Grace Bible Church
Gbible.org
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Friday,
November 05, 2021
The experience of knowing that you have a destiny is termed “A Personal Sense of Destiny.”
Mechanically, this destiny is accomplished at the moment you believe in Christ through the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
The baptism of the Spirit means equal privilege and opportunity for all members of the Royal Family of God under the computer asset of predestination.
The baptism of the Spirit is the basis for eternal security.
Eternal security also means that you have a destiny.
JOH 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
- “The Logical Approach” to Eternal Security and a Personal Sense Of Destiny is shown in ROM 8:32, “He that spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?”
Paul’s focus is on the “effects” of our saving faith, according to the PPOG (ROM 3:23–26; JOH 3:16–18).
To combat this discouragement, Paul provides the ultimate evidence: God didn’t spare His own Son!
The God who is for us, who loves us, gives to us all good things based on — His goodness — and not on ours.
- The Approach of God’s Hand in eternal security and a personal sense of destiny is stated in JOH 10:28, “I give unto them eternal life.
Jesus also claimed to be like the single opening in a sheep pen: “the Door” which was the only means of finding rescue from danger (JOH 10:7–9).
Jesus also proclaimed Himself the “Good Shepherd,” contrasted with selfish leaders like those He speaks with in this passage, and spoke of His willingness to die for the sake of those who are His
(JOH 10:10–14).
They’ve cornered Him in an awkward spot in the temple and they are daring Him to repeat His claims (JOH 10:22–24).
Those who are “in” — belong to Christ and they are “safe” from being taken away, as a wolf might grab a sheep in the wild (JOH 10:12).
Our Lord Jesus Christ uses the same Greek root word found in His description of a wolf who “snatches” a sheep: “harpazo”.
Greek:
“ou mē apolōntai eis ton aiōna”.
“Ou” and “mē” are both negatives, and “eis ton aiōna” is somewhat like saying “all the ages,” or “for all time.”
“Apolōntai” is a reference to loss, condemnation, or death.
In JOH 3:16, Jesus proclaimed an offer that those who believed would “never perish,” which is translated from the same core Greek words: “mē apolētai”.
JOH 10:28… They shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”
Once you are in the hand of God, you are in the hand of God forever.
- “The Positional Approach” to Eternal Security and a Personal Sense Of Destiny is found in EPH 1:6, “To the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”
POSITIONAL TRUTH
The Church-age believer in Christ is “positionally” superior to all angels, including the chief fallen angel, Satan because of the Church-age believer’s union with Christ, HEB 1:4,13-14, 2:9-11.
Retroactive positional truth means to be identified with Christ in His death and burial.
This position divorces the believer from sin and evil as well as the power of the old sin nature because he or she is crucified and buried with Christ, ROM 6:4,6.
EPH2:5 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,
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (ROM 8:37–39).
God wants believers to know to be confident that we have eternal life (1JO 5:13).
In EPH 1:3 and 1:20, Paul notes “heavenly places”
In EPH 3:10, he will speak of the wisdom of God now made known to those in the heavenly places.
In EPH 6:12, Paul speaks of our battle being against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Current positional truth is identification with Christ as He is seated at the right hand of God the Father in His resurrection, ascension, and session.
Identification with His spiritual death means rejection of human good and evil.
Identification with His physical death means separation from human good and evil.
Identification with his burial means divorce from human good and evil.
Paul begins with grace (EPH 1:2), continues with grace, and ends with grace (EPH 6:24).
At the moment of salvation, the baptism of the Spirit enters the believer into union with Christ, and that is a permanent status… forever.
- “The Experiential Approach” to Eternal Security and a Personal Sense Of Destiny is taught in 2TI 2:12, “Even though we deny Him, He cannot deny Himself.”
2TI 2:11 It is a trustworthy statement:
For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
(12) If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
“Endurance” here is from the Greek word “hypomenomen”, and includes the idea of “remaining, lasting, enduring or suffering.” (2TI 2:12)
The Greek words for “endure” and “reign” in this line, “hypomenomen” and “symbasileusomen”, share the same ending as “died” and “live” in verse 11.
2TI 2:11 It is a trustworthy statement:
For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
The next phrase, “if we deny him, he also will deny us,” presents a contrast with those who endure.
- “The Family of God Approach” to Eternal Security and a Personal Sense Of Destiny is found in GAL 3:26, “We are the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”
- “The Inheritance Approach” to Eternal Security and a Personal Sense Of Destiny is found in 1PE 1:5, “We have an inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled, which fades not away, reserved in Heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.”
The Greek term used in this verse is phrouroumenous, a military term, also translated as “shielded,” “kept,” or “protected.”
- “The Body of Christ Approach” to Eternal Security and a Personal Sense Of Destiny compares 1CO 12:21 with COL 1:18.
1CO 12:21 states, “The head cannot say to the foot, ‘I have no need of you.’”
The foot represents a believer with a spiritual gift.
The head is the Lord Jesus Christ, as per COL 1:18.
Some Christians didn’t think the spiritual gift given to them by God was – valuable – or interesting – or visible enough.
Some Christians felt they didn’t need the service provided by other Christians who were gifted by the Spirit to provide it.
