Ephesians 1:13
Beyond The Covenants Of The Promise
Broadlands Bible Church
May 4, 2023
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These notes are the same as the previous study, but the audio message is a continuation.
Thesis: The Spirit was given for good reasons.
Introduction: In our studies to date, we have been asking this question: Why was the Spirit of God given to indwell every believer in Jesus? We have found that the answer is complex. We have begun each study with a consideration of this reality: the picture of the Christianity that we see in our day and setting is a far cry from what the Bible presents. New Testament Christianity presents a picture of individual believers who are bondservants to the Word of God and bondservants to their individual stewardships as members of the Body of Christ. What we see today is a religion in which the Word of God is not authoritative and individual faithfulness to a specific stewardship is not the dominant picture. So, it should be obvious that if biblical Christianity is ever going to be manifest, it will have to be so on the basis of a different spirit than the one driving what we are seeing. Thus, we have the larger answer to our question of why the Spirit of God was given to indwell us: without a different and more powerful spirit, Christianity is simply another religion.
However, even with the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God, problems remain. It seems apparent that the Spirit of the Promise doesn't just suddenly produce the kind of maturity that makes the life of Jesus consistently manifest through the children of God. So, in our quest to understand the provision of the Spirit, we have examined the inadequacy problem and the distance problem. This evening we want to consider another problem: the problem of ignorance. On the basis of clarity in regard to the inadequacy and distance problems and faith in the Spirit as the solution, a believer can walk by the Spirit. Therefore, a new believer can experience the life of the Spirit...as long as he depends upon the Spirit and keeps his eyes on Jesus.
But, both of these conditions are, apparently, not givens. Otherwise, we would have far more believers who consider the Word of God as absolutely authoritative and who practice faithfulness in their stewardship of their spiritual gift(s). So, what is still missing? The answer in a word is: knowledge. In 2 Peter 1, we read these words: "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 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: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence [this is the focus issue], add to your faith virtue [this is the submission to authority issues]; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:1-8 Authorized Version). In concert with this text we have the apostle Paul's affirmation in Romans 12:2 that personal transformation occurs through the renewal of the mind and in Colossians 3:10 that renewal is unto knowledge.
Therefore, the issue before us this evening is the Spirit's function in closing the ignorance gap. Why has the Spirit of God been given to us? To close the ignorance gap.
- I. What is the Ignorance Problem?
- A. It is not a data-deficiency problem.
- 1. We have been created with an effective set of sensory receptors that keep the data flow moving into the storage facility that we call a brain.
- 2. If anything, the data flow borders on overload.
- a. Both Proverbs 1 and Psalm 19 tell us that we are surrounded by legitimate information; so much so that we have no excuse for on-going ignorance.
- b. We even have a written revelation from God that makes the claim that a comprehensive grasp of its contents will make us adequate to every good work (2 Timothy 3:17).
- c. So the problem is not a data-deficiency problem.
- B. It is a selective-shut-down problem.
- 1. No one pays equal attention to all the impressions that come through the senses.
- 2. No one determines to pursue all the sources of data that 'ping' on us through the senses.
- 3. Everyone selectively ignores input and curiosity.
- 4. Everyone selectively resists the processes of comprehension.
- 5. The fundamental assumption of Christianity is that God has spoken and must be heard, and the fundamental assumption of man is that the contents of the Bible are not worth the effort to either obtain or understand.
- C. It is a data-discernment problem.
- 1. Even for those who accept the fundamental assumption of Christianity, there are some problems...
- a. Truth is not the only thing out there pinging on our senses.
- b. The universe is set up on a fundamental ratio of investment/return...a small labor produces a small return.
- c. Truth is more valuable as its depths are exposed...just as digging for hidden treasure.
- 2. Man's finitude precludes comprehensive understanding so that confusion is pretty much automatic.
- II. How is the Spirit the Solution to This Ignorance Gap?
- A. He has progressively revealed all things necessary for life and godliness; He is in the process of progressively illuminating the meaning of the Truth He has revealed; He is progressively addressing the reality of the corrupt heart and the deceived mind.
- B. He creates the motivation to pursue what is available as Truth: John 16:13 and 1 John 4:6.
- 1. He creates the desire to know Truth.
- 2. He creates the confidence that such knowledge is available.
- C. He imparts the ability to discern between Truth and Distortion: 1 John 2:20.
- 1. He does this incrementally, not comprehensively and suddenly: 1 John 4:6 and 1 Corinthians 14:32.
- a. He does not typically bypass the investment/return reality.
- b. He does not typically produce a refined ore without the smelting process.
- 2. He works within the reality of man's finitude and depravity.
- a. Some errors He simply does not correct.
- b. Some platitudes He does not challenge.
