God has revealed the mystery to us, which includes the love from Christ. Eph 1:9; 1 Co 13:1-8

EPH 1:8a: From which grace he [God the Father] has caused to superabound toward us [super-grace believers]

 

EPH 1:8 which He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight

 

We have completed our coverage of sophia - wisdom and our coverage of phronesis or “insight,” which is wisdom applied.

 

By means of reminder I quote Lightfoot:

 

/“While sophia is the insight into the true nature of things, phronesis is the ability to discern modes of action with a view to their results; while sophia is theoretical, phronesis is practical” (Lightfoot). \

 

Phronesis is understanding and intelligence when it comes to application of doctrinal wisdom, that is its critical faculty.

 

/Wisdom is the playground to the believer with insight.\

 

/Prov 10:23

Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool;

And so is wisdom to a man of understanding. \

 

Now in verse 9 is introduced the special wisdom that the Church has the privilege of learning, metabolizing, understanding, and applying.

 

EPH 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him

 

/“He made known” is the aorist active participle of the verb gnwrizw [gnorizo] which means to make known or to reveal.\

 

It is obvious here that God is the source, being the subject of the participle.

 

Man is not the source of this wisdom and when man attempts to dilute the doctrines from God with human wisdom it destroys it. Even a little leaven will leaven the whole lump of dough.

 

/The aorist tense is a culminative aorist which becomes a gnomic aorist used for a truth which must be regarded as an absolute.\

 

It is not up to someone’s different interpretation. There are no gray areas when it comes to doctrine. According to the science of hermeneutics the expositor must use the ICE principle.

 

/Isagogics: historical setting.

Categorical: comparing scripture with scripture

Exegesis: grammar and syntax of original language.\

 

By using this principle expositors must reach the same interpretation of major principles of doctrine.

 

/2 Peter 1:20

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, \

 

/The active voice: God the Father has made known His plan and His grace through doctrine contained in the canon of scripture and through no other source.\

 

Since this is an aorist participle it must be applied according to the rules of Greek grammar.

 

/The action of the aorist participle must precede the action of the main verb - “He caused to super-abound to us.” The believer had to function daily under GAP for a long time before God the Father super-abounded toward him.\

 

This is the principle of applying Greek grammar to interpretation. He made known the mystery before He provided super-grace. As we have studied, the super-grace life is the life of the adult believer who has learned to function as an adult son in the RFOG.

 

/EPH 1:8 (in our corrected translation)“From which grace he [God the Father] has caused to super-abound toward us [super-grace believers] by means of all wisdom [metabolized doctrine in the right lobe] and application [divine wisdom on the launching pad].”\

 

Superabounding grace is the transfer of your escrow blessings in time. You possess these blessings at salvation and you receive them when the conditions of the escrow are met.

 

The conditions of the escrow are the many wisdoms and insights of spiritual maturity, which is the life of virtue love and capacity through humility.

 

/Virtue love is new to the Church since it is the very love that existed in the humanity of Christ; therefore, it is a part of the mystery doctrine. \

 

/John 13:34

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. \

 

Two Sunday’s ago in OR we studied this principle:

 

1 Cor 13:1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

 

1 Cor 13:2 And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

 

1 Cor 13:3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

 

1 Cor 13:4 Love is patient,

 

/patient - suffers long. Present tense = a continuous relaxed mental attitude and grace orientation towards all.\ [is that supernatural or what?]

 

1 Cor 13:4 love is kind,

 

/kind - overt activity of grace toward others whether they deserve it or not, again it is a present tense = continuous supernatural power.\

 

Now we go to negatives. You cannot define virtue love or true love without negatives.

 

1 Cor 13:4 and is not jealous;

 

/jealous - present tense. Complete freedom from the mental attitude of envying what someone is or possesses. You rejoice with those who prosper.\

 

I have often been very excited to see how our study in Ephesians and in John parallel one another. So it is here again. If you’ll bear with me, I want to show you the parable we studied this week in the John series. If you have listened to this already, I know that you’ll enjoy the repetition in the context of the super-grace life.

 

So far the participle, “He made known,” in EPH 1:9 brings us again to the love of Christ that the Father has made known in our own hearts.

 

Matt 19:30 "But many who are first will be last; and the last, first.

 

Matt 20:1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner [God] who went out early in the morning [around 6am] to hire laborers for his vineyard [kingdom].

 

Matt 20:2 "And when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard.

 

Matt 20:3 "And he went out about the third hour [around 9am] and saw others standing idle in the market place;

 

Matt 20:4 and to those he said, 'You too go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And so they went [they trusted him to give them what was due].

