#18 A Renewed Mind Produces Right Behavior

Ephesians 4:22-24
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
 
So last week we covered the concept that when we are born again in Christ, the old man is put off, and the new man is put on; furthermore, the believer who has a revelation of this truth allows a process to ensue where the mind is renewed. When the believer becomes more and more aware of how God is creating a new creation in Christ and how the plan of God works through the operation of grace working in the heart of man, he learns to rest in the finished work of Christ, allowing an inner change to take place, allowing a new thought pattern to emerge, a renewed mind:
 
Now, Paul begins to exhort the Ephesians this way...Ephesians 4:21
If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
 
If you've really been taught the doctrines of Christ, and you're beginning to operate with a renewed mind, then some new behaviors will begin to emerge, because bondages will be broken in your life, because Jesus defeated the forces of evil at the cross.
 
Ephesians 4:25
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
 
John 8:33-52
They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have not a devil; but I honour my Father, and ye do dishonour me. And I seek not mine own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.
 
Psalms 51:6-7
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts:and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean:wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
 
In the John passage, we're given a glimpse on why God hates lying so much; simply stated, lying finds its genesis in the father of lies; furthermore, it's a tool Satan used to deceive the first family and throw God's creation into disarray. God hates a lie because it keeps everything concealed and shrouded in darkness. God wants His people to tell the truth.
 
The Psalmist found this out the hard way. Through his disobedience with Bathsheba, Uriah the Hittite, a mighty warrior has been murdered in battle. The illegitimate offspring of their unholy union is also dead, and David has fasted and repented in sack cloth and ashes. Now, he has picked himself up from the floor and with time for reflection, he sees himself. He sees his own ways, his failures, his schemes, his lies. He sees how his methods have grieved the heart of God, and with all this, he puts stylus to papyrus and writes: God desires truth on the inward parts and in the hidden part you shall make me to know wisdom.
 
Let me say this child of God, "If you want God to make you to know wisdom in the hidden part, in the deep recesses of your Christian spirit, you better quit living a lie with Him. You don't have to come clean with the preacher, and I'm sorry if this makes you feel uncomfortable, but God wants truth. You don't have to come clean with me, but you better come clean with Him.
 
...for we are members one of another.
 
In reality, the whole underlying context of this passage we are studying is discussing how people should live amongst their brothers and sisters, remembering that we are all members of one body. But before we move forward notice how the Apostle points out the fact that we definitely shouldn't be lying or operating in deception with one another. We're all members of one another. All this time the Holy Spirit has been painting a picture of the eternal family of God i.e. the body of Christ, and the thought is why would we want to lie to and deceive our own body? We're in this together. We're all on the same team, and we're all supposed to be about the Father's business operating for the same purpose, so why would we operate like the enemy of our soul and lie about and to one another?
 
Ephesians 4:26
Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
 
The emotion of anger is attributed to God in the Old Testament and to Jesus in the New Testament. With this in mind, it's important for us to understand that there is such a thing as righteous anger. Righteous anger will have at its source a stand against something that's in opposition to God. The Greek scholar Vincent makes the point that righteous anger isn’t only condoned in the New Testament but it’s expected.
 
As an example, let's use one of the passages we discussed last week. We used Hebrews three to describe God's people not operating with a renewed mind towards God because of an inability to perceive His ways, and being influenced by the world (Egypt) so that their "worldview" was changed.
 
But now let's use the same text to describe a time when God gets mad:
 
Hebrews 3:7-11
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
 
So here we see that God is swearing according to His wrath that He's not pleased with the behavior of His people. To be truthful, the biggest part of the problem is that they didn't know His ways, which resulted in improper behavior. Furthermore, because they refused to learn His ways and stop the error of theirs, He said that He wasn't going to let them enter His rest.
 
Maybe there is a sobering message here for the people of God that transcends time: learn the ways of God and hearken unto them. Then, just maybe then, you will find rest for weary soul.
 
Our main point though is that it's possible for Christians to become angry especially when one person's behavior seems to be contrary to the will of God in a situation. But we must remember two things:
 
(1) there are certain behaviors we can exhibit when we're angry that aren't godly that would be sin by themselves.
 
(2) our text says that we aren't to let the sun go down upon our wrath. Now, Sister Toot used to use this specifically in marriage situations, and she would tell people to make up and kiss before they went to bed, and while there is some truth to that, the reality is that we better not let anger simmer and embitter our hearts towards anyone.
 
If you get to know me, you will learn that if I feel like there are some things going on between us that aren’t right, I will have to talk to you because I can’t live that way.
 
Matthew 5:23-24
Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

The scripture says that if someone has a problem with you, that you're to go to them. I’ve learned through the process of time that it's easier for me to get things out in the open. I've learned something through the last several years: Satan wants to play tricks on my mind. Maybe he doesn't mess with you that way, but he does me, so I disarm the situation. I go to the person. One day, I may come to you and say, "Hey, is everything alright between us?"
 
And your response may be, "Yes, why."
 
And then maybe I might for a second feel silly because I made myself look foolish, thinking something was wrong when it wasn't, but I've actually learned something else about that: humility and humiliation come from the same thought, and Matt needs humility, and I've learned something about that:
 
1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
 
Jesus likes humility, and I really like Jesus : )
 
The main point is bring your situation before the Lord. Don't hold onto something in your heart that you can't change, letting it simmer and fester into a mess. If you do, you are hurting your own walk with God.
 
Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
 
In the KJV, there is a colon after the previous verse meaning the translators felt like there was a direct connection between verses 26 and 27, so the idea would be that if you do let the sun go down on your wrath, or you're not letting God deal with your frustrations about these things, then you could give place to the devil.
 
In addition to that we should understand that there are multiple ways that we could give place to the devil, so what does this thought of giving place to the devil even mean?
 
The word for "place" in the Greek is literally topos, and the overall thought describes a foothold or giving permission for someone to enter and live in a place, so in this sense, when a believer allows anger to simmer, he's opening a door and allowing Satan to move in with his seeds of bitterness in hand.
 
But it should be understood that it's not only anger that allows this process to ensue. The gospel teaches that "In Christ" we have protection from the powers of darkness. We are clothed in the armor of God, which we will get to soon enough, and when we get there, we will learn that Jesus is our armor. You can't get better protection than that.
 
However, when we open a door, Satan sticks his foot in quickly, and now he's wiggling his way into the heart. He wants permission through the free will that God gave you to come in, and so he works his subtlety. As he works quietly and softly he wiggles a little more: whispering, “this isn't that bad." 
 
Whispering, “This won't hurt you. Some people are just overboard with Christianity. They operate in legalism. You, on the other hand have been given freedom. You can do this. They may not be able to, but you can."
 
And as we do the conscience is seared and he wiggles a little more and we let him in a little more and the whole while he's not really forcing himself. Instead, he's just waiting for us to give him permission. And before you know it, you've rented him a topos, you've rented him a room, and you've given place to the devil.
 
Ephesians 4:28
Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
 
We would all agree that stealing is against the character of God, so don't steal, which is an act of taking away from someone else. But notice how this first part of the verse, which describes taking from others, is contrasted to the next part, which describes labor for the purpose of having something to give others.
 
The "old man" takes; whereas, the "new man" gives. And don't just pass over the wording labour here:
 
Labour- kopiao= To toil, labor, be weary and fatigued.
 
Remember what God said to Adam after the fall:
 
Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
 
The curse has brought manual labor. It's caused hard and fatiguing work, even the sweat of the brow to take place. But hallelujah we can glorify God with the way we work.
 
Maybe as they watch us work, they would ask in their hearts, "Why is this guy different? Why is this girl different? The work load is more; I'm becoming frustrated, but they seem to be happier. I'm slacking, but they're working harder."
 
Ephesians 4:29-30
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
 
The word corrupt literally means rotten. There are some words we can speak that just aren't redeeming. In other words, their purpose isn't of God, they are slanderous and injurious to the body of Christ, and God wants His people built up. I looked up the English word grieve in my Bible app and this is the only time the word is used in the New Testament. While there are certainly other ways the Holy Spirit can be grieved, we know for sure that speaking rotten words to people or about them will.
 
Instead, our words are to produce edification, a building up where grace is ministered to the hearers. It is beholden upon us as followers of our Lord to learn the truth of the gospel and minister the word in such a way that they are learning grace and God is changing their lives.
 
Ephesians 4:31
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
 
Bitterness- poison: hatred
 
Wrath- passionate anger that's not rooted in righteous purposes. In other words it's human anger and probably demonic in origin. The difference between wrath, which is thumos in Greek and anger is that this word describes a sudden outburst of passion.
 
Anger- orge anger is a mind set that remains in a state of anger and is contrasted to the outburst passion of thumos.
 
Clamor- the word describes the croaking of a raven and is connected to the outburst of anger. In other words, yelling in association with anger.
 
Evil speaking- the word in the Greek is blasphemia, and it describes slanderous words. Why would we want to purposefully say things about people if we knew that they would hurt them.
 
Malice- badness, depravity, naughtiness. In this passage of thought, malice seems to be the root behind all the previous behaviors, so we see a person who lives in a state where his mindset is anger, he has passionate outbursts of anger, his words are loud and full of bitterness and slander; ultimately causing injury instead of edification.
 
The concept of malice is also used in these verses and describes things left over from the "old man" and shouldn't remain present in the new man:
 
James 1:18-24
Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.
 
Ephesians 4:32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
 

#17 The Renewed Mind

Ephesians 4:20-21
But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
 
Paul's referring to the previous passages of scripture where he described the other Gentiles, those that are unredeemed, the ones he spoke of previously that were in ancient days without the Christ, the covenants, and the promises of God; and specifically, he discusses their "walk," which literally describes a person's manner of life or how they conduct their business. Ultimately, the exhortation is don’t walk in darkness like those without the promises you have:
 

Ephesians 1:18
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know...
 
Paul is addressing the church in Ephesus and saying, "You aren't like the other Gentiles who walk in a darkened state towards the truths of Messiah:
 
But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him...
 
The word learned is specifically instruction. Paul's point is that the church of Ephesus was instructed in the truths of the Christ...if so be that ye have heard Him... One Greek scholar makes the point that this verse could have been translated, "If as is the case you were taught Him."
 
The prepositional phrase that we speak of often is utilized twice in these verses:
 
(1). ...have been taught by him... Is literally en autoi or "In Him.”
 
That's why I repeatedly draw the stick men on the board. I'm trying to ever keep in the forefront of your Christian mind that as a new creation in Christ, you've been translated into a new sphere, a new environment, a new kingdom, from darkness to light, you live in a new place, a new "house," a new "neighborhood," a place called "In Him."
 
In this new sphere in which you abide, there is abounding grace and instruction from the Holy Spirit for you to be taught the things of God. In this place, you learn Jesus. We aren't just talking about the historical figure named Jesus. Jesus' message is who He is.
 
What are you talking about? The other day Robert and I were in El Toro eating after we had been working, and we ran into someone Robert used to go to church with. At one point, he challenged me and said, "I asked my Pastor if he could tell me what the gospel was, and he couldn't," so can you tell me-- what is the gospel?
 
I responded, "Jesus is the gospel!"
 
"No, that’s what my pastor told me too, but the gospel includes things like repentance also," was his retort.
 
I would never want to be demeaning but your brain isn't firing on all cylinders sir. You think you've dug deep, but you're still just scratching the surface, because Jesus is the gospel:
 
He doesn't just preach on Jubilee or the kingdom of God. He is the jubilee and the kingdom
 
He is the Sabbath
 

He is the resurrection and the life.
 
He is repentance, because when one embraces Jesus, that person is turning from the world and turning to Jesus.

He doesn’t just preach deliverance. He is the deliverer.

He is the truth, the way, the life….
 
(2). ...the truth is in Jesus:
 
en Ieosus or "In Jesus."
 
Once again, we are faced with this prepositional phrase, describing a new place in which the believer resides, and in this place, the truth of God is found!
 
Ephesians 4:22
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
 
The thought of putting off has the essence of a person removing a garment, a garment that is old, worn out, and outdated. The word conversation used here is an outdated old English used in the same fashion as walk, and once again, describes, the manner of lifestyle or one's behavior.
 
When the whole thought is considered together, the idea is that our lifestyle and behavior should no longer reflect the "old man's" lifestyle and behavior; instead, our life should reflect the new man that lives in Christ.

So who is the "old man?"
 
In a generic fashion, the "old man" is who we were born in Adam, when we were physically born under sin’s dominion. The pictograph of the stick man we commonly refer to teaches that in God's mind, the "old man" died in Christ at the cross, was buried with Him in the tomb, and resurrected with Him as a new creation in Christ (Romans 6:3-6; Galatians 2:20; 2 Corinthians 5:17).
 
Specifically, regarding our "old man" today, how can we know when he attempts to come alive
Maybe the safest thing to do is for the preacher to use himself as an example. That way no one gets offended because he’s talking about himself-- not you.
 
