1 Sunday, Octber 5, 2014 Grace Life Schl f Thelgy Grace Histry Prject Lessn 147 Snship Edificatin: General Timeline and Overview f Key Cncepts, Part 3 Nte: These ntes are a cntinuatin f Lessns 145 and 146 Snship Edificatin: General Timeline and Overview f Key Cncepts, Parts 1 and 2 SE s Edificatin Curriculum, Cnt. Mark Newbld has taught almst 2,800 lessns n the bk f Rmans. Mike McDaniel s ttals equal the fllwing: Justificatin (began 8/1/2010) 44 Sanctificatin 46 Orientatin 122 Establishment (1 & 2) 68 Establishment (3) 34 Establishment (4) 22 Educatin 44 as f a few weeks ag Accrding t SE, nes psitin in the heavenly places ( creature ) is directly related t the amunt f Snship Educatin they matriculate thrugh in this life. In shrt, if ne nly makes it thrugh Level 2 Phase 1, their psitin r vcatin in eternity will directly crrespnd t hw far they made it thrugh the curriculum. Thse wh d nt knw abut SE r fail t take it seriusly are nt qualified t labr with the father in his business and are therefre nt given psitins f gvernmental authrity in the creature. And here is the kicker, the vcatin yu are being ffered is nly ging t becme a reality fr yu based upn yur getting equipped fr it while yu are here n earth. I knw that is a bit f a surprise fr mst saints. They think that when they get t heaven they are ging t get filled in n whatever they missed dwn here. Yu wn t. There is n training class r remedial curse in heaven fr thse wh did nt have the time r interest t gain the necessary skills under the Father s specific tutelage while here n earth. And ne mre thing, if yu think that wrking at jbs here n earth, r develping leadership skills, r frmal r OTJ training is ging t equip yu t functin ut in the heavenly places, then yu are in fr the shck f yur life. (McDaniel, Snship Orientatin (5-6), page 5) Cnsequently, believers are taught t seek mre f their Snship Educatin s as t further their psitin in eternity than t actively lk fr the arrival f their blessed hpe, i.e., the rapture. Let me give yu an example. I used t wish the rapture wuld cme sn. I prayed fr the rapture t happen. I thught hw great it wuld be t get ut f this sin-cursed wrld and int heaven with Jesus and I just wished the rapture wuld take place. Besides, wh Pastr Bryan Rss
2 The Gal f the Curriculum wuldn t rather g ut in a transfrming blaze f glry and immrtal life instead f dying a physical death? But nw that I understand snship and the things invlved with it, I m nt in such a hurry any mre. In fact, I d rather get mre f my snship educatin befre I g. S my attitude has been adjusted abut that issue. Nw, I m very cntent t keep ging dwn here. Instead f just waiting t be taken ut at the Rapture, I m busy getting my snship educatin. If yu had tld me that there was smething in the Bible that, if I knew it and understd it, I wuldn t be in such a hurry fr the Blessed Hpe t take place, I culd nt have imagined what that wuld be. I wuld have denied that anything wuld take away my desire fr the Rapture; but I wuld have been wrng. It s funny hw prper dctrine changes yur perspective (attitude) abut things. Instead f getting up every day and hping fr the Rapture, I get up every day wanting t further my snship educatin. (McDaniel, Snship Establishment (01-20), pages, 18-19) David Winstn Busch states numerus times in Mre Than Cnquerrs that the gal f the curriculum is that the Spirit might dwell in believers accrding t Rmans 8:9. This hearkens back t what he said in Rmans 8 cncerning the Spirit f Gd dwelling in yu. He will begin t expand upn that issue as that is the ultimate gal and bject. (Busch, 70) Right frm the beginning yu are riented t a certain bject and gal: namely, that the ultimate desired end is that Gd, by His Spirit, and thrugh a particular prcess desires t be dwelling in yu. As we ll see, that dwelling cncept is ging t be very clsely linked t the issue f being filled. (Busch, 94) Yu already knw that frm yur snship instructin. Yu knw that in cnnectin with this wrk ging n in yur inner man, yur bject and gal is t have that Spirit and very life f Christ dwelling in yu thrugh that prcess f educatin and edificatin. (Busch, 102) (Cmmenting n Ephesians 3:17) That s the bject. That s the gal yu were intrduced t in Rmans 8 dealing with yur heart and if s be that the Spirit f Gd DWELL in yu (Rm. 8:9). This is the capstne. (Busch, 119) With the end f Rmans, the fundatin has been laid. Yu are nw prepared t build upn it. Yu are nw prepared t g n in yur educatin, crying Abba Father and early lking fr the things that will be made knwn t yu in cnnectin with the revealing f Pastr Bryan Rss
