hypocrites and backsliders h and b-039: hypocrites and backsliders: the solution

Hypocrites and Backsliders

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Hypocrites and Backsliders:

The Solution

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Spiritual Life• Romans 8:1-8 (YLT) 1 There is, then, now no

condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit; 2 for the law of the Spirit of the life in Christ Jesus did set me free from the law of the sin and of the death; 3 for what the law was not able to do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, His own Son having sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, did condemn the sin in the flesh,

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Spiritual Life• 4 that the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled

in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh, the things of the flesh do mind; and those according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit; 6 for the mind of the flesh is death, and the mind of the Spirit - life and peace; 7 because the mind of the flesh is enmity to God, for to the law of God it doth not subject itself, 8 for neither is it able; and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.

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Spiritual Life• So, how does this study of Spiritual Death relate to

our study of Hypocrites and Backsliders, if, “You, unlike the Unbelievers, have not so learned Christ”, and, “that the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us”?

• How?• Look at the next phrase in Romans 8:4:• “who do not walk according to the flesh, but

according to the Spirit”

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Soul Diagram

Thinking DecidingBeing

“and breathed into him the breath of lives and man became a living soul.” Gen 2:7

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The Unbeliever

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The Believer

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Hypocrites and Spiritual Death• A Hypocrite is a Believer who, "due to the

ignorance that is in them" becomes "separated from the life from God", EVEN THOUGH they have the "life from God" in them.

• This they do, by “walking in the flesh”• The process is only a little different - the

Unbeliever having no 'Regeneration Resource' in them, have only their two Sinful Nature options (Human Good and Human Bad) to rely upon; but the Believer must make a volitional choice to “Walk in the flesh” in order to enter the domain of the Sinful Nature.

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The Sin Nature

Human Good

Personal Sins

Trend toward

Lasciviousness

Mark 7.21-23

Trend toward

AsceticismHebrews

6.1

SIN NATURE

Strength

Weakness

Sins borne at the cross – 1 Peter 2.24

Rejected and condemned at the cross – Titus 3.5

S

WArea of WeaknessHebrews 12.1

Area of StrengthIsaiah 64.6H & B-035

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Hypocrites and Spiritual Death• This Volitional Choice may be done in ignorance -

ignorance of what sin is, but it is a free-will choice, nonetheless.

• So, knowingly or unknowingly the Believer becomes a Hypocrite by choice.

• What is a Hypocritical Believer known as?• A "Carnal Christian", a "Fleshly" Christian, is a

Christian who is unaware of their own faults (or what to do about it), their own "beam in their own eye", and marches on as if they are faultless.

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The Event

Perception

Appraisal Filter

Representation

The “Reservoir of Righteousness”

Response

The “Hypocrite”Reaction

The VolitionalInterlude

Spirituality CarnalityOR

The Sequence of Temptation for The Sequence of Temptation for the Spiritual Christianthe Spiritual Christian

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SCAttributionMoodBeliefsAttitudeKnowledge

Divine Viewpoint

Resist or Capitulate

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Hypocrites and Spiritual Death• As you will recall, there are these 2 aspects of

each of our Happiness Attainment Motivators (HAM's, aka "Lusts of the Flesh").

• The HAM's are:• Sexual: Prude or Whore• Chemical: Health food nut or Addict• Religious: Ascetic or Legalist• Approbation: Passive Pleaser or Aggressive

Impresser• Power: Self Control Freak or Control other freaks• Materialism: Earn my own or Steal from others

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Hypocrites and Spiritual Death• Each of these 6 have their Human Good and their

Human Bad side.• If a Hypocrite has a problem with a particular

HAM, say, Sex; he or she will likely commit a sin of a sexual nature, causing the exit from the "life from God" that is resident in each Believer, and is called the "Reservoir of Righteousness" in our studies.

• When exiting the Reservoir of Righteousness, the Believer becomes Carnal, or dominated by the Sinful Nature and its HAM's.

