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WELCOME BACK. I AM PASTOR DOUG. WE NOW CONTINUE WITH PART 161 IN OUR SERIES ENTITLED, “PAUL’S LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS”.
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ALL born again believers become and remain Spirit indwelled, as the result of the irreversible Work of God the Holy Spirit that takes place at the moment of salvation (Titus 3:5).
Whenever a born again believer rejects the leading/teaching of God the Holy Spirit and enters into some form of sin, he/she does not LOSE his/her salvation, nor does he/she lose the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.
Such believers, however, ARE out of FELLOWSHIP with God (2Corinthians 13:14).
When out of fellowship, the believer is under the influence of his/her fallen nature, and his/her thoughts and inevitable behavior are no longer under the control of God the Holy Spirit.
To have one’s thoughts and behavior under the control of God the Holy Spirit IS what it means to be Spirit FILLED.
As long as we choose to remain in submission to the filling of God the Holy Spirit, we glorify God and do not sin.
The fact that we DO sin after salvation, confirms the fact that we do not always have the FILLING of God the Holy Spirit even though we do remain Spirit indwelled.
The decision to believe (John 3:18) the Gospel Message, resulting in our salvation, IS a ONE-time event with irreversible results.
The decision(s) to submit to the leading and filling of God the Holy Spirit is a minute by minute process as we make negative or positive decisions in the course of any given day.
Every time, during the course of EACH and every day, we are faced with events that require us to choose to think and/or act independently or sinfully, as our fallen nature will encourage us to do, OR to think and act in accordance with the leading and teaching of God the Holy Spirit.
On any given day, this happens over and over again, beginning with the priorities and agenda we establish.
The wisest thing that we could do every day, before we even get out of bed, is to acknowledge that this is the day that the Lord has made for His glory, and ask God in prayer to reveal to us His specific will for that day.
It would be equally wise, at the end of that day, to evaluate how well we fulfilled His will for that day, and how well we adjusted to the unexpected events that He sent or allowed to take place.
After setting our priorities and agenda for the day, we are ready to interact with the challenges that the events, people, and the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil will bring to us in the realm of spiritual combat on any given day.
As we make our DAILY choices, we either DECIDE to remain Spirit filled or we DECIDE to reject the leading/teaching of God the Holy Spirit and enter into some form of sin.
When we CHOOSE to yield to the independent OR sinful desire(s) of our sin nature (Ephesians 2:3), we lose the fellowship (2Corinthians 13:14) and the enabling power to go further in the plan of God.
The fellowship and enabling power is recovered when we confess the sin to God the Father in prayer (1John 1:9).
Note that the desire of the fallen nature in Man does not only involve sin, but includes the attitude of independence and substitution of human good in place of divine good.
The production of human good includes attempting to secure via good behavior, good deeds, and religious rituals what can only be obtained and retained by true spirituality.
Atheists, non-believers, and born again believers out of fellowship with God can choose to adopt and apply moral standards of living for a variety of reasons, but all such acts of SELF-righteousness are no more than soiled garments in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6).
Some human good has temporal value, but is of no account in the spiritual or eternal realm. Religious products, a very deceptive form of human good, are of NO value in either this life or in the life to come.
The ability to distinguish divine good from human good is a critical part of discipleship.
Atheists, non-believers, and believers out of fellowship with God produce just as much human good as born again believers, as they work or function in the same type of domestic, secular, labor, social and/or professional environments.
What atheists, non-believers, and believers out of fellowship can NOT produce is DIVINE good!
The production of divine good requires the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit, to which atheists, non-believers, and born again believers out of fellowship do not have access.
God producing divine good through the born again believer is what brings glory to God and is what the post salvation spiritual life is all about.
It is within the same environments that we coexist and function in, side by side, WITH the atheist, non-believer, and believers out of fellowship that we are to produce divine good. as God’s disciples and ambassadors.
Divine good ALWAYS has some connection with the two main objectives of the Great Commission, which is to proclaim the Gospel Message to unbelievers, and to make disciples out of those who are born again.