3 the the mystery (Rmans 16:25). The gal f yur snship is fr the Spirit f Gd t dwell in yu (Rmans 8:9). Thrugh yur transfrming edificatin curriculum (Rmans 12:2) yu will be learning Christ (Ephesians 4:20). Yu have been designed t be living epistles (II Crinthians 3:2-3) and as yu let the wrd f Christ dwell in yu richly (Clssians 3:16) the glrius end in view is that Christ be frmed in yu (Galatians 4:19). May it be s. Amen. (Busch, 186) Prblems with the Snship Edificatin (SE) Curriculum Cmplex First, the wrd curriculum des nt ccur anywhere in the Bible. There is n verse in Paul s epistles where Paul tells his readers that they shuld view his letters as a rigid higher rder curriculum. Secnd, there is n verse in Paul s epistles that wuld instruct ne t g back t the bk f Prverbs t find a table f cntents fr Paul s epistles. Third, there is nthing in Prverbs 1 that establishes the varius Phases and Levels f the curriculum articulated by SE fr Snship Educatin even in Israel s prgram. This all stems frm a fabricated/private definitin f Biblical Adptin that is then read int and impsed upn all parts the Bible, nt just Paul s epistles. Furth, SE maintains that I & II Thessalnians cmprise the highest level (Level 3) in the curriculum. Saints wh have attained unt Level 3 f the curriculum are ascribed the tw highest appellatives frm Prverbs 1: wise man and man f understanding. Fllwing Clssians, we are presented with the Thessalnian epistles. By the time yu reach this pint in the curriculum, yu ve been instructed in all the majr cmpnents f yu educatin... The Thessalnians are called ensample saints. These are mature saints. These are saints that have gne thrugh the curriculum and have been fully prepared having had Christ fully preached t them. But, in light f that, they still had a need. That need will be filled by the Thessalnian epistles. But again, when yu get t this pint the purpse is nt fr the intrductin f new dctrine... S again, the intrductin and presentatin f dctrine has already been fully dne by the time yu get t Thessalnians... Returning t the Thessalnians, they are the ensample fr all thse that are grwing in Christ and cming t that knwledge f Christ and learning Christ. S in light f all that, they already knw the material and the nly issue is nw hearkening back t thse things that they already knw. (Busch, Mre Than Cnquerrs, 153-155) When he speaks t the Thessalnian saints he is able t say knwing yur electin and calling. This is because they are ensample saints and have gne thrugh the educatinal curriculum f Rmans and Ephesians. (Busch, The Fulness f Christ, 43) Pastr Bryan Rss
4 Fifth, given the fact that I Thessalnians is arguably either the first r secnd bk Paul wrte, there is zer Scriptural reasn fr thinking that it crrespnds with Level 3 (the highest) f the Snship Curriculum. Paul did nt even have anything clse t a cmplete revelatin f the dctrine pertaining t the bdy f Christ when he wrte I & II Thessalnians. I Crinthians 13:9, 13 in I Crinthians which was written after I Thessalnians Paul is still saying that he nly knws in part, i.e., he is still receiving revelatin pertaining the church the bdy f Christ. II Crinthians 12:1 Paul says that he will cme t visins and revelatins f the Lrd. The verb will cme is in the future tense. In ther wrds, Paul knew when he was penning II Crinthians that he did nt yet have a cmplete knwledge f all that Christ wanted his bdy t knw. II Crinthians 12:7 in II Crinthians, which was written after I Crinthians which was written after I Thessalnians which suppsedly cntains higher rder Level 