"Rebound" is a term adopted by my Pastor, Robert Thieme, to identify the most critical technique in the christian life,
for it enables us to regain fellowship, or communion, with God after it has been lost by an act of sin. Therefore, because
we cannot learn spiritual truth apart from His assistance, which is one aspect of fellowship, we must be aware of rebound and
begin using it immediately, even as spiritual "babies". Rebound, therefore, is the most fundamental concept which we, as
christians, must understand, for it is necessary for spiritual growth, which results from learning bible doctrine.
The crux of this issue is the fact that there are two absolute, or exclusive states which can hold sway over our lives,
our every thought, once we are saved; Carnality or spirituality.
"For to be carnally minded, which is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Rom 8:6)
Carnality is the state of sinfulness, being separated from God, and therefore not able to receive His guidance and the many
blessings which flow forth from communion with Him. The Agent, or Person of the Trinity, which is involved in this close
relationship with God is The Holy Spirit, and the means of communion is His filling our soul, and abiding there.
Spirituality is the state of communion with God, being one with Him in thought and action. When I say that these
states are absolute, or exclusive, I refer to the fact that God cannot co-exist with sin or contact it in any way. Thus when we sin
we "drive" the Holy Spirit from our soul because we have allowed sin to enter. This introduction of sin involves the use
of our volition, for no sin is ever commited apart from our willing submission. Please note that ignorance is no excuse, in
the event you may choose to nit pick...it is not our recognition which makes a sin what it is, but God's awareness of it.
Rebound, then, is the method which God has provided (although He hasn't given it a definite name) to recover from the sinful
state, again a volitional act, and permit the Spirit to once again inhabit our soul.
The Filling of the Holy Spirit is just one of 39 spectacular gifts we are given at the moment of
salvation. You might say, and quite correctly, that we "hit the jackpot", for the wondrous blessings we are given are so
vast and involve so many categories of information, it is a lifetime endevour to truly learn and understand what they
entail.
The filling of The Holy Spirit must not be confused with the "endwelling" of the Holy Spirit, another of the 39 gifts in
our "portfolio", which is the residency of The Spirit in our bodies for the purpose of providing a "temple", or residence,
for the endwelling Christ. Thus, it is a technical theological term. Incidentally, every Christian is endwelled by the
Trinity, all three members of The Godhead.
A second technical term which may be confused with "filling" is "enduement". This ministry of The Spirit, used only in the
Old Testement scriptures, is very similar in function to "filling", but was not permanent and universal, for it was only
given to specific individuals for various reasons, all related to the working of God's will in His plan for mankind. Men
such as King David, Moses, Abraham and the Prophets were given enduement. Even the artisans who crafted the tabernacle for
the exodus generation, and all of its' accourtments, were blessed with this temporary gift. Like "filling", it was lost
when the individual sinned, and sometimes it was lost permanently.
The filling of The Holy Spirit is a permanent and ongoing provision of God which is given exclusively to us, the Royal
Family of the Church Age. Make no mistake about it, this is a high honor, a great priviledge. Even the believers of the
Tribulation and Millenium will not have it. Only The Royal Family.
So then, now that you are suitably impressed, as you should be, the reason for this marvelous aspect of our existence.
As the "Revealer" of God's plan, The Holy Spirit is the person of The Godhead whom is the agent in every aspect which
involves making known God's will to man, and indirectly, angels. He was the agent of inspiration who directed the recording
of the scriptures. He was the source of the miracles which Jesus Christ performed, for The Son did not use His own divine
power at any time during the incarnation. The Spirit filled the soul of Jesus to serve as His mentor, teacher, comforter,
and guide. He also provided recall of Bible doctrines at the appropriate moment, as well as encouragement, inspiration and
motivation.
And now the really spectacular news; We, every low life one of us, are blessed with this very same gift that our Lord was.
The Holy Spirit performs these same functions in our souls, except for the miracles, which were discontinued in the first
years of the Church Age. Christ, you see, was the "trailblazer", the first to put this unique spiritual life, the same one
we are given, through its' paces. Ofcourse, He used it to resist far greater distractions than we will ever encounter, and
proved beyond the slightest doubt that this life is the Rolls Royce as compared to those of the Old Testement or the ages to
come.
