Three Groups of Humanity *

Posted on by

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Galatians 5:25

“There is an obvious difference in the character and quality of the daily life of Christians. This difference is acknowledged in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, has divided the whole human family into three groups:

  • The natural man who is unregenerate, or unchanged spiritually;

  • The carnal man who is a ‘babe in Christ’ and walks ‘as a man’;

  • The spiritual man

“These groups are classified by the Apostle according to their ability to understand and receive a certain body of Truth, which is of things revealed unto us by the [Holy] Spirit. Men are vitally different one from the other as regards the fact of the new birth and the life of power and blessing; but their classification is made evident by their attitude toward things revealed.

“Men are classified according to their ability to receive ‘the deep things of God’ (I Corinthians 2:10). Into these ‘deep things of God’ no unaided man can go. An unaided man may enter freely into the things of his fellow man because of ‘the spirit of man which is in him.’

“…divine revelation is transmitted to us in words which the Holy Spirit teaches, as the Apostle goes on to state: ‘Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual’ (I Corinthians 2:13). God’s Book is a Book of words and the very words which convey ‘man’s wisdom’ are used to convey things which ‘eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man’ (I Corinthians 2:9).

“Nevertheless, unaided man cannot understand these ‘deep things of God,’ though couched in words most familiar to man, except as they are revealed by the Spirit. Just so, in coming to know these revealed things, progress is made only as one spiritual thing is compared with another spiritual thing. Spiritual things must be communicated by spiritual means. Apart from the Spirit there can be no spiritual understanding.”

==============

* He That is Spiritual, Chapter 1, by Lewis Sperry Chafer

 

Genuine and Balanced Spirituality*

Posted on by

 

“By the word genuine I mean biblical, for only in the Bible do we have truth that is indisputably reliable. For this reason, the Bible must be the guide and test for all or our experiences to the spiritual life, for biblical spirituality is the only genuine spirituality. The practical importance of this is simply that all experiences of the spiritual life must be tested by biblical truth, and if any experience, no matter how real it may have been, fails to pass that test, it must be discarded. Of course, this is much easier said than done, but it is the only road to genuine or biblical spirituality.

“A second key word is the word…balanced. There is nothing more devastating to the practice of spiritual living than an imbalance. One of my former teachers repeatedly reminded us that an imbalance in theology was the same as doctrinal insanity. The same applies to the realm of Christian living. Too much emphasis on the mystical may obscure the practicality of spiritual living…

In Ryrie’s introduction to the subject of spirituality, he comments on the word spiritual in the New Testament. “…(the word) has a rather wide range of uses, all of which are consistent with the basic idea pertaining to spirit.

  • Demonic hosts are called spirit beings as distinct from human beings (Ephesians 6:12);

  • The Mosaic Law is called spiritual (Romans 7:14);

  • The future resurrected body of the believer is termed a spiritual body in contrast to the natural, mortal body which he has until death (I Corinthians 15:44);

  • A rather large range of activities and relationships of the believer are called spiritual:

    1. The exercise of spiritual gifts bestowed on the believer by the Holy Spirit (Romans 1:11; I Corinthians 12:1; 14:1);

    2. The unity of all Christians likened to stones of a building called a spiritual house (I Peter 2:5);

    3. The Israelites’ manna in the desert is called spiritual food and Christ is called a spiritual “Rock” in the desert (I Corinthians 10:3-4);

    4. The Christian’s vocal praise to God is called songs, hymns, and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16);

    5. The believer’s mind is to be filled with spiritual wisdom (Colossians 1:9);

    6. The believer’s position in the heavenlies is blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3);

  • The most distinctive use of the word spiritual in the New Testament is regarding the believer’s spiritual growth and maturing in his Christian life. To be truly spiritual, a person must experience the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit by giving him new life in Jesus Christ.” The Apostle Paul contrasts the spiritual man with the natural man (I Corinthians 2:14-15), who, having not the Holy Spirit, is an unregenerated individual (cf. Jude 19) lacking life—spiritual life.

The spiritual man and the natural man are worth explaining in subsequent posts.

==============

* Balancing the Christian Life, Chapter 1, by Charles Ryrie

 

Biblical Spirituality in 2022

Posted on by

This post begins a new study of Biblical Spirituality. Please check here from time to time for short installments on what the Bible says about being “spiritual” and how to live a spiritual life—the kind of life that God wants every Christian to live.

