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Royal Priesthood Under the Royalty privileges of the Church Age believers, God gave every member of the royal family of God dual commissions which are: the royal priesthood and royal ambassadorship. The royal priesthood functions privately before God, while the royal ambassadorship functions publicly before men. The Church Age believer must know when to function as royal priest and as royal ambassador. Confusion on this basic doctrine leads to a wrong operation under divine protocol that makes spiritual growth impossible and blasphemy as a way of life. Royal Priesthood. A priest is a human being who represents himself or others before God. There are four legitimate orders of priests in the Scripture. In the dispensation of the Gentiles, the patriarch who was the head of the family was also the family priest. The head of the family represented the family in the matters of worship. The duties included presenting revealed doctrine and officiating the rituals and animal sacrifices (Gen. 4:3-5, 8:20, 22:13). In the dispensation of the Gentiles, the royal priest exemplified by Melchizedek, King of Salem represented his nation to God (Gen. 14:18, Heb. 5:6, 10). In the dispensation of Israel, and in the future Millennium, God ordained the Levitical priesthood to serve on behalf of the nation (Num.3:5-10, Lev. 8:1-30). This order of priesthood taught Bible doctrine verbally and ceremonially through the rituals authorized by the Mosaic Law. The Levitical priesthood was exclusively assigned only to the unblemished adult male from the family of Aaron in the Tribe of Levi (Lev. 21:17-21). Fourth, the royal priesthood order of our Lord Jesus Christ is automatically granted to every Church Age believer. Since a priest is a human being, the Second Person of the Trinity had to become true humanity in order to become our High Priest and provide our salvation (Heb. 7:24). Christ is our royal High Priest forever (Heb. 5:6, 10). He represented us before God when He offered Himself on the cross. Although Christ propitiated the Father on behalf of all men, all men do not belong to the royal priesthood (Heb. 7:14). Our High Priest won the strategic victory in the angelic conflict (Heb. 6:17-20), and as royal priest, our function is to win the tactical victory. The tactical victory is won when God is able to demonstrate His integrity by pouring out maximum blessing to a member of the human race. As member of the royal family of God, we are here as priests to learn Bible doctrine and thus be blessed by God ( Politeuma: Heavenly Privileges on Earth). The Church Age priesthood is universal, which is the basis for spiritual privacy, and the ground for effective prayer (Rom. 14:4, 10:2). The first three orders of priests have severely restricted membership and priests continue to be a small minority among believers. The Church Age priesthood is unique since it includes every believer in union with Christ (Rev. 1:6, 5:10). The Church Age priesthood is the most exalted priestly order in the entire human history (Heb. 9:11-14). The setting for the royal priest's duties is inside the divine dynasphere, in contrast to the service of the Old Testament priesthoods which serve at man-made altars. The universal priesthood of the Church Age believers does not imply total independence from one another, because as priests they have responsibilities before God and among believers. Although autonomous before God, believers do not live in isolation from each another. The Christian service of individual believer-priests also brings them into contact with other Christians. The spiritual privacy of the believers is not a barrier that separates people apart but rather contributes to a rewarding relationship with other people, and especially among believers. Each believer-priest is responsible for residing in the divine dynasphere, for learning Bible doctrine, and for living his own life before the Lord, but he does have to eliminate or distort human relationships. The local church is a place where believers meet to hear Bible doctrine, whereby wonderful human relationships can develop on the common ground of love for the Word of God. Privacy allows each person in the congregation to choose his own activities, within and outside the church, and to pursue or decline relationships on his own initiative. Every believer is a priest (1 Peter 2:5, 9) who represents himself before God (Heb. 13:15-16). Unlike the priestly order of Old Testament dispensation, every believer is a priest from the time he is born again (regenerated), but this priestly function becomes effective only as he attains successive stages of spiritual adulthood. The royal ambassadorial function of the believer will remain ineffective and not operational without Bible doctrine resident and functional in the soul. Spiritual growth is a result of the believer-priest's protocol function before God. The faithful intake of Bible doctrine, which is the basis for spiritual growth and attainment of spiritual maturity, is the primary priestly function. The priority of every royal priest is his spiritual momentum inside the divine power system. Spiritual maturity is a result of the believer-priest's function before God. The only setting for priest function is inside the realm of spirituality. The universal priesthood does not imply total independence of believers from one another because priesthood and the spiritual gifts create the balance. Success in the ministry does not belong to the priests but to God alone. We do not count