When Was The Last TIme You Read The BIble? TIps To Help You

You know this popular children chorus right?

Read your Bible.
Pray every day (repeat 3 times).
Read your Bible.
Pray every day.
And you’ll grow, grow, grow (repeat 3 times).
Read your Bible.
Pray every day.
And you’ll grow, grow, grow.¹

This song in its simplicity teaches us a lot. It teaches the importance of reading the bible and prayer. It teaches the link between Christian growth and the Bible. For many Christians, we know the place of the Bible in our Christian walk and do desire to read and study it. David said, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18). In the same Psalm, he said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105). I cannot finish with Psalm 119 without mentioning verse 11. But I won’t quote it; assuming that, you either know what it says or you will look it up. The article is to help you read your Bible and that’s a good place to start. Look up the text.

Though we know the importance of the Bible in our Christian life, sometimes we can go months, if not years without reading it simply because we get busy. But regardless of our busy schedule, we must take the time to read Scripture. R.C Sproul says it well

I could plead with you to study the Bible for personal edification; I could try the art of persuasion to stimulate your quest for happiness. I could say that the study of the Bible would probably be the most fulfilling and rewarding educational experience of your life. I could cite numerous reasons why you would benefit from a serious study of Scripture. But ultimately the main reason why we should study the Bible is because it is our duty.~ R.C. Sproul²

In this article, what I attempt to do is to help you with some simple, uncomplicated, easy steps to follow to hopefully get you to read Scripture if peradventure, you have fallen off a long time in reading Scripture.

Desire to Read and Study Again.

Somehow we are conscious of the necessity of reading and studying Scripture (I will use reading and studying interchangeably in this article), but the desire is just absent. We are caught up in a busy life and nothing suggests to us “read your Bible”. The cares of daily living confront us and the Bible is not the first on our agenda. But, it should be if we are going to make any progress in our walk of faith. So, as the deer pants after the water brooks, our souls must also thirst and pant after God through His word. (Psalms 42:1-2). Pray to God that through the Holy Spirit, a desire will be stirred up in your heart to study.

Make The Time

Desire is not enough. We must consciously set aside time for this one important discipline in our lives. The best time, in my opinion, to read the Bible, is in the mornings. This might not work for everybody because of time schedules but I believe it is the most reasonable time. In the morning, our mind is fresh and alert. Now never expect your Bible study time to be “fulfilling” every time. There may bland days when it feels like a waste of time. But, however it feels, we must labour to study. Make the time, but if you break it, don’t feel bad. Catch up again.

Have A Plan To Study: Study Systematically

You have to open the Bible and read it in a systematic way. Not cheery picking verses from different places in the Bible every day. By systematic, I mean in an orderly manner; follow an organised pattern: page by page, chapter by chapter until we are through with the whole book. With this, we grasp the whole concept of the Bible. The gospel according to John is a good place to start with for me.

Keep Notes
Keep a notebook and a pen when reading. Make notes, write things you believe God is communicating through His word. Also, make an investment in Bible commentaries, Bible reference materials, bible dictionaries. It all makes the study of the Bible fruitful. If you can, use more than one version.

Reflection

Desire and studying Scriptures alone will not produce the full benefit of the word in our lives. We have to take desire and study to another level—Reflection. We must reflect and think through what we read and study. It is said that, if you know how to worry, you can meditate on the word. Just “worry” about the word. Ask questions in your mind. Turn the word around. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9, Joshua 1:8 and Psalms 1:1-2)

Share/Obey/Do

Studying the word is not for our benefit alone, we must also try to share what we learn from our reading. Again, knowing the word is one thing; obeying its teachings is another thing. It must be our desire to obey what we read.

Read Christian Literature
Read good books written by other Christians: Pastors, Theologians etc. This will help stir a desire for the word. Much has been written about and from the Bible. It will help to read great minds and the things they have written from Scriptures. It will stir you up to want to dig further into Scripture and most importantly grow in your knowledge of the Lord as Paul prayed for the Ephesians (1:16-18)

Make Use Of Technology
Do you ever consider your spiritual life when investing in the most latest mobile technology? These days you have no excuse not to read the Bible. You can carry the Bible anywhere on a smartphone etc.

***Article also published on graceandtruthgh.wordpress.com

Note
1. Mission Bible Class, “Read Your Bible Pray Everyday Song”, https://missionbibleclass.org/songs/english-songs/bible-songs/read-your-bible-pray-every-day-song/, accessed 20th April, 2020

2. R.C. Sproul, Knowing Scripture ( Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2009), Kindle Edition

The Author Of Eternal Life

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him (Hebrews 5:9).

The text is speaking about Christ. Indeed, the whole of the book of Hebrews speaks of Christ and his superiority over all things. Christ offers salvation and eternal life. But one may ask, why Salvation?

Salvation is needed because of humanity's sin problem. We trace the sin problem to eden where the fall of Adam became the fall of the whole human race. The image of God, in which we were created is defaced. We are alienated from God because of sin. Our mind lacks understanding, our hearts corrupted and hardened by sin and and only Christ can save us from this alienation.

Why Is Christ Fit To Offer Salvation?

1: He is a Perfect Saviour

Among many meanings, the word perfect denotes completion and fulfillment. Christ was made perfect in the sense that he fulfilled all of God's plan for salvation. He kept and fulfilled all of God's law that we couldn't keep.

2. Christ is the author of Salvation.

Only through him can sinners be saved. He went to the cross for sinners. And he has a name above every name. In his name salvation is offered.

3. He paid the ransom

Christ gave his life as a ransom for our sins. He paid the debt of sin we owed.

You don't own your soul and without Christ you are lost eternally. And the salvation Christ offers is salvation of the soul---eternally. Seek Christ to save your soul. Those who hear him take his word preciously and obey the gospel.

The good news is this: you are helpless, bound for hell and a Saviour in Christ comes to appease for your sins and offered salvation. Come to Christ. Look to him for your salvation. Jesus shows us abundant love and mercy. While we were sinners he died for us.

---This is a summary of sermon notes I made of a sermon preached by  Pastor Ferguson Kcofie  on 26/11/2017 @ Truth Missionary Baptist Church, Dansoman-Exhibition. Truth MissionaryBaptist Church is a Reformed Baptist Church in Accra-Ghana and is the church I attend.

Also, the notes are mine and hence solely liable for any misinterpretation of doctrine or the sermon which may appear in this summary.

