Lesson for August 26, 2018
The Doctrine of Spirituality vs. Carnality
The Doctrine of the Portfolio of Invisible Assets
(From the teachings and terminologies of R.B. Thieme, Jr.)
Portfolio is defined as the assets or investments that a person or company owns. Your personal portfolio may consist of houses, land, stocks, gold, money, etc. The believer’s Portfolio of Invisible Assets is the grace work of God the Father placing certain assets in a “portfolio” for every believer. .In your Portfolio of Invisible Assets, God provided everything necessary for living the Christian life, growing in grace, and the execution of the Protocol Plan of God. The Portfolio of Invisible Assets provides everything necessary for you to have a fantastic life through receiving your “escrow blessings.” Escrow is defined as an IOU kept in the custody of a third party, taking effect only when specified conditions have been fulfilled. God has deposited in an escrow account in Heaven an “IOU,” as it were, which are your invisible assets.
The very existence of escrow blessings implies the conditions for the transfer of those “greater blessings” from their present place of deposit in Christ, to us. Our Portfolio of Invisible Assets becomes apparent only when we are living in the Divine Dynasphere under the ministry of the Spirit, and by hearing correct and accurate Bible teaching so that we thoroughly understand the Protocol Plan of God, as recorded in Ephesians 1:3-14. There are two characteristics of these assets that we must understand: 1) the assets are invisible; we can come to know that these assets exist only by the absorption (metabolization) of Bible doctrine. You cannot use what you do not know exists and 2) these assets are usable in any circumstance of life.
On the Cross, when Jesus Christ said, “It is finished” (Greek: tetelestai), it meant that His payment for sin was complete. This means salvation was finished in the past with the result that it stands finished forever (John 19:30). It means the eternal judgment of all your sins is finished, and the door of salvation is open to anyone, which you walk through by faith in Christ. There is nothing you can add to the work of Christ on the Cross. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Since salvation is by grace apart from human works, why would God reverse His plan after salvation, requiring us to now work, work, work? The necessary work for your Christian life was accomplished in eternity past by God. All you can do is to access and/or multiply the assets (“lay up treasures in Heaven”) in your Portfolio of Invisible Assets by making right, faith (non-meritorious) decisions from a position of spiritual strength. No human works from man can be added to the saving work of Christ on the Cross. Grace is both the policy of God and the work of God on our behalf totally apart from any human ability or merit both in salvation and in our spiritual lives. (Matthew 6:20: Titus 2:11-14)
Every believer in Christ has a portfolio of divine assets. In eternity past God the Father completed your Portfolio of Invisible Assets, and it was finished before you were born. God the Holy Spirit Who indwells believers provides the power to access these assets for every Church Age believer. The fact that the work for the Christian Way of Life was accomplished by God in eternity-past is not only a matter of grace (no human work is required), but it is the basis for the fact that each one of us as a believer has their very own Portfolio of Invisible Assets. Three attributes of God that are the source of our Portfolio of Invisible Assets are sovereignty, love, and omniscience.
The sovereignty of God means He is free to make any decision He pleases. However, God in His sovereignty has limited Himself by divine decrees. For example, God cannot violate a person’s free will because by divine decree he gave everyone volition. The sovereignty of God is His eternal, infinite, and perfect divine volition. The sovereignty of God is His eternal and infinite will which is expressed in His divine decrees, manifested in the divine administration of history called dispensations, and the unique plan regarding the Church Age. When God makes a decision, it is permanent and unchangeable. God made a sovereign decision in eternity-past with regard to your Portfolio of Invisible Assets according to Ephesians 1:11-12 “Also we have received an inheritance [escrow blessings/assets], having been predestined (predetermined) according to His purpose (a predesigned plan from Him) Who works all things after the counsel of His own will, to the end that we who were first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.” Before anyone enters the plan of God, he must first believe in Jesus Christ. We can’t be in the plan of God until we believe — salvation. The Greek word for first to hope is “proelpizo” in the perfect tense and in the perfect tense “proelpizo”always means to have confidence or trust.
