We are continuing in our study of the Doctrine of "No fear" per the mandate for the believer not to fear that is found in Matt 10:28,31; Rev 2:10; Isa 41:10; LXX.
The word translated "fear" in these passages is the Greek word "phobeo" in the imperative mood.
In the Matthew passage, Matthew records that TLJC presents fear in two ways, in a positive way as in fear, respect, awe, or reverence toward God and in a negative way as the emotional sin of fear that is a mental attitude sin.
Both are commands to the believer since they are both in the imperative mood of command in the original language. We started to look at the Lord's command not to fear first.
The emotional sin of fear is characterized by panic when one is in a dangerous situation or under sudden pressure. When someone is intimidated they are usually under pressure to compromise their
norms and standards.
In such a state, the application of the principles of Bible Doctrine may become less important to the believer than the desire for security or self-preservation.
We concluded last time with the statement "The solution to the fear is found in application of the faith-rest drill".
This is shown in the following scriptures:
1Cor 2:5 - Your faith (that which you believe) should not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God.
2Cor 5:7 - We walk by faith and not by sight.
Exod 14:13 Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand fast and watch the deliverance of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians which you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.
v 14 -"The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent."
Adversity is an outside pressure of life. Stress is an inside pressure of the soul.
When there are no problem-solving devices including faith rest deployed in the believer's soul then the outside adversity becomes inward stress and stress enables the sinful nature to take control of the believer's soul.
Problem-solving devices form a shield in the soul that prevents the outside pressures of adversity from becoming the inside pressures of stress. Eph 6:16;
Adversity in the Kosmos is inevitable but stress is optional. John 16:33;
The recall of doctrinal rationales through the application of the Faith Rest Drill enable the believer to deal with their own problems in the privacy of their soul. The result is the neutralization of all emotional and arrogant sins including fear, panic, anger, bitterness, and malice.
Free volition grants the believer the freedom to make their choices but it also requires that they take responsibility for their decisions.
Choices made from a position of strength give momentum to one's spiritual growth, increase one's wisdom, and promote one's spiritual self-esteem.
The presence of fear stops one's momentum, distorts wisdom, and destroys spiritual self-esteem.
This is not what God intended. In fact, the opposite is true beginning with the cognitive self-confidence of first stage of the Adult Spiritual Life.
2Tim 1:7 - God has not given us a lifestyle of fear, but of power [spiritual self-esteem], and of virtue-love [PSDs 7&8], and of sound judgment [Cognitive self-confidence].
1John 4:18 Fear does not exist in virtue-love but virtue-love drives out fear because fear has self-punishment. The one who fears has not been matured [the adult spiritual life] by means of virtue-love.
Virtue-love is the absolute standard of thinking from Bible Doctrine consisting of Personal Love of God and the resulting unconditional integrity love for all mankind which destroys fear.
Given that fear is in the category of emotional sins, a brief discussion of emotion is appropriate.
Legitimate emotion can respond to doctrine but it can never legitimately apply Bible Doctrine because only the function of the problem solving devices through rational thought can apply Bible Doctrine.
Emotion becomes illegitimate when under stress it motivates irrational thought from the OSN.
Illegitimate emotion is a psychic and physical reaction that is subjectively experienced as "feelings" and often expressed as an irrational belief or opinion.
Legitimate emotion finds its source of origin in the soul while illegitimate emotion finds it source of origin in the OSN.
Legitimate emotion was not designed by God to be the originator of thought, decision, or action, emotion is only a responder to and appreciator of thought, decision, or action.
God's Word condemns the function of illegitimate emotion as a pseudo problem-solving device. James 1:20;
Illegitimate emotion is the function in the three arrogant skills with primary function in the arrogance of self-absorption.
Consequently, neither legitimate nor illegitimate emotions contribute anything to the inculcation of truth nor can it be depended upon to sustain the spiritual life.
Illegitimate emotion expresses itself in emotional sins like fear, worry, anxiety, and panic and become the motivation for inordinate ambition and competition, gossiping, maligning, judging, violence, and even murder.
Over-emphasis on self and preoccupation with one's own problems is an emotional state that results from function in the kosmic system.
This status of illegitimate emotion is destructive because it does not contain the following virtues:
Rational thought from Bible Doctrine under the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The ability to draw conclusions from a doctrine resident in the soul under the mentorship of the Holy Spirit.
