Lesson for March 5, 2023
The Victorious Christian Way of Life
Lesson 10
The Doctrine of Learn and Live
There are two ways to learn anything: 1) by experience, which is the hard way – “live and learn” 2) by knowledge, which is the easy way – “learn and live.” The first thing a believer must do in order to “learn and live” is to learn accurate Bible doctrine from the teaching of a man with the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. Once Bible doctrine is learned, it then needs to be applied on a consistent basis.
If a believer chooses the hard way of “live and learn,” learning may come by means of self-induced misery or by divine discipline. On the other hand, if a believer chooses the easy way of “learn and live,” learning will come by means of the knowledge and application of Bible doctrine. “Learn and live” is therefore living under the power and guidance of God the Holy Spirit. The spiritual life provided for us in the Church Age is learned by following God’s blueprint, outlined clearly in the Word of God.
“Live and learn” leads to a life of perpetual carnality (being out of fellowship with God) which destroys a believer’s spiritual life and incurs divine discipline from God. The result of “live and learn” is found in Hebrews 12:6, “For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He punishes every son whom He receives.”
If we learn first and then live what we have learned, we are going to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (II Peter 3:18) So, the spiritual life during the Church Age is based on learning accurate doctrine found in the New Testament epistles and applying it to one’s life. “Learn and live” is being filling with the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 5:18)
“Live and learn” is grieving the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and/or quenching the Holy Spirit (I Thessalonians 5:19). The principle of “live and learn” is “sowing to the wind and reaping the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7) Colossians 3:25, “For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of that wrong. And there is no partiality.”
Divine Discipline
Hebrews 12:4-11, “ You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as God’s children, “My children, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Norfaint when you are punished by Him;Forwhom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He punishes every child whom He accepts.” It is because of discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with children; for what child is there whom their father does not discipline?But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons and daughters.Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits, and live (learn and live)?For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness.For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”
Divine discipline always comes from the love of God, which does not in any way change when believers sin and/or enter into a prolonged status of carnality, called reversionism. Since every believer is a member of the Royal Family of God during the Church Age, divine discipline for sin is designed for blessing. You are meant to learn something from divine discipline. God never disciplines us apart from having blessing tied into it. Blessing will be the result of enduring the discipline and recovering our fellowship with God. Failure to use the Rebound Technique
(I John 1:9, “If we confess, admit, acknowledge our sins to God, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”) leads to a lifestyle of misery, guilt, anxiety, fear, and unhappiness.
Through divine discipline, we learn that certain things are not worth thinking, doing, or saying. If we do not learn from divine discipline, all that is left is to live in a state of self-induced misery. If we learn to respect the Lord through divine discipline, we will think twice before committing the same sin repeatedly. Instead, we will keep short accounts of our sins and use the Rebound Technique to stay in fellowship with God a maximum amount of time.
After we rebound, we must keep advancing in the spiritual life. Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I do not evaluate myself to have attained, but one thing I do, disregarding what lies behind, and pressing forward to those things which lie ahead. I keep advancing toward the objective for the decoration of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
The worst thing that could happen to believers after salvation is to “live and learn.” The best thing that could happen to believers after salvation is to “learn and live,” Believers who “learn and live” avoid divine discipline, by doing what is right based on the accurate Bible doctrine they have learned and applied.
“Learn and live” means we have made a decision to learn the Word of God and live our lives in accordance with its teaching. This means we must have knowledge of the doctrine taught in the Bible and how to use it in our daily lives. To the extent that we love God and His Word will determine the quality of our spiritual lives. The more of God’s Word we store in our souls, the more the Holy Spirit can guide and empower our lives.
The Victorious Christian Way of Life is a life of thinking the way that Jesus Christ thought. The mind of Christ is the doctrine found in the Word of God and is the only source of absolute truth. I Corinthians 2:14-16, “But the natural person [a person who is operating from their sin nature, believers and unbelievers alike] does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness [absurd and illogical] to them; and they are incapable of understanding them, because they are spiritually discerned and appreciated, [unbelievers are not qualified to judge spiritual matters].But the spiritual person [the spiritually mature Christian] judges all things [questions, examines, and applies what is taught], yet they are judged by no one [the unbeliever cannot evaluate or understand a believer’s spiritual nature]. For who has known the mind and purposes of the Lord, so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ [Bible doctrine].”
In order to have the proper thinking, we must be consistently learning, believing, and applying the Word of God to every area of our lives. At salvation, we are placed into union with Jesus Christ and become spiritually complete in Him (positionally). (Colossians 2:10) However, experientially we are not spiritually complete. For this reason, we are commanded to grow spiritually and to advance to spiritual maturity (“learn and live”). Spiritual maturity should be the goal of every person who has trusted Christ as Savior.
Hebrews 4:12, “For the Word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, and of the joints and the marrow, and is a critic of thoughts and intents of the heart.”
II Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the person of God might be thoroughly furnished unto good of lasting value.”
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 (guidance) 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 (“learn and live”).
Without a correct understanding of the Biblical spiritual life, believers will go through life executing some form of legalism or asceticism that will lead to only misery and unhappiness (“live and learn”). 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. (Galatians 4:19; John 1:14)
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. This is where we find God’s divine viewpoint. (I Corinthians 2:16; Hebrews 3:7, 4:12; II Peter 1:12-21)
The more Bible doctrine you know and apply, the more Divine Viewpoint Thinking you will be able to utilize (“learn and live”). The less Bible doctrine you know, the more Human Viewpoint Thinking you are going to utilize (live and learn).
II Timothy 2:15, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, handling with accuracy the Word of Truth.”