If you break a bone in your body, when it is repaired it becomes stronger. There must be a spiritual equivalent to the healing process the body goes through. How do we "heal" spiritually, mentally and emotionally?
When a tree loses its leaves in the fall, do we automatically assume that the tree is dead?
What does it mean for something to be "ALIVE?"
DOCTRINE #51: LIFE
In the Bible, the definition for "life" is "the ability to REPAIR". This ability to repair covers mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical.
Question: Do you believe you can exist without having "life"?
Next Doctrine: Doctrine #52
Table of Contents
If you need it, here is the support from the Word of God...
SCRIPTURE
"10 The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly." (John 10:10)
(Life is QUANTITATIVE. Jesus said that we could have "life abundantly,"meaning we could have more of it. We can grow in the amount in which we are able to repair. The more we learn about Jesus the more we are able to understand what it looks like to repair different areas of our lives.)
"63 It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life." (John 6:63)
(Life is QUALITATIVE. The words that Jesus spoke gives us the ability to repair, which is God's Righteousness through us. Words can give life and words can bring death. The words that the Holy One, Jesus, spoke were from the Holy Spirit. To think as a man does not profit anything, and the only way for us to be profitable is to follow the way of life...)
"6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)
(Jesus IS the ability to repair. Living by grace through faith is salvation; it is God's way of Thinking. The Law only allowed us to be on the line or off the line, we could not get stronger if we sinned, we could only get back to zero with God. Now that Jesus has given all of us the ability to repair, we can become profitable even when we sin, by confession and repenting.)
"4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." (Genesis 9:4)
(God gave a command to not eat blood because it was where the life was. And more specifically in the Law God said...)
"11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life." (Leviticus 17:11)
(The body's ability to repair comes from the blood. The "life is in the blood." The blood is what made the atonement for the sins of the people. They killed animals and presented the blood on the altar to represent their own blood: their own life.)
"22 And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever-
23 therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Genesis 3:22-24)
(In this passage, Adam and Eve already existed. Some people have a man-made definition of life as "existence". But, the tree gave the ability to repair even though people already existed. It would have been unjust for God to give people the ability to repair eternally, when they deserved death because of their actions. Taking direction from God is life, and the effect of repairing is that you kill your flesh. Like we saw earlier the flesh profiteth nothing from grace, but the spirit works against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit.)
"1 And he showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
2 in the midst of the street thereof. And on this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve manner of fruits, yielding its fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." (Revelation 22:1-2)
(The tree of life is for healing/repair even though these people exist. This is a HUGE POINT. Everyone will exist forever, which is why hell exists. Even though people will exist forever, not everyone will be able to repair.)
"1 Again it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan came also among them to present himself before Jehovah.
2 And Jehovah said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
3 And Jehovah said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil: and he still holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
4 And Satan answered Jehovah, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
5 But put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce thee to thy face.
6 And Jehovah said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thy hand; only spare his life.
7 So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself therewith; and he sat among the ashes." (Job 2:1-8)
(Satan didn't want to kill Job, otherwise he couldn't win in his challenge of God. If Satan could touch anything on Job as long as Job still existed, why didn't Satan touch his internal organs, especially Job's brain? Instead, Satan covered Job's top layer of skin which was DEAD. Satan cannot create, and therefore he is Evil. The only area that Satan could attack was the part of his flesh that was already dead. God never gave Satan the opportunity to take Job's ability to repair while he was being tormented by Satan.)
"28 In the way of righteousness is life; And in the pathway thereof there is no death." (Proverbs 12:28)
(Clearly the way of life is not through our works or our righteousness. Clearly, the way of life is not by gaining reward. The way of God's Righteousness comes from grace and leads to eternal life and good. The path of good cannot destroy. A good path cannot lead to death, it would be contradictory if it did.)
"13 Whoso despiseth the word bringeth destruction on himself; But he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.
14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, That one may depart from the snares of death." (Proverbs 13:13-14)
(If you despise the Word you are bringing destruction, or EVIL, onto yourself; you will not be able to repair. If we have respect for God and His commandments, we are humble and are looking to take direction from Him. The revelatory WORD of God that brings wisdom is RHEMA. Rhema is the revelatory and powerful spoken word that flows like a fountain. Rhema is the divine Word of God that flows through our actions. Sound familiar? It's grace! Remember, we saw the definition for the Hebrew word law was "guidance from the outside...like being sprinkled upon with water". Grace provides much more guidance and it is from the inside.)
"21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue; And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." (Proverbs 18:21)
(The causes for life and death are in the words you believe. If you have the causes (HOW/WHY) of life you will have the fruit or effects or WHAT's of life. This passage did not mean that you will exist or not in regards to the fruit you eat. This referenced a process of repairing or a process of destroying.)
"23 The fear of Jehovah tendeth to life; And he that hath it shall abide satisfied; He shall not be visited with evil." (Proverbs 19:23)
(Proverbs 1 stated that fearing, or respecting, God was the beginning of wisdom. If we abide in God, or think like God, using His definitions, the effect will be the ability to repair. Who ever does not Think like God, who ever thinks as a man or an animal, shall be visited with destruction.)
"13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
14 but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life." (John 4:13-14)
(Jesus said to the woman that if she drank the physical water she would thirst again. Then Jesus transitioned into the spiritual. The water that Jesus spoke of was the word of life that He would give us by the Holy Spirit which is rhema. This water caused a well of water to be inside of Him, that would fill Him with eternal life: the ETERNAL ability to repair. It is our free will to choose to drink the water that Jesus invited us to drink. He does not choose who drinks it and who doesn't. This water WILL affect our actions and decisions and it will be evident because we do not thirst again: we do not lust after the flesh, we do not think as a man. Remember, grace is like water. It is given to us by God, and allows us to align our HOW/WHY with God's, which then causes us to take direction from God towards fellowship with other people who have the same causes as God, all the while giving without expecting and growing more and more profitable. Isn't it amazing how God's chords (Doctrines) harmonize together?)
"53 Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves." (John 6:53)
(Jesus talked about life: the ability to repair. God commanded the children of Israel not to drink blood because the blood of an animal could only get someone back to zero. The blood of an animal is only a WHAT. In the Law the blood of a man called for the blood of another man, which was Just. God's plan was for us to drink the blood of God's Son that we would be able to repair, which would be beyond zero!)
"10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of righteousness." (Romans 8:10)
(Again, if you are walking by the Spirit you cannot be in the flesh, if you could that would be a contradiction. If the spirit of life is in you, the ability to repair is in you, it would be God's Righteousness through you, which is grace! Sin can only kill, steal, and destroy. Sin's only objective is to look short term and survive. The flesh is only focused on the WHAT, on facts: it does not want the spirit to grow neither be profitable nor uncomfortable.)
The water that God has given us through His Holy Spirit causes us to repair more and more often, and better and more completely than we ever have before. The atonement that Jesus made for us, and the grace He has allowed us to get access to is something that we ought to share with others. We ought to love others by helping them repair by the grace of God.
What does this process of repair look like?