Philemon: A Practical Letter For Christian Living

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Philemon 1:1-25

There are twenty-seven books of the New Testament divided mainly into; The Gospels (Synoptics and John), Acts, Paul’s Epistles, General Epistles and Apocalypse/Revelation. Majority of the NT are epistles (Paul’s and others’) forming twenty-one of the twenty-seven. Paul wrote thirteen 13 letters--some to churches, pastors and individuals. Further, four of Paul’s letters are called prison epistles because they were written in Prison; namely: Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians and Philemon. Philemon is an epistle and to study it we have to approach it as a letter. In doing so, we will seek to answer five questions: Who wrote Philemon, when and where was Philemon written, Who was/were the recipients, Why was it written and what can we learn from it? Answering the first four questions will lead us into a proper application---what we can learn from Philemon.

Who Wrote Philemon?

Letters in the New Testament world were written just as we write letters today, albeit with some differences. Letters in the then world starts with a greeting and salutation where the author(s) introduce themselves. Sinclair Ferguson in his book Let's Study Philippians notes that "Letters began with three words: (i) the name of the writer; (ii) the name of the recipients; (iii)'greetings'." [1] We see examples of these standard openings of epistles identifying authors in some of these epistles: 2 Timothy 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1; 2 John 1:1. Now in answering who wrote Philemon; let's look at verse 1: "Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother..." Clearly, we see Paul introducing himself as the author. Timothy is also introduced to us as a co-author. Timothy, was Paul's protégé who was being raised as a Pastor

When and Where Was Philemon Written?

Paul's opening words "Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus..." is no "spiritual language". He wrote from prison (vv.1; 9; 10; 22). And Philemon as has been identified earlier is one of the four prison epistles. It was believed to have been written in Rome (Acts 28:16; 31) in A.D. 62

Who Was The Recipient?

Philemon, the name of the letter, is the recipient: "To Philemon our beloved fellow worker..." (v.1). The letter was also perhaps to be read by others as they have been included in the recipients: "...and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house" (v.1). Philemon was a wealthy and generous man who was hosting a church in his house. It is to be noted that "The early Christians met in believers’ homes" (1 Cor. 16:19; Col. 4:15). [2] Again, Philemon was converted under Paul's ministry. We know this because Paul mentions it in v.17 pointing out to Philemon that he owes him his very life: "A reference to the fact that Philemon was converted through Paul's ministry, so that Philemon "owed" Paul something far greater, namely, his eternal life." [3]

Why Was The Letter Written?

Philemon had a slave--Onesimus-- who run away with stolen money from his master. However, in the course of his "runaway life" Onesimus encountered Paul's ministry and was converted. He served Paul in his imprisonment for some time. However, Paul knowing the right thing to be done sent Onesimus back to his master. And the letter to Philemon accompanied Onesimus' return. Paul wrote appealing to Philemon to receive Onesimus back. Now, there is a clarification which needs to be done concerning slavery as it occurred in New Testament. This is necessary because one may ask why Paul, an apostle will want a slave to return to his master when he has had the opportunity to escape. Also, the repulsive imagery of slavery in a modern world may be imposed on the New Testament hence losing entirely the lessons contained in this letter. To this, I quote the below for clarification.

People became slaves in various ways: Many were prisoners taken in war; others were kidnapped by slave hunters; still others were enslaved through debt; and, of course, there were the children born to slaves. The slavery many English-speaking readers of the Bible are most familiar with is that of the blacks in America, but the Roman situation was more complicated. Within the general category the most burdensome form of slave life was endured by those who did heavy manual labor, e.g., in the mines, building construction, and the rowing banks on ships. By contrast many who worked in households for understanding masters would not have been much worse off than servants in wealthy British homes at the end of the last century known to TV watchers through "Upstairs, Downstairs." On a particularly high level were the very well-educated slaves who administered their master's estates or businesses, instructed the children, and even earned their own money. These would have been the group from which many emerged by gaining or being given freedom.[4]

How Do We Apply The Letter To Our Lives? (What Can We Learn From it?)
Having explored the first four questions, we can now go further to find out how the letter is relevant or can be applied to our live. Below we will identify some lessons in the text relevant to our Christian living.

Christian Interpersonal Relationships

Christians relate in divers ways with one another (Ephesians 5:1-33; 6:1-9, Mark 12:33) and the heart of the letter is about Christian relationships and reconciliation when things go wrong. One of the first lessons we learn in our relationship with each other is the place of intercessory prayers for each other (James 5:16). Paul tells Philemon "I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers" (v.4). This teaches us about gratitude to God for our fellow believers and we must make it a point to remember all believers---those we know and believers in general---in our prayers. People often ask us to remember them in our prayers and yet many are guilty of not honouring this request. It shouldn't be so. Let's get involved in each other’s life through intercession. We must also pray for the needs of those who minister the gospel. We see this in Paul's closing words in Philemon: "...for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you (v.22). Paul here asks for prayers for his release.

Philemon also teaches generosity towards one another marked by love and faith in Christ. Christian relationship must be characterised by love that shares---Koinonia (vv.5-7; 1Corinthians 13, Philippians 1:5). Philemon, as a person is presented to us as a generous person: "For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you" (v.7). He was a generous man concerned with the upkeep of the saints. Not only that, he had opened his home for Christian fellowship. His faith in Christ overflowed into generosity towards the saints and in service to the Lord.

Christian relationship is also not manipulative. Paul, though he was an apostle, he found it necessary not to impose his will on Philemon with regards to the return of Onesimus. Paul tells Philemon"...though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love's sake I prefer to appeal to you..." (vv.8-9). The subsequent verses were all appeals from Paul for Philemon to receive Onesimus---not "by compulsion but of your own accord (v.14). A window is opened here for us to see into Paul's heart. He practices what he preaches. Remember in 1 Corinthians 13:5, Paul has written that love is not selfish---it doesn't insist on its own. Here is Paul living what he preaches. He could use his apostolic office to get what he wants; but rather, for love's sake he appeals to Philemon. In our Christian relationships; especially in places of leadership, we must ensure we are not abusing our authority over those God has given us responsibility over.

Finally, Christian relationships must be marked by forgiveness and not be vindictive (vv.17-19). In the New Testament Hellenistic world, a captured slave who attempted running receives a harsh punishment. According to John MacArthur, recounting the lives of slaves in the then world, points out that "Their master's had virtually unlimited power to punish them, and sometimes did so severely for the slightest infractions."Paul however calls for something radical than what the culture promotes. He calls for reconciliation, especially so because Onesimus is now not just a slave, but a fellow believer. Christian relationships must be that of forgiveness. We have been forgiven and reconciled to God and we must in that same spirit seek to forgive one another. In the prayer our Lord taught the disciples, he taught them and by extension us to pray "forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matthew 6:12; see also 18:21-22).

