THE BIG PICTURE

One of the modern-day tragedies is that the word Christian means so many different things to so many different people, therefore, it is important that a definition be established early in this writing. The following points define and describe the big picture of the belief system of the born-again Christian for whose benefit this book is being written.

1. Man is born in total depravity.

2. Because of total depravity, man is in need of spiritual salvation.

3. Spiritual salvation is a gift from God, not earned or deserved.

4. Spiritual salvation is tantamount to becoming born-again.

5. The born-again experience is received by faith alone in Christ alone.

6. The born-again experience is separate and apart from human works.

7. Spiritual salvation is eternal in nature; once achieved it cannot be lost.

8. Eternal salvation is referred to as “once-saved always-saved.”

9. The goal of the born-again Christian is to become exactly like Christ in His humanity.

10. The ninefold fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23 describes Christ in His humanity.

11. Becoming like Christ in His humanity is a reachable goal.

12. God the Father’s plan for the born-again Christian contains the mechanics (the how-to) of becoming like Christ in His humanity.

13. The dispensational hermeneutic is the principle used to interpret God’s Word.

14. Pauline dispensationalism is the term used to describe that form of dispensationalism by which the born-again Christian interprets the Word of God for moment-by-moment living.

15. Spiritual salvation once received determines heaven to be man’s eternal destiny.

16. Failure to live the Christian way of life after spiritual salvation is received does not alter one’s final destination, namely heaven, but it does alter one’s blessing-in-time and rewards-in-eternity that will be distributed at the bema seat judgment.

17. Every born-again Christian is an ambassador for Christ, regardless of chronological age.

18. The following is true of ambassadors for Christ:

A. Our citizenship is in heaven.

B. We are ambassadors in a foreign land, namely, planet earth, the devil’s world.

C. Our King, Jesus Christ, has sent us into this foreign land with a message from the King.

D. That message is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the “good news” about His death, burial, and resurrection, the basis for our eternal salvation.

E. In the temporal world. when an ambassador fails to carry out his ambassadorial responsibilities in the temporal world, he is called home.

F. Likewise, in the spiritual world, when an ambassador for Christ fails in his ambassadorial responsibilities, he is called home prematurely.

G. The Bible refers to being called home prematurely as “the-sin-unto-death.”

H. The sin-unto death is the final stage of divine discipline in the life of any born-again Christian.

19. Man was created for the purpose of resolving the spiritual battle between God and Satan.

20. This battle is referred to as the angelic conflict.

21. Procreation is the means by which the human race is perpetuated.

22. Every human being is enlisted into the angelic conflict from the moment of physical birth.

23. Human history is divided into time segments referred to as dispensations.

24. There are four major dispensations throughout human history:

A. The Dispensation of the Gentiles.

B. The Dispensation of Israel.

C. The Dispensation of the Church (Church Age Dispensation).

D. The Dispensation of Christ (the millennial reign of Christ).

25. The Church Age Dispensation began on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), generally agreed to have begun in AD 30.

26. The Church Age will be terminated at the moment of the rapture of the Church.

27. Historically, we are now living in the Church Age.

28. The means by which the angelic conflict is resolved during the Church Age is for human beings to become born-again, hence, the evangelistic outreach from the Church into the world.

29. “Operation Footstool” is the term used to describe the strategy of God whereby He is able to take a totally depraved human being and transform him from having been created lower than the angels to a position higher than the angels, so that at the second coming of Christ, every born-again Church Age believer will have the authority to cast one fallen angel, called demon, from planet earth into the bottomless pit where he will remain for one thousand years, the duration of Christ’s millennial reign.

30. Since children born into the homes of born-again Christian parents are also born into the human race for the purpose of resolving the angelic conflict, it is imperative that these Christian parents have the biblical knowledge and parenting skills necessary to provide their children with their best opportunities to understand their purpose in life, namely, to become born-again believers associated with “Operation Footstool.”

31. Freedom of choice is the only legitimate means by which spiritual salvation can be received and “Operation Footstool” accomplished.

32. Freedom of choice is God’s plan, and any form of coercion, intimidation, badgering, bullying, threat, force, abuse or punishment to cause a child to become saved or to carry out the ethical standards of the Christian way of life is contrary to God’s plan for the resolution of the angelic conflict.

33. Legalism may cause a child to practice the ethical standards of the Christian way of life, but the value of this practice to the resolution of the angelic conflict is negated because the very nature of legalism destroys freedom of choice.

34. Freedom of choice is the home environment in which children should be raised.

35. The Responsible Thinking Process (RTP) based upon the Perceptual Control Theory (PCT) is a tool that is consistent with freedom of choice in the home environment.

36. RTP will be defined and described in this book as the tool by which children should be raised in the homes of born-again Christian parents.

37. RTP does not guarantee that any child will become a born-again Christian, but it does guarantee freedom of choice, the most basic principle of God’s plan associated with “Operation Footstool” in the resolution of the angelic conflict during the Church Age.

38. RTP is certainly not limited in its use to the born-again Christian home; it can and should be used in every home.

39. RTP is the tool of choice because it is consistent with God’s plan for the human race as the means through which the angelic conflict will be resolved in the Church Age, namely, though freedom of choice.

Unless man understands the big picture of life, namely, that human history is the rebuttal phase of the spiritual battle known as the angelic conflict, any truth that would explain the “why” of any historical event will be rationalized away resulting in a misinterpretation of that historical event with the further result that nothing in life will make any sense. Man, then, will do the following: he will attempt to control the circumstances of life for his own selfish benefit, or he will simply resolve himself to endure life until its presumed bitter end comes upon him, hoping for the best in the interim.