Part of these goals include establishing personal contact and associations with the atheist, non-believer, and born again believers out of fellowship, as we go about our daily routines.
This does not mean that we are to around beating others over the head with an oversized copy of the thundering King James Bible.
When we function as disciples and God’s ambassadors with doctrinal attitudes and behaviors, we will automatically attract the attention of those with whom God wants us to engage in spiritual activity.
To the extent that we, as born again believers, do or do not produce divine good is the standard in which we are to evaluate each and every day that God gave to us for His glory.
The fact that we still do sin after we are saved (Romans 7), confirms that the filling of the Spirit can be suspended, and must be recovered through the 1John 1:9 process.
In order to RETAIN the filling that is reinstated via the 1John 1:9 process, one must then choose to forsake the sin(s) or lifestyle that resulted in its loss in the first place.
Otherwise, one will inevitably recommit the same sin and spend a good deal of his/her post salvation spiritual life in a revolving door, in and out of fellowship with God, and never making any substantial progress in the plan of God.
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WELCOME BACK. I AM PASTOR DOUG. WE NOW CONTINUE WITH PART 162 IN OUR SERIES ENTITLED, “PAUL’S LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS”.
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Salvation is received in FULL and can never be improved upon or diminished. It is an irrevocable grace gift from God.
Learning of and executing the post salvation spiritual life is another matter.
It is a lifelong process in which one is either progressing or regressing in at any given time. There are no rest areas or places of neutrality.
In the day and age in which we live, most born again believers never enter into or remain in the true post salvation spiritual life, but become the type of believer defined in Luke 8:14.
Such believers remain saved, most are what we would consider nice and friendly, are relatively moral, and produce human good with human power and ability.
Many are or become religious, but there is no production of divine good or glorifying of God in their lives.
Many fill the pews week after week, year after year, generation after generation, but are no further along in the post salvation spiritual life than the day they were born again.
They haven’t been taught or learned anything about the true post-salvation spiritual life.
Beyond the issue of salvation, they have no genuine interest in God or in the things of God, other than perhaps the blessings that they believe God owes them for having been good.
Their lives are self-centered; not Christ centered.
When I see large gatherings of people at sport events, I often wonder how many people would still be there is the Rapture were to take place before the event was over.
Of even greater concern, if the Rapture were to take place in the middle of Church services, I wonder how many people would still be in the seats or behind the pulpits wondering what happened?
Of the saved souls who do go to Heaven, how many will be receiving eternal reward for the production of divine good, and how many will experience the only recorded scene of sorrow that is going to take place in Heaven (1Corinthians 3: 12-15).
Scripture (Matthew 7:14), secular statistics, and even a passive observation of those who claim association with the present- day, Christian Community (Luke 14:26), reveals that although God’s plan of salvation is open to everyone, and God’s post salvation plan to open to all who are born again (John 3:3), only a minority of each generation of the Church Age are born again, and only a minority of those who are born again, enter into or remain in true discipleship.
While all born again believers are assured of eternal life, the lifestyle and attitudes that they exhibit barely distinguishes them their unsaved friends, family members, and associates.
The majority of born again believers live in either ignorance or rejection of the primary purpose for which God created them, which is to glorify God.
The fact that they still go about wondering what life here on Earth is all about is a clear indication that they know nothing or little about the spiritual life and purpose of their creation.
The disciple glorifies God by learning and applying Bible Doctrine while under the filling of God the Holy Spirit, on a DAILY basis.
Discipleship is NOT something that we do once or twice a week. Discipleship is a lifestyle that must be learned and exercised no matter where we are or what we are doing.
After acquiring and learning to apply at least the fundamental doctrines of the faith via daily, personal, devotional time alone with God as well as gathering together under the teaching authority of a Biblically qualified pastor teacher, such things as the disclosure of one’s specific spiritual gift (1Corinthians 12), accompanying ministry, and niche in life, will be revealed.
Once discovered, developing and exercising such things will not be a burden or done with a sense of mere obligation, but will become the joy of one’s life here on earth.
