Lesson for July 10, 2019
Spiritual Dynamics
The Formation of Spiritual I.Q.
After salvation there must be a spiritual I.Q. which provides for each one of us equal opportunity and equal privilege to fulfill the Protocol Pan of God for the Church Age. There is nothing in and of ourselves that helps us execute God’s plan, God’s will, and God’s purpose for our lives. God has however provided for spiritual growth and the carrying out of His plan with an equality that does not depend on any form of human I.Q. A believer with a high I.Q. has no advantage over a believer with a low I.Q., so that learning and understanding Bible doctrine is dependent on a believer’s positive volition and the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
Using the six spiritual thinking skills is essential to spiritual growth if a believer expects to reach spiritual maturity. These six thinking skills are:
- Comprehension– an understanding Bible doctrine under the filling of the Spirit.
- Memory– the recall of Bible doctrine through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
- Problem solving– the use of the Ten Problem Solving Devices.
- Decision making– the procedure of evaluating every circumstance of life in light of the Word of God. Making good decisions from a position of strength which are compatible with the plan, will, and purpose of God for your life.
- Creativity– using accurate Bible doctrine to create a defense mechanism against Satan, his world system and Human Viewpoint Thinking.
- Awareness– the application of an extensive knowledge of Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness. Awareness of Bible doctrine motivates a desire for more understanding of the Word of God. The more doctrine circulating in your stream of consciousness, the greater your awareness of the world around you from God’s perspective.
Unbelievers cannot understand spiritual things. I Corinthians 2:14, “But the natural man [unbeliever] does not accept the things [spiritual things] from the Spirit of God; for to him, it is foolishness, furthermore he is not able to understand it, because it is examined [comprehended] in a manner caused by the filling of the Holy Spirit.” When people become believers in Christ, mental inequality can be replaced by the formation of a spiritual I.Q. through the study and application of God’s Word, which will enable them to understand even the most difficult of Bible doctrines.
At the point of salvation, God the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit in a believer, so that he can understand spiritual things. Unbelievers do not have a human spirit according to Jude 19, “These [unbelievers] are the ones who cause divisions, soulish, not having a human spirit.” Once we believe in Christ, the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit in us, as stated in I Thessalonians 5:23, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The teaching ministry of the filling of the Holy Spirit teaches the believer’s human spirit resulting in the learning and understanding of Bible doctrine. Jesus Christ stated the fact that the Holy Spirit would be our teacher during the Church Age. (John 14:26; 16:12-14)
Paul wrote the same thing that Jesus stated in I Corinthians 2:9-16, “But just as it is written,‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man,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, 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.Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by 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.But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one.For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”Paul also stated this in Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”
After salvation, there is the potential for the thinking skills to development into a spiritual I.Q. The filling of the Spirit is the divine power that converts human I.Q. into spiritual I.Q. Spiritual I.Q. provides equality among believers, which makes it possible for any believer to fulfill the Protocol Plan of God. Learning, understanding, believing and applying Bible doctrine is the means of living the Protocol Plan of God. We have been provided equal privilege and equal opportunity to discover and live His will, plan, and purpose for our lives. And we are held accountable to God for our very own spiritual life
The filling of the Spirit plus comprehension of Bible doctrine over a period of time means maximum doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness. The filling of the Spirit plus memory results in the accurate recall of Bible doctrine. You cannot use doctrine you cannot recall, and you cannot recall doctrine you do not know.The Problem-Solving Devices are designed to be used in the privacy of your priesthood to deal with all the problems and challenges in your life. God’s solutions are perfect; man’s solutions are not. Good decision-making is the precise and correct procedure of analyzing all the circumstances of life in light of the Word of God and making decisions which are compatible with God’s plan, purpose, and will. Solutions become clear and are applied accurately when the Ten Problem-Solving Devices are being used.
The filling of the Spirit plus creativity means the development of truth based on divine viewpoint of life and accurate interpretation of the Scripture to create a defense mechanism in your soul against false doctrine. True Bible doctrine is separated from false doctrine by Divine Viewpoint Thinking, based on accurate Bible doctrine circulating in your stream of consciousness.
The filling of the Spirit plus awareness stimulates and motivates an ongoing desire to understand the whole realm of doctrine in a systematic way, resulting in being filled with the “fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19) Awareness causes the restructuring of your own scale of values to assign number one priority to Bible doctrine. Awareness sees the result of God’s will, plan, and purpose in your life, which creates a personal sense of destiny
Understanding any subject comes through our thinking skills and all spiritual things are understood by means of the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. This is one of His ministries to believers during the Church Age. Your spiritual life is a private matter between you and God, and no other person has the right to interfere. We are to evaluate ourselves in light of the Bible doctrine in our own souls. We do not instruct the Lord; he instructs us. The thinking of Christ is Bible doctrine and the Holy Spirit is our teacher. (James 1:22-25)
The thinking of Christ is found only in the Word of God. The Bible is more reliable than anything we see, hear, smell, taste, or feel. The Bible is the Word of God the Father, the mind of Jesus Christ and the voice of the Holy Spirit, which add up to Divine Viewpoint Thinking. (I Corinthians 2:16; Hebrews 3:7, 4:12; II Peter 1:12-21) In order to have Divine Viewpoint Thinking, we must know the doctrines taught in the Bible. The more Bible doctrine we know and apply, the more Divine Viewpoint Thinking we will be able to utilize. The less Bible doctrine we know, the more Human Viewpoint Thinking we are going to utilize. The more Human Viewpoint Thinking we use, the more insecure and unstable we are going to be.
The Christian Way of Life is a life of thinking the thoughts of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:5, says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” The mind of Christ is the doctrine found in the Word of God, the only source of absolute truth. In order to have the proper thinking, a believer must be consistently learning, believing and applying the Word of God to every circumstance in life. God has given all believers a command to grow spiritually, and He never gives us a command without giving us the means necessary to obey it. God, therefore, has provided His written instruction book (the Bible) and the filling (control) of the Holy Spirit. Both are grace functions for every believer in this age, regardless of education or I.Q. Any believer with a positive attitude towards Bible doctrine can learn, believe and apply it accurately.
At salvation all believers are placed into union with Jesus Christ and become complete in Him, positionally. (Colossians 2:10) However, experientially we are not complete because we still have a sin nature. For this reason, all believers are commanded to grow spiritually and to advance toward spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity and a stabilized mind should be the goal of every person who has trusted Christ as Savior. (James 1:5-8; II Peter 3:18)
Spiritual maturity does not happen overnight. It takes a lifetime of persistent and consistent study to learn Bible doctrine. God’s Word likens spiritual growth to building a house. Often expressed as edification, the concept in Greek is to build or to build up. For the Christian, this occurs in his soul as he consistently exposes himself to accurate Bible teaching and applies the truth that he learns. As with any building, we must be careful to first lay the right foundation before we build on it. The Scripture is clear that the only foundation for the believer is Jesus Christ Himself. We know that the Word of God is the mind of Christ. Therefore, the foundation is the written Word (Christ is the living Word). The written Word of God is meant to be understood and utilized as a blueprint for building your spiritual building (the Christian Way of Life). (Ephesians 4:11-16)