heavenly success in our earthly ministry. The priests are servants of God, and the servants simply obey regardless of his own feelings, moods, health or physical condition or when he is inspired or not. We do not need any spiritual inspiration before we move to obey. The true priests of the Old Testament functioned starting at the age of 25 until their compulsory retirement of age 50. The Levitical priests were given the privilege to forsake their personal conditions and situation in life to concentrate on their function. The royal priesthood of the Church age begins at the moment of salvation and terminates at the moment of physical death or at Rapture. The believer functions as a royal priest all throughout his spiritual life on earth, while his royal ambassadorship functions effectively only from the time he reaches spiritual maturity. Termination of the royal priesthood and ambassadorial function is through physical death or at Rapture. There is no vacation or furlough for Church Age believer. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
Royal Ambassador In human sphere, an ambassador is a high ranking minister or member of the royalty sent to represent his nation on a foreign land. As spiritual ambassadors we represent the Lord Jesus Christ in the devil*s world. (2 Cor. 5:18-20). We are spiritual royalty serving as emissaries of the King of kings and Lord of lords who is now absent from the world. Just as we are appointed priests at the point of salvation, we are also appointed as royal ambassador at the moment we believe in Christ. All Church age believers are automatically in full time Christian service. No decision or dedication later in our lives will add anything to our original divine appointments. In every nation God appoints the royal ambassador to be His representatives on earth. No ambassador is self-appointed and no ambassador is appointed by someone inferior than him. The royal ambassador is appointed by the High Priest of the royal family of God. A nation's ambassador does not support himself. We are supported in Satan's kingdom by the logistical grace coming from God. God supplies all the logistical grace needed and necessary to perpetuate the believer's physical and spiritual life in the devil's world. No ambassador needs to support himself (or worry about his personal material needs) while working for his country. An Ambassador has written instructions to avoid any confusion or violation of the protocol. The royal ambassador operates according to the written mystery doctrines of the New Testament. This is the written instruction related to our function as royal priest and royal ambassador. An ambassador does not belong to the nation to which he is sent. He is a citizen of a distant country to which he gives his loyalty. The royal ambassador of Christ has his citizenship in heaven. They are not the citizens of the country they serve. We are in the world but we are not of the world (Philippians 3:20). An ambassador does not reside in his assigned country to advance his personal agenda but through fulfilling his royal warrant. The royal ambassador lives to glorify Christ and personally benefits not by following his own agenda but by fulfilling his royal merit by following the divine protocol. He does not stay behind on this planet to advance his personal interests. An ambassador does not take insults personally and the criticism against his people or leaders. The royal ambassador does not take the negative volition of the people as a personal insult but continues to faithfully represent Christ regardless of the mockery and adversaries he receives. The insults they throw against Christ and His Word is not personal for the ambassador. The recall of a nation's ambassador accompanies a declaration of war. The recall of the royal ambassadors on earth by rapture will commence the Great Tribulation, which is divine declaration of war against nations. In absence of the Lord Jesus Christ, God uses ambassadors in every walk of life (Rom. 12:6-13). He has ambassadors in every sector, in all field of work, everywhere. God has assigned you, no matter what you do for a living, or in whatever circle you move as a representative of Christ. Every Church Age believer must reach spiritual maturity to function effectively as royal ambassador in his own circle. Every believer is to be an ambassador wherever he is, and make a pulpit out of his own circumstances. As ambassadors, we are here to represent the absent Christ through various categories of spiritual production mandated in the Scripture. The ambassadorial service may fall within the specialized function of our individual spiritual gifts, or it is simply obedience to the responsibility common to all believers like the task of witnessing (2 Cor. 9:20). As priest, the believer represents himself before God: as royal ambassador he represents Christ to the world. The royal priest functions in privacy before God, while the royal ambassador, functions in public before the world. The priesthood is related to learning Bible doctrine, the ambassadorship is related to interacting with other people. The royal priesthood emphasizes spiritual advance, while the ambassadorship emphasizes spiritual service. The royal priest receives blessings from God, while the royal ambassador gives blessings to men. Divine blessing comes to the believer always through the priesthood, never through his ambassadorship. Our purpose as royal ambassadors is to produce overt spiritual productions that became blessing to others. As royal ambassador we give