Unlike salvation that is immediate and complete, learning and especially the willingness to apply Bible Doctrine is a life-long process of development and endurance.
There will be MANY tests from time to time to reveal one’s commitment to determine if the advancing disciple still has his/her first love (Revelation 2:4) in mind, or if he/she has been sidelined by either the adversity or temporal issues of earth.
Just as loss of appetite in the natural realm is an indication that something is going wrong, the same is true about the appetite we have (or should have) for in the intake and application of Bible Doctrine.
These tests are NOT for God to see how any one of us is doing; He already knows that. The purpose of these tests are for US to see how we are doing at any given time.
The daily devotional time is for the purpose of either learning new doctrine, refining the doctrine that one already has, and evaluating one’s application to the circumstances and events of everyday life.
Even WITH a daily session of devotional time with God and His Word, a born again believer NEVER reaches a point where he or she has mastered all that the Bible has to say.
This is especially true in the realm of application. Knowing what to do and doing it consistently when under all kinds of pressure and adversity are two very different things (James 1:22).
Especially in the beginning of one’s walk with God, most believers have just as much to “unlearn” as they have to learn about God and the things of God.
Most born again believers come into the life of God with baggage from his/her past.
It is easier to take part in the building of an edified soul structure of a former atheist than it is to do the same for a born again believer who has come from a religious background.
The post salvation ministry of God the Holy Spirit is as much about removing all the misconceptions about God and the things of God as it is about learning about the truth concerning such things.
Learning requires humility, and humility is not a word to be found in the dictionary of the fallen, self-centered, strong willed, sin nature!
Once doctrine is learned, it must be repeated and reiterated if we are going to retain and apply the mind of Christ (1Cor.2:16) in the midst of spiritual combat.
Just as the natural body must be nourished and exercised on a DAILY basis if it is going to function at its maximum potential, the same can be said about the function of the human spirit we receive at salvation (Titus 3:5). STOP
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WELCOME BACK. I AM PASTOR DOUG. WE NOW CONTINUE WITH PART 163 IN OUR SERIES ENTITLED, “PAUL’S LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS.”
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The human spirit we receive or that is regenerated at salvation will be in a life-long battle with the fallen nature for control of the thought processes of our soul, and thereby control the inevitable behavior that follows.
Whichever one, be it the fallen nature or the human spirit, that is fed and exercised the most, will be the one that dominates the soul.
Again, we are not taking about obtaining or retaining salvation. We are talking about identifying and executing the post salvation spiritual life.
If this spiritual tug of war between the fallen nature and the spirit that one received or that was regenerated at salvation, does not define one’s personal, daily experience, it is because he/she is a ignoring one or the other, or are so wrapped up in him/herself, in a mode of independence, that he/she has become totally insensitive to the spiritual warfare that is taking place in and around him/her each and every day.
Some acts of divine good are overt and CAN be seen by the human, angelic, and demonic observers of the born again believer’s post salvation spiritual life,
but much of what the spiritual activity that takes place during the Church Age can only be observed or detected by God, spiritual beings, or by humans with spiritual discernment.
Victory in this conflict in our souls and in the spiritual issues behind all the activity taking place the spiritual realm all around us is what glorifies God.
As we go about what otherwise would appear to be the meaningless cycles of events of our daily lives, born again believers in fellowship with God glorify Him by applying the principles of the Word of God they have learned under the filling of God the Holy Spirit.
This is what, from divine viewpoint, gives each and every day of the post salvation spiritual life meaning, purpose, an definition.
It is the transformation of our thought processes, from human viewpoint that appeals to our fallen nature, to divine viewpoint, that is based on the “mind of Christ (1Corinthians 2:16)” that results in the eventual manifestation of divine good when the mind of Christ is applied to the events of our daily lives.
This unseen activity in the soul is what the “not known yet well known” part of the activity in the daily environment of the advancing disciple that Paul was writing about (2Corinthians 8:9).
It is unknown to those without spiritual discernment, but is well known to born again believer who finds meaning and purpose in the midst of it during the every day execution of the post salvation spiritual life.
It is such things that are also well known to the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil who want to keep such things unknown to the born again believer.
