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● Introduction
● To Learn About The Bundle Of Benefits Received At Salvation
CONTENTS
Introduction
- To Learn About The Bundle Of Benefits Received At Salvation.
- To Learn Bible Doctrine.
- To Learn About And Apply The Doctrines That Will Help Us To Walk In The Spirit.
- To Learn About The Ministry Of The Holy Spirit.
- To Learn About The Names And Functions Of The Office Gifts.
- To Learn About The Names And Functions Of The Non-Office Gifts
To Turn The World Upside Down
Endnotes
Introduction
As a little baby I was sprinkled in water according to the tenets of the Catholic faith. As I grew older I participated in the following sacraments, which according to them are a visible sign of an inward grace.
~ Baptism by sprinkling or immersion, which results in the forgiveness of sins and the bringing about of regeneration.
~ Communion, which is when the literal body and blood of Christ are partaken of. The more frequently the member participates in Communion noticeable fruit should be produced over time such as:the lessening of racial and national prejudices and of neighborhood resentments; an increase in neighborliness; an increase in compassion; patience and forbearance towards others.
~ Confirmation, which provides a seal of the Holy Spirit along with enrichment by means of the special strength of the Holy Spirit.
~ Confession, which brings about an assurance of forgiveness for committed sins; and reconciliation to God and His church.
As I continued on in the Catholic faith, I participated in these sacraments. As for why I went to church at this time in my life I have a number of reasons for this.
The first was that my parents told me I had to go.
The second reason was the church had a cafeteria you could go to before Mass and eat the most incredible buttered bulky roles I have ever had.
The third reason was that most of the neighborhood kids were there.
The final reason was that my relatives, who also attended the same church, would, when they saw me, express their approval of me by saying that I was a good boy, which gave me self-esteem.
After graduating from high school I stopped attending church. I concluded that it was a waste of time. This is what I meant by saying this. My reasoning was that while I was aware that if I continued to follow the sacraments God would be pleased with me, I never had any assurance that He actually existed and that my destination to heaven at physical death was a guarantee. Many years went by until I decided to engage in a search in order to see if God truly existed. This probably sounds crazy, but my reasoning was that if God does exist wouldn’t he want to have a personal relationship with me?
Finding out whether God truly exists became a reality in my life in 1977 when I attended a Baptist bible study. I would like to say that what happened to me should be recognized as the chief reason for why a person should decide to go to church. After listening to the pastor’s message he asked if anyone in attendance wanted to have a personal relationship with God. Not only could I not believe what I was hearing, but I was wondering in my mind how this was going to take place. Was there something that I had to do for God in order to have a relationship with Him? Did I have to give a certain amount of money to the church? Just what was it that would cause God to come into my life and prove to me that he truly existed?
After hearing the pastor make the request I raised my hand. He came over to me and said that the first condition was as to whether I would admit to being a sinner who needed a savior. He repeated the following words and asked me if I had committed any of these sins to which I said yes.
I acknowledge that I have sinned in many areas such as having: slandered others; sexual relations outside of marriage; been jealous; participated in alcohol or drug abuse; sex with others of the same gender; committed adultery; taken money from others in a deceitful manner; committed rape; engaged in pedophilia; cheated, etc.
He went on to say that in order to break the sins cycle I needed a new nature of which God wanted to give me. After which he asked me to confess out loud the words that he would relay to me about who Jesus is and what he has done. I was surprised at this, because in the Catholic faith water baptism, whether by sprinkling or immersion, was the basis for a person becoming a child of God. In this instance becoming a child of God was based on repenting (acknowledging my sin) and saying the following words, which I confessed out loud as he relayed them to me.
I believe in you Jesus Christ as one of the members of the trinity, who as God pre-existed time; came to the earth and took on the form of a man, being born of a virgin (no sin nature); lived a sinless life; listened to and obeyed the directives of his Father; went to the cross and paid for the penalty of and forgave the sins of the whole world; rose from the dead after 3 days, never to die again, walked the earth in his resurrection body for 40 days witnessing to over 500 people; and ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God the Father.
All of a sudden I was engulfed with God’s presence to which I almost fell to the ground. His love, joy, and peace were permeating my soul. I knew that at this point on my life had changed forever. I learned that when a person repents to God the Father and believes in his Son they will receive another person of the trinity called the Holy Spirit. This is delineated in the books of Acts and John.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (Acts 17:30)
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:1-3)
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive:… (John 7:37-39)
This should be the primary reason to go to church. Once this spiritual reality takes place in the unbeliever there are more reasons for continuing to attend which we will find out in this study. Hopefully, you have likewise received the Holy Spirit into your life and are now wondering what else should be in store for me if I continue to attend church.
If you have never received the Holy Spirit now is the time. God wants to come into your life and make you a new person. This is not a gimmick, but getting to know God in a personal way. You can repeat these words silently or out loud.