blessings, but as royal priest we receive blessings. The blessing we give do not glorify God, what glorifies God is the blessing that He gives, the function that He performs which proves His perfect character and demonstrates His integrity. God is glorified by giving the believers the motivation and opportunity to produce divine good. Our spiritual production is the natural result of the priestly function which does not count for any merit before God. We do not glorify God by our Christian activity but by our receiving blessing from Him. With genuine spiritual growth under the royal priesthood, the believer's ambassadorial service becomes an opportunity and a privilege, a blessing in itself on top of many other blessings. The royal ambassadorship becomes an avenue of expression evident of their virtue personal love for the Lord. The proper motivation from Bible doctrine, applied under the filling of the Holy Spirit, causes the advancing believers to easily and naturally represent Jesus Christ with personal knowledge and profound appreciation. The function of the ambassador follows only after the function of the priest. Advancing in Bible doctrine means the eventual advancing in spiritual production and maximum production comes only in spiritual maturity. The effectiveness of the royal ambassador is related to the believer's spirituality and maturity. Genuine spiritual production is inseparable from the ministry of the Holy Spirit. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries There are seven ministries of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation:
The Holy Spirit indwells the body of every Church Age believer, together with the Father and with the Son. The purpose of the indwelling is to make the believer's body a temple worthy of Christ. (2 Cor. 6:16). The command to glorify God is fulfilled by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit executes and maintains the plan of the Father in the life of the positive volition believer who adheres to the will, plan and purpose of God. Two vital ministries of the Holy Spirit are involved in the glorification of Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells the body of the believer so that Christ may take up royal residence there while the filling of the Holy Spirit enables the believer to reflect the glory of the resident Christ. Indwelling puts the Spirit's help near within the Christian himself; filling actually delivers the Spirit's help as He invisibly energizes the spiritual residence of the believer, which is the divine domain or power system. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is permanent while the filling of the Holy Spirit is of temporal effect. The Scripture has no commands for the Church Age believers to be indwelt by the Spirit because His indwelling is a constant reality. The Bible commands the believer to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18, Gal. 5:16). The believer cannot change the indwelling of the Holy Spirit while the filling of the Spirit is a matter of choice. The believer loses the filling of the Holy Spirit by committing sin. He restores the filling of the Holy Spirit by confessing or acknowledging his sin to the Father (1 John 1:9). The principle of rebound remains the same in all dispensations as the only means of recovering fellowship with God. The Holy Spirit is the power source in the divine domain. Living outside the divine domain is living under the power of the old sinful nature that leads to grieving or quenching of the Spirit, (Eph. 4:30, 1 Thessalonians 5:19). Living in the cosmic system is extremely dangerous for all believers. Living inside the divine sphere implies being filled with the Holy Spirit. While the believer concentrates on Bible doctrine, the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth in the soul of the believer (1 Corinthians 2:9-16). The indispensable ministry of the indwelling Spirit (like illuminating the Bible doctrine, convicting the believer to rebound, teaching the Word) operates only when the believer is filled with the Spirit. Filling of the Holy Spirit is the access key that opens many doors inside the will, plan and purpose of God. The instantaneous effects of the indwelling is permanent, it cannot be lost, undone, altered, canceled and it does not need repetition nor achieved what they call the second baptism of the Holy Spirit, because the believer has been saved, secured, and sealed in Christ. The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred when the believer decided to believe and receive the salvation by grace, through faith in Christ alone. At that very moment the Holy Spirit came to dwell in the believer, He has come to stay permanently. Nothing can make the indwelling of the Holy Spirit invalid not even God because He cannot deny Himself or render void His perfect work (Rom. 8:37). The teaching of second baptism of the Spirit has no place in the Scripture but purely human invention and was just incorporated in the church doctrine. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a one time experience that cannot be repeated because spiritual regeneration happens only once in the life of a person (Eph. 1:13). At the moment of baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit indwells the believer making him a child of God permanently (Rom. 8:9-14). The believer's relationship with God is absolute and permanent, but his fellowship with God is temporal. