She That Is Spiritual

gonzodave

Mtw 11:6 And blessed is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for
stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth. AMP

Lk 21:14-15 Therefore be resolved not to rehearse ahead of time how to make your
defense. For I (Myself) will give the words (a mouth) along with the wisdom that
none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. NET

Eph 6:16 Pray for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak -
that I may confidently make known the mystery of the gospel (good news). NET

"Of indwelling sin, Owen wrote: ‘its nature and formal design is to oppose God; God
as a lawgiver, God as holy, God as the author of the gospel, a way of salvation by grace
and not by works, are the direct object of the law of sin.’16 Ungodliness,
unrighteousness, unbelief and heresy are its natural forms of self-expression. It
pervades and pollutes the whole man: ‘it adheres as a depraved principle unto our
minds, in darkness and vanity; unto our affections in sensuality; unto our wills, in a
loathing of, and aversion from, that which is good; and ... continually putting itself
upon us, in inclinations, motions, or suggestions, to evil.’17 And, as we shall see, it
resists the whole work of grace, from first to last: ‘when Christ comes with his
spiritual power upon the soul to conquer it to himself, he hath no quiet landing place.
He can set foot on no ground but what he must fight for.’18"

The Spirituality of John Owen, J. I. Packer

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Dear Reader,

What is the informed sharing of God's graceful salvation? I'll attempt a statement. Knowing beforehand,
that no condensed iteration will encompass all of the vast understandings that are contained in God's
grace.

Christianity is the living imputation and monergism (not a partnership with God, but the permanent
indwelling power of the Holy Spirit given to regenerate men accomplishes God's work on earth). God's
work is accomplished through and in Christ by His resurrection, not a synergism (partnership) and
example of Christ in His redemptive death. His death was the past work of Christ, the foundation, not to
be repeated, for the present work of the gospel of God's saving grace. The Greek "anothen," in John 3
means both born-again and from-above. This birth is from death to life.

The Apostle Paul was given this gospel of grace as

the first of two revelations. The second being the
mystery of the Body of Christ for the power of daily
living in faith - after salvation and regeneration.
Justification by faith is the core doctrine of the
gospel of grace for salvation that brings one into the
covenant of grace. Whereas, sanctification that
leads to an end purpose of communion (koinonia =
mutual giving and receiving; yet God the Father
remains the giver of the divine gift of joy in
communion) with God the Father, the Son and Holy
Spirit is the core teaching of the covenant of grace.
"The chief aim of man is to glorify God and to enjoy
Him."

Many have taught and died sharing God's saving

grace in the first revelation of the gospel - the Cross
with Christ as the redeeming gift who revealed the
Father's love. The second was not rediscovered by
Luther. Calvin and the Puritans, who later followed
him and ignited the 20 year English Civil War under Cromwell, were the standard bearers of the covenant
of grace. The Spirit is executor of the grace that flows through Christ. The Apostle Paul termed both his
"my gospel" of salvation and the gospel of the covenant of grace in the Body of Christ (the Church of
regenerated believers) as "the gospel of God's saving grace."

The Cross and the Spirit. The world died, the raven left; but the dove returned to Noah with a living
branch. New beginnings began on Resurrection Sunday. The covenant of grace has been in full effect
since Pentecost.

In summary, the sovereignty of God in all things, combined with man's free choice in a saving belief that
God's Promise is true - when recognized by God in a single moment - guarantees an assured salvation.
And, from that moment forward, the power of the Spirit of Christ guarantees future transformation, good
works, and the spiritual joy of communion (1 John 3:23). The Cross gives merit to the sinner through
Christ in which the Spirit has righteous ground to transform the sinning believer into the image of the Son
of God by the works of grace. This is the purpose of salvation by the graceful works of God.

And finally - keep forever in mind - salvation from the penalty of sin was accomplished first by Christ for
"whomsoever" shall believe that He died for them. Secondly, salvation is accomplished from the power of
sin by the willing saint's reliance on the power of the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God. And
lastly, the saint's salvation from the possession of sin will be finally accomplished in his bodily death and

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the death of the old sin nature that comes with natural birth. Death to life everlasting and release from the
power of the world organized by Satan, the flesh with its inborn sin nature, and the devil himself (John
16:7-11).

