Grace and Truth
Bible Ministries

Pseudo Spirituality vs True Spirituality ---> Doctrine of Walking


In our present study we are examining the precedence for the spiritual life of the church age believer and we are making the case that the precedence was established by TLJC in his unglorified humanity during his life on this earth at the beginning of the hypostatic union.

We saw that Precedence is defined as: (1) an earlier occurrence of something similar; (2) something done or said that may serve as an example or rule to authorize or justify a subsequent act of the same or an analogous kind (4) the convention established by such a precedent or by long practice or (5) a person or thing that serves as a model.

This is because church age believers are a new spiritual species in union with TLJC. Gal 3: 26-29; and because of this any advantages or disadvantages from first birth are not a factor in the believer's relationship with God.

In our last class we left off when we left off in our discussion of the system of pseudo spirituality by emotion.

Some principles regarding this are:

Emotion distracts the believer from the use of the spiritual skills of the PPOG. Without the spiritual skills there is no advance in the Christian life.

Believers without normal human self esteem often seek some spiritual superiority in a false system of emotionalism.

Peer pressure produces a fear that is motivated by the arrogance of inordinate ambition and competition. This fear is an emotional sin related to the lack of self esteem.

Peer pressure arrogance results in irrational self deception, that subsequently results in self fragmentation through the arrogance and the emotional complex of sins.

Emotional revolt of the soul hinders the believer's spiritual growth and inhibits the believer from learning Bible doctrine.

Paul addresses this in 2Cor 6:11-12, "Oh you Corinthians, our mouth has been opened face to face with you, because our heart has been enlarged (with doctrine). You have not been hindered (in spiritual growth) by us, but you have been hindered by your own emotions."

Pseudo spirituality by emotion is therefore a distraction from the execution of the protocol plan of God for the Church. We see this in...

Rom 16:17-18, "Now I urge you, brethren, look out for those who cause dissensions and hindrances which are in opposition to doctrine which you have learned. In fact, turn away from them. For such persons (believers) are slaves not to our Lord Christ but to their own emotions; and by smooth and flattering speech they deceive the right lobes of the naive."

Job 30:27, "My emotions are boiling, and I cannot relax; days of affliction confront me."

Lam 1:20, "See, Oh Lord, I am in distress; my emotions are in ferment; my right lobe is overturned within me, for I have been rebellious."

Pseudo spirituality by emotion makes a god out of emotion.

This is described in Phil 3:18-19, "For many walk, concerning whom I have communicated to you many times, and now continue communicating even though weeping, they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose destiny is destruction, whose god is their emotion, and whose fame is in their dishonor, who keep thinking about earthly things."

When emotion becomes the believer's god, that believer is functioning in moral or immoral degeneracy and as a result does not have positive volition to the word of God.

Phil 2:2; states that the church age believer is in partnership with the Holy Spirit through their volition.

If believers are positive to Bible doctrine, then they are totally dependent upon the Holy Spirit and relate their lives to Christ. The purpose of the filling of the Holy Spirit is for the believer to glorify Christ by advancing in the PPOG and reaching spiritual maturity.

Believers must learn to distinguish between the power, the means, and the results in the spiritual life.

There are two power sources in the spiritual life, The ministry of God the Holy Spirit that enables the spiritual life and Bible doctrine residing and circulating in the soul of the believer.

The enabling power of the Holy Spirit is described in Acts 1:8. Believers lose the power of the filling of the Holy Spirit when they sin and regain it when they acknowledge any known sin.

In order to grow spiritually the believer must spend more time in fellowship with God through the filling ministry of God the Holy Spirit than out of fellowship.

As we have seen, "Yielding" is a result of spirituality, not the means. Believers yield to God the Holy Spirit through spirituality. Divine guidance, the function of the Grace Apparatus for Spiritual Perception (GASP), and production in the Christian life are results of spirituality.

Bible doctrine is also an enabling power in the Christian life. The application of doctrine is the means of production. Production is the result of the function of GASP plus the filling of the Holy Spirit.

The spiritual life of the believer is based on what goes on in the believer's heart. Heart is the translation of the Greek word kardia and refers to the right lobe of the soul that circulates metabolized doctrine in the seven compartments of the stream of consciousness.

The heart is the location for the filling of the Holy Spirit.

There are two concepts of spiritual life related to the heart. The absolute concept of the spiritual life that is related to the filling of the Spirit and the relative concept of the spiritual life that is metabolized Bible doctrine.

