Class Notes: 11/27/2011

Jesus Christ controls history on behalf of the truth believers with wisdom understand this and take advantage of it

John 17:17; 2Cor 13:8; John 8:31-32;

In our study of the lifestyle of wisdom, last time we saw that wisdom comes from the ability to think doctrine when under pressure and that this ability is not a function of natural human intelligence bur instead is the result of the grace apparatus for perception that is received when one becomes a believer in TLJC.

Wisdom is therefore the mental stability that comes from the believer's persistent and consistent perception, metabolization, and application of Bible doctrine in the privacy of their priesthood.

Just as with spiritual self-esteem and spiritual autonomy, spiritual maturity prioritizes Bible doctrine over human experience. This means that your love of God takes precedence over and becomes the basis for your love for people.

This also means that Bible doctrine rather than emotion is the basis for the Christian way of life. You may have an emotional response to the doctrine you learn and apply, but that is a human response so it is not a part of your spiritual life.

When doctrine rather than emotion becomes the believer's basis for truth the believer is freed from one of the major sources of attack from the cosmic system the fallen angels and the OSN.

When you reach spiritual maturity, your mental stability is so great that you enjoy your emotions to the maximum, but you never include them as a part of the Christian way of life.

With mental stability, you have the ability to make correct and accurate application of doctrine in evidence testing as well as in every other experience in life.

Spiritual maturity makes maximum use of the problem-solving device of virtue-love resulting in the believer being free from the arrogance that can result from obtaining success or prosperity in life.

This is because believers in spiritual maturity recognize that all success or prosperity is a product of God's grace provision that is conveyed to every believer in God's perfect way and timing.

Spiritual maturity is characterized by cognitive independence that comes from the renovation of the thinking that comes from the persistent and consistent inculcation of truth of the word of God over many years,

This enables the believer to apply doctrine to experience, but never experience to doctrine. Experience can illustrate doctrine but should not be applied to it. Doctrine must always be applied to experience.

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