive. His back was a mass of lacerations and
exposed nerve endings. His face was barely recognizable. (Isa 52:14) His
great physical strength was so debilitated that while carrying the cross to
Golgotha, He staggered on the road. When nailed to the cross, He had to
force His feet and wrists against the spikes to relieve the weight on His lungs,
so that He could breathe.
From the time of His arrest through the long hours of mental abuse and
physical torture, never once did He cry out from the pain. (Isa 53:7; Acts 8:32-
35) Yet, when the Lord Jesus Christ came into contact with every sin
committed by the human race and was separated from God the Father, He
screamed out again and again,
“ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY
GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Mark 15:34)
Jesus Christ knew exactly why He was forsaken! Since the righteousness of
God the Father could have nothing to do with sin, He had to separate Himself
from the humanity of Christ while those sins were imputed and judged on the
cross. Jesus Christ’s separation from God the Father — His Spiritual death
and judgment, is the most excruciating pain that will ever occur in all of
human history — this was the judgment for sin, the cost of atonement.
Our Lord’s question on the cross, “Why have You forsaken Me?” was uttered
entirely for our benefit — He understood the answer; we did not. This
question was a dramatic statement that communicated His sacrificial suffering
and judgment for our sins. The words of the scream were deliberate in order
to fulfill the prophecy of, (Psa 22:1-31) that henceforth all might know that on
the cross, Jesus Christ provided eternal Salvation by becoming an efficacious
sacrifice for our sin.
While Jesus Christ hung on the cross, the Father’s and the Spirit’s Personal
love for the Son never dimmed, never flickered, never went out; Their love for
the Son remained infinitely bright. How could this be when the Father turned
His back on His Son? The humanity of Christ remained perfect while being
judged for our sins. The cross is the only time in history when Spiritual death
occurred and perfection continued. His impeccability was perpetuated during
those three hours while He was being judged for sin.
“For once and for all Christ died for sins, the Righteous One as a
substitute for the unrighteous ones, in order that He might bring us to God,
having been put to death in the flesh [Substitutionary Spiritual death] but
made alive in the spirit.” (1Pe 3:18; corrected translation)
For this reason, the impeccable humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ was
totally acceptable to Divine righteousness and remained the object of God’s
Personal love. God the Father continued to love the Son, even as He imputed
the sins of the entire human race to Him. He covered Golgotha in a blanket of
supernatural darkness so that neither man nor angel could observe the Lord’s
ordeal. (Luk 23:44)
Yet in demonstrating His love for us, in providing our so great Salvation, the
Father’s righteousness demanded that His justice pour out upon Jesus Christ
all the sins of the human race and judge Him in our place. Divine love is never
stripped of righteousness and justice when God deals with sin, but neither are
righteousness and justice stripped of Divine love.
In humbling “Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even
death on a cross,” (Php 2:8) Jesus Christ demonstrated His own Personal
love for God the Father. Despite the pain of His sacrifice, His Personal love
never wavered toward the Father. The Lord remained faithful to the Father’s
plan of redemption, reconciliation, propitiation, and unlimited atonement.
(Luk 22:42) In accepting the imputation of all sins and the substitutionary
judgment for them, Jesus Christ demonstrated the infinite scope of His
Impersonal love for all mankind.
How much more will the blood of Christ, [Substitutionary Spiritual death]
who through the eternal Spirit [Filling of God the Holy Spirit offered Himself
without blemish [Impeccable] to God, cleanse your conscience from dead
works (Ritual without Reality) to serve the living God? (Heb 9:14)
God the Holy Spirit took part in that love by sustaining the humanity of Christ
during the Incarnation and in those terrible, final hours when He was being
judged for the sins of the entire world. The Lord accomplished the entire work
of Salvation in the power of the filling of God the Holy Spirit. The
substitutionary Spiritual death of Christ redeemed all humanity from the slave
market of sin. (Eph 1:7; (1Pe 1:18-19)
Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper
time. (1Ti 2:6)
Christ’s substitutionary death reconciled the enmity between sinful man and
God. (Rom 5:11-15; Eph 2:15-16)
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through
Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in
Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against
them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2Co 5:18-19)
The righteousness and justice of God were propitiated by Christ’s work on
the cross. (Rom 3:25-26)
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but
also for those of the whole world. (1Jn 2:2)
This is the Doctrine of unlimited atonement — Christ died as a substitute for
all mankind. (John 3:17; Tit 2:11)
For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for
all, therefore all died; and He died for all, that they who live should no longer
live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
(2Co 5:14-15)
When Jesus Christ spoke the word, “tetelestai” on the cross, He had
accomplished the work of Salvation. (John 19:30) In the intensive perfect
tense, tetelestai means “finished now with results that go on forever.” The
work of propitiation, redemption, reconciliation, and unlimited atonement has
eternal results. The finished work of Christ on the cross makes Salvation
available to all, but it does not assure the Salvation of anyone.
But the free gift [The substitutionary work of Christ on the cross] is not
like the transgression. [Adam’s original sin] For if by the transgression of the
one [Adam] the many, [The human race] died [Spiritual death] much more did
the grace of God and the gift [Of Salvation] by the grace of the one Man,
Jesus Christ, abound to the many. (Rom 5:15)
No one can do anything to earn or deserve this grace and Impersonal love
from God. No one can be saved by his own works, such as making Christ
Lord, inviting Christ into his heart, walking an aisle, weeping tears of self-
reproach at the altar, living a good or moral life, promising God to do better.
No one can add anything to the Salvation work of Christ on the cross. The
Scripture is explicit.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that [Salvation] not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one
should boast. (Eph 2:8-9)
Salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone!
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved... (Acts 16:31)
This is the gospel message, the “good news.” (Acts 8:12) God the Father
offers eternal life through the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the Truth, and the life; no one
comes to the Father, but through Me.” (John 14:6)
“And there is Salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under
heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”
(Acts 4:12)
God’s unfailing Impersonal love coordinates with His integrity through His
grace to give every member of the human race an equal opportunity to
believe in Christ. The Cross is the greatest demonstration of God’s love for
all mankind.
GOD’S FOURTH POINT OF CONTACT: AT GOD CONSCIOUSNESS
At the moment a person reaches God consciousness, the justice and
unfailing Impersonal love of God make their fourth point of contact with
Spiritually dead mankind. At the point of God consciousness, also termed the
age of accountability, an individual is capable of recognizing the existence of
a Supreme Being, (Rom 1:19-20) and is able to understand the Gospel,
(1Co 15:3-4) and becomes responsible for his own positive or negative
volition toward God. Upon reaching God consciousness, man has a choice:
Does he desire further knowledge of God or not? He is responsible for his
own decision. If his volition is negative toward knowing God, then God is not
obliged to provide gospel information. If he has positive volition, then this
response calls for action from God the Holy Spirit to reveal the Gospel, and
the means by which he can be saved. Every human being has equal privilege
and equal opportunity to reap the results of Impersonal love. Each individual
is responsible for his own decision; no one has an excuse.
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal
power and Divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through
what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Rom 1:20)
What about those who have never had a chance to hear the Gospel?
What about those who live in a remote geographical area or speak an
obscure language? If they have never heard of Jesus Christ or the cross,
how does God’s justice and Impersonal love apply to them?
No geographical isolation, linguistic barrier, or any other factor prevents the
love and grace of God from providing the Gospel to anyone with positive
volition. When God the Father provided Salvation through the sacrifice of
Christ on the cross, He declared that no person will be denied the opportunity
to possess eternal life. (Psa 19:1-6) cf. (Rom 10:8; Rom 10:18)
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing Salvation to all men.
(Tit 2:11)
What about children who die at a young age? What about those who do
not have the mental capability to understand the Gospel? Holding them
accountable for their decisions, when they lack the mental faculties to reach
God consciousness; this would be unfair; however, God is absolute justice
and is incapable of being unfair. Since every member of the human race is
condemned at birth and Jesus Christ died as a substitute for the entire human
race, God is free to secure in heaven the eternal future of those who never
reach God consciousness. (2Sa 12:15; (2Sa 12:23) Any member of the
human race, then, who dies before reaching accountability, is automatically
saved and his name remains in the Book of Life upon his death.
The unfailing, Impersonal love and justice of God stay in contact with the
unbeliever to his dying breath. If he chooses to reject the love of God, that is
his own decision. God has no desire to cast His creatures into the Lake of
Fire.
Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
Truth. (1Ti 2:4)
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining Salvation through
our Lord Jesus Christ. (1Th 5:9)
Nonetheless, He decreed to leave in just condemnation anyone who rejects
Jesus Christ as Savior. (John 3:18) Upon his death, the unbeliever will enter
Hades to await resurrection to judgment.
GOD’S FINAL POINT OF CONTACT: AT THE GREAT WHITE THRONE
JUDGMENT
All unbelievers, “the great and the small,” from the mighty to the lowly, will
be resurrected at the end of the Millennium to stand before the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Judge at the Great White Throne. The Great White Throne
Judgment is justice and Divine Impersonal love’s fifth and final point of contact
with unbelieving mankind. The unbeliever finds himself being judged “because
he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
(John 3:18) At this judgment the eyes of the unbeliever will be opened to
what Christ accomplished for him on the cross, and the love he rejected by
choosing not to accept the work of Salvation on his behalf. The unbeliever’s
punishment is separation from God for all eternity in the Lake of Fire.
And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose
presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And
I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and
books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life;
and the dead [Unbelievers] were judged from the things which were written in
the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which
were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and
they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. [Erga, “human
old sin nature works”] (Rev 20:11-13)
Notice, the sins of the unbeliever are never mentioned at the Great White
Throne Judgment. All sins were judged on the cross and once judged, they
can never be judged again. Double jeopardy is a violation of the justice of
God.
Instead, two sets of books are opened. In the first, the Book of Life, the
name of the unbeliever has been blotted out. The second set, the Book of
Works, contains the record of all the good “works” of the “dead.” It is from
these books that the unbeliever is judged.
In God’s final courtroom the unbeliever says, in effect, that he prefers to
stand on his own good works rather than on the work of Christ for his
Salvation. But what does God think of man’s good works?
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous
deeds are like a filthy garment... (Isa 64:6)
Nothing man can do through his own efforts, works, energy, or morality will
gain the approbation or favor of God. What matters is God’s grace — the
expression of His unfailing Impersonal love.
When God examines the books and measures the unbeliever’s deeds
against the perfect standard of Divine righteousness, He can only reject them.
All the good deeds of the unbeliever, whatever the number, add up to
unrighteousness and unrighteousness cannot have a relationship with the
righteousness of God. What His righteousness condemns, His justice must
judge.
And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second
death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the
book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:14-15)
The first death is the physical death of the unbeliever, the second death is
the Lake of Fire. The resurrected unbeliever is cast into the Lake of Fire
where he will reside forever.
“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed
ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his
angels.” (Matt 25:41)
God still has Impersonal love for those He sentences to the lake of fire, but
God’s righteousness and justice cannot disregard the unbeliever’s rejection of
His gracious provision of Salvation. God’s plan of grace is directed toward
the entire human race. Even if a person does not believe in Jesus Christ, it
does not change the Impersonal love of God for that person.
“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been
judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God.” (John 3:18)
In the final analysis, the love of God does not fail the unbeliever; the
unbeliever fails to accept the Impersonal love and grace of God by rejecting
Jesus Christ as Savior.
As Satan’s appeal unfolds in human history, the unfailing love of God and the
perfect justice of His verdict is proven again and again. (Eph 3:10-11) Satan
loses his appeal trial when One Person submits to God the Father to the
point of death! This is what God the Son DID in a human body! (Php 2:8)
The passage of human history demonstrates that no person or angel goes to
the lake of fire except by his own negative volition. (John 3:18; John 3:36;
Rev 14:6-12) God’s decision to sentence Satan and all the fallen angels to
the lake of fire is demonstrated to be perfectly just and right, consistent with
all of His attributes — even His love.
GOD’S UNFAILING PERSONAL LOVE FOR THE BELIEVER
WHEN YOU BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, God establishes a
permanent relationship that can never be changed. (By God but can be
changed by us; Jer 17:13; Psa 73:27; Heb 2:1-3; Heb 10:25-31) cf. (Nah 1:2)
You become the beneficiary of God’s Personal love, a member of God’s
royal family forever, and receive equal benefits from the grace of God. As a
member of His royal family, you acquire your very own portfolio of invisible
assets. This portfolio includes great blessings in time and in eternity: a unique
Spiritual life with the Divine assets necessary for growing in grace and
executing that Spiritual life, as well as Divine assets that will carry you
through dying and into eternity where your escrow blessings await. This is a
demonstration of God’s unfailing, Personal love.
ETERNAL LIFE
At the moment of faith alone in Christ alone, God imputes His very Own
eternal life to you. (John 3:16; John 3:36; John 6:47; John 20:31)
And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in
His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of
God does not have the life. (1Jn 5:11-12)
And I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one
shall snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:28)
The anthropomorphism in, (John 10:28) says that you are in the grip of
the Lord’s hand forever, and He never lets go.
For those of you who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, you are now the
recipients of God’s unfailing Personal love, because at the moment of your
Salvation God also imputed His very Own righteousness. Once He has
justified you, nothing can ever separate you from His unfailing love!
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8:38-39)
Because you are justified by faith, you “have peace,” you are reconciled
with God. You are certain therefore of His Personal love, because you
possess His righteousness. You stand in His grace provision, not in your merit.
Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction
by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope [Confidence]
of the glory of God. (Rom 5:1-2)
The imputed righteousness of God is also the target for blessings
received by the believer from God. What the righteousness of God approves,
the justice of God blesses, through the love of God as expressed by the
grace of God. God always seeks the highest and best for the recipients of
His Personal love, It is impossible for anyone who has imputed Divine
righteousness to lack anything because through His grace, God sends life
support and blessing to all believers.
And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in
Christ Jesus. (Php 4:19)
God’s Personal love, grace, and integrity have provided everything
needed to sustain you in this life, from temporal support to Spiritual riches, so
that you might fulfill His will, purpose, and plan for your life!
