Lesson for September 10, 2017
Doctrine of Spirituality vs. Carnality
Introduction
Spirituality is the term used for the filling of God the Holy Spirit. The filling and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are not the same, and should not be confused. At the moment a person trusts Christ as Savior, he is permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit. However, the filling of the Holy Spirit, which is also received at salvation, is temporary and is lost when a believer commits personal sin. Carnality is the term used for being controlled by the sin nature. The filling of the Holy Spirit (spirituality) and being controlled by the sin nature (carnality) are absolutes. As a believer in Jesus Christ, you are either being controlled 100% by your sin nature (carnality) or 100% by the Holy Spirit (spirituality). Spirituality and carnality are mutually exclusive. Therefore, spirituality and carnality are absolutes in the Christian Way of Life. You are either filled with the Holy Spirit or you are not. You either reside in God’s power system or in Satan’s world system at any given time. You cannot be partially filled with the Holy Spirit and partially controlled by the sin nature at the same time according to I John 1:6-7, 2:10-11, 3:4-9. Every time a believer sins, he steps outside of God’s power system by using his volition to commit sin. He immediately re-enters Satan’s world system, loses the filling of the Holy Spirit and is said to be grieving and/or quenching the Holy Spirit.
Grieving the Holy Spirit refers to being out of fellowship with God for a short period of time. Believers grieve God the Holy Spirit every time they sin. When a believer is positive to doctrine and then sins, he is out of fellowship with God and grieves the Holy Spirit. Utilization of I John 1:9 restores the filling of the Holy Spirit and stops the grieving process. The Greek word for grieve is “lupeo” meaning to make sorrowful or sad. When applied to God it is an anthropopathism which assigns to God an emotion He does not feel, but gives us in human terms a method to understand what his policy is regarding a subject. However, it does describe a personal affront to the Holy Spirit Who is our mentor and guide in life. It is the desire of God the Holy Spirit for every believer to stay in fellowship and be filled with His power. (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 4:30; I John 1:5-7)
Quenching the Holy Spirit suggests that a believer has ignored or rejected the Rebound Technique over a prolonged period of time. The Greek word for quenching is “sbennumi” meaning to extinguish a fire. Quenching the Holy Spirit occurs when a believer moves so far from God that the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is extinguished. This occurs when a believer chooses to ignore Bible doctrine and the utilization of the Rebound Technique. Relying on false doctrine or human viewpoint quenches the Holy Spirit. When false doctrine or human viewpoint is controlling the mentality of the soul, a vacuum opens in the soul and “sucks in” all kinds of satanic doctrine. (Ephesians 4:17) The vacuum of the mind not only attracts every system of false doctrine and human viewpoint but results in seeking solutions related to the Arrogance Complex of sins.
The Arrogance Complex is as follows: self-justification, self-deception, self-absorption and self-righteousness. Arrogance is saying that we don’t need God or His plan; that we have a plan of our own. Arrogance is the first in a list of sins in Proverbs 6:17-19 that God hates. Arrogance is part of all sin, if we really examine it. Any time we commit a sin we are saying that our way is better than God’s way. This is exactly what Satan (Lucifer) did in eternity-past when he rebelled against God. We find a reference to this in Isaiah 14:12-14. This is commonly called “The Five I Wills of Satan.” The amazing thing is that Satan is still arrogant, even after his fall. However, it should not be surprising to us that Satan is still arrogant considering he attempted to overthrow God!
Self-justification is illustrated for us in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. According to Genesis 3:8-13, Adam blamed Eve for his failure and Eve blamed Satan. We would say today in our vernacular “It’s not my fault, the Devil made me do it.” Or we might say “I’m a victim of my environment” or “I have a disease” or “it’s my parent’s fault.” Self-justification rejects any personal responsibility for the actions of a person. Self-justification is a dangerous form of arrogance. Just look what it led to in the Garden of Eden!
Self-deception is another deadly form of arrogance as we see from I John 1:8-10. When a person is involved in practicing any pattern of sin over a prolonged period of time, it is easy to deceive yourself into believing that what you’re doing is not sin at all. Self-deception can also be thinking about yourself
in a conceited manner. For example, thinking that you are better, holier, more spiritual or closer to God that other believers is conceit. Self-deception normally leads a person right into self-absorption.
