Edification Complex of the Soul, Part 1
(See Diagrams & Maps
section on this site)
Eph 4:12 [read verses 11-16]. This
gives us the objective mandate related to the three-fold purpose of the
Pastor-Teacher.
A. Etymology
1.
The Doctrine of Edification is based on Categorizing the Greek noun Oikodome. This
noun is found in, Rom 14:19; 2 Cor 10:8, 13:10; Eph 4:12,16, 29; 2 Cor 14:5,12,26.
In all these passages, it has a dual connotation.
a. Collectively it refers to the formation of the Royal Family of
God during the entire period of the Church Age. I.e., The building up of the body of
Christ. When the royal family is completed, the rapture of the church will
occur.
b. Individually it refers to the spiritual growth of the positive believer,
and/or momentum in the Christian way of life. Hence, the individual
connotation refers to the execution of the Pre-designed Protocol Plan of
God (P3G) and the subsequent manufacture of the invisible hero,
resulting in the glorification of God.
2. When the collective connotation is used, Oikodome
should be translated - "construction, building up," or"
building process."
The collective connotation of Oikodome is based
upon our Lord's third Royal patent or title, King of kings and Lord of
lords, the Bright Morning Star, which was given to Him as a result of His
strategic victory in the angelic conflict.
1 Tim 6:15 Rev 17:14, 19:16
Our Lord Jesus Christ now possesses three categories of Royalty.
a. The Royalty of His Deity, (Divine Royalty) by
virtue of the fact that He is eternal and infinite God - Son of God. Mat 4:3
b. The Royalty of His humanity, (Jewish Royalty) by virtue of the virgin
birth, incarnation and first advent - Son of David. Mat 1:1
c. The royalty of His hypostatic union, (Battle field Royalty), by virtue of His
strategic victory at the cross - "King of kings, Lord of lords; the
Bright Morning Star."
"King of kings" gives Christ precedence over human rulers;
"Lord of lords" gives Christ precedence over angelic rulers.
So, the collective connotation of Oikodome is
based upon our Lord's third Royal patent or title, King of kings and Lord
of lords, the Bright Morning Star.
3. When the Individual connotation is used, Oikodome
should be translated "edification."
American Heritage Dictionary:
Edification
= Intellectual, moral or spiritual improvement, enlightenment.
B. Definition and Description
1. The Edification Complex of the Soul (ECS) is technical nomenclature
found in the Epistles of the New Testament for the attainment of spiritual
maturity.
2. The consistent function of the Grace Apparatus for Perception (GAP) under one's right Pastor-Teacher is the only way to
construct an Edification Complex of the Soul.
You
don't edify your soul through prayer or works,
those are a result of edification not the cause for edification.
3. The mature believer possesses a completed edification complex in his/her
soul.
4. Doctrine perceived must feed both the human spirit and the human soul
for capacity for both human and eternal life. The ECS is the result.
5. Virtue-love is the means of reaching maturity and receiving an ECS, 1
Cor 8:1. You cannot have an
Edification Complex of the Soul unless you are using virtue-love at gates 5
and 6 of the Divine Dynasphere. "Gnosis produces arrogance, but
virtue-love edifies."
Virtue-love is the sign that you have been metabolizing doctrine.
1 Cor 8:1-3, “Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we
know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love
edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as
he ought to know; but if anyone loves God, he is known by Him.”
6. Synonyms for the Edification Complex of the Soul.
a. Light: This is used for the
Divine Dynasphere and sometimes for the Edification Complex of the Soul. Eph
5:8-9; Rom 13:12
b. "Christ formed in you" Gal 4:19, connotes both the
Edification Complex of the Soul and spiritual self-esteem.
c. "the new man" Eph 4; Col
3, refers to both the Edification Complex of the Soul and Divine
Dynasphere.
d. "the perfect man" James 1:4.
e. "imitators of God" 1 Thess 1:6, Eph 5:1. There is a
direct relation between Gate 8 of the Divine Dynasphere and the Edification
Complex of the Soul.