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you
stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God
our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and
authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jud 1:24-25)
(Jud 1:24) says that God has the ability to maintain the relationship, which
He started. You do not keep yourself secure; God does that as a matter of
grace and love. (Psa 37:24)
The Unique Spiritual Life of the New Covenant Age
The unfailing, Personal love of God has given more Spiritual assets to the
New Covenant Church Age believers than to believers in any other
dispensation in history past. In eternity past, His antecedent grace provided
infinite wealth in His decree, a wealth that is permanent and eternal and
cannot be destroyed. He provided “every Spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places” — advantages, privileges, and capacity for happiness beyond your
imagination. (Eph 1:3; cf. Eph 2:7) He provided a unique Spiritual life, and the
specific assets necessary for its operation and fulfillment. He provided a
private escrow account into which He deposited special blessings for both
time and eternity. His desire, His will for your life, is to fulfill the conditions of
the escrow by executing the Spiritual life, and thereby receive the escrow
blessings through which you glorify Him.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
(Rom 11:33)
The depth of God’s wealth is in Spiritual knowledge, the perception of the
Word of Truth, and in Spiritual wisdom; the application and or Thinking with
Truth.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may
know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His
inheritance in the saints. (Eph 1:18)
That their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love,
[Virtue love] and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance
of [Spiritual]understanding, resulting in a true knowledge [Spiritual Thinking] of
God’s mystery, [God’s advanced Thinking for the mature believer]that is,
Christ Himself. (Col 2:2)
Epignosis is metabolized Truth in the right lobe of the soul. From the
Greek words, (Epi) “over, beyond,” and, (Nosis) knowledge,” this “over or
beyond knowledge” is Bible Thinking that the Christian understands and
believes; Truth available in his soul for immediate, accurate application to life.
(Eph 4:13; (2Pe 1:8-11)
Only the “true” or full Spiritual knowledge of God’s Thinking has value, and
this ONLY can be applied as Spiritual wisdom and Spiritual common sense,
that can be applied to the circumstances of our life. If we do not have an
epignosis, (Spiritual) understanding of God’s Word in the mentality of your
soul, in your stream of consciousness, we will never be able to use the
infinite, eternal wealth that God has provided for us in this life. Though this
wealth cannot in any way be destroyed, it is unavailable to us if we are
ignorant of this wonderful gift from God’s antecedent grace. Our ONLY
means to exploit this infinite wealth is through the perception and application
of Truth.
That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, [Divine
assets and resources from His love] to be strengthened with power through
His Spirit [The filling of God the Holy Spirit] in the inner man; [The new Divine
nature] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts [Right lobe] through faith;
[Truth metabolized through Operation Z] and that you, being rooted and
grounded in love, [Virtue love] may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [The completed Mind of
Christ] and to know the love of Christ which surpasses [Human] knowledge,
that you may be filled up to all the fullness [Pleroma — Spiritual maturity] of
God. (Eph 3:16-19)
You are “strengthened with power” by means of the filling of God the Holy
Spirit. God the Holy Spirit empowers and teaches us as our mentor, so that
you may advance to Spiritual maturity and capitalize on the infinite wealth of
God’s grace. The result of your advance is that Christ dwells, or is at home,
“in your hearts.” (Eph 3:17) To have Christ at home in your heart means the
Thinking of Christ is circulating in the stream of consciousness of the right
lobe of your soul. The Thinking of Christ is the Bible Truth by which you come
to know Him and His plan for you. With that flow of Truth through your stream
of consciousness, you are firmly “rooted and grounded in [His] love”— the
result is you respond with Personal love for God and are Occupied with
Christ.
To love someone Personally, you have to know their Thinking. Likewise, you
will never love God until you know His Thinking. You must possess “the Mind
of Christ!” (1Co 2:16) How do you know you have the Thoughts of God?
When Divine Viewpoint influences your Thoughts and actions through
perceiving, metabolizing, and Thinking with Truth. The more you grow
Spiritually, the more you Think with the Mind of Christ. His Thinking, the basis
for living the Spiritual life, is the greatest asset you can possess!
To describe the scope of the Spiritual life, the Apostle Paul draws on
architectural and engineering terms. During his missionary journeys, Paul had
the opportunity to see numerous Greek architectural and engineering
accomplishments. Undoubtedly when Paul visited Athens, he viewed the most
readily identifiable edifice in all of the Greek world,
(Acts 17:16; Acts 17:19) the Parthenon, the chief temple of Athena on the
Acropolis. (Constructed between 447 — 432 B.C.) Greek architects so
ingeniously conceived the dimensions of the building that visual distortions
were eliminated. Likewise, God in His grace designed the dimensions of the
Spiritual life so that distortions in the soul are eliminated, and His flawless
plan can be seen in all its glory.
The four Spiritual dimensions of, (Eph 3:18) “breadth and length and height
and depth,” represent the provisions from God’s love that equip every
believer with the means to advance in His plan. The grammatical structure of
the verse helps us to better understand these dimensions of the Spiritual life.
The noun “breadth” is preceded by the article, (To) “the,” but the article is not
repeated with “length,” “height,” or “depth.” However, length, height, and
depth are all connected by the Greek conjunction, (kai) “and.” This particular
Greek construction requires that all four dimensions be viewed as a unified
whole; they all refer to the same subject, the limitless proportions of the
Spiritual life furnished through the Virtue love of God. Thus, “breadth and
length and height and depth,” represent the Spiritual life that equips every
believer to advance to the high ground of Spiritual maturity.
THE FIRST DIMENSION
The first dimension is represented by the Greek word, (Plalos) “breadth”
or “width.” Breadth encompasses all God has done for you: His omniscient
decree, His antecedent grace in eternity past, your regeneration, your
Spiritual life, and beyond, into your eternal future. At death, you transfer from
the status of mortality to the status of immortality, face to face with God in
heaven forever. (1Co 15:54; (2Co 5:8)
THE SECOND DIMENSION The second dimension is, (Mekos) “length.” This
is the span of your Spiritual life in time. For the duration of your life, God
provides several basic devices for your advance to the objective of Spiritual
maturity.
The foundational device is rebound — a Biblical mandate, your access to
intimacy with the Lord, the gateway to Divine power in your life, your license
to serve the Lord. Rebound is the only solution to carnality and the only
device that functions in a state of sin. When you sin, your soul is dominated
by the sin nature, and you are powerless to live the Spiritual life. (Rom 7:15-
24) How do you rebound and recover from carnality? Simply admit your
personal sins privately to God the Father. Then you are able to resume living
the Spiritual life.
If we confess [Admit] our [Known] sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive
us our [Known] sins and to cleanse [Purify] us from all [Unknown or forgotten
sins] unrighteousness. (1Jn 1:9)
When you rebound you are immediately restored to fellowship with God
and filled with God the Holy Spirit. This filling controls your soul, supports
your resistance to the temptations of the sin nature, and provides the power
for the execution of your Spiritual life. You must remain filled with God the
Holy Spirit in order to utilize His teaching ministry. (John 16:13) Only under
His mentorship can you metabolize Truth through the function of Operation Z
and Think with that Truth for the circumstances of your life. Your Spiritual life
cannot function apart from the filling of God the Holy Spirit. You must
consistently rebound and keep moving. (Php 3:12-14)
As you move along the path of your Spiritual life, adversity is inevitable. God
provides the faith rest technique, Thinking with basic Promises, to solve these
pressures, difficulties, heartaches, and problems. A Promise is a Divine
guarantee, a capsule statement of Truth, a solid rock upon which to anchor
your mental attitude. Promises express the essence and policy of God,
provide instantaneous Perspective, and reduce complicated situations to their
utmost simplicities.
The steps for using faith rest are: First, claim a Promise to stabilize your soul;
second, glean from that Promise a relevant Truth or Doctrinal Rationale to
Think; and third, reach a Doctrinal Conclusion so that your Spiritual Thinking is
in control of the situation. By employing these three stages, you gain
immediate Divine Perspective for the intense pressures of life. Your
confidence increases as you use Truth resident in your soul. You make good
Decisions from a position of strength. Certain of God’s steadfastness and
secure in His care, you can genuinely rest, relax, and trust in Him for
solutions.
Employing the faith rest drill orients you to the grace of God. Understanding
His grace policy and how little you deserve the incredible bounty He provides,
motivates humility. Genuine humility in your soul is a system of Thinking and a
way of life. As a system of Thinking, humility is freedom from arrogance and
human viewpoint. As a way of life, humility is orientation to authority and to
objective Divine Reality. Genuine humility creates capacity for greater grace
blessings.
...Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS
OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, .BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may
exalt you at the proper time. (1Pe 5:5-6)
In humility you are teachable, your Spiritual Thinking adapts to His grace
procedures, you grow Spiritually. You Realize that only the ability and power
of God can meet your needs and provide answers and solutions to the
problems of life. Since you are constantly treated with benevolence by the
Lord, you begin to apply God’s charitable policy of undeserved favor to
yourself and others. You become increasingly sensitive to and tolerant of the
weaknesses of your fellow man. (Eph 4:31-32) This Attitude of humility is
linked with metabolized Divine Thinking — to produce Christian Virtue.
Seeing that His Divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to
life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His
own glory and excellence [Arete, “Virtue”] For by these He has granted to us
His precious and magnificent Promises, so that by them you may become
partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your
faith [The consistent inculcation of Truth] supply moral excellence, [Virtue, the
result of Truth resident in the soul] and in your moral excellence, [The Virtues
produced by Spiritual advance; Gal 5:22-23) knowledge; [Reflection on and
application of Truth] and in your knowledge, self-control, [Genuine humility
and self-discipline] and in your self-control, perseverance, [Persistence in
executing the Spiritual life] and in your perseverance, godliness; [The Spiritual
nature developed in the Spiritually mature believer] and in your godliness,
brotherly kindness, [Impersonal and esprit de corps love] and in your
brotherly kindness, [Virtue] love. For if these qualities are yours and are
increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true
knowledge [Divine Thinking] of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2Pe 1:5-8)
In this passage, the Greek noun arete, Christian Virtue, is the visible
manifestation of the invisible. The invisible is metabolized Truth in the soul and
the power of the filling of God the Holy Spirit, which is “everything pertaining
to life and godliness.” The visible is the application of “all diligence,” the
distinctive characteristics of the believer in, (2Pe 1:5-7). The culminating
characteristic of, (2Pe 1:7) is Virtue love — the motivational Virtue of
Personal love for God and the functional Virtue of Impersonal love toward the
entire human race.
The believer is born again into a Spiritual life designed to manufacture Virtue.
But, in order to build Christian Virtue, he must advance from applying the
basic Promises of Spiritual childhood to the complex Doctrinal Rationales in
Spiritual adulthood. He must develop Doctrinal orientation and Divine
Viewpoint Thinking in the stream of consciousness. The Spiritual life is
Thinking with Divine Viewpoint and then applying that Thinking to self, people,
things and circumstances. When the believer Thinks with metabolized Truth,
he operates with “the Mind of Christ,” the only source of absolute Truth and
Virtue! (1Co 2:16) cf. (If we always Think with the Mind of Christ, WE WILL
NEVER STUMBLE! (2Pe 1:10)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, [With God’s Thinking and Reality] that you may prove
what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For
through the grace [Orientation] given to me I say to every man among you not
to think more highly of himself [In arrogance] than he ought to think; but to
think so as to have sound judgment, [Divine Viewpoint] as God has allotted to
each a measure of faith. [Standard of Thinking from God’s Reality]
(Rom 12:2-3)
Truth creates a mirror in the soul in which you can accurately and
objectively evaluate yourself and your circumstances from Divine Viewpoint.
(Prov 27:19) When you are inculcated with Doctrinal Norms and Standards,
you rely on the Lord, have confidence in His Promises, make good Decisions,
exhibit Virtue, and resolve the dilemmas of life God’s way.
THE THIRD DIMENSION
The third dimension, (Hupsos) “height,” describes the advanced Spiritual life.
In this dimension you become a winner believer, an invisible hero having
maximum impact on human history, glorifying God to the maximum, and
receiving temporal escrow blessings. Your Spiritual advance results in the
height of Spiritual maturity.
Spiritual adulthood begins with Spiritual self-esteem. With confidence from
metabolized Truth in the soul, you begin to live in the light of an eternally
secure future. Your self-worth becomes inseparably united with Jesus Christ
because you eternally share in all that Christ has and is: His righteousness,
(2Co 5:21) His election, (Eph 1:3-4) His son-ship,
(Gal 3:26) His heir-ship, (Rom 8:16-17) His priesthood, (Heb 10:10-14;
(1Pe 2:9) His sanctification, (1Co 1:2) His royalty, (2Pe 1:11) His kingship,
(2Ti 2:11-12) His eternal life, (1Jn 5:11-12) His personal destiny.
(Rom 8:29-30) United with Christ and His destiny we can choose to allow the
Spiritual Thinking and Virtue of Christ to glorify Him; through us;
(Mark 8:34-38) and ONLY then, we will be able to accompany Him at the
Second Advent and rule with Him forever. (Rev 3:21)
You have acquired the sense of your destiny. From this realization you attain
Spiritual self-esteem. You are now able to address and solve problems from
the Truth in your soul, rather than from the advice of others. You develop the
capacity for happiness, for understanding and benefiting from Divine blessing,
for enduring suffering, for maintaining the momentum of your Spiritual life.
Never before in history have all these privileges been extended to every
believer.
For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we
live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether
we live or die, we are the Lord’s. (Rom 14:7-8)
With maximum Truth in your soul, you return God’s Virtue love because
He loves you. (1Jn 4:19) You are motivated by this reciprocal love to advance
in spite of all opposition, distraction, adversity, or prosperity. When you
discover the perfect essence and integrity of God and the remarkable
Spiritual assets He has given you, your response of respect, admiration, and
reverence fulfills the mandate of, (Matt 22:37).
And He said to him, “You SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH
ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR
MIND.”
Personal love motivates you to conform to the object of your appreciation by
following His precedent of Virtue love and Perfect Thinking. This new nature
is based on Truth and the absolute confidence in Divine ability to care for you,
this supports and sustains momentum for problem solving and motivates
courage in the face of adversity.
Your Personal love for God also motivates Impersonal love for all mankind.
People are among the most severe tests in life. Some of your associations
may be thoroughly obnoxious or evil. You want friend ship, rapport, or
intimacy with only a selected few. Even for these loved ones and close
companions a constant esprit de corps love is difficult to maintain. There are
always times when disappointment, incompatibility, or hostility characterizes
the most intimate of relationships. How much more impossible it would be to
cultivate Personal love for the unattractive or unlovable! How, then, can you
obey the biblical command to “LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF?”