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is irrevocable and unchangeable. Nobody can cancel, revoke, terminate, revise, change or modify it. The only repeatable work of the Holy Spirit in the post salvation life of the believer is the filling of the Holy Spirit, which enables the believer to live a victorious Christian life by the power of the Holy Spirit. The filling of the Holy Spirit needs repetition from time to time as a requirement for the believer to go back to the realm of spirituality. The book of Acts is a historical book where the narrative is descriptive not prescriptive, therefore the period covered by Acts is transitory. Many of the recorded events were not repeatable experiences. The historical context may not be neglected in our efforts to understand the Word of God. There is no second baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Bible, and we are not commanded to have a second baptism of the Holy Spirit. The false teaching of the second baptism was popularized by the nominal Christians to support their man-made doctrines. They failed to make a distinction between the permanent effect of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the repeatable results of the filling of the Holy Spirit. This false doctrine is hindering the believers with their potential and privileges to reach spiritual maturity and thereby losing their blessing in time and eternity. Such false doctrine is an effective tool in the hand of Satan for enslaving a multitude of ignorant believers. Only progressive intake of Bible doctrine can set them free. In the early 1900s the cults introduced the doctrine of second baptism of the Spirit, followed by dogmatic teaching of speaking in tongues. While in the 1950s, they introduced the slaying of the Spirit, that is, falling backwards whenever they claimed of being baptized by the Holy Spirit. Just recently, they introduced the holy laughter, claiming that the spirit of joy possesses them. In short, cultic teachings have become progressive invention, not the orthodox teaching of the Bible. They continue to invent doctrines that has deceived and enslaved people. Every believer must examine the Scripture carefully using the legitimate approach to biblical interpretation. Take for example what the Bible says about falling backwards. King Saul was slain not by the Holy Spirit but by evil spirits (1 Samuel 19:23-24), because he disobeyed God. Saul fell down backwards and for a day and a night he laid down naked. Eli the high priest fell backwards broke his neck and died (1 Samuel 4:18). It was divine judgment for Eli. The murderous mob looking for Jesus fell backwards when confronted (John 18:6). Falling backwards is not a sign of blessing but judgment, not a sign of spirituality but of corruption. The so-called slaying of the Holy Spirit of the cults is nothing but a pre-programmed emotional response. Some even have rehearsals on how to fall backwards before their worship performance. Believers who have accepted demonic doctrines and human viewpoint will reject Bible doctrine. Preachers who preaches satanic lies and humanistic viewpoints (in disguise of truth) can easily deceive people. These are preachers who are dependent on their so-called "visions", "messages from God", "spiritual dreams" and "divine illuminations". The slaying of the spirit is not Biblical and not the teaching of the Lord Jesus or of His disciples. Slaying people is not the ministry of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing in the Scripture that teaches or implies such work or function of the Holy Spirit. No Bible character ever mentioned that he in any way had experienced the slaying of the Holy Spirit. The slaying of the spirit is not the work of God but of the devil. The advocates of the devil invented such doctrines to mislead and deceive the ignorant. The Holy Spirit is God Himself who possesses all the attributes of being infinite and a perfect deity. He is of the same essence as of the Father and of the Son. The Holy Spirit is the same in substance, equal in power and authority with the Father and with the Son. As a Person, He can be lied to (Acts 5:3), resisted (Acts 7:51), grieved and blasphemed (Eph. 4:30, Matt. 12:31), or even insulted (Heb. 10:29). The post salvation ministry are the filling of the Holy Spirit and the glorification of Christ in the believer (John 7:39, 16;7, 14) in two stages: at the point of spiritual maturity, and at the point of spiritual victory in the evidence testing. God is not glorified by anything other than by His own perfect personality, by His own work, and function. Man cannot invent, improvise or do anything to glorify God apart from the will and purpose of God. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. God the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, while the Father is neither proceeding nor begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the same essence as that of the Father and of the Son. Although the Holy Spirit is same in substance, equal in power and equal in authority (co-eternal, co-equal, co-infinite) with the other Persons of the Trinity, He is subordinate to them in role and function. There is a functional hierarchy within the Godhead (in relation to men in the world). God the Son is under God the Father who sent the Son into the world [John 3:17, 17:8]. God the Spirit is both sent by God the Father and God the Son (John 15:26). The Son glorifies the Father (John 14:13) and the Holy Spirit glorifies the Son (John 16:13-14). In the lives of believers, the most difficult task of the Holy Spirit is the conviction of sin leading to rebound and its results, the filling