Living a God-honoring spiritual life is not easy. I heard the story of a boy who saved up to buy very expensive ice hockey skates—the kind worn by the pros. He learned that those expensive skates didn’t make him a better skater than he’d been with his old skates. The lesson is that you can have the best skates in the world, but if you reject instruction, regular training, and practice, you’ll be a mediocre hockey player.

God has given every believer the equipment we need to live godly spiritual life. (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: II Peter 1:3.)  Like the kid who bought expensive skates, we also need to avail ourselves of instruction, training, and practice with the spiritual tools God gave us:

  • The indwelling Holy Spirit as our guide—if we will listen to Him.
  • Jesus Christ is with us every step of the way—we need to stay close to Him.
  • The Bible has timeless, practical instruction for daily living—if we read it and obey it.

So what is needed for us to use that treasure chest of equipment that God has given us?

Answers to that and other important questions are ahead in 2022!

==============

Recommended references:

He that is Spiritual by Lewis Sperry Chafer

Balancing the Christian Life by Charles Ryrie

The New Nature by Renald Showers

Hope for 2022!

Posted on by

My expectation for 2022 is that the LORD will return soon!

“Even so, come Lord Jesus!” Revelation 22:20b

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,

and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,

and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes;

and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,

neither shall there be any more pain:

for the former things are passed away.

Revelation 21:3-4

“The Highway of the Seed”

Posted on by

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

It is the time of year when we look to the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus – a season of FAITH and HOPE. I find myself going back to chapter three of the book of Genesis where I see the first promise of a future Blessed One sent from God who will crush Satan once and for all and save mankind from the sin that every one of us inherited from our parents going back to Adam and Eve.

 “And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her Seed;

He shall bruise your head,

And you shall bruise His heel.”

Genesis 3:15

Thus began an unbroken, scarlet thread running through history as the seed of the first woman (Eve) was passed down to male offspring from generation to generation. This “Highway of the Seed” * was divinely preserved until Jesus Christ (the Messiah of God) was born in Bethlehem.

“But when the fullness of the time was come,

God sent forth his Son, made of a woman,

made under the law.”

Galatians 4:4

 

“…behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream, saying,

‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife,

for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

And she will bring forth a Son,

and you shall call His name Jesus [Savior],

for He will save His people from their sins.’”

Matthew 1:20b-21

But the story does not end with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The sinless Son of God grew up and went to the cross to shed His blood for the sins of the whole world. The Highway of the Seed continues today in all who put their faith in Him! You can be saved today by believing in Jesus who died for you.

“…that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus

and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,

you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness,

and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.’

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek [non-Jew],

for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.

For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

Romans 10:9-13

=================================

* I’m not sure where I first heard the term “The Highway of the Seed.” Like “The Scarlet Thread of Redemption,” it is a memorable phrase for the eternal plan of God to send His Son into the world to save sinners in fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. Satan used every evil trick to corrupt the physical line of the promised Savior and he failed! Wars, plagues, drought, famine, disease, corruption, betrayal, murder, incest, and every demonic sin imaginable could not end the godly Messianic line. When Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem it caused all the angelic hosts to break into a heavenly chorus – Glory to God in the Highest!

 

Final Words on Contentment

Posted on by

Not that I speak in respect of want:

for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am,

therewith to be content.

Philippians 4:11

We’ve spent 2021 looking at what Pastor Jeremiah Burroughs (1599-1646) had to say about Learning Christian Contentment in his book, The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. One thing I’ve learned in this year of Covid 2.0 is how difficult it is to be truly content with what God is doing in our lives. I will be honest that I find it discouraging sometimes to see how God is working in the lives of other believers. When I find myself being critical or judgmental, I need to stop and say to myself, “Let God be God! Let Him work out his plan in me and in others through this pandemic. Leave it all in His hands.” This has been a year to observe the contrast between the sinful works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) and of the Holy Spirit (2:22-23). Because of what I’ve seen in myself and in others during the past year, I want to be more spiritual. We will examine the topic of Spirituality in 2022!

 

A few final encouraging words from Jeremiah Burroughs:

“I have spent many sermons on this lesson of contentment, but I am afraid that you will be longer in learning it than I have been preaching of it: it is a harder thing to learn it than it is to preach or speak of it. I have been thirty-eight years learning this lesson and have not learned it thoroughly. The truth is, there are many, I am afraid, who have been (believers) near eight and thirty years, who have hardly learned this lesson.

“Contentment is a necessary lesson for a Christian. Paul said, he had learned in all estates therewith to be content (Philippians 4:11). Oh, do not be content with yourselves till you have learned this lesson of Christian Contentment, and have obtained some better skill in it than heretofore.”

