The Doctrine of Spirituality vs. Carnality
Doctrine of Operation Z – How a Believer Learns Bible Doctrine (cont’d)
Stage Three: Receptive Comprehension
In stage three of operation Z, academic (gnosis) doctrine resides in the left lobe of the soul as the final stage of receptive comprehension. The mentality of the soul is divided into two frontal lobes. The left lobe in Greek is called “nous,” and is translated “mind” in the Bible and the right lobe in Greek is called “kardia” and is translated “heart” in the Bible.
“Gnosis”doctrine in the left lobe causes the believer to be what the book of James calls a “hearer of the Word, but not a “doer of the Word.” Only when “gnosis” doctrine is converted over to “epignosis” doctrine can a believer become a “doer of the Word.” We are to be appliers (doers) of the Word of God not merely hearers of it.(Ephesians 3:19)“Gnosis”doctrine is a staging area, while “epignosis” doctrine produces the momentum and means for the execution of the Protocol Plan of God. The left lobe is designed to comprehend doctrine or Bible facts under receptive comprehension, called “gnosis.” Nothing is attained from “gnosis” doctrine alone. It acts as a staging area, a means to an end, to be converted into “epignosis” doctrine.
In receptive comprehension a believer learns how to reside in God’s power system; i.e., he uses the Rebound Technique to restore fellowship with God and the filling of the Holy Spirit. You cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit unless you use the Rebound Technique when necessary. You must also have positive volition toward the teaching of Church Age mystery doctrine. So, receptive comprehension alone, apart from positive volition to believe what is taught, is not the spiritual life. You may know how to reside in the Divine Dynasphere through the filling of the Holy Spirit, but you must apply what you comprehend in order to execute the Protocol Plan of God.
In your scale of values, Bible doctrine must become the #1 priority in your life. Therefore, believers must persist in the consistent exposure to Bible doctrine, even though from time to time they get tired of repetition. But repetition plus repetition plus repetition equals a thorough knowledge of the subject. A believer persists either by attending a local church or in some other non-face-to-face method.Through residence in God’s power system and good academic discipline (good manners, poise, objectivity), a believer fulfills stage one, concentration on doctrinal teaching. While still inside God’s power system and concentrating on the teaching, the Holy Spirit makes understandable the doctrinal teaching to the human spirit. This doesn’t mean that because you’re filled with the Spirit you will always understand everything that is taught, because the teaching is progressive. You will learn the basics first and later the advanced material will become understandable to you.
Receptive comprehension does not result in spiritual growth. It is only the means, the staging area. Advancement to spiritual maturity is accomplished only by means of “epignosis” doctrine learned, believed and applied.The completion of receptive comprehension is a critical stage in this process of advancement. You cannot apply what you do not know.
Receptive comprehension merely means you understand what is being taught. It is still part of the grace process provided by God the Holy Spirit, requiring the filling of the Spirit, but “gnosis” doctrine cannot be applied and does not cause spiritual growth. It is at stage three that you face a decision: will you believe, or will you reject the academic (“gnosis”) doctrine you now understand? If your negative volition rejects the understood doctrine, it remains “gnosis” doctrine. If your positive volition believes and accepts the understood doctrine, the Holy Spirit transfers it into the right lobe where it becomes “epignosis” doctrine and contributes to your spiritual growth.
Stage Four: Retention
Stage four converts “gnosis” doctrine into “epignosis” doctrine, which is the function of retention. Stage four is the stage of faith perception, also classified as the metabolization of Bible doctrine. The first three stages of operation Z combine to produce reception of “gnosis” doctrine. Doctrine is communicated to positive believers by a pastor- teacher, and the enabling power of the Holy Spirit converts it to spiritual phenomena in the human spirit. Then it is transferred to the left lobe where it becomes “gnosis” doctrine, i.e., academic perception of doctrine without spiritual benefit.
Retention is the conversion of “gnosis” doctrine into “epignosis” doctrine in your right lobe (heart). “Gnosis” doctrine is converted to “epignosis” doctrine through positive volition in faith-perception. This expression of positive volition in faith-perception can occur only inside God’s power system. It is the enabling power of the Holy Spirit that actually enables you to respond to doctrine by faith. Once you understand the doctrine as academic knowledge, you respond positively or negatively, just as you did toward the Gospel. Upon hearing and understanding a doctrine, you simply say in your mind “I believe that.” Then it is the Holy Spirit who converts believed “gnosis” doctrine into “epignosis” doctrine
The entire process of Operation Z is a grace process. The reason is that apart from the ministry of the Holy Spirit, we would all be in spiritual darkness. This means that human I.Q. is no issue; the only issue is spiritual I.Q., i.e., the filling of the Spirit. Grace doesn’t depend on any human factor. Positive volition is non-meritorious. Therefore, the entire process is strictly a grace function. Through positive faith-perception and positive volition while residing in God’s power system, God the Holy Spirit converts “gnosis” doctrine into “epignosis” doctrine. God the Holy Spirit transfers to the right lobe only the doctrine that you believe. Since faith as a system of perception is non-meritorious, the object of faith has all the merit, and the object of faith is “gnosis” doctrine. In stage four, you believe the “gnosis” doctrine that you understand which is then converted to “epignosis” doctrine.