So Matt's "old man" had multiple bondages and character flaws:
 
I was consumed with the party and whatever that entailed. I said it last week, but I will say it again, "Whatever made my flesh feel good I wanted a lot of it."
 
But anything that wasn't fun I ran from. Things like responsibility or work.
 
For instance, all I was concerned about was smoking pot and drinking, which killed my desire for work. Even after I was a Christian, my mindset was bent to the way it was before. I was the first to volunteer to go home early even though I now had a wife and kids. I thank God that over time, He has changed that about me drastically.
 
Another aspect about me was that I always had to have my way in relationships. It didn't matter at all what the other person wanted. I was going to get what I wanted no matter what or I wasn't going to play anymore. Over time, God began to convict me. I have a long way to go, but I constantly think about the other person's position and opinion. It doesn't mean that I always agree but I'm mindful of others.
 
When it came to spending money, if I wanted it, I went and got it. It didn't matter whether I had the money to pay for it. Purchase today pay tomorrow. I should be clear when I say this. People can do what they want with their own money they work for, but if we live outside of our means, then we have a root that needs to be dealt with. For me the root was that if I want it, I'm going to get it whether you like it or not. This went on until I got to the point where I didn't like it anymore, because it doesn't matter how much money you make, you can still live above your means.
 
I used to feel like I had to win every argument. God's still working on me, but when I realize that I'm acting like the "old man," I can shut up, and I can say I'm sorry when I'm wrong.
 
There are many other things that people continue in attempting to fix their problems. They continue to allow their "old man's" logic to fix their problems:
 
Men and women both still seek companionship in an attempt to fill a void in their lives that only Jesus can fill. They attempt through material possessions to fill voids, through drugs or alcohol, through a better job, through....
 
Men try to prove their manhood by dominating relationships and attempting to rule their spouse in fear, and some women allow themselves to be used as a vessel, like Eve did, for the serpent to once again usurp the position of the man’s spiritual leadership in the home, which throws everything in the house into chaos and disarray, and just as the fall left God’s children in a place of heartache and pain, the children of the family are left in disarray. And then she wonders why he won’t step up and lead? Oh please you wouldn’t let that man lead if he wanted to.

People attempt to fix their financial burdens by more financial burdens but they never let God deal with the over spending issues in their lives.
 
These are some specific issues that affect people's daily lives, but the commonality is that they represent "old man" behavior that was supposed to have died in Christ at the cross. However, if we don't understand how the Holy Spirit works in our lives through the finished work of Christ, then we continue to struggle.
 
So how does it work? God operates in sovereignty within our free will. If there is an area, He wants gone, but we want to cling to, He allows the wilderness wandering to ensue. He allows certain things to take place in our lives to bring us to the end of self in that area He wants to deal with. I can assure you that God has more patience than we do, and if we refuse to submit in a certain area, then He just waits and lets us have our way until finally one day we say, "No mas. No more God. I quit. I give up and defer to your will."
 
Lastly, about this verse is the phrase...according to the deceitful lusts...literally means a delusional craving for something that is forbidden. When my flesh desires something contrary to the will of God, and I'm moved in that direction instead of towards the Father's will, I'm being deceived by sin and operating according to the mindset of the "old man."
 
Ephesians 4:23-24
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
 
The terminology here: "renewed in the spirit of your mind" is reminiscent of the terminology used in chapter one "...that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened."
 
Does the mind have a spirit? Does the understanding have eyes? The thought is that when the spiritual aspect of man is born again, that man's spirit is quickened or given life towards the things of God (Ezekiel 36:25-27) and a renewal of the mind ensues. In other words, the Spirit of God through the word of God begins to transform and renew the thought processes, better yet, the viewpoint in which this vapor called life is seen is transformed i.e. renewed by the Holy Spirit.
 
This process requires various factors to be in place. For example, the Holy Spirit must be living in the heart of the person, so they must be born again. Secondly, the word of God must be preached, taught or understood in such a way that the believer is made aware of how the renewed mind takes place.
 
The reason I emphasize this so much is because for so long I was taught that all I had to do was read the Bible and my mind was being renewed. While it is true that reading the word introduces me to the truths of God, if I don't spiritually understand the underlying meaning of the text, my mind will be tricked, with the help of unknowing preachers into believing that it's the simple act of reading pages in the Bible that's renewing my mind when the reality is that-- it's a spiritual understanding of God's word that changes the context of my worldview.
 
Titus 3:5-6
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
 
This scripture does a good job of explaining somewhat the process I'm speaking of. It's not through the works that we do that the renewed mind is received. Man cannot, through his feeble attempts at reading more Bible, praying more, or fasting more save himself. Man cannot do a regeneration miracle in his own heart through his own works of righteousness; rather, a regeneration miracle takes place in the heart of  a man when he is born again  as taught in Romans 6:3-5, Ezekiel 36:25-27 and Jeremiah 31:31. Human words can't properly describe what happens in the spiritual realm, but let it be known that when a person is born again and sealed with the Holy Spirit, they will never be the same.
 
The word regeneration describes the initial conversion. One Greek scholar likened it to a building permit, which allows the continued work to ensue. The renewed mind is a renovation project. When a person is born again, the Holy Spirit comes to live in them and they now have a receiver.
 
Ezekiel 36:26-27
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
 
That which was previously born of Adam and dead to God has been born again and made alive to God. This event allows the renewing to ensue.
 
The word "renewing" in Titus and "renewed" in our Ephesians text come from the same root and mean exactly that: a process of renewal. So the renewed mind is transformed because the Holy Spirit, through salvation has awakened our spirit from the death of sin, and the process continues as the believer learns and submits to the Holy Spirit's renewal of the mind through the word.
 
One of the big problems we have is that much of our mindsets have been developed from the world; furthermore, we now live in the midst of a timeframe where the church has embraced much of the methodologies of the world, which further obscures the line between godliness and holiness; therefore, it becomes more difficult a process for the mind to be renewed. This same thing happened to Israel.
 
Hebrews 3:7-4:11
 
The revelation God gave me about this passage that connects to the renewed mind concept is the fact that God said, "They always erred because they didn't know His ways." paraphrase
 
As I began to ponder this concept, I asked the Lord, "But why Lord? Why didn't they know your ways? They were Israel, the nation you had created through the promises given to the one man named Abraham. You had delivered them from Egyptian bondage. They previously had known of your covenant through the sign of circumcision you had given Abraham-- why God?"
 
I firmly believe God's answer for me was the same problem that God's people deal with today. His answer was that they had been Egyptian slaves for 400 years, and even though they had been given the circumcision and the promises, as they lived in Egypt, a type of the world, they forgot the ways of God and became indoctrinated with the ways of the world.

Paul has a similar warning for the church.
 
Romans 12:1-2
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed [to be molded from an outer source] to this world: but be ye transformed [metamorphosis the inside {Jesus from the new birth} comes out] by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
 
Essentially, these two scriptures explain the same concept as the one we just covered in Hebrews. Just as Egypt (world) had influenced the mindset of Israel's thinking, the world today wants to influence the thinking of God's people—the church. God doesn't want His people to err repeatedly because they don't understand His ways.
 
In this Romans passage, the exhortation reaches backwards to all the previous teaching that had come forth:
 
Ch 1-3: all men, both Jew and Gentile are guilty according to God's standard of righteousness which was the Law.
 
Ch 3:21-4 & 5: the righteousness of God apart from the Law has been revealed and His name is Jesus. Man is justified and the curse reversed through faith in the sacrifice of the righteous one.
 
Ch 6: upon faith in Jesus and His sacrifice, the old man dies and a new man is resurrected anew.
 
Ch 7: when the believer attempts to live daily for God through faith in works and Law, grace is frustrated and failure rather than victory is the result.
 
Ch 8: there are spiritual laws that are in effect. The only way to victory over sin is through the fact that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set me free from the law of sin and death.
 
Ch 9-11: Israel is an example to the church. They attempted to establish their own righteousness and forsook the righteousness of God which was Jesus.
 
12: the believer is exhorted to live a life of sacrifice, where he becomes a walking worship service for God. Remember, the reader of this letter would have already read Romans chapter 6, where he would have been taught that the “old man’ was dead, and a “new man’ was resurrected; Therefore, when they read the words… be a living sacrifice…this was the exhortation.
 
The person who understands that the old is dead and the new is resurrected gains revelation that he is crucified to the world, he will not be conformed to their ways, and instead his mind is transformed as the new man begins to gain revelation about the wonderful plan of God, which created new creations in Christ. Ultimately, this is the renewed mind—a revelation that the believer is a new creation in Christ.

#16 They're Playing Dice with the Doctrines of God

They’re Playing Dice with the Doctrines of God

Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
 
Perfecting has the idea of equipping, preparing, to make ready.
 
Ministry = service
 
The gifts are for the purpose of building up the saints in preparation to do service work for the kingdom.
 
There are certain things that must be done in the church. Things like cleaning....
 
But the focal point being spoken of here is related to the business of souls. The business of kingdom extension whether it be you out there reaching the lost for Jesus pouring the Lord into them or inviting them to church, and once they're there, we disciple them. So it's my job to build you up in the knowledge of God.
 
The gifts are given by Jesus to the saints to bring them to a place of completion, which equips them for Christian service, a willingness to be used by God as a vessel to reflect His glory.
 
As the five-fold ministry operates properly, edification or a further building of the body results. Essentially, there is a building or an adding to. The Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest states, "The church is being built up, by the additions to its membership in lost souls being saved..."
 
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in [into] the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
 
All this "equipping" is ultimately for the purpose that we would come
into unity regarding knowledge of "the faith"
 
eis = into
 
We are coming into unity in the faith. Last week we mentioned the fact that "the faith" is synonymous with the covenant. Through faith (verb: action i.e. belief), we come [into (eis)] the faith (noun: person, place, or thing). In this place (the faith), we come into communion or fellowship with Him. We have gained access into grace, which empowers us to grow in Christ.
 
He is the source of our power. The Holy Spirit is the dispenser of this power called grace in our lives, and all this is made possible because of Jesus' sacrificial atonement on the cross. It's at this place where our faith and His obedience collide (the cross) and our "old man" born guilty in Adam is made righteous in the eyes of God.
 
The starting point of unity being spoken of here refers to the individual saints, which corporately make up the building of God or the body of Christ.
 
As the believer gains true epignosis (experiential or full knowledge) of the Son of God and learns the reality of the faith, there is a renewal taking place, a renewal resulting in spiritual maturity.
 
The renewal of the believer takes place from the position of "In Christ," where faith gives access to grace (Romans 5:1-4), and grace changes the inner man. The renewal (Titus 3:5) or change that takes place "In Christ" is not only accessed through Him, but that maturity is measured against Him, which means that He is the standard, and as we are changed, mature believers begin to take on His characteristics. 
 
Ephesians 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

 It would serve this verse justice to separate it into two sections and deal with it one section at a time.

Ephesians 4:14a That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine...

Nepios-- used for children metaphorically to describe one who is untaught or unskilled (Strong's)
 
In the previous verse, it was pointed out that in God's plan, we grow through our knowledge of Christ and unity of the faith, and in this place, the believer is matured into a "perfect man" teleios, which is a man of full maturity.
 
That thought from the previous verse is being contrasted to "nepios" an infant or child without verbal skills (Wuest.)
 
So in this verse, the mature Christian who is growing in stature, and whose growth is measured in Jesus, is being contrasted to the child who is being tossed upon a tumultuous sea by every wind of doctrine.
 
We have previously made this point time and again throughout the life of the Bible Study but every time we cross a path and our spiritual sensors go off, we must stop and dig for the treasure. The doctrine that prevents the tossing is opposite of that which is false. The doctrine that holds one steady in spite of the storm is the doctrine of the anchor that holds. I'm here to shout it loud tonight that there is an anchor that holds in spite of the storm. Though the waves may rage, though the winds may howl, there is an anchor for your soul, and if you would just hold onto that anchor you wouldn't lose your course.
 
Well tell me because I have to know, "Who's the anchor...what's the anchor?" The anchor is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
 
Hebrews 6:19-20 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
 
The question may be asked, "Ok, I can see that the anchor is Jesus, but the cross isn't mentioned here. Where's the cross?" We need to start seeing with spiritual eyes because this verse is SCREAMING the cross:
 
Matthew 27:50-51 -- Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;...
 
This second part of verse 14, which describes a tossing to and fro on the sea is being contrasted to the believer who is in Christ and being completed and equipped towards unity, knowledge, and maturity in Christ.
 
The cause of this disastrous tossing is related to the fact that the one being tossed has been thrown off course through false doctrine.

Ephesians 4:14b ...by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;...

There are two Greek words that help determine the meaning of this verse:

Sleight= kubeia. Kubeia is where we get our word cube, and the idea is a die as in dice for gambling, but the thought according to Wuest and Strong's is deception rather than gambling. Oftentimes the word sleight in English is used to describe "sleight of hand games" as in the bended card or pea under the nutshell game on the streets. The idea is that they are making you believe one thing when in reality it's something else altogether. 