 

How to Attain Contentment – Part 4

Posted on by

I am crucified with Christ:

nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:

and the life which I now live in the flesh

I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,

and gave himself for me

Galatians 2:20

This last list of suggestions from Jeremiah Burroughs (1599-1646) on Learning Christian Contentment has gems of wisdom for our consideration.

Number 15 (below) is a truth that holds forth the sanctification of every believer in Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 6-8 are too often overlooked. They speak of our “co-crucifixion” with Christ (Galatians 2:20 above). When Christ died-we died with Him. When Christ was buried-we were buried with Him. When Christ rose from the dead-we rose with Him. When God saved us we became so identified with Christ that we are in Him and He is in us. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4).

 

  1. “Do not reckon on too great things. Paul says, ‘And having food and raiment let us be therewith content’ (I Timothy 6:8). He did not soar too high aloft. Those who look at high things in the world meet with disappointments, and so they come to be discontented. Be as high as you will in spiritual meditations; God gives liberty there to anyone of you to be as high as you will, above angels. But for your outward estate, God will not have you aim at high things; as the Lord said to Baruch, ‘And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not’ (Jeremiah 45:5). ‘For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith’ (Romans 12:3).

  1. “Labor to get your hearts mortified to the world, dead to the world. We are baptized into the death of Christ (Romans 6:3-5) that is to signify that we have taken such a profession as to be professed to be even dead men to the world (Colossians 2:20-23). The things in which our happiness consists are of a different kind, and we may be happy with these; this is a kind of deadness to the world.

  1. “Let not men and women pore too much upon their afflictions: that is, busy their thoughts too much to look down into their afflictions. You find many people, all of whose thoughts are taken up about what their crosses and afflictions are, they are altogether thinking and speaking of them. It is just with them as with a child who has a sore: his finger is always on the sore; so men’s and women’s thoughts are always on their afflictions.” ‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things’ (Philippians 4:8).

  1. “Do not so much regard the fancies of other men. For the reason of our discontentment many times is rather from the fancies of other men than from what we find we lack ourselves. ..almost all the discontent in the world is rather from the fancies of others than from the evil that is in themselves. Oh, do not let your happiness depend on the fancies of other men!

  1. “Be not inordinately taken up with the comforts of this world when you have them.” ‘For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows’ (I Timothy 6:10).

 

How to Attain Contentment – Part 3

Posted on by

This next-to-last lesson from Jeremiah Burroughs (1599-1646) on Learning Christin Contentment fits well with my topic for 2022! Using terms from a different century, he touches on things like the Christian’s relationship to the evil world system (Greek – cosmos), contentment is living by faith, and being spiritually minded

In January we will examine this critical question: “What does it mean to be spiritual?” God instructs us to live our lives “in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16), but what does that mean? The answer to that questions is foundational to living the Christian life the way God wants us to live it. Stay tune!

Set your mind on things above,

not on things on the earth.

Colossians 3:2 (NKJV)

Burroughs gives us five more considerations for attaining contentment:

  1. “Do not grasp too much of the world. Do not take in more of the business of the world than God calls you to. Do not be greedy of taking in a great deal of the world, for if a man goes among thorns, when he may take a simpler way, he has no reason to complain that he is pricked by them. Must you of necessity go among the thorns of the world? Then it is another matter. But if you choose to walk among the things of the world, you will meet with disappointments and discontentments in everything we meddle with.

  1. “Be sure of your call to every business you go about. (Ephesians 2:10) Though it is the least business, be sure of your call to it, that whatever you meet with, you may quiet your heart with this: I know I am where God would have me be. Oh, this will quiet and content you when you meet with trouble.

  1. “Walk by rule in the work that I am called to. I must walk by the Word of God and order myself in this business according to God’s mind as far as I am able. Let men and women keep within the bounds of the command of God, of the rule that God has set them in his Word. But if they go beyond the pale, if they pass their bounds, then they may expect to meet with troubles, and afflictions, and discontentment. [I understand that Burroughs is not advocating legalism here. God’s Word is to be our guide in all we do in life. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105]

  1. “Exercise faith. A life of faith is the way of contentment. Master Perkins said, ‘The life of faith is a true life.’ Exercise faith, not only in the promise that all shall work together for good to them that love God (Romans 8:28), but likewise exercise faith in God himself, as well as in his Word, and in God’s attributes [loving-kindness, mercy, grace, etc.]

