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Lesson 18 – A Firm Foundation

Lesson 18 – A Firm Foundation

July 15, 2026  |  Our Spiritual Assets – Lesson 1

A Firm Foundation

Ephesians 4:11-16 – “And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors, even teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature person, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him Who is the head, that is, Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

Our foundation is Jesus Christ. The Edification Complex of the Soul expresses in biblical terms what it means to have a firm spiritual foundation and a firm spiritual building upon it. The dictionary defines edification as the act of edifying, or the state of being edified; a building up, especially in a moral, emotional, or spiritual sense; moral, intellectual, or spiritual improvement; through encouragement and instruction. The Greek word for edification is “oikodome,” and means a building (Latin, “edifice”). Like any structure, our spiritual building must have a firm foundation and be properly constructed. Our foundation is Jesus Christ, and the floors are categories of Bible doctrine. Once our foundation is in place, we can begin to build upon it with full confidence that it will stand. The foundation is received at salvation, but the floors must be built over a period of time, as Bible doctrine is learned, believed, and applied. (Colossians 2:7; I Timothy 1:4; James 1:4) The basis for our spiritual building is God’s grace. The word grace itself makes it clear that God’s blueprint for our spiritual building does not include human merit, human works, human ability, or human viewpoint thinking, eliminating human effort as the means for building anything spiritual.

Instead, God provided a non-meritorious system for both perception and execution of the Christian Way of Life: faith. We learn how to erect this building in our souls by faith, and it takes faith to put into practice. This method is the only one that can bring honor and glory to God. (Hebrews 11:6)

Glorifying God on earth is one of the reasons we are here and is never accomplished by human works. As we allow the Holy Spirit to guide and teach us, we reflect the glory of God to the world. The filling of the Holy Spirit is the key to glorifying God in time. Anytime a believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, he is glorifying God. The Bible declares that believers are the light of the world. As light, we are to shine into dark places, which means we are to exhibit the character of Christ. (Matthew 5:14-16; Colossians 1:27, 3:16-17)

Building our spiritual complex is a process of transformation (not reformation), which takes place in the mind of a believer as they think the mind of Christ, which we call Divine Viewpoint Thinking. As our spiritual complex is being built, happiness, stability, and blessing are being produced by God the Holy Spirit in our lives. Our spiritual building is built using stored Bible doctrine in the soul. Consistent study and application over a period of time is the method for developing our complex. This building is literally Christ being formed in the soul of a believer. Positionally, Christ is “in” every believer, but He is not “formed” in every believer.

Jesus Christ had this spiritual building formed in His soul. He had all the characteristics of spiritual maturity: 1) He was full of grace and truth   2) He had a relaxed mental attitude   3) He was free from mental attitude sins   4) He had capacity for love and   5) He had divine inner happiness. Christ erected a spiritual building in His soul as a demonstration to all believers that it is possible for us to do the same through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 4:19; John 1:14)

As believers, we have the opportunity to build a spiritual building in our soul. With Christ as our example, we simply follow His pattern. Christ built this building under the filling of the Holy Spirit, as He learned and applied the Word of God. As we abide in Him (fellowship with God), and His Word abides in us (Bible doctrine), we are allowing God the Holy Spirit to produce the character of Christ in our lives. (John 15:10)

Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The fruit of the Spirit is the character of Christ being formed in believers when they allow the Holy Spirit to empower and guide their lives.

Love comes in two categories: 1) Personal love – the mental attitude of love for God on the basis of His virtue and integrity and 2) Impersonal love – the mental attitude that treats others on the basis of a believer’s own virtue and integrity.

Matthew 22:37-39 – “And He (Jesus) said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'”

Joy is a mental attitude of inner happiness as a result of learning, believing, and applying Bible doctrine consistently.

I Peter 1:8-9 – “And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Peace is spiritual prosperity, meaning to have a stable mental attitude, knowing that we have peace with God through faith in Christ and the peace of God through the knowledge of God’s Word and by staying in fellowship with Him.

Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 4:6-7 – “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Patience is a relaxed mental attitude toward the entire human race and the circumstances of life, being patient with the things that would normally make a person impatient or angry.

Ephesians 4:1-3 – “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Kindness and goodness are the same Greek word, meaning a mental attitude of grace toward others by letting them exercise their free will without interference or a judgmental attitude.

Ephesians 4:32 – “Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”
I Thessalonians 5:15 – “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek what is good for one another and for all people.”

Faithfulness means immovable or steadfast. It means to not waver when it comes to sound, accurate doctrine and living in accordance with the teaching of God’s Word.

I Corinthians 15:58 – “Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.”

Gentleness is the mental attitude of grace which expresses itself in kindness toward others. Gentleness can mean several things. It can mean saying the right thing at the right time or saying something that is encouraging and helpful. But there are times when gentleness means to not say anything. Gentleness can be a kind act or a kind deed.

Philippians 4:5 – “Let your gentle spirit be known to all people. The Lord is near.”

Self-control means to be self-disciplined as a result of Divine Viewpoint Thinking.

Romans 12:1-2 – “Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Against such things there is no law means there is no law that prohibits the fruit of the Holy Spirit from being produced in the life of a believer because it is based on grace and part of the Christian life. On the other hand, there is a law that prohibits any form of legalism from being part of the Christian Way of Life (The Law of Christ).

Romans 8:2-4 – “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

In Summary

Ephesians 4:16 – “From whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”

From whom means Jesus Christ is the source of everything that is worthwhile in life. The whole body refers to the body of Christ which is made up of all believers in the Church Age. The Greek word for fitted is “sunarmologeo,” which means to frame together as you would a building. Spiritually, it refers to the building of the body of Christ.

It is God’s desire for us to build a spiritual building in our souls that brings honor and glory to Jesus Christ. This can be accomplished only through individual spiritual growth. This is accomplished by God the Holy Spirit as He is allowed to teach us accurate Bible doctrine and empower us to apply it to our lives. The building material for constructing our spiritual building is the Word of God. The individual “parts” (“the whole body,” Church) of the building are believers with various spiritual gifts operating as one united body.

Jesus Christ is the Chief Cornerstone of our building, and the Holy Spirit is the power supply for building. The operational power is God the Holy Spirit enabling a pastor-teacher as he teaches, and enabling believers as they listen, to understand and apply accurate doctrine, which results in spiritual growth. All the members of the royal family on earth are linked together when they are studying, learning, believing, and applying the accurate doctrinal teaching of the Word of God. It is therefore accurate Bible doctrine that unifies believers as they build their spiritual buildings together.

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