(Rom 13:9)
You can love self and people only through a mental attitude of Impersonal
love.
(Rom 13:8-10) Impersonal love for the entire human race does not require
attraction, friendship, or even acquaintance with the object of love. This
unconditional love that flows out of the integrity of the subject rather than the
appeal of the object is the same kind of love that God demonstrates to all
unbelievers. (John 3:16; Eph 5:1-2) Such love is not sentimental or emotional
but Virtue dependent. When you acquire Spiritual self-esteem and develop
Personal love for God, you gain the Virtue necessary to express Impersonal
love toward everyone in your periphery. (1Jn 4:21)
Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is
not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, (Is not
preoccupied with self) is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong
suffered, (Is not preoccupied with others) does not rejoice in
unrighteousness, but rejoices with the Truth; (Divine Thinking) bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1Co 13:4-7)
Impersonal love, derived from Divine Virtue, takes precedence over the
faults and flaws of self and people. When Personal love for God and
Impersonal love for all mankind unite to form Virtue love, you will not be
encumbered by cruel intolerance, smoldering anger, judging, hatred, or other
mental attitude sins, and you will not be distracted by stress, pressure,
persecution. You will obey and imitate the Lord by repaying insults and
antagonisms with compassion, kindness, patience, and humility.
(Col 3:12-14; (1Pe 3:8-9)
In the status of Spiritual maturity, you share the perfect Happiness of God.
The humanity of Jesus Christ never lost perfect contentment and joy even
while suffering the unimaginable agonies of the cross. (Heb 12:2) His relaxed
mental attitude equated adversity with prosperity and living with dying. (Php 1:
21) He never felt threatened or sorry for Himself. His Happiness did not
change under difficult circumstances, cruelty, torture, unjust treatment, even
death. You have access to this same Happiness in your life — Spiritual Virtue
that does not depend upon people, things, circumstances, or the details of
life. When Truth and Virtue love fill your soul, you will enjoy contentment in the
midst of sin nature, people, thought, system, (Organization) and disaster
testing.
“These things (God’s Thoughts) I [Jesus Christ] have spoken to you that
My joy [The Virtue Happiness of God] may be in you, and that your joy may
be made full.”[Mature and permanent] (John 15:11)
The Happiness of God is enduring and self-sustaining. When your Spiritual
life takes precedence over circumstances, you carry God’s Happiness with
you as a constant companion. Your Divine inner Happiness and Spiritual
maturity conquer any human unhappiness or fearful situations (Jas 1:2) and
generate a tremendous capacity for life. No set of circumstances can defeat
you.
The ultimate in Spiritual maturity is Occupation with the person of Jesus
Christ. This is the “height” of your Spiritual life. (Eph 3:18) When you intensely
love and respect a person, you develop a concentrated ardor for that person.
Likewise, when you grow to understand and love the Lord Jesus Christ, your
attention rivets on Him; He is your role model, the vital pattern for your life.
The Lord becomes your closest companion, influencing your every Thought
and action. You focus moment by moment on Him. Since your Spiritual life
now depends upon encouragement only from Christ, you cease to depend
upon people for love, happiness, help, or support! You are now Spiritually
self-sustaining. No suffering, disaster, shock, or pressure can intrude on your
soul and dim the illuminating presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
THE FOURTH DIMENSION
The fourth dimension, (Bathos) “depth,” represents the portfolio of invisible
assets provided by the love of God in eternity past for you to glorify God in
time, From the depth of the riches of His love, God has granted you His
power through the agency of God the Holy Spirit in order to fulfill His plan.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God...
(Rom 11:33)
The term portfolio of invisible assets, is a financial metaphor, to illustrate
the provision of God in eternity past on behalf of every Church Age believer.
Portfolio indicates the holdings, the securities and assets of an investor — the
invisible assets that God the Father placed in escrow for each member of His
royal family before creation. These are the “riches of His grace” and include
“every Spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” (Eph 1:3, Eph 1:7; Eph 2:7)
All believers have Spiritual securities and invisible assets that stagger the
imagination. The believer’s portfolio of invisible assets is comprised of
primary, secondary, and personnel assets.
Primary Assets. These assets contain two categories: escrow blessings for
time and eternity, and the assets of election and predestination. Escrow
blessings for time, deposited for every believer in eternity past, far exceed
everyday logistical blessings. God supplies logistical grace, such as food,
shelter, and clothing, constantly and unconditionally to every believer —
positive or negative, winner or loser. (Matt 6:25-34; Php 4:19) Escrow
blessings for time, while reserved for all believers, are distributed only to
those who are winners, those who reach Spiritual maturity. These “greater
grace” blessings (Jas 4:6) are so extraordinary that every recipient must
possess a mature capacity from maximum Truth in the soul to fully appreciate
and benefit from them. Examples of escrow blessings for time include an
increased desire for Truth, Personal love for God, strength of character,
remarkable stability, perseverance, motivation, momentum, happiness, and
possibly wealth, promotion, and success.
These escrow blessings for time are then parlayed into eternal rewards —
crowns — escrow blessings for eternity. (Php 4:1; (2Ti 4:7-8; Jas 1:12; (1Pe
5:4; Rev 2:10) The Lord Jesus Christ will award these crowns for eternity to
winner believers at His Judgment or Bema seat that will occur at the Second
Advent.
Distribution of escrow blessings in both time and eternity depends on the
believer’s completion of the Spiritual life. This precondition for receiving these
blessings dramatizes God’s objective for the Church Age believer on earth:
learn Truth, gain Spiritual momentum, attain maturity, and thereby come to
love God and “glorify God in your body” (1Co 6:20)
The second category of primary assets is received through election and
predestination as decreed by God the Father in eternity past for every New
Covenant Church Age believer. Election is the expression of the sovereignty
of God with regard to His will for us — His highest and best, the greatest
escrow blessings possible. God expresses His will through equal privilege
and equal opportunity enabling you to accomplish His plan. Under election,
equal privilege is your royal priesthood through which you represent yourself
to God, and equal opportunity is the unlimited logistical grace support and
blessing that you receive throughout your lifetime.
Predestination is God’s sovereign provision for us; everything it takes for us
to fulfill His will and to execute His plan in order to receive our escrow
blessings. Equal privilege under predestination is our union with Jesus Christ
accomplished through the baptism of God the Holy Spirit at Salvation,
whereby we become a member of the Body of Christ and a joint heir with
Christ in all that He IS and has. Equal opportunity includes the assets of our
Spiritual life necessary to reach Spiritual maturity and glorify God. Election
and predestination provide fantastic blessings for us above and beyond
anything we could ever imagine or humanly think. Together they show that
God cares for us and loves us in a magnificent way.
Also we have obtained an inheritance, (Escrow blessings) having been
predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel
of His will. (Eph 1:11)
Secondary Assets. These assets are advantages that only the advancing
believer experiences in his everyday life. They are not second in importance
or quality; they are blessings from God just as certainly as the primary
assets, but simply come after primary assets in the sequence in which man
understands them. The three categories of secondary assets are volition,
production, and undeserved suffering. The volitional asset in the portfolio
specifically corresponds to positive volition. The issue in the execution of God’
s will and plan is advancing to Spiritual maturity. This requires positive volition
and consistent and numerous good decisions made daily from a position of
strength. Positive volition is an active desire to know God. The more Truth a
believer knows, the greater his frame of reference for comprehending
additional Truth. In every stage of learning, meditating upon, and using God’s
Word, he supplies the positive volition, but God the Holy Spirit provides the
unseen power — the Spiritual IQ — for comprehending, assimilating, and
applying Divine Thoughts. Accumulated good decisions result in the believer
becoming a winner and the recipient of escrow blessings for time.
The production asset concerns Christian service. As a result of Spiritual
progress, the believer begins to change his mental Attitude, which
determines, motivates, and influences his behavior and actions. As he
develops Divine Viewpoint, the believer is properly motivated to do something
for the Lord. Genuine Christian service is a privilege, an asset acquired as a
result of faithfully adhering to the plan of God. Consistent positive volition in
Spiritual growth becomes Spiritual momentum. Christian service is one
expression of this Spiritual momentum. This service, which can only be
accomplished through the power of the filling of the Holy Spirit, is part of
‘walking,’ or living the Christian way of life. It is not solely an overt, visible
activity, but the unseen advance of the maturing believer through the stages
of Spiritual growth.
The undeserved suffering asset in the believer’s portfolio is suffering for
blessing. God uses undeserved suffering as a means of blessing the
Spiritually adult believer. In His marvelous grace, God designed pressures for
each stage of a believer’s advance in Spiritual adulthood. The objective is
accelerated Spiritual growth. God uses the right kind and degree of suffering
to stretch the believer beyond his human resources, compelling him to rely
utterly upon the grace of God. This undeserved suffering is designed to teach
the all sufficiency of God and replace the Christian’s futile confidence in
human resources with increased confidence in God. The pain is real, but
always the purpose is blessing. In fact, in eternity past God graciously
included undeserved suffering in the advancing believer’s portfolio. This
suffering for blessing is necessary to intensify the believer’s use of all other
assets in his portfolio.
Personnel Assets. In addition to the primary and secondary assets in the
Christian’s portfolio, a third category relates the individual believer to an
organization or group of believers where he plays an important part. This is
the category of assets which concerns Spiritual gifts. Every Church Age
believer possesses at least one Spiritual gift that God the Holy Spirit
sovereignly bestows at the moment of salvation. (1Co 12:11; Heb 2:4) Totally
apart from human merit, ability, or talent, Spiritual gifts operate only on Divine
power, not on human energy; however, the Spiritual gift remains unexploited
until the believer begins to grow. When he reaches Spiritual adulthood, his gift
functions fully and effectively, even if he is unaware that his activities involve a
Spiritual gift.
The portfolio of invisible assets for the Church Age believer, “the depths of
God,” sets forth the way of life that God expects of the Christian because of
his exalted position in union with Christ. This is the believer’s inheritance for
time and eternity.
“But just as it is written, "THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND
EAR HAS NOT HEARD, (Empiricism) AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE
HEART OF MAN, (Rationalism)ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR
THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." For to us God revealed them through the Spirit;
for the Spirit searches all things, [Thoughts] even the depths of God. For who
among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is
in him? Even so the Thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in
those taught by the Spirit, combining SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS WITH
SPIRITUAL WORDS. (1Co 2:9-10)
Only by employing all the invisible assets, Spiritual Thoughts in the stream of
consciousness plus the momentum derived from Virtue love, can the believer
reach the ultimate status of pleroma, “the fulness of God,” and receive the
temporal and eternal rewards allotted to him in the plan of God. For the
indifferent or recalcitrant believer, the alternative to utilizing the portfolio of
invisible assets is Divine discipline, which is the consequence of his negative
volition.
PLEROMA: THE OBJECTIVE OF THE NEW COVENANT SPIRITUAL LIFE
And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowlege, that you may
be filled up to all the fulness [Pleroma] of God. (Eph 3:19)
The Greek word pleroma, translated “the fulness” of God, is the result of
comprehending and utilizing the four dimensions of the Spiritual life. Pleroma
is the high ground of Spiritual maturity where the winner believer is occupied
with the person of Jesus Christ. He now enjoys the highest possible function
of the Spiritual life. In pleroma status, he receives maximum escrow blessings
and glorifies God in his body. (1Co 6:20)
God has given a clear objective for the New Covenant Church Age: “To know
the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.” Only through the inculcation
of the Word of Truth and advancing to the high ground can you develop the
capacity to truly love God. Once this has been accomplished, you can use
that capacity to reciprocate the love God has shown to you. When you reach
pleroma status, you fulfill His purpose — to be “filled up to all the fullness of
God.”
Capacity for loving God does not come from emotional streaks of gratitude,
but by utilizing the mechanics of the Spiritual life, by the filling of God the Holy
Spirit, and by a system of Spiritual Thinking — the Mind of Christ — the Bible
— Truth! Love for God includes gratitude, but gratitude does not necessarily
imply love for God. Capacity for loving God is based on knowledge of Truth
rather than on emotion. There is a difference between feeling grateful, which
is a fleeting emotion, and being grateful, which is a consistent mental Attitude
of appreciation and thanksgiving from advancing in the Spiritual life. (Col 1:10-
12; Col 2:7; (1Th 5:18)
Only when you have Personal love for God can you exercise Impersonal
love toward all mankind. With Personal love for God and Impersonal love for
all mankind, you share the Happiness of God, “the peace [Contentment] of
God, which surpasses all comprehension...” (Php 4:7) You realize your own
Personal sense of destiny in the plan of God. In this pleroma status, you are
Occupied with Christ and as a result this glorifies Him to the maximum.
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we
ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
(Eph 3:20-21)
The New Covenant Church Age, Tribulation and Millennium are the
dispensations of the “fullness [Pleroma] of God.” Every believer has benefits
that are far beyond those of the Old Covenant. Every believer now has great
privilege and opportunity to live the Spiritual life that is unique in history.
Equal Benefits of the New Covenant Spiritual Life
From the moment of Salvation to the moment of resurrection, the integrity,
unfailing love, and grace of God provide four equal benefits for every
believer. These equal benefits are uniformly provided to all believers at
Salvation, at each instance of rebound, and at physical death. While believers
may be in different stages of Spiritual growth, from Spiritual childhood to
pleroma, they nonetheless all receive the exact same benefits from God.
THE FIRST EQUAL BENEFIT
The moment you express faith in Christ, you receive thirty nine irrevocable
absolutes plus one revocable absolute, the first equal benefit. This benefit
encompasses many Doctrines and contains all the privileges provided by God
the Father for every New Covenant believer.
The forty absolutes you receive at the moment of Salvation define your
first equal benefit. Many of these absolutes are unique to the New Covenant
Age: the baptism of the Holy Spirit that places you in union with Christ; the
indwelling of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit; the
royal priesthood of every believer; a Spiritual gift and the sealing by God the
Holy Spirit. (2Co 1:21-22; Eph 1:13) The Holy Spirit has also sealed you to
the day of redemption, that is, to the day of the First Resurrection.
(John 6:40; Eph 4:30)
Through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, all Church Age believers are united
into the “one body” of Christ and formed into the royal family of God.
