Class Notes: 8/21/2016

2Pet 3:18; Rev 3:5,12,21; The doctrine of the winner part 1

Last time we concluded our study of the doctrine of revolution where we noted that revolution results when enough people reject truth and choose to believe satan's lie so that it becomes the public lie.

We noted that God's Word of truth in all categories protects people from succumbing to the propaganda of the revolutionists and being deceived by the lie and becoming a weapon wielded by the rebellion.

In the Absalom revolution those who held to truth backed David in the defeat of Absalom and his fellow revolutionists.

We saw that when the revolution is an attempt to overthrow established government the issue is the truth and when the revolution is political the issue is freedom.

This entire thread of study started with Jesus' address to the Jews who had believed in regarding the fact that their freedom was determined by their attitude toward God's Word of truth. John 8:31-32;

Those who continue in God's Word are students of Jesus Christ the ultimate winner in human history. Heb 12:2-3; Heb 10:12-14;

This brings us to a study of those who choose to follow Christ by making choices based on God's Word of truth regardless the pressure to do otherwise. The Doctrine of the Winner.

God's Word classifies believers into the two categories of winners and losers.

Winners are believers with positive volition who consistently function under the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit, learn God's Word and use it to pass momentum tests of life, advance to maturity, fulfill the plan of God, and thereby glorify God and Jesus Christ.

Losers are believers with negative volition who live in satan's cosmic system as satan's servants, they are constantly under the control of their old sin nature, they are involved in both the motivational evil of cosmic one arrogance and the functional evil of cosmic two hatred.

While they are alive on the earth they cannot be distinguished from unbelievers. These Christians who fail in time are losers but they cannot and do not lose their eternal salvation. Rom 11:29;

They have no impact for God during the course of human history, they have no authority in the Millennium and they do not receive everything they could have received for their life with God in the eternal state.

Winners are distinguished by positive volition to God, His Word and his plan and losers are distinguished by negative volition to God, His Word and his plan.

Winners are described in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 by the present active participle of the Greek word "nikao" that is used in Rev 2:7,11,17,26; and Rev 3:5,12,21;

In each case where the word "nikao" is used, the participle is translated as a noun, " winner", " he who overcomes", or "overcomer."

During the Church Age all historical blessing and prosperity results from the unknown and unnamed believers who consistently reside in the God's power system and as a result advance to maturity, as part of the pivot of invisible heroes.

God calls these mature believers "winners." They provide blessing by association and historical up trends, but are never recorded in any human history book because they are for the most part invisible to mankind but they are very visible to God. 2Cor 6:4-10; NET

During the Church Age these believers are the unknown, unsung heroes of history. They have used the hidden manna of God's Word of truth and logistical grace to advance to maturity.

During the course of human history in the devil's world the winner is the secret to national blessing and prosperity.

In the Millennium when Jesus Christ rules the earth winners will have a prominent place in government. At the exit resurrection or rapture, they receive a "white pebble", that is, a resurrection body with a new name of knighthood. These believers have the greatest and most permanent fame for all eternity.

The winner is a mature believer who receives the distribution of the escrow blessings for time that is a guarantee that there will be distribution of escrow blessings for eternity.

Eph 1; teaches that before time existed in eternity past, God the Father, the grantor, deposited greater blessings into escrow for every believer. These greater blessings are available to be conveyed to every believer for both time and eternity.

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