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Hypocrites and Spiritual Death• Since the HAM relevant to the sin (Human Bad) in

our example is Sexual, the most likely place for the area of Human Good to pop up is the Sexual HAM.

• Because all sins by the Believer result in conviction by the Holy Spirit, the Carnal Believer is now faced with dealing with Guilt.

• Because of Ignorance, the Carnal Believer fails to recognize the need for (if even the existence of) the Recovery Technique known as "Confession", or "Rebound".

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Hypocrites and Spiritual Death• The means to Recover the "life from God" that is

resident in the Human Spirit of every Believer, called the Reservoir of Righteousness, or, in classic Christian terms, "Walking in the Spirit" (Spiritual Orientation) and "The Word in you" (Doctrinal Orientation), is the use of the Grace Recovery Technique of 1 John 1:9.

• "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

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Hypocrites and Spiritual Death• Being ignorant that he has committed a sin, or

ignorant of the Grace Recovery Technique of 1 John 1:9, the Carnal Believer is forced to rely on his Sinful Nature Compensation Technique, which is to try to attempt to assuage Guilt with Blame.

• So, the Carnal Believer finds someone or some group to blame for their own sexual misconduct, and voila!, they become an instant Hypocrite, "saying one thing and doing another", or, trying to remove the "splinter" from someone else's eye, while unaware of the 2X4 in their own eye.

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Hypocrites and Spiritual Death• Now, as the Carnal Believer sinks deeper and

deeper into his HAM's, his Hypocrisy will expand into ever more arenas.

• If he is a "well-rounded sinner", he will exhibit Hypocrisy in all 6 of the HAM's, but if he is a "specialist sinner" he may have only 2 or 3 areas in which he will excel as a Hypocrite.

• The worst of all are those who top off their Carnality with the HAM of Religion, making their Hypocrisy all the worst, as they try, through self-justification, to be the "Best Christian that they can Be".

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Backslider - Mechanics• 1. Ignorance of Doctrine in them• 2. Alienated from the Life from God (Out of Fellowship)• 3. Understanding Darkened (Mind of the Flesh)• 4. Heart Hardened - Stubbornness• 5. Lifestyle of Futility of the Mind (Walk of the Unbeliever)• 6. Past Feeling - Insensitive (Result of Stubbornness)• 7. Give themselves over (Frantic Search for Happiness)• 8. Lascivious - Unrestrained• 9. Unclean - Impurity• 10. Greedy - Insatiable

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Backsliders and Spiritual Death• So, what about "Backsliders"?• How does our study of Spirritual Death relate to

them?• Much the same way, in fact, almost always in the

same way as one becomes a Hypocrite.• Or, at least that is how it starts out, but the

Backslider fails to ever recover from their first sin that takes them out of fellowship with the Father, and they progress along in their Carnality, living in the resources of their HAM's - both Human Good and Human Bad.

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Backsliders and Spiritual Death• They reverse the process that we saw in the

Unbeliever, whose Hardness of Heart, their Stubbornness, leads to their Ignorance, which leads to their alienation form the life of God, which leads to their darkened understanding and that to their futility in their thinking.

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Backsliders and Spiritual Death• The Backslider, now "walking as the Gentiles walk,

in the futility of their minds", the HAM's and the Human Good and Human Bad associated with each, begins to lose their Doctrinal Orientation (darkened understanding), then their alienation from the life from God (Spiritual and Doctrinal Orientation), produces greater ignorance, resulting finally, in "Hardness of heart", or Stubbornness towards God.

• They have completely "reversed" the process, and have entered into Backsliding, or "Reversionism".

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Spiritual Death

Mind of the spirit

Mind of the Flesh

"Understanding = Appraisal

process

Being and doing

Resides in Flesh

No!

Darkness

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Fruit of the Spirit

• It is important to observe that the fruit here described is not produced by a believer, but by the Holy Spirit working through a Christian who is in vital union with Christ (cf. John 15:1-8).