Christ Saves

When Onesimus escaped from his master, he was an unbeliever. But now he is returning to his master not as a returnee slave so to speak; but as a brother in the Lord: "no longer as a bondservant but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother--especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord" (v.16). This is the beautiful message of the Christian gospel! It reconciles. It bonds together in love people from all status of life: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). What happened to Onesimus? He encountered Christ and was changed. Sinners need to come to faith in Christ to be forgiven, cleansed of their sins and above all be reconciled to God for eternal life. What Onesimus had in common with his master was that they have all come to faith in Christ through the gospel. We see Onesimus' life transformed by Christ to the point that Paul wrote "Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me" (v.11).

The Providence of God

Though not directly, Paul teaches the providence of God in this letter. Paul links Onesimus' salvation to his running away. He run away to be saved so to speak: "for this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever" (v.15). Perhaps, if he had not run away, he wouldn't have been saved, Paul seem to be saying. I see Paul trying to bring Philemon's attention to the fact that whatever happened was for a reason, that is, Onesimus' salvation. What Paul asserts here can be compared to the narrative of Joseph and his brothers. What happened, according to Joseph was meant for good by God for the sake of posterity (Genesis 50:19-21). We also read in Romans 8:28 that "for those who love God all things work together for good."

As believers, we must come to the point of looking at our world through the lenses of God's providential ordering of events to the accomplishment of his will: "God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold, direct dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy." [5] The believer doesn't live by chance but by the divine ordering of our God and King.

Christians And Suffering

There is a world of erroneous teaching out there that Christians must not suffer. But the Bible doesn't teach such. Paul says in Philippians 1:29 that "For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake." This is the testimony of Scripture. If we are followers of Christ, we are going to face all categories of suffering however Christ promises us his peace (John 16:33).

In this letter, we see a clear picture of Christian suffering. Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. Philemon, a faithful brother in the Lord had also may have encountered an emotional suffering pertaining to his runaway slave. As Christians, we must not, in any way expect our lives to be rosy without any setbacks or suffering for that is not promised in the Bible. This doesn't however mean the Christian faith is all gloomy for we have also been promised joy and peace in the Lord (John 14:27). However, this promise of peace is at the backdrop of suffering. We will suffer, but Christ is with us and we can have peace in whatever situation we find ourselves.

Keep Hope Alive

Despite the challenges and problems we will encounter in our Christian walk, we must not lose heart. We must continue to hope and believe in God in all of life’s circumstances. And Paul clearly points to the hope he has of been released from prison. He wrote: "At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you" (v.22). Though he was in prison, Paul didn't become despondent. He kept hope alive.
In fact if you read through his prison epistles, they exude with joy. In Philippians 3:1 he says "rejoice in the Lord". In Ephesians he breaks forth with praise: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ..." (Ephesians 1:3). Finally in Colossians 1:24 he says "Now I rejoice in my sufferings...." With Paul's hope of release from prison, we can learn something about our own situations. We must keep hope alive in Christ. As believer's, what we have is a living hope and we must never cast it away in whatever situation

Notes
1. Sinclair B. Ferguson, Let's Study Philippians ( Edinburgh: The Banner Of Truth, 2005), 1
2. R. C. Sproul (Ed.), The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015), 2189.
3. Notes on Philemon 1:18-19 in ESV Global Study Bible,2012
4. Raymond E Brown, S.S, An Introduction To The New Testament ( New York, Doubleday, 1997), 503-504
5. John MacArthur, The MacArthur Bible Commentary (Nashville, Thomas Nelson, 2005), 1827-1828
6. Westminster Confession of Faith, 5.1

Faith And Conduct

Among six key themes (from ESV Global Study Bible) of the book of Amos, two stands out for me.

1. Justice and righteousness in the treatment of other people are the key evidences of a right relationship to the Lord.
2. Religious observances in the absence of social justice are disgusting to God.¹

I find these two key themes present in the verses that follow. God says;

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen (Amos 5:21-23).

Today, many profess faith but their profession contradicts their conduct. Should that be the case? Where profession of faith and conduct contradicts, there is a justification to question what one professes. Could it be possible that God has rejected many gatherings supposedly assembled in the name of God and yet we are unaware? Could it be that God has turned his ears away from our worship and considers many a congregations singing noise yet they haven’t discerned it?
How would we know if our worship is acceptable to God? I believe the answer is in the next verse: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24).

Where our life is not marked by justice and righteousness—a right treatment of one another and right conduct; our salvation may be questionable. Our Lord commands us to love one another and to not love the world (1Jn. 2:9-17). Paul says “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers , and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing (1cor. 13:1-2).

You see, our faith and conduct are inseparable. If we have faith, it must show in our conduct: “But be n doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”!(Jam. 1:22).

Notes:
1. Introductory notes on Amos from The ESV Global Study Bible (Wheaton, Illinois:Crossway, 2012 ) Kindle edition

The Cost Of Following Christ

The Cost Of Following Christ

Depart From Me...I Am A Sinful Man

Have you ever thought about it? What is the greatest need of humankind? This question will generate a lot of response. Probably, for the majority, top of the list will be eradication of poverty and disease. Others will put forth world peace, eradication of drug and sex trafficking. To others, equal rights for all humankind will top the list. These indeed are commendable, but they are not the greatest need of humankind. The Bible gives us the answer:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

This is the divine verdict from God. All humankind have sinned. Not only that, but by our sins, we are  enstranged, alienated and separated from God. We are enemies of God and liable to receive the just punishment for our sins. Paul describes our hopelessness in Ephesians 2:1-3 saying , “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience — among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind”.

The above is true of every human being. It is the present reality of the unbeliever and it was the reality of the believer who has now come to Faith.

Now the reality of sin as our greatest need came home to me again very strongly today when I read portions of Luke’s gospel for my devotion. In Luke 5, the story is told of Jesus using the boat of Peter to preach and afterwards, He issued a command saying “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (v.4). Here is an experienced fisherman who has toiled all night and caught nothing, so he might have been surprised by the command from Jesus. Indeed he was and his response tells:

And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!”(v5a).

However, I suppose having heard Jesus preaching, his heart might have been convicted to obey. So he didn’t stop at questioning Jesus’ instruction. He responded positively afterwards: “But at your word I will let down the nets.”(v.5b). After they heeded Jesus’ instruction, we are told a miracle happened. They had a great catch to the extent they had to signal other fisherman to assist with bringing their catch (vv.6-7).

