“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
Instead of expounding on a particular passage about spirituality, I will depart from the normal custom and give an overview of spirituality.
Principle:
Defining spirituality.
Application:
I. Spirituality is not:
a. Quietism
b. Eradication
c. Suppressionism
d. Self-crucifixion
e. Strict passivism
f. Making Christ Lord
II. A Spiritual Christian is a spiritual Christian because he or she is vitally related to the Holy Spirit.
III. The Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation:
a. Regenerates, John 3:5
b. Indwells, 1 Corinthians 6:19,20
c. Baptizes, 1 Corinthians 12:13
d. Seals, Ephesians 4:30
IV. Subsequent to salvation, the Holy Spirit fills the believer at the point of fellowship, Eph 5:18.
V. Spirituality and carnality are mutually exclusive, 1 John 1:5-7; 3:4-9; therefore, spirituality is an absolute.
VI. The spiritual believer is not subject to the Mosaic Law, Romans 8:2-4; 10:4; Galatians 5:18, 23.
VII. The spiritual believer is under a supernatural law, Galatians 5:16-18; Romans 8:2-4.
VIII. When filled with the Spirit, the believer cannot sin.
A Christian must decide to go out of fellowship; then he can sin, 1 John 3:4-9 (unyielded).
IX. Fruit in life depends on the filling of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 3:1-15.
X. The results of the control of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 5:18ff:
a. Singing, Ephesians 5:19
b. Thanksgiving, Ephesians 5:20
c. Good relationship with other believers, Ephesians 5:21
d. Domestic tranquility, Ephesians 5:22-33
e. Good relations on the job, Ephesians 6:5-9
f. A well-equipped believer, Ephesians 6:10-17
g. Prayer, Ephesians 6:18
h. Witnessing, Ephesians 6:19-20
XI. The workings of spirituality:
a. Confess, 1 John 1:9
b. Yield, Romans 6:13, 12:1
XII. Spirituality must have constant application, Ephesians 5:18 (present tense); John 15:1-5.
XIII. The Spiritual life is never free from temptation.
XIV. There is no room for a defeated attitude.
XI. True spirituality is the manifestation of Christ in the believer, Ephesians 5:1.
XVI. Spirituality is always based on the work of Christ:
a. Present work of Christ, John 16:13-14, Hebrews 2:18, 4:15-16; 7:25, 1 John 2:1
b. Past work of Christ, Romans 6:3-4, 7:4; John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 2:11,12,20; 3:1-3,9,10.
c. Faith appropriates Christ’s work, John 7:37-39.
XVII. The power of spirituality is the Holy Spirit.
a. Baptizes, 1 Corinthians 12:13
b. Indwells, 1 Corinthians 6:19
c. Fills, Ephesians 5:18
d. Produces fruit, Galatians 5:22,23
XVIII. Spirituality is both passive (grace) and active (human responsibility).
XIX. Righteousness of God and man’s righteousness (total depravity):
a. Total depravity does not mean that man has no concept of right and wrong, Romans 2:14,15
b. All men are downright sinful in relation to God, 2 Timothy 3:13; James 3:9
c. Everyone is defective in personality:
1. Mind, Romans 1:20, 3:11
2. Will, Romans 1:32, 3:12
3. Emotion, Romans 1:32, 3:17
d. All men have an evil tendency, Romans 7:17, 20, 21, 23, 25.
e. No one has the capacity to produce self-righteousness that will please God, Isaiah 64:6
1. Two kinds of righteousness:
a) Man’s, Philippians 3:7-9
b) God’s, Romans 10:1-4
2. The difference is one of quality, not quantity.
XX. Free from the law
a. Law has three parts:
1. Ceremonial
2. Civil (Israel was a national entity)
3. Moral (we did not die to the moral law), Romans 7
b. Imperatives of the New Testament:
1. OT Law = penalty;
NT Imperative = no penalty, but correction or discipline.
2. OT Law = no supernatural enablement;
NT Imperative = there is supernatural enablement
3. OT Law = motivation to get blessed;
NT Imperative = motivation because we are blessed.
4. OT Law = results in man’s righteousness;
NT Imperative = results in God’s righteousness, Romans 3:7-9.
XXI. The New Man
a. The new man is not the natural man made better.
b. The new man is not the infusion of a new personality.
c. The new man is a new influence on personality.
d. The old and new men do co-exist — the old is not eradicated, Romans 7:14-25; 8:23; Galatians 5:16,17; 1 John 1:8
e. The new man is a new capacity implanted in us, Ephesians 4:22-24; Colossians 3:9,10; 1 Peter 1:23; 2 Peter 1:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15.
XXII. Baptism of the Holy Spirit
a. Never repeated in an individual in the NT
b. Is universal – God baptizes every Christian into his body, 1 Corinthians 12:13
c. It is never commanded, so it is not our responsibility
d. In NT, experience is related to the filling of the Spirit, never baptism
e. The baptism of the Spirit is positional truth
f. Spiritual baptism is distinctive of the dispensation of grace
1. In Gospels – always anticipated, Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:7; Luke 3:13; John 1:33
2. Occurred first at Pentecost, Acts 1:4-5 (prophesied), Acts 11:16 (occurred already)
3. Church not found in the OT
g. Spiritual baptism is the basis of justification, 1 Corinthians 5:21
h. Spiritual baptism is the basis of unity; 1 Corinthians 12:13; John 7:37-39
i. Union with Christ via baptism of the Spirit is the basis of sanctification, Romans 6-8.
Positional sanctification by union with Christ, Romans 6:1-14, Judicial; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 3:27; Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:9-12
j. Distinction between:
Baptism
– never commanded
– past event—at the point of salvation
– true of all believers
– occurs once
– union
– positional
and
Filling
– commanded
– present experience
– true only of some
– continuance
– communion
– experiential
Dear Dr. Grant,
1. Under Spirituality is not – making Christ Lord, what do you by this? Can you please explain a little more?
2. Under New Man: The Bible says that the old man is crucified with Christ on the cross. I understand practically when you say that the old man and new man co-exist. But how can it be explained doctrinally? Is it in our walk with the Lord, we do let the old man remain crucified on the cross at all times?
Rose,
Re #1. The emphasis is on “making,” whereby the believer depends on his effort rather than depending on the Holy Spirit.
Re #2. If you look at my study on Galatians 2:20, the Greek grammar indicates that we were crucified at the point Jesus was crucified, and the person who believes on Him remains in the state of being crucified because of the work of Christ. The believer can claim any attack by Satan that their sins have been paid by Christ; Satan has no right to accuse us other than by yielding to a guilty conscience. In that case, we pay for our sins rather than taking Christ’s work for us on the cross as our approach to forgiveness.
Thank you Dr. Grant for explaining it.