Class Notes: 7/22/2009

The Lord Jesus Christ established precedence for the spiritual life of the Church

Last time we took up a discussion regarding the Precedence for the spiritual life of the church.

We saw that Precedence is defined as: (1) an earlier occurrence of something similar; (2) something done or said that may serve as an example or rule to authorize or justify a subsequent act of the same or an analogous kind (3) a verdict that had no precedent (4) the convention established by such a precedent or by long practice or (5) a person or thing that serves as a model.

The extension of the power of God that was deployed in the unglorified humanity of TLJC at the beginning of the Hypostatic Union into the Church Age has resulted in establishing a precedent for the dispensation of the Church.

The great power of the Hypostatic Union is not only the dividing line between Israel and the Church, but because church age believers are in Union with TLJC it becomes a wall of separation as well.

This precedent answers the question of just what comprises the spiritual life of believers in the church age or just what is the Christian way of life.

The great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union cuts off the Old Testament, the Mosaic Law, and the ritual plan of God for Israel. This means that the protocol plan of God that supersedes the ritual plan for Israel is not taken from any Old Testament Scriptures, including the Mosaic Law. John 1:17; Rom 10:2-4;

Because of this, the dispensation of Israel and the Mosaic Law sets no precedent for the function of the spiritual life in the Church Age and all precedence for the believer's spiritual life in the Church Age is derived from the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union, which completely separates the Church from Israel.

The precedence for the church is restricted to the Lord Jesus Christ with emphasis on His unglorified humanity residing in the prototype divine power system via the filling of the Holy Spirit, Heb 9:14; and his thinking, 1Cor 2:16; that is the word of God. John 1:1; Matt 24:35;

The New Testament canon emphasizes this new body of doctrine that pertains exclusively to the Church.

It is sometimes called the mystery doctrine because the Old Testament prophets did not know it. Rom 16:25; 1Cor 2:7; Eph 3:3-4,9; Col 1:20,27; 1Tim 3:9,16;

Our Lord used the problem solving devices while on this earth during his life in unglorified humanity and established the precedent for their use by believers during the Church Age.

There is no greater illustration in history for preventing the outside pressures of adversity from being converted into the inside pressure of stress in the soul than the final three hours on the Cross, when salvation was provided. Heb 12:2; Phil 2:5-9;

Because TLJC established the precedence for the spiritual life he is the only role model for the Church Age believer.

When believer make a role model out of Christ it means they understand the doctrine of the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union and how TLJC maintained his Impeccability (Pose non Pecarre) in his unglorified humanity while under maximum pressure in satan's kosmic system.

God has provided the same problem solving devices to the church that our Lord had available to Him with the additional problem solving devices of acknowledgement of known sin and occupation with Christ.

This system enables believer in their new identity, if they choose to, to live in the same system as TLJC did 1John 3:9; 1John 5:18; and in so doing remain in their new identity "Pose non Pecarre"

All precedence and authorization for the protocol plan of God for the church therefore is taken from the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

This means that there is nothing in the Mosaic Law related to the spiritual life of the church age.

The Mosaic Law sets up principles of establishment that have been repeated in the New Testament, but the Mosaic Law is not the way of salvation and is definitely not the Christian way of life.

The best thing the Mosaic Law can produce is morality, which is not the Christian way of life.

Morality is based on human self-determination. The virtue of the protocol plan of God is based on the utilization of the omnipotent power of God the Holy Spirit for the Christian way of life.

God's power is much stronger than self-determination. Spirituality is stronger than morality. The spiritual person is moral, but the moral person may not be spiritual.

That's why when people go to morality for the Christian way of life; they get into the worst crusader and self-righteous arrogance. As a result, they become the greatest of blasphemers because they enter into the same moral degeneracy that the Pharisees did. Matt 23:27-33; John 8:44;

Under the doctrine of verbal plenary inspiration, the New Testament Canon had to be written to explain the relationship between the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union and the great power experiment of the Church Age because he two go together.

The first is designed for the strategic victory of the unique one, TLJC, the second for the tactical victory of the many believers who advance to spiritual maturity.

While the Old Testament prophecy anticipated the Incarnation and First Advent of Christ, it did not reveal the relationship between the spiritual life of the Hypostatic Union and the spiritual life of the royal family of God during the Church Age, nor did it reveal the results of that relationship which is the demonstration of the use of God's happiness that is available through the residence and function in God's power system through the application of the 10 PSDs.

