Lesson for February 26, 2020
Christian Integrity
The Divine Power System
We call the divine power system the Divine Dynasphere, which is “The Christian Way of Life.” Utilizing the divine system can transform any believer, regardless of gender, background, education, IQ, or any other factor except negative volition, into a winner. God’s power system has a purpose, a policy and an authority. The purpose is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. The policy is grace and the authority is the sovereignty of God. Christ is glorified when unbelievers place their faith in Him for salvation. He is glorified by believers when they receive divine blessing from God based on their capacity to receive it. God’s grace policy is clearly and accurately described in the Word of God. God’s sovereign authority is also found in the Word of God. As believers, our responsibility is to execute God’s game plan – The Christian Way of Life – by tapping into the divine power system that He has provided for us as believers. (Ephesians 2:1-8, 6:10)
God’s power system can be organized into eight categories as follows:
- The Power Category – the filling of the Holy Spirit
- The Christian Way of Life – objective thinking based on accurate Bible doctrine
- Enforced and Genuine Humility – teachability
- Spiritual Momentum – learning and applying Bible doctrine
- Motivational Virtue – personal love for God
- Functional Virtue – impersonal love for all mankind
- Momentum Testing – acceleration of spiritual growth
- The Winner’s Category – spiritual maturity
As a believer grows spiritually, these categories become operational as a complete unit which ultimately produces spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is defined as a state of accelerated spiritual growth where the believer utilizes the Bible doctrine stored in the soul to begin sharing the happiness of God regardless of the circumstances of life.
Within this system that God has designed for believers are found many commands. We are told to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to acknowledge our sins to God, to rest in the Lord, to be teachable, to learn and apply the Word of God, to acquire virtue, to resist the devil, to advance to maturity, to love our fellowman, to love God and much, much more. Jesus Christ told us that the two greatest commandments are to love God and to love others (as we love ourselves). The divine power system operates on the basis of love – personal love for God, personal love for our self and impersonal love for all mankind. (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:18; I John 1:9; Ephesians 4:17-24; James 4:7; Ephesians 4:11-16; Mark 12:29-31)
Success in the Christian life depends on the utilization of all eight of these categories as a complete interlocking system. The ultimate goal for believers should be spiritual maturity, which is gate eight. Only by residing in God’s power system is it possible to reach category eight and within category eight there are varying degrees of maturity among believers. The important thing is that we achieve spiritual maturity. The reason it is important is that it’s where a believer receives greater grace blessings from God, shares the happiness of God, has capacity for life and therefore glorifies God to a greater degree. (James 4:6-8)
A spiritually mature believer approaches life from divine viewpoint, having built an edification complex in his/her soul. Divine viewpoint manifests itself in the life of spiritually mature believers in discernment, thoughtfulness and kindness toward others, and the ability to interpret history in light of Scripture. Love of the truth stabilizes spiritually mature believers who are using their spiritual common sense to navigate through life. 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 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). (I Corinthians 3:9-17; I Timothy 1:4; James 1:4)
The Greek word for edification is “oikodome” and literally 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, then the 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 properly applied. (Ephesians 4:12, 16, 29; Colossians 2:7)
The basis for any system from God is always grace. The word grace itself makes it clear that God’s system for building the spiritual building 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 a non-meritorious system for both perception and execution of the Christian Way of Life: FAITH. We learn how to erect this building in our souls by faith and it takes faith to put into practice. This method is the only one that can bring honor and glory to God. (Hebrews 11:6)
The spiritual building is built using the stored Bible doctrine in the mind of the believer. Consistent study and accurate application over a period of time is the method for developing our complex. This building is literally Christ being formed in the soul of the believer. Positionally, Christ is “in” every believer, but He is not “formed” in every believer. Jesus Christ had this spiritual building formed in His soul. 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 love and 5) He had divine inner happiness. Christ erected the spiritual building in His soul as a demonstration to all believers that it is possible for us to do the same through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 4:19; John 1:14)
As believer-priests, we have the opportunity to build a spiritual building in our souls. With Christ as our example, we simply follow His pattern. Christ, as a perfect human being, built this 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-priest’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, the believer will go through life executing some form of legalism or asceticism that will lead 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.
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 a believer can be an effective representative for God, he must have a 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 complex is being built, happiness, stability and blessing are being produced by God the Holy Spirit in the life of the 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. 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.
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 will also eliminate mental attitude sinning, such as maligning, character assassination, gossiping, jealousy, self-pity, etc.
The Christian Way of Life is a supernatural way of life, which cannot be lived apart from knowledge of Bible doctrine and the guidance 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 the believer is determined by what he thinks, not by what he does. God never forces the believer into any course of action. We determine what our own spiritual lives are going to look like based on what we allow ourselves to think. Divine Viewpoint Thinking equals a victorious Christian Way of Life.
As believers develop their relationship with God, they are developing Christian integrity. Integrity is a state of being complete; an unimpaired state of honesty and purity; a soundness of moral principle; the character of uncorrupted virtue. In other words, integrity is uprightness of character or as Paul teaches – making your experience align with who you are as Royal Family of God. Christian integrity is loyalty to the truth of God’s Word. Within the Word of God truth exists in three categories: 1) the Laws of Divine Establishment 2) the Gospel message 3) Bible doctrine. Residing in God’s power system is our loyalty to the truth in all three categories, which develops Christian integrity.