Eph. 5:1-2
1 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2and
walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us.”
C. The Importance of the Pastor's Authority in Edification.
1. Scriptural references for the authority of the Pastor in edification.
a. 2 Cor 10:8, "for even if I should boast somewhat
further (rub it in) about our authority, which God gave for your
edification and not for destroying you, I shall not feel ashamed."
The Corinthians wavered so much that Paul really had to get tough with them
and throw his rank around.
1 Cor. 1:1, "Paul an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will
of God,"
The Corinthians were reacting to Paul's authority and so were doing many
things detrimental to their spiritual life.
(1) Because of rejecting his authority they rejected sound doctrine and
replaced it with tradition, legalism and liberalism.
(2) "our authority" refers to those with
the communication gifts of Pastor-Teacher as well as Apostleship. e.g. Pastor-Teacher = Apollos
and Timothy.
How
does the Pastor establishe his authority?
Through the communication of doctrine.
(3) Paul makes it very clear that the construction of the edification
complex depends upon accepting the authority of a Pastor-Teacher who
communicates doctrinal information.
(4) People never grow up without authority.
(5) "and not for destroying you" - Even
though the authority may not feel good or be enjoyable at first, it has
tremendous benefits to you.
(6) "I am not ashamed" - Paul makes no bones about it.
Gal 4:16, “So have I become your enemy by telling you the
truth?”
b. 2 Cor 13:10, "for this reason, I am writing these
things while absent, in order that when I am present, I may not use
severity in compatibility with the authority which God has given to me for
the purpose of your edification, and not for the purpose of destroying
you."
(1) No one can learn any subject without accepting the authority of the one
who teaches.
Therefore, the importance of understanding that edification and invisible heroship comes only in one way, and that is through the
teaching of the Pastor in communicating the mystery doctrine of the church
age, and no other way.
(2) It is impossible for anyone with the gift of Pastor-Teacher to
communicate Bible doctrine unless his authority is recognized. Therefore, the enforcement of good
manners and thoughtfulness of others is a part of the exercise of the
Pastor's authority.
Notice that Paul thought it better to talk about authority in a
non-face-to-face situation so that he would not have to chew them out
face-to-face when he arrived.
c. 1 Thess 5:12 - 13
12 "But we request of you, brethren, that you respect those
Pastor-Teachers who work hard among you [studying and teaching], who have
command over you in the Lord and give you instruction. 13and that you esteem them
very highly in love because of their work. "
The road to the edification complex is paved with hundreds and thousands of
messages regarding the P3G God.
Whether these messages are of any benefit to you depends upon whether you
accept one man as your right Pastor and accept his authority in teaching.
d. Heb 13:17, "Keep obeying those Pastors who themselves
are ruling over you, and submit to their authority [by learning bible
doctrine], for these same Pastors keep watching for the benefit of your
souls as those who have to render an account. Keep obeying them, in order
that they may do this accounting with joy, and not with groaning, for this
is unprofitable for you."
2. The threefold purpose of the Pastor is found in Eph 4:12,
"for the purpose of equipping the saints, for the production of
Christian service, for the edification of the body of Christ."
a. The "saints" refer to the Royal Family of God with emphasis on
the baptism of the Spirit.
1. "equipping the saints" refers to
God's grace policy and provision for the execution of the protocol plan.
2. "equipping" is the function of the
Pastor who, through teaching the mystery doctrine of the great power
experiment of the church age, is able to see people grow and become
invisible heroes for combat in the angelic conflict.
b. All believers are in full-time Christian service from the moment of
their salvation.
Christian service is the normal result of spiritual growth but never the
means.
c. Edification is the execution of the P3G for the Church Age
and subsequent manufacture of invisible heroes, resulting in the
glorification of God.
[And]
"For the edification of the body of Christ". The Pastor must study, teach, discipline
(public), reprimand (private), and encourage by steadfastness and doctrine.
3. The spiritual momentum of the believer comes from the teaching ministry
of the Pastor.