Why then would God's Truth in His grace not be one among many counterfeits? What is the
distinguishing mark? A consensus of opinion? Scripture tells us no man needs another to teach him
God's Truth. Without the inner witness of the Holy Spirit for confirmation Truth may not be discerned. For
this reason, many unregenerate professing Christians are rationally convinced of a truth. A truth they do
not personally possess. Read about the life and works of John Owen for a life that exemplified "he that is
spiritual."

"Again, Owen knew the power of his gospel. Preachers, he held,

must have ‘experience of the power of the truth which they
preach in and upon their own souls. . . . man preacheth that
sermon only well unto others which preacheth itself in his own
soul.’6 Therefore he made this rule: "I hold myself bound in
conscience and in honour, not even to imagine that I have
attained a proper knowledge of any one article of truth, much
less to publish it, unless through the Holy Spirit I have had such
a taste of it, in its spiritual sense, that I may be able, from the
heart, to say with the psalmist, ‘I have believed, and therefore
have I spoken.

... Affection may be the helm of the ship, but the mind must steer; and the chart to
steer by is God’s revealed truth. Consequently, it is the preacher’s first task to teach
his flock the doctrines of the Bible, eschewing emotionalism (the attempt to play
directly on the affections) and addressing himself constantly to the mind. Owen
habitually spoke of himself as a teacher, and conducted his own ministry on these
principles, as his published sermons and practical treaties show.

... Fourth, the Christian is a regenerate man, a new creature in Christ. A new
principle of life, and habit of obedience, has been implanted in him. This is the
prophesied ‘circumcision of the heart’. ‘Whereas the blindness, obstinacy, and
stubbornness in sin, that is in us by nature, with the prejudices which possess our
minds and affections, hinder us from conversion unto God, by this circumcision they
are taken away’, 21 and man’s first act of true, saving faith in Jesus Christ, his
conscious ‘conversion’, is its immediate result. This act, though directly caused by the
Spirit’s regenerative operation in the depths of his being, is perfectly free (i.e.,
deliberate): ‘in order of nature, the acting of grace in the will in our conversion is
antecedent unto its own acting; though in the same instant of time wherein the will is
moved, it moves; and when it is acted, it acts itself, and preserves its own liberty in its
exercise.’" (Pp 3, 5, 6)

Below is a short biographical work on John Owen, whom Charles Spurgeon named the prince of divines,
written by the well-known J. I. Packer. You can click on the top far-right button for a full screen window.
The iPaper button at the top-left of the embedded screen allows you to select a view in the 'book mode.'
Additionally, you can email-print-download by selecting the iPaper button.

My regards in Christ Jesus,

gonzodave

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iPaper document is at: The Spirituality of John Owen, by J. I. Packer (28 pages)

Carbon Neutral Digital Edition

She That Is Spiritual

Credits:
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For further reading: He That Is Spiritual - A Classic Study of the Biblical Doctrine of Spirituality, by Lewis
Sperry Chafer, D. D., LITT. D. Former President of Dallas Theological Seminary. Former Professor of
Systematic Theology. Former Editor of Bibliotheca Sacra. Copyright 1918. Revised edition copyright 1967
by Zondervan. ISBN 0-310-22341-5
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Photo used in title image: Copyright 2007-2008~neonka

http://neonka.deviantart.com/art/eye-2-60420711
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Photo used to depict Cross and Spirit:

http://saviourmachine.deviantart.com/art/The-cross-of-Christ-85070495
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Photo used as accent in quotation block: angel 'la celeste by ~frame2fame on deviantART
http://tn3-2.deviantart.com/fs19/300W/i/2007/304/4/7/angel___la_celeste_by_frame2fame.jpg
Some rights reserved. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works
3.0 License.

"She That Is Spiritual" by David Coulon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at

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www.koinoniaofgrace.com.

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