Download The Three Conditions of Spirituality

True Spirituality
I.
Introduction
II.
Background (Objective Context of Spirituality)
III.
Technical Development
A.
Three Considerations of True Spirituality
(Rejected-Slain-Raised)
B.
Three Spiritual Categories of Men
C.
Three Conditions of True Spirituality
IV.
Key Passages
V.
Spirituality versus Spiritual Growth
VI.
Summary
The Three Conditions of Spirituality
Yieldedness “Do not quench the Spirit”
1 Th 5:19
2. Confession
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit” Eph 4:30
3. Walking in the Spirit
“…walk in the Spirit” Gal 5:16
1.
Yieldedness
The foundation of true spirituality.
The Three Conditions of Spirituality
Yieldedness “Do not quench the Spirit”
1 Th 5:19
2. Confession
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit” Eph 4:30
3. Walking in the Spirit
“…walk in the Spirit” Gal 5:16
1.
Sin
HVPT vs. DVPT
2. Sin as of the essence of man
3. Sin as an individual act
4. The relationship of confession to yieldedness
1.
The Three Conditions of Spirituality
Yieldedness “Do not quench the Spirit”
1 Th 5:19
2. Confession
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit” Eph 4:30
3. Walking in the Spirit
“…walk in the Spirit” Gal 5:16
1.
“confess”
o`mologe,w
HOMOLOGEŌ
HOMOS/LEGŌ
same
to speak
lit. “to say the same thing”
Admitting something by way of agreement with
another.
He That is Spiritual
Lewis Sperry Chafer
pp. 71, 85
“So, also, it is an issue only of known sin; for no person can deal
intelligently with unknown sin. This first condition of true spirituality is
centered upon definite matters. It is sin that has, by the grieving of the
Spirit, become a distinct issue; for the term "grieving the Spirit" refers as
much to the heart experience of the one in whom He dwells as to the
personal attitude of the Spirit toward sin. The issue is, therefore, a welldefined wrong, about which the child of God has been made conscious
by the Spirit. Such known sin must be dealt with according to the exact
direction of the Word of God….
“The blessing [of fellowship] does not depend upon sinless perfection: it
is a matter of not grieving the Spirit. It is not an issue concerning
unknown sin: it is an attitude of heart that is willing always instantly to
confess every known sin. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ The
Christian who fully confesses all known sin will have removed one, if not
all, of the hindrances to the fullest manifestation of the Spirit.”
True Spirituality
Francis A. Schaeffer
pg 57
“Now the question arises, whether we could expect to have perfection, either totally or
even for this one moment. And I would suggest that such an expression simply gets us
caught in a swamp, in which we have endless discussions concerning some abstract idea
of complete victory, even in this ‘one moment.’ The phrase that often is used is that we
can have freedom from ‘all known sin.’ But I feel that as we consider first the Word of
God and then human experience, we must understand that there is a problem in the
word ‘known,’ and also a problem in the word ‘conscious,’ if we talk of ‘conscious’ sin.
The problem in using both or either of these words is the fact that since the fall man
has habitually fooled himself. We fool ourselves deep inside our subconscious and
unconscious nature.
“The more the Holy Spirit puts his finger on my life and goes down deep into my life,
the more I understand that there are deep wells to my nature. …We are like the iceberg:
one-tenth above and nine-tenths below. It is a very, very simple thing to fool ourselves,
and that is why we must question this word ‘known.’ If I say I can have freedom from
all ‘known’ sin, surely I must acknowledge the meaningfulness of the question: What do I
know? Until I can describe what I know, I cannot go on meaningfully to ask whether I
can have freedom from ‘known’ sin. As the Holy Spirit has wrestled with me down
through the years, more and more I am aware of the depths of my own nature, and the
depths of the results of that awful fall in the Garden of Eden.”