of the Holy Spirit (resulting to residence and function in the divine power system). The first politeuma privilege of every Church age believer is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit For an individual to receive the free gift of salvation his non-meritorious faith is the only requirement, because God has done everything. Salvation is beyond human ability to achieve, earn or deserve. It is a free gift from God, and it is a privilege to receive it. God in His grace is inviting individuals to receive the free gift. The baptism of the Holy Spirit, is the coming of the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation is a one-time experience for the believer at the instance of his conversion (Eph. 1:13). The Holy Spirit indwells the believer and makes him a child of God permanently (Rom. 8:9-14). The divine relationship made by God transcends time and space a relationship that goes beyond time and space, au unbreakable relationship (Rom. 8:35-39). The filling of the Holy Spirit is a repeatable work of the Holy Spirit in the post salvation life of the believer, which enables the submissive believer to live a victorious Christian life by the power and grace of God. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is a one-time experience that does not needs repetition. There is no second baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. The baptism of the Holy Spirit puts an individual in permanent union with God assuring him of his eternal security (see: The Divine Plan of Grace for Blessing Men). At the moment of salvation, an individual receives 39 unrepeatable and one repeatable gift from God (see: 40 Gifts from God). The unrepeatable gift is the filling of the Holy Spirit. What the cults calls baptism of the Holy Spirit is actually called by the Bible as filling of the Holy Spirit. The so-called baptism of Acts 1:5 is defined as filling in Acts 2:4. The Greek word baptizo has several meanings: to dip, to immerse, to cleanse, to wash or to be filled with. There is no command for believers to have a second baptism of the Holy Spirit but rather for the filling of the Holy Spirit. The believers of Acts chapters 1 & 2 were not yet baptized with the Holy Spirit when Jesus ascended to heaven. The disciples of chapters 8 & 10 did not receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it was their first (and last) baptism of the Holy Spirit, not second baptism of the Spirit. Satan can easily deceive people who are open to humanistic teachings (satanic lies) or human viewpoint disguised as "word of God". Satan inspires cultic preachers to invent teachings that promote human viewpoint. The term paraclete is mistranslated as helper or comforter came 50 days after the Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven. The events of Acts 2, 8, and 10 were unique, they are not repeatable and were not meant to be normative. There were no second baptism and there were no consistent pattern of second baptisms. And there is no necessity for the second baptisms because the Holy Spirit will be with the believer forever. Rebound is the recovery from carnality, one of the ten problem-solving devices provided by God to every believer. It is the only problem solving device that functions outside spirituality. All the problem solving devices are provided by the auspices of the grace of God and none is operational by human power or human resources. Rebound is the non-meritorious naming, acknowledgment of personal sins apart from emotional connotation. Rebound is not feeling sorry, sorrow, or guilty for sins, but the decision of the soul to follow divine instruction to name or accept the fact that sin is present. Rebound is the trend reversing decision and the only solution provided by God for the carnal believers to recover from their sins. Rebound is a personal decision because the believer uses his volition to sin and enter the state of carnality; on the other hand, the believer must likewise use his volition to recover from sin. Volition is the decision of the soul, not the decision of the human brain. Rebound does not need any emotional expression since emotion is never a criterion for the spiritual life, and it has no value in receiving God's forgiveness. The forgiveness of God is by grace alone. Emotion is part of rebound but cannot be the basis of forgiveness, because God is not emotional, and His solutions are not emotional. The term "faithful" of 1 John 1:9, gives emphasis to the consistency of God to forgive, meaning His grace never fails in any aspect related to forgiving men. The term "righteous" describes the source of forgiveness, which is the integrity of God. The integrity of God cannot be compromised; He cannot accept human good or even divine good as the basis of forgiveness. The faith of believers is not a requirement for forgiveness from God, but only the function of the spiritual priesthood in following divine instructions. The spiritual priesthood is God*s given privilege to every Church Age believer to represent himself before God. God does all the work in rebound. Rebound works because God imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ every sin that each human beings have committed and those that they will commit. Christ died for past, present and future sins of all men. The forgiveness of rebound is based on the redemptive death (the spiritual death) of Christ on a cross. Man cannot add or contribute anything to the forgiveness of God. No human work can replace or equal the perfect work of Christ. The universal priesthood of