In our study of the doctrine of freedom. John 8:32: Gal 5:1; We noted that positive volition to any aspect of God's Word of truth creates freedom because God imputes grace through the divine decree to bless positive volition wherever it is found. Lam 3:21-23; James 4:6;
We noted that Positive volition to Divine Establishment provides for temporal human freedom, positive volition toward the Gospel creates spiritual freedom and positive volition to Bible Doctrine creates experiential spiritual freedom and spiritual advance.
Since truth is the sine que non of freedom and since morality and virtue are the visible expressions of truth we have taken a side trip into a study of the doctrines of morality and virtue. After finishing our study on the doctrine of morality last time we started our study on the doctrine of virtue.
We noted that in this dispensation virtue is a characteristic unique to church, the royal family of God, because it is the product of executing God's mandate for Church Age believers to keep on walking by means of the Spirit. Gal 5:16;
Basic virtues developed under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit include enforced and genuine humility, love, worship, morality, courage, and confidence. Humility is the foundation of all virtue. Matt 11:29-30; 1Pet 5:6;
Virtue is intrinsic good; it is not proving one's worth. The believer who is trying to prove something cannot improve spiritually.
Proving or trying to prove one's worth is arrogance but improving one's worth under the mentorship of the Holy Spirit is prudence. Arrogance is the antithesis of and the enemy of virtue. Arrogance and virtue are mutually exclusive.
Virtue is manufactured from perception of doctrine and results in love for God and occupation with Christ. Arrogance is manufactured in satan's cosmic system and results in preoccupation with self and hatred of God.
Virtue is the intrinsic good that is produced in Christian way of life inside God's power system. Believers who reside and function in God's power system automatically produce virtue, (Gal 5:22-23;) while believers who reside and function in satan's cosmic system destroy virtue and produce human good that they present as virtue through lies an deceit. 2Cor 11:14-15;
Virtue manufactured inside God's power system is also the source of all true happiness in life. Virtue and happiness are only sourced in God's Word of truth.
There is no happiness in the cosmic system. The pseudo-virtue and pseudo-happiness of human good that is manufactured in the cosmic system is established on hypocrisy, lies and deceit.
The cosmic system offers wealth, success, promotion, sex, authority, lifestyle, approbation, and fame without capacity from honor, integrity, ability, virtue, love, or leadership so while there is prosperity there is never any happiness.
This is why those who are inside satan's cosmic system are in a constant search for happiness while God pursues and targets those who are in His power system with His perfect happiness through the divine decree. Psa 23:6; Net note 6
There are degrees of true happiness along the advance in God's system that correspond to advancing virtue. Virtue is the sine que non of true happiness.
The function of God's integrity as it relates to God's love is the source of virtue. The production of virtue creates both happiness and orientation to God's plan for the Church Age believer.
Virtue is the application of God's Word of truth to the facets of life under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit but since virtue has direction for there to be virtue in the application of truth it must be directed properly.
Jesus expressed this concept in his answer to the Pharisees that were trying to trick him. Mark 12:17;
Enforced humility is directed toward authority; genuine humility is directed toward God and man. Worship is toward God; morality is directed toward man.
Confidence is directed towards God, courage is directed toward man and circumstances.
Personal love is directed towards God; impersonal integrity love is directed to man. Virtue directed toward self is humility. Misdirected virtue creates weakness and is not virtue at all.
Examples of misdirected "virtue" are:
Enforced humility directed toward God or man is compulsion rather than virtue, therefore is not virtue. This misdirection destroys both the virtue and its motivation.
Worship directed toward man is arrogance and religion, while morality toward God is legalism.
Courage toward God is blasphemy and presumption; confidence toward man is either foolish or naive arrogance. Confidence is a virtue only when directed toward God.
Impersonal love toward God is arrogance. Personal love toward man is weakness and intensifies the problems in life. Misdirected love compromises truth so it is robbed of its virtue and strength becomes weakness.
Virtue is objective; arrogance is subjective. This means that virtue functions toward an external object. For example, virtue is directed toward God, man, authority, law, or circumstances.
Arrogance destroys virtue because arrogance is directed toward self as subjectivity. These misdirections result in failure to live the spiritual life but they do not result in believers losing their salvation. 2Tim 2:13;
Virtue exists under the two categories of motivational virtue and functional virtue depending on the direction it is deployed. Virtues that are directed toward God are classified as motivational virtues, while virtues that are directed toward man or circumstances are classified as functional virtues.
Virtue directed toward God properly motivates virtue directed toward man. This is the principle of the two great commandments. Matt 22:35-40;
Personal love toward God motivates impersonal love toward man. Confidence toward God motivates courage toward man and circumstances.
Worship toward God motivates morality toward man. Enforced humility toward authority motivates genuine humility toward God and man, and life in general.
We see from this that motivational virtues include personal love toward God, confidence toward God, and worship toward God. Functional virtues include impersonal love toward man, courage toward man and circumstances, and morality toward mankind and life.
All of these virtues are the monopoly of God. They are only developed in believers who are functioning under the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit inside God's power system.
Some scriptural documentation for the concept of motivational and functional in virtue: 1John 5:1-3, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born from God. Furthermore, everyone who loves the Father loves everyone who has been born from the Father.
v2 By this we have come to know that we keep loving the children of God, whenever we love God and execute His mandates.
v3 For this virtue is love for God, that we keep executing His mandates, and His mandates are not burdensome."
1 John 4:21; "Furthermore, we have this mandate from Him that he who loves God should also love his fellow believer."
The enemy of virtue is the demand syndrome that is an artifact of the narcissist complex that is developed inside the arrogance complex of sins that we refer to as "cosmic one."