This is possible because all those who believe in Jesus Christ during the Church Age are instantly created a new spiritual species by means of the baptism of the Holy Spirit entering them into union with Christ. 2Cor 5:17;

Being "in Christ" refers to one of the forty grace gifts that all church age believers receive at the moment of salvation.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit results in the extension of the power of God that was demonstrated during the beginning of the Hypostatic Union into the Church Age, the creation of a new spiritual species for the appropriation and exclusive use of divine power that was made available universally for the first time in history to every Church Age believer at Pentecost.

This power includes the omnipotence of God the Father which is related to our portfolio of invisible assets, the omnipotence of God the Son, related to the perpetuation of human history, and the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit, related to life inside God's power system.

Positional sanctification which removes all distinctions among human beings who personally believe in Jesus Christ, to include any race, economic, social, cultural, ideological or any other distinctions that existed prior to salvation.

The believer's predestination and union with Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit provides equal privilege and equal opportunity for all believers in this dispensation.

The election of the royal family of God designed to complement our Lord's strategic victory in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union.

There are three elections in history, the election of Israel under the ritual plan of God, the election of Jesus Christ under the salvation plan of God related to his First Advent, and the election of the Church under the protocol plan of God.

Each of these three elections has a special relationship with God, the election of Israel is related to the creation of the Jews as the new racial species and client nation Israel, the election of Christ is related to the power of God that is demonstrated by the unique Theoanthropos in hypostatic Union, and the election of the Church is related to the new spiritual species and the power of God that is demonstrated in the Church Age.

The church as the new spiritual species in union with TLJC is related to the power of God that was demonstrated in the Hypostatic Union that resulted in the strategic victory of Jesus Christ during his First Advent and the power of God that is demonstrated in the Church Age that results in the tactical victory of the royal family of God through their execution of the unique PPOG for their lives.

The church as the new spiritual species is designed to exclusively use divine power for the spiritual life. For the first time in history, there is a divine plan that includes the ordinary believer, who is no longer ordinary but extraordinary in their new identity especially when they use the divine power that God has made available in his plan.

As we have seen, the few believers who do execute the protocol plan of God have the role of invisible heroes in their impact in history. The trends within the client nation in history are directly related to the believer's spiritual life under the principle of " as goes the believer, so goes the client nation".

2Cor 5:17b;" the old things", the Greek word "archaios" refers to the pre-salvation state of the believer, their position in Adam and its resultant spiritual death plus the power of the old sin nature, including any pre-salvation handicaps or advantages from one's position in Adam.

At the believer's second birth, God has destroyed the power of the old sin nature, though we still possess it. The power of the OSN is only restored when the believer chooses through their free volition to commit sin or execute human good.

Because the required power for the spiritual life is exclusively from God, believers are helpless to do anything for their salvation or after salvation to execute God's plan, will, and purpose for their lives. Eph 2:10; Phil 1:6;

Both are provided entirely by God under his policy of grace. Col 2:6; The indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit that are grace gifts at salvation eliminates the function of human power and human dynamics in Satan's cosmic system.

This includes every category of human self-sacrifice, human dynamics, human works, personality changes; all of these have lost their power because God has made his divine power available.

Although believers can still use human power to do such things as improve their personality, it is not a part of the Christian way of life, it is psychological not spiritual.

Being a member of the church, the new spiritual species demands that the believer's priority be relationship with God and with His Word that is the divine thinking revealed in Bible doctrine.

The assumption that if we are right in our relationships with people we are right in our relationship with God is wrong.

This was demonstrated in the Garden when the man and the woman clothed themselves in fig leaves Gen 3:7; but God clothed them in the skins of the animal sacrifice. Gen 3:21;

The priority of the new spiritual species is personal love for God that results in integrity love toward people.

The problem solving device of confession to God alone of any known sin that is available to all believers as members of the new spiritual species neutralizes the power of the old sin nature and the cosmic system and puts the believer back into God's power system.

The Christian who spends the maximum amount of time in the God's power system becomes a tactical winner in God's plan. The Christian who spends maximum time in the cosmic system becomes a tactical loser in God's plan.

In order to understand why the precedence for the spiritual life of the church is the life of TLJC we must understand the unique things that God has done for every church age believer at the point of salvation.

