Ten Problem-Solving Devices
- Rebound – to name, admit, acknowledge, or cite your sins to God. When we name, admit, acknowledge or cite our known sins to God, He forgives us and purifies us from all personal sins: known, unknown and even forgotten sins.
- Filling of the Holy Spirit – being controlled by and guided by the Holy Spirit. It is not an emotional experience, rather it is a fact stated in God’s Word for us to believe.
- Faith-Rest Technique – mixing the promises of God with your faith (belief), applying the correct doctrine and reaching the correct doctrinal conclusion.
- Grace Orientation – becoming familiar with God’s grace policy toward the believer for salvation and the spiritual life, and the fantastic blessings that accompany each.
- Doctrinal Orientation – learning and applying Bible doctrine, which is the mind of Christ and Divine Viewpoint Thinking.
- Personal Sense of Destiny – understanding who you are and what you have as a result of being in union with Christ.
- Personal Love for God – as Royal Priests we are to love God. You can love God only if you know Him through the study of His Word.
- Impersonal Love for all Mankind- as Royal Ambassadors we are to love the entire human race.
- Sharing the Happiness of God – this means that we tap into God’s happiness by following His predesigned plan for us, which produces a permanent contentment in the soul.
- Occupation with Christ – this means we follow His example (our perfect role model) by learning to think in the same manner that He did (Divine Viewpoint Thinking), obeying divine mandates as He did, by making good decisions from a position of strength as He did and by using the Problem-Solving Devices as He did.
The Protocol Plan of God
Protocol is strict adherence to precisely correct procedure. In the case of the believer, protocol is strict adherence to the mandates from God and using the correct procedure for carrying out those mandates. These mandates and the precisely correct procedures are found in only one place, the Word of God. By learning and applying the truth found in the Bible, the believer can fulfill God’s purpose, plan and will. When this truth is presented from the Word of God in a systematic manner it allows any believer to grow spiritually (regardless of I.Q.) by following God’s plan.
There is a point of reference with God under the Protocol Plan and that is the love of God. This is “agape” love, God’s unconditional love for all mankind that caused Him to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for sin. When Christian integrity is developed by the believer, he is able to exhibit love for God on the basis of God’s character. The believer is also able to love his fellow man based on the integrity of God resident in his own soul.
Our authority for this plan is the Word of God. It is the Word of God that establishes the standard by which all teachings, experiences and actions are judged. Any teaching, experience or action that does not fully agree with Scripture is wrong. Those that distort, change or misuse God’s Word are “false apostles” and “ministers of Satan” (even if they are well-meaning). The Bible tells the believer to note them and avoid them.
God’s protocol plan has a result. The result is the ability of the advancing believer to make good decisions from a position of strength, to take control of his life and to develop a personal sense of destiny.
The Protocol Plan of God also has an enemy – the cosmic system of Satan. As the great counterfeiter, Satan’s cosmic system seeks to mimic God’s power system. The power of the Holy Spirit is counterfeited by human emotion and ecstatic behavior. Divine Viewpoint Thinking is replaced with Human Viewpoint Thinking. God’s grace policy is replaced by a system of human good works. And virtue is replaced by a charismatic personality and charm. And the authority of God’s Word is replaced by political correctness.
God has a purpose for His protocol plan and that is to glorify His Son, Jesus Christ. Glorification of Christ in Time is accomplished through the life of the advancing believer as he exhibits the character of the Lord Jesus Christ. The character of Christ can be produced only by God the Holy Spirit as He is allowed to control the thinking of the believer. Bible doctrine resident in the soul of the believer is the “raw material” that the Holy Spirit uses to teach and guide the believer through life’s journey.
Eleven Principles of the Protocol Plan of God
- The Protocol Plan of God has a system of authority. God has delegated that authority in 2 spheres: 1] in the temporal sphere, the laws of divine establishment and government, 2] in the spiritual realm, Bible doctrine, communicated by the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher. (Psalms 33:12; Ephesians 4:11)
- The Protocol Plan of God has a spiritual life for each believer. Therefore, you and you alone are the only one that can live your spiritual life – no one else can live it for you. (I John 1:5-10)
- The Protocol Plan of God recognizes the volition of the believer. Each believer is a production of his own decisions, whether they are positive or negative. Volition is important for establishing values. As you establish values, those values dictate the manner and function of your own volition [free will]. (Philippians 2:1-16)
- The Protocol Plan of God has a system for advancement, or spiritual growth… metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness of your “heart” [the soul]. (II Peter 3:18)
- The Protocol Plan of God has a system of problem-solving devices. They are related to metabolized doctrine in your soul. The Christian Way of Life was designed for you to personally resolve your own problems before God without interference from others. (Ephesians 4:11-16; Hebrews 5:11-14)
- The Protocol Plan of God has both historical and individual time reference. The historical time reference is the unique dispensation of the Church Age. The individual time reference is from the moment you believed in Christ till the moment of your death or resurrection [Rapture], whichever occurs first. (Colossians 1:25-29)
- The Protocol Plan of God has a portfolio of invisible (spiritual) assets provided for each believer in eternity past. (Ephesians 1:3)
- The Protocol Plan of God has a system of invisible impact on history, which comes in 5 categories: 1] personal impact – blessing by association with a mature believer, a winner and invisible hero 2] historical impact – blessing by association to the client nation through the Pivot (remnant according to grace) 3] international impact – blessing by association to a non-client nation through spiritually mature missionary function 4] angelic impact – invisible heroes become a witness for the prosecution in Satan’s appeal trial, which extended from prehistoric times into the Church Age 5] heritage impact – blessing by association with the invisible hero after his death. (Romans 11:1-12)
- The Protocol Plan of God has precisely correct procedure, based on the principle that God has only one way of doing a thing – a right thing, done in a right way. (I Corinthians 14:40)
- The Protocol Plan of God has a system of eternal rewards and decorations for each believer who executes the Protocol Plan of God. And even if you fail to fulfill God’s plan, your rewards will be on record…they will be in Heaven, available for you to see. (I Corinthians 3:12-15)
- God makes war against the arrogant believer, but He gives grace to the humble believer. This becomes the basis for whether you are ever going to succeed or fail, for arrogance is always failure under the Protocol Plan of God. (James 4:6; I Peter 5:5-6)
(These eleven principles were taken from a lesson on audio cassette by Pastor R.B. Thieme, Jr., Berachah Church, Houston, Texas)