Lesson for April 15, 2020
Christian Integrity
Divine Production
Divine production is good of intrinsic (lasting) value done by a believer when he/she is filled with (controlled by) God the Holy Spirit. Divine production is a result of spiritual growth and a grace function of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. Therefore, all the honor and glory belong to God, not to the believer. As a matter of fact, God’s Word indicates that these rewards will be placed at the feet of Christ, as a testimony to the fact that He deserves all of the honor. (Revelation 4:10-11)
All other production is human good and contributes nothing to our spiritual life. Human good can be a distraction, if not understood and if it is allowed to be a substitute for our spiritual life. Going to church, giving money, praying, witnessing, helping other Christians can be either divine production or human good depending upon the motivation: filled with the spirit or not filled with the Spirit. Divine production adds nothing to your spiritual life because it is the result of your spiritual growth (your private relationship with God). You do not have a spiritual life apart from the knowledge and application of God’s Word. NO BIBLE DOCTRINE, NO RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, NO TRUE LOVE FOR GOD! (John 4:24; Romans 12:1-2; II Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12; II Peter 3:18)
Most believers will never receive recognition in this life for their accomplishments, but this will not be the case in eternity. There is going to be great inequality in the eternal state for believers. It is our fulfillment of God’s plan under the filling of the Holy Spirit that will be rewardable in eternity, not our human good works. All divine production is a matter of God’s grace and is never based on human works. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)
For believers there are only two choices after salvation: 1) execute God’s plan, purpose and will 2) execute your own plan and play into Satan’s hand. The first will result in what the Bible calls gold, silver and precious stones, analogous to divine production on earth. The second will result in what the Bible calls wood, hay and straw, analogous to human production on earth. Both will be judged (represented by fire) at the Judgment Seat of Christ. When gold, silver and precious stones are subjected to fire it purifies them and enhances their value. When wood, hay and straw are subjected to fire they are burned up. It is, therefore, only divine production that survives the Judgment Seat of Christ and is rewardable. (I Corinthians 3:13-15)
“So, everyone of us shall give an account unto God.” (Romans 14:12) There is coming a time when every believer will stand before Jesus Christ to be evaluated. This evaluation is not based on personal sins or human works. It is based on our response to God’s plan for us to learn and apply His Word and to mature spiritually. The Judgment Seat of Christ is for believers only and takes place some time shortly after the Rapture of the Church. At the Rapture, all living and dead believers from the Church Age will meet Jesus Christ in the air and will be led in a processional to Heaven. Having received a glorified body like Christ’s, fully conscious, fully recognizable and with increased knowledge, God’s Word says that there will then be a time of celebration when we worship and praise our Savior. (I Corinthians 4:5; 15:51-54; I Thessalonians 4:13-18; Philippians 3:21)
Scripture tells us that our Savior has already departed to prepare a dwelling place for us, the Bride of Christ (as we will be called in Heaven). But before the Lord can reveal all that will be ours for the eternal state, we must all be evaluated at the Judgment Seat of Christ. It is during our evaluation that we will suffer shame for those failed opportunities to fulfill our spiritual lives, but only for an instant. We will then receive our eternal rewards. (John 14:1-3; II Corinthians 5:8-10; Romans 14:11-12)
So, how are you going to meet your Savior? Will you have fulfilled the commands of Scripture to advance to spiritual maturity, which has led you into a life of purpose? Or will you make it into Heaven “by the skin of your teeth,” having failed to advance in your Christian life, which has led you to a life of misery and failure? At the Judgment Seat of Christ, it will be too late to do anything about your failure; the time is now, today! You must take the initiative and begin to study and apply God’s Word, immediately, if you want to hear, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” Upon hearing this from the Lord Jesus Christ, rewards beyond anything you can imagine will be yours for all eternity. (Matthew 25:21; James 1:25)
The Judgment Seat of Christ is a serious matter and not to be taken lightly. As a believer, you cannot lose your salvation and you will be happy for all eternity whether you live your spiritual life or not. But what a tragic waste of a life and what a tremendous loss of rewards it will be. But most tragic of all is when you stand face to face with Jesus Christ and have to explain to Him why you failed to glorify Him while you were here on earth. It is time for each of us to get serious about Bible doctrine. (II Timothy 2:11-13)
God’s plan for your life is simple; fulfilling it is also simple. It becomes difficult only when you fail to utilize all that God has given you and begin to manufacture your own problems by rejecting truth. The days in which we live are uncertain and the national scene is unstable at best. Yet for those believers who choose to execute the Christian Way of Life, they can remain stabilized, confident and faithful in time of pressure or even national disaster. You have a personal sense of destiny that has been secured by your faith in Christ and realized by your consistent intake and application of God’s Word (Bible doctrine). Only with Bible doctrine in your soul that has been converted into wisdom through application, will you be able to put everything in life into its proper perspective. (Matthew 11:28-30; James 1:1-12; II Timothy 1:12)
Many believers wonder why God is not blessing them more, not realizing that they do not possess the capacity to receive greater blessings. There are certain blessings that we all receive as believers called logistical grace blessings (food, clothing and shelter). But the escrow blessings that are being held for us are much greater than the logistical blessings that we all receive. These greater blessings are not always material possessions, but more often are related to spiritual things, such as wisdom, discernment, happiness and peace of mind. These greater blessings are in direct proportion to the amount of Bible doctrine that a person has stored in his/her soul and is utilizing in his/her daily life.
Escrow blessings are grace blessings given to a believer on earth and in eternity as a part of God’s predesigned plan. Most of us are familiar with the concept of escrow as related to real estate. When you purchase a home, for example, monies are set aside in an escrow account to pay certain future bills, such as taxes. This escrow money is yours even though it is held until such time as it is needed. The mortgage company also assigns an escrow officer to manage your account. Upon sale of the home, all monies in escrow that are unused are returned to you.
God has set up an escrow account for you. God the Father is the grantor of the escrow, the Lord Jesus Christ is the escrow officer and the Holy Spirit is the conveyor of the escrow. The divine blessings that are in your escrow account are yours forever whether you access them or not. The way in which you access divine escrow (divine blessings) is by possessing the capacity to receive them, which is obtained through spiritual growth. Spiritual growth occurs only when there is consistent study and application of God’s Word. As you grow spiritually, God is able to convey these blessings from escrow into your life. Lack of capacity from lack of study and application stalls the conveyance of blessings from escrow.
After the believer is evaluated at the Judgment Seat of Christ, his “escrow blessings” (those kept in his escrow account) will be conveyed to him to enjoy for all eternity. It is the realization of these greater blessings in eternity that should be a motivating factor in the life of every believer. This knowledge becomes part of our personal sense of destiny and the hope (full confidence) of a future filled only with peace and happiness.
In God’s grace He has provided for every believer for the eternal state. For those believers who execute the Christian Way of Life, the rewards will be greater. Nevertheless, all believers will be blessed in eternity and all believers will enjoy eternal happiness. Personal sins are not going to be an issue when you stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to be evaluated, because your sins were dealt with on the Cross. Only what you did or did not do with your Christian Way of Life will be evaluated.
The realization of the fact that you have an eternal inheritance should cause you to have a personal sense of destiny. It is a personal sense of destiny that gives a believer capacity for life by producing spiritual self-esteem. Spiritual self-esteem means that you have discovered who you are in Christ. Capacity for life replaces the temporary pleasures of the world with the eternal happiness of God. (Galatians 6:6-10) Capacity is increased by spending a maximum amount of time in fellowship with God under the filling of the Holy Spirit, in consistent study and application of Bible doctrine and in the use of Divine Viewpoint Thinking.