Lie in wait = methodeia

From this Greek word, we get our English word 'method.' The idea is that there is a purposeful game of deception going on with God's word to cause confusion of the saints and send them off course. 

In my personal belief, what we see coming off the West Coast, which is the genesis of the so-called "paradigm shift" is exactly this. It's a sleight of hand, a methodical scheme appearing to be a plan to reach the lost with new methods, methods which have scriptural support when viewed on the surface, but once the whole is viewed in the right context the truth is revealed. In other words, they feed the sick, clothe the naked, and preach a social gospel telling people this is the way, but the true gospel concerns itself with the CHANGING OF THE HUMAN HEART. The real message of the cross causes the “old man” born of Adam to die and a “new man” born again in Jesus to experience resurrection life. Instead, much of what we see in the modern church is a church full of people running around helping people’s physical needs, busy works that make the person feel better about themselves, but the church is filled with people whose hearts aren’t being changed.

Matthew 25:34-40

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? -- When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? -- Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

We should be clear and explain that in no way do we believe in this ministry that the physical needs of people don't need to be met; rather, it's our contention that it's the heart of man that needs attention. If the heart is truly converted, then God will lead, guide and direct the believer down the right path. 

Matthew 7:22-23

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

In this passage, it becomes clear that there will be through the years of the church age those who performed both spiritual and practical works; however, they weren't of God. In reality, they were workers of iniquity. The word for iniquity is literally anomia, meaning lawlessness or without law, in this case, the idea is without true regard for the things of God. 

Interestingly, the book of second Thessalonians uses the same Greek root anomos to describe the antichrist:

2 Thessalonians 2:7-8

For the mystery of iniquity [anomia] doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked [anomos] be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Ephesians 4:15
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
 
This verse is being contrasted with the previous one; whereas false doctrine and false teachers produce a life of tumultuous tossing, like a vessel driven off course by violent waves, but the believer who lives in the truth is a member of the body who is receiving his nourishment from the head, which is Christ and is navigating the course charted by God.
 
Remember that the reference to truth here is referring back to verse 13, where we were told that the purpose of the five- fold ministry was to bring us into a place of growth and maturity, a process taking place as we understand more clearly what unity in the faith and knowledge of the Son of God means. 
 
Ephesians 4:16
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
 
"From whom" speaks of the head, which is Christ. He is our source of power resulting in a connection between the body parts. There is knitting together or a union taking place "In Christ" where we are becoming one as a body. We are becoming like-minded and being built up to function as one unit in harmony with Him, who is the head.
 
As this unity progressively moves closer towards God's will for the functioning of His body, His work, done His way is accomplished. 
 
Ephesians 4:17
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,...
 
I have always liked the word 'henceforth' since understanding the King James Version of the Bible. Essentially it means that from this day forward... Regarding the passage we are studying, henceforth, is referring to the fact that we have been properly indoctrinated to the truth that true unity for the body of Christ is found in the fact that we are unified in "the faith" and the knowledge of Jesus.
 
Once again, these concepts speak of the whole plan of God through the ages. God's progressive movement through the annals of human history as He methodically and purposefully unfolds His plan before the eyes of His people, so they can see His plan, which is summed up in “the faith,” and that faith is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
 
Once, we begin to see these truths that are found in Christ, we are henceforth to walk in them and no longer walk as the other Gentiles do. If you will remember, in chapter 2:11-22, we were introduced to the fact that Paul referred to Gentiles (which the church of Ephesus was) as those who were without the Christ, the covenants, and the promises. Essentially, they were aliens of the commonwealth. In other words, they weren't citizens of God's community because they were separated, not being Israelites, to whom the promises were given. However, now, we've been told that God has made one new man out of the two (Jew and Gentile) that previously existed. As we've discussed in detail in the past, there is one plan for both Jew and Gentile. The plan I speak of is Jesus, and now there is one people of God, which can be referred to by many names such as: church, body, members, lively stones, temple made without hands....
 
But the main thought of this verse is that now, because we've been born again into the commonwealth of God and have had the truth of God's word revealed to us, we are no longer supposed to walk the way the other Gentiles walk.
 
Ephesians 4:18
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:...
 
But when the church takes on the methodologies of the world and intertwines the world's doctrines with their own, the body becomes sick and cannot function the way it's supposed to.
 
The mind at this point continues operating as the unredeemed mind. It's darkened and empty. The word "blindness" here describes not only a darkening but also a hardening as in a callous being formed. As God's word is rejected, the heart of man spirals further away from the truth of God and deeper into a place of moral depravity. This truth can be further clarified through the Romans 1:16-22 and Isaiah 6 passages.
 
In the Romans passage, the thought is that unrighteous men suppress the truth of God's word, resulting in a spiraling down where the heart of man becomes more vain (empty/ futile/ meaningless) and darkened (blinded and hardened) towards the things of God. Also, in the Isaiah passage, a similar truth is found. The prophet tells us that in the year King Uzziah (meaning strength) died, he (Isaiah) saw the Lord. As Paul told us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10 that God's strength working in his life was more powerful and clear when he (Paul) was in a state of weakness. Wherever you are in your walk, you must be reminded that when the strength of the believer fails, God's power is just showing up!
 
Nevertheless, when Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord, and when Isaiah saw the Lord, his heart was grieved because he saw himself. And he weeps in repentance because when a man truly enters the presence of God, he sees how far away he is..

Once God is through dealing with the heart of His people, He desires to send them out as witnesses to His glory, mouthpieces to proclaim His truth. In the Isaiah passage, God explains that when the proclamation of the truth goes forth, people’s hearts will become fattened, meaning those that reject or suppress the truth when the gospel is brought forth, will at the same time be applying a layer of fat or allowing a callous to be formed over their heart, causing a blindness or spiritual darkening to take place.
 
Compare Ephesians 4:18 to 1:18 where Paul speaks of believers having the eyes of their understanding enlightened, so they could see those three things: the hope of his calling, the riches of His inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe.
 
Ephesians 1:18
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 4:19
Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
 
"...past feeling" describes a process where the heart has become calloused and hard as the truth has been rejected.
 
Lasciviousness- has a direct meaning of unbridled lustfulness. Consider for a second the fact that God’s people are supposed to have some restraint; yet, we see churches filled with all sorts of sexual promiscuity. A bridle is connected to the bit in a horse’s mouth. A horse with a bit in his mouth connected to a bridle held in his master's hand allows himself to be steered in the right direction.
 
Where there is false doctrine, there is no bridle because there is no proper understanding of justification by faith, which allows the believer access into the presence of God (Romans 5)
 
People who have been saved but are disciples under false doctrine, haven't been in the process of a renewed mind (Ephesians 4; Romans 12).
 

#15 Jesus Gives Gifts to His Body, Part 2

Jesus Gives Gifts to His Body: Part 2

Evangelist
 
Paul was an evangelist can you see him and Silas in the prison. Right after Lydia the seller of purple, the first European convert gets saved, they're in the streets preaching the gospel. And Paul casts the devil out of that young girl who was filled with the spirit of Python, a spirit of divination or fortune telling. And because of that they get thrown into jail because with the demon gone, she could no longer tell people their fortune, so her masters who made money off of her lost their finances.
 
But even in the jail Paul and Silas said, "We've come to lift Jesus up. We've come to praise His name. We're going to sing unto Him, and the chains break and the earth quakes and more people get saved. We should learn a valuable lesson from these men: when we are working for the Lord, there will be times that we will come against opposition. It’s in these times that we must hold onto Jesus more than ever before. We must be willing to sing His praise in both the good and bad times, and I have learned from personal experience that when I face circumstances I can’t control, if I will turn it over to Him, He will carry it, He will resolve it.
 
What about Phillip in Acts 8:26-38. He was led by the Holy Spirit to go down from Jerusalem into Gaza where he found the eunuch reading Isaiah, the spot where it foretold 600 years before our Jesus was born that He was a lamb led to slaughter, and He didn't open his mouth.
 
Candace's eunuch had to know, "Who does this speak of? Tell me does the prophet speak about himself or someone else?" And from that point forward Philip preached Jesus to him. "What prevents me from being baptized in water?" The eunuch inquires.
 
"Nothing, you just have to believe with all your heart."
 
The modern church has all but kicked the evangelist out. They have said, "We don't want the people stirred. We want to work our programs the way we have them set up, and don't you say that we're asleep, preacher, because we're doing stuff. We're moving and shaking."
 
But the people perish in the pew because the preacher refuses to boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. And because you kicked out the evangelist the gospel is being preached without evangelical zeal and the people in the pew have no desire to see the lost saved.
 
Pastor- Teacher
 
The word pastor is closely connected to our English word pasture, and the thought is literally a shepherd. We won't take the time to separately discuss the concept of a teacher. Most Greek scholars explain that these two words are connected to one another according to a certain Greek language rule. Nevertheless, we should point out that certainly there can be teachers who aren't pastors; however, it's unlikely to be God's will for a person who isn't a teacher to be a pastor.
 
By nature a pastor's job is to provide food for the sheep. The food the sheep need in a Christian sense is the covenant God has provided where man can have relationship with Him, which is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
 
As long as I'm teaching you Jesus and how to hear His voice, you're in the right place, a safe place where like the Psalmist said the Lord is the shepherd. He will lead you to a place where there is provision in your time of want. He will lead you to green pastures. If you really want to know Him, He will send you to a place where you can be fed right.
 
He will also lead you beside still waters. There is chaos abounding in this world. But if the under- shepherd can feed you Jesus, if He can teach you to hear Jesus, then there can be peace in your environment even though chaos abounds.
 
There are also some good concepts regarding shepherds for us to learn in John 10.
 
1st scenario: (John 10:1-8). The shepherd is Jesus. The sheep are His people, the others are imposters of false doctrine, and the scenario is that the porter is in charge of allowing entree' of the true shepherds.
 
In ancient times, there were fenced areas in pastures where multiple flocks could be kept for safe keeping. The sheep were trained to know their shepherd's voice; therefore, when the shepherd would come for His sheep, He would follow the proper protocol, going through the gate with permission from the porter, and calling His sheep by name, the sheep, in turn, would follow Him because they were used to His voice. Satan is always trying to get God’s people to go in an opposite direction of God’s plan. Jesus entered through the doorway, meaning He was obedient to the Father’s will. While Satan wanted Jesus to go another way a crown without a cross, He didn’t succumb to his deceptive devices.

Parable: story para- side ballo- throw-- (a parabolic teaching throws two things alongside each other for the purposes of comparison and contrast).
 

The parable being offered here is that the shepherd (Jesus) operates  according to the Father's will. There is no hidden agenda. However, the thief and the robber are going another way, a way of deception.
 
2nd scenario: (John 10:8, 9).
 
Once the shepherd's flock was gathered, they were then brought to a safe place where a smaller enclosure was provided for their safety. In this enclosure, the shepherd allows access in and out of the gate, for he becomes the gate. And the sheep can come in and out safely as needed. Walvoord says that the concept is that it's only through Jesus that the sheep are able to enter into the true provision and safety of God; for He (Jesus) alone is the gate for the sheep.
 
3rd scenario: (John 10:9-10). In this scenario there is still the thought of thievery, but also added is death and destruction. It should be noted that there is no doubt there is reference to our enemy Satan here; however, the reader should also be made aware that the immediate context is that Jesus is directly addressing the blinded and deceived Pharisees (John 9:39-41).
 
So a more specific interpretation would be that Jesus as the only real door to the sheep, which allows entrance into life is being contrasted with the false doctrines of those that have come before Him, who's purpose was to bring destruction to the sheep of God.
 
Lastly, as part of the contrast between Jesus' ministry and the Pharisees, which also applies to ministers today, Jesus, the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep; a hireling, on the other hand, is only concerned about a paycheck, and he won't do what's best for the sheep if it interferes what he thinks is best for him.
 
One obvious thing that strikes me in this regard is people's unwillingness to call out false doctrine or ministries that are presenting the gospel in such a way that it will harm the sheep.

Ephesians 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
 
The purpose of the five fold ministry is: perfecting the saints for ministry work for the purpose of edification of the body of Christ.
 
There are three action words in this verse that drive the thought God is communicating:
 
(1) perfecting- kartismos. The thought of this word is to bring something to perfection or completion. This word was used in varied ways during New Testament times: re-fitting a ship, setting a broken bone, and mending fishing nets. Undoubtedly, the idea is that all of creation finds themselves in the same predicament; we are fallen in Adam; however, God wants His people’s nets mended, He wants to bring us to a place of completion, so that we can minister Him to a lost and dying world.
 
The root of this word is also used in this verse here:
 
Matthew 4:21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
 
The word mending is kartizo. The overall thought that I'm trying to communicate is that the purpose of these gifts are to help bring God's people into a place of mending and maturity. The effects of the fall have left holes in our nets, we need mending, so we can properly function in the kingdom of God.
 