For by one Spirit we were all baptized [Baptizo] into one body, [The Body
of Christ, the Church, the royal family] whether Jews or Greeks, whether
slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1Co 12:13)
No distinctions exist in the royal family of God. (Gal 3:26-28) The baptism of
the Spirit gives every believer regardless of race, gender, intelligence,
culture, personality, or station in life an equal privilege and equal opportunity
to avail himself of the unique absolutes for living the Spiritual life.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there
is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:28)
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the means of breaking the power of sin in
our life. Our “old self,” which is the sin nature, “that was crucified with Him”;
therefore, we are positionally “no longer ...Slaves to sin”
(Rom 6:3-6)
When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we are protected from the tyranny of
the sin nature, and we can walk in “newness of life,” a Spiritual way of life
totally dependent upon the grace of God. (Rom 6:4) This does not mean that
we are now sinless in life. We still have a sin nature and can still succumb to
the temptation to sin. But as we use rebound, advance, and maintain the
filling of the Holy Spirit for longer periods of time, personal sinning
decreases.
The universal indwelling of all believers’ bodies by the Three Members of the
Trinity is also unique to the New Covenant. Each Member of the Trinity has a
purpose for indwelling. The indwelling of the Father is related to the fulfillment
of His plan for the Church Age. (Eph 1:3) The Father is the author of your
portfolio of invisible assets; He is the grantor of your escrow blessings for
time and eternity; He is the mastermind of the unique Spiritual life for the New
Covenant Age. The indwelling of God the Father is assurance, the guarantee
of His personal ministry for every believer.
The indwelling of Christ is a guarantee of blessing and opportunity. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the revealed member of the Godhead, (John 1:18) the special
Divine presence, or Shekinah, who is glored among men. The term Shekinah
is derived from the Hebrew, (Shakan) “to dwell.” As the visible manifestation
of God’s glory (John 1:14; John 14:9) during the Age of Israel, the
preincarnate Jesus Christ dwelt in the Tabernacle or Temple. (Exo 25:21-22;
Lev 26:11-12; Psa 91:1; Heb 9:5)
Jesus Christ, the Shekinah Glory, now indwells the body of every Church
Age believer for the purpose of reflecting His own glory. (John 14:20; John 17:
22-23; John 17:26; Rom 8:10; Gal 2:20; Col 1:27-29) When the believer
fulfills God’s purpose by advancing to Spiritual maturity, he is “transformed
into the same image”; (Virtue and Thought: Spirit & Truth) and reflects the
glory, (Spiritual life and Divine nature) of Christ. (Rom 8:29; (2Co 3:18).
The Holy Spirit indwells to provide two guarantees: to make the believer’s
body a “temple” worthy of the indwelling of Christ, and to create a base of
operations for the execution of God’s plan. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit
makes it possible for you to fulfill the mandate to “glorify God in your body.”
(1Co 6:19-20)
Every believer in the New Covenant Church Age, both male and female, is a
priest — a royal priest. (1Pe 2:5; Rev 1:6) As a royal priest you personally
represent yourself before God.
But you are A CHOSEN RACE, [People] A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY
NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESS ION, so that you may
proclaim the excellencies [Thoughts and Virtues] of Him who has called you
out of darkness into His marvelous light. [Spiritual life] (1Pe 2:9)
“Holy” means you are positionally sanctified, set apart unto God for a special
purpose. Your royal priesthood means you are set apart for full time Christian
service, which includes learning Truth, executing the Spiritual life, interceding
in prayer, giving time, money, energy and witnessing, etc.
You also have a specialized area of service depending upon your Spiritual
gift. At the moment of Salvation every believer receives at least one Spiritual
gift bestowed by God the Holy Spirit. (1Co 12:11) Which gifts are given to
which believers is strictly a matter of His sovereignty. The gift determines
how the believer, as a royal ambassador for Christ, serves during his lifetime.
Each gift involves a distinctive ability that enables the believer to perform a
specific service in the Body of Christ. Many of the Spiritual gifts are revealed
in Scripture. Some pertain to the operation of the local church, others outside
the local church. (Rom 12:6-8; Eph 4:7-12)
No one is aware of his Spiritual gift when he is saved. His gift can only be
recognized as a result of Spiritual growth. Even if one’s gift is never identified,
most function automatically with Spiritual maturity. However, certain gifts,
which require special preparation, must be identified before they can become
operational. A pastor teacher, in particular, must master many Biblical
subjects before his gift is able to function properly. Other gifts, such as helps
or mercy, require no concentrated preparation beyond the normal, daily
intake of Truth.
THE SECOND EQUAL BENEFIT
The second equal benefit from the unfailing love of God is the provision for
the recovery of the one revocable absolute — the filling of God the Holy Spirit
— and the forgiveness of post Salvation sins. The moment you sin, the filling
of God the Spirit is withdrawn; you forfeit your temporal fellowship with God
and reside in a state of carnality. Yet, the integrity and unfailing love of God
have provided the solution to the post Salvation sin problem — rebound.
When you privately confess, cite, acknowledge your sins to God the Father,
He does the same thing every time, He forgives. God is able to forgive us
because His righteousness and justice were satisfied by Christ’s
substitutionary Spiritual death on the cross.
When you choose to sin and then fail to rebound, you do not lose your
Salvation, but will be disciplined by the justice of God. You do not get away
with anything. No one ever does!
For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which
he has done, and that without partiality. (Col 3:25)
Divine discipline from the justice of God is a family matter. Since we are
all “sons of God” through faith alone in Christ alone, (John 1:12; Gal 3:26)
and the objects of His Personal love, He shows His love by correcting us
when we are out of line.
“FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES [Personally] HE
DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
(Heb 12:6)
Just as parents discipline a disobedient child, so God from His unfailing
love severely disciplines every recalcitrant, carnal “son.”
(Prov 3:12; Heb 12:7; Rev 3:19) Parents are responsible for punishing their
children with the goal of training them to become mature, responsible adults.
Wise parents know that the short lived pain of discipline — applied in fairness
and love, not in anger — is much better for their children than the perpetual,
self-induced misery of a life without self discipline or respect for authority.
Likewise, God’s justice and unfailing love do not spare His children the
advantages of proper training that come from the pain of punishment.
Although the perfection of God’s integrity demands punishment for carnality,
the believer can rest secure in the fact that God’s personal love never
diminishes. When the justice of God disciplines you, the punishment is always
in love, and is designed for your Spiritual advantage and benefit: motivating
you to rebound and recover your advance in the Spiritual life.
For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He
disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. [The
construction of the new nature — Spiritual life — Temple in the soul]
(Heb 12:10)
All believers have an equal opportunity to rebound, and the moment they
do they receive exactly the same grace provision: forgiveness of sins,
recovery of the filling of God the Holy Spirit, restoration to fellowship with
God, and resumption of the Spiritual life.
You cannot grow in the Spiritual life through the power of the flesh. (Gal 3:2-
3) God has, therefore, graciously provided the means for you to advance
apart from any human merit, intellect, or ability. The filling of God the Holy
Spirit is the Divine power now available to every believer for executing the
Spiritual life and advancing to the high ground of Spiritual maturity. (Gal 5:16;
Gal 5:25; Eph 5:18) When you are filled, controlled by God the Holy Spirit,
you come under His Divine mentorship for your Spiritual advance.
“But the Helper, [Parakietos, “Mentor”] God the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26)
The word “mentor” originates from the name of a man in Homer’s epic
poem, The Odyssey. Mentor was the trusted advisor of Odysseus and the
tutor to his son, Telemachus. The name “Mentor” was brought into English
with the general meaning of “a close and experienced counselor, guide, or
teacher.”
As the Mentor to the Church Age believer, the Holy Spirit is our Helper,
Counselor, Guide, and Teacher. (John 14:16-17) Through the grace
apparatus for perception, (Operation Z) — the conversion of academic
knowledge in the left lobe of the soul, (Gnosis) to applicable Spiritual Thinking
in the right lobe of the soul, (Epignosis) — God the Holy Spirit provides you
with the ability to understand, assimilate, and apply Truth. He also brings to
your memory the Truth that you have previously learned and forgot. He
converts human IQ to Spiritual IQ so that all believers have equal privilege
and equal opportunity to learn and apply Truth.
Human IQ is an inequality in the human race. Every person has different
mental capabilities. No one is born with equal capacity for thinking, but most
people have some capacity for thinking. However, the grace of God ‘levels
the playing field.’ The inequality of human IQ is converted in the believer to
the equality of Spiritual IQ — the gracious provision for perception of Truth
acquired at Salvation. Spiritual IQ never depends upon how smart a person is
in the human realm. There is no advantage in being a genius or disadvantage
in having a low human IQ. Because of Spiritual IQ every believer has equal
opportunity and equal privilege to perceive God’s Thoughts. With Spiritual IQ
every believer can comprehend as much knowledge as necessary for his or
her advance to Spiritual maturity in the plan of God.
Your Spiritual IQ enables you to execute the unique Spiritual life of the Church
Age, to advance to the high ground of Spiritual maturity, to become Occupied
with Christ, and to glorify God to the maximum.
THE THIRD EQUAL BENEFIT
The third equal benefit is graciously provided by the integrity and unfailing
love of God to all believers at the moment of death. At that time all believers
receive an interim body and reside in heaven face to face with the Lord
(2Co 5:8) “in a place of no more sorrow, no more tears, no more pain, no
more death, the old things have passed away” (Rev 21:4)
God decides the time, manner, and place of your death. Nothing can remove
you from this life apart from His wise and sovereign decision. But, how we die
is determined by how we lived. If we have executed the Spiritual life, we will
die under the incredible blessings of dying grace. If we remain in perpetual
carnality or reversionism, we will experience “the sting of death,” (1Co 15:56)
the punishment of the “sin leading to death.” (1Jn 5:16)
Our dying moments are highly valuable to God because they are His final
opportunity to vindicate His Word in our soul. God demonstrates His approval
by bestowing blessing on us if we have glorified Him in the angelic conflict by
reaching pleroma status. He transfers us from time to eternity in such a way
that dying becomes the most relaxed and wonderful blessing of our entire life
and are a witness of God’s grace to all who observe our passing. God
expresses His personal love even in how He calls us home. Whether a
believer dies in pleroma or Spiritual childhood, he still receives the third equal
benefit.
Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.
(Psa 116:15)
THE FOURTH EQUAL BENEFIT
The removal of the growing and Spiritually mature believers terminates the
Church Age.
’Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep
you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole
world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ’I am coming quickly; hold fast
what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ’He who overcomes, (The
lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life) I will make him a
pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I
will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God,
the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My
new name. (Rev 3:10)
A carnal believer can never lose his Salvation from the Lake of Fire, yet
he resides in a state of perpetual Divine discipline. The ONLY exception, is a
believer living in the Tribulation period who takes the mark of the beast; (Rev
14:6-12) if an UNBELIEVER takes the mark of the beast or does not take the
mark — DOES NOT send him to the Lake of Fire. NOT believing in Jesus
Christ DOES! (John 3:18; Rev 14:6-7) A Believer who is given the GRACE,
to see and hear an angel tell him NOT to worship the beast and take his
mark; AND DOES! ...HE ALSO WILL... Go to the Lake of Fire.
(Rev 14:9-12)
Just as the unfailing love and integrity of God have provided through grace
everything we need for time, so everything we need for dying, death, and
resurrection has also been provided. After we receive our resurrection body,
there will be no more equal benefits. The blessings and rewards we receive
in heaven will not be equal. They will be determined by how well we executed
the New Covenant Spiritual life in time and whether or not we were Occupied
with Christ and glorified God. Since the love and antecedent grace of God
provided “the riches of the glory of His inheritance” for our lifetime to advance
Spiritually and to become Occupied with Him,
(Eph 1:18) we will be without excuse!
WHO WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS:
to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and
immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not
obey the Truth, (Grow to Spiritual maturity) but obey unrighteousness, (Living
out of fellowship) wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress
for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,
but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, (Grows to
Spiritual maturity) to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no
partiality with God. (Rom 2:6-11)
The “riches of His glory” is not human wealth, human approbation, or
great social life. The “riches of His glory” is the blessing of God’s unfailing
love for us from eternity past. We possess the greatest wealth that God has
ever given in all of human history! The unfailing love of God has capitalized us
with “every Spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” so that you can advance
to the high ground of Spiritual maturity and glorify Him. (Eph 1:3) When you
finally come to understand His unfailing love and what He has provided, the
“riches of His glory” will be more meaningful to you than anything else in life.
The unfailing love of God will become number one on your scale of values,
the point of reference for your Spiritual life.
Perhaps more than any other Old Testament believer, David understood the
unfailing love of God and His grace provisions that had sustained and
prospered him throughout his life. David’s response to God’s love and grace
was so great that he was called a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22)
David’s response to God’s Virtue love is part of the twenty third Psalm.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; [A place
for the intake of Truth] You have anointed my head with oil; [Maximum
Spiritual maturity] My cup overflows [From the grace of God] Surely
goodness [Prosperity] and unfailing love [Chesed] will pursue me all the days
of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psa 23:5-6)
The overflowing cup represents the phenomenal grace blessings that God
poured out to David because he kept advancing in the Spiritual life. His
overflowing cup also anticipates the far greater blessings of eternal reward.
David’s prosperity was not his personal wealth and status, but God’s
unfailing, Personal love that pursued him all the days of his life, and would
also follow him into eternity. Because this overflowing cup was a confident
expectation in David’s soul, God’s love was the focus, or point of reference,
of David’s Spiritual life, and the anticipation of his eternal future in heaven.
Reference means to direct attention to something important or something of
personal interest; a recourse for the purpose of information; to endorse a
person or course of action. David’s Spiritual life focused on the unfailing love
and grace of God. Like David, every New Covenant believer has a point of
reference on which to focus his Spiritual life. This point of reference is the
unfailing love of God, the source of the greatest Spiritual life in all human
history.
The love of God provided you with the infallible Word of God as the guide
and standard for your post Salvation Spiritual life. By orienting to Truth you
take full advantage of God’s love; you gain capacity in your soul for blessing
and establish a direction in your life that glorifies the Lord. As your point of
reference, the love of God endorses a course of action — His love motivates
you to advance and pursues you with grace resources to execute the New
Covenant Spiritual life of the Church Age; so that you will mature and receive
the conveyance of your escrow blessings in time and eternity.