3 dctrine accrding t SE, Paul says that he received a thrn in the flesh n accunt f the abundance f revelatins he had been receiving. Cnsequently, it makes abslutely n sense t say that I & II Thessalnians cntain the highest Level f the curriculum when these were histrically sme f the first bks Paul wrte. SE has the saints in Thessalnica knwing things when the s-called curriculum was nly beginning t be written. Functinally this apprach has the Thessalnians knwing things befre Paul des. Sixth, SE anticipates this bjectin by maintaining that the Acts perid gifts prgram (apstles, prphets, evangelists, pastrs, teachers, prphecy, tngues, and knwledge) ministering in Thessalnica wuld have taught the Thessalnians the dctrines cntained in the Rmans thrugh Clssians prtin f the curriculum (the greater cntent f which had nt yet even been revealed t Paul much less written), thereby allwing the Thessalnians t attain unt the highest appellatives f the curriculum f wise man and man f understanding befre Rmans thrugh Clssians were even written. As an aside, when it cmes t the layut f Paul s epistles, there are a hst f cnnected issues dealing with the gifts and specifically edificatin gifts as they relate t the cmmunicatin f the wrd f truth and hw it was being cmmunicated at that time versus nw. We nw have that which is perfect; that mre excellent way unt edificatin. We have the full curriculum sitting in a bk they did nt. Rather, they were living during the time it was in the prcess f being prduced. That is why we start at Rmans even thugh Rmans was nt the first epistle written. But they went thrugh the same prcess, and that s really smething t think abut when yu cnsider what Paul did with the Thessalnians in a rather shrt perid f time. Thse are the advanced mature saints. They didn t g thrugh these same bks as we d, but they went thrugh the same prcess. (Busch, Mre Than Cnquerrs, 38-39) Pastr Bryan Rss
5 With the arrival f the prisner f Jesus Christ, Paul s special prvcatin ministry is ver, as are the sign gifts that accmpanied that ministry... Gd gave, past tense, these edificatin gifts. Yu already knw frm yur previus in part educatin they wuld be dne away... There is great wisdm in hw the Spirit has laid this ut. Fr while the gifts have ceased, the crllary edificatin wrk still fllws that pattern. When we reach Ephesians, the fundatin gift has been laid bth histrically and dctrinally (Rmans 1:1; 16:25; Ephesians 2:20; 4:11). Yes, we have all the knwledge, but nt until we reach this pint in Ephesians. As far as the curriculum ges, if yu are with the Crinthians, then yu still nly knw in part. The edifying wrk that was being accmplished by the gifts still needs t be dne, but it will nw be dne thrugh the mre excellent way. The saints will nw labr and be perfected in all wisdm (I Crinthians 2:6; Ephesians 4:12; Clssians 1:28) in cnnectin with the all knwledge curriculum that has been given t them thrugh the gifts. (Busch, The Fulness f Christ, 36-39) Fr me, all this is cmpletely untenable. In rder, fr ne t give mental assent t these ntins ne wuld have t maintain that via the functining f the gifts in Thessalnica that the Thessalnians came t knw the truths fund in Rmans thrugh Clssians befre they had even been revealed t Apstle f the Gentiles himself; much less written dwn in Paul s epistles. This is beynd ur ability t cmprehend and flies in the face f a plain, cmmn sense reading f I Crinthians 13:9, 13; II Crinthians 12:1, 7. SE s Curriculum Cmplex is simply ut f step with the ttality f the Pauline revelatin and runs cntrary t the histrical realties f the Acts perid chrnlgy. Wrks Cited Busch, David Winstn. Mre Than Cnquerrs: Snship, Sufferings, Prayer & the Intercessry Ministry f the Hly Spirit. Xuln Press, 2012. Busch, David Winstn. The Fulness f Christ: The Prisner, the Creature & the Eternal Purpse f the Father f Glry. Xuln Press, 2013. Jnes, Rd. The Adptin f Sns: The Dctrine f Snship. 1lrd1faith1baptism.net. Newbld, Mark. Varius charts in the PwerPint. McDaniel, Mike. Snship Orientatin and Snship Establishment Ntes. Pastr Bryan Rss