Lesson for October 2, 2019
Our Spiritual Assets
A Firm Foundation
God’s Word likens spiritual growth to building a house. The concept in Greek is the act of building up (edifying) a believer spiritually through the instruction in Bible doctrine by God the Holy Spirit. For Christians, this occurs as they consistently study and apply accurate Bible doctrine under a pastor-teacher who teaches it accurately. As with the construction of any building, we must be careful to lay the right foundation. The Scripture is clear that the only foundation for our spiritual building is Jesus Christ. We know that the Word of God is the mind of Christ and that Christ is the living Word. Therefore, the foundation for our building is the written Word, the Bible. God’s Word is meant to be understood and used as a blueprint for building our spiritual building. (Philippians 2:5-8; John 1:1-5; I Peter 2:7-8)
The Greek word for edification is “oikodome” and means the act of building or erecting a structure. (Ephesians 4:11-29) Like any structure, our “building in the soul” must have a firm foundation and properly constructed “floors.” Our foundation is Jesus Christ and the “floors” are categories of Bible doctrine. Once the foundation is in place (salvation), then a believer can begin to build upon it with full confidence that it will stand. The foundation is received at salvation, but the floors must be built over a period of time as Bible doctrine is learned, believed and applied. (Ephesians 4:12,16,29; Colossians 2:7; I Timothy 1:4; James 1:4)
The basis for any system from God is always His grace. The word grace itself makes it clear that God’s system for building our spiritual house is void of any human merit, human works, human ability or human viewpoint thinking. The reason that God planned it this way is to eliminate human viewpoint thinking and human production as the means for building anything spiritual. Instead, He provided faith as a non-meritorious system for salvation (faith in Christ) and for the Christian Way of Life (faith-rest). We learn how to erect this building by faith, and it takes faith to put it into practice. This method is the only one that can bring honor and glory to God. (Hebrews 11:6)
Glorifying God on earth as witnesses for the Prosecution in the Angelic Conflict is the main reason we are left here on this earth after salvation and is never accomplished by human merit. As we allow God the Holy Spirit to guide and teach us, we reflect the glory of God to the world. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the key to glorifying God and anytime a believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, he is glorifying God. The Bible declares that believers are “the light of the world.” This means we are to exhibit the character of Christ by being a reflection of His light before the world in our attitudes, words and actions. (Matthew 5:14-16; Colossians 1:27, 3:16-17)
The spiritual building is built using Bible doctrine that has been stored in the soul. This building is literally Christ being formed in the soul of a believer. Positionally, Christ is “in” every believer, but experientially He is not “formed” in every believer. Jesus Christ had a spiritual building formed in His soul and He had all the characteristics of spiritual maturity:
1) He was full of grace and truth 2) He had a relaxed mental attitude 3) He was free from mental attitude sins 4) He had capacity for virtue-love and 5) He had divine inner happiness. Christ erected a spiritual building in His soul as a demonstration to all believers that it is possible for us to do the same through the power and filling of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 4:19; John 1:14)
As royal priests, we have the opportunity to build a spiritual building in our soul. With Christ as our example, we simply follow His pattern. Christ built His building under the filling of the Holy Spirit as He learned and applied the Word of God. As we abide in Him (fellowship with God) and His Word abides in us (Bible doctrine), we are allowing God the Holy Spirit to produce the character of Christ in our lives. (John 15:10) The Bible uses a number of terms to refer to this building process. For example, “walking in the light” (I John 2:3-11), “walking in the Spirit”(Galatians 5:16-23), “imitators of God” (Ephesians 5:1), “Christ at home in your hearts” (Ephesians 3:17) and “Christ formed in you.” (Galatians 4:19)
The true function of the believer’s spiritual life is the development of a relationship with God. This relationship is your unseen, private life with God. You and you alone know what that relationship is like. (I Corinthians 2:9-16)
There are many counterfeits to the spiritual life. It is therefore of extreme importance for each of us as believers to learn, understand and execute the true spiritual life. Without a correct understanding of the Biblical spiritual life, a believer will substitute legalism or self-denial for the spiritual life, leading to only misery and unhappiness. The spiritual life is not what you do for God, the church or other people. The true spiritual life is your invisible relationship with God and what He does for you.
We must also understand that there is a difference between our function as priests and our function as ambassadors. As priests, we represent ourselves before God (invisible) but as ambassadors we represent God before others (visible). Before believers can be effective representatives for God, they must have a spiritually maturing relationship with God.
Building our spiritual complex is a process of transformation (not reformation), which takes place in the mind of the believer as he thinks Bible doctrine (the mind of Christ). We call this thinking Divine Viewpoint Thinking. As our spiritual building is being built, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is being produced by Him in the life of a believer. (Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:22-23) Your way of life right now is being influenced by what you think. Since you have free will, you can think whatever you want to think. According to Proverbs 23:7, you are what you think.
The world system that we live in has a way of thinking that, generally speaking, is contrary to the thinking of God. We call this Human Viewpoint Thinking. God’s thinking is found 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. Once again, we call God’s thinking Divine Viewpoint Thinking. (I Corinthians 2:16; Hebrews 3:7, 4:12; II Peter 1:12-21)
In order to have Divine Viewpoint Thinking, you must know the doctrines taught in the Bible. The more Bible doctrine you know and apply, the more Divine Viewpoint Thinking you will be able to utilize. The less Bible doctrine you know, the more Human Viewpoint Thinking you are going to utilize. The more Human Viewpoint Thinking you use, the more insecure and unstable you are going to be. (James 1:7-8)
Daily study of God’s Word keeps Divine Viewpoint Thinking fresh in the mind and helps counteract Human Viewpoint Thinking. (Psalms 119:129-135) Thinking your way through life with Divine Viewpoint Thinking will bring victory, peace, power and stability. (Isaiah 26:3-4, 33:6) It also eliminates mental attitude sinning, such as maligning, character assassination, gossiping, jealousy, self-pity, etc. Vacillating between Divine Viewpoint Thinking and Human Viewpoint Thinking makes a believer unstable according to James 1:8. An unstable believer is an unhappy believer.
The Christian Way of Life is a supernatural way of life, which cannot be lived apart from the knowledge of Bible doctrine and the guidance and power of God the Holy Spirit. (Romans 7:6, 8:2; Galatians 5:25; Ephesians 5:18) This way of life requires thinking. All changes in our lives must come from the inside. The true character of believers is determined by what they think, not by what they do. God never forces a believer into any course of action. We determine what our own spiritual lives are going to be based on what we allow ourselves to think. Divine Viewpoint Thinking equals a victorious Christian Way of Life.