Lesson for August 9, 2020
The Perfected Love of God
Lesson 4
Ephesians 3:17-19, “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth.”
Breadth, length, height and depth are used to represent different aspects of the Christ Way of Life that equip the advancing believer in reaching spiritual maturity and glorifying Jesus Christ.
Breadth is the Greek word “platos,” which means broad or width. This word encompasses the wide expanse of the spiritual wealth that God has given to us in the Church Age for the execution of the Protocol Plan of God. At salvation, God imparted to every believer at least 40 spiritual assets. Within these assets are things such as the righteousness and justice of God, the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit, the filling and guidance of the Holy Spirit, an eternal inheritance, eternal life, entrance into the Royal Family of God and much, much more.
Length is the Greek word “mekos,” which means long. This word is a duration word meaning the time a believer is on earth. It refers to the provisions from God for a believer’s spiritual life for the advance to spiritual maturity. This advance begins with learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine from a man with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. Using the Problem-Solving Devices, a believer is able to stay in fellowship with God and filled with the Holy Spirit a maximum amount of time. As believers consistently develop their relationship with God by erecting a spiritual building in their soul, they will eventually reach the high ground of spiritual maturity. As thinking is transformed from human viewpoint to divine viewpoint, God is able to begin to pour out greater blessings into the life. (II Peter 1:3-7; Romans 12:1-3)
Height is the Greek word “hupsos,” which means a summit or the top. This word describes the advanced spiritual life of spiritual maturity. It is the dimension where a believer becomes a winner, an invisible hero, glorifies God to the maximum and receives greater blessings from his escrow account. The reality of God’s tremendous wealth and a believer’s eternal inheritance are more fully realized. A believer’s personal sense of destiny is heightened as never before, and they actually look forward to being with their Savior for all eternity. Their capacity for living, sharing the happiness of God, enduring advanced testing, receiving and appreciating divine blessings become even more real than ever before in their Christian lives. It is the pinnacle of a believer’s spiritual life. (Romans 14:7-8; Philippians 3:12-16)
Depth is the Greek word “bathos,” which means deep. This word refers to the advanced doctrines of the Word of God. The advanced doctrines of God’s Word give a believer greater insight into the wisdom of God, His character, His attributes, His essence, His divine decrees. Learning and understanding these doctrines takes a lifetime of consistent and persistent study and application of the Word of God. In this dimension, a believer in spiritual maturity has an active desire to know God and His God. Top priority for this believer is to know and understand God and His perfect love. This believer is continually motivated to study Bible doctrine, to meditate on it and use it. This believer’s relationship with God has reached a depth where he is glorifying God to the maximum. (Romans 11:33; I Corinthians 2:6-13)
Ephesians 3:19, “And to know the love of Christ which surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled up with the fullness of God.”
The goal of every believer in Jesus Christ should be to glorify God to maximum. This can be accomplished only when a believer reaches the advanced stage of spiritual maturity. As a believer progresses through the various stages of the spiritual life, God is being glorified, but not to the maximum. Filled up with the fullness of God is Paul’s way of saying to become spiritual mature. The Greek word Paul uses for fullness, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is “pleroma.” Filled up is the Greek word “pleroo” meaning to make full. The fullness of God is achieved by means of the filling (Greek: “pleroo”) of the Holy Spirit and application of Bible doctrine. Having the fullness of God means that Jesus Christ is at home in the soul of a believer, that he is rooted and grounded in the perfect love of God, that he understands the four dimensions of the spiritual life and knows the love of Christ.
A spiritually mature believer knows the love of God from the study of God’s Word, he possesses love for God as evidenced by the fulfillment of the Protocol Plan of God and he has perfected that love in his life. The love of God in the life of a believer is the motivation needed to exhibit love for God by obeying His commands, principles and policies found in the Word of God. In this way, the love of God is reflected in the life of a believer as a testimony to others. (I John 2:5, 4:19)
As believers in Jesus Christ, we must always remember that the Christian Way of Life is lived by the principles of grace. This means that human good works are not part of the spiritual life of believers. It is God the Holy Spirit Who provides the power to execute the Christian Way of life, which is a grace principle (He does the work, we do the letting by staying in fellowship with Him). God is the One Who produces the action in the life of a believer by pouring out into the heart of the believer love for God. It is God the Holy Spirit Who causes an advancing believer to have love for God. It is therefore impossible to separate the grace of God from the love for God. (Romans 5:5-6; II Corinthians 13:14)
As a believer consistently studies and learns Bible doctrine, it becomes clear that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church and that He has infinite love for all believers. As members of the Royal Family of God, believers share so much with Jesus Christ and should be highly motivated to want to please Him. A believer’s love for Christ is the result of coming to know the love that He has for them that motivated Him to die on the Cross for their sins. Motivation continues after salvation to fulfill the Protocol Plan of God when a believer is consistent in developing a maturing relationship with God which includes a deeper understanding of His love.
I John 4:16-19 in corrected translation, “We have come to know and have believed (by means of Bible doctrine) the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love (for God) abides (at home with) in God, and God abides in him (inside the Divine Dynasphere). By this, love is perfected (matured spiritually) with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment (Judgment Seat of Christ); because as He is (the character of Christ), so also are we in this world (those who have love for God). There is no fear (of judgment) in love; but perfect love casts out fear (of judgment), because fear (of judgment) involves punishment, and the one who fears (judgment) is not perfected (matured spiritually) in love (God’s love). We love, because He first loved us.” The perfected love of God resides in the spiritually mature believer because he has come to know and believe Bible doctrine regarding the love of God. Abiding in the love of God means a believer is living inside the Divine Dynasphere, God’s power system, under the power and filling of God the Holy Spirit. Living within God’s power system a believer will come to know the love God has for them and reflect that love to others as God’s representative on earth. By living (abiding) in God’s power system, all fear of judgment will be removed and replaced with confidence in God which is Divine Viewpoint Thinking.