Even though David did not have the New Covenant Spiritual assets belonging
to the Church Age believer, he understood the relationship between the
unfailing love of God and Divine Thinking resident in his soul.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness [Unfailing love: Chesed] and Truth go before You. (Psa 89:14)
As a great soldier, David recognized the Concept of unfailing love and Truth
going before him. Down through the ages, military organizations have
employed various types of standards, or guidons, for soldiers to follow
amidst the confusion of combat. The battle cry, “Follow the colors!” was the
command to advance to the high ground. For the Church Age believer, the
advance to the high ground of Spiritual maturity follows the guidon of
“unfailing Virtue love and Truth.”
THE BELIEVER’S RESPONSE TO GOD’S UNFAILING VIRTUE LOVE
Reciprocal love is the Church Age believer’s Personal love response to the
immeasurable riches of God’s unfailing love. This is where the Virtue love of
God and the Virtue love for God meet. Such love reflects the worship,
respect, awe, deference, and enduring devotion the Spiritually mature
believer possesses for God the Father, the Author of the Divine plan; for God
the Son, the Savior who accomplished the plan; and for God the Holy Spirit,
the Mentor who teaches and empowers the plan in the life of the believer.
This Doctrine of reciprocity defines the Personal love relationship between
God and the believer through the agency of the Holy Spirit.
(Rom 5:5; Gal 5:22-23) Reciprocity correlates the believer’s point of
reference, the Personal love of God, with the motivation to advance in the
Spiritual life. With Spiritual advance comes capacity for reciprocal Virtue love
toward God. Reciprocal love is expressed by the Biblical phrase, “love for
God.”
Knowledge of the love of God must precede love for God. When you come to
know God through staying in fellowship and learning and Thinking with Truth;
you respond with respect for Him. When you respect Him, you accept His
Word as your authority and guide. When you accept His authority, you obey
His Mandates.
But whoever keeps [Thinks with] His Word, in him the [Virtue] love of God
has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him. (1Jn 2:5)
When you obey His Word in response to His love for you, you are motivated
to continue advancing to the high ground of Spiritual maturity — to become a
pleroma believer. As you grow in grace under the Doctrine of reciprocity, you
gain the capacity and the ability to truly Spiritually love God.
THE DOCTRINE OF RECIPROCITY IN SCRIPTURE
The Divine Concept of reciprocity is found throughout the New Testament in
the Greek phrase, (He agape tou Theou). This Greek phrase can be
translated, “the love of God” or “the love for God.” The two prepositions, “of”
and “for,” make all the difference in the world. When translated “the love of
God” this phrase represents all the essential attributes of God that combine
to make up His complete Person, and is the expression of His love to the
believer through grace. When translated “the love for God” this phrase
represents the believer’s reciprocation of God’s love — a harmonious
relationship with Him. The correct translation of the phrase is determined
from the Greek grammar and context of the passage.
The Love of God and the Love for God
The noun agape, “love,” with its definite article he, “the,” are both in the
nominative case. Agape is a noun of action because it expresses a verbal
Idea. Agape represents action because it has a verb, (Agapao) “to love,” as
a cognate. The proper noun Theou, “God,” with its article tou, are both in the
genitive case. A proper noun in the genitive case connected with a noun of
action is a grammatical construction taken from the Attic Greek of the fifth
century B.C. Greek playwrights, such as Aeschylus, Euripides, and
Sophocles, used such phrases as a literary device — the noun in the genitive
case identifies the ‘hero’ of the drama. In the Greek of the New Testament,
the phrase he agape lou Theou is meant to dramatically identify God as the
Hero on the stage of human history. When in the context of a passage of
Scripture, “God” produces the action implied by the noun of action, “love,” tou
Theou is called a subjective genitive because it functions as the subject of
agape. As a subjective genitive, the phrase he agape tou Theou is translated
“the love of God.” Examples of this usage are found in,
(Rom 8:35; Rom 8:39; (2Co 13:14; Eph 3:19). In the subjective genitive, God
produces Personal love toward the believer; and Esprit de corps love to the
believer in fellowship.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. (2Co 13:14)
If “God” receives the action implied by the noun of action, “love,” tou
Theou is called an objective genitive because it functions as the object of
agape. In this case, the objective genitive phrase should be translated “the
love for God.”
(Rom 5:5; (2Th 3:5; (1Jn 2:5; Jud 1:21) God receives Virtue love from the
believer.
And hope [Confidence] does not disappoint, because the love of [For]
God [He agape tou Theou] has been poured out [Ekcheo] within our hearts
through [The personal agency of] the Holy Spirit who was given to us. [For
our advantage] For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died
[As a substitute for the ungodly [Saving work of Christ. emphasizing the love
of God] (Rom 5:5-6)
The fact that “love for God has been poured out within our hearts”
suggests that “love” in this context is reciprocal DIVINE love. The grammar of
verse, 5 authenticates this conclusion. Ekcheo is in the perfect tense, passive
voice. As an intensive perfect, “pour out” emphasizes the results or present
state produced by a past action. The past action is God’s love for you from
eternity past; that results in your present state of pouring out your “love for
God.” Tou Theou receives the action of the noun of action, agape, and must
be translated as an objective genitive. This outpouring of your love for God
overflows from the Truth circulating in the stream of consciousness in the
right lobe of your soul.
The passive voice of ekcheo identifies God the Holy Spirit as the cause of
your love for God. In the passive voice, the subject, agape, is acted upon or
receives the action of the main verb, ekcheo, “love has been poured out.”
This passive construction includes the preposition (Dia) with the ablative of
personal agency, (Pneumatos hagiou) translated “through the Holy Spirit.”
This construction indicates that the Spirit is the ultimate agent, the Person
who is ultimately responsible for the action of pouring out. His enabling power
in you is the means for the outpouring of love toward God from the right lobe
of your soul.
He agape tou Theou in, (Rom 5:5) establishes the importance of reciprocal
Divine love. The love relationship between God and us, orchestrated by the
Holy Spirit, produces confidence in God. You confidently execute His plan
motivated by your reciprocal Virtue love for God. With reciprocal love you
respond to Divine blessing with thanksgiving; you respond to Divine discipline
with rebound, the resumption of the Spiritual life, and Spiritual advance which
results in the “height” of Occupation with Christ! (Eph 3:18) Where reciprocity
and Truth reside, your “confidence” in God is bulletproof!
THE PATTERN FOR RECIPROCAL VIRTUE LOVE
Perfect, reciprocal love existed between God the Father and the humanity
of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union. (John 17:24-26) God the Father loved the
Son with an infinite and eternal Personal love, even while Christ bore the sins
of the world in His own body on the cross. The Father provided everything
that the humanity of Jesus Christ needed to fulfill His will and purpose for the
First Advent. His greatest provision was the prototype New Covenant
Spiritual life; that the humanity of Christ constantly utilized to fulfill His
mission!
As the God man, Jesus Christ pioneered a Spiritual life for the New Covenant
Age bestowed on Him by the Virtue love of God the Father. His prototype
Spiritual life was continually empowered by the filling of God the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was His constant Helper and Mentor throughout His life and
ministry on earth. (Acts 10:38) Not once did Jesus Christ use His own Divine
power or attributes to benefit Himself, provide for Himself, or glorify Himself.
(Php 2:6-7)
In utilizing the prototype Spiritual life, the humanity of Jesus Christ
depended on two categories of Divine power: the omnipotence of God the
Father who sustained Him with logistical grace support and the omnipotence
of God the Holy Spirit who empowered His Spiritual life. (Matt 4:1; Luk 4:14)
His reliance on God the Holy Spirit as the power source for the prototype
New Covenant Spiritual life set the precedent for the power of the operational
Spiritual life of the New Covenant believer. (John 17:22)
The humanity of Jesus Christ tested and proved every aspect of the
unique Spiritual life. He learned Divine wisdom and reached Spiritual
adulthood at a young age. (Luk 2:52) His increasing wisdom and His Personal
love for God the Father dominated His Thinking, so that He was able to resist
all temptations, remain in sinless perfection, and stay focused on the Father’s
mission of redemption for all mankind! (Matt 4:1-11; Heb 4:15) His dedication
to fulfill the Father’s plan was not based on emotion, but on the Spiritual
Thinking of Divine Viewpoint from the metabolized Truth circulating in His
stream of consciousness.
(John 7:16; John 8:26; John 12:49; John 14:24; John 17:8; (1Co 2:16) His
was reciprocal Virtue love to the highest degree!
Christ’s Personal love for the Father, and Personal and Esprit de corps
love for us, impelled Him to submit to the Father’s will and endure the terrible
judgment of the cross. When Jesus Christ prayed in Gethsemane, saying,
"My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as
You will."
(Matt 26:39) He was fully cognizant of the Father’s plan. His Personal love for
the Father and Impersonal love for all mankind motivated Him to become
obedient to death, even to the point of His substitutionary Spiritual death and
judgment of the cross. (Php 2:8) He remained on the cross and endured the
judgment for all the sins of mankind — the ultimate demonstration of
reciprocal Virtue love in all of history. (John 14:31; John 15:9-10)
The Quintessence of Spiritual Power
The perfect, reciprocal Virtue love of the Lord is the quintessence of
Spiritual power, and this same Spiritual power has been made available to
every believer!
And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of [For] God [Reciprocal
Virtue love] and into the steadfastness [Staying power] of Christ. (2Th 3:5)
We have the privilege of living by the same system of Divine dynamics by
which the humanity of Christ lived. Reciprocal love toward God, as
demonstrated by Jesus Christ in His prototype Spiritual life, is developed in
every believer who consistently utilizes the operational Spiritual life. The
reciprocal love for God that motivated the staying power of Jesus Christ
during His ministry and on the cross, is the same reciprocal Virtue love that
motivates our staying power to advance to the high ground and to persevere
in that advance throughout our life.
(1Co 11:1; Eph 1:1-2; (1Th 1:6)
True reciprocal Virtue love demands the function of two categories of
Personal love for God in the believer’s soul — aggressive love, which is
advancing in the Spiritual life, and responding love, which is worship of God.
The first category, aggressive love, is characterized by enduring devotion
to God. Enduring devotion as the aggressive function of the soul is the
persistent, vigorous pursuit of cognition, metabolism, and Thinking with the
Word of God. His Word is the impetus for you to live your own Spiritual life.
You develop Personal love for God and Impersonal love for all mankind and
live the Spiritual life “because He first loved us!” (1Jn 4:19)
You learn to love God through His Word. You have the Mind of Christ
“formed in you” through Operation Z — the grace apparatus for perception.
(Gal 4:19) You love Him intensely when you Think with Truth and evaluate the
circumstances of your life with Divine Viewpoint — GOD’S REALITY. Your
intense Virtue love makes His Word first on your scale of values so that your
dedication, consecration, and loyalty to Him are enduring.
Dedication, as a part of your enduring devotion, is doing the will of the One
loved. Consecration is a heightened dedication by the pleroma believer
toward God, the total commitment to accomplish His will in your life, no
matter what! When you transfer the Thinking of Christ into your soul through
the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit, the result is enduring loyalty and
devotion to God. This enduring devotion is the staying power for your Spiritual
life!
The second category, responding love, is characterized by respect for God.
Respect is your response to the grace of God in worship as the ultimate
expression of His Virtue love directed toward you. Respect is a responding
love that includes deference, honor, esteem, admiration, consideration, and
partiality directed toward God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. Respect results from the Word of Truth circulating in the stream of
consciousness of the soul, whereby God becomes the focal point of the
believer’s awe, wonder, and adoration. Deference means submission to the
Judgments, Mandates, (Thoughts) and will of God, all of which are stated in
the infallible Word of God. Honor — recognition of His authority and
leadership — is the highest form of respect for God! Esteem assigns the
highest value and admiration to God. Consideration is careful Thought and
meditation on the Word of God, developing Divine Viewpoint in the soul, and
evaluating self, people, things and circumstances through God’s Declared
Reality. (Not satanic and human false realities) Partiality is based on your
scale of values from Truth that places God as your top priority. All these
characteristics of respect are worship of God, communion with God based
on your reciprocal love.
True worship of God is accomplished only in the power of the filling of
God the Holy Spirit and God’s Thinking under the Principle of responding
Virtue love.
(John 4:24) Worship is neither an emotionally driven experience nor
meaningless repetition of religious ritual. Instead, true worship is
Concentration on God and His Word circulating in the soul of the believer.
Worship of God is Thinking with the Mind of Christ, which is an expression of
the believer’s Virtue love and respect for God in response to God’s Virtue
love for him. With this reciprocal love for God, the believer has a mental
attitude culminating in Occupation with Christ.
Enduring devotion and respect are keys to your reciprocal love for God.
Love for God demands your approaching the Lord with Grace Orientation
and an attitude of humility.
Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, [Stay in fellowship and
Think with Truth] and He will exalt you. [In capacity to enjoy God, His Word,
life, adversity and prosperity] (Jas 4:10)
Living the Spiritual life by understanding and reciprocating God’s love requires
this mental attitude of humility. Such an attitude can only operate in the
sphere of grace. Therefore, our Thinking must be transformed from a self-
reliant, merit based system to a Divine reliant, grace based system. (From
satanic — human thinking and realities; to God’s Thinking and ONE
REALITY) In the latter, we orient to the Reality of who we are, what God has
done for us, and His grace Procedures. We reciprocate His love and grace
through our orientation to grace and mental attitude of humility. As a grace
oriented believer, you have confidence that the grace of God will supply
everything you need to achieve His plan for your life! (Php 4:19; (2Th 2:16-17)
Humility and grace orientation recognize the authority of Jesus Christ as
the ruler of the Church and the immensity and power of His unfailing love
toward every believer. With humility, you submit to His will and plan because
grace orientation and reciprocal love are first in your Thinking. Humility
enables you to live within the directive will of God rather than the permissive
will of God. Humility and Grace Orientation are the impetus behind your
response to God’s plan for your life.
The Believer’s Response to God’s Love
And we have come to know and have believed [Metabolized Truth] the
love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love [The
Spiritual life] abides in God, and God abides in him. [Harmonious rapport with
God] By this, love is perfected [Spiritual Maturity reached] with us, that we
may have confidence in the Day of Judgment; [Full reward] because as He is,
[In the Spiritual life] so also are we in this world. There is no fear [Worry, lust,
hate, etc.] in love; [The Spiritual life] but perfect love casts out fear, because
fear involves punishment, [Divine discipline] and the one who fears is not [A
Mature believer] perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.