Work- is ergon, and the work is ministry, which is diakonos, and is where we get our word for deacon. While the word deacon isn't specifically used to describe people in Acts 6, this is the first reference we have to the idea of a deacon and it's related to the word service:
 
Acts 6:2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
 
...is from the same root diakonos. So a deacon is a servant. If you go back and review the criteria of a deacon, you will see that they must be full of the Holy Spirit. When a person is full of the Holy Spirit, their heart beats for what Jesus' heart beats for. Jesus’ heart beats for the souls of men. We should never be deluded into thinking that busy work like feeding people, clothing them, or even working on this building is the essence of what is spoken here. Our focal point must always be to minister Jesus to others.
 
The overall essence of service in the New Testament surrounds spiritual service where others are learning Jesus, so the idea is that God will use some as a Pastor- teacher, making me a vessel to minister Jesus to you, and as you are perfected and equipped, others are ministered to out there. In some cases, those people will come to church with us, in some cases they won't. That isn't what matters to me. Don't misunderstand me, I want people to come to our church, but my immediate concern is that you be built up, and that you minister (diakonos) to the people that you encounter on a daily basis and help them find Jesus. There is an eternal reward in that. If I'm so consumed with a desire to increase the numbers in this building, that I can't get excited when you tell me that you talked to someone long distance and ministered Jesus to them, then God help me, because I'm in error!
 
(3) edifying- oikodomos. This word comes from the root oikoos, meaning house. In this sense, the word has connected to it architecture or structural integrity.
 
To be truthful, the local church is only as effective as the believer's within its walls allow themselves to be submitted to Jesus; furthermore, their ability to submit their lives to Christ is directly related to their understanding of the gospel, which allows the Holy Spirit freedom to work in their lives.
 
As the individuals in local churches grow in Christ, the church is strengthened, but as we will soon see, the danger of false doctrine looms in the air. Satan and his false ministers will attempt at every moment to change the gospel ever so slightly to prevent the people from being perfected and edified so that they could do their part in the work of the ministry:
 
2 Corinthians 11:14-15 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
 
Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure (metronome: measurement) of the stature (adult maturity) of the fulness of Christ:
 
So the gifts given by Jesus to the body are for the purpose of perfecting and building in preparation for ministry, and all this is to take place until we all come in the unity...
 
We must take a moment and ponder what's being communicated here. The word unity describes oneness, but notice the place unity is supposed to occur. In other words, the idea isn't unity just for the sake of getting along with everyone. Instead, the idea is that the unity is centered upon "the faith" and "the knowledge" of the Son of God, which results in a "perfect" or completed man who is being measured against Jesus.
 
I've said it before, and I will say it again, "Jesus is the plumb line. He is the standard of righteousness by which we measure our growth in Christ."
 
We have discussed this before, but the terminology, "the faith" isn't speaking of faith as an action word; instead, it's speaking of faith in the sense of a noun. In essence it's describing the covenant of God, which is where we are to keep our verb faith placed. What is the New Covenant of God:
 
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
 
1 Corinthians 1:23-24 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
 
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
 
Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
 
In addition, the word knowledge used here is epignosis, which is a Greek compound word with a prepositional prefix: epi= upon and gnosis= knowledge. The idea is upon knowledge or above just information. The word has an experiential aspect to it. When we walk with the Lord and are taught the scriptures from their right perspective, we travel the pilgrimage of Christianity. As we travel this path, learning of Jesus, we encounter trials and tribulations. When we have a right understanding of the scriptures, understanding that it's faith in Him and His work on the cross that gives access to grace, we are empowered for victory in the trial. Once we start seeing the hand of God move in our lives, we begin to gain epignosis about the way God's plan works.
 
Ex: a welder can be taught is trade school how to perform certain welds and how hot certain ones have to burn, but until he holds the rod in his hand and begins to weld, there is no experience.
 
Other ex of how added experience increases knowledge and understanding about a situation as opposed to just knowing something intellectually: suturing, sweating a copper pipe, filling a cavity.
 
So the New Covenant is Jesus and His sacrifice. Therefore, when the scripture says that we are to come into unity or oneness in "the faith," it's speaking of the fact that we are to be in agreement or unity in our understanding of Christ.
 
As already stated, the knowledge we are speaking of here is not just something superficial that we heard about once; instead, it describes knowledge that has become part of who we are. It has an experiential aspect to it. It's becoming part of who we are, and our daily walk is being changed by it. We're learning what works and what doesn't work in our Christian lives as we allow the Holy Spirit to operate in us.
 
2 Peter 1:3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
 
Here is another great scripture with this Greek word epignosis. In this verse, we're told that God has given us everything we need to live godly in this life. Access to this power in some way is connected to knowledge. Once again, the knowledge spoken of here is experiential or a more full understanding. We all know that it's faith rather than knowledge that allows the believer to gain the benefits of God. However, if the believer doesn't know what to properly believe, or if his faith is superficial, then he will have difficulty believing God for victory because he doesn't really know where to keep his faith placed.
 
So Jesus has gifted the body of Christ with the five- fold ministry for the purpose of bringing believers into a right understanding of faith so that growth can take place. And the standard by which our growth is measured is Jesus:
 
Ephesians 4:13  ....unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
 
In other words, as the five- fold ministry operates properly according to its function, the body of Christ is taught proper faith which gives access to grace (Romans 5:2) and as grace is flowing in the life of the believer, we are conformed or molded into the image of Christ:
 
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
 
This passage is focused on two things:
 
(1) there is a process taking place in the life of the believer called sanctification, which means that they (believers) are being made to become holy like their savior through grace working in their lives (2) this process will continue until glorification. He was the firstborn (resurrected), and one day we will be like Him [glorified].
 
Titus 3:5-6 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
 
And this is that ongoing process that takes place. It's started at salvation and completed through the lifespan of the believer's walk. Regeneration is made up of two words: palin= anew and genesis= beginnings.
 
In Christ, we receive a new birth and a new beginning. At conversion, you could say that we are given a "receiver," the Holy Spirit comes to live in us, and we now can receive from God. We can hear his voice.
 
The words: and renewing of the Holy Ghost;...describes an ongoing renovation. One scholar explained the process like this: "When the believer is born again, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in his heart, and it's as though a building permit has been received, allowing construction to begin; whereas, the renewal of the Holy Spirit is the ongoing process.
 
 

#14 Jesus Gives Gifts to His Body

Jesus Gives Gifts to His Body

For those who've been with us since the beginning of the Ephesians study, you know that a common theme has been prevalent: God is creating an eternal family. We covered on multiple occasions the concepts of adoption:
 
Ephesians 1:5
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself...
 
Also, we spoke about the concept of being begotten of God through the sprinkling of blood and the resurrection of Jesus (1 Peter 1:2,3). It was pointed out that the terminology "begotten" specifically means to be given birth to.
 
So God has been, through the annals of human history, adopting and giving birth to a people for Himself.
 
But these are just two New Testament passages. And God has been active in forming this family since creation and after the fall through redemption.
 
Further clarity was given when Paul explained that God's plan contained both Jew and Gentile; whereas, in times past the Gentiles (those people who were not of Jewish origin) were without the covenants and promises of Messiah, now the two (both Jew and Gentile) were made one "In Christ."
 
Now, the only separation that exists is simply those who believe and are in covenant with God (church) and those who don't believe and are outside of covenant with God (world).
 
There is a common unity that exists between believers, and the common unity that connects us is our association and identification (Luke 9:23) with Jesus in His, death, burial and resurrection from the dead. For you see, the plan of God provides, in Christ, that the "old man" dies with Jesus at the cross, is buried with Him in the tomb, and a "new man" is resurrected to newness of life. And in this resurrection, the "new man" becomes a part in the body of Christ.
 
Furthermore, we learned from two different sources (1 Peter 2:4-6; Ephesians 2:19-22) that we are individual stones made alive by the lively stone, and we are being built upon a foundation upon which He is the cornerstone, a foundation completed by the disciples, and a continued building project is taking place where the lively stones are constructed into a habitable place for the presence of God to dwell. As we've pointed out on numerous occasions the word church is translated from ekklesia, which is ek= out and klesia= called; therefore, the church is constructed of individual stones that have the presence of God dwelling in them who were once of the world, but have been called out in Christ and are now His body—His church.
 
Then we moved to chapter four where the instruction transitioned from doctrine to practice. Furthermore, we came across the spot where we spent the last three weeks, discussing Jesus' descent into the underworld. When we started teaching that process, I made the point that these couple passages represented an accomplishment of many eras:

(1) He proclaimed His victory to the disobedient angels who sinned during Noah’s time

(2) He led captivity captive; in other words, every soul that had been saved on credit looking forward to the blood of the eternal lamb was released once His perfect blood was shed

(3) now, as He is seated at the right hand of God, He gives gifts unto men (church age i.e. many eras), so let's look at the gifts given by Jesus to His church.
 
To start with, it should be noted that there is a difference between the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12) and the gifts spoken of in this passage of scripture. The first set of gifts are worded in the Greek as charisma gifts, and this is where the thought of charismatic Christianity originated, because people of the charismatic persuasion allowed the operation of the Holy Spirit to manifest His gifts in their midst. These gifts are manifested to the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, and He distributes these gifts through the members of the body. In other words, it's not only the preacher who will be used as a vessel through which these gifts will flow, but also the individual members of the body of Christ will operate in these gifts.
 
Now, there is one more distinction that should be noted. In these gifts, the gifts are the gifts themselves not the person who operates in them. In other words, the gift is: tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, wisdom, discerning of spirits.... While it is true that certain people tend to operate in certain gifts more than others, the gift is not the person, rather, it's the gift itself; furthermore, the gifts are not the person’s they belong to the Holy Spirit.
 
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
 
There is a slight difference regarding the gifts we are speaking of out of Ephesians. These gifts are didomai, describing a bestowing, which is given by Jesus directly to His church; furthermore, in some way the gift is connected to the person, because the specific person is the vessel that this particular gift flows through. These people that are called by Jesus are given as gifts to the body of Christ for the purpose of edification, meaning (building up, perfection, in the sense of completion), so there are the offices of the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor- teacher, these gifts are also sometimes referred to the five- fold ministry.
 
For further clarity, it should be noted that just because a person operates in the gift of prophecy that doesn't automatically mean that they have been given as a gift by Jesus to the body of Christ to operate in the office of a prophet. This is just a general term to introduce this thought. I will try to clarify as we move forward. But before we do, I will say that the purpose of these gifts are to serve Jesus by building up His people. In other words, it's not the gift, nor the man or woman that operates in the office that is to be built up; instead, it is God's people that are to be edified or built up.

Apostle
 
Starting with the apostle, we have a "touchy" subject in the modern church. We have one side of the camp that label themselves as, "I am the apostle, prophet, evangelist... without hesitation. Then we have the other side that is almost scared to use the terminology of apostle, because they believe it's so reverential that it is a title only to be used of the original twelve, which were commissioned by Jesus in person and included the apostle Paul, because if you will remember his story, he was called and instructed by Jesus Himself to be an apostle.
 
But the reality is that there were others that the New Testament referred to as apostles, and a couple of these men are somewhat obscure within the pages of scripture:
 
James [the Lord's brother, who was not of the original 12] (1 Corinthians 15:7).
 
Barnabus (Acts 14:4,14; 1 Corinthians 9:1-6).
 
Adronicus and Junius (Romans 16:7).
 
So what does the word apostle literally mean?
 
Literally the word means a "sent one" with authority, an ambassador of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It seems to me as though a common denominator of the apostle is that he often fulfills the role of many, if not all, of the other offices. In other words, in the life of Paul and Peter, we can easily see the offices of: prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher.
 
More specifically, apostles are called to establish and are sent by God as overseers of His works. There is no doubt that there are probably times when an apostle may be sent by God; yet, the established order of the men in place don't recognize that God's authority has sent him; therefore, his apostolic purposes are rejected in that sense. Actually, this happened to the apostle Paul on more than one occasion.
 
Prophet
 
Nowadays, there are many people who are quick to label themselves with anyone of these titles. However, it should be clearly understood, as already stated, that there is a vast difference between the office of a prophet and the gift of prophecy. The latter is a word gift given by the Holy Spirit and distributed through a believer in order to bring a word from God to His people; whereas, the former is a gift by Jesus to His church and He functions as a prophet of God.
 
While a person may prophesy and foretell future events, just because person prophecies, it doesn't mean that he is a prophet. The office of the prophet for Israel had a specific purpose: he was to bring correction to God's people when they were in error. This role of the prophet could be labeled forth telling. In other words, the prophet speaks forth the oracles of God. He functions as a mouth piece to let God's people know where they are in error, and what they need to do in order to make things right with God.
 
The foretelling part of this ministry is often connected to warn of the effects that will follow a path of disobedience. In other words, what will happen if the correction is rejected.
 