the believer is irrevocable and is not affected by the carnality or personal sins of the believer. So when the royal priest is out of fellowship, he still represents himself before God, obeying the instruction regardless of his spiritual status. Faith toward God is ineffective apart from the filling of the Holy Spirit. Faith minus spirituality is nothing but futility and in truth is another useless religious activity. In the sight of God, the royal priesthood of the believer is permanent and will remain such regardless of the believer's spiritual status. The priest can shift from being bad to good but he is still a priest. As when the believer uses his negative volition to enter carnality, in the same manner he uses his positive volition to follow divine instruction to recover from sin. God has always dealt with us in grace; He saves us in grace, He disciplines us in grace, He forgives us in grace, He blesses us in grace. The doctrine of Rebound. Rebound symbolizes the matchless grace of God, it exudes the power of God, and it is the key that unlocks the door to spiritual freedom and spiritual prosperity. The following are synonymous to rebound: Confess your sin to God. (1 John 1:9), is to name your sin to God in the privacy of your royal priesthood. Rebound excludes emotional approach, guilty feelings, begging for forgiveness because Jesus Christ paid for the sins of all men at the cross. To confess is to simply name, acknowledge personal by virtue of Christ's spiritual death. The following are descriptions of rebound in different angle: Judge yourself (1 Corinthians 11:31), is to acknowledge that your personal sins were crucified on the cross where the penalty was paid in full by Christ. Yield (Romans 6:13, 12:1), is to surrender your arrogance and self-righteousness with admission that you have sinned. Lay aside every weight ( Hebrews 12:1), is to cut-off yourself from the state of carnality by free-will decision to re-enter spirituality. Be in subjection to the Father (Hebrews 12:9), is a decision of the soul to return and submit yourself under the authority of the Lord. Lift up the hands that hang down (Hebrews 12:12), is the removal of the shackle that hinders you from doing the will and purpose of God. Make straight paths (Matthews 3:3, Hebrews 12:13), is a decision of the soul to choose the divine viewpoint and reject the human viewpoint. Arise from the death (Ephesians 5:14), is to stand up again from temporal or operational death. Put off the old man (Ephesians 4:22), is to restrain the old sinful nature from taking control of your soul. Acknowledge your iniquity (Jeremiah 3:13), is to admit your personal sins before the Lord, (see also Psalm 32:5, 38:18, 51:3-4, Proverbs 28:13), Rebound is the only key to re-enter the state of spirituality. It is the first move every believer must do in order to restore his fellowship with God and to re-activate his spiritual privileges. The biblical concept of spirituality is one of the most misunderstood and misconstrued in Christianity. Religions have contributed a lot to this traditional lie that even the fundamentalists blindly accept it as the standard protocol given by God. The widespread ignorance of Bible doctrine and carnality of believers made it difficult to distinguish and separate pseudo-spirituality from genuine spirituality. Christianity for many is "churchianity". Preachers have discipled people who are zealous and dedicated for serving local churches but without spirituality, that even new believers are immediately absorbed into the ministerial service since they teach that service is the way to spirituality and spiritual maturity. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
Pseudo-spirituality has twelve visible common characteristics: Pseudo-spirituality is always noticeable to the human eyes, mistaken for the enthusiasm and sacrifices made by the religious people as means to fulfill the requirements of their faith. Pseudo-spirituality is something everybody can do (both believers and unbelievers) that seek public recognition and approbation. Pseudo-spirituality in most cases is associated with guilt-feelings and habitual sins which are used to cover-up the corrupted status of the person involved. Pseudo-spirituality is extremely arrogant and boastful since it comes from the old sin nature ignited by the arrogance complex. Pseudo-spirituality is dependent on human power, resources, skills and talents, ability and capacity. Pseudo-spirituality spiritualizes even the extremely humanistic things that have no spiritual relevance. Pseudo-spirituality exalts and honor celebrated people above God and above the Word of God. Pseudo-spirituality is inventive, creative and open to humanistic trends that finds its way into the church through the traveling preachers who promote man-made doctrines. Pseudo-spirituality openly rejects genuine Bible doctrines and the people who adhere to such old time teachings and practices. Pseudo-spirituality revolves in uncertainty and insecurity which always try to do great things for God in the name of their faith. Pseudo-spirituality magnifies and exaggerates its accomplishments done by human power. Genuine spirituality involves, revolves and can be acquired by the filling of the Holy Spirit. It begins by the act of rebound from the state of carnality. Rebound is the acknowledgment and recognition of personal sin before God (1 John 1:9). It is an exclusive privilege for believers only. If we confess (homologeo) our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive (to cancel) our