(1Jn 4:16-19)
This passage is a clear, direct confirmation of the existence and function
of the Biblical Doctrine of reciprocity. In verse 19 “we love” denotes the
Church Age believer’s reciprocal love — the supreme motivator and perfecter
of the Spiritual life. “He first loved us” encompasses His unfailing love toward
you and is the incentive for your reciprocal love. “first” means and is protos in
sequence; God’s love for you preceded your reciprocal love for Him. The love
and grace extended to you from eternity past sets the pattern for your
reciprocity. When you “have come to know and have believed” (1Jn 4:16) the
incredible scope of the riches of the love that “God has for us,” you respond
with Personal love for Him — a mutual exchange between God and you.
Reciprocal love is your point of reference for Spiritual advance. His Virtue
love is the foundation and prototype of your reciprocal love. When you
reciprocate His love, you can say, “as He is, so also are we in this world.”
(1Jn 4:17; cf. Luk 2:40; (1Jn 1:7)
Just as the human nature of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union was motivated
by perfect reciprocal Virtue love to stay on the cross and bear our sins, so
we must be motivated by reciprocal love to steadfastly execute the Spiritual
life of the New Covenant Church Age. Reciprocal love is just as central to
your Spiritual life as it was to the Spiritual life of the Lord.
Reciprocal Virtue love for God, however, cannot coexist with the sins of
arrogance: bitterness, vindictiveness, implacability, vituperation, vilification,
jealousy, gossip, slander, maligning, judging, malice, revenge. These mental
attitude sins are the antithesis of humility. Neither can reciprocal love coexist
with the sins of emotion: irrationality, worry, anxiety, panic, anger, hatred,
guilt. These sins cancel the power of reciprocal love in your life. Any
prolonged form of sin is a deterrent to reciprocal love, but fear is one of the
greatest of all distractions to the Spiritual life. Fear is a sin of both arrogance
and emotion.
NO FEAR IN RECIPROCAL LOVE
There is no fear in love; [In Fellowship] but perfect love casts out fear,
because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in
love. (1Jn 4:18)
Fear creates stress: the outside adversities of life become the inside
pressures of stress in your soul. Fear is emoting rather than Thinking under
pressure. When you succumb to fear, you are overcome with panic and
hysteria. You can develop bitterness, guilt, and malice toward others. You
are unable to apply Divine Thinking to the circumstances of life. This Spiritual
failure is summed up in the following sin Principle:
1. The more you surrender to fear/sin, the more you perpetuate sin.
2. The more you perpetuate sin, the greater your capacity for sin.
3. The greater your capacity for sin, the more you increase the power of sin
in your life.
4. The more you increase the power of sin in your life, the more you live by
sin and the greater becomes your failure to learn and Think with Truth.
5. The more you live by sin, the more you are intimidated by life.
Where sin nullifies Truth, reciprocal love for God does not exist. When
fear/sin controls your soul, your Spiritual life falls apart. Without the
confidence inherent to reciprocal love for God, you are no longer encouraged
by Truth. You cannot worship God. You lose respect for God’s plan and fail
to comply with His will for your life. You no longer utilize the resources He has
supplied for the Spiritual life. You focus on the problem rather than the only
solution — the Divine solution of Divine Thinking in the soul.
For many believers, the greatest fear in life is death. But as a believer,
you should never fear death! You should anticipate death with the expectation
of receiving dying grace and then being face to face with the Lord.
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Php 1:21)
If the unfailing love of God has provided for even the minutest details in your
life, will He not also provide for your death?
In the early days of His ministry, Jesus Christ assembled the twelve disciples
for instruction, training, and encouragement. Knowing they would face
persecution and death, He compared the death of the believer to that of a
sparrow.
“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall [In
death] to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head
are all numbered. Therefore do not fear; you are of more value than many
sparrows.” (Matt 10:29-31)
The sparrow is the least of all birds, yet God keeps tabs on every sparrow in
the sky. Not one falls to the ground in death without His knowledge. If God
cares for the least of all birds, how much more will He love and care for those
to whom He has granted “everything pertaining to life and godliness, through
the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence?”
(2Pe 1:3) That “the very hairs of your head are all numbered” means that you
have not been lost in a sea of humanity.
During World War II, I had the privilege of knowing a wonderful believer
whose experience offers a beautiful illustration of God’s faithfulness and
protection under stress. Pharmacist Mate First Class Mark Shannon of
Muleshoe, Texas, attached to the First Marine Division as a medic, came
face to face with fear, and the love of God, during the battle for Guadalcanal.
As soon as Mark’s company landed on the island, the Marines came under a
brutal Japanese bombardment. Lying face down, Mark frantically tried to
burrow into the sand. He was beginning to panic, THINKING he would be
killed at any moment. Then in the midst of all the chaos, death, and
destruction, he was startled to see a bird perched on the stump of a
shattered tree a few yards away. Immediately, (Matt 10:29-31) came to his
mind. He THOUGHT, “If God can protect this bird with high explosives raining
around him, would He not protect me as well?” Shannon Reminded himself
that God loved him and had a plan for his life that would run its complete
course. Only in God’s perfect timing would he depart this life. If his life were
to end on that beach, it was his time to depart. No longer paralyzed by fear,
he stopped hiding in the sand, got up, and began doing his job — treating
wounded Marines. As a result, many lives were saved that day, and Mark
Shannon was awarded the Silver Star for valor.
“God has not given us a spirit of timidity, [Fear~sin] but of power [The
Spiritual life] and [Virtue] love and discipline [SOUND THINKING]” (2Ti 1:7)
How you look at any given problem is determined by whether or not you
have reciprocal love for God. When you are filled with God the Holy Spirit,
advancing Spiritually, and have reciprocal love for God, the power of fear/sin
has no control over your Thinking. Reciprocal love for God, the motivation to
adhere to the Divine Thoughts, drives out fear/sin.
When your Spiritual life takes precedence over self, sin, people, things and
circumstances, reciprocal love is your Attitude. During the initial moments of
the landing, Mark Shannon experienced the intense emotions of trepidation
and anxiety. Yet by recalling the Truth in his soul, he was Reminded of the
unfailing love of God. Reciprocal love for God became his Attitude. His valor
rested in his confidence in the love, grace and THINKING of God. His
confidence from reciprocity conquered the fearful situation.
When you Think with Divine Viewpoint, fear has no power in your life! No set
of fearful circumstances can defeat you when you focus on the love of God
and His immeasurable grace and care for you. Your responding Personal love
for God and Spiritual growth generate a tremendous capacity for living the
Spiritual life of the New Covenant Age.
THE DOUBLE COLUMN ADVANCE
REACHING THE HIGH GROUND of Spiritual maturity, pleroma, requires the
simultaneous advance of Divine Thinking in the stream of consciousness and
the motivation of reciprocal love for God. This Principle is illustrated by the
military tactic of the double column maneuver where two independent
columns advance toward a single objective. I consider the tactic of the two
column advance at the Battle of Waterloo a vivid illustration of the double
column approach to the objective of pleroma. This approach to pleroma will
change forever how you Understand and live your Christian life. Let us begin
by exploring the historic events surrounding the crushing defeat of Napoleon
and the victory of the double column advance.
Many historians consider the 1815 Waterloo campaign in Belgium to be
among the most decisive in the history of warfare. One column under the
English Field Marshal Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, and a second
column under his ally, the Prussian Marshal Gebhard von Blucher, thoroughly
defeated the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. Their victory changed the political
scene of Europe throughout the nineteenth century with ramifications that
extended into the next century.
Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Russia in July 1812 and his subsequent
defeat at Leipzig, Germany, in October 1813 spelled doom for his empire.
His rule of France ended when the allies invaded and easily occupied Paris in
March 1814. Napoleon abdicated in April. In return for his abdication, the
disgraced Emperor received sovereignty over the island of Elba off the west
coast of Italy. However, becoming disturbed by reports of subsequent events
in France, Napoleon slipped away from exile in February 1815 to begin the
fateful Hundred Days. He triumphantly reestablished his empire, “where the
eagle will fly from steeple to steeple until it reaches the towers of Notre
Dame.” Amid cheers of Vive l’ Empereur! Napoleon rallied his loyal old
soldiers eager to abandon their perfunctory service to King Louis XVIII of
France and follow their beloved Emperor.
By June 1815 the hastily assembled Grande Armée was on the march
toward Brussels, the capital of Belgium and the key to Napoleon’s strategy to
regain hegemony over Europe. To reach his objective, Napoleon would first
have to face his old nemesis, the Duke of Wellington, along with his Prussian
ally, Marshal von Blucher.
On 16 June Napoleon defeated the Prussian column under Blucher at Ligny,
and on the same day the French Marshal, Michel Ney, attacked the British
column under Wellington at Quatre Bras, forcing the Duke to withdraw
northward to another defensive position. The main French force under
Napoleon then pursued Wellington’s army toward Brussels, leaving a smaller
force under Marshal Emmanuel Marquis de Grouchy to prevent Blucher’s
column from joining the Duke’s army. As Wellington retreated toward
Waterloo, he sent a message to Blucher to keep his army in a parallel column
for mutual flank protection.
By dawn on Sunday, 18 June, Wellington and his “infamous army,” made
up of mostly inexperienced and untested troops, were arrayed in front of
Mont St. Jean, a small village on a ridge rising across the highway from
Charleroi to Brussels. Only three miles across a shallow valley of rye fields
stood the little inn, La Belle Alliance. From this command post Bonaparte
deployed his army of seasoned veterans for their final assault on Wellington.
Wellington wondered, “Could his army survive until the Prussian column
arrived?” At least one factor was in his favor. Torrential rains during the
previous day and night left the ground too soggy for Napoleon to maneuver
his superior artillery and cavalry. Even worse for Napoleon, cannon balls
were much less effective in the mud. Hoping the ground would dry, he
delayed the beginning of the main assault until eleven thirty in the morning,
precariously late in the day for a military engagement. Napoleon had violated
his oldest maxim: “Space we can recover, time never . . . . I may lose a
battle, but! Shall never lose a minute.”He lost both! Heavy cannonade, cavalry
charges, and hand to hand infantry fighting over two strategic farms, La Haye
Sainte and Hougoumont, raged throughout the afternoon and into twilight. As
the day wore on Wellington was heard to mutter, “Give me night or give me
Blucher.”
The seventy two year old field marshal Blucher already had several horses
shot out from under him during the previous day’s battle. Yet, showing great
valor and determination, the old warrior held together his army during the
retreat from Ligny, and marched to the aid of the ‘Iron Duke.’ He followed
Wellington’s order to move in parallel column for the mutual support of both
armies.
By seven that evening Napoleon unleashed a dozen battalions of his faithful
and feared Imperial Guard. They attacked across ground littered with fallen
horses and dying or dead soldiers from both sides. But even Napoleon’s Old
Guard could not save the day. Blucher’s column made the difference! The
Prussians secured the British left flank while ‘rolling up’ the French right flank.
Even though not a single British square had broken, even though Hougoumont
had held because of the valiant stand of the Coldstream Guards, the Duke’s
lines were stretched to the breaking point. Only the combined strength of the
British and Prussian columns advancing together could finally vanquish
Napoleon’s Grande Armée.
Waterloo has become an idiom for “decisive defeat.” In fact, the Battle of
Waterloo represents the victory of the double column maneuver in warfare.
Similarly, victory in Spiritual warfare is gained by means of the double column
advance to the high ground of pleroma. If one column drops away in the
Spiritual advance, the common flanks of Truth and reciprocal love are
compromised and the believer becomes vulnerable to collapse. Like
Napoleon, he will meet his ‘Waterloo’ without a double column advance.
(John 4:23-24)
THE DOUBLE COLUMN ADVANCE TO PLEROMA
The Christian advances to the high ground of Spiritual maturity in two
parallel columns. These two columns illustrate the dynamics of the Spiritual
life in your soul and without them you cannot be a Spiritual winner.
SIMULTANEOUS TWO COLUMN ADVANCE IN THE BELIEVER’S SOUL
The first column is your consistent perception of epignosis knowledge of
Divine Thinking under the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit. The second
column is your reciprocal love for God, the motivation to persist in the
Spiritual life, also under the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit. The two
columns advance simultaneously. The accumulation of epignosis — Spiritual
Thinking in the right lobe of the soul will falter without the motivation of
reciprocity, and reciprocal love cannot strengthen without the metabolizing of
Truth. Increasing knowledge of God’s Word causes your Spiritual growth.
The continuing motivation of reciprocal love sustains your Spiritual growth.
With Truth circulating in your stream of consciousness, you will Comprehend
and Appreciate the love of God and develop Personal love for God in return.
With this reciprocal love, you will have the staying power to consistently
metabolize Truth, advance to the high ground, serve the Lord, and glorify God
to the maximum.
The two columns protect each other in a synchronized movement during
the advance to pleroma. Each column defends the mutual flank of the other
column from attack by two formidable enemies of the Spiritual life: religious
legalism and religious emotionalism. (Religious legalism is man’s futile attempt
to earn Salvation, Spirituality or to gain the approbation of God through strict
conformity to a code of ethics and or moral conduct such as the Mosaic Law.
(Col 2:16-23) Those who make such an effort to gain God’s favor and to
elevate the importance of their good works are deluded by blind arrogance
and self- deception. (Isa 64:6) In, (Matt 23:27-28) Jesus condemned the
religious Pharisees as examples of legalism and hypocrisy: “Woe to you,
scribes and Phsrisees, hypocrites!”)
As Spiritual Thinking advances, its flank is protected by reciprocal love, (The
Filling of God the Holy Spirit) from the hypocrisy of religious legalism, the
enemy of grace. If religious legalism breaks through the line of reciprocal
love, the believer’s Spiritual life will stagnate. He will neglect or reject
rebound. Truth will be merely academic knowledge, gnosis, which cannot
contribute to the two column advance to pleroma. Grace orientation, the
companion of reciprocal love, will disappear. He will become discouraged
when facing adversity or testing for blessing. The advance to pleroma grinds
to a stop. Without the protection of reciprocal love, the believer does not
have what it takes to keep advancing. This is why Christians who cannot
resolve their problems say, “Truth does not work!” Why does Truth not work
for them? They have no support from reciprocal love and DO NOT THINK
WITH TRUTH UNDER EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE!