I can't help but think of John the Baptist. While he was obviously evangelistic, he was very prophetic. He walked in the anointing of the great prophet Elijah. Elijah's anointing required that the people of God be turned from a wrong way of worship:
 
1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
 
In a similar fashion, John the Baptist was called to bring the people back to a straight path. The religion of the Pharisees had muddied the water; they had obscured the path, making it difficult for God's people to see their way in the right direction. And as a prophet of God, John the Baptist prepared the way for the way. He was a voice crying out in the wilderness for the hodos (Greek for way, which was Jesus): way-- an easily discernible path. And he brought a scathing rebuke upon the corrupt religion of the day just as Elijah rebuked Jezebel's prophets. Just in case you don't believe me, here is what John the Baptist told the Pharisees:
 
Matthew 3:4-8 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
 
And the Lord has been showing me for the last couple years and has recently confirmed it in prophecy through some of my World Evangelism Bible College student friends: God is going to raise up John the Baptist prophets in these last days who will operate with the same spirit that was upon Elijah, a fire and fervor to clean the house of God and herald a return to right worship of God. "How long will you halt between two opinions? If God is God then serve Him. And if the world is the world then serve it, but quit pretending that you're serving Him when you're really serving it."
 
Just as John the Baptist prepared a way for the first coming of Jesus, God is causing a stirring in the spirits of some to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified to a lost and dying world. They will prepare the way for His return. He's coming back church. And He's looking for a church without spot or wrinkle, and their ain't no way you can look like that unless you understand what it means to be in Him because He alone is without spot or wrinkle.
 
Evangelist
 
Paul was an evangelist can you see him and Silas in the prison. Right after Lydia the seller of purple, the first European convert gets saved, they're in the streets preaching the gospel. And Paul casts the devil out of that young girl who was filled with the spirit of Python, a spirit of divination or fortune telling. And because of that they get thrown into jail because with the devil gone, she could no longer tell people their business, so her masters who made money off of her lost their finances., and they had influence with the officials.
 
But even in the jail they said, "We've come to lift Jesus up. We've come to praise His name. We're going to sing unto Him, and the chains break and the earth quakes and more people get saved. In the trial, when you’re burdened down, if you will go to Him and submit to Him, something beautiful will happen.
 
What about Phillip in Acts 8:26-38. He was led by the Holy Spirit to go down from Jerusalem into Gaza where he found the eunuch reading Isaiah, the spot where it foretold 600 years before our Jesus was born that He was a lamb led to slaughter, and He didn't open his mouth.
 
Candace's eunuch had to know; in other words, his heart was yearning for an answer, "Who does this speak of? Tell me does the prophet speak about himself or someone else?" And from that point forward Philip preached Jesus to him.

 "What prevents me from being baptized in water?" The eunuch inquires.
 
"Nothing, you just have to believe with all your heart."
 
The modern church has all but kicked the evangelist out. They have said, "We don't want the people stirred. We want to work our programs the way we have them set up, and don't you say that we're asleep preacher because we're doing stuff. We're moving and shaking."
 
But the people perish in the pew. Because you kicked out the evangelist the gospel is being preached without evangelical zeal and the people in the pew have no evangelical zeal to see the lost saved.
 
Pastor- Teacher
 
The word pastor is closely connected to our English word pasture, and the thought is literally a shepherd. We won't take the time to separately discuss the concept of a teacher. Most Greek scholars explain that these two words are connected to one another according to a certain Greek language rule. We also won't concern ourselves with those details, but we should point out that certainly there can be teachers who aren't pastors; however, it's unlikely to be God's will for a person who isn't a teacher to be a pastor.
 
By nature a pastor's job is to provide food for the sheep. The food the sheep need in a Christian sense is a good diet of Jesus, a good diet of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, which is the covenant God has provided where man can have relationship with Him.
 
As long as I'm teaching you Jesus and how to hear His voice, you're in the right place, a safe place where like the Psalmist said the Lord can be your shepherd. He will lead you to a place where there is green pasture. If you really want to know Him, He will send you to a place where you can be fed right.
 
He will also lead you beside still waters. There is chaos abounding in this world. But if the under- shepherd can feed you Jesus, if He can teach you to hear Jesus, then there can be peace in your environment even though chaos abounds.
 
There are also some good concepts regarding shepherds for us to learn in John 10.
 
1st scenario: (John 10:1-8)

The shepherd is Jesus. The sheep are His people, the others are imposters of false doctrine, and the scenario is that the porter is in charge of allowing entree' of the shepherd, giving access to the sheep inside.
 
In ancient times, there were fenced areas in pastures where multiple flocks could be kept for safe keeping. The sheep were trained to know their shepherd's voice; therefore, when the shepherd would come for His sheep, He would follow the proper protocol, going through the gate with permission from the porter, and calling His sheep by name, which would in turn follow Him because they were used to His voice.
 
The para- side ballo- throw (a parabolic teaching throws two things alongside each other for the purposes of comparison and contrast) being done here is that the shepherd (Jesus) and any under- shepherd that follows His lead through grace is operating according to the Father's will. There is no hidden agenda; whereas, the thief and the robber are going another way, a way of deception.
 
2nd scenario: (John 10:8, 9)
 
Once the shepherd's flock were gathered, they were then brought to a safe place where a smaller enclosure was provided for their safety. In this enclosure, the shepherd allows access in and out of the gate, for he becomes the gate. And the sheep can come in and out safely as needed. Walvoord says that the concept is that it's only through Jesus that the sheep are able to enter into the true provision and safety of God; for He (Jesus) alone is the gate for the sheep—there is no other access point.
 
3rd scenario (John 10:9-10)

In this scenario there is still the thought of thievery, but also added is death and destruction. It should be noted that there is no doubt there is reference to our enemy Satan here; however, the reader should also be made aware that the immediate context is that Jesus is directly addressing the blinded and deceived Pharisees (John 9:39-41).
 
So a more specific interpretation would be that Jesus as the only real door to the sheep, which allows entrance into life is being contrasted with the false doctrines of those that have come before Him, whose purpose was to bring destruction to the sheep of God.
 
Lastly, as part of the contrast between Jesus' ministry and the Pharisees, which also applies to ministers today, Jesus, the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep; a hireling, on the other hand, is only concerned about a paycheck, and he won't do what's best for the sheep if it interferes what he thinks is best for him.
 
One obvious thing that strikes me in this regard is people's unwillingness to call out false doctrine or ministries that are presenting the Gospel in such a way that it will harm the sheep. Instead, "Sh-sh-sh, mum's the word. We don't want to rock the boat."
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

#13 Did Jesus Go to Hell? Part 3: We Will Finally Answer the Question!

Did Jesus Go to Hell? Part 3: The Question is Finally Answered

2 Peter 2:4-6 For if God spared not the angels that sinned [a specific sin], but cast them down to hell [Tartarus], and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;…
 
As we've been discussing, there were certain of the fallen angels who crossed boundaries that God punished by placing them into chains in an underworld prison known as Tartarus.
 
In this next passage, I'm connecting Tartarus to the prison where the spirits were "preached" to; in order to make that connection, two thoughts must be addressed: (1) who or what are the spirits, (2) what does this word preach mean?
 
1 Peter 3:19-20 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
 
I believe these two thoughts are critical to our proper understanding of this passage because a popular interpretation has been that these spirits represent human beings who lived in the Old Testament. And the preaching that was taking place was to give them an opportunity to accept the message specifically related to Jesus and His sacrifice.
 
So the idea once again would be that, because the blood of bulls and goats could not remove sin, these Old Covenant believers had to make a decision about Jesus for themselves.
 
One of the main concepts that we've attempted to teach throughout the life of this Bible study is that there is a common thread that weaves the covenants together. The common thread I speak of is the promise of Messiah and the observance of sacrifice for the atonement of sin (Leviticus 17: 11). As God has moved forward through the years of human history, He has brought these promises to a single focal point, which Paul stated that he was determined to preach:
 
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
 
1 Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;…
 
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
 
So the promises of God were fulfilled in Christ, but what we must understand is that God's promises for humanity were given immediately after the fall through the instruction that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15); in addition to the seed, the first sacrifice was given in the garden by God as a covering for Adam and Eve's sin, so while we know that Old Testament sacrifices couldn't completely do away with the penalty of sin, we do know that man's connection point to God has always been through faith. And more specifically, the object of faith required was the sacrifice for sin's atonement.
 
With all that said, it should be pointed out that people in the Old Testament times were saved based upon their faith in God's plan of redemption as it was revealed at that point in time.
 
I said all that to make this point: the Old Testament people were either believers in God's plan or they weren't. If they weren't believers, they were with the rich man in this place called torments, and if they were believers, they were in the place known as Abraham's bosom waiting for the day when the atonement of sin would be completed. Therefore, there is no need for extra preaching specifically from Jesus to make sure they were onboard with God's plan. They were on board with God's plan, and they were simply waiting for the completion, waiting for the sacrifice of the promised one, so they could be led by Jesus from Abraham's bosom into the presence of God now that their sin was atoned.
 
So then who are the sprits and what is the point?
 
The word spirit is literally pneuma, which means breath or wind. It's where we get our word pneumatic, describing power tools that are driven by air. It's where we also get our word pneumonia.
 
The word pneuma, when used in a singular sense can be used to describe God, man, angels, or demons, depending upon the context in which it's being used:
 
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. [God]
 
Luke 1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. [human]
 
Matthew 12:43 -- When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. [demon]
 
 
Hebrews 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. [angels]
 
 
Through this last verse, we can see at least when the word spirits is used; pneuma can also be referring to angels.

 I've made a list and placed it into the back of your notes showing all of the times the word "spirits" is used in the New Testament. All of this work is being done to show you the truth that the word spirits can be used to describe angels as well as humans, and so from there, we are left with the task of determining, which one fits the context of our passage.

 
As we pointed out early on in tonight's study, the Old Testament saints were saved by looking forward to Messiah and keeping their faith in the sacrifice for forgiveness until He came; therefore, the "preaching" that was done to these spirits wasn't necessarily a preaching for conversion, but as we will see, it was a proclamation or announcement of truth in general.
                                                                                                          

 One last point to make regarding how this sin could have happened with these angels. We already addressed this scripture last week, but Hebrews 13:2 explains that angels can take upon themselves the form of humans to the point that humans can't tell the difference:
 
Hebrews 13:1-2 ​ Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
 
But by comparing two other scriptures, we gain further proof of this thought:
 
Jude 1:6-7 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation [oiketerion], he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

The Greek word for house is oikos. This word used here oiketerion is built from the root of oikos, describing in some sense a house or dwelling place.

 
Now compare the same word for house here as it refers to humans.
 
2 Corinthians 5:1-4 ​ For we know that if our earthly house [oikia] of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building [oikodome] of God, an house [oikia]not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house [oiketerion] which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
 
In this passage, the same concept is being used to describe the bodies of humans. Believers on earth are in a transition, something isn't quite right. In our fallen state, our physical bodies are decaying; however, spiritually, our spirit man desires to be clothed with our glorified body. The earnest of the Spirit is a down payment of what is to come. It's enough to make the true believer hungry for the fulfillment.
 
But the main point to be made is that this word in the Greek is being used to describe the changing of bodies. Whereas, the believer is longing to be clothed upon by his glorified body, these angels in some way left their angelic state, assuming a form to inter marry with human women, resulting in, as we have discovered, a hybrid race called the Nephilim.
 
So did Jesus go to hell?
 
Yes and no!
 

He went to Hell in the sense that during the three days He was in the grave, before His resurrection, He entered the underworld and took care of some things that had to be finished.
 
It appears from my understanding that what would have happened is that He would have gone to Abraham's bosom and said, "The Messiah you waited for was me. I have come and accomplished the Father's will. Whereas, the blood of bulls and goats in the Old Testament couldn't remove your sin, My sacrifice has accomplished the Father's will. And now I'm leading captivity captive. In other words, "I'm (Jesus) bringing you Old Testament saints home with me to glory, but wait here just a second, because I have one other thing I have to do first."
 
Then He descended to Tartarus and heralded a truth to these spirits in prison who had rebelled so long ago. "Your plan failed. Your attempt to stop the plan of redemption didn't work, I was manifest in the flesh as the seed of the woman. And I offered my spotless life as ransom for the sins of the sons of Adam. And in a couple more thousands of years, there will be a finality brought to your evil plans."
 
So what were they (fallen angels) attempting to accomplish by crossing these boundaries. What was their purpose?
 
These angels were trying to destroy the seed. And the enemy will try to destroy the seed.
 
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
 
From the moment this proclamation went forth, the serpent knew that there would be an offspring from the woman (Jesus was 100% God, while at the same time, He was 100% man) who would crush his head, which denotes a destruction of his power and authority. Therefore, a tactical move was made, attempting to corrupt the seed of the human race and taint it with a mixture of something that was other than human.
 
Furthermore, it should be understood that from this day moving forward, the enemy of God has been relentless in his attempt to destroy the seed of God's promise regarding the redemption of the human race:
 
Pharaoh (Exodus 1:15-17)
The story of Joseph (Genesis 45:4-8)
Haman (Esther 3:1-6)
Herod (Matt 2:14-16)
Hitler
 
Why is this important for us to know?
 