Satan works long and hard to equate human good, such as religious rituals that cannot be Biblically substantiated, with divine good.
His objective is to deceive the born again believer into believing that he/she IS doing the will of God through the production of human good and religious activity.
Some human good does value in life here on earth, but has no value in the spiritual or eternal realm at all.
Religious acts of self-righteousness, being one of the products of human good that is of NO value in either this life or in the life to come, appeal to the pride of the fallen nature in Man.
They appeal to us because as they give the illusion that Man can do something to make and or keep himself right with God. While such things are held in high esteem by Man, they are no more than “filthy garments (Isaiah 64:6) in the eyes of God.
The deceptive thing about human good and divine good is that they CAN appear to BE one in the same when in reality they are two VERY different products from two VERY different sources of power.
Divine good, produced by God the Holy Spirit through the born again believer is what glorifies God during the dispensation of the Church Age.
In 2Corinthians 6:9 Paul continues his letter by describing the environment of the advancing disciple and ambassador as one in which, “we are dying, yet behold, we live; as punished, but not put to death… .”
Depending on the various political and/or cultural elements that an advancing disciple and/or ambassador may be living in, the threat or presence of actual violence can be a dominating factor in the daily environment in which he/she functions.
The phrase, “…as punished, yet NOT put to death ” seems to imply that Paul was making reference to the various forms of corporal punishment that believers were subjected to in the local synagogues and by the Roman authorities at the time that this letter was written.
Believers who do not experience violence or governmental infringement of their activity should not take this freedom for granted, nor should they forget the risks and sacrifices that many believers made in past generations to provide us with such freedom and to make such things as the Word of God available to them.
However, the phrase, “as punished in (2 Corinthians 6:9), is an English translation of the Greek word “p-a-i-d-e-u-o-m-e-n-o-i” meaning to train or teach, as well as to discipline.
Keeping in line with general theme of this passage, it would appear that this training or teaching translation would be more in keeping with the DAILY environment of the advancing disciple, than that of corporal punishment.
The DAILY death required of discipleship involves a daily choice to put the independent and/or sinful DESIRES of a self-centered lifestyle to death, and to live a Christ-centered life instead.
This “death” is voluntarily SELF-induced and is not imposed on the born again believer as in the case of corporal punishment.
What a life dominated by immorality consists of is obvious and requires no further explanation. It only needs to be noted that born again believers are not immune to the temptation to get involved in immoral behavior or immune from allowing an immoral act to become a lifestyle.
The fallen nature in Man can rationalize and self-justify just about anything we choose to, but unless we are mentally insane, we all know in our heart of hearts when we are doing something that is wrong.
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WELCOME BACK. I AM PASTOR DOUG. WE NOW CONTINUE WITH PART 164 IN OUR SERIES ENTITLED, PAUL’S LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS.”
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We all have personal areas of strengths and personal areas of weaknesses that differ from individual to individual. As a result, we all do not all sin in the way(s), but we all sin.
The same fallen nature that pressures some people to engage in one form of sin, is the same sin fallen nature that pressures others to engage in other forms.
What is of no interest to some of us, is a seemingly irresistible temptation to others.
There is a practical need to distinguish lesser crimes in the laws of man from the more serious ones and apply a befitting punishment to each one in order to maintain a stable society.
As far as salvation is concerned, however, James 2:10 makes it clear that if we break any ONE of God laws, we stand as condemned as one who has broken them all!
Most believers can cite or would at least recognize the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament, but how many can cite the more than 300 Commandments of the New Testament?
Psalms 51:5 and other passages of Scripture make it clear that we do not become sinners as of the first personal sin that we inevitably commit.
Ever since the Fall of Man, every one of us are conceived and born is sin, spiritually dead, headed for Hades and the Fire of Hell (Revelation 20:15), unless we are “born again” (John 3:3).
Trying to reform the old sin nature in us with human desire and energy is what religion and/or human good is all about.
An atheist, an unbeliever, or a born again believer out of fellowship with God can go through rehabilitation programs designed or engineered with human good and experience varying degrees of temporal success and failure, but this has nothing to do with spirituality.