sins and cleanse (to purify) us from all righteousness (1 John 1:9). The realization of the conditional clause "if" depends on the freewill volition of the believer. Maybe you will rebound, maybe you will not. Each of us must decide to exercise that option. The Greek words "homologeo" used in judicial context, when translated as to confess, means "to name, cite, admit or acknowledge a crime before a judge to make a legal statement. The word homologeo simply means to name or admit your sins before God without emotional attachment. It does not mean to feel sorry (intense guilt) for sins, to publicly renounce sins, or to make an emotional outburst due to a guilty conscience. How someone feels about his sins has no consequence before the Supreme Judge. Your feelings do not affect the justice of God. No human work or emotion can be added to Christ's complete payment for sin on the cross. Though genuine feelings of remorse may accompany the confession of sin they have no credit on God's forgiveness. The grace of God provided our salvation without our knowledge, participation, involvement, and contribution. . Christ has already paid all the penalty of sins once and for all. A believer needs only to name his sins to God. Confession that compels self-reproach or penance is blasphemy and rejection of the grace of God. It is an insult to God to add emotional plea for His forgiveness when He has already done it. Believers confess to God alone and there is no biblical requirement for ritual cleansing or repetitive liturgical phrases to receive the forgiveness. At the point of salvation every believer has become a royal priest with the absolute privilege of representing himself directly to God both in prayer and confession (1 Peter 2:5, 9). In confession your personal sins are your concern and not the business of anyone else and should be named privately and personally to God who alone has the sole authority to forgive and the power to cleanse believers from all unrighteousness. Open public declaration or confession of personal sins is unnecessary and not required for the forgiveness of God, but may only induce mental attitude sins in others. Such harmful results occur in cases where public admission of sins reopens the wound of the injured party, and embroils previously uninvolved parties, or reveals a sin particularly heinous and shocking to others. King David of Israel committed horrible sins with prolonged and destructive consequences. Although many people suffered, David confessed to God alone (Psalm 51:4c). The mandate to "confess your sins to one another" (James 5:16) refers to sins committed against fellow believers, whereby it is a discipline by God which require reconciliation or settlement. The believer is mandated to execute the protocol plan of God. The believer cannot execute his priestly or ambassadorial function apart from spirituality. James 5:16 does not teach public confession of sins but private apology. Apologizing to someone whom you have hurt is always appropriate and should be motivated by a genuine desire to restore harmony to the relationship, not to ease guilt feelings. When you apologize, do so privately after you have recovered fellowship with God through rebound. J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries There are several things related with rebound:
Rebound results to spirituality: (residence and function inside the divine power system). Spirituality is the key to all other spiritual things. Divine forgiveness depends solely on God's perfect character. "Faithful" refers to God's consistency in forgiving every believer who admits his sins to Him. He never wearies of our repetitious rebounding since His grace never fails. We never deserve forgiveness, but He always forgives. Divine forgiveness does not depend on imperfect men but on the perfect and immutable God who does not change. "Righteous" describes the source of forgiveness which is the integrity of God. Divine integrity is composed of righteousness and justice. His perfect righteousness is the only standard which His justice can accept. Human righteousness no matter how moral is still dishonorable and imperfect before God. The righteousness and justice of God cannot be compromised. He cannot accept our penance, guilt feelings, emotional reactions or other human good works. Only the saving work of God the Son on the cross can satisfy or propitiate the integrity of God the Father. The phrase "to forgive and cleanse" refers to total results of rebound. The instant we acknowledge our sins to God, He immediately cancels the sins and the initial repercussion of the loss of fellowship. If any repercussion related to divine discipline remains, they are transformed from suffering for discipline to suffering for blessings. Several things are not possible without the filing of the Holy Spirit and spirituality:
Spirituality is the key to the door of spiritual growth and function inside the divine power system. Without genuine spirituality the believer is not capable of doing the will and purpose of God, unable to execute the protocol of God, and is disqualified to receive tremendous blessings . Without genuine spirituality the believer is serving the devil in the cosmic system, unable to walk or live by the power of the Holy Spirit. Believers then are commanded to be spiritual at all times (Ephesians 5:15-18). J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries
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Copyright ©2003-2007 J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries |
11/30/06