Self-absorption is total preoccupation with self. The scriptural illustration of this form of arrogance is the Rich Young Ruler of Matthew 19:16-22. Here we have a story of a man who came to Jesus asking what he could do to inherit eternal life. Jesus illustrated to this man that he was a sinner in need of a Savior. It was the Rich Young Ruler’s self-absorption that kept him out of Heaven. Blinded by his riches and possessions, he was unwilling to recognize his need for a Savior. He was much like the Scribes and Pharisees (the religious leaders of Israel at the time of Christ), which were full of themselves to the point of having their consciences seared (unable to recognize their own sinfulness). We, as believers in Christ, are to be occupied with Him, not ourselves. (Matthew 23:1-39; Philippians 2:5; Hebrews 12:2)
Self-righteousness ignores God’s righteousness in an attempt to establish one’s own righteousness. What we need to realize is that as believers in Jesus Christ we already possess God’s righteousness. Any attempt on our part to establish our own human righteousness as a means of gaining God’s favor is a waste of valuable time. Instead, we could be using that time to build our lives on God’s righteousness already resident in our souls. God is not impressed with our human righteousness before or after salvation. God is only impressed with His own righteousness, which we possess, and this is the only means of blessing from Him. In other words, God blesses us based on His integrity, His righteousness and His justice. If you want increased blessing from God, you must increase your capacity to receive blessing from God, by the consistent intake and application of His Word. God’s blessings are always given by means of His grace. (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 10:2-3)
Quenching the Holy Spirit is entrance into reversionism, scar tissue of the soul and blackout of the soul. Quenching the Holy Spirit is perpetual living inside Satan’s world system under the influence of evil and producing only human good. The result of quenching the Spirit is moral or immoral degeneracy. These are the believers who continually live in childhood thinking; they expect someone to fulfill and gratify their wishes; they feel entitled to do anything they want to do; they feel exempt from the rules of God; they expect others to solve their problems; they react to unfair treatment with the victimization syndrome, they never use the Problem Solving Devices and they blame others through denial and projection (assigning your own faults to someone else). (I Thessalonians 5:19)
On the other hand, if you are filled with the Spirit, you are not committing sin, you are in fellowship with God and you avoid the Arrogance Complex of sins. If you are controlled by the sin nature, you are in Satan’s world system, you are carnal and you are susceptible to entering the Arrogance Complex. God the Holy Spirit either controls your soul or He does not. Since spirituality is a synonymous term with the filling of the Holy Spirit, a believer at any stage of spiritual growth can be spiritual. Spirituality has nothing to do with a believer’s stage of spiritual growth, his personality, his religious-sounding talk or his fancy dress.
The absolute concept of spirituality begins at the moment of salvation when a believer is filled with the Holy Spirit. At the moment we believe in Christ we are filled with the Holy Spirit and enter God’s power system. Six of the ministries of God the Holy Spirit at salvation are permanent. They never change no matter how our experiential status changes: a) Efficacious grace, in which God the Holy Spirit takes faith, and faith alone, and makes it effective for salvation. b) Regeneration, in which God the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit for the imputation of eternal life by God the Father. The Holy Spirit is the agent of the new birth. (John 3:1-6; Titus 3:5) c) The baptism of the Holy Spirit when we are entered into union with Christ. (Acts 1:5; I Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:5) d) The Holy Spirit indwells us to provide a temple for the indwelling of Christ. (Galatians 3:2, 4:6; I Corinthians 6:19-20, 3:16) e) The sealing of the Holy Spirit, in which He places a seal on us so we can never lose our salvation. God has put a seal on you because you are valuable and belong to Him. (Ephesians 4:30, 1:13; II Corinthians 1:22) f) The distribution of spiritual gifts. (I Corinthians 12:11)
The above are the six ministries of the Holy Spirit at salvation which remain in a permanent state regardless of your personal sin. Only one ministry of the Holy Spirit is temporary: the filling of the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy 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 we commit after salvation puts us outside God’s power system and under the control of the sin nature. If we are filled with the Spirit at salvation, then why are we commanded to be filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18? Because the first time we sin after salvation, we lose the filling of the Holy Spirit. In the status of postsalvation sinning, God the Holy Spirit still indwells our body, but He does not control our life. The filling of the Holy Spirit is recovered through the function of the Rebound Technique. (I John 1:9)
Restoration of fellowship with God the Holy Spirit through Rebound means we are restored to life inside God’s power system and we recover the filling of the Holy Spirit. The purpose of the filling of the Holy Spirit is perception of Bible doctrine, execution of the Protocol Plan of God, and glorification of God. The Holy Spirit provides the divine power, the divine IQ, the enabling power to understand doctrine. In spirituality, the issue is imitation. The spiritual believer imitates the humanity of Christ in the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. Spirituality is imitating God according to II Peter 1:4 and Ephesians 5:1. It is impossible to become imitators of God apart from the filling of the Spirit.