Eph 4:16, "because of whom [Lord Jesus Christ] the
entire body, being joined together [baptism of the spirit] and being
inculcated by every joint of supply [Pastor-Teacher] on the basis of the
operational power [Holy Spirit in Divine Dynasphere], in measure one
[Pastor-Teacher] for each part [of the Royal Family of God]; he himself
[Pastor-Teacher] causes growth in the body, resulting in its edification by
means of virtue-love."
a. Body function depends upon the proper use of joints just as athletic
coordination depends upon the proper use of the joints.
b. So in this analogy of the Pastor to the joints, it is the Pastor-Teacher
who gives the body of Christ its function on earth.
c. The result of the communication of doctrine is the construction of an
Edification Complex in your soul.
d. Eph 4:16b says, "he himself [Pastor] causes
growth in the body."
(1) Therefore the function of the Pastor is to teach, to inculcate the
mystery doctrine of the church age.
(2) This is the means by which the Royal Family of God not only orients to
this dispensation, but is caused to grow and attain spiritual maturity.
(3) In spiritual maturity, invisible heroes are manufactured and God is
glorified.
(4) Growth of the body does not depend on the mode or style of teaching but
consistency of teaching.
Face-to-face teaching versus non-face-to-face teaching is a false issue.
The real issue is the power of God presented through the teaching of the
Word of God, whatever the medium:
Written ministry, tapes, radio, T.V., Internet.
The main point is: However you get
your doctrine, be consistent!
Find whoever is your right Pastor and stay with
him.
D. The Motivation of the Believer in Edification.
There are two categories of motivation:
Positive volition and the mental attitude of humility.
1. Positive volition is expressed in Rom 14:19.
Rom 14:19, "Consequently, we run after [pursue] those
things related to prosperity and edification."
a. Running, not walking expresses positive volition toward the mystery
doctrine of the church age, which gives us all the details necessary
regarding God's plan, purpose and will for our lives after salvation.
1Cor 9:24 - 27
24 “Do
you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives
the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25Everyone who
competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it
to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26Therefore
I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not
beating the air; 27but I discipline my body and make it my
slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be
disqualified.”
Phil 2:16 – 18
16
“holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have
reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. 17But
even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and
service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. 18You
too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share
your joy with me.”
Heb12:1 – 3
1
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let
us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles
us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2fixing
our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of
faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the
shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3For
consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so
that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
b. This includes the perception, metabolization and application of the
mystery doctrine of the church age as the means of executing the P3G. The execution of the P3G
results in the manufacture of invisible heroes.
Invisible God plus invisible assets plus invisible power equals invisible
heroes who glorify God. I.G. + I.A.
+ I.P. = I.H.
c. Prosperity and edification go together; both are the result of continual
positive volition.
The more you grow spiritually, the more God is able to bless you.
The more you edify your soul, the more Escrow blessing God can distribute
to you.
2. In order to get the garbage from the Cosmic (world) system out of your
soul and for consistent perception of doctrine to occur, it is important to
have a mental attitude of humility. Rom 12:2-5
Rom 12:2-5,
2"Stop
being conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renovation of your
thought [divine viewpoint of life] that you may prove what the will of God
is; namely, the good of intrinsic value achievement [advance to spiritual
maturity, Spiritual Self Esteem], (and acceptable) the well-pleasing to God
[fulfillment of the pre-designed protocol plan (P3), Spiritual
Autonomy], (and perfect ) the mature status quo
[manufacture of invisible heroes, Spiritual Maturity]. 3For I
say through the grace which has been given to me to everyone who is among
you: stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what you ought to
think, but think in terms of sanity for the purpose of being rational
without illusion as God has assigned to each one of us a standard of
thinking from doctrine. 4For just as we have many members in one
body and all members do not have the same function, 5so we who
are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one
another."
a. Conformity to this world means involvement in the cosmic system.
b. There must be a complete renovation in your thinking if you're ever
going to demonstrate what the will of God is for your life. Certain types of thinking are out of
bounds, i.e., thinking related to the arrogance complex.
c. The standard of thinking from doctrine includes every aspect of divine
viewpoint, orientation to life through enforced and genuine humility, and
everything that makes us objective and teachable toward the Word of God.
d. "many members in one body" emphasizes that although we have
different spiritual gifts and different personalities, we all belong to one
Royal Family, the body of Christ.
e. "individually members one of another" refers to interaction
within the Royal Family of God.