Simon’s report in the narrative  is what caught my attention: “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”(v.8).

A miracle has taken place. But it seemed the miracle didn’t matter to Simon. We are looking at a great breakthrough for that day. They have a great abundance. But in the midst of that abundance, the state of Simon’s heart was laid bare. He was convicted: “he fell down at Jesus’ feet”. He was broken. He lost himself. Before Him was no ordinary man but Jesus, God incarnate.

In that moment of a great miracle, his sinful heart all played before him in front of a Holy God: “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”. Anyone who encounters the holiness of God is always struck with the wretchedness of their soul (Isaiah 6:5, Romans 7:24). Sin is our greatest predicament (Psalm 51:5, Jeremiah 17:9, Isaiah 53:6) and until we are reconciled to God, nothing else matters that happens to us. A miracle or breakthrough is of no significance to a heart dead in sin.

Like Simon, we must all fall on our knees at the feet of Christ and plead for forgiveness and reconciliation. Our sin must not drive us away from God, rather it must drive us to Him. Jesus didn’t drive away Peter, but He spoke forgiveness to the need of his sinful heart: “And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”(v.10).

Here is the mercy of God in action; a man not only forgiven, but his life takes on a new direction. A sinful man cleansed and reconciled to God and commissioned to be a soul winner–fisher of men. Our greatest need is to be forgiven of our sins and reconciled to God. That is the foremost reason Christ walked this earth (Ephesians 2:14-17).

Christ Our Sin Bearer

Genesis is the first book of the Bible. It is also the book of beginnings because it tells us the origins of life and accurately explains the main problem of the world--Sin.

From the first two chapters of Genesis, we are made to know there is a Creator who created the world and all that dwells in it (Genesis 1:1, 31, 2:26-27). After creation, God saw that everything He had created was good (Genesis 1:31). But today, in contrast to Genesis 1:31, the world in its current state is not good. It is a world filled with pain, tragedy, wickedness, cruelty and every horror imaginable. How do we reconcile the current state of the world with God's proclamation that "everything that he had made...was very good". The answer is that sin entered the world. So;

What Is Sin?

Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God [a]. Lev 5:17;   Jas 4:17;   1 John 3:4

~Westminster Shorter Catechism Q14

In these words we see what sin is. Sin is breaking God's law by omission or commission. In modern English, the words, "want of conformity" will read something like inability to conform to the law of God or failure to measure up to or obey God's command. In Greek, the word hamartia is used in explaining what sin is. Sin is "missing the mark" and rightly so, we are all sinners because we have missed the mark of God's rigtheous standard (Romans 3:23).

Now, how did sin enter the perfect world God created? We again go back to Genesis, the book of origins. In Genesis 2:16-17, we read of a commandment God gave Adam, the first created man, "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die". Fast foward to Genesis 3, Adam disobeyed God; he ate of the forbidden tree and by that act of disobedience, sin entered the world.

Adam in the garden of Eden was acting as a federal head for all of humankind therefore his fall became the fall of all who will ever walk this earth: "Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned"(Romans 5:12).

Except Jesus who lived a perfect life without sin, all humankind inherited the consequences and effects of Adam's fall; physical and spiritual death. Our nature was badly corrupted and we were alienated from God. The Psalmist said "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51:5).

What he means here is that he was born with a sin problem. He inherited sin. We are by ourselves unable to please God: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:11-12). These words describes the helpless state of humankind without Christ. They are enemies of God, separated from Him and guilty of eternal damnation.

However God didn't leave sinners to our fate to try to work our way to Him. God made the first move towards reconciling sinful humankind to Himself. If you read Genesis 3 again, we see that even in their sins, God's mercy was manifested. Firstly, God proclaimed what theologians refer to as protoevangelium--the first gospel. God announced His plans towards reconciliation. A curse was pronounced and a remedy for that curse was also revealed:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel (Genesis 3:15).

The seed of the woman being referred to here is Christ who the Bible speaks of by saying "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil"(1John 3:8). The works of the devil is sin that separated us from God. And it is this, Jesus died to destroy. He took the punishment that belonged to sinners. He died in our place to appease for our sins and reconcile us to the Father. Our sins was imputed to Him. He became our substitutionary atonement  (Isaiah 53:5-6).

Secondly, God covered the nakedness (guilt and shame) of Adam and Eve revealing a type of Christ's imputed righteousness to those who will come to Faith through Jesus Christ. Paul aptly captures this saying, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2Corinthians 5:21).

Christ was murdered on the cross because of the sins of you and I. And He resurrected to give eternal life to all who will come to Him in Faith  If you have not come to saving faith through Christ, you are condemned to eternal damnation and an enemy of God. One day, you will have to answer for your sins before a Holy God and nothing you will present will measure up to God's Holy standard. Your good works outside of Christ are like filthy rags. Repent from your sins and turn to Christ for forgiveness.

Life Under The Providence Of God.

It was 21st March, 2016 at about 9:30pm and I was trying to catch up with a bible reading plan --Luke 1:1-38

--I had missed in the morning. While reading, verses 8-9 caught my attention "Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense" (Luke 1:8-9).

The priest in question here is Zachariah, the Father of John the Baptist and husband of Elizabeth. Prior to vv8-9, Luke briefly profiled their lives: "In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years".

Here is a couple described as rigthteous and walking blameless before God. However, there was a problem: (i) they had no child, (ii) Elizabeth was barren and they were (iii) both advanced in age. That last one sums up the seemingly hopeless situation of their lives. As I read on and the narrative progressed, my mind was fastened on vv 8-9 especially the last words: "he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense."

You see, events that unfolded that day hinges on the fact that Zachariah was chosen as the priest to enter the temple and burn incense by casting of lot.  The lot could have fallen on any other priest than Zachariah and we probably might read Zachariah's story in a different context. In this ordinary human act of casting lot, we see the Providence of God explicitly revealed in the narration.Though men made their choice, God through His divine Providence ordained His purposes through their action: "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD," (Proverbs. 16:33).

On this day, I believe Zachariah never expected what unfolded in the narration prior to his entering the temple (at least the text didn't tell us). I also believe the team of priests who were involved in choosing him didn't envisage what transpired on that day. The people made a choice, their choice sent Zachariah into the temple to burn incense and the events of that day changed the life of Zachariah and Elizabeth because the Providence of God was at work.

So what is Providence?

God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy (Westminster Confession Of Faith 5:1).