  1. “Be spiritually minded. Meditate on things above and not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:2; Philippians 2:5-11). Many Christians who have an interest in the things of Heaven converse very little with them. Their meditations are not much upon heavenly things. (Psalm 63:5-6)”

 

 

How to Attain Contentment – Part 2

Posted on by

And Jesus saith unto him,

The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests;

but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Mathew 8:20 (KJV)

As these lessons in Learning Christian Contentment draw to a close, our instructions from Jeremiah Burroughs arrive at recommendations about “How to Attain Contentment.” My next few blog posts will divide each of these into two short sections that will bring us to the end of the lessons on contentment and the end of 2021. Watch for the last post in December for a peek at the topic in view for 2022!

Burroughs continues with four more considerations for attaining contentment:

  1. “Consider the condition that others have been in. Moses might have had all the treasure in Egypt, and some historians say of him, Pharaoh’s daughter adopted him for her son, and so he was likely to have come to the crown. Yet what a low condition he lived in, when he went to live with Jethro his father-in-law forty years tending sheep in the desert! …the great instruments of God in the first Reformation lived in great straits, in a very low condition. But above all, set Christ before us, who professes that the birds of the air had nests, and the foxes holes, yet the Son of man had no place to hide his head, such a low condition was he in.

  1. “Consider that, before your conversion, before God wrought upon your souls, you were contented with a world without grace and you had no interest in God nor Christ. Why cannot you now be contented with grace and spiritual things without the world?

  1. “Consider, when God has given you such contentments in the past that you have not given him glory. When God has given you your heart’s desire, what have you done with your heart’s desire?

  1. “Consider all the experiences that you have had of God’s doing good to you even though you have lacked some comforts. It is true, when ministers only tell men that God will work good out of afflictions, they hear them speak and think they speak good words, but they feel little or no good. They still feel nothing but pain. When I tell you that God will work good out of your affliction, have you yourselves not found it to be so by your own experience? Think this to yourself: Lord, why may not this affliction work as great a good upon me as other afflictions have done in the past?”

I have seen this last consideration in my own life and in the lives of others. A woman’s husband went through the suffering of a heart attack, surgery, and a full recovery only to praise God that the experience worked so powerfully in his life that he could not imagine being as close to God as he was if he hadn’t gone through that experience. A woman I knew went through treatments for pancreatic cancer and before she died she testified that her daily prayers and time in God’s Word were the best she’d ever had in all her years as a believer.

I think of the chorus to the hymn, His Yoke is Easy by R.E. Hudson where he reflects on the yoke that God placed on him and found from experience that it was not a harsh, crushing burden, but an easy yoke and a light burden because God was with him each moment.

His yoke is easy; His burden is light.

I’ve found it so; I’ve found it so.

He leadeth me by day and by night,

Where living waters flow.

 

 

Gentle and Lowly

Posted on by

This excerpt is from the first chapter of a book that someone from my church recommended during a difficult time in my life. We can’t undo things we’ve said or done in the past that harmed people or things they said that harmed us . People quote Philippians 3:13-14 and say, “Well, what’s past is past” or “Just look to the Lord and the future.” They mean well, but that’s hardly a comfort when feelings are raw and emotional pain is real.

I turn to Hebrews 4:14-16 when things grow darkest and remind myself that Jesus Christ, our High Priest and Intercessor in Heaven, also suffered intense emotional rejection and sympathizes with our pain and suffering.

The author of the book from which this is an excerpt uses the ESV translation of the Bible which I find acceptable, although not preferred. May the Lord bless you with these words.

 

“…in only one place—perhaps the most wonderful words ever uttered by human lips—do we hear Jesus himself open up to us his very heart:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30 – ESV).

“In the one place in the Bible where the Son of God pulls back the veil and lets us peer way down into the core of who he is, we are not told that he is “austere and demanding in heart.” We are not told that he is “exalted and dignified in heart.” We are not even told that he is “joyful and generous in heart.”

“One thing to get straight right from the start is that when the Bible speaks of the heart, whether Old Testament or New, it is not speaking of our emotional life only but of the central animating center of all we do. It is what gets us out of the bed in the morning and what we daydream about as we drift off to sleep. It is our motivation headquarters. The heart, in biblical terms, is not part of who we are but the center of who we are. Our heart is what defines and directs us. That is why Solomon tells us to ““Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The heart is the matter of life. It is what makes us the human being that each of us is. The heart drives all we do. It is who we are.

“And when Jesus tells us what animates him most deeply, what is most true of him—when he exposes the innermost recesses of his being—what we find there is gentle and lowly.”

———————————————————————————————————–

From Gentle and Lowly – The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers, by Dane Ortland, Crossway Boks, 2020