1 Corinthians 6:3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?
 
I have made this point before, but it's something that I believe we must keep upon the forefront of our minds. Somewhere in the pre-Adamic past, Lucifer, Jesus called him Satan, shook his fist in the face of God, and said, "I will be like the most high. I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven (Isaiah 14:13,14).
 
Now, we have to understand that God knew all along this would happen in advance. He knew that Lucifer would fall. He knew that Adam would go the way of the serpent (1 Peter 1:18). As a matter of fact without a true choice free will cannot be exhibited. Now, man is faced with a legitimate choice each and everyday on whether or not he will serve God or not.
 
I cannot help but think about the fact that these celestial beings saw the glory of God and were even in His presence, experiencing His magnitude; yet, somehow, they chose instead to be worshiped rather than giving worship to the worthy one.
 
God is going to use us, frail, inferior humanity, who cannot see the glory of God with physical eyes, and have therefore been asked to believe by faith to bring judgment on the rebellious angels. I don't know if we will be used as witnesses on the eternal witness stand or how it works, but somehow, He will use is who couldn't see to judge them who could see.
 
Now, do you see why it's so important for us to understand how to walk in the finished work of Christ? Because, God is desiring, so badly, a people who will believe His Word, walk in His victory, and begin to see the big picture. What's the big picture? God's creating an eternal family for the purpose of eternal fellowship, and at some point, when He's done giving birth to that family, He's going to bring evil to an end, and He's chosen to use us as part of that plan. We represent Him in the land. We stand as lights in the midst of the darkness, living a life of separation for the world to see that there's a different way to go.
 
That's why I keep saying that I want my spirit to love Jesus more than my flesh loves sin because He's been cheated on enough, and I don't want to be the next one to bring reproach upon His name!

Comparison of how word spirits is translated differently as demon, men and angels depending on the context in the scripture:

#12 Did Jesus Go to Hell? Part 2: The Nephilim

Did Jesus go to Hell?
Part 2: The Nephilim
 

Ephesians 4:7-10
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
 
Last week we started down a path, attempting to explain this phrase:
 
Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
 
The question was asked: did Jesus go to hell?
 
Another good question to ask would be: if Jesus went to hell, what did He do while He was there?
 
These are questions that we will answer before we're done, but they won't be answered tonight.
 
1 Peter 3:19-20
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
 
This is really the scripture upon which these questions hinge. Who were the spirits, and where is this prison? Once again, these questions will be answered next week.
 
Jude 1:6-7
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
 
We already introduced the thought that much of these scriptures and thoughts are connected to sins committed by angels with human women. Another question that arises is: why? Why would these angels want to do such a thing? As we discussed last week humanity, before Babel, collectively knew God's proclamation to the serpent that the seed of the woman would crush his head (Genesis 3:15). The first family was present for this discourse, and this proclamation of God would have been disseminated through oral tradition until it was penned in the book of Genesis. As we discussed before, after Babel, people groups would have carried with them their version of the story, which explains why there are varying mother- child deities in every culture known to man.
 
Just as humanity was now made aware of God's plan for redemption, from this point moving forward, the serpent was also aware that in some way, the seed of the woman would "crush his head." The head in the Bible oftentimes represents power and authority, so while Satan may not have known the plan of God exactly, he knew it was the seed of the woman who would conquer him. Therefore, it seems that this rebellion against God was a purposeful move to "infect" the woman's offspring to the point that the seed would no longer be of the woman, but an altogether different seed; thereby, thwarting the plan of God. I must say that the results of this move are far reaching, but for tonight, we will just stop here.
 
Genesis 6:1-2
nd it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
 
Job 1:6-8
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
 
Job 2:1
Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
 
The terminology, sons of God, in both the Genesis passage and the Job passage comes from the same root in the Hebrew, which is ben Elohim-- translated as Sons of God.
 
Genesis 6:1-2
And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose....
 
The above Union produced the below offspring.
 
Genesis 6:4-7
There were giants [Nephilim] in the earth in those days; and also after...

[so the Bible clearly states that there were (Nephilim/ Giants) on the earth before and after the flood]
 

Genesis 6:4-7....that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Hebrews 13:2)
 
Matthew 22:30
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
 
Most of the time when people combat the thought of the Nephilim being the offspring of humans and angels, they use this verse out of Matthew. The context is that the Saducees are trying to trip Jesus up because they didn't believe in the resurrection. The way Jesus describes this scenario is that people in the resurrection are like the Angels of God in heaven. He's not saying that the resurrection saints are angels. He's saying that God's angels in heaven aren't married and engaging in married "business" and either are the resurrection saints. But He certainly in no way said that Satan's angels didn't.
 
Genesis 6:6-7 …And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
 
The Practices
 
Romans 1:23
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
 
(1) the unholy Union
(2) the unholy offspring
(3) and the continual evil going on in the minds of man.
 
I think that we will be able to prove as we examine the scriptures that these nephilim were teaching humans during this time frame and afterwards to worship the creation instead of the creator. And in the next class, I hope to make the point that the same thing is going on to some extent today. The "leftovers" of these nephilim are inciting God's creation to rebel against Him, and whether they realize it or not, worship Satan in the process.
 
Leviticus 18:1-10
Leviticus 18:21-25
Leviticus 19:1-2
 
Leviticus 19:26-31[1 Kings 18:28; Mark5:5// cutting and the occult]
 
Rounding the corners of the heads produced what is called a tonsure, and was worn by the Babylonian priests. Interestingly we have seen pictures of Catholic monks wearing their hair in a similar fashion when this verse is connected to Leviticus 21:5, we have this exact hair cut.
 
Leviticus 20:1-7
Leviticus 20:15, 16
Leviticus 20:22-27
Leviticus 21:5
 
The Place
 
The place that God promised Israel as their own was the land of Canaan. He had already in 2000 BC separated out for Himself a man named Abraham, through whom, He made a people for Himself. Now, the people have become a nation while slaves in Egypt, and His plan requires that they have a place of their own. It is to be a place of victory for them. It is to be a place where they can be a nation separated unto God for the purposes to bring Him praise and glory.
 
This place known as Canaan is the land that was inhabited by Noah's offspring from Ham whose son was Canaan, but there were also descendants of Ham's son Mizraim who were the Philistines. (Genesis 10:14)

And so the land that God promised His people Israel approximately 440 years after he called Abraham out of his father's house was filled with demonic sorcery and Satanic rituals.
 
Into the midst of this sin sickened condition, God plants His people Israel He created from Abraham. If you will notice this map, God placed His tribes into the land where all these Nephilim strongholds existed.
 
This thought raises many others questions in my mind:
 
(1) God is creating an eternal family.
(2) God chose then to use inferior humans that He created as vessels to defeat the forces of evil. Today, God is using inferior humans as vessels to house His Holy Spirit. Those who are in Christ, have become empowered through the plan and Spirit of God to trample scorpions and serpents, demon spirits, as God edges closer to bringing evil to an end.
(3) God will one day bring evil to an end, and in some way, He will use those that were believers as vessels of judgment for fallen angels (1 Corinthians 6:3)

I put this map here because I wanted to emphasize the point that God placed the nation He created right into the nest of sin. His plan has always been for His people to be a light in the midst of darkness; and furthermore, His plan is that His people would have victory over the forces of evil.
 
As we will see in the next section, when we describe the people that inhabited the land that God was giving Israel, a common denominator is that God's people are winning battles over their enemies.
 
More importantly there's no way that they could have been victorious in their own strength. God promised that He would drive the inhabitants in the land out, but Israel, through faith had to engage the battle and trust Him to give them the victory-- he chooses to prove Himself by using frail humanity.
 
I would also like to consider the fact that God also sent Jesus the light into the midst of a world of darkness, and the darkness couldn't overcome the light of God (John 1:5). Lastly, just as Israel's purpose was to be the light of God and dispel the enemies of the land through the strength of God, in the New Covenant, when a man is born again, that man becomes a partaker of the divine nature of God, and as we've been saying, there is a process taking place where when we allow the "new man" to grow in Christ, the new nature begins to dispel the old nature (2 Peter 1:4). Furthermore, victory over sin is given through God's grace, which we access through faith in the finished work of Christ.
 
The "People"
 
Numbers 13:27-33
And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
 
Deuteronomy 2:10-11
The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims.
 
Deuteronomy 2:20-22
(That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims; A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the Lord destroyed them before
 
Deuteronomy 3:11
For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.
 
13.5 ft. Long
6 ft. Wide
 
1 Samuel 17:4-9
And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.
 
Goliath 9'6"

Joshua 14:14-15
Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. And the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.
 
2 Samuel 21:15-17
Moreover the Philistines had yet war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines: and David waxed faint. And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him. Then the men of David sware unto him, saying, Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, that thou quench not the light of Israel.
 
2 Samuel 21:20-22
And there was yet a battle in Gath, where was a man of great stature, that had on every hand six fingers, and on every foot six toes, four and twenty in number; and he also was born to the giant. And when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea the brother of David slew him. These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.
 
1 Chronicles 11:22-23
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day. And he slew an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits high; and in the Egyptian's hand was a spear like a weaver's beam; and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and slew him with his own spear.
 
The Egyptian= 7'8"
 
Amos 2:9
Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them,whose height was like the height of the cedars,and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above,and his roots from beneath.

Nephilim: TRUE STORY of Satan, Fallen Angels, Giants, Aliens, Hybrids, Elongated Skulls & Nephilim

By: Trey Smith

#11 Did Jesus Go to Hell? Part 1

Did Jesus Go to Hell?

Part 1

As a point of clarification, once this two part series is complete, you will realize that there has been a concerted effort by the enemy of God to corrupt God’s plan of redemption; therefore, the purpose of these two weeks is to give you a better overall understanding of the Bible and to remind that we are in a war!
 

Ephesians 4:8-10
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
 
In these verses, there are two main thoughts:
 
(1) There was a change that took place in the spiritual realm for the Old Testament saints. Previously, when they died, they went to a place of the departed souls where there was a waiting period for them before they could be brought to heaven. The terminology, ...led captivity captive...explains this thought, because the words captivity and captive are very similar in their origins and essentially mean exactly that. These Old Testament saints were captive in a location in the underworld because:
 
Hebrews 10:4
For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
 
The OT saints were held captive in this location because the plan for God's remission of sins had not been completed. But Jesus was the fulfillment of the sacrificial system, and His blood satisfied the just demands of God.
 
Now, in this Ephesians passage, what is taking place is the thought that these OT saints were captive and waiting, and now, with God's plan for sin being completed; they were released from this captivity and made captives of Christ where He brought them into the presence of God.
 
Now, that Jesus has completed the payment required for sin when a person dies, their eternal spirit departs to one of two places. If they're saved (In Christ), they're absent from the body and present with The Lord and their body awaits the day of its resurrection and glorification.
 
Most people are confused about the concept and terminology the Bible uses regarding the place we call hell, but let's try to bring some clarity.
 
There are several words used interchangeably to describe the place of departed souls. Regarding the Old Testament, there are words such as grave, death, Hades, but the main word we often think of is "hell," more specifically we are often associating these thoughts with eternal damnation, and how it's used in the New Testament when it's associated with eternal fire:
 
Through this story in Luke about the rich man and Lazarus, we learn that there are at least two different parts to "hell." And while there are two more concepts about Hell that we will need to delve into, we'll start here.
 
Luke 16:19-31
-- There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
 
Lazarus was in the place of departed souls known as Abraham's bosom. We would also believe that this is the place referred to as Paradise by Jesus when He spoke to the thief on the cross:
 
Luke 23:43
43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.
 
Abraham's bosom and Paradise was the place where the Old Testament saints who were followers of God departed until Jesus brought them with Him to glory.
 
Once Jesus died on the cross, and the debt of sin was paid in full, because the blood of the OT sacrifice couldn't remove the debt of sin: Hebrews 10:4

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
 
Once again, Jesus at that point was able to lead captivity captive. In other words, He brought their departed souls to heaven, and there they await the resurrection of their bodies.
 
So in this first passage, we learn these truths:
 
(1) before the cross, the Old Testament saints, who were saved through faith in the sacrificial system, were kept in a place called Abraham's Bosom or Paradise until Jesus' blood accomplished what the blood of bulls and goats could not.
 
(2) the departed souls of people that were not believer's in God's way are in a place this story calls torments.
 
One other important concept that wasn't necessarily addressed in this story is that there is no more Abraham's Bosom, there is no Paradise, and there is no Purgatory! You make your decision for God today on this side of the grave. Once again to be absent from the body is to be present with The Lord.
 
Before we get into the last idea of hell, fire, and brimstone, we need to cover one more concept about the thought of hell.
 
1 Peter 3:19-20
By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
 
Jude 1:6
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
 
2 Peter 2:4
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
 
It's my personal belief that all these passages have in common disobedient angels that are being held in chains in a prison known as "hell."
 
Now, the word hell in the original language has a meaning all its own. The word here is Tartarus. Because some of this is going to be such a new thought to some of you, I want to make sure that I do my best to explain.
 