According to gotquestions.com, Divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. The doctrine of divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole (Psalm 103:19), the physical world (Matthew 5:45), the affairs of nations (Psalm 66:7), human destiny (Galatians 1:15), human successes and failures (Luke 1:52), and the protection of His people (Psalm 4:8)
 
God's Providence is a pillow believers can lay their heads on and sleep soundly. Nothing can happen to a believer that catches our heavenly Father by surprise. Though Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, he later informed them they meant it for evil but God meant it for good. Moses was left in a basket in the river Nile and as we know he went on to become God's chosen vessel to deliver Israel out of slavery.

The believer's life is not left to chance. Every single event in our life is part of God's grand design to bring about His purposes and plans to pass. We serve a living God who is not bewildered thinking what to do next with the situations that confronts us. He has it all covered. He is personally involved in every detail of our lives including what we might consider mundane:

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?(Matthew 6:26).

The Syrophoenician Woman and Jesus

But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs. (Mark 7:25-27)

The text records a woman who approached Jesus to ask for a miracle on behalf of her daughter. Now, if Jesus indeed “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil”(Acts 10:38), isn’t it startling, the response He gave to the woman? “She begged him”…yet, we see Jesus responding in a seemingly derogatory manner. But was He being offensive?

There are two perspectives to approach this incident.

Firstly, in Mark 7:24, Jesus had entered a hideout, away from the crowd, probably to rest with His disciples from the rigours of public ministry. We get a hint about this when we look back one Chapter: “And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat (Mark 6:31).

Unfortunately, Jesus and His disciples didn’t get the needed rest. The Bible says the people run ahead of them to their destination. When Jesus and His team got to their desired resting place, a crowd was waiting for them. So instead of resting, Jesus “…began to teach them many things”(Mark 6:34). After attending to the crowd and other ministry needs, Jesus sought another opportunity to rest: “And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden.(Mark 7:24).  It is on this background the woman enters the narrative: “But immediately…”

If you can envisage the frustration of Jesus and His team, you can empathise with them. After losing their first opportunity for rest, they were on the verge of been deprived this also. His statement to the woman could therefore be viewed as He saying; “let me attend first to myself and my disciples, then I will attend to you later. It is not right to give time I have set aside for myself and my disciples and attend to you."

It appears Jesus was apathetic to the woman and her possessed daughter.

But looking at the text from the second perspective, one fact of the gospel emerges; by faith, sinners can come to God through Christ for salvation. Salvation is for whoever will put their trust in Christ: “For God so loved the world , that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16).

Now, there was a time in God’s redemptive history when non-Jews were outside of the covenant family of God. To the Jews, anyone apart from a Jew was a “nonentity”. David called Goliath an “uncircumcised philistine” in 1Samuel 17:26. In John 4:22, Jesus, talking to a Samaritan woman, made a statement worth noting here: “…salvation is of the Jews”. Jesus’ earthly ministry was first confined to the Jews. But in the scheme of God’s redemptive plan, salvation will be extended to other persons outside of what Paul calls “commonwealth of Israel” (Ephesians 2:12).

We see clearly, the Bible was specific in telling us who this woman was. She was a Greek, a non-Jew, one separated from the covenant family of God. She didn't qualify to receive anything from Christ. But Jesus’ strong words didn't put her off. She didn't get offended, rather, in faith, she answered “…Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs”(v28). That caught Jesus’ attention. “And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter” (v29). Jesus praised the woman’s faith and granted her request.

The message is simple for today’s Bible reader; the door of salvation is opened for anyone who will believe and approach Christ in faith. When Christ died, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51) signifying an open access to God for people from “all tribes and languages” (Revelation 7:9).

In Christ, there is neither Jew, Greek, Roman or Gentile….

But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us”(Ephesians 2:13-14).

The Gospel, Grace And Good Works.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel (Galatians 1:6).

In every generation, the gospel -- the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of sinners  by grace alone through faith alone for justification before God has always been under attack. Recently, I met with a group of friends and from Galatians 1:6-10, I admonished them to go back to their churches and start listening well if the gospel is being preached on their churches' pulpit.

Now a church that doesn't preach the gospel and salvation by grace is not worth the name church.

Sadly, many believers have stopped listening and reading with discernment, hence, all kinds of errors are passing on for gospel preaching on many pulpits in our country. Among the numïerous errors, there are two extremes by which we see the abuse of the gospel: Legalism and Antinomianism. These two are opposites to each other and are all wrong. Legalism is simply seeking justification with God through good works or by keeping the law -- (10 commandments, holiness laws, etc). There is also another side to Legalism where we look to the law and good works to maintain our salvation. All these fly in the face of Scripture because "...one is justified by faith apart from works of the law" (Romans 3:28). What Paul means here is that, justification is by faith alone; believing and trusting in Christ's death alone for salvation.

This naturally raises questions about whether we can live our lives anyhow since we are justified by faith alone. The question usually arises from a misunderstanding of the place of the Law in the Christians life. There are those who insist that because of grace the law of God has no place in the believers' life. Such position leads us to the next error that confronts the gospel---Antinomianism. Antinomianism teaches that the Law has no place in a Christians' life. But that is far from the truth. In an online article, The Threefold Use Of The Law, R.C. Sproul wrote on three uses of the law in the Christian's life. He stated that:

Every Christian wrestles with the question, how does the Old Testament law relate to my life? Is the Old Testament law irrelevant to Christians or is there some sense in which we are still bound by portions of it? As the heresy of antinomianism becomes ever more pervasive in our culture, the need to answer these questions grows increasingly urgent.

You see, the preaching of the gospel is the means by which God brings people to salvation and it is of utmost importance it is not misrepresented or watered down. A watered down gospel lacks power to save. "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1Corinthians 1:18).

But what do we see today? We live in times when the preaching of the gospel has been replaced by human and secular philosophies which has no power to save anyone. The Galatian church to which Paul wrote his letter, were, just like today, invaded by false teachers propagating a false gospel. Paul described them as trouble makers and those who distort the gospel of Christ(v7).

The gospel is central to the salvation of sinners and any false representation of it must be a cause of concern to every believer. We see Paul registering his disapproval of what was going on in the Galatian church in a rather forceful manner: "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel".

Rightly so, Paul was astonished--greatly amazed, surprised--that a people who have been "called...in the grace of Christ" are "quickly" moving away from the gospel; not gradually, not slowly, but quickly, rendered as as hastily(tacheós) in the original language. It was a concern to him, that a people who have once believed in the gospel and have been justified by grace through faith alone are now shifting from grace to works salvation. Any departure from the proclamation of the gospel must just as Paul, astonish us who call on the name of the Lord.