The perfected love of God is accomplished as a grace function by God the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer who is positive toward Bible doctrine. Application of that doctrine is also accomplished as a grace ministry of God the Holy Spirit as He helps a believer recall and apply pertinent principles and doctrines stored in their soul. This means that a believer who desires to advance in the Christian Way of Life must utilize the two power options of the spiritual life which are the filling of God the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine stored in the soul. Without doctrinal storage as vocabulary storage, a frame of reference and categorical storage as a result of persistent study of God’s Word, a believer will never advance in the spiritual life. Without that advance, the love of God cannot be perfected in the life of a believer in Christ.
During the advance to spiritual maturity a believer will be attacked by Satan’s world system. Protection for the advancing believer is found in the perfected love of God and accurate Bible doctrine resident in the soul. Love for God and accurate Bible doctrine reject religious legalism and religious emotionalism, two enemies of the spiritual life. Religious legalism is the enemy of God’s grace. Religious emotionalism is the enemy of divine viewpoint. Satan is the greatest counterfeiter of all time and he has a counterfeit for every policy and principle from God. Religion is a counterfeit from Satan that he effectively uses to keep unbelievers from believing in Christ and believers from living their spiritual life. (Romans 11:6; II Corinthians 4:3-4; I Peter 5:6-9)
The fallacy of religion (which comes in many forms) is that it teaches that mankind can gain the approval of God and secure eternal life by their good deeds or human efforts, which is impossible. The word religion originates from two Latin words, “re” meaning back and “ligio” meaning to bind. Because mankind is born with Adam’s original sin and a sin nature, he comes into this world spiritual dead. Spiritual death means separation from God without the human ability to do anything about it. It is only through a gracious act of God sending His Son Jesus Christ to die on the Cross as the payment for sin that a person can be reconciled to God by a simple decision to believe in Christ, resulting in salvation. Therefore, it is God Who does the “binding back” not mankind. (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:4-7; II Corinthians 11:13-15)
A spiritually mature believer with divine viewpoint and the perfected love for God in his soul experiences the greatest happiness from the incomprehensible riches of Christ. This divine wealth overflows into the life of others as personal impact, historical impact, international impact, angelic impact and heritage impact. As part of a pivot of spiritually mature believers, a believer is having the greatest impact on the world around him, the spiritual world and in the world to come. Not only does his influence reach those in his immediate periphery, his nation is blessed, other nations are in turn blessed by missionary activity, he is part of the resolution of the Angelic Conflict and his legacy of spiritual advance continues after his death in the lives of others. (Philippians 1:20)
Any accomplishment as believer in Jesus Christ must always be credited to God. It is God Who works within the believer to bring him to spiritual maturity. It is God Who provides the supernatural power to execute His plan, purpose and will. It is God Who equips the believer with Bible doctrine and the means to apply it consistently. It is God Who provides logistical support for all believers. It is God Who provides the Problem-Solving Devices, the Divine Dyansphere, the Protocol Plan of God and the Portfolio of Invisible Assets. It is God Who shares His divine love with all believers. It is God Who shares His happiness with believers. The Christian Way of Life is all about what God does for believers and not what believers do for God. So, relax and allow God to advance you to spiritual maturity where you will experience His perfected love in your life.
Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”
God’s omnipotence acts in His own interest to provide spiritually mature believers even greater blessings. He has that ability and has all of the assets necessary. There is no limitation to divine assets. God’s purpose in spiritual maturity is to provide for each one of us greater blessings, which are beyond anything that we could ask from God or anything we could imagine would be a blessing from God. God is not limited by our finite minds.
Two inherent powers are found in the royal priesthood: the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine in the soul. So, for the spiritually mature believer the filling of the Holy Spirit plus Bible doctrine, learned and applied, equals the super-grace life. We as believers share in the results of being blessed by God. So, it is God Who brings a believer into spiritual maturity and the super-grace life through the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine learned and applied on a consistent basis.
Super grace and ultra-super grace are categories within spiritual maturity. The nomenclature comes from James 4:6, “greater grace.” Both are related to God’s power. (Ephesians 1:19) Both are described as a believer pursuing grace. (Psalm 23:5-6; Ephesians 1:6) The blessings of each are beyond human imagination. (Ephesians 3:20) In I Timothy 1:14 both are described as “abundant grace.” By definition, therefore, super grace is the highest adult stage of the spiritual life in the Royal Family of God. Super grace is maximum glorification of Jesus Christ. Super grace is the maximum function of the Royal Priesthood and the maximum production of divine good. Ultra-super grace is maximum growth and blessings related to maximum testing.
Now to Him emphasizes God the Father. He is the Author of the divine plan. He is the One Who authorized in the divine decrees the Royal Priesthood. He is the One Who decided what each one of us would receive by way of greater blessings. It is our blessing, but it is to God’s glory. The result of application of what a believer learns glorifies God in a great way. By Christ Jesusmeans our union with Jesus Christ brings Him honor and glory when we obey Him and fulfill the Protocol Plan of God.