June 3, 2026  |  Lesson 6

Divine Privilege and Opportunity

Never before in the history of the world has a believer in Christ had the privilege and the opportunity that is afforded them today. The Church Age in which we live is an unparalleled dispensation with numerous advantages for believers. The divine privileges and opportunities that we have been given are not only unique, but they are above and beyond all that we could ever think or imagine.

Jesus Christ has secured forever the strategic victory (the skillful planning and management in getting the better of the adversary) over Satan. At salvation, this victory places every believer in a place of maximum strength with the potential to win the tactical victory (the procedure for gaining advantage or success over the adversary) over Satan, his world system, and our sin nature. Our union with Christ guarantees us the opportunity to overcome the obstacles that are placed before us, by others or ourselves, so that we can live the Christian Way of Life and glorify God while we are here on earth.

Many privileges are given to us at the moment of salvation and many are given to us after salvation. However, opportunities must be seized by personal volition. As a believer, you are the most privileged person on the face of the earth, but at the same time you may be missing the opportunities for fantastic blessing by not fulfilling God’s plan for your life. Tactical victories come over a period of time as we make thousands of right decisions. Winning the tactical victory is done by believers who are being empowered by God the Holy Spirit as they organize their life around right priorities. Jesus Christ must be the most important person in your life and learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine must be placed above everything in life. A strict adherence to the truth of God’s Word must drive every decision you make in life. (Ephesians 4:14-15)

Privilege in life is always accompanied by responsibility. This is also true with the Royal Family of God. Our first responsibility, of course, is to God as Royal Priests, and our second responsibility is to others as Royal Ambassadors. Christ’s strategic victory secured only potential for the tactical victory. As believers, we all have equal privilege and equal opportunity to live the Christian Way of Life. Some believers will choose to do so, and some will not. Those who fail in their responsibility to God will experience a life of misery and unhappiness. Those who choose to embrace and fulfill their responsibility to God will experience a life of peace and happiness.

There are two types of believers: winners and losers. Winners are believers who win many victories for Christ. Losers are believers who fail to win victories for Christ. Winning an initial victory is done by a single decision to believe in Christ as Savior. Winning victories after salvation is done making the right decisions to obey God’s Word and fulfill His plan for your life. (John 3:36; Ephesians 5:15-18)

Winner believers glorify God both while on earth and in eternity. They live within God’s power system by constantly making right decisions from a position of strength from doctrine in their souls. They make God number one priority in their life. Even when they suffer, it is for divine blessing. Being a winner or loser believer is determined by personal volition. You make the choice to be a winner or a loser. God does not force anyone to trust Christ as Savior or to obey Him after salvation. God is not a “puppet-master” manipulating a believer’s every thought and action. God is not a “magician” with a magic wand to wave in order to fix our problems. However, God has designed the Christian Way of Life in a way in which all believers can become winners. By following God’s predesigned plan as outlined in His Word, any believer can live a successful life for Christ. It begins by making the right decision to learn, believe, and apply Bible doctrine. If you’re waiting for God to make you do something or to make you think a certain way, you’re waiting in vain. God is actually waiting for us to grow up spiritually through the power of God the Holy Spirit and for us to take control of our own spiritual lives.

God has commanded all believers to grow spiritually and to advance beyond “spiritual babyhood.” Merely having eternal life, being kept alive, being furnished with the necessities of life, and being protected is not enough for those believers with positive volition towards God and His Word.

Advancement in the Christian Way of Life can be accomplished only by following the Protocol Plan of God. God’s plan requires a believer to use the two power options He has provided – the filling of the Holy Spirit and Bible doctrine. (Ephesians 4:11-15; Hebrews 5:11-14; II Peter 3:18)

God is not a respecter of persons. His justice shows no partiality. Any believer will succeed if they follow God’s system. The only equality in life is found in God’s system. Any believer can succeed, regardless of social background, current social status, I.Q., education, or gender. For those believers who desire to advance beyond salvation, there is the opportunity to receive an “abundance of grace.” (James 4:6)

For those positive believers who desire to know truth, God has guaranteed that they will receive accurate doctrinal information. (John 7:17) It is this accurate doctrinal truth that can catapult a believer from childhood to adulthood in a relatively short period of time, if a lifestyle of consistent and persistent study and application of God’s Word is followed. This spiritual advance increases a believer’s capacity to receive more of God’s grace blessings (abundance of grace). Abundance of grace comes in six categories for believers:

• Spiritual Blessings – these are the blessings that come from the development of a spiritual life as a Royal Priest. These blessings are the natural outflow of a believer’s virtue and integrity as they direct their confidence and love toward God and their courage and impersonal love toward others. (I John 4:11-21)
• Temporal Blessings – these blessings are designed by God for the advancing believers, as they humble themselves before God. Humility means believers have a personal sense of destiny and an attitude of teachability. Temporal blessings may come in the form of wealth, success in business, promotion, etc. (I Peter 5:6-7)
• Blessing by Association – often when God blesses believers, those in their periphery are also blessed. This could include family, friends, businesses, or business associates, etc. (Psalms 37:21-22)
• Historical Impact – this is also blessing by association, but it is extended to a believer’s nation, state, or community. (Leviticus 26:1-13)
• Undeserved Suffering – though sometimes hard to understand, suffering which is not deserved can accelerate spiritual growth, increase faith, and give a believer greater appreciation for God through proper application of Bible doctrine. This, of course, is a blessing. (Romans 8:17-18)
• Dying Grace – The believer’s final experience of God’s grace on earth, dying grace is given to the mature believer as he passes from blessings in time to even greater blessings in eternity. (Psalms 116:15)

Anyone can listen to Bible doctrine. Some will understand it and still fail to be doers because it requires more than mere academic knowledge of God’s Word. Academic knowledge must be converted to spiritual knowledge by faith (believing the doctrine) before it can be applied, which is what is meant by being a doer. Believers who take in doctrine and understand it academically but do not believe it and apply it are merely hearers.

In the passage above, we have an analogy of a person looking in the mirror and thinking about themselves. All of us have some idea as to how we look in the mirror. But no matter what you look like, when you walk away from the mirror and begin doing something else, you can easily forget how you look. The word looks means to give some very serious thought. The word does not mean just a glance; it means to look at yourself thoughtfully and to memorize your own features. Memorizing your own features by looking in the mirror is like doctrine in your soul. Bible doctrine is a mirror into our soul. If we stop looking into “the mirror of the Word of God,” we forget who we are as an advancing believer. James is saying that if you fail to use the doctrine, after you learned it, you are a hearer only. Remember that the rate of learning Bible doctrine must always exceed the rate of forgetting, if you are going to be a consistent doer of the Word.