Gnosis or intellectual knowledge in the left lobe of the soul is simply academic understanding of doctrine. Doctrine that is only understood academically has no spiritual value.

Doctrine must be transferred to the heart or into the stream of consciousness by means of the Spirit for it to be useful in the spiritual life. This is where it becomes what the Bible refers to as epignosis or Spirit taught doctrine.

Gnosis without epignosis has no spiritual life. If believers do not metabolize doctrine, they are not going to have a spiritual life.

One of the major functions of the spiritual life is the use of the problem solving devices. The problem solving devices are the thoughts and rationales that are extrapolated from metabolized doctrine in the believer's soul under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.

Believers must have their own spiritual life they cannot use another' believer's spiritual life. One of the greatest failures is to make role models out of other believers and try to emulate them. God intends for every believer's own unique personality and to function in their own unique spiritual life. He does not expect the believer to act like another believer.

This means that regardless of the benefits the believer may receive from counseling it is not a part of their spiritual life.

The believer's Spiritual life consists of Bible doctrine in their own soul that they are using. The spiritual life of the believer is related to what God has provided for every believer in grace and through faith and is based on precedence established by the function of the humanity of Christ in his unglorified humanity in hypostatic union.

There is no spiritual life until the believer is filled with the Spirit and begins to metabolize doctrine.

The believer who reaches spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, or spiritual maturity, and glorifies God from their own personal use of the spiritual assets available and revealed in the Word of God.

Believers are often involved in things which may benefit the body and health, but this is not the spiritual life. When the believer is sick, they go to a doctor and benefit from the doctor's prescription but it is not their spiritual life

As long as the believer is alive, there is no substitute for Bible doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness, and there never will be a substitute for the problem solving devices

But the application of the Problem solving devices will be limited until the believer's relationship with God is established through their own inventory of metabolized doctrine.

The Filling of the Holy Spirit and the thinking of metabolized Bible Doctrine is the spiritual life.

So the challenge to every believer is to learn how to persist in God's' power system and to be cognizant of but not condemned by personal sin so they know when they have removed themselves from God's power system and make the proper volitional adjustment through their acknowledgement of any known sin and learn to persist in the filling of the Spirit through their application of Bible Doctrine.

When the believer fails and as a result is either quenching the Spirit 1Thes 5:19 or grieving the Spirit Eph 4:30; the recovery procedure is simply to acknowledge any known sin 1John 1:9 and then to reside in the spiritual life fulfilling the mandate to be filled with the spirit Eph 5:18b; and walk by means of the Spirit. Gal 5:16;

This brings us to the Doctrine of Walking.

Walking in the New Testament can be classified by two different categories.

Literal walking is the locomotion of using one's legs and physical energy.

Spiritual walking is when the Church Age believer is executing the protocol plan of God using spiritual energy.

In the analogy of walking, one moves forward by walking. In spiritual walking, the believer is advancing in the protocol plan of God.

In literal walking, we use physical energy. In spiritual walking, the believer is using the omnipotence of divine energy.

The spiritual energy or spiritual power for the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God originates from the divine omnipotence that God has made available for use by the new spiritual species.

In the function of physical walking, biological energy is utilized in two ways: for locomotion or advance, and for the heating of the body.

Therefore, physical walking is defined as a person putting one foot in front of the body so that weight of the body is shifted to that foot. The act of shifting the weight of the body from the back foot to the forward foot pushes the body forward.

The physical act of walking is used as an analogy for the spiritual life. The Greek verb "peripateo", that is translated "walking", is used frequently in the New Testament.

The Bible refers to the believer walking in the light. This concept is found in Eph 5:8; "You were once in darkness (spiritual death), but now you are light in the Lord. Begin walking as children of light."

This command is a reference to the believer's experiential sanctification.

Just as walking in the darkness is antithetical with walking in light, so Christian degeneracy is antithetical with the function of the protocol plan of God.

Walking in the light is compatible with the believer's position in the light. Walking in darkness is incompatible with the believer's position of being in the light.

Walking is darkness is Christian moral and immoral degeneracy.

Walking as children of light is the equivalent of executing the protocol plan of God.

"Walking in the light" is a term used specifically for the believer's execution of God's will, plan and purpose in the Church Age. Therefore, walking in the light is synonymous for the Christian way of life.