The Christian is saved by grace alone through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) and this truth must remain at the back of our minds throughout our Christian journey. Grace doesn't only bring us in. Grace keeps us till the end of the journey (Jeremiah 31:3, John 10:27-29). It is important, unlike the Galatians, we keep focus on the grace of God and continue in Him (Colossians 2:6-7, Hebrews 4:14-16). Many believers after they are saved by grace go on to live their lives as if they have works to add to their salvation.

Of course the Christian is saved to do good works. But the Christian is not saved by doing good works.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

In conclusion, just as I admonished my friends to start listening for the preaching of the gospel on their church pulpits, permit me to put the same charge to you my reader. Start listening for gospel preaching on your church pulpit and count how often sinners, guilty of the judgement and wrath of God are called to repentance by pointing them to the death and resurrection of Christ for sinners. Listen also how often believers are admonished to continue in the grace of God.  Anything short of this passes for "a different gospel".

Nothing else will do but gospel preaching and gospel centred ministries.

Seeing Through The Lenses Of The Bible

I recently visited an optician for a routine check-up. As I sat to read the vision test chart, the poor state of my eyesight became evident. The diagnosis: nearsigthedness. The solution: corrective lenses. So now I wear glasses.

Drawing an analogy, the Word of God is like corrective lens. It aids the believer with an accurate view of life

and of themselves. The Word of God delineates the worldview of the believer and of humanity. It is in the Bible we are made conscious of our depravity. In the Bible we appreciate we have offended and continue to offend a Holy God. Humanity, without faith in Christ, is sinful and alienated from God; dead in sin. In the Bible we are told what we have done wrong and what we need to do to restore our relationship with a Holy God(Genesis 3, Ephesians 2:1-10, John 1:12-13, 3:16,Romans 3:23).

The whole theme of the Bible is about God's plan to restore fallen sinners unto Himself. Under the lenses of the Bible, we see well: "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."(Psalm 119:105). In an age of self-obsession and numerous self-help strategies, which only deals with the superficial, the Word of God comes as the only trustworthy source of diagnosis of our fallen human condition. Hebrews 4:12-13 gives a proper description of the ability of God's word to reveal our true self to us.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

When I was growing up, I knew of only the x-ray machine as the only machine that can “look” into the human body. There might have been more. But in my small world, it was the x-ray machine. Today, medical science with sophisticated machines can pick up any ailment hidden anywhere in the body. Apart from medical sciences, there are other equally sophisticated scanning devices in other fields that can pick their targets even through opaque objects.

We are advancing in technology and knowledge. However, these advancements have limitations. You can’t use an MRI scan to detect the sicknesses of our spiritual being. In Jeremiah 17:9, God through the prophet, testifies about the condition of the human heart. This is not referring to the organ that pumps blood and sustains our physical life. He is talking about the state of our whole being. He says: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” No machine, notwithstanding of degree of sophistication can detect the evil and wickedness wedged in our hearts. Only God’s word can. Not leaving us in utter despair of our state, at the very place where God describes the depravity of our hearts, He went on to further tell us, what He alone can do.

I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.(Jer 17:10).

That is humbling. The dispositions of our hearts are laid bare before Him. Nowhere to run for cover.

O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.  Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.(Ps 139:1-6).

The Psalmist here awes about God’s omniscience: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.” Nothing, not even our own self can do an accurate diagnosis of the state of our hearts than God can. Through His word, He meticulously searches and reveals the true state of our hearts. Like corrective lenses, the Word leads us in the path of righteousness(Psalm 23:3).  God's Word convicts us, it reproofs, corrects, and trains us in righteousness (2Tim 3:16). God through His Word renews and transform us (Rom 12:1-2). He washes and sanctifies us by His word (John 17:17). Jesus said "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God."(Matthew 4:4).

The Word of God is a lens that will not distort our worldview if faithfully studied, applied and obeyed.

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you(Ps. 119:11).

Three Reasons People Believe The Prosperity Gospel

For a greater part of my christian life, my understanding of christianity was shaped by the Charismatic and Word of Faith movement. The idea that God saves us to bless us with material wealth, divine health and a good life is characteristics of the movement. Prosperity, divine health is my portion! I am walking in blessings and divine health! These are but just a few cliches of the movement.

Fundamentally, the theology of the movement isanthropocentric, oppossed to Christianity been theocentric. In the prosperitygospel, also known as the "Word of Faith," the believer is told touse God, whereas the truth of biblical Christianity is just theopposite"God uses the believer. Word of Faith or prosperity theology seesthe Holy Spirit as a power to be put to use for whatever the believer wills.

About three years ago, I began drifting from the beliefs of charismatism. The drift was precipitated by a number of books I read by CharlesR. Swindoll. One of the titles that made a difference in my life was; "So,You Want To Be Like Christ? Eight Essentials To Get You There". That book disturbed my theology. My drift however, was gradual, at a snail's pace, as I had not fully grasped what was wrong with the prosperity, health and wealth gospel. Many of my friends held to do those beliefs and still do, and not having the requisite knowledge to counteract it, I kept what I had encountered to myself.

During the same period also, I was exposed to ReformedTheology. My world was thrown into complete chaos--positive chaos if there is a phrase like that. All the beliefs I have held before were challenged. All my "heroes" were been described as false teachers. That was too much to take. But gradually, dedicating myself to reading and studying the Bible, the puzzles started falling in place. I haven't fully grasped all there is to the Christian faith, but I have gained some understanding I believe I can share.

Of prosperity and divine health, I have come to three conclusions of what's behind this heresy.

1: A Depraved Mind Deprived Of Truth

1 Timothy 6:3-10

There is no place in the Bible believers are promised prosperity and divine health. To believe God saved us to prosper us is a sign of a depraved mind. The proponents have corrupt minds and corrupt the minds of their followers. They are greedy. They pry on the innocent, using their position of influence to lead people astray. They are robbers who fleece the sheep for selfish gains. They are deprived of truth not understanding the truth of God's word. Anyone who believes and accepts the prosperity and divine health nonsense is clearly guilty of thinking godliness is a means of gain.

The Bible clearly warns the love of money is the root of all evil. Yet, point this out to the proponents of the prosperity gospel and they will in turn inform you "it is the love of money that is evil not money". Very well said, money indeed is not evil, but the love of it. But how can one have money at the root of their theology and yet deny they love money? If you believe in the prosperity gospel, you love money! However you try to look at it, you love money. At the root of your desire for riches, is the love of money. You want to be rich, and you desire that so much, don't you? The diagnosis: you love money.