 

Matt 20:5 "Again he went out about the sixth [noon] and the ninth hour [3pm], and did the same thing.

 

Matt 20:6 "And about the eleventh hour [7pm]he went out, and found others standing; and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?'

 

Matt 20:7 "They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You too go into the vineyard.'

 

Matt 20:8 "And when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.' [the last group is first so that the first group will see the grace of the landowner - this may well be the pattern of the Bema seat judgment]

 

Matt 20:9 "And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius.

 

Matt 20:10"And when those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; and they also received each one a denarius.

 

Matt 20:11"And when they received it, they grumbled at the landowner,

 

Matt 20:12saying,' These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.'

 

Matt 20:13"But he answered and said to one of them, 'Friend [believers], I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius?

 

Matt 20:14'Take what is yours and go your way, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.

 

Matt 20:15'Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?' [spiritual covetousness]

 

Matt 20:16"Thus the last shall be first, and the first last."

 

The message, the parable, is for the disciples and it is a warning of the deep danger that can exist when arrogance is mixed with spirituality - spiritual covetousness. This is a form of jealousy. 

 

Spiritual covetousness would make them and us no different than the Pharisee who judges the Publican, or the older brother who judges and maligns the younger brother.

 

Spiritual covetousness is extremely dangerous and the disciples had it and the Lord is going to teach and do some wonderfully gracious things to break them out of it.

 

That is the solution to spiritual covetousness - the grace of God.

 

The principle which Christ lays down in this parable is that while nothing done for Him shall lose its reward, yet, for one reason or another, no forecast can be made, no inferences of self-righteousness may be drawn.

 

It does not by any means follow, that the most work done, at least, to our seeing and judging, shall entail a greater reward.

 

On the contrary, ‘many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.’ Not all, not yet always and necessarily, but ‘many.’ And in such cases no wrong has been done; there exists no claim, even in view of the promises of due acknowledgement of work.

 

Spiritual pride and self-assertion can only be the outcomes either of misunderstanding God’s relation to us, or else of a wrong state of mind towards others, that is a lack of impersonal unconditional love.

 

It has been revealed to me as of late in my own studies that all of this power and wisdom and insight has been given to the Church-age believer so that he may love God and then love others.

 

Whether my brother has worked 1 hour in the vineyard or 14 hours - I weep with him when he weeps and I rejoice with him when he’s graced out. I become all things to all men. I bear his burdens when I can. I comfort him with the comfort that I have received from the Father. I lay down my life for him.

 

 

Back to:

1 Cor 13:4 love does not brag

 

/does not brag - means to behave like a wind-bag, to boast, brag, and parade oneself. This is neutralization of your ego.\

 

1 Cor 13:4 and is not arrogant,

 

/not arrogant - the negative of inner pride, to inflate oneself at the expense of others, to be the spiritual king of the mountain. Love produces humility.\

 

1 Cor 13:5 does not act unbecomingly;

 

/does not act unbecomingly - to behave dishonorable or indecently.\

 

1 Cor 13:5 it does not seek its own,

 

/does not seek its own - various lusts of the sin nature. Wisdom never tries to gratify approbation lust, power lust, material lust, etc. \

 

This does not mean that you are to avoid your friends and hang out with strangers. It is a quieting of the lust of the sin nature in seeking out what you want as top priority, which could mean seeking out the unlovely if the Spirit leads you.

 

1 Cor 13:5 is not provoked,

 

/not provoked - does not become angry or irritated or throw tantrums.\

 

There is a righteous anger where you can be angry and still be filled with the Spirit.

 

1 Cor 13:5 does not take into account a wrong suffered,

 

/does not take into account a wrong - not to mind someone else’s business. You don’t stick your nose into someone else’s life and malign them. \

 

1 Cor 13:6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness,

 

/ does not rejoice in unrighteousness - not to rejoice when someone else falls; akin to jealousy.\

 

And now we go back to the positives.

 

1 Cor 13:6 but rejoices with the truth;

 

/but rejoices with the truth - hunger for the word of God. Inner happiness directed toward the word of God within the heart.\

 

/1 Cor 13:7 bears all things [cover, not betray confidence], believes all things [faith rest concerning the divine decrees] , hopes all things [confident expectation of the future], endures all things [stabilized in times of pressure]. \

 

1 Cor 13:8 Love never fails;

 

“fails,” a word which has been taken from drama.

 

“fails” is a dramatic word which means to be hissed off the stage.

 

One of the worst things that could happen to an actor in Greek drama was to be hissed off the stage.

 

/“fails” is a dramatic word which means to be hissed off the stage.