There is more to study on this subject in the section on The Filling of The Holy Spirit, but the
focus here is to help you, the layman christian who has not had the benefit of a theological education, understand the
parameters of rebound and the vital importance of being vigilant in this regard, to acknowledge your detours into sin, and
be quick to recover the filling of God The Holy Spirit. As I already stated, no other skill is as important as this, for
all things in our unique spiritual lives flow through the portal of this spiritual state.
The christian is faced with the choice of living under the influence of the cosmic system, which is comprised of all
that exists in this worldly kingdom and includes the enemy we carry within us, the old sin nature, OR living under
the influence of God the Holy Spirit.
So, before we move one inch farther, let's look at the verse which nails down this "rebound" technique, and explains what
is involves:
"If we cite our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us of all
wrongdoing." (1 John 1:9)
The bold words in the verse are corrected translations for "confess", "cleanse" and "unrighteousness", sequentially. Let's
take each key word and examine it carefully.
CITE is the Greek word (homologeo) for the act of naming, or specifying, and it has a legal connotation, for it was
commonly used in conjunction with courtroom procedings. It is the ideal term for this verse, for what is involved here is
the issue of divine Justice, and the precedent of the cross, which was the most remarkable legal episode of all time, when
The Father judged Christ for the sins of all mankind. It was, indeed, a courtroom, the highest and most intense drama ever
to occur.
Therefore, using the precedent of Christ's work, God does not condemn us for the sinful act, but declares it a crime already
disposed of to the satisfaction of the Judge.
God is justified, therefore, to forgive us the sin and restore us to a spiritual state. Note the two attributes of God mentioned
in mid-verse; "faithful and just". Because He is immutable, God will never re-think a decision, or change His mind. Immutable
means; "Not subject to change or variation in form, or nature, or quality.". God will always come down with the same finding
for every sin we commit.
There is another critical nuance of this word which must be clearly understood; "Cite" does not involve any extracirricular
activity on our part, that is; No emotion, no crying, no holy expression, no promises to never commit the sin again, no
acts of contrition, no tossing a check into the offering, etc., etc., etc. You needn't even feel BAD about the sin! You may
have enjoyed it! In fact, you might cite your sin with a lingering smile on your face...no matter, for the response of The
Righteous Judge, our Father, is not based upon any other than one, and only one, fact; The efficacious sacrifice of His
Son. God forgives us because Jesus Christ bore the punishment for that sin, and no other factor enters into the equation.
Now, I know that some phoney, self-righteous morons will take issue with this statement. This society's preoccupation with
religion guarantees it! Well, P.S.R.M., whoever you are, get off your high horse and let grace scrape some of the arrogance
off your soul! God operates in the absolute mode, not ours. The magnificent work of one man are the basis for His largess,
not our puny attempts at impressing Him. Smile your butt off when you cite that sin if you want! You might even be in the
starting blocks, ready to go do it again, when you cite it. Be the biggest tightwad in town and never contribute a penny
to your church; So what??? Do you have the gall to suppose that these things have the potential to change God?
Rest assured, if God was equally as superficial as some christians our salvation wouldn't worth a damn thing! You see, it
is we who would stumble if a confessor did not display the appropriate shame for a sin, but that doesn't imply that God is
as unstable as man. The absolute is constant, unwavering, impervious. He forgives without condition because all the
conditions have already been satisfied. That, friend, is GRACE!
PURIFY refers to the purging of sin from the soul, and creating the environment which The Spirit requires, namely
sinlessness. At the very second of citing our sin we are sanctified and The Spirit is restored to our souls. Perhaps
there are some folks who share my awe of this truth, for "purify" goes beyond the act of cleansing. When God purifies us
we are spotless, immaculate, elevated to a state of perfect sinlessness. This is the spiritual plane to which we must
be lifted to have communion with Him, for God does not bend one millimeter to accomodate us. He doesn't have to, even
if He could.
For the entire time we retain the filling of The Spirit we are emmersed in His Righteousness. Hard to comprehend, no?