• The word “fruit” is singular, indicating that these qualities constitute a unity, all of which should be found in a believer who lives under the control of the Spirit.

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Fruit of the Spirit

• In an ultimate sense this “fruit” is simply the life of Christ lived out in a Christian.

• It also points to the method whereby Christ is formed in a believer (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18; Phil. 1:21).

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Fruit

• The first three virtues are habits of mind which find their source in God.

• Love (agapē) is listed first because it is the foundation of the other graces.

• God is love and loves the world (cf. 1 John 4:8; John 3:16). Such self-sacrificing love that sent Christ to die for sinners is the kind of love that believers who are Spirit-controlled manifest.

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Fruit• Joy (chara) is a deep and abiding inner

rejoicing which was promised to those who abide in Christ (cf. John 15:11). It does not depend on circumstances because it rests in God’s sovereign control of all things (cf. Rom. 8:28).

• Peace (eirēnē) is again a gift of Christ (cf. John 14:27). It is an inner repose and quietness, even in the face of adverse circumstances; it defies human understanding (cf. Phil. 4:7).

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Fruit

• Love (Gr. agape, self-sacrificing affection for others)

• Joy (Gr. chara, deep-seated gladness regardless of circumstances)

• Peace (Gr. eirene, inner quietness and repose regardless of circumstances)

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Fruit• Interpersonal or other-ward qualities (v. 22)• Patience (Gr. makrothumia, forbearance even

under provocation)• Kindness (Gr. chrestotes, benevolence and

graciousness)• Goodness (Gr. agathosune, constructive

action reaching out to others)

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Fruit

• The second triad reaches out to others, fortified by love, joy, and peace.

• Patience (makrothymia) is the quality of forbearance under provocation (cf. 2 Cor. 6:6; Col. 1:11; 3:12). It entertains no thoughts of retaliation even when wrongfully treated.

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Fruit

• Kindness (chrēstotēs) is benevolence in action such as God demonstrated toward men. Since God is kind toward sinners (cf. Rom. 2:4; Eph. 2:7) a Christian should display the same virtue (cf. 2 Cor. 6:6; Col. 3:12).

• Goodness (agathōsynē) may be thought of both as an uprightness of soul and as an action reaching out to others to do good even when it is not deserved.

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Fruit• General or self-ward qualities (vv. 22–

23)• Faithfulness (Gr. pistis, reliability,

trustworthiness)• Gentleness (Gr. praytes, acquiescence

to authority and consideration of others)• Self-control (Gr. enkrateia, ability to

master oneself)

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Fruit

• The final three graces guide the general conduct of a believer who is led by the Spirit.

• Faithfulness (pistis) is the quality which renders a person trustworthy or reliable, like the faithful servant in Luke 16:10-12.

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Fruit• Gentleness (prautēs) marks a person who is

submissive to God’s Word (cf. James 1:21) and who is considerate of others when discipline is needed (cf. “gently” in Gal. 6:1; 2 Tim. 2:25; “gentle” in 1 Cor. 4:21; Eph. 4:2; “gentleness” in Col. 3:12; 1 Peter 3:16).

• Self-control (enkrateia; this noun is used in the NT only here and in Acts 24:25; 2 Peter 1:6) denotes self-mastery and no doubt primarily relates to curbing the fleshly impulses just described. Such a quality is impossible to attain apart from the power of God’s Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:16).

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The Appraisal Filters and The Fruit of the Spirit - Peace

• The Greek word eirene also means tranquility, health and prosperity. It connotes two types of prosperity:

• inner peace with God• and overt prosperity and blessing. • This is what our Lord promised His disciples

in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

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• “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me [abiding in Him] you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

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• “The Peace of God shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

• This means that the peace of God will give you mental stability!

• Mental stability is a key issue in the spiritual life, for spirituality is a mental attitude produced by the filling of the Holy Spirit and the application of Bible doctrine which has been learned and metabolized.

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• Mental stability is the ability to think doctrine and divine viewpoint under pressure.