The sovereignty of God must be related to His infinity. Infinity means that God is without boundary or limitation, and there never was a time when God did not exist. Divine infinity means unlimited energy and power, eternal wisdom and virtue, the impossibility of ever being wrong, doing wrong, or sponsoring wrong. God cannot use His sovereignty to tempt, to sponsor sin, human good, or evil. In His perfection, He has provided a magnificent plan and magnificent assets. God’s sovereign decisions, policies, the function of His perfect virtue, the function of His omniscience, and His integrity or holiness are all characterized by and compatible with His policy of grace. The sovereignty of God is never motivated by any form of self-praise in His decisions or decrees. It was God’s sovereign decision to provide our invisible assets which bring glory to Him when we access them. The sovereignty of God recognizes His right to claim eternal glory because He deserves all glory for all eternity.
God’s love is related to His sovereignty by a predetermined plan for believers. Ephesians 1:4b-5, “In love He predestined us to adoption as sons…” God is sovereign and therefore His love is self-motivating (He doesn’t need a “lovable human being” to make Him love) and totally compatible with His divine essence (God is love). God is infinite and eternal; His love is therefore infinite and eternal. God is holy; therefore, His love possesses perfect integrity and perfect virtue (holiness) from the source of His justice and righteousness. The love of God the Father is perfect. Therefore, His love does not increase or diminish. It exists with or without an object. Divine love is not sustained by human rapport, human merit or human attractiveness. Human worthiness is not the basis for divine love, just as human merit is not the basis for eternal salvation. This means that God’s love is totally free from any human influence. (I John 4:8)
There are two categories to God’s love: 1) Personal – the object of God’s personal love is perfect righteousness, both toward the other Members of the Godhead, and toward all believers to whom He credits His perfect righteousness; 2) Impersonal – directed toward unbelievers who are spiritually dead. The highest expression of God’s impersonal love occurred when God imputed the sins of the world (past, present and future) to Jesus Christ on the Cross and judged them.
Omniscience means that God knows perfectly, eternally, and simultaneously all that is knowable whether it is actual or possible. He knows our thoughts, motives, decisions and actions. God is eternal and has eternal knowledge. God is truth and His knowledge is totally and perfectly accurate. Since God has always existed, His knowledge has always existed with Him. Therefore, He knows perfectly and simultaneously everything that has occurred or ever will occur.
The future is as clear to God as the past. The omniscience of God knows everything about us. In knowing all about us, God provided for each one of us a Portfolio of Invisible Assets, resulting in our equal privilege and equal opportunity. I Corinthians 2:9 in corrected translation, “However, as it stands written [Isaiah 64:4], `things [Portfolio of Invisible Assets] no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared (in eternity-past) for those who love Him.’”
Our greatest blessings are completely and totally invisible, and therefore can be understood only by revelation from God. That revelation is contained in the Word of God. By knowledge of Bible doctrine, we are able to become aware of our fantastic assets and use them to execute the Christian Way of Life. The qualifying factor in I Corinthians 2:9 is “for those who love Him.” The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ who loves God is an advancing believer. Once a believer reaches spiritual adulthood, life takes a fantastic turn. He is no longer has to be a victim of circumstances. He doesn’t have to be bitter, jealous, vengeful; he doesn’t have to prove something to anyone; he has lost his worldly ambition, his worldly competition, replacing it with Divine Viewpoint Thinking which leads to true success in life – glorifying God to the maximum.
Hebrews 11:1 puts it all in the right perspective. “Now Bible doctrine is the substance of things we hope for (anticipate with joy with full confidence), the evidence (proof from the absolute truth of God’s word) of spiritual things that are invisible.” Or as the Amplified Bible says, “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].” You can’t hope in the Biblical sense until you know and start believing Bible doctrine. Hope means you understand your Portfolio of Invisible Assets. Hope means you have a personal sense of destiny and that you recognize the tremendous escrow blessings that you have for all eternity, and that you understand the rewards and decorations that will belong to you forever. Note that doctrine is the essential part of the things we confidently anticipate with joy and the proof of the things we do not see, like our Portfolio of Invisible Assets.