The command to walk in the light is a mandate to be filled with the Spirit and to be learning Bible doctrine under the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit.

The precedence for walking in the light is found in 1John 2:6, "The person who says he abides in Him, he himself ought to keep walking in the same manner as He walked."

As we have seen in our previous study, the precedence for this walk comes from the pattern set by our Lord Jesus Christ in his unglorified humanity during the beginning of the Hypostatic Union, and not from the Old Testament believers.

All precedence for the protocol plan of God is derived from our Lord's walk on this earth during the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. This means that no precedence is derived from the dispensation of Israel.

Just as our Lord walked in the prototype divine power system we are to walk in the operational divine power system.

Walking as children of light means believers are to become spiritually mature believers and invisible heroes.

The power for walking comes from the use of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit inside the divine power system, Gal 5:16, "walk by means of the Spirit." This is a command to remain in fellowship with God the Holy Spirit. Being in fellowship is the only way we can execute God's plan.

Walking describes the purpose of living in the operational divine power system that glorifies God in the Church Age.

We are commanded in 1Thes 2:12, "so that you may walk in a manner worthy of God who elected you into His kingdom and glory."

This is a general reference to the fulfillment of the protocol plan of God.

If believers are going to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord after they believe in Christ, then they must be filled with the Spirit, and consistently expose themselves to the teaching of the Word of God.

When believers do all of this they fulfill 1John 1:7, "If we keep walking in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin."

Walking in the light is residence, function, and momentum in God's power system. Walking in the light means problem solving along the way.

The challenge of walking in the light is found in Rom 6:4, "Therefore, we have been buried with Him through baptism (of Holy Spirit), in order that as Christ has been raised from the dead, so that we too might walk in newness of life."

To Walk in newness of life means believers are walking in the light God's word.

Believers walk in newness of life because they are in union with Christ.

Walking in newness of life means the believer is using the invisible assets that God has provided for them.

This includes the availability of divine power; the indwelling of the Trinity; the assets of predestination and election; the portfolio of invisible assets; the universal priesthood and the royal ambassadorship.

The application of the faith rest drill is also a mandate of walking. The faith-rest drill is what establishes the poise of the Christian life.

It is the control of your own life under God's plan for your life. This is described in 2Cor 5:7; "For we walk by faith and not by sight and Col 2:6, "As you have received Christ Jesus to yourselves, so keep walking by means of Him."

Believer's received Christ by grace and through faith Gal 2:8-9; so after salvation we walk by grace through faith.

Walking is used to describe the function of problem solving devices in Eph 5:1-2, "Become imitators of God as beloved children, and begin walking in the sphere of virtue-love"

Learning and using the problem solving devices moves you along in executing the protocol plan of God, which is walking in the light.

Eph 4:1-2, "I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, continue to encourage you to walk in a manner worthy of your station in life (royal family of God with protocol plan of God) into which you have been called with all humility and true sensitivity with perseverance, tolerate one another by means of virtue-love."

Walking is also used to described the function of the perception of doctrine.

3John 4, "I was very pleased because I discovered that some of your children keep walking by means of doctrine even as we have received a mandate from the Father."

Eph 5:15, "Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise."
All of these mandates to keep walking are commands to keep learning doctrine, to keep advancing spiritually in the Christian way of life.

The Bible also uses the word for walking to describe the conduct of life in satan's kosmic system.

Living in Satan's system is called walking in Phil 3:18-19. "For many (believers) keep walking, concerning whom I have often told you, even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ. Whose end is destruction (the sin unto death), whose God is their emotions, whose fame comes by means of dishonor, who keep on thinking about earthly things."

This same concept is also found in 1John 1:6, "If we contend that we have fellowship with Him and keep walking in darkness, we lie and do not live the truth." and 1Cor 3:3, "For you are still carnal, since there is jealousy and strife. And you keep walking like mere men (unbelievers)."

Walking is used as a warning against the believer living in the cosmic system. Our Lord speaks of this in John 8:12;

Life in the cosmic system is called walking in darkness, John 11:9-10; and Eph 4:17; provides the analogy.

Walking is related to the execution of the protocol plan of God. As described in Eph 2:10, "For we are His creation, having been created in Christ Jesus for good of intrinsic value achievements, which God has prepared in advance that we should be walking by means of them."

 

© Copyright 2007, Michael Lemmon Bible Ministries. World Rights Reserved.  This document was created on 9/2/2009