The carnal believer on the other hand imitates the unbeliever. You often cannot distinguish between the unbeliever and the believer out of fellowship. Carnality is imitating the unbeliever according to I Corinthians 3:3; Galatians 5:19-21; 1 John 1:6. A believer in carnality can do anything an unbeliever can do by way of sin. You can’t tell a believer from an unbeliever when the believer is practicing carnality. Any sin can be committed just as easily by a believer as by an unbeliever. The Christian Way of Life is a supernatural way of life and must be executed by supernatural means under the power, control and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Spirituality is the function of the Royal Priesthood. Believers are no longer subject to the Mosaic Law but are under a new law, the Law of Christ, which we can also call the Law of Spirituality. Therefore, spirituality is not subject to the Mosaic Law or the Levitical Priesthood. (Galatians 5:18-23; Romans 8:2-4, 10:4, 13:8) The Law of Moses condemns as a means of pointing people to Christ, but the filling of the Holy Spirit produces the character of the humanity of Christ in a believer executing the Protocol Plan of God. (Galatians 4:19; 5:22-23; 1 John 2:5-6)
The filling of the Spirit distinguishes the production of divine good from the production of dead human works. The spiritual believer produces divine good which is classified as “gold, silver, and precious stones” and the carnal believer produces dead works which is classified as “wood, hay, and straw” according to I Corinthians 3:12-15. (Hebrews 6:1; 9:12)
The filling of the Holy Spirit also brings up doctrine in the frame of reference, so that new doctrine can be built upon doctrines already learned and stored. This is why the filling of the Holy Spirit is necessary to learn doctrine. The frame of reference is defined as the structure of the soul in which doctrine, principles, categories of Scripture are placed in their proper places to form the spiritual life of a believer for the Church Age. Residence, momentum, and function inside God’s power system under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit may be classified as the Church Age believer in partnership with the Holy Spirit. (Ephesians 4:3-4; Philippians 2:2) The filling of the Holy Spirit enables a believer to understand and recall Bible doctrine. (John 14:26; 16:12-14; I Corinthians 2:9-16) The filling of the Holy Spirit empowers a believer to imitate the humanity of Christ. (Ephesians 5:1; Galatians 4:19; 5:22-23) The filling of the Holy Spirit is the means of glorifying Christ. (John 7:39; 16:14; I Corinthians 6:19-20) The filling of the Holy Spirit magnifies Christ in the inner life of the believer. (Ephesians 3:16-17; II Corinthians 3:3; Philippians 1:20-21) The filling of the Holy Spirit provides guidance and assurance regarding the execution of the Protocol Plan of God. (Romans 8:14-16) The filling of the Holy Spirit is the means of the true function of worship within the body of Christ. (John 4:24; Philippians 3:3) The filling of the Holy Spirit is the means of production of divine good. (I Corinthians 3:12-14)
Without the filling of the Holy Spirit, there can be no contentment, no personal sense of destiny, no occupation with Christ, and no true happiness in life for a believer. Under the Law of Volitional Responsibility, grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit is guaranteed self-induced misery. Happiness is based on capacity for life from Bible doctrine and the filling of the Holy Spirit. True happiness is not based on human prosperity, wealth, or success. If every wish, dream, and desire of your soul were given to you without the filling of the Spirit and Bible doctrine, you would be miserable. God provides capacity for life and happiness at each stage of spiritual advance and growth through the filling of the Spirit and Bible doctrine in your soul. Progress in the execution of the Protocol Plan of God means that the filling of the Holy Spirit balances the capacity for what we have with the enjoyment of what we have so we don’t become arrogant and forget the source of our blessings and happiness.
The Greek word for filling is “pleroo” and has four meanings, which all apply to the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit.
- To fill up a deficiency – Without the power and control of the Holy Spirit, the believer has no ability to learn and apply Bible doctrine. In other words, he is deficient of the doctrinal information necessary to execute the Christian Way of Life. (Colossians 1:25; I John 4:4)
- To be fully possessed – Since God the Holy Spirit indwells every believer in the Church Age, the potential exists for him to be fully controlled by God’s supernatural power. This means that the believer can reside in God’s plan by utilizing God’s system. (I Corinthians 6:19-20)
- To be fully influenced – If the Holy Spirit is allowed to fill the deficiency and fully possess the believer’s life, then every area of that life will be influenced by the power of the Holy Spirit. If the power of the Holy Spirit is rejected, the believer is going to be fully influenced by Satan’s cosmic system. (Galatians 5:16; Ephesians 5:18)
- To be filled with a certain quality – There is no higher quality that the integrity of God. It is this quality that becomes resident in the soul of the believer as the Holy Spirit is allowed to control, possess and influence the soul. It is also this quality that leads a believer to spiritual maturity. (Ephesians 3:19, 4:10; Philippians 1:11; I John 1:4; Revelation 3:2)