Wisdom from epignosis Bible Doctrine that can be applied to circumstances that establishes spiritual common sense.
A doctrinal vocabulary sufficient to analyze the situation in order to apply the appropriate Bible Doctrine through the problem-solving devices.
Legitimate emotions are submissive to the authority of God, are obedient to the imperative moods of His Word, and support the soul's application of Bible Doctrine to life.
Illegitimate emotions rebel against doctrine and in doing so challenge God's authority and are disobedient to his mandates.
When the volition submits to the temptation of the OSN the spiritual life is overthrown and the soul is back in the relationship with the OSN that it had prior to salvation that results in the soul being under the authority of the OSN.
The function of the soul under the authority of OSN is manifested in illegitimate emotional reactions that includes:
A reaction to the teaching and application of metabolized doctrine
An obsession with one's problem and blindness to the solution.
Human viewpoint attempts to resolve problems by fixing up the devil's world through human good, legalism, crusader arrogance, and even Christian activism.
OSN control of the soul results in unrealistic expectations and the tendency to enter into iconoclastic arrogance followed by power lust and self-righteous arrogance.
And the categories of sins clusters:
Fear: worry, anxiety, panic, and terror.
Revenge: malice, vituperation, gossip, slander, maligning, judging, vilification, violence, even murder.
Hatred: anger, bitterness, jealousy, implacability.
Irrationality: tantrums, paranoia, self-pity, denial, projection, and neurosis.
Guilt: remorse, self-reproach, culpability, self-righteousness, preoccupation with self, and obsession with the correctness of one's behavior.
Underlying and supporting all of this is the function of the three arrogant skills which utilizes its own defense mechanism called projection which blames others or circumstances for the problem.
This enables the cosmic believer to transfer blame for his own sins to others and thereby avoid accountability under the first law of divine establishment, the law of volitional responsibility.
Even when such a person realizes the error of their ways there is confusion regarding the recovery process and it's procedures.:
Recovery before the Supreme Court of Heaven begins with the acknowledgement of sin and resumption of the faith rest of the spiritual life. 1John 1:9;
Recovery is made possible by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross that completely removed the Barrier between God and man.
The barrier of Spiritual Death results in total inability and total helplessness to create and maintain a relationship with God because of the genetically formed sinful nature to which Adam's original sin is imputed at physical birth has been removed.
Rom 5:12; - Just as through one man, Adam, the original sin entered into the world and so spiritual death through the original sin, consequently, spiritual death spread to all men because all sinned when Adam sinned.
God's Solution is the substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ where He received the imputation of our sins and their judgment.
This is the doctrine of Expiation which is the application of the TLJC's finished work on the cross toward sin. 1Pet 2:24a; - He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross …
The barrier of personal sins has been removed. When the believer is tempted by the indwelling sinful nature, and their volition chooses to sin. Rom 3:23;... all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
God's Solution, All sins of the human race were judged under the doctrine of Unlimited Atonement.
Heb 2:9; We see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of spiritual death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God Jesus might taste spiritual death for everyone.
The barrier of the Curse of the Law has placed us in the slave market of sin where we are held under the dictatorship of the OSN has been removed.
Gal 3:10; As many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse, for it is written (in
Deuteronomy 27:26), "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law to perform them."
God's Solution, Jesus Christ paid the ransom which purchased all humanity out of the slave market of sin and delivered them into the freedom of grace.
This is the doctrine of Redemption. Gal 3:13;Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law having become a curse as a substitute for us
The barrier of the Integrity of God where perfect righteousness demands perfect righteousness and perfect justice demands perfect justice has been removed
What righteousness demands justice must execute. Man is totally unrighteous. Therefore, perfect righteousness demands that justice condemn imperfect and unrighteous mankind. John 3:18;NET
Rom 3:10; -As it is written (in Psalm 53:1-3), "There is none righteous, no not even one
v 12"there is none who does good, there is not even one."
v 17 and in (Isa 59:8), "… and the path of peace (Peace with God or propitiation) they have not known.
God's solution is the aspect of the saving work of Christ on the cross whereby the righteousness and justice of God are satisfied because of the imputation of the sins of mankind and their punishment to the body of TLJC.
This is the doctrine of Propitiation. 1John 2:2c: Jesus Christ the righteous) is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
This results in God being free to convey his righteousness to everyone who believes. 2Cor 5:21; thereby solving the problem.