In our study of spiritual self esteem we are looking at spiritual self esteem in terms of the PSD's and last time we ended with the principle that spiritual self-esteem is doctrinal orientation rather than empirical orientation. Bible doctrine must be more real to us than what we see, touch, hear, taste, and smell.

Spiritual self-esteem has a personal sense of destiny from metabolized doctrine circulating in the stream of consciousness under the filling ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual self-esteem is sharing the happiness of God and is therefore maximum tranquility and contentment in every circumstance of life whether it is good or bad.

Spiritual self-esteem is the function of virtue-love in all three categories: personal love for God the Father, impersonal love for all mankind, and occupation with Christ.

Spiritual self-esteem is the first stage of spiritual adulthood, the status of giving number one priority to Bible doctrine, resulting in dependence on God's grace rather than depending on human power and dynamics. It is the first step in becoming an invisible hero.

Since spiritual self-esteem is grace orientation, it is characterized by humility rather than any form of arrogance. For this reason, spiritual self-esteem always emphasizes the precedence of the spiritual skills over the production skills. Spiritual self-esteem never tries to reverse this procedure.

It is the status of well-developed spiritual skills that include consistency in being filled with the Spirit, consistency in cognition and inculcation of Bible doctrine that results in consistency in the execution of the protocol plan.

The Old Testament definition of spiritual self-esteem is found in Prov 19:8; "He who gets wisdom, keeps loving his own soul; He who guards understanding shall find the absolute good (spiritual prosperity)."

The person who keeps learning doctrine gains spiritual self-esteem, that is, he keeps loving the doctrine circulating in his own soul. Wisdom is the end result of perception and metabolization of doctrine under the mentorship of God the Holy Spirit.

Wisdom is able to apply doctrine to experience. The application goes toward God, toward self, toward others and toward circumstances.

Metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness is guarded when the rate of learning exceeds the rate of forgetting. Scar tissue of the soul replaces metabolized doctrine when the rate of forgetting doctrine exceeds the rate of learning.

This means that the believer must be consistent and persistent in rebound when necessary followed by consistent doctrinal inculcation. Metabolized doctrine circulating in the soul provides the defense that is arrayed against the various categories of suffering related to providential preventative suffering.

Spiritual self-esteem functions inside the integrity envelope with the virtue of impersonal love directed objectively toward self through the mirror of the soul. The result is self-confidence based on metabolized Bible doctrine in the stream of consciousness.

This idea is described by Paul in Phil 1:21;

This is the defense that enables the believer to face and overcome providential preventative suffering. Self-confidence, based on the mirror of doctrine in the soul, is formed from metabolized doctrine in the stream of consciousness.

In this way, the three mechanics of the Christian life become effective. The three mechanics are the foundation of humility, professionalism that comes from learning the mechanics of the function of the problem solving devices of the protocol plan of God for the Church, and integrity which is spiritual strength to execute those mechanics.

Simply being a Christian does not imply that you understand the protocol plan of God or even how to live the Christian way of life because this only comes when one has the capacity to "live by means of doctrine" Heb 10:38;

The New Testament definition of spiritual self-esteem is found in Mark 12:29-31; "Jesus answered, `The most important one is this, "Hear, Oh Israel, the Lord our God is one God;

v30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your understanding, and with all of your strength."

v31 The second is this, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." There is no other commandment greater than these.'"

Loving your neighbor as yourself is spiritual self-esteem and results in functioning in impersonal love for all mankind.

2Cor 13:5; "Test yourselves to see if you are in the doctrine. Examine yourselves. You cannot test or examine yourself to see if your are "in the doctrine" until you have spiritual self-esteem.

Jude 20; "But you, beloved, building yourselves up (spiritual self-esteem) in the most holy doctrine, praying in the Holy Spirit."

1Thes 5:8; "But since we are of the day let us attain spiritual self-esteem after we have put on the breastplate of doctrine and virtue-love and the helmet of confidence of salvation."

The word translated " be sober" in the NASB is the present active subjunctive of the verb "nepho", which means to be self-controlled, to be well balanced, to be in the status of the cognitive self confidence and stability of spiritual self-esteem.

1Pet 5:5-9; "You younger men (congregation), likewise, be subordinate to the authority of your pastor-elder; and clothe yourselves with humility toward each other, because, `God makes war against the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble.'

v6 Therefore, allow yourselves to be humbled under the mighty hand of God, that He may promote you at the proper time,

v7 casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.

v8 Attain spiritual self-esteem (nepho) and be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

v9 But stand your ground resisting him, strong in doctrine, because you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are experiencing the same categories of suffering."

The" younger men" are the congregation in contrast to the pastor that is described as the "elder" in 1Pet 5:1-4;

Believers choose to be under the authority of the pastor by listening to the doctrine that is communicated by the pastor and, after accepting or rejecting that doctrine choosing to live according to doctrine that has been metabolized into their own soul. Eph 4:10-13;