Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Sunday, May 21, 2017
a. Enduement = outside influence of the OPHS b. Enablement = inner power and influence OPHS
So, The Doctrine of Flaws. Point 1. Definition. Distinction must be made between genetic and environmental handicaps and flaws.
Genetic flaws are the weaknesses with which we are born with because of the old sin nature in the cell structure of the body, Psa 51:5; 58:3.
Environmental flaws are those which we acquire because of where we live and the surroundings that we face.
Point 2. Biblical distinctions between inherent and environmental flaws. Inherent flaws are taught in Rom 7:15‑25.
Impulsive behavior is usually reacts without thinking first, whereas deliberate behavior is thinking before you act upon your thoughts.
They forget, Mat 6:1 Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your father who is in heaven
These good intentions are hindered by the overtime work of the OSN with its trends toward evil and good.
My point is that the OSN can make us think we are good enough without a crash diet of doctrine or PMA of BD.
Paul is saying "If I keep on doing what I do not want to do then I realize that the law is good because it does reveal my helplessness.
So, Paul says this in effect; "Now if I do [habitually] what is contrary to my desire, [that means I did something that I didn't want to and it was wrong] I acknowledge and agree that the Law is good (morally excellent) and that I take sides with it."
The old sin nature is the source of temptation, but also the source of inherent flaws from birth.
It is no longer I who do the deed, but [the sin nature principle] which is at home in me and has possession of me.
Sin or the OSN lives in a person [inherent flaws] long before a person's volition develops acquired flaws.
Since it takes volition to convert temptation into sin, this verse must refer to inherent sin and flaws.
He is saying that because he has received TLJC, that he is no longer the one alive but Christ is living in him.
So Paul says it is no longer I who do the deed, but the sin [principle] which is at home in me and has possession of me.
Instead, they would be using their failures as an opportunity to appeal to the mercy of God.
Familiarity is a major problem when it comes to interpretation and forces some of us to quote others to give our opinion credibility.
1JO 3:9 No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1PE 1:23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God.
So with all these verses involved as well with Isa 6:6, we must conclude that because the nature of God cannot sin, and Christ, the very nature of God is in him, Paul has learned to separate the two natures, the nature of God within him against that cannot sin and the OSN that indwells within him that produces sin nature control.
PHI 3:7 But whatever quality of things were gains to me, those things [gains] I have concluded as an expert as loss for the sake of Christ.
Phi 3:8 Not only this but more than this, I conclude as an expert all things [Paul's pre-salvation human celebrityship and achievement] to be loss because of the surpassing greatness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have forfeited all things, also, I keep on concluding as an expert them to be piles of dung in order that I may win for Christ,
Phi 3:9 and that I may be found in Him, not having my own righteousness derived from the source of the Law, but that [righteousness] which is acquired by means of faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from the source of the God at the point of faith,
Phi 3:10 that I may come to know Him, and the power of [behind] His resurrection and the participation of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
PHI 3:11 if, in some way, I may attain to the resurrection away from the dead ones.
PHI 3:12 Not that I have already obtained it [the resurrection life], or have already reached the objective, but I continue pressing on that I may attain that [or overtake that, or gain that, arrive at the objective] on account of which I was overtaken by Christ Jesus.
PHI 3:13 Brethren, I evaluate myself as not yet having attained the objective [the ultimate objective in time, living in resurrection life] ; but one thing I concentrate upon: constantly forgetting the things that lie behind and pursuing vigorously to what lies ahead,
PHI 3:14 I keep on pressing on toward the objective for the purpose of the reward belonging to the upward call of God [Father], by means of Christ Jesus.
Now how can understanding Rom 7:18 actually be a benefit and blessing to the believer?
Well before any believer can appreciate the divine solutions to the indwelling problems of the OSN and the magnificent grace of God, the believer must be brought to the end of himself.
Not only has sin been forgiven but the effects of our sin as well.
Psa 32:5 You have forgiven the guilt of my sin;
Psa 65:3 Iniquities prevail against me; but as for our transgressions You do forgive them.
Psa 85:2 You did forgive the iniquity of Your people; You did cover "all" their sin.
Psa 103:10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
Any pressure that frustrates you or causes you to react with bitterness, hatred, implacability, revenge, or self‑pity brings out your inherent flaws.
Paul recognized and believed 2CO 5:17
Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
The old things that are passed away = life in the adamic nature with its resultant death. 'Paul recognized GAL 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me.
"I have been crucified with Christ" when He died on the cross He died as a substitute for me.
"It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;" = it's not my OSN that is alive any longer, it is my new nature.
"and the life which I now live in the flesh" that is in Paul's human nature, he lives by means of faith or the doctrine in the Son of God," because as 1JO 3:2 says "We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is."
Paul recognized in GAL 2:20 that "TLJC loved him and delivered Himself up for him for him in 1JO 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
So in Rom 7:21, the apostle Paul finds it to be a law (rule of action of his being) that when he wanted to do what is right and good, evil was ever present within him and he was subject to its insistent demands.
In the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh, Paul discovered a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of his mind and making him a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in his bodily organs [in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh].
As you grow in the knowledge of doctrine, there can arise a tremendous conflict in the soul, not from the temptation of the old sin nature, but from the evil, inherent weakness which is there.
The old sin nature is not only the source of temptation, but it is the source of the genetic flaws with which we are born.
Jam 2:13 For judgment {will be} merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need.
We receive mercy for our past mistakes and grace for our spiritual strength and integrity under pressure.
2Jo 1:3 Grace, mercy {and} peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. Amen.