The New Testament was written in a specific type of Greek. In times past, there were two types of Greek. One was known as Koine Greek, meaning common, and the other was known as Classic Greek. The New Testament was written in the Koine Greek. Now, it's important for us to understand that the Greek language was already in place before the New Testament writers wrote the New Testament. Therefore, these words were already in place and existed.
 
In some cases, the words kept the same meaning, but in other cases, when the New Testament writers used the words, the meaning changed. For instance, last week, when we talked about walking worthy, I told you about how the word lowliness was viewed by the Grecian culture as degrading and behavior only worthy of a slave. In contrast, the New Testament writers used it as an adjective to describe someone walking worthy of the title Christian.
 
In the case of this word Tartarus, this word was already in existence and had a specific meaning. Its meaning was connected to a place in the underworld, which imprisoned the gods who crossed lines and had sexual relationships with mortals and from there hybrid type heroes were birthed. One example would be Hercules.
 
So that is the name of this word Tartarus. I don't want to spend much more time on this tonight, but let us say that the connection between these three verses, the thought of chains, the thought of prison, and the thought of hell [Tartarus] all have a common link with these fallen angels.
 
So now we've learned about three different locations in hell. Abraham's bosom, which is gone now. torment, where unbelieving souls await the great white throne judgment, and Tartarus, which has some connection to chained up angels and a story about hybrids.
 
By the way, maybe we should mention the concept of Babel and why there are so many similarities across the globe regarding stories. For instance: flood stories, mother child deities, pyramids and ziggurats, which seem to be built the same in ancient times whether in Egypt, Babylon, or South America, and as we will discuss next week, this story about Tartarus.
 
My point is that there were certain things that were well known to the people who existed before the Tower of Babel where the languages were confused. God confused the languages for multiple reasons, but the main reason for our concern tonight was so that humanity would obey the command He gave Noah, which was to replenish the earth. Instead, what they had done was stayed together and rebelled against God.
 
As these people groups began their nomadic journeys across the globe, they all had eerily similar stories that the Bible explains all these people groups would have known, because they were things God had revealed to humanity before the languages were confused. Yes, the stories may vary slightly in some cases, but usually where they vary is when they depart from the truth of God's word.
 
So what story are we to believe. Well, God did a wonderful thing right after the confusion of the languages and the separation of the nations. He called a man named Abraham out from the nations, and He made a nation for Himself, and through this nation, He gave His word and He chronicled the real version of these occurrences, and all these other nations were worshiping false god, which are fallen angels and demon spirits. So God has told His story through His people Israel and the church, and that’s the truth.

 The last concept regarding hell is a place called Gehenna. It is also known as the lake of fire or the last death.
 
Matthew 10:28
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul:but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
 
Mark 9:43-44
And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off:it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
 
In both of these passages the word for hell in the Greek is Gehenna, speaking of the lake of fire, also known as the final judgment.
 
The word Gehenna comes from a real place that was on earth. This name comes from the valley of Hinnom, which was located south of Jerusalem. In ancient days, when Israel cheated on God by serving false gods, they made their children walk through the fire in this valley as they worshiped the false god known as Molech. Furthermore, during Jesus' time, it was used as a refuse place, where carcasses were burned along with other garbage.
 
With this in mind, you can now get a visual of what Jesus is talking about when He's teaching on hell. He's giving them a visual of what this place is going to look like.
 
Matthew 25:41
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

Just to make a point, hell was never intended for human beings. God has always had a plan to save sinners. The purpose for hell was to judge Satan and his fallen angels.
 
Revelation 12:9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
 
Revelation 20:14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
 
So Gehenna is the place of final judgment.
 
But I don't want to leave you on a sad note because Hell doesn't await the child of God. The grave won't be able to hold the Christian down, because our Jesus was victorious. Jesus told Martha that He was the resurrection and the life. When we resurrect, we will receive a glorified body, and we will live eternally with our Lord.
 
2 Corinthians 5:6-8
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
 
1 Corinthians 15:42-44
So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.
 
2 Corinthians 5:1-5
​ For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
 
1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
 
He has gone before as the firstborn from the dead:
 
Colossians 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
 
He told Martha that He was the resurrection:
 
John 11:24-26
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
 
What does it mean that we will be as He is? Well, it doesn't mean that we will be gods. Instead, it's descriptive of His glorified body. In some way, our glorified body, will be like His after our resurrection from the dead.
 
What was His glorified body like?
 
John 20:19-20
Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
 
He still had the wounds of the cross! Also, notice the doors were shut and He appeared. In His glorified body, He operated above the laws of physical matter.
 
John 20:27-29
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
 
Luke 24:39-42
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
 
He has bones and flesh, but there is no mention of blood. I can't prove this, but I believe the reason why is because, on earth, the life of the creature is in the blood, and in the resurrection, the life will be in the Spirit of God.

#10 Walking Worthy?

Walking Worthy?

 Review of Ephesians chapters 1-3, and continuing from chapter 4:1-6
 

Ephesians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
 
V 3. The plan of God is that He would richly bless his creation with spiritual blessings. When speaking of spiritual blessings, the believer should imagine all the chaos and frustrations that this fallen earth offers. Then, from that place, it should be understood that God offers a healing from the curse of the fall; ultimately, all spiritual blessings find their source in the fact that humanity can have fellowship with the God of the universe.
 
However, it must be understood that those spiritual blessings can only be accessed in one place and that place is in Christ. Therefore, in verse three, the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, wants us to know that in the mind of God, this is all done. You are in Christ. He's in heaven, and as long as we remain in him, we remain in the will of God.
 
V 4. .… He has chosen "us" "in him"
 
"Chosen us"
 
Chosen is built from "EK" "LEKTOS"
Ek= out
Lektos= Chosen; this is where we get our word "election."
 
Now, the picking or choosing was predetermined at a time before Adam was even formed from clay in the potter's hand (1 Peter 1:19,20), and through this 1 Peter verse, we're given the revelation that it was the plan, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, not the individual person, which was foreordained or predetermined.
 
When the believer places his faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, there's a spiritual renovation that takes place inside the heart of that man. And in this place, the believer can be found holy and blameless, even allowed to be in the presence of God…holy and without blame before him in love.

 Ephesians 1:5
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
 
V 5. In this first, we received the first glimpse that God was creating an eternal family. The predestinated plan allowed us to be adopted and begotten as children into the family of God (I Peter 1:2,3).

 Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
 

V 7. And all this took place through the redemption of his blood. We were purchased off the slavemarket of sin and translated from darkness to light (Colossians 1:13, 14).

 Ephesians 1:13-14
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
 

V 13–14. And when you heard the gospel and entrusted your life to the truth, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest or down payment. This is how you know you're saved. When the Holy Spirit comes to live in your heart a renovation takes place. The Holy Spirit doesn't leave the room the way it was before…things are going to change because grace is an inside job that's reflected outwardly in the life.

 Ephesians 1:16-18
Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

 V 16, 17, 18. Paul's prayer was that God would give them a spirit of wisdom and revelation. He is asking God to allow their (Ephesian Christians and us) spiritual eyes to be enlightened, so that they could see three things:
 
(1) the hope of the calling – the Eliezer call.
 
(2) the riches of the inheritance in the Saints.
 
(3) The power given to believers

 Ephesians 1:21
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

 V 21. The power that is given to believers in Christ is above and superior to the principalities and powers that reside in the heavenly realms [the forces of evil].

 Ephesians 2:1-3
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

V 2:1,2,3. You will need this power because you live upon a world that is fallen and driven by the prince of the power of the air. You're in a war Christian, but you've been bought out of that system and placed on another path.

Chapters 2–3. A big thought that resounded throughout these chapters was the eternal family of God. Whether we utilize the terms: church, body, family, building, temple… The thought provoked is a community of believers, who have a common union, resulting in a common unity: faith in the sacrifice of the righteous one has brought us together in him, and we have become The holy habitation of God during this timeframe known as the church age.
 
Chapter 4. Now, there is a transition taking place from doctrinal instruction to practical Christian living.
 
Some people have accused me of being too spiritual, taking the position that a practical path towards preaching is better for today's Christian. The problem with this thinking is that, if the spiritual life of the believer isn't properly dealt with, where the "old" dies and the "new" is resurrected, or where the heart is regenerated, even a spiritual circumcision of its filth, then practical Christian living will be nothing but a failing and frustrating endeavor.

 Ephesians 4:1
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
 

4:1. So the transition to practicality begins with the word "walk," which is really descriptive of one's behavior or daily Christian life. In other words, how you handle your business. "Can you talk to them about your Jesus after you did business with them?" Or did you "cut their ear off Peter?"

 Ephesians 4:2
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
 
4:2 in this verse, three adjectives describe how the believer's walk should look.
 
(1) [lowliness: humility]. This word was frowned upon in the Greek culture from which it originated. The description of humiliation associated with this word was used to describe the slaves of their society. However, the gospel turns around and teaches that when the "old man" born of Adam dies, the "new man" born in Christ takes upon himself the role of the slave (Philippians 2:6,7). Essentially, if you're going to be a real Christian, your "old man" and all his previous way of approaching this fallen world is going to have to die.
 
(2) [meekness: gentleness]. Often times, people mistake meekness for weakness. The Bible says that Moses was the meekest man on earth (numbers 12:3), but when Israel transgressed God (Exodus 32), he was enraged with righteous anger. Furthermore, even Jesus, who was the epitome of the meek and humble heart (Matthew 11:29) became enraged when He saw the moneychangers who were working in conjunction with the Pharisees and extorting the people.
 
• One other concept I would like to mention is that Paul made it clear that our unity (the people of God) is connected to our message (1Corinthians 1:10, 18). When leaders don't preach the gospel for the way it's written, the people are extorted spiritually and false doctrine results in their continued "worshiping" of false idols and sinning against God, simply because they're being deceived from the truth that liberates the soul. If this is happening to God's people, then there is going to be a lack of unity and if there is a prophetic voice in the house, a word of correction and righteous anger will be released.
 
(3) [long-suffering]. This word describes patience in relationships. We must always remember that we are all individuals and sometimes, we may get on each other's nerves; nevertheless, we are brothers and sisters in Christ. It should be noted that all these adjectives are fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23). Okay, so what's the significance with that? The significance with that is this: you can't manufacture this "stuff" through your flesh. This has to be done through a work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does his work in the life of the believer through dispensing grace into the heart as the believer maintains faith in the finished work of Christ.

 Ephesians 4:3
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
 
 4:3. The word endeavor describes labor or diligence. The mature believer works with diligence towards unity. Now, don't be confused and revert back to carnal Christian thinking: you can't change your heart and make it love when it's been wronged, but if you will allow the grace of God to circumcise your heart, then the fruit of the Spirit will be manifest in your life. From this perspective, you will be working in a spiritual sense, because you will know there are things in your heart that aren't right, and you will ask God to produce love, long-suffering, and peace through his grace.

 Ephesians 4:4-6
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
 
4:4, 5, 6. In the next three verses, there is a little bit of a transition that takes place, where the believer is reminded of the unifying example of the Godhead and the faith. Each member of the Trinity is mentioned while at the same time, the "oneness" or unity of God is emphasized as a reminder to the believer that the family of God is supposed to be one in purpose.
 
4:4. "One body and one Spirit" it's the Spirit of God that unifies and makes the people of God "one body" "in Christ."

4:5. "One Lord, one faith, one baptism "there's only one Lord and Savior and his name is Jesus Christ. And he alone is the entrance way into the one faith. We discussed this concept before, but in certain places the word faith is used as a noun rather than a verb. In this sense, the concept is "the faith." It is the place the Christian dwells, a translation into "the Christ," which places the Christian into "the faith."
 
Regarding the one baptism, some scholars seem to have disagreements: the question they banter over is whether this speaks of the baptizing of the believer into Christ by the person of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13), or the outward expression of this inner work, which is exhibited through water baptism. The main point I would like to clarify about this passage is this, it is faith in the sacrifice of the sinless one that allows the believer to be baptized or placed by the Holy Spirit into the person of Christ which now makes him righteous in the eyes of God. Water baptism is the outward physical sign of the inner spiritual work that has been completed in Christ. With that said, there is certainly truth connected to the fact that water baptism is the outward sign that a person is publicly professing their faith in Jesus Christ.
 
4:6. "One God and Father." God the Father is the authority of the Godhead. He resides in believers through the Spirit of God, which is made possible because of our position in Christ, which is made possible because of our "verb" faith placing us in the position of our noun "the faith."

#9 The Dwelling Place

Previously, we ended with the thought that God is not only preparing an eternal family, but He's also preparing an eternal dwelling place for His presence to be with His family. Presently, in this time frame known as the church age, God is preparing a bride, which is His body, who are individual lively stones, collectively being built as the temple of God where His presence will dwell upon this earth and reveal Himself to humanity until the consummation of this age.
 
Much of that thought is continued in the rest of this chapter. God desires to produce a place of habitation, so His presence can dwell with His people. He loves you, and He wants to live with you.
 
Ephesians 3:11 According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
 
The eternal purpose reflects back to the verse we left last week, which explained the fact that God is revealing to both humanity and His angelic creation His multi-layered, multi-faceted, multi-colored wisdom through His church.
 