• This is the ability to make correct and accurate application of metabolized doctrine in time of testing.

• It is insulation against Christian psychosis, neurosis, and psychopathic tendencies and it is the spiritual ability to pass thought testing.

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• The peace of God which surpasses all comprehension protects us and guards us in the Christian way of life.

• Pressures and adversities cause many believers to run away from the plan of God.

• Our Lord spoke about the unstable emotional believer:

• “yet he has no {firm} root in himself, but is {only} temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.” Matthew 13:21

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• “And the work of righteousness will be peace,” notice that the work or fruit or production of righteousness will be peace or completeness, soundness, prosperity, peace, tranquility, and contentment. Isa 32:17

• Spiritual decisions at the VI result in continued Peace in the Appraisal Process.

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• Guard, phroureo, means to protect by a military guard, either in order to prevent hostile invasion, or to keep the inhabitants of a besieged city from flight.

• The peace of God guards our Appraisal Filter, keeping us from fleeing, relying on Belief/Knowledge as the Primary Filters for our appraisal process.

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James 1:12

• Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

• “Blessed” This reflects Hebrew usage (cf. Ps. 1:1; Prov. 3:13; 8:34; Job 5:17; Isa. 56:2; Jer. 17:7).

• This can be translated “happy” (cf. TEV). This is the same term used in “the Beatitudes” of the Sermon on the Mount (cf. Matt. 5:1–17).

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James 1:12• Blessed is a man who perseveres under

trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

• “the man who perseveres under trial” This is a PRESENT TENSE which means continuance under trial (cf. v. 3).

• We are not blessed by the trial, but by what our perseverance and faith in God do for us.

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James 1:12


• “under” Present active indicative of ὑπομενω [hupomenō].

• “trial” Temptation (πειρασμον [peirasmon]). Real temptation here.

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James 1:12• Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial;

for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

• “for once he has been approved” “Test” is the Greek word dokimos (as seen in v. 3).

• “to test with a view toward approval.” • This approval comes only through testing. • It was used in Greek for medical doctors

taking a final practical test before graduation.

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James 1:12• Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for

once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

• “crown of life” This is the Greek term stephanos, which was a wreath worn on the head as a symbol of military or athletic victory.

• It is the genitive of apposition, life itself being the crown as in I Pet. 5:4.

• Robertson, A. 1997. Word Pictures in the New Testament. Vol.V c1932, Vol.VI c1933 by Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. Logos Research Systems: Oak Harbor

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James 1:12• Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial;

for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

• There are 3 crowns referred to in the NT which faithful believers will receive from God:

• (1) “the crown of righteousness” (cf. II Tim. 4:8);

• (2) “the crown of life” (cf. Rev. 2:10; 3:11);• (3) “the crown of glory” (cf. I Pet. 5:4); and

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James 1:12• Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for

once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

• Also notice this crown (1) is promised by God, but (2) comes through the believer’s victory over trials and temptations.

• As always God deals with mankind through covenant “if … then” categories.

• God provides, initiates, and empowers, but we must respond faith, obedience, and perseverance.

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James 1:12• Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he

has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

• “which the Lord has promised” This is an AORIST MIDDLE (deponent) INDICATIVE with an unexpressed subject. “which has been promised”

• The NASB, NKJV, NRSV, and NJB supply “the Lord,” while TEV and NIV supply “God.”

• This is typical of many later scribal changes to the original Greek texts.

• The scribes tried to make the text as specific as possible to remove ambiguity or supposed heretical interpretation.

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James 1:12


• “to those who love Him” Love is shown by obedience (cf. 2:5; Ex. 20:5–6; Deut. 5:10, 32; 6:6; 7:9).

• There is no excuse for disobedience (cf. Luke 6:46).

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Understanding Temptation

• James 1:13 Let no one say when he is being tempted, I am being tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.

• Next week we will learn the Resistance Technique and and further our discussion of Sin and the Sinful Nature

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hypocrites and backsliders h and b-039: hypocrites and backsliders: the solution

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