2: A Low View Of Scripture

To believe Jesus Christ died to make you prosper and successful is a blatant lie. It is a result of under valuing the weight and glory of Holy Scripture. Much of the proof texts used to propagate prosperity and divine health are complete mishandling and distortion of the word of truth. I will examine two popular ones:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.(2Corinthians 8:9).

(i) "Though he was rich,yet for your sake he became poor"...This in no sense speaks of material prosperity. The riches been spoken about here is the glory He left behind in heaven, putting aside His divinity to live the life of a human being. If we are to interpret the riches here as something earthly, the question we must answer is that, where He came from, i.e. heaven, was there transactions of money which makes Him rich? No, the riches is the glory He laid aside to become human and live amongst us. (Phillipians 2:5-9).

(ii) "so that you by his poverty might become rich" All human beings by virtue of our sins are wretched and separated from God's glory (Rom 3:23). To be separated from God's glory makes us poor and souls deserving of God's wrath. But Jesus stepped in, He descended from His glory to make us who will believe in Him, rich, not in terms of material blessings; but reconciliation unto God and restoration from from our sinful state to live lives glorifying to God.( Eph 1:3-4) When we read riches as material blessings, we under value what God did for the Christian through  His death and resurrection. He died to reconcile sinners to God, not to make sinners rich.

The next popular representing divine health is a little phrase "By his wounds you have been healed" which is pulled from "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness . By his wounds you have been healed.For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."(1Peter 2:24-25).

Now, "By his wounds you have been healed" is another blatant abuse of the text to say what it is not saying. That phrase in the context it appears says nothing about physical healing.  The healing in the context is simply forgiveness of sin in Christ. The context is so clear, I wonder how we twist it. Sin is a disease, a disease that separates us from God. And by Jesus' wounds on the cross, we were healed of the disease of sin and brought back into fellowship with God.

3. Disregard For Sound Doctrine

Sound doctrine--rightly dividing the word of truth has been replaced by messages to entertain and stimulate itchy ears. In the last days, we are told "people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths."(1Timothy 4:3-4).

We indeed are living in the days and the descriptions above fits many church folks. What their Pastor or spiritual leader says is the truth and they won't hear anyone else, not even when you point them to the truth as revealed in the Bible. Paul admonishes Timothy to "...flee these things"(1Timothy 6:11). Why will you not flee from that which will lead you "...into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction."(v9).

In conclusion, we must indeed  work and be good stewards of what God blesses us with. We must however not approach God with the false notion of prosperity. God doesn't owe us anything. But if by His Sovereignty and Providence, He gives us riches to enjoy, we must live our days in gratitude and generosity:

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.(1Timothy 6:17-19).

Standing Firm In God's Love

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth(2Thessalonians 2:13).

In my Bible, the verse above opens with the heading, "Stand firm". This is an indication this portion of the epistle was written to strengthen and encourage the Thessalonians to stand firm in their faith. In 2Thessalonians, Paul addresses the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, a message we seldom hear in our days. In verse two and three, he tackles a false belief amongst the Thessalonians purporting the second coming has already happened:

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way...(v1-3).

This was a church enduring persecutions and suffering (2Thes 1:4-5) hence a lie of such magnitude will unsettle them. They might be contemplating; "If the second coming has already occurred, what are we then suffering for?" "Is our faith not in vain?". You will notice Paul addresses specifically, the possibility of losing one's faith and uncertainty that such a lie can produce. He wrote, "we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed". Notice also that, some have actually believed the lie of these false teachers. God allowed them to believe a lie because they were unwilling to believe the truth.

The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.(v9-12).

Falsehood has the capacity to lead believers astray and we must at all times guard our hearts against deception. In stabilising their hearts, Paul speaks of a truth--the doctrine of election--which is the reality of every believer: "God chose you...to be saved". The believer is chosen of God; handpicked and set aside to be a recipient of God’s love. Salvation is monergestic--strictly a work of God we contributed nothing to. Christ in John 15:16 tells His disciples "You did not choose me, but I chose you”. Peter in 1Pet 2:9 also wrote that “…you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

What qualifies a person to be chosen by God? Nothing! We are not saved by meritorious works. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone(Rom 3:20; 28, Eph 2:8-9, Gal 2:16).

We contributed nothing to our salvation. It is all a work of God’s grace. We were sinners seperated from God(Rom 3:23). We were children of wrath (Eph 2:3). But God extended His love towards us and set us apart–sanctified–to Himself by the regenerating power of The Holy Spirit. “Once [we] were not a people, but now [we] are God’s people; once [we]had not received mercy, but now [we] have received mercy.” (1Pet 2:10). A Christian is a Christian “according to the purpose of [God’s] will” (Eph 1:5). God chose us before the foundation of the earth (Eph. 1:4).

As indicated earlier, the Thessalonian church was a suffering church and this portion of the epistle was written to strengthen and encourage them to stand firm in their faith. Believers suffer and face persecution in various forms. But the reality of God's Sovereignty in electing--choosing sinners--unto eternal life must delight every child of God. God before the foundation of the earth, set His love upon us and He called us "Beloved". When God saves us from the present evil world, He saves us with an everlasting love. He doesn't save with a love that fails. He saves us never to perish. Our hearts must be stepped in God's love towards us. Nothing can separate us from His love (Jeremiah 31:3, John 10:27-28, Romans 8:31-38).

If you are a believer, God has chosen--elected--you to be saved. You did nothing deserving of God's choice. This truth must humble and cause us to lift our voice in adoration, just as Paul did in writing to the Thessalonians, "But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you… (2 Thess 2:13).

Here Are Three Reasons You Must Pray For The Unsaved

I belong to a facebook group where different Christian thoughts are shared. Recently, a question was posted which inspired this post. "Will You Pray At All For Someone Who Is Not willing To Submit To Christ?" That's a good question, isn't it? I believe as Christians, we all have experiences of praying for  the salvation of a friend, family member, neighbour etc and it seems the more we pray, and tell them about their need of salvation, their rebellion towards God and Christianity grows. Now, it can indeed get frustrating. So the question whether to continue in prayer for an unwilling, unrepentant sinner is, to be frank, a relevant question. In this post, I seek to answer an emphatic Yes to the question "Will You Pray At All For Someone Who Is Not willing To Submit To Christ?"