While mankind may be walking around with blinded eyes upon this earth, I can assure you that the angelic creation, both good and bad, is anticipating the next move by God. And currently, the wisdom of God is being made manifest in the fact that through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, God has produced one family, more specifically, one "new man," a new creation in Christ.
 
Now, let's look a little closer at this first verse of tonight's study. The word purpose here has a lot of rich meaning with regards to the plan of God. The word purpose is used 12 times in the New Testament and is always either translated in English as the word purpose (as it is here) or shewbread. Now, we will continue the thought of the shewbread momentarily, but first, let's consider the meaning of the word itself, which is prosthesis. This is a compound word:
 
Pros- before or toward
Thesis- to show forth or put forth
 
With this in mind, if we continue the previous thought from last week, God desires to put forward or show forth the wisdom of His plan through the birthing of His people known as His church.
 
But let's consider the shewbread of the tabernacle, which we pointed out last week was a place God commanded Moses to build so that He His presence could dwell with His people (Exodus 25:8).
 
In this tabernacle, there was a golden table. Just the thought of a table carries with it the concept of communion or fellowship; for there are multiple references in the scriptures regarding the table of The Lord. More specifically, this table had lain upon it 12 loaves of bread. These loaves were situated in such a way that there were two stacks of six and upon each stack, there was a golden dish (vessel) where Frankincense was placed within and that vessel, which was filled with Frankincense, was placed upon the bread.
 
These loaves were called shewbread or the bread of presence, literally “the face” because they were to be placed continually before The Lord. In other words, the tabernacle is where God chose to dwell with His people and He wanted this bread in front of Him at all times. As we continue, we will see His reasoning is for communion, or worded differently, to dwell with His people.
 
Such care had to be taken with the exchanging of this bread, which was changed out on each Sabbath-- the day of God's rest. The procession of the changing would follow this pattern: eight priests were required in order to perform this solemn weekly ritual. In a fluid movement, two would remove the golden dishes containing the Frankincense, while two others removed the loaves and two others simultaneously replaced the loaves and two others simultaneously replaced the golden dishes with the Frankincense. There was never to be a moment within the tabernacle where these loaves were not before His presence (Numbers 4:7). Now, I have good news because God’s word tells us that Jesus is seated in the presence of the Father at His right hand, and (Ephesians 1:19; 2:6) tells us we’re in Him.
 
There is an extremely important spiritual principle in this: God desires for you to be in His presence. He has taken such meticulous moves to remain faithful to His plan through the millennia of preparing a place where His presence can dwell with His people. The good news is that Jesus is the fulfillment of those loaves; He never gets old or outdated and never has to be replaced, so you don't have to go one minute without His presence. As a matter of fact, I submit to you that if we find ourselves separated from His presence, it's not because He sent eight priests in to remove us; instead, we have removed ourselves.
 
After this task was completed, the priests were to eat the bread; whereas, a portion of the Frankincense was to be burned as an offering upon the fire. Fire is always symbolic of judgment and eating bread symbolic of communion. We can have Communion in the presence of God because of the fact that the sacrifice of Jesus took our judgment.

Regarding the Frankincense, there is much typology reflecting Jesus. First, the way it was harvested is reminiscent of the beating and sacrifice of our Lord; for Frankincense was a gum or resin extracted from a tree, which was accomplished by cutting deep incisions into the bark of the tree from which it came, resulting in the tree bleeding out a purely white resin. The name Frankincense literally means white, and this resin, which was burned upon the fire, represents the purity of Jesus. We are certainly not taking too much liberty when we connect Frankincense to our Lord; for the magi recognized the connection as they brought Frankincense (purity), Myrrh (used for embalming--death), and gold (royalty) and laid them at the feet of our Lord. In order to fulfill the Father’s will and assume His position as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, Jesus had to offer His purity as a sacrifice through death to purchase us from the dead.
 
The bread represented Christ. At the same time, the bread was 12 loaves representing Israel but stacked in two piles of six, which is the number of man. The presence of heaven's bread (John 6:35) perpetually in the face of God provides a place of communion for God's people and a hope of salvation for fallen man.
 
This brings us back to God's eternal purpose, which is to reveal Himself to His creation, through communion with His church, so that in this church age, a lost and dying world will see His plan and come to know His love.
 
Ephesians 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
 
There is no question in my mind that the Holy Spirit is calling us back to the book of Hebrews with the way this verse is worded. While we have covered this verse a lot lately, we must, because of the context, go back there one more time:
 
Hebrews 10:18-20 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin
 
[notice here the repetition with which the Law functioned: constantly sacrificing, constantly changing bread. Jesus' work is a finished work, so the repetition stops].
 
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
 
Most specifically the thought "boldness" and "entering in" should be compared to boldness and access in our Ephesians passage. And all this should be considered in conjunction with the fact that God is holy and His place (tabernacle) is holy; nevertheless, He has a very methodical plan through which He wants to dwell in communion with man.
 
Ephesians 3:13 Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.
 
Paul encouraged the saints at Ephesus not to allow his shackles to cause them discouragement as though his situation was a symptom that God wasn't accomplishing His purposes. To the contrary, Paul was convinced that even in the midst of his own personal imprisonment God had called him to minister the gospel to the Gentiles, and it was imperative that they understand his (Paul's) afflictions were for their glory.
 
Just let that sink in for a moment Christian. Think about how you order your own life, making all your decisions based upon what you perceive to be best for yourself rather than what's best for the body of Christ. Part of the churches' problem is that we don't view ourselves as the building of God; instead, we want to remain individual lively stones, not considering how decisions may affect the larger body of Christ. You may not like this, but this way of thinking is selfishness. Would a person cut off a finger without thinking about how it would affect the overall body from that point forward? Of course not, so why do we allow ourselves to make individual decisions without regard for how it will affect the overall body of Christ? Because I submit to you that we can't see Jesus like Paul did.
 
Ephesians 3:14-15 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
 
For the cause that God's purpose is being fulfilled in his life as a herald of the New Testament gospel, so the Gentile world will know the truth about Jesus, Paul bows his knees to the Father.
 
He bends the knee to the Father, and assumes a position of reverence in the presence of God. Even though he's in a jail cell for doing what God called him to do, he doesn't get bitter; instead, he reminds himself of how big the plan and purposes of God are, which he defines by going back to what all the previous thought alludes to: God is separating out for Himself a people for a family.
 
Ephesians 3:16-17 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
 
Strengthened- to be made strong_ (Strong's). Empowered to overcome resistance_ (Walvoord).
 
Might- comes from Dunamis, which is the miracle working power of God.
 
...strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;...
 
This thought is still in reference to the family of God dwelling together as both Jew and Gentile are made as one. Most people would probably agree that there are very few things upon earth that cause more strife than racial divide. When the people of God, who are made up of all tongues, tribes, and nations are able to dwell together, it shows the men of the world and the angels in the heavenly realm the wisdom and power of God's plan.
 
But in order for God's plan to work on a corporate level, the Spirit of God must be allowed permission to change believers on an individual level. We've repeatedly made this point as we've journeyed through this series, but God's purposes in the church (His people) is to reveal Himself to the lost and dying. There is resistance to God's plan by the forces of evil, and one of the biggest ways the enemy combats God's plan is through causing God's people to behave in such a way that their testimony becomes invalid.
 
So God wants to strengthen. He wants to empower the believer through His power to resist the plans of darkness. And by His Spirit, empower the inner man of the believer.
 
The inner man here speaks specifically of the soul of man. We have covered this thought before, but it should be repeated. The inner man consists of both soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12) and are the eternal aspects of our humanity; whereas, the physical aspect of our humanity is this temporal flesh in which our inner man is housed. Paul referred to this outward part as an earthen vessel that is fading in 2 Corinthians 4. But the good news is that as God changes our human frailties, the more His glory shines through these earthen vessels.
 
So the spirit and soul of man are the inner man and one day our external parts will be glorified. Regarding the inner man, the spirit is specifically that aspect to man that will never die; we are eternal beings; furthermore, the spirit of man is that part of him which connects with God:
 
John 4:23,2; Ezekiel 36:25-27
 
Until a man is born again, his spirit is dead to the things of God. This concept could be likened to a receiver implanted, allowing a connection between man and God to be made. In the Ezekiel passage, we are told that in the New Covenant there would be a change to our heart (which I believe in this text represents our soul-- emotion), a change to our spirit (God said He would put a new spirit in us) and lastly, He would put His Spirit in us.
 
Now, this concept goes perfectly with the thoughts that we've been discussing recently where the plan of God is to build a family, yes, but also a holy habitation for His presence to dwell. Once again, you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you (1 Corinthians 3:16). So now you can become a walking worship service. Worship isn't something we do; instead, worship is our lives given back to Him. We certainly can express some of that through music, but what Jesus was referring to when He spoke to the Samaritan woman was that God's plan for true worship isn't about a place; instead, it's about His presence. And when He told her that salvation was of the Jews, He meant that from Israel, more specifically, Judah, He came. He came and brought salvation, which when embraced allows the spirit of man to be awakened to the things of God.
 
So our spirit is the eternal aspect of who we are. Both angels and humans are spiritual beings, but we live in houses of flesh. Furthermore, with our spirit, we connect to God (when born again), or we remain dead to God (when unredeemed/ non- believer).
 
While the spirit of man connects to God personally, the soul of man connects to his external environment. Through his soul, man filters and processes the external environment he engages on a daily basis. The word often translated for soul is psuche, where we get our English word psyche, which refers to the mind, thoughts, and emotions of man. Literally, the soul of a man refers to his individuality. In other words, it's your soul that makes you who you are. Matt is Matt. He's not Robert and vice versa. And with that thought the eternal aspect of your humanity I believe will be completely cognizant of what's happening for all eternity. In other words, of a person is in hell, they will know it, hear it, smell it, feel it....
 
It is through our soul that we perceive the world we live within. In other words our soul is the inner part that receives all the incoming information that we receive from our physical surroundings. Our soul receives the information of our external surroundings, and our flesh or physical body in turn engages our physical surroundings.
 
This certainly doesn't mean that our soul doesn't experience God. To the contrary, our soul experiences and perceives our external environment. Therefore, if our external environment is filled with things of God, then our soul is receiving and processing data regarding the things of God rather than the things of the world.
 
So the intake reflects the output. When the soul stays connected to God through faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and our physical body follows suit, our hands pick up the Bible, our eyes behold the words of glory and our external filter is further filled with the things of God, and it just gets better: my mouth starts talking about Jesus, my hands start praising the Lord. My feet start walking to jail, not because I broke the law, but because I'm preaching Jesus.
 
And you could take this same scenario and apply it to multiple areas. But there is no doubt that these three aspects of our humanity are working in tandem with the free will that God gave man. If the soul is craving lust, it will use its physical members to feed its inner man lust and the result is that his spiritual connection to God becomes more distant. Whereas, the new man who craves the things of God, puts the environment of God within him, which feeds and strengthens the inner man.
 
Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
 
As the inner man is strengthened and changed, Christ, the anointed one is made to feel at home in our hearts. The word dwell describes reside, house, or live.
 
It's important that we understand that all this is made possible because of our connection point of faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When I say it that way: Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I mean it that way! Because that is the way that God has chosen to covenant with man. As a matter of fact, Jesus Christ and Him crucified is God's covenant with man (Matthew 26:26-28). When Jesus says this is the blood of the New Testament, that's another way for Him to say, "The offering of my life is the sacrifice required of the New Covenant, and your connection to the Father, which is represented by this communion meal, is through faith in my sacrifice."
 
Why does our faith have to daily remain in His sacrifice in order for all this to work?
 
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
 
First, let me remind you that we started down this trail because we're considering the concept of faith, because Ephesians 3:17 explains that it's by faith that Jesus is made to feel at home in the temple of our hearts.
 
But faith can be such an abstract thought. However I submit to you that in God's mind, it's not abstract at all. Instead, the Father has a specific plan that man is to connect to by taking his faith and keeping it there, and that plan is Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
 
Now, let's consider this thought more deeply. The Romans 5 passage says, "...being justified by faith..."
 
Well, first, what does it mean to be justified? It means to be declared righteous by God. You see, once again, God has a plan, and when man, places faith in God's plan (Jesus Christ and Him Crucified), that man is placed in Christ, receiving a new position of righteousness in Christ, which allows God to declare over that man's life a new verdict, "NOT GUILTY!" Furthermore, the not guilty verdict because of the gift of righteousness (Romans 5:17) allows the believer access into the grace of God.
 
In the presence of God, His grace changes things: the spirit of man is awakened to God, the soul of man begins craving what it was created for-- Jesus, and the physical body parts begin to connect to the godly resources that it's external environment has: church gatherings, study the scriptures, prayer, and practicing the presence of God. All this comes together, changing and strengthening the inner man to where Christ feels comfortable dwelling in our inner man.
 
Ultimately, this results in a process where a root system is formed and a settled foundation is established.