Escrow blessings are defined in Ephesians 3:20, “Now to Him [God the Father] Who is able to do infinitely more than all we could ask or imagine on the basis of the power which is at work in us.” We have equal privilege and equal opportunity as believers. There is nowhere else in life where equal privilege and equal opportunity exists. No human legislation can provide equal privilege and opportunity, because no legislation, whether governmental or religious can control man’s sin nature. We all (believers and unbelievers) have a sin nature with which we think in terms of prejudice, antagonism, superiority, and inferiority. The only way to counteract this type of thinking is by becoming a believer in Jesus Christ and replacing Human Viewpoint Thinking with Divine Viewpoint Thinking through the study and application of God’s Word.
On the day we believed in Jesus Christ, God did forty things for us. Through the baptism of the Spirit, our lives were changed positionally (how we stand before God) when we were entered into union with Christ. All believers have equal privilege in the eyes of God. Man looks on the outward appearance; God looks on the inner life. Once we understand this equal privilege in Christ, we must completely change our attitudes. We never again are to look at ourselves as being superior or inferior because of any human factors, such as our nationality, our genetics, our success or failure, our economic status, our gender or our race. As far as God is concerned, we are equal in Christ. This means we must start thinking of ourselves, not as others think of us, but as God thinks of us. (Galatians 3:28)
As new creations in Christ, believers have a potential for life that is infinitely superior to anything unbelievers can produce such as morality or social reform. We must all realize that as believers we have exactly the same equal privileges. Eventually believer with their understanding and application of Bible doctrine, which includes the Portfolio of Invisible Assets, will reach spiritual self-esteem. Once believers develop spiritual self-esteem, respect and love for themselves, they will have impersonal love for others and will “live and let live.” They will also respect and love the human race in general, regardless of who or what they are. “There but for the grace of God, go I.”
Never before in the history of the world have believers in Christ had the privileges and the opportunities that are afforded to us today. The Church Age in which we live is an unparalleled dispensation with numerous advantages for believers. The privileges and opportunities that we have been given are not only unique, they are “above and beyond all that we could ever think or imagine.” (Ephesians 3:13-21)
Jesus Christ has secured forever the strategic victory(the skillful planning and management in getting the better of the adversary) over Satan. At salvation this victory puts believers in a place of maximum potential strength to win the tactical victory(the procedure for gaining advantage or success over the adversary) over Satan, the world (cosmic) system and the sin nature. Our union with Christ (positional sanctification) guarantees the opportunity to overcome the obstacles that are placed before us (or that we place before ourselves) in order to execute the Christian Way of Life and glorify God while we are on earth.
Many privileges are given to believers at the moment of salvation and many are given after salvation. However, opportunities must be seized by personal volition (free will). As a believer, you are the most privileged person on the face of the earth, but at the same time you may be missing the opportunities for fantastic blessing by not executing God’s plan, purpose and will for your life. Tactical victory comes over a period of time as a believer makes thousands of right decisions regarding God, himself, others and circumstances. Winning the tactical victory is done by believers who are being empowered by God the Holy Spirit as they organize their lives around right priorities: Jesus Christ must be the most important Person in a believer’s life, learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine must be placed above everything in life and virtue (a strict adherence to the truth) must drive every decision a believer makes in life. (Ephesians 4:14-15)
Privilege in life is always accompanied by responsibility. This is also true with the Royal Family of God. Our first responsibility, of course, is to God as Royal Priests, and our second responsibility is to others as Royal Ambassadors. Christ’s strategic victory secured only potential for the tactical victory. As believers, we all have equal privilege and equal opportunity to execute the Christian Way of Life which leads to the tactical victory. Those who choose to embrace and fulfill their responsibility to God will experience a life of complete satisfaction, fulfillment, success, inner peace and an abundance of happiness.