We don't feel any different, or use more refined english, or have a glowing aura about our heads. We may even have the
same tooth ache or sour stomach, yet we are consumed by the Righteousness of God. This, too, is a unique charactaristic
of The Royal Family, for have not just the Righteousness of Christ, but a double portion; The Righteousness of the Father
as well.
It's interesting that Moses' appearance was changed drastically when exposed directly to God's glory, but this same
glory is hidden within us, the Royal Children, brothers and sisters of The Son of Glory. No particular direction in
this observation, just thinking aloud (or on paper if you prefer).
WRONGDOING is the tough one to explain in simple terms. Remember, we are not punished for sins already paid
for on the cross, but we do suffer punishment as a RESULT of our sin, because we commit "wrongdoing". This term refers to
two categories of conduct for which we are liable to divine Justice. Both involve the filling of The Holy Spirit, or
rather the lack of same. Actually, there are three categories of wrongdoing, the third being evil, which was not judged
in Christ.
Because we are commanded by God to be filled with The Spirit we are in the hot seat, for failing to obey God warrants
chastisement;
And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. (Eph 4:30)
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him:
but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. (John 14:17)
"Wrongdoing" is disobedience to God (not sin as such), for He has commanded that we be filled with The Spirit, a direct
order, and to fail in this is an entirely new development in the field of malfeasance. When we remain in carnality, by
neglecting to rebound, we hold the Spirit at bay, so to speak, and deny Him access to our soul. More to the point, we fail
in our responsibility as christians because the filling of The Spirit is the enabling power of our spiritual life which
connects us to the wellspring of Divine Omnipotence to usward, The Logos, His Word.
The theme for this site; "The Word of God is living and powerful.." (corrected translation), defines this profound
arrangement. God has reduced His eternal being to a finite entity, and we call it The Word of God. I hasten to add that
God, in doing this, has not altered His attributes, but rather channeled them into a finite source which is compatable
with our finite existence. You might say that He has provided us a form of His power which can be eaten and digested,
then distributed to our soul for nourishment.
This is a dimension of The Word which gives it a dynamic that cannot be compared to cosmic knowledge. As such,
it is spiritual in nature and cannot be assimilated, or formed into a body of knowledge, by the finite mind. Thus, the
Holy Spirit is the catalyst which interacts between the finite soul and the infinte to create the unique entity called
"The Mind of Christ" within us.
These two brief paragraphs address the critical nature of The Spirit's ministry to us, and that ministry results in the
execution of God's plan. How more important can something be to us, as creatures? The fulfillment of our destiny is the
ultimate goal, and we can only make ourselves available to God, whence He will accomplish this end, by maintaining the
filling of The Spirit. And this brings us back to rebound.
This "filling" is not a feeling, or an emotional experience, as some religious organizations would have us believe. It
is, however, a phenomenon which is essential to our spiritual growth and guidance from God.
One facet of the doctrine of Soteriology (Christ's work on the cross) is redemption. This great gift is the power by
which we are "purchased" from the slave market of sin, or delivered, and set free by our new Master. Apart from redemption,
we are hopelessly vulnerable to the old sin nature, which is embedded in the cell structure of our bodies. It is the sin
nature that is our greatest enemy in this life, for it temps us beyond what we are able to withstand. Perhaps you know
someone, basically a decent person, who has done some terrible thing, or perhaps you have suffered from this flaw in human
nature yourself... it is common to all of us. The sin nature is comprised of trends, which we inherit genetically, so they are
compounded with each generation. These trends are, sooner or later, irresistable. The most honorable, upright person
among us can fall prey to their own sin nature, given the circumstances are just so.
Perhaps even worse than sinning, itself, are the things we do in state of sin, called "fleshly" in the scriptures, and
"carnal" in theology. Once carnal, we are vulnerable to every category of sin, not just the trends of the sin nature.
Even the things we loathe are possible in a carnal state. The famous athlete who slaughtered his ex-wife and her friend
is an excellent example of what can ocurr in carnality. This man is well known to most of us, and was held in high
regard by friends and the public. He is an affable person, easy going, blessed with wealth and fame. He is also a
christian, and years ago travelled with Campus Crusade touring colleges around the country.
Before that horrible night he considered the act of killing in cold blood a monsterous crime, and he certainly never even
entertained the thought that he might actually be capable of such a heinous deed. This is the overpowering influence of
that dark force within us all, the sin nature.