While some were bitter about their spiritual gifts and did not want to use them, others were arrogant about their gifts, and didn’t think others – needed to use theirs.
It is often the body parts we sneer at which perform the most vital roles!
COL 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church;…
In addition to Jesus being creator and sustainer of all things (COL 1:17), all believers are under Christ’s authority and leadership (COL 1:18).
In either case the “head” is the source of decision-making, authority, and control.
Christ is meant to be the source of our faith, and our lives should reflect His commands.
”The Greek Tense Approach” to Eternal Security and a Personal Sense Of Destiny is found in EPH 2:8, “For by grace have you been saved through faith, and that not from yourselves.”
The Greek verb for saved is “sozo” and it means that you have been saved in the past with the result that you keep on being saved forever.
Once you understand that you have eternal security, that there is no way you can cancel it out, and God will never renounce you once you have been born into His family.
The dispensation of the Church is designed for the calling out of a royal family to complement our Lord’s third royal patent.
Once you know you have a destiny, it completely changes your attitude toward everything in life.
The believer living inside the predesigned plan of God, under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and with momentum from metabolized doctrine, not only grows spiritually — but acquires a personal sense of destiny.
- “Because of the baptism of the Spirit at salvation, I have a personal sense of destiny.”
- “Because of the unique predesigned plan of God and my understanding of it, I have a personal sense of destiny.”
- “Because of the equality factor in the predesigned plan of God, I have a personal sense of destiny.”
- “Because I have a portfolio of invisible assets prepared for me by God the Father in eternity past, I have a personal sense of destiny.”
“Because I have two royal commissions as a royal priest and as a royal ambassador, I have a personal sense of destiny.
- Because as a royal priest, I represent myself before God; I have a personal sense of destiny.
- Because as a royal ambassador, I represent God to a lost and dying world; I have a personal sense of destiny.”
- “Because of cognition of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age, I have a personal sense of destiny.”
- Because of the indwelling of all three persons of the Trinity, I have a personal sense of destiny.
- Because of maximum availability of divine power to me as a new spiritual species, I have a personal sense of destiny.
- Because I live in a dispensation of no prophecy but historical trends, I have a personal sense of destiny no matter how bad the circumstances of life may become.
While every believer in Jesus Christ has a destiny under the predesigned plan of God, not every believer is aware of his or her destiny.
When believers are arrogant, whinny, complaining, and falling apart for all sorts of reasons, it is a sign that they have no personal sense of destiny.
Having a destiny alone is not a PSD.
It is the experience of knowing that you have a destiny that is the PSD.
The only way you can use your volition while dying is to apply what doctrine you know.
God’s choice for our dying – comes from His wisdom, love, and grace; He makes the best choice for you.
Therefore, you should die magnificently using all ten of the PSD’s.
Take whatever God gives from His grace while dying just as He provided so many wonderful things for you in grace while living.
PHI 1:21, “For me living is Christ and dying is profit.”
To have the full use of the PSD’s in spiritual adulthood is a profit.
You have already had your “day in court” in that you had the opportunity to choose doctrine every day of your life.
You had the opportunity to learn what it takes to enter into the magnificence of dying grace.
For the winner, dying is magnificent, because he still uses the PSD’s.
You have a personal sense of destiny while living, while dying, and in the moment of your death when you leave this earth and go into the presence of the Lord.
How you handle dying is dependent upon your attitude toward Bible doctrine right now and upon whether you are using the PSD’s in life.
When you die, the soul and spirit leave the body and are
face to face with the Lord with no distinction made between winners and losers.
In this interim state, there is no unhappiness, no regrets, no shame, even if you are a loser believer.
Winner believers will receive great rewards and decorations at the Bema-seat but, both winners and loser are still saved.
The unbeliever’s soul leaves his body at his death and enters Torments, a compartment of hades.
After the 1,000 years of the Millennium and the Gog and Magog revolt, there is the last judgment at the Great White Throne when unbelievers are judged on the basis of their good deeds and condemned to the lake of fire for eternity.
Through physical birth, God has a purpose for your life.
Through regeneration, God has a destiny for your life.
Under the pre-designed plan of God, you have a destiny.
This includes your portfolio of invisible assets and your “politeuma privileges” classified as the “riches of His
glory” (EPH 3:16, PHI 4:19, ROM 9:23).
This destiny was assigned to you by God the Father in eternity past when He provided your very own portfolio of invisible assets.
Only through metabolized doctrine or “epignosis” in the right lobe does the believer have a personal sense of destiny, which is the experience of spiritual growth and
the attainment of spiritual maturity.
– If God does not promote you, you are not promoted.
– God only promotes the prepared believer.
– Part of being a prepared believer is to have a personal sense of destiny from cognition of the mystery doctrine of the Church-age.
– The mystery doctrine of the Church-age orients the believer to God’s plan, God’s purpose, and God’s will for his life.
– The mystery doctrine of the Church-age includes the content of your portfolio of invisible assets, the “politeuma” privileges, and the PSD’s.
A personal sense of destiny becomes your motivation — to be consistent in the reception, retention, and recall of Bible doctrine.