Here are my reasons

1: Prayers For The Unsaved Is A Command

In a conversation with His disciples, Jesus commanded them to pray about salvation of souls. "Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest" (Matthew 9:37-38). In these words, we see embedded the necessity of prayer for souls. Why must we pray for labourers? Because "The harvest is plentiful". In other words, there are many people who have to be saved. In 1Timothy 2:1-4, Paul instructs we engage in prayers for the salvation of souls. We don't possess the ability to save anyone. Salvation is of the Lord therefore we must continually entreat Him in prayer to save sinners. Without prayer, our efforts at reaching people for the Lord will be in vain.

After planting and watering, God is the one who gives the increase. Now, if we look at the preceeding verses of Matthew 9, we will get a perfect picture of why Jesus asked for prayers for labourers to be sent: "When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd."(v36).

Herein is the sad state of the unbeliever; the multitudes-crowd without Christ. They are harassed and helpless under the bondage of sin. They are guilty under the wrath of God. They are without a shepherd.  They have no relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ..."Harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd"...that must break every believers' heart to say a word of prayer for the unsaved. They will not admit it; but our Lord's words are true; they are "Harassed and helpless, like sheep without shepherd". They are lost! Out of compassion, our Lord told His disciples; “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”(v37-38). Don't give up praying for the lost.

2: Only God Can Break The Unwilling Heart Of The Sinner

It must not be lost on us as believers, that our salvation is not a smart choice or good decision we made. We are not smarter than our neighbhour who hasn't yet submitted to the Lordship of Christ. The truth is, we are not Christians because we were willing to give our lives to Christ. Jesus said He chose us, not us (John 15:16). In John 6:44, we are also told "No one can come to [Jesus] unless the Father ... draws him. By our own will we cannot be saved (Ezekiel 36:26, John 1:12-13, Roman 9:18). We are Christians because of God's grace.

Before we came to Christ, we were all people who rebelled against God until grace found us. In Ephesians 2:1-3, Paul describes our spiritual deadness prior to coming to Christ. He compares us to that unwilling sinner we are getting tired praying for. He seems to say, "before you came to Christ, you were just like them"; "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind."

That was our state. We were equally "following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience". We were no different from the unwilling unbeliever. The difference now is God's intervention. In verse 4 of Ephesians 2, after our former state has been described, we are told what God did with us: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—"

God showed us mercy. God stepped into out rebellion and broke our resistance. Knowing our former state and how merciful God has been to us, we must be patient and continue in prayer for those who seem unwilling to submit to Christ. Their unwillingness can only be broken by the Spirit of God. Don't give up. Keep praying for them. Their unwillingness is indeed a spiritual battle. Satan has blinded them to the truth. That is the more reason we must pray for them. Only God can rip off their spiritual blindness and shine lights into their hearts.

3: Someone Prayed For Your Salvation

You might not be directly aware. But I am confident your salvation is an answer to somebody's prayers. Your friend, your family member, a church in your community, a Pastor, your school chaplain, a missionary...somebody's prayer definitely has a hand in your salvation. An incident in the Bible readily comes to minpicture comes to mind. In Acts 7, Stephen's martydom by stoning is recorded:

Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen , he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord , do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.(vs58-60)

See two powerful phrases in the verses here. The first is the record that they laid Stephen's garment at the feet of Saul(v58) and secondly Stephen's prayer in v60, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them". Even at the brink of death Stephen still prays for his murderers. Immediately we step into Chapter 8, Saul's name is mentioned again. He has come into the picture. He must be important to the storyline: "And Saul approved of his execution."(v8). Fast foward to Chapter 9 we meet Saul and his encounter on the road to Damascus. He met the Lord and his life was changed. I am very convinced Paul's conversion has a relationship with Stephen's prayer; "Lord , do not hold this sin against them"

I pray you don't get tired praying for anyone's salvation. Continue in prayer and don't give up.

Christian Suffering Is Biblical

There is a kind of Christian teachings out there that promotes the idea Christians must not suffer. That's a lie. A blatant lie! Christians suffer. Acts 14:22 says through much suffering we must enter the kingdom of God. We are no different from people who are persecuted and some even killed for their faith. Contrary to modern day, twenty first century, watered down, health and wealth, easy believismChristians are in fact no super humans. We get frustrated. We get stressed. We live with unfulfilled dreams and expectations. Our lives are in no way immune from the challenges of this world. We lose love ones. We lose jobs. We get sick.

World events must call many believers to rethink what gospel they have believed. Are you saved to be materially blessed and divinely healthy? You have believed a lie.

A cursory look at the Psalms–a great source of comfort and inspiration for believers—reveals the realities of pain and suffering in a believer’s life. Some of the Psalms contain expressions of David’s personal pain and sorrows: "I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes"(Ps 6:6). "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?"(Ps 43:5). "Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I"(Ps 61:2). "Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins".(Ps 25:18).

In these words, we see “a man after God’s heart” expressing anguish in different circumstances of his life. David was not an exception. Many other characters in the Bible poured out their hearts in pain and anguish. As believers living in a fallen body in a fallen world, we are not immuned from the pain and suffering present in the world. In fact, suffering is ordained in the sovereign plan of God for the world and in the life of the believer. Job said “man is born to trouble”(Job 5:7). Suffering is the portion of every believer. We must all carry our cross and follow Him.

The biblical authors acknowledged what many today will deny in the name of Faith. They acknowledged the place of suffering in the believer's life. James said "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,"(James 2:1). Paul pointed out that "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted"(2Timothy 3:12). The Lord Jesus Christ Himself painted no rosy picture of the Christian walk. He told the disciples, "In the world you will have tribulation."(John 16:33).

Suffering teaches us obedience. Writing about the high priestly role of Jesus, the writer of Hebrews tells us that, in His humanity, "Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered."(Hebrews 5:8). No where in the Bible are we guaranteed a life without suffering and pain. You dont even have to open the pages of the Bible to realise the reality of suffering in the world. The bad news, disease, brutal execution of Christians coupled with the suffering of people around us is enough evidence that a suffering proof christianity is a placebo. Paul describes the inescapable realities of suffering in the believers life. "...we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies”(Rom 8:23)


Though we are saved, we are not in possession of the full benefits of our redemption–the glorification of our bodies. We still live with the presence of sin, pain and suffering. We groan in pain in anticipation of our glorification in future. In all of these however, Christianity doesn't spell as gloom. In our suffering, we are not left on our own, we don’t grieve as people who have no hope(1Thess 4:13). We have the blessed Holy Spirit as a comforter and “present help in need”. What a privilege! In our weaknesses and suffering, we can turn to God through faith in Christ Jesus.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.(Heb 4:15-16).