The good news is that redemption has freed us from the bonds of slavery, and rebound is at the core of this provision,
the mechanics of actually escaping from the ravaging influence of unabated sin and evil in our souls.
A pilot must fully understand not only the technique used to recover from a stall, or a spin, but the mechanics of the
technique, or how the various movements of stick, rudder and thottle affect the aircraft as it plummets toward the ground.
So it is with the christian and the rebound technique. This is our ticket out of the cesspool of carnality, and restoration
to a spiritual state.
The believer is commanded to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and conversely, not to "grieve" or "squelch" the Spirit.
"Squelching", from the contexts where the word is used, is referring to short term carnality, sinning and rebounding within
a reasonable period, say thirty minutes. "Grieving", on the other hand, is long term carnality. This is wrongdoing.
If anything, the punishment for denying the Spirit can be more harsh than the punishment for the unrighteous acts we commit while in
carnality. This is not only a principle that helps motivate us to rebound, but it also makes clear the questions we may
sometimes have regarding divine punishment. "Why are these bad things happening to me?". The answer is found in the following
verse, which focuses on "wrong doing". Note that sin was forgiven on the cross, and we receive forgivness of sins when
we accept Christ as Savior, but wrongdoing is an entirely separate category of culpability for which we are held
accountable.
"Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men." (Mat:12:31)
There are other things involved in the rebound issue. One is the production of divine good. Every act, thought and deed
which we do in the filling of the Spirit are classified as "divine good" and will be considered in the matter of our
eternal rewards, in heaven, at the Judgement Seat of Christ.
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1Cor:10:31)
More pertinent to our present status as believers in time, however, is the issue of evil and "human good". Both of these
issues involve opposition to God and His plan for our lives. The critical principle here is that Christ did not atone for
these transgressions on the cross. His work dealt with sin exclusively. Although these two topics are covered extensively
under those headings elsewhere in this study (see the homepage) their pertinence to rebound demands a cursory treatment
of each.
"Human good" is the sum total of our capacity for good as corrupt creatures, and alludes to the standard of God's good, which
is perfect Righteousness. As human beings, we have a capacity to accomplish good, but this righteousness is "as filthy rags"
in God's sight. The shocker is that the unsaved will be judged, not for their sins, but for their human righteousness.
The issue at The Great White Throne Judgement, which is found in the last book of the Bible, is that those who have not
received the imputed Righteousness of God are evaluated for THEIR righteousness, which falls pitifully short of God's. This
explains why the Righteous Judge looks into the "Book of Works" when He fails to find their names in the "Book of Life",
where the names of all believers are recorded.
Thus, the significance of the verse; "He bore our sins in His own body on the tree that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him."
God "imputes" His Righteousness to the saved, which is obviously an act of grace that supplies something which is absent.
We do not have a righteousness that is sufficient for salvation, and the working of human good is one form of wrongdoing.
"Evil" is a term for Satan's policy in the governance of his kingdom, the cosmos. We are smack in the middle of the devil's
world. For many reasons, evil is grossly misunderstood by mankind in general, for we associate it with bizarre and heinous
behavior. In truth, evil is more often the opposite, squeaky clean good. To better understand this, we need to focus on the
very reason why Satan fell in the first place; he stated that he intended to "set his throne above the stars of heaven", or
the angelic race, and to "be like unto the Most High". That is precisely what the devil has attempted to do since, to out-do
God in the area of good. Here again, we will not expand on this issue as it is well covered elsewhere.
In summary; Rebound, or recovery from carnality, is the most basic skill in the christian life. Because the Spirit is our
mentor, our teacher of all things spiritual, it is absolutley imperative that we sustain His presence in our souls. We are
told to worship God "...in Spirit and in Truth...", refering to the very principles we are dealing with. The Spirit is also
our Companion and Guide in this veil of tears. He brings doctrines out of memory and launches them from our souls at the
pertinent time, so that we may elect to follow divine standards rather than cosmic ones, to which we are most drawn. He also
prays for us, comforts us, encourages us, and, later on, will play a role in our resurrection.
"That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge of Him." (Eph:1:17)