The absolute concept of the Christian life or spirituality begins at the moment of salvation. At the moment we believe in Christ we are filled with the Holy Spirit and enter into God's power system.

There are at least seven of the ministries of God the Holy Spirit at salvation six of which are permanent. They never change no matter how the believer's experiential status may change. The six are:

(1) Efficacious grace, where God the Holy Spirit takes faith, and faith alone, and makes it effective for salvation. Eph 2:8-9;

(2) Regeneration, where God the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit for the imputation of eternal life by God the Father. Eternal life is imputed to the human spirit, John 3:1-6; Tit 3:5. The Holy Spirit is the agent of this new birth.

(3) The baptism of the Holy Spirit, Acts 1:5;1Cor 12:13;; Eph 4:5. We are entered into union with Christ.

(4) The Holy Spirit indwells us to provide a temple for the indwelling of Christ, Gal 3:2, Gal 4:6; 1Cor 6:19-20, 1Cor 3:16.

(5) The sealing of the Holy Spirit, in which He stamps a seal on us so we can never lose our salvation. Eph 4:30; Eph 1:13; 2Cor 1:22. God has put a seal on you because you are valuable and belong to Him.

(6) The distribution of spiritual gifts, 1Cor 12:11.

(7) The seventh ministry of the Holy Spirit, the filling of the Holy Spirit is temporary.

The filling of the Spirit is synonymous with residence in God's power system. Only the filling of the Spirit is subject to a change of status because it is experiential, depending upon the believer's residence inside God's power system.

The first sin the believer commits after salvation puts them outside God's power system and under the control of the old sin nature in the kosmic system.

The other six ministries of the Holy Spirit at salvation remain in a permanent state regardless of the believer's experiential situation.

It is these seven ministries that place the church age believer into the position required for the spiritual life of TLJC be the precedence for the church age believer's spiritual life.

Let take a look at the results of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and see how it sets believers up to function in this new precedence.

2Cor 5:17; If (first class condition) any man is in Christ (baptism of the Holy Spirit; positional sanctification) he is a new creature ("kainos + krisis" : a new spiritual species); the old things ("archaios" that which has existed from the beginning" (Arndt & Gingrich, p. 111), makes reference to the sinful nature and spiritual death ) have passed away (Rom 6:6;, retroactive positional truth), behold, they have become new (current positional truth; " kainos" : a new species).

While old things have lost their power, we are not impeccable, but continue to possess an old sin nature. So even though the Church Age believer is a new spiritual species, we still have volition and still continue to sin after salvation (1John 1:8)

The sin factor in the Christian life depends upon how much time the believer spends inside God's power system by functioning in the unique spiritual life.

Col 2:13; reveals that God has "forgiven the Greek word "charizomai " us all our transgressions referring to presalvation sins. and 2Cor 5:17; goes on to reveal that having forgiven our presalvation sins we are transformed into a "new creature."

The transformation is made possible by the baptism of the Holy Spirit that places believers into union with Christ at the moment of salvation that is described in Scripture by the prepositional phrase "in Christ."

This is also referred to as positional sanctification and current positional truth, and insures our eternal security.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit results in a "new creature," indicated by the Greek words "kainos + krisis" : a new spiritual species.

We are considered a "new creature" or "a new spiritual species" because of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that placed us into union with the resurrected Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Father.

The word "new" is the Greek adjective " kainos"

Kainos is defined in The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Vol. 3, starting on page 447 as "what is new and distinctive" as compared with other things. Kainos is new in nature, different from the usual, impressive, better than the old, superior in value or attraction.

Kainos is the epitome of the wholly different and miraculous thing that is brought by the time of salvation. Hence "new" is term that is used to refer to the entirely new environment that is described in the prophecies found in the book of Revelation: a new heaven and a new earth, Rev. 21:1; a new Jerusalem, Rev. 21:2; and a new title, Rev. 2:17.

New creation is the glorious end of the revelation of God's salvation. Thus kainos becomes a slogan of the reality of salvation which we have" in Christ".

The Greek word Kainotes, translated that is "newness," in the New Testament is only found in Paul's writings.

In accordance with the use of kainos, it denotes the fullness of the reality of salvation that Christ has given to Christians in comparison with the worthlessness of their former condition.

"New things have come" refers to precedence for the Church Age based on the great power demonstrated in the Hypostatic Union being extended into the dispensation of the church.

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