Only “epignosis” doctrine produces momentum in the Protocol Plan of God. This occurs under the principle of faith-perception, which prepares a believer for the recall of pertinent doctrines for their application to life. The purpose for learning doctrine is to gain spiritual wisdom for application to your Christian life so that you can glorify God and become a witness for the prosecution in the Angelic Conflict. Spiritual wisdom is the function of “epignosis” doctrine in the right lobe of the soul (heart). Therefore, spiritual wisdom is the application of “epignosis” doctrine to our experience. Only “epignosis” doctrine that is retained contributes to spiritual momentum, spiritual energy, spiritual growth, spiritual wisdom and spiritual application. Spiritual wisdom is the ability to relate Bible doctrine to everything in your life. (John 14:26, 16:12-14; I Corinthians 2:9-16; 1 John 2:27)
So, the secret to spiritual growth, and the only doctrine that can help you, is “epignosis” doctrine. This explains how believers can “understand” thousands of doctrines (“gnosis”) and still be spiritual babies. The omnipotence (power) of the Holy Spirit in Operation Z is the issue. The teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit occurs in all three stages of Operation Z, but in stage four the ministry of God the Holy Spirit converts “gnosis” doctrine into “epignosis” doctrine.
The mechanics related to the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit are twofold: 1) the Holy Spirit makes the doctrine understandable in our human spirit and 2) the Holy Spirit makes the doctrine understandable in our right lobe. The mechanics in stage four are also twofold: 1) the function of the believer in a non-meritorious system of faith-perception and 2) the function of God the Holy Spirit in converting the believed information from mere academic knowledge to spiritual knowledge.
The metabolization of Bible doctrine is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in converting “gnosis” doctrine in the left lobe into “epignosis” doctrine in the right lobe. The pastor is involved in the reception stage, but he has no part in the retention stage. Retention is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in response to positive volition toward the doctrine being taught.
All momentum in the Protocol Plan of God comes from metabolized (“epignosis”) doctrine. Invisible heroes are manufactured out of metabolized doctrine and wisdom, which is the application of metabolized doctrine. Glorification of God depends upon metabolized doctrine and wisdom. One of the greatest grace gifts to the believer is Operation Z by which metabolized doctrine is manufactured. This is the only way we can grow spiritually and fulfill God’s plan, purpose, and will for our lives. The function of the advanced Problem-Solving Devices of spiritual adulthood and passing the test of suffering for blessing depend upon the grace-manufactured metabolized doctrine in the right lobe and the wisdom which results from it. (I Corinthians 2:4-16)
Under the principle of recall for application, “epignosis” doctrine is the basis for accelerated spiritual growth and problem solving. Since you are your own royal priest, you must learn doctrine in order to solve your own problems, as God designed you to do. But this requires having doctrine stored in your right lobe. And apart from faith perception, you have no inventory of doctrine to solve your own problems. You must have an inventory of doctrine to meet every circumstance of life. Since the Bible says that the Lord will not test you beyond what you are able to bear, it means He will test you when you have had the opportunity to hear and learn the appropriate doctrine. (I Corinthians 10:13)
James 1:22-23- “But prove yourselves doers of the Word, and not merely hearers, who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.”
But prove yourselves doers are the Greek words “ginomai” plus “poietes” and mean to become a doer. The Word is the Greek word “logos” and is a reference to the Word of God or divine viewpoint. A doer is an applier of the Word. If it goes no further than hearing, it is useless. Application takes wisdom in the mentality of our souls. The Greek word for hearers is “akroates” and it means to listen. The meaning should be clear, listening to God’s Word is not enough. The last phrase of this verse, “who delude themselves” means to defraud yourselves. The Greek word for deludeis “paralogizomai” and it means to defraud or to self-deceive in one’s mind.
Jesus Christ was an applier of Bible doctrine. As deity He never needed to learn anything because He had always known all things. (I Corinthians 2:16) But in His humanity, He was a human being who needed to learn doctrine in the same manner as we do. (Luke 2:46-52) Jesus continually used the doctrine that He had learned to sustain Himself throughout the trials and tribulations of His life. When attacked by others, He applied the doctrine and principles of the Word of God to endure the adversity. He also applied the doctrine He had learned to combat the tests from Satan. And He used the doctrine in His soul to teach others. (Matthew 4:1-11; John 5:16-39; 6:59-60; 7:16-24)
As believers, we are to follow Christ’s example of applying what we have learned. A believer who fails to go all the way with God’s Word, from study, to belief, to application is defrauding himself of the opportunity to have a victorious Christian life. If the Word of God is not changing your thoughts and actions, then you are not applying it properly.
Anyone can listen to Bible doctrine. Some will understand it and still fail to be doers because doing it requires more than mere academic knowledge of God’s Word. Academic (“gnosis”) knowledge must be converted to spiritual (“epignosis”) knowledge by faith (believing the doctrine) before it can be applied, which is what is meant by being a doer.
Believers who take in doctrine and understand it academically but do not believe it and apply it are hearers only. If you stop with only learning doctrine and fail to believe it and apply it, you are a hearer only and there can be no spiritual advance in your life. This means you may know doctrine, academically, and you may be able to repeat it to someone, but you can’t apply it because it is not yet spiritual knowledge.
The word looks means to give some very serious thought. The word does not mean just a glance; it means to look at yourself thoughtfully, intently and to be able to memorize your own features. Bible doctrine is literally a mirror into the soul. If you stop looking into “the mirror of the Word of God,” you will forget who you are as an advancing believer, which can easily lead to carnality. The mirror of God’s Word is an evaluation tool for believers to use to assess their spiritual status. You and you alone are the only one who can live your spiritual life. Therefore, we all need to take control of our individual spiritual lives and continue our advance to spiritual maturity and beyond.