I acknowledge that I have sinned in many areas such as having: slandered others; sexual relations outside of marriage; been jealous; participated in alcohol or drug abuse; sex with others of the same gender; committed adultery; taken money from others in a deceitful manner; committed rape; engaged in pedophilia; cheated, etc.
I believe in you Jesus Christ as one of the members of the trinity, who as God pre-existed time; came to the earth and took on the form of a man, being born of a virgin (no sin nature); lived a sinless life; listened to and obeyed the directives of his Father; went to the cross and paid for the penalty of and forgave the sins of the whole world; rose from the dead after 3 days, never to die again, walked the earth in his resurrection body for 40 days witnessing to over 500 people; and ascended into heaven to be seated at the right hand of God the Father.
If you have repeated these words, then God the Holy Spirit has come into your life. Your life will never be the same. Let’s read further and find out, why should I go to church?
CHAPTER 1
To Learn About The Bundle Of Benefits Received At Salvation
Why should you go to church?
I’m sure there are many different reasons as to why a person goes to church.
Some of them could be because:
● It gives them hope that when they die they will go to heaven.
● It allows them an opportunity to volunteer in church functions so that they can help others.
● It provides for their children a place where they can receive positive messages about peace, helping one’s neighbor, etc.
● It’s a place where they can make friends.
● It’s a place that will provide for their family, when needed, a physical structure that can be used for their kids to get married in.
● It’s a place that provides in its’ teachings an organized approach to please God.
● It’s a place that will provide a formal ceremony at physical death reassuring their family and friends that they have passed on into heaven, where they are now waiting to see them when they depart from this earth.
If you are satisfied with these reasons for going to church, then there is no need for you to continue reading. If you want answers not only for eternity, but also for addressing issues in your life such as (e.g. depression, anxiety, fear, lust, etc.), then you should continue on.
Now that the Holy Spirit has come into your life it should be made clear to you by those in leadership, who provide teaching, as to what has happened to you in addition to having received the indwelling Holy Spirit at salvation.
What is salvation?
I will define salvation as the bundle of benefits received by the person who believed the Gospel message, the good news message of repentance and believing in Jesus Christ as to who he is and what he has accomplished.
Contained below are a list of these benefits. One thing to remember, these benefits have been given to you by God the Father. You can’t lose them. So rejoice in what God has provided.
● You have received a human spirit.
The human spirit is a spiritual apparatus that is given to the new believer in order for them to store spiritual knowledge (doctrine). From there doctrine goes to the heart thereby building rooms in our soul.
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
● You have received the indwelling Holy Spirit, who comes to dwell in our human spirit.
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)
● You are quickened by the Holy Spirit.
This means that by the power of the Holy Spirit we have been spiritually resurrected or another way of saying this is we have been made spiritually alive with Christ.
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:4-5)
● You are given eternal life.
Eternal life is the quality of life one experiences when God rules his life. This can also be called the Zoe life. It is also conceived of as life that never ends, because it comes from God.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15)
● Your old man is crucified with Christ.
Our old man refers to the sinful and corrupt nature located in our blood that has been crucified with Christ on the cross through our identification with him. The body, which has belonged to or has been ruled by the power of sin, may now cease to be an instrument of sin and is no longer subject to its control.
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (Romans 6:6)
●You have been made an heir of God through Christ.
We are no longer to be treated as servants, being bound by the oppression of the Mosaic Law, but as sons - members of God’s family. And because we are sons, we are also heirs as those who: possess God himself, partake of his nature, possess every blessing to which we are entitled.
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. (Galatians 4:6-7)
● You are seated together with Christ in heavenly places.
God the Father has raised us up from spiritual death to spiritual life — from a death to sin to a life of righteousness, being made alive and raised spiritually with Christ. He has caused our spiritual position to be in heavenly places in Christ who is seated at the right hand of the Father as our Head and Representative. We are admitted to exalted honors in virtue of our connection with him. Even now our life and thoughts are raised to the heaven lies where he reigns.
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6)
● You are God’s handiwork.
For we are God the Father’s workmanship (denotes a work of art or masterpiece; spiritual handiwork), being made a new spiritual creature in which there is a moral and spiritual renewal for good deeds, which God has prepared beforehand a path of good works that he will perform in and through us as we choose to walk by faith.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10)
● You are redeemed and forgiven.
In Christ, through our belief in him, we are in a permanent and continuous state of redemption (the setting us free from the slave market of sin; to no longer be prisoners; on release of the payment of a ransom), and the forgiveness (to bid go away or depart; the taking away of; has lost from God’s mind) of sins, into which we are brought and in which we live.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:14)
● You are a fellow citizen with the saints and of the household of God.
Whether Jew or Gentile we are members of the same family of God, being entitled to the same privileges, and regarded by him as his children.