This is saying in effect that love, the filling of the Spirit combined with wisdom applied, is never hissed off the stage of life.\

 

We are all on the stage of the Angelic Conflict and the elect and fallen angels are in the stands. Virtue love never gets booed or hissed off the stage. That is why it will never fail you.

 

/When in doubt - operate in virtue love.\

 

This is the true uniqueness of the CA mystery doctrine. We have revealed to us the love that existed in the humanity of TLJC and we have been given the power of the filling of the HS so that we may operate in it.

 

All of this power and wisdom and insight have been given to the Church-age believer so that he may love God and then love others.

 

Whether my brother has worked 1 hour in the vineyard or 14 hours - I weep with him when he weeps and I rejoice with him when he’s graced out. I become all things to all men. I bear his burdens when I can. I comfort him with the comfort that I have received from the Father. I lay down my life for him.

 

When you are filled with the Spirit and you continue to be positive towards doctrine you are fulfilling the purpose for which God leaves you in this life and whether you are actually active in production such as witnessing, prayer, and so on, is inconsequential.

 

You always produce when the Spirit controls your life.

 

Therefore, wisdom and insight go together to manufacture invisible heroes.

 

Go back to EPH 1:9

 

EPH 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him

 

/“He made known” is the aorist active participle of the verb gnwrizw [gnorizo] which means to make known or to reveal.\

 

The action of the aorist participle [He made known mystery doctrine] precedes the action of the main verb [He caused to super-abound toward us].

 

In other words, in super-grace God superabounds toward us.

 

/Therefore superabounding has to come from a knowledge and a continuous knowledge of Bible doctrine and this requires the daily function of GAP. There is no substitute for the daily feeding upon the Word of God. \

 

/“to us” is the dative plural of the pronoun e)gw[ego] used here as an indirect object. The dative of indirect object is one in which the person in whose interest the action is being performed is emphasized.\

 

Out of the indirect object we have the dative of advantage. So we are receiving great advantage for having known these things.

           

/“the mystery” - to musthrion[to musterion] is a technical word in the New Testament epistles for the classification of doctrine known as Church-age truth, which was hidden from the OT.\

 

The definite article specifies this mystery amongst many mysteries.

 

 

 

gree�lu�� P� >means riches or wealth, it also means abundance. \

 

           

/“of his grace” — genitive singular of xarij[charis] to describe the plan of God. The principle: Unlimited divine resources are thrown into God’s plan under the concept of grace. \

 

The whole character of God, the power of God, the ingenuity of God, the faithfulness of God, all meet in providing a perfect plan for you and me.

 

/Grace is unmerited divine Providence motivated by the unfailing love of God.\

 

EPH 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

 

EPH 2:5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),

 

EPH 2:6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus,

 

EPH 2:7 in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

 

/The unfailing love of God gives every believer in Jesus Christ these “surpassing riches that reflect God’s grace, which cannot be compared to any human wealth or success in life.\

 

In the CA, these “riches” include more spiritual assets than have ever been given in all human history. It will not be duplicated in future dispensations.

 

/Grace is the magnificent expression of God’s unfailing love, which is His policy of unmerited favor bestowed on fallen, sinful humanity.\

 

Since God’s unfailing love is eternal, grace as an expression of that love existed in eternity past. Therefore grace preceded all human life, all function of human volition, and all the works of mankind.

 

Since this is true man’s existence, unfallen or fallen, cannot influence grace.

 

This antecedent grace is, therefore, the expression of God’s love from eternity past that offers a relationship to mankind in time and eternity, apart from human merit, human works, or any other human resources.

 

Antecedent grace emphasizes that from eternity past the unfailing love of God designed the divine solutions for every situation man will ever face in this life, without exception.

 

Antecedent grace and unfailing love, as a part of the divine decree, are the initiatives of the plan of God for man.

 

The grace of God provides for mankind from birth through death. This means everything that man needs to stay alive as well as the redemption solution for new birth.

 

God offers throughout the life of every human being a personal relationship with Him through His impersonal unconditional love as expressed by His policy of grace.

 

Because of God’s unfailing impersonal love, everyone has an opportunity for that personal relationship with God through faith alone in Christ alone.  

 

 

The wealth of grace is a description, then, of that perfect plan. The wealth or the abundance of grace is the source of cancellation of our sins on the cross. The pattern is set in salvation and there is no blessing in time or in eternity apart from this principle — God’s grace. Under grace everything depends on who and what God is.

           

Translation: “In whom [in Christ] we keep on having the redemption through his blood, the cancellation of sins, according to the wealth of his grace.”

           

 Christ bearing our sins in His own body on the cross is the blood, is the coin of the realm, is the payment for our release from the slavemarket of sin.