As reciprocal love advances, its flank is protected by Truth from the
attack of religious emotionalism, the enemy of Divine Viewpoint. The
motivation of reciprocal love without Divine Thinking as its guardian becomes
maudlin sentimentality or worse, the delusion of a subjective, personal
experience such as the ‘tongues movement.’ Without the simultaneous
advance and mutual protection of both columns, Christian experience and
service will succumb to human old sin nature good and activism. The believer
so involved will encounter painful suffering from Divine discipline.
If either column falters, your advance halts! When the motivation of
reciprocal love fades, Truth is neglected and replaced with legalism. Without
the authority of Divine Thinking in your soul, reciprocal love is distorted and
twisted into emotionalism.
When the columns mutually support each other, allied and steadfast, your
Spiritual life presses on toward the objective of Spiritual maturity. You
continue the upward climb toward Personal love for God the Father, humility,
Grace Orientation and Occupation with Christ. Your two columns converge
on the peak of pleroma, “the fullness [Of blessing] of [From] Christ.” (Eph 4:
13) As a result of the tenacious exercise of metabolizing Truth along with the
motivation of reciprocal love, the high ground is reached. You will fulfill the
plan of God for your life, become an invisible hero, be victorious in the angelic
conflict, and receive conveyance of your escrow blessings for time and
eternity.
To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the
Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ. (Eph 3:8)
For invisible heroes, the incalculable riches of God exert Virtue. The
awesome depth of God’s love is so compelling that the believer is powerfully
pulled toward “the riches of His glory.” When he is drawn to Him, he
possesses the greatest wealth God has ever given. These riches of God’s
grace include the phenomenal portfolio of invisible assets, the mentorship of
God the Holy Spirit, and the provision of the Spiritual life by which he
advances in double column to pleroma.
When “the unfathomable riches of Christ” reside in the believer’s heart, he
has Divine Viewpoint and reciprocal love. He in turn exerts Virtue to others,
that is a reflection of those assets. This Virtue love, developed through the
double column advance and the execution of the unique Spiritual life, is a
Testimony to the world. When he uses the unlimited resources of Truth and
the Filling of God the Holy Spirit to advance to the high ground of pleroma,
and when he takes possession of the greatest wealth that God has given in
all of human history, God’s Virtue love emanates through him. Like a
lighthouse that draws a lost ship out of the black night and into port, he draws
unbelievers to the light of the Gospel and believers to His Word by
demonstrating the riches of His glory through his mature Spiritual life.
The Virtue of God’s love shines through the advancing believer and gives
Testimony of His Person and plan in two ways. First, the double column
advance of metabolized Truth and the motivation of reciprocity, (The Filling of
God the Holy Spirit) generates a stabilized, confident, and Grace oriented
mental Attitude. The advance of the New Covenant Spiritual life of the Church
Age believer is a visible Witness that declares the riches of His glory and the
magnificence of His love and grace to the world. Second, the Virtue of the
winner believer and invisible hero has invisible impact in several categories.
That impact reveals the grace of God as part of the Principle that Jesus
Christ controls history.
Personal Impact
Personal impact is blessing by association with the mature believer to
individuals and organizations in his periphery. Everyone in the invisible hero’s
life is blessed by his Spiritual Virtue and Thinking: family — husband, wife,
mother, father, children, relatives, pets; organizations — businesses, schools,
teams, Law firms, medical clinics, military organizations, police departments,
engineering firms, banks, corporations; social life — friends, acquaintances;
church life — mission board, prep school, Christian service organizations;
civic life — neighborhood, city, county, state, nation. The mature believer’s
impact extends to believers, winners and losers, and even unbelievers.
Historical Impact
Historical impact is blessing to a client nation received through the
Spiritual maturity of the invisible hero. The number of invisible heroes who
reach pleroma determines the history and destiny of any client nation. This is
the Principle of the pivot — an accumulation of mature believers living within a
national entity, whose Spiritual advance sustains the nation
(1Ki 19:18; Matt 5:13-16; Rom 11:2-5). The vigor, prosperity, stability, and
preservation of the client nation is sustained by a sufficient pivot. These
unsung, invisible heroes are the Spiritual solution to national degeneracy and
are the only hope of a nation. When the pivot declines, the nation declines. As
goes the believer, so goes the client nation. (A client nation is God’s
specifically protected representative on earth, a repository for Divine Thinking
where the Gospel is freely communicated, Truth is preserved and taught,
evangelism flourishes, missionaries convey the Gospel and Truth throughout
the world, and a haven is provided for the Jews.)
Blessing to the nation is an escrow blessing our Lord distributes to the
Spiritually mature believer. In this way Jesus Christ receives all the glory, and
His Thinking and Virtue is not sullied by the questionable judgment of
overzealous Christians who attempt to play power politics in His name and
vainly strive to establish the Kingdom of God on earth during the New
Covenant Church Age. Every mature believer is a witness for Christ to
unbelievers in the nation both by word of mouth and from the Virtue of his
Spiritual life. As a good citizen demonstrating his Christian Principles, the
invisible hero contributes to the stability and prosperity of his nation. He does
not crusade in the name of Christianity to remake his nation in the image of
his personal faith. (Rom 13:1-7)
International Impact
International impact originates from the Virtue of Spiritually mature
missionaries who are sent from the client nation to non-client nations.
Missionaries travel all over the globe to carry the Gospel to pockets of
positive volition. They present the true gospel message of faith alone in Christ
alone, teach Truth to the converts, establish local churches, and provide
training for Spiritual gifts. The missionary’s Spiritual Virtue is a source of
blessing to two nations: the nation in which he serves and the nation from
which he is sent.
Unfortunately, not all missionaries are mature believers and they sometimes
interfere in the politics, the culture, or other functions of the non-client nation
through activism, social engineering, civil disobedience, or revolution. These
are not part of the Spiritual life; they are instead manifestations of human old
sin nature good — socialism.
Angelic Impact
In the appeal phase of the angelic conflict the Spiritual life of the invisible
hero has far reaching impact among the angels. (1Co 4:9; Eph 3:10) In,
(1Pe 1:12) the corrected translation is, “the angels are bending down and
stretching their necks and concentrating” on what believers are doing. In
other words, it seems to be describing some great heavenly coliseum where
angels are bending down, intently watching events on earth. Angels
constantly observe the human race, and in particular, the Spiritually mature
believer in the New Covenant Church Age.
(1Co 11:10; (1Ti 5:21; cf. 1Pe 1:12) They watch the believer’s execution of
the Spiritual life, his double column advance, and his response to the
unfathomable riches of God’s love and grace. They see him “put on the full
armor of God” and “stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”
(Eph 6:11)
God summons the invisible hero to the witness stand, as it were, to provide
Testimony against Satan’s appeal. The mature believer’s execution of the
Spiritual life and reciprocal love for God is undeniable evidence for the
unfailing love and integrity of God. The devil can cross examine the mature
believer by administering undeserved suffering
(Job 1:6-12; Job 2:1-6;
Matt 4:1-11) By using Divine Thoughts and Virtue to pass this evidence
testing, the invisible hero has a seen Testimony among the angels. The
pleroma believer, therefore, fulfills the Divine purpose for which man was
created — the resolution of the angelic conflict.
Heritage Impact
Heritage impact imparts blessing to the loved ones, close friends, and
associates of the mature believer even after his death. This impact is the
perpetuation of blessing by association beyond the grave. The invisible hero,
then, can face death with complete assurance that God will care for those he
leaves behind. (Psa 37:25) The greatest legacy of the mature believer is
blessing to the next generation. Those who survive him are blessed, not
necessarily because they are Spiritual winners themselves, but because of
God’s high regard for the Spiritual victory of the departed believer. Indeed,
Spiritual losers and even unbelievers can receive heritage impact, just as they
can receive the blessings of personal impact during the invisible hero’s
lifetime.
THE SALUTE FROM THE GRAVE
According to my earnest expectation [Concentration] and hope, [Absolute
confidence] that I shall not be put to shame in anything, [At the Judgment or
Bema seat of Christ] but that with all boldness, [And openness] Christ shall
even now, as always, be exalted [Glorified by His Thinking and Virtue] in my
body, whether by life or by death. (Php 1:20)
The mature believer’s life has Virtue when he glorifies God in his body
during his lifetime through the double column advance. His Spiritual Virtue
continues even after his death. He continues to glorify God in his “body . . .
by death.” How can anyone glorify God in a body that no longer has a
presence on earth? Through a special heritage impact! In death the mature
believer sends a final ‘salute’ of Virtue to other invisible heroes who will carry
on.
The gladiators of ancient Rome provide a compelling illustration of a salute
from the grave. A brutal form of entertainment in the Roman Empire was
hoplomachia, “gladiatorial combat.” Before the end of a day’s spectacle,
hundreds of gladiators would slaughter one another for the pleasure of the
Roman mob. On the morning of the contest,
the gladiators, driven in carriages from the ludus magnus [Great training
school] to the Coliseum, alighted in front of the amphitheater and marched
round the arena in military array, dressed in chlamys [A mantle] dyed purple
and embroidered in gold. They walked nonchalantly, their hands swinging
freely, followed by valets carrying their arms; and when they arrived opposite
the imperial pulvinar [Couch] they turned toward the emperor, their right hand
extended in sign [Salute] of homage, and addressed to him the justifiably
melancholy salutation: “Hail Emperor, those who are about to die salute you!
Aye, Imperator, morituri te salutant!”
In effect, these men were already dead as they saluted Caesar. They
were paying homage to Caesar in life and by their death. They spoke an
epitaph that reflected their purpose in living and the extraordinary manner in
which they would die. Their bold tribute made an indelible impression on the
crowd who would watch them die.
Likewise, the winner believer salutes the Lord Jesus Christ in life and in
death. In life he loves, serves, and worships the Lord who is deserving of the
highest honor. In death his salute from the grave is a tribute to the victory of
the double column advance, and an acknowledgment of the eternal destiny
that awaits him in heaven.
For to me, to live [Continue living] is Christ, and to die is gain. [A
promotion] (Php 1:21)
The Principle of the salute from the grave, found in, (Php 1:21) begins
with, (Emoi gar) “for to me.” This translation does not fully express the
significance of the Apostle Paul’s assertion concerning his life and death. To
make this declaration to his readers, Paul dogmatically states, “As far as I
am concerned.” There is no fear of life or impending death in Paul’s soul.
Then, Paul continues his dramatic emphasis with a syntactical construction
that can be traced back to the Attic Greek of the fifth century B.C. “To live”
and “to die” are substantival, articular infinitives that act as subjects. The first
infinitive, (Zayn) “to live,” is a present tense with linear aktionsart and is
translated “to continue living.” It is the subject of the clause that includes the
appellation, (Christos) “Christ.” There are no verbs, hence, the clause is a
dramatic ellipsis translated, “to continue living, Christ” or “as long as I live,
Christ.” The clause refers to the double column advance of the Filling of God
the Holy Spirit and Thinking with Truth; that results in Occupation with Christ!
“To continue living, Christ” denotes the Virtue of the mature believer during
the course of his life.
The second infinitive, (Apothanein) “to die,” is a constative aorist infinitive,
which indicates an action that takes place in a moment of time. It is the
subject of the second clause that includes the predicate nominative, (Kerdos)
“gain” or “profit.” Again, lacking a verb, this dramatic clause is translated, “to
die, profit” or “death, profit.” (Promotion) The believer on the high ground of
pleroma is courageous and has the extraordinary confidence that the greatest
moment of his life will be the moment of his death! He identifies Occupation
with Christ as the great purpose of his life, and he greatly profits from his
promotion to eternal residence with the Lord. “To die, profit” means he has
passed into eternity, but the Virtue from his intrepid life delivers a salute from
the grave to those still living.
At death both winner and loser believers obtain the third equal benefit, an
interim body, and await the fourth equal benefit, the resurrection body.
However, not all believers glorify God “by death.” The perpetually carnal
believer, infused with fear and without the Virtue of Spiritual maturity and
reciprocal love, is unable to glorify God with a salute from the grave. During
his life, he ignored Truth, lacked motivation, and did not execute the Spiritual
life. He leaves no Spiritual legacy to his loved ones. In contrast, the Spiritually
mature believer equated living with dying during his lifetime. He was the
invisible hero who learned and retained Truth in his soul and was motivated
by reciprocal love for God. He has heritage impact which can continue long
after his death.
The winner believer’s salute from the grave beckons to those who are left
behind to follow his example and advance to the high ground. He is saying,
“carry on, advance, have the magnificent Spiritual life that I had.” Those who
knew him will have a wonderful fragrance of memory. They will appreciate
the precedent set by him and acknowledge the Source of his courage,
strength, and capacity for life. All this is a result of his Virtue that testifies to
the riches of God’s unfailing love and grace.
Those left behind are influenced to return the mature believer’s salute. They
are encouraged to persevere in the double column advance and establish a
personal, historical, international, angelic, and heritage impact of their own.
The living believer who follows the departed mature believer’s lead and
advances to the high ground will himself exhibit heroism and Virtue for future
generations. Unlike the gladiators, whose final salutatory words to Caesar
are as sad and obsolete as the decaying Coliseum, the mature believer’s
salute from the grave will resound to the glory of the Lord forever. In his life
and death the Apostle Paul’s sole objective was to glorify the Lord Jesus
Christ. He lived to serve the Lord. (Eph 3:8) He looked at death without fear
as the culmination of the wonderful plan of God for him. He personified the
Divine nature
(2Pe 1:4) of Spiritual maturity and reciprocal love! The power of Paul’s
Spiritual life calls every believer to return his salute, join his Church Age
battalion, and follow the colors to the high ground.
Upon resurrection and standing before the Bema seat of Christ, Paul will
confidently say to the Lord, “I followed the colors.” He will receive his escrow
blessings and rewards that glorify the Lord. You, too, will stand in your
resurrection body before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Throne.
(2Co 5:10) What will your answer be when He asks, “What did you do with
the greatest Spiritual life ever given? What did you do with the riches of glory
I gave you?” Will you hear Him say?
“Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few
things, [Thoughts] I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of
your lord.” (Matt 25:23)
Through [Spiritual] knowledge of the love of God, the believer orients to
the Spiritual life, and in so doing advances to Spiritual maturity. He has
resident in his soul what God has revealed of Himself: the full extent of His
omniscient plan; the infinite fairness of His righteousness and justice; the
unending supply of His grace; the power and authority of His sovereign,
unfailing love; His infinite, immense, unchangeable, and trustworthy qualities.