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19)
● You are complete in him.
This completeness includes the furnishing of men with all that is required for their present (i.e. to be richly furnished with the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit) salvation.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power (Colossians 2:10)
● You are known by the Lord.
We are marked by God so as to be recognized by him as his; and this mark also serves as a perpetual reminder to us that we are not our own. This mark or impression serves to identify what is sealed, together with its owner, and to specify its purpose or function.
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19)
● You are reconciled to God the Father.
For the unbeliever this reconciliation refers to a changed relationship between God and a lost world. The means of reconciliation is Jesus Christ, who was given as a propitiation for the sins of the world, which removed the rebellious and sinful man’s enmity toward God, thus satisfying his justice.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, … (Romans 5:10)
Jesus has made it consistent for God to pardon. He has made atonement so that God can be just while he justifies the sinner, who repents and believes in his Son. Jesus, by the agency of his Spirit, overcomes the unwillingness of the sinner to be reconciled, humbles his pride, shows him his sin, changes his heart, subdues his enmity against God, and secures in fact a harmony of feeling and purpose between God and man, so that they shall be reconciled forever.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18)
● You are translated into the kingdom of his Son.
God the Father rescued us from the dominion (the spiritual power by which mankind is held) of darkness and placed us in the kingdom of his Son.
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son (Colossians 1:13)
● You are sanctified.
The will of God, which was for the sanctification of men, was accomplished through Jesus atonement for sins on the cross. When we believed in Christ we were placed in a sanctified state meaning that we are in a permanent and continuous state of salvation into which we are brought and in which we live.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)
● You have become an adopted son.
God in his foreknowledge knew beforehand who would freely believe in his Son for salvation, and it is on this basis that they are chosen. God implements a plan in time called predestination for whosoever will receive him, with mankind (the elect) choosing to respond to God’s initiation for salvation. God takes a believing sinner regenerates him, and by means of this makes him His child (teknon, a born one). Then He takes this child and places him in a legal position as an adult (adopted) son (huios). The apostle here uses as an illustration the Roman practice of legally adopting a child, and thus not only bequeathing to him the material possessions of the one adopting, but also giving him his civil status.
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (Ephesians 1:5)
● You are ambassadors for Christ.
We have been brought into a permanent and continual state of ambassadorship (persons who represent someone else and who carried a message from the person whom they represented).
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
● You are made righteous.
God the Father has made Christ to be a sin offering (the sin of the world, past, present, and future, were placed on him meaning that he bore the punishment due to them in his body) for all mankind (in place of us), the purpose of which was so that those who believed in him would be made the righteousness of God in him. Another way of saying this is as Christ who was perfectly innocent, by a voluntary substitution, is treated As IF he were guilty, so we who believed in Him being guilty and who deserve to be punished, are treated, through his vicarious sufferings, as if we were perfectly innocent.
Righteousness is not to be taken as a quality or habit received by us, but in the sense of that which is approved or acceptable by God. On the grounds of Christ’s righteousness (acceptability) to God the Father so we also have become by faith righteous (acceptable) to God the Father.
● You are declared righteous.
Therefore being justified (declared righteous; having been put right with God) by faith (believing), we have peace with God through Jesus Christ, and are no longer threatened by his wrath.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)
● You are the recipient of the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
- Baptized with the Spirit.
By the agency of the Holy Spiriteach of us has been suited to our appropriate place by means of the endowments (gifts) of the Spirit to constitute the body of Christ-the church.
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)
2. Sealed with the Holy Spirit:
When the Holy Spirit comes into our life he is the seal (a stamp of ownership) indicating to God who is his. A seal can also refer to a down payment in the sense of having tasted the Spirit we have begun to taste the life of the future world that God had promisedus.
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, (Ephesians 1:13)
3 Given gifts (spiritual endowments) by the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit distributes the gifts individually, to males and females, as he wishes.
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. (1 Corinthians 12:11)
4. Provided security by his seal.
The Holy Spirit is God’s seal (mark of ownership) indicating that the transaction whereby the Son of God paid the penalty of human sin at the Cross is a finished transaction, and that God owns us as His property by right of purchase, until the day of the redemption. Some say that the day of redemption refers to the rapture of the church, when we will meet the Lord in the clouds of the air not only receiving a glorified body at this time, but also rewards in regards to our works.
And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30)
Going to church should be an uplifting experience as we listen to the teachings sprinkled in within which are conveyed to us these benefits.
What I thought of in regards to these bundle of benefits is the mindset of a father when his wife is about to deliver their baby. I’m sure that both of them look at the babies’ physical features which exhibit the physical traits of the both of them. Likewise, when a person is born again they receive these spiritual traits or benefits that no one can take away from them.
So why else should we go to church? For many believers what we are going to present next should be ongoing in the church they are attending or in the church they are thinking about attending.
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