Class Notes: 1/20/2008

Col 1:10 Rom 2:1-2 G.A.S.P Stage 4 continued The believer's transformation under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit and Bible Doctrine

We are continuing in our study of prayer as part of the PPOG for the purpose of determining just how and what we should pray for. At the moment we are examining Paul's prayers and we have seen in that the major focus in his prayers has been for the believer's advance in God's plan for their lives.
In our present study we are examining Paul and Timothy's prayer in Col 1:9-12; where Paul is praying for the believer's spiritual growth.
9- Because of this, since the day we heard Epaphras' report we have not stopped praying for you asking specifically that you would be completely filled up with the knowledge of God the Father's intent in the sphere of wisdom and spiritual understanding.

10- to the end that you would conduct yourselves with conduct becoming the Lord to please Him completely (Conduct that imitates the pattern established by the Lord in his presentation and conduct that is empowered by the Lord in the age of his re-presentation) while being prolific by divinely good activities and growing in
the knowledge of God,

Paul's prayer is for them to be filled with the knowledge of his will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding was so that they would be able to walk and persevere in the Christian way of life in their regenerate identity (the "new" man) as a members of the new spiritual species who are the Royal Family of God members of the church and the body of TLJC.

This knowledge of God's will and spiritual wisdom and understanding was to enable them to persevere or "keep on plugging” in their spiritual advance by means of Bible Doctrine and the power of God the Holy Spirit for the purpose of pleasing him in all respects, to bear fruit in every good work and increasing in the Spirit taught knowledge of God.

At the moment we are examining the process whereby the believer grows or increases to the maximum possible in the Spirit taught knowledge of God via the process called Operation Z or "G.A.S.P." an acronym for Grace Apparatus for Spiritual Perception which occurs in (4) stages.

GASP Stage 1: the pastor studies the Word under the ministry of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of arriving a clear understanding of a passage by utilizing hermeneutical procedures including " ICE ".

GASP Stage 2: The Holy Spirit teaches the believer’s human spirit the content of what is communicated by the pastor. He is referred to by our Lord in John 14:26 as the “Helper” (NASB), “Comforter” (KJV), or “Counselor” (NIV).

GASP Stage 3: When “spiritual phenomena” arrives from the human spirit, the Holy Spirit directs it to the left lobe of the soul which is called "nous" in the Greek and is often translated as "mind" where it becomes intellectual knowledge which challenges the believer's volition.

GASP Stage 4: God the Holy Spirit transfers the gnosis into epignosis when the believer has positive volition to the intellectual knowledge he has presented to the believer's nous. This results in the renovation or transformation of the believer's thinking. Divinely taught knowledge (Epignosis) then becomes available to be applied to the believer's experience as "Sophia" wisdom and ""Sunesis" understanding

We are presently studying that the mandate for the believer's mental transformation via G.A.S.P stage 4 found in Rom 12:1-2;

Rom 12:1 -
I urge you therefore fellow believers by the grace blessings from the justice of God that you place your bodies (the CPU for the body is the brain)
under orders as a living, holy sacrifice the believer in (status quo spirituality).
This is well pleasing to our Lord your rational or reasonable spiritual service or worship of God.

Rom 12:2 ;
Stop being molded to this age (the teaching of satan’s cosmos)
but "alla" (conjunction of contrast)
be transformed (present passive imperative of metamorphoô) mandate to undergo spiritual transformation that results in internal and external accord with the plan of God,
by the renovation "anakainôsis" (to take out the old and replace it with the new by inculcation of the doctrinal curriculum taught by God the Holy Spirit)
of your thinking or worldview " nous” Renovation begins when the believer makes different volitional choices at the point of academic understanding
in order that you may prove what the will of God is,
the good "agathos" or divine good (The believer in spiritual maturity),
the acceptable or well-pleasing "eurestos" (the believer's rewards in time),
and the complete or perfect " teleios" (the believer's rewards in eternity).
Believer's present bodies, are called bodies of humiliation when compared to the glorious bodies with which their souls will be enshrined at the resurrection of the church. 1Cor 15:50-53 1Thes 4:13-16; 1Thes 5:9-11;
are, by design, fragile and perishable 2Cor 4:7; 2Cor 10:3-5;
This is so that we completely understand the fact that the manifestation of Christ's own
life through us cannot be a matter of our ability or self sufficiency but must be the product of the immeasurably superior capability of God 2Cor 4:7;
who is at work in us. Eph 1:20-23; Eph 3:20; Phil 2:13; Col 1:29); Phil 1:6;
When we drive through a construction zone often see a sign that says "Men at Work" Over every believer there is a similar, but invisible sign, that says "God at work."
In these mortal bodies of corruptible flesh which contain the OSN from first birth to physical death. Rom 7:16-21; 2Cor 4:16;
transformation is possible to the degree that the character assets or virtues of Christ 1Pet 2:9;b are re-presented through believers in greater and greater measure as they grow in grace and in the knowledge of Him. Col 3:10,12-14; 2Pet 3:18;
Only in bodies of glory, when believers bear the outer and inner image of the Heavenly Man, 1Cor 15:49; the Last Adam, TLJC, will their transformation be complete;
when their transformation is complete they will have been conformed into the image of God's Son as they were predestined to be by God's decree from eternity past. Rom 8:29;
In their body of glory believers will completely manifest the virtues of TLJC, but each will manifest it with differing degrees 1Cor 15:41-42; in the future ages to come. Eph 2:7;
The degree to which believers manifest the uniform of honor from the virtues and the life of TLJC now in their mortal bodies 2Cor 4:10; Phil 1:21)
they will manifest the uniform of Glory after their resurrection and evaluation in their immortal bodies 1Cor 15:49-53: Phil 3:20-21)

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