3. Without enforced and genuine humility, there is neither objectivity nor teachability.
Without objectivity and teachability in life, you
will be miserable whether you are a believer or unbeliever, successful or
not.
Without
objectivity and teachability, there is no
edification complex in your soul as a believer.
Don't be subjective about the information being taught, relax and operate
in grace.
4. Edification is the execution of the P3G through the function
of (PSER) -post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation. This includes
your daily perception, metabolization and application of Bible doctrine.
5. Edification is the status of the invisible hero. She/he has completed
the Edification Complex of the Soul, the most beautiful structure in life.
It is found in the soul of the invisible hero.
6. Edification is therefore impossible without humility, teachability and objectivity.
E. Edification is the Key to the Proper Function of the Local Church.
1 Cor 12:1 - 14:40
1 Cor 14:12, "So also you, since you are eager to have
the function of spiritual gifts, seek to abound in spiritual gifts that
edify the church."
"so also you" is a Greek idiom that
should be translated, "this applies to you."
a. The Corinthians were all eager to get the gift of tongues because it was
spectacular, and then they could assume they were spiritual.
In reality, the worst believers in the Bible (the Corinthians) are
described as having the gift of tongues.
b. "seek to abound", means you should give precedence to those
spiritual gifts which result in edification. The primary spiritual gift in this
category is the gift of Pastor-Teacher.
The pre-canon temporary gift of tongues did not edify the church. 1 Cor
14:4
1 Cor 14:26, "…When you assemble, …
Let all things be done for edification."
a. There are a number of ways in which we worship God, but they must all
relate to our spiritual growth.
b. Everything in assembly worship should be done with a view toward the
objective, which is edification.
c. The objective is to communicate doctrine, the purpose of which is to
produce edification.
1. The key to the modus operandi of the local church is edification. Edification,
or the advance to spiritual maturity, is the objective of the Christian way
of life.
2. In the context of 1 Cor 14, the gift of tongues did not fulfill
that purpose.
1 Cor 14:40 concludes that The gift of tongues did not do "all
things properly and in an orderly manner."
a. The gift of tongues only existed for the first forty years of the church
age. It was discontinued when the fifth cycle of discipline was
administered to Israel
by the Romans in August, 70 A.D.
b. In Corinthians, the gift of tongues illustrated how not to do things
decently and orderly.
For Tongues did not contribute to the principle of edification, nor did it
contribute to doing things "properly and in an orderly manner."
F. Edification Follows the Pattern of the Priority
Solution.
1. Priority #1 for edification must be perception, metabolization and
application of the mystery doctrine for the church age under the Grace
Apparatus for Perception (G.A.P.).
This demands concentration under the ministry of the Holy Spirit inside the
operational-type Divine Dynasphere.
Therefore, when doctrine is taught, concentration means there is renewing
of the mind through the ministry of God the Holy Spirit.
2. As you give Bible doctrine #1 priority in your life, you organize your life
around priority #1. Therefore, you
have an organized life and your life is in order. This means you always give proper time to
the perception, metabolization and application of doctrine.
3. Rom 12:1 – 3, As you learn doctrine, your thinking inevitably
begins to change; there's a "renovation of your thought". (Rom 12:2)
Therefore, you begin to organize your thinking around priority #1.
The more doctrine you learn, the more you organize your thinking around
doctrine.
4. Mechanically, that means you use the ten problem solving devices
(P.S.D.) of the P3G. As
you develop the problem solving devices in your mind, you concentrate on
executing the P3G through the doctrine you have learned. That is how you construct the Edification
Complex of the Soul.
Copyright 2002,
Property of:
Grace Fellowship Church,
Pastor James Rickard.
All Rights Reserved.
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