His Impersonal love provided Salvation. His Personal love is the point of
reference for all that he possesses by way of power, resources, and stability
in the Spiritual life.
The extent to which the believer orients to God’s Reality is the extent to
which he succeeds in the two column, (Spirit and Truth) advance. Reality is
more than the overt events of history or daily life. Reality is orienting to the
unfailing Virtue love of God and to His Word! The believer might be enjoying
prosperity; he might be under the intense pressure of adversity. No matter
what his attitude or situation today, these are only the shifting sands of life.
To orient to the true Reality of life the believer must know the Rock on which
he stands. He must rely on that which gives meaning and purpose to life: the
unfailing love of God!
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the
rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger
forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. (Mic 7:18)
APPENDIX
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD SOVEREIGNTY
God is sovereign, the supreme ruler of the universe: “Know therefore . . . that
the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no
other.” (Deut 4:39) As King of heaven and earth, He has absolute will,
authority, and volition. (Psa 47:2) The sovereignty of God is the final cause of
all things. God’s sovereignty is expressed in the Divine decree. This
decree is His eternal, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending
simultaneously all things that ever were or will be in their causes, courses,
conditions, successions, and relations and determining their certain futurition.
In other words, the sovereign decree is the chosen and adopted plan of all
God’s works. Accordingly, He decreed to create and maintain the universe.
(Col 1:15-17) He decreed to create both angels and man. He decreed the
events of angelic and human history — past, present, and future. He decreed
to deal with man through a policy of grace. He decreed to send Jesus Christ
to the cross to provide eternal Salvation for mankind.
(John 3:16) He decreed to reveal Himself and His plan to man through the
Word of Truth. (Heb 4:12) Through His decree all things are brought into
being, controlled, and made subject to His pleasure. (Isa 46:10; Eph 1:9)
Therefore, all things exist for the glory of God. (Psa 19:1; Isa 6:3)
The sovereign decree makes all things certain but does not interfere with
angelic or human free will. In fact, the sovereignty of God and the free will of
man coexist in human history. In giving man volition, God also decrees that
man’s decisions, whatever they may be, would certainly take place — even
those that are contrary to His desires. He not only decrees that those
decisions would exist, but He also decrees the exact manner, consistent with
His character, in which He would act within human history.
ETERNAL LIFE
God is eternal life. (Psa 102:27; Jer 10:10) He has no beginning and no
end. There never was a time when God did not exist.
Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the
world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. (Psa 90:2)
God transcends all temporal limitations. To Him, “one day is as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2Pe 3:8)
God is not only in time, but time is in God. Time, although without substance,
is an object of God’s creation. Because God is the cause and origin of time,
He is not subject to time.
(Deut 32:40; (1Co 2:7) He invented time for the passing of human history.
Human beings think in terms of past, present, future; of short or long periods;
of years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. But God likens our
lives to a “vapor”; (Jas 4:14) here today and gone tomorrow.
Eternal, loving God cares enough to extend a gracious offer for mankind to
share His eternal life. The eternal life of God is imputed to all who believe in
Christ. (John 3:16; John 14:6; John 20:31) “And the witness is this; that God
has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has
the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.”
(1Jn 5:11-12)
OMNISCIENCE
God is all knowing. God knows perfectly, eternally, and simultaneously all
that is knowable, both the actual and the possible. “Even before there is a
word on my tongue, Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O
LORD, You know it all.” (Psa 139:4) In other words, He has always known
everything, past, present, and future. Because God’s knowledge is infinite,
everything is completely and clearly comprehensible to Him. Total wisdom as
well as total knowledge belongs to God’s omniscience. (Rom 11:33) His
wisdom is the application of His omniscience in accomplishing His plan and
purpose.
The omniscience of God is not subject to development, reasoning, or
remembering. His knowledge cannot develop beyond what it already is. To
God, the future is as perspicuous as the past. He knows the end from the
beginning. (Psa 33:13-15; Isa 46:10;
Acts 15:18) God knows all the conclusions as well as all the premises. He is
totally reasonable and rational. He never needs to reason things out and He
never needs to learn, since His knowledge is complete.
Before the creation of the world God knew everything about angelic and
human history. He knew each human being who has ever lived or ever will
live. God knew which way every person would decide in every situation in life,
including every sin that would be committed. His knowledge, however, never
violates or interferes with man’s volition. He permits free will to function
through human self-determination. Man, then, is free to glorify and serve God
or revolt and reject Him. The omniscience of God and the free will of man
coexist in human history.
Although God never interferes with free will, neither does He merely sit on
the sidelines. He may influence human choices by His gracious actions, for
example, through His control of the variables of life that are beyond human
control. He may also influence the believer through Divine Thinking resident in
his soul. Because God is omniscient, He knows what is best for those who
trust in Him. (Nah 1:7) They may not understand the events that come into
their lives; yet when viewed in retrospect, it becomes apparent that God
knew all along what He was doing. (John 13:7)
OMNIPOTENCE
God IS all powerful, limitless in His ability. “The Almighty. . . He IS exalted
in power.” (Job 37:23) By His infinite power He rules and upholds all things.
(1Ch 29:11-12) “Even from eternity I Am He; And there is none who can
deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?” (Isa 43:13) His
omnipotence guarantees that “nothing will be impossible with God.”
(Luk 1:37) God can do all that He purposes to do. He IS the highest causality
in the universe. His omnipotence made the universe and will continue to hold it
together.
“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from
the womb, "I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the
heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all Alone” (Isa 44:24)
God can do all He wills, but may not will to do all He can. (Eph 1:11) God
is able to do all things within the range of His INTEGRITY; He can do all
things that are not self-contradictory or contradictory to His Own Nature. If
God’s power is limited at any time, it is because of a self-imposed limitation,
consistent with His plan and essence. For example, God cannot use His
power to alter His sovereign decree. God can never make right wrong, or
wrong right; He will never act foolishly or abuse His power.
God IS mighty to save; “we shall live with Him because of the power of God
directed toward you.” (2Co 13:4) God declares that His omnipotence is
available to all who believe in Jesus Christ.
Seeing that His Divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to
life and godliness, [Spiritual maturity] through the true knowledge of Him who
called us by His own glory and excellence. (2Pe 1:3)
Believers are given the Word of God that is alive and powerful, (Heb 4:12)
the filling power of God the Holy Spirit, (Eph 5:18) and many other
extraordinary blessings that reveal God can do all things. (Job 42:2)
OMNIPRESENCE
God is ever present; He is not limited by time or space. “Can a man hide
himself in hiding places So I do not see him?" declares the LORD. “Do I not
fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD. (Jer 23:24) He IS
eternally, wholly, and simultaneously present everywhere. (Psa 139:8; Prov
15:3) God permeates and fills the entire universe and everything beyond the
universe to infinity.
(Psa 36:5)
The omnipresence of God is not subject to the Laws of space but is outside
the reach of spatial limitation. (1Ki 8:27) Space is large, but not as large as
God. He created space and extends infinitely beyond it. God IS both
immanent and transcendent. Immanence means His entire essence is always
present everywhere in nature, in history, in all the affairs of mankind; God fills
every space. (Acts 17:27-28) Transcendence means He IS independent, over
and above the created universe, so that no particular place exclusively
contains Him. (Psa 113:5-6)
God’s whole Being exists everywhere in all things and at all times, while at
the same time He is also free to be in a specific location. For example, He
was with Moses on Mount Sinai; (Exo 19:18-20) He resided in the Holy of
Holies in the Temple as the Shekinah Glory; (Exo 40:34; Lev 16:2) and He
“became flesh, and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14) In other words, there is no
place in heaven or on earth where God is not present. Regardless of any
believer’s location, God’s omnipresence ensures that he will never be alone.
(Deut 31:6-8; Heb 13:5)
IMMUTABILITY
God IS unchangeable. He is neither capable of nor susceptible to change.
He IS absolute stability. The fact that He IS immutable means that all of God’
s attributes are eternally the same and of equal stature. He cannot change
His Own perfect nature.
“For I, the LORD, do not change...” (Mal 3:6)
God cannot be better or worse in condition or attitude. He is not altered
by circumstances or swayed by man’s decisions, events of history or time.
“Jesus Christ IS same yesterday and today, and forever.” (Heb 13:8) His
Word and His works are unchangeable. With God there is “no variation, or
shifting shadow.” (Jas 1:17)
The Scriptures declare that from God’s immutability stems His great
faithfulness. (Lam 3:21-23) Although believers may be faithless, “He remains
faithful.” (2Ti 2:13) Not one of His promises has ever failed! (1Ki 8:56)
Salvation is secure because He is faithful. Since God did the saving, He does
the keeping. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, God is always faithful in
forgiving sins. (1Jn 1:9) He IS faithful in administering His plan and in
providing for the believer. (1Co 1:9; 1Th 5:24) He IS faithful in stabilizing and
in protecting the believer. (2Th 3:3) He IS faithful in delivering believers during
times of pressure, adversity, and suffering. (1Co 10:13; (1Pe 4:19) God’s
immutability is the anchor in unstable times. Therefore, the unalterable
faithfulness of God is the assurance that “nothing will be impossible with
God!” (Luk 1:37)
VERACITY — TRUTH
God is absolute Truth. His Veracity is evident in His ways, (Deut 32:4) in
His works, (Dan 4:37), and by His Word. (Psa 119:151)
The Words of the LORD are pure Words; As silver tried in a furnace on
the earth, refined seven times. (Psa 12:6)
Truth is not something God acquired; He IS the Truth from eternity past. The
Truth has never been diminished or compromised in Him; for God IS the
source of Truth. (John 6:32) “...Your Word [God the Father’s Thinking — the
Bible] is Truth” (John 17:17) Therefore, the Bible is the source of Divine
Thinking for mankind.
God’s Veracity ensures that every jot and tittle in the canon of Scripture, from
Genesis to Revelation, is perfect, accurate, and absolute. Before the Bible
was completed, God’s Veracity was manifested in various ways: He spoke
verbally; (Gen 17:1-2; Heb 6:17-18) He sent angels to teach; He used
prophets, priests, and other communicators. God means what He says in all
His revelation, including Mandates, Promises, and Warnings.
The sum of Your Word is Truth, And every one of Your righteous
Ordinances is everlasting. (Psa 119:160)
Upon the Veracity and immutability of God depend all certainty and
assurance in life. God IS Truthful in what He Promises; and able to keep
them.
(Rom 4:20-21) This is the basis of man’s confidence in Him. (Deut 7:9) The
unbeliever, then, can be confident that the Gospel is the Truth about
Salvation, whereas the believer is assured that the Divine Thoughts of the
Bible are the inerrant guide for the Spiritual life and the Divine Standard of
right and wrong.
(2Ti 3:16)
RIGHTEOUSNESS
God IS absolute righteousness — perfect in nature. He IS absolute good.
The righteousness of God is the perfect Standard of His essence. All of His
Attitudes and actions conform to this flawless Standard. Righteousness is the
foundation of His character and the very core of His Being. If He did not have
absolute righteousness, God would not be God. God cannot compromise His
righteousness without destroying His perfect character.
The LORD is righteous in all His ways [Thoughts] And kind in all His deeds.
[Actions] (Psa 145:17)
Since God IS infinitely perfect, He cannot sin nor can He be tempted to
sin. God’s righteousness can only condemn sin. Neither is He free to
disregard or forgive sin apart from the satisfaction or propitiation of His
righteous claims.
God cannot have a personal relationship with anything less than the Absolute
Standard of His own righteousness. He must reject, therefore, all sin and
relative standards of human old sin nature good. (Isa 64:6) Mankind can
never accomplish or achieve the approval of God through his own effort,
work, energy, or morality. But at the moment of faith alone in Christ alone
God’s Own righteousness is credited to every believer;
(Rom 4:3; (2Co 5:21) he is justified, making him acceptable to God in time
and eternity.
JUSTICE
God IS perfect justice — absolute fairness. God treats all His creatures
alike, without bias or partiality.
“For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the
great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality, nor
take a bribe.” (Deut 10:17)
For there is no partiality with God. (Rom 2:11)
He judges mankind with perfect fairness; He never makes exceptions. The
justice of God is the source of both judgment and blessing. Divine justice
always functions according to the Thinking found in God’s perfect
righteousness.
“For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice.”
(Deut 32:4)
The justice of God is portrayed in the most dramatic way at the cross. In
order to reconcile sinful man to Himself, the justice of God imputed all the
personal sins ever committed in the human race to the Lord Jesus Christ on
the cross and judged HIM. (John 3:16; Rom 3:24-26) He became the
substitute for all mankind.
And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might
die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
(1Pe 2:24)
God’s righteousness approves of the perfect God man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and is propitiated by His work on the cross; in payment for the sins of
mankind. When a person believes by faith alone in Christ alone for Salvation,
God graciously imputes His righteousness to him. (1Co 1:30) Justice blesses
anyone who possesses this righteousness.
God’s justice and righteousness combine to form the INTEGRITY and
HOLINESS of God. Although not a separate attribute, the integrity of God is
the sum total of His perfection — the quintessence of His nature. God’s
integrity is the synchronized operation of His righteousness and justice.
Righteousness and justice work together to prevent any compromise of His
essence.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and Truth go before You. (Psa 89:14)
Righteousness is the motivation of God’s integrity; justice is the function of
God’s integrity. What the righteousness of God demands, the justice of God
executes. (Psa 19:9) What the righteousness of God rejects or condemns,
the justice of God judges. (Rom 5:12) What the righteousness of God
accepts, the justice of God blesses. (Eph 1:3)
LOVE
God’s love IS the absolute Virtue and benevolence of His Thinking and
actions. Love IS what God IS as well as what He DOES! (1Jn 4:8; 1Jn 4:16)
His love along with righteousness and justice IS the cause of all His
actions.
God’s love IS an inherent quality that can exist independently of any object.
For this reason, His love does not require inspiration. His love is not
complicated by ignorance, silliness, or absurdities. Neither is His love
emotional or sentimental. His love always functions in a rational,
dispassionate, but benevolent and gracious manner. He always possesses
love and gives of Himself whether there is an occasion or not.
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious
act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in unchanging love. (Mic 7:18)
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