In fact, the more one advances in the realm of discipleship, the greater the pressure will be exerted by the fallen nature within us to impede or to reverse our progress in the production of divine good.
Our choice to identify with God and the things of God is what sets us at odds with the devil’s world. Likewise, identifying with the devil and/or his world is what makes us enemies of God. As we noted earlier, there are no areas of neutrality in the spiritual realm.
As we grow in the GRACE and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2Peter 3:18), we will automatically spend less and less of our time each day out of fellowship due to post salvation sin, and an increasing amount of time each day Spirit-filled.
One of the indicators that a disciple is at an advanced stage of spiritual growth is when he/she is occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ, that is to be consciously aware of His presence, and walks with Him daily, minute by minute, hand in hand like a child would do with a trusted adult.
Occupation with the Lord Jesus Christ is one of the Ten Problem Solving Devices taught by the Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries.
The earthly, sinful, or independent desires that we once had prior to our salvation or during periods out of fellowship, will fade away as God and the things of God take their place of prominence in our daily priorities and agenda.
Satan is like a master Chess player. His strategy is to stay one step ahead of our next move and has a contingency plan for virtually every move that we make.
Being “good”, as human viewpoint would define it, but independent from God and the things of God will keep us just as far away from the plan of God as did immorality and any overt form of sin.
The first sin by a created being did not involve an overt act of immoral behavior. It began with a DESIRE to be independent of God.
The sinner had a prestigious position (Ezekiel 14:28), but he was not satisfied with it or the plan of God.
The plan of God did not call for any emancipation once he reached a certain age. He desired to get out from under and do his own thing.
The first sinner, in fact, said that he did what he did because he desired to be like God (Isaiah 14: 13, 14).
Could a desire to be “like God”be all that bad?
In the case of the first sinner, being like God meant to have what God had.
If you haven’t figured it out, I am referring to the sin of Satan that took place before the creation of Man.
Satan desired to be center of attention and focus. He wanted to do what he wanted to do with the life that God gave him.
He wanted to be worshiped and served, not to serve and worship.
He wanted to be the one who called the shots, and didn’t want anyone or anything else telling him what to do with his life or time.
Teenaged human beings are not the only ones who go through periods of rebellion or with a desire to be independent.
It was by no coincidence that Eve was later deceived by Satan to eat the forbidden fruit with the misconception that in doing so, she and Adam could be “like God”(Genesis 3:5).
Satan conveniently forgot to mention that he had already tried and failed.
Independent thinking and the inevitable misbehavior that follows has been the downfall of many a beings, both angelic and human.
There isn’t a mature believer that I know who can’t make personal application to the old saying, “If I only knew then what I know now….”.
Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of God because ignorance is a choice that we make.
With the freedom of choice, comes the responsibility of the decisions we make. We ARE given the freedom to make certain choices, but we are not free from having to make them.
Having to inevitably choose between God and the things of God and ANYTHING else is the very reason that Man was created for in the midst of this ongoing conflict between God and Satan.
When presented with Biblical principles, we are free to accept or to reject the information, but we are NOT free from having to make decisions.
We are commanded to “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If we CHOOSE to disobey, we are accountable for all that we did not learn if we had been obedient and more faithful to intake of Bible doctrine on a daily basis, if the means to do so had been made available to us.
If we find the time to do just about everything else we desire to do on a daily basis, we can find the time for God and the things of God IF that is what we truly desire to do.
Not to accept and to reject is one in the same when it comes to the Gospel Message and edifying principles of Scripture.
No matter what our personal circumstances have been, are now, or will be at some point in the future, God will provide the means for any soul to be spiritually edified if he/she truly desires to put God and the things of God first on his/her list of priorities.
Eve was deceived and Adam entered into sin at a time when Man did not have a sin nature.
They both were given free will to make choices and were created without having a fallen nature to influence them.
This clearly refutes the argument that perfect environment always produces good results.
Like the angels before them, Man chose to misuse the free will that they were given. STOP
