Lesson for December 2, 2018
The Doctrine of Spirituality vs. Carnality
The Doctrine of Supergrace and Ultra-Supergrace
Grace is all that God is free to do for man on the basis of the Cross. Because of the divine essence, God must be consistent. No characteristic can be jeopardized or compromised by another. Therefore, propitiation is that work of Christ on the Cross which frees God to bless man under His plan of grace. Grace is God’s freedom to express His love through grace to mankind without compromise of His essence.
Under the principle of grace, God provides a series of blessings for man totally apart from man’s merit, ability, planning, thinking, or human energy. Under the policy of grace, God gives and man receives. God does all the work and providing, while man does all the receiving and benefitting. In the concept of grace, everything depends on God’s essence.
Under the mechanics of grace, man has a relationship with God in two categories: before the Fall and after the Fall. The first category is based on Creation. God provided everything man would ever need in the Garden of Eden. The trees were for stimulation of the soul, good for food, and the Tree of Life was given to appreciate God. Man had immediate capacity to appreciate God’s grace provision. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was a test. Human good and evil are Satan’s policy. This tree was forbidden because human good and evil result in spiritual death. Human good and evil are two things that man did not need in his relationship with God. Evil is the thinking policy of Satan and human good is the application of that policy to experience in history.
After the Fall, man’s relationship with God is based on salvation. At the time of the Fall, man ate of the forbidden tree. The first sin was a sin of negative volition to the plan of God. Adam and Eve immediately understood human good and evil, we’re immediately under the rulership of Satan, and immediately performed human good by covering themselves with fig leaves. Under God’s plan, grace is all that God can do for man from salvation until eternity. Grace is the genius of God, and doctrine is the revelation and manifestation of that genius.
Supergrace and ultra-supergrace are conditions of 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, supergrace is the highest adult stage of the spiritual life in the Royal Family of God. Supergrace is maximum glorification of Jesus Christ. Supergrace and ultra-supergrace are categories within spiritual maturity. Supergrace is the maximum function of the Royal Priesthood and the maximum production of divine good. Ultra-supergrace is maximum growth and blessing from maximum testing.
Those around a supergrace mature believer are blessed by their association or relationship with that person. They are blessed either directly by God or indirectly from the supergrace believer as a result of the overflow of his supergrace blessings. The supergrace believer shares his blessings with others. There are areas of blessing by association such as family life, business life, social life, and church life. There are also blessings to the supergrace believer’s city, state and nation. The spiritually mature believer, as part of the Pivot, stabilizes his generation and future generations. The ups and downs of history do not disturb the impact of the supergrace mature believer. The reversionist is caught up in the disasters of history and swept along with them. But the supergrace believer rises above historical disaster. (II Timothy 1:5)
Only on earth does God have the opportunity to give us pressure, disaster, and undeserved suffering to prove to Satan and the fallen angels that Bible doctrine can handle any situation. God gives us the ability to handle suffering and turn suffering into blessing. (Romans 8:28)A spiritually mature believer knows when he is under divine discipline or undeserved suffering. The former is unbearable suffering, the latter is bearable. The supergrace believer’s ability to handle undeserved suffering glorifies God and becomes evidence against Satan in his appeal trial.
Undeserved suffering is also used by God to help you keep your eyes on God and your focus on eternity. (Revelation 2:10; II Corinthians 12:9-10)Undeserved suffering teaches us the value of Bible doctrine and gives us an appreciation of it. (Psalm 119:67-71)Undeserved suffering is designed to manifest the ministry of God the Holy Spirit in our lives as a testimony to others. (II Corinthians 4:8-11)Undeserved suffering is designed to put muscle on our faith, to occupy us with eternal values and to compel us to focus our attention on God, not on self or circumstances. (Romans 5:3-5, 8:36-39)
Supergrace is to be the objective of the believer after salvation. (Ephesians 3:16-19; Philippians 3:4-8) All human achievement is secondary compared with reaching supergrace.God is waiting to provide supergrace blessings to believers. (Isaiah 30:18) The command to advance to supergrace is found in Hebrews 12:1-3. The importance of Bible doctrine in reaching supergrace and executing that command is found in Hebrews 11:1-3. The importance of retaining the objective of supergrace and moving on to ultra-supergrace is found in Philippians 3:12-14
God loves every believer with maximum love regardless of the believer’s spiritual status. I John 4:19 teaches that the believer can love God with maximum love. However, no believer loves God until he first knows God. Therefore, no believer truly knows God until he has Bible doctrine in the soul and attains spiritual self-esteem. The supergrace believer has maximum love for God because he has maximum metabolized doctrine in his soul which produces spiritual self-esteem, which is characterized by personal love for God. God expresses His love to the supergrace believer by blessing and reward. He expresses His love to the reversionist by divine discipline. (Romans 8:28; Ephesians 3:19; I John 4:19)
The key to supergrace is sharing the perfect happiness of God. The same Bible doctrine that provides supergrace blessings, also provides happiness from God. The maximum happiness of God is attained by a believer when he reaches supergrace. Attainment of sharing the happiness of God through the accumulation of Bible doctrine in the soul is the entrance into the supergrace life. (Philippians 4:4; I Thessalonians 5:16; I John 4:4)
There is a relationship between the supergrace blessings and the eternal rewards and blessings at the Judgment Seat of Christ. You are in God’s grace plan and cannot get out.Your attitude toward Bible doctrine determines all grace blessings on earth and in eternity. In eternity past God designed supergrace blessings for time and surpassing grace blessings for eternity. A believer cannot lose his salvation or eternal life in Heaven, but he can lose his supergrace blessings and surpassing grace blessings. He can lose supergrace blessings through negative volition to Bible doctrine and subsequent reversionism. Loss of supergrace blessings means loss of surpassing grace blessings. Negative volition means loss of blessing for now and in eternity.
Ultra-Super-Grace
Ultra-supergrace is the most advanced stage of spiritual maturity related to time on earth, history, and the Angelic Conflict. Once the believer breaks the spiritual maturity barrier through the consistent intake and application of Bible doctrine, he moves into a period where he receives the greatest attacks and testing from Satan and his world system. In ultra-supergrace, the believer receives maximum opposition from all the satanic forces of evil. This opposition is the highest honor a believer can receive from God. Passing these tests results in great future blessings/rewards in eternity.The principle of ultra-supergrace is deliverance from evil forces and eternal glory.(II Timothy 2:10)The spiritually mature believer in ultra-supergrace must get used to the idea that blessing doesn’t always mean lack of pressure. (I Peter 3:12-16, 4:12-14)The concept of ultra-supergrace is found in Matthew 5:10-14. The advance to ultra-supergrace is taught in Philippians 3:12-16. The eternal decorations of the ultra-supergrace believer are the crown of life according to James 1:12 and Revelation 2:10, the crown of righteousness found in II Timothy 4:7-8 and the crown of glory for pastors in I Thessalonians 2:19-20, I Peter 5:4 and Philippians 4:1. Ultra-supergrace is preservation and deliverance from anything that life brings your way. (II Timothy 3:8-12)