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The Spiritual Life #83 - The Believer's Riches in Christ

Managing the Mind with Divine Viewpoint

God’s Power in the Christian

Every believer has access to God’s power, yet few live in its reality, because divine provision must be understood before it is applied. Writing to the Christians in Ephesus, Paul prays that they will grasp the power of God available to them. He writes, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory…

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#biblical application #divine power #Filling of the Spirit #riches in Christ #spiritual growth #Union with Christ #walk by faith

The Spiritual Life #82 - The Believer's Riches in Christ

The Right to Pray to God

Christ grants believers direct access to the Father in prayer through His name (John 16:23; Eph. 2:18). This means we approach the Father on the basis of Christ’s merit and finished work, not our own performance or worthiness. Jesus said, “If you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you” (John 16:23b). To pray “in My name” is not a formula of words, but an appeal grounded in…

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#access to the Father #fellowship with God #hindered prayer #prayer in Christ’s name #spiritual alignment #Union with Christ #will of God in prayer

First John - Class Lecture for Chafer Theological Seminary Graduate Course (Dr. Steven R. Cook)

The Spiritual Life #81 - The Believer's Riches in Christ

The Believer's Inheritance in Christ

The believer’s inheritance originates in the eternal decree of God. Paul writes that we “have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11), and that the Holy Spirit “is given as a pledge of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14). The Spirit is the pledge (arrabōn), referring to a payment made in advance, a “first…

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#believer’s inheritance #eternal decree of God #eternal life assurance #grace not works #Holy Spirit pledge #security of salvation #Union with Christ

The Spiritual Life #80 - The Believer's Riches in Christ

The King, the Kingdom, and the Coming Reign of Christ

God’s kingdom program is rooted in the covenants and unfolds progressively throughout Scripture. Central to that program is the Davidic Covenant, in which God promised David an eternal dynasty, throne, kingdom, and descendant who would rule forever (2 Sam. 7:12-13; Ps. 89:3-4, 34-37). David had an earthly kingdom, and his “throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:16). Isaiah declared that…

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#Bible prophecy #Davidic covenant #Jesus Christ #Kingdom of God #Messianic Kingdom #Millennial kingdom #Revelation 20

Scripture presents the temple in heaven as a real, structured place where God’s presence is manifest, where Christ ministers, and where divine authority proceeds. It is the heavenly original of which the earthly tabernacle and temple were copies. The writer of Hebrews states that the earthly sanctuary was “a copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (Heb. 8:5), and that Christ “entered…into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb. 9:24). This establishes that there is an actual heavenly sanctuary, and that Jesus Christ presently ministers there as our High Priest (Heb. 4:14–16).

#Divine Judgment #heavenly sanctuary #heavenly temple #high priest ministry of Christ #prayer and intercession #throne of God #typology of tabernacle

The Spiritual Life #79 - The Believer's Riches in Christ

God’s plan for the believer begins with union with Christ. Paul structures Ephesians 1 around this controlling idea, expressed in the repeated phrases “in Him” (ἐν αὐτῷ) and “in Christ” (ἐν Χριστῷ), which define the sphere of every spiritual blessing. Election is therefore Christ-centered. Scripture identifies Christ as the chosen One, as Isaiah records, “My chosen one in whom My soul delights” (Isa. 42:1), and Peter affirms that He “is choice and precious in the sight of God” (1 Pet. 2:4). Believers, then, are elect only in relation to Christ. As Paul states, God “chose us in Him” (Eph. 1:4). The emphasis is not on isolated individuals, but on Christ as the Elect One and those who are united to Him by faith sharing in that election.

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#adoption #election #eternal security #inheritance #positional sanctification #Union with Christ

The Spiritual Life #78 - The Believer's Riches in Christ

A Death That Glorifies God

Every believer lives under the certainty of two eschatological realities. The Lord may return for His church in the Rapture (1 Th. 4:16–17), in which case we will not taste death but will “all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:51–52). But if we are not part of the Rapture generation, then each of us will face physical death, because “it is appointed for men to die…

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#Christian death #Discipleship #faithful obedience #glorifying God #John 21 #Peter

The Spiritual Life #77 - The Believer's Riches in Christ

God’s Plan, Christ’s Work, Our Faith

Salvation began in eternity past with the plan of God. Before the foundation of the world, God the Father designed redemption and commissioned God the Son to accomplish it. Scripture declares that God “saved us and called us… according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity” (2 Tim. 1:9). The Son, the eternal Word, willingly agreed to this mission,…

#eternal life #faith alone #Gospel #Jesus Christ #resurrection #salvation #substitutionary atonement

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