Tithing… a Godly duty!

For those of you who don’t know what “tithing” is, it is giving 10% of your income or support which comes in, to the Lord. It is not like God needs the money but it is merely acknowledging God for the sustenance He provides. The earliest record of tithing was when Abraham gave a tenth of his spoils of war to the ‘Priest of the Most High God’, Melchizedeck (Gen14:17-20) and later Jacob promises to give God a tenth of his income.

Gen 28
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear,
21 and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.
22 “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Tithe (as per the Google dictionary) is: one tenth of annual produce or earnings, formerly taken as a tax for the support of the church and clergy.

I have noticed that there are Christians who believe that tithing is nothing but a free will offering of one’s choice. However, tithe by its very definition as indicated above is 1/10th of ones earning. As much as one who graduates cannot claim he is first class graduate unless he secures a minimum 60% in his exams, so too one cannot claim to have paid their tithe unless they have paid 1/10th of the income towards a cause that progresses the Gospel or to their Church. Biblically, an offering is only considered as a free will offering after one has paid their tithe, else the Bible teaches that disposition as equivalent to robing God.

Malachi 3
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!
10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

While writing this particular blog post, I must add that my writing ministry is self-sustained and I do not receive any foreign funding to this end. Tithing is for Christians, not for the unbeliever who does not trust his sustenance to God. As A. W. Pink aptly puts it in his booklet on Tithing, God’s promise for those who tithe is one which is temporal, meaning those blessings that have to do with our necessities of food, clothing and shelter.

Mat6
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

I understand that 10% would make any Christian feel the pinch but that is precisely how God intends it to be because, as over we relying on money to sustain us, He prefers to leave a little pebble in our shoe that we may always know that it is God who sustains and provides for us.

In a Theocratic nation, which is nation governed under Biblical Law, no state is allowed to collects taxes from the people, except for the tithe, which went towards the Church. You see it is the duty of the Church, not the State to run schools, hospitals and build on national infrastructure. You might question then saying, that would be too much power given the Church. However, throughout history it has always been that when the Church fell slack under corruption, it did not gain power but rather lost power, such is God’s design who reigns in His righteousness through Christ (Col1:16-20).

Today with State playing Church, we have people looking to the government for succour as over, looking to God. A Christian paying his tithe under these conditions needs to understand that the 10% he calculates to give God should be calculated on the whole (Gross) counting even what the apostate state has usurped as its own tax. This is done so that the believer realizes God presides over him/her even as over the state presides over the believer.

In the context of tithing, I must warn you also of preachers who misrepresent scripture to suit their own vested and greedy motives. There is nothing wrong with being rich but as a believer you ought to let Christ dictate His terms to your conscience as your Lord and Saviour (Jn14:15), which means you must be prudent enough to know how your money is being used to progress the Gospel. Many a times preachers misquote Mk10:21 and rob people’s livelihood. However, the same scripture must be understood along the lines of Jesus testing the person in question on the very first commandment, which caution every believer against idolatry.

Exodus20
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.

Mark10
18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments, ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.

When a person is moved by the Gospel, there is a transformation which takes place in that person’s heart, where by delighting in God, the individual is moved to give cheerfully to see the Good News of the Gospel progress and reach many people as it has done with themselves (Rev22:17).

2Cor9:7
Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Mat 6
31 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

I must reassert the fact that tithing is for the Christian, who is given to trust God concerning his sustenance and though Christians may have other ideas for their tithe, we should all know that we are all called to live out the Gospel and if that means putting our money where our month is then so be it.

Mark 12
41 And Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. 43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

In concluding with the widow’s story, we learn about how when one is born from above (Jn3:3), the individual holds nothing dearer to self as he/she does hold on to God in faith. Trusting our sustenance to Him as over relying on our own understanding (Prov3:5) outside the good pleasure of God.

The Gift of Marriage or Celibacy!

The Bible teaches us that the Christian code is moral code, it is not one of outward religiosity but it is one where thoughts are judged as leading to actions which are condemnable before God.

Mat 19:3-12
3 Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 7 They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

10 The disciples said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “Not all men can accept this statement, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”

1Cor7:3-9 (Apostle Paul)
2 Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 3 The husband must fulfil his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 But this I say by way of concession, not of command. 7 Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner, and another in that.

8 But I say to the unmarried and to widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I. 9 But if they do not have self-control, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

I need to state, that one of the reasons the Bible, though written by different people conveys the same truth about God is because the apostles and writers were moved by God the Holy Spirit to express the same truth in harmony as coming from the same source, which is God (Jn4:24/2Pet1:20-21). To explain this in real world terms, if an evil spirit consequently in time, possessed two different people, though those two individuals may be different, that wicked spirit would influence them to act and even think in the same manner. Similarly, it is God who is Good, who works in the lives of all His people whom He has called in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Coming back to the subject of our topic, we are given to understand that sex is given us by God to be enjoyed in the confines of marriage between one man and one woman. Imagine the hardness of the people’s heart that when Jesus emphasises the commitment one must have in marriage (Mt19:4-9), the disciples reply saying: then it is better not to marry!

I don’t know for how long this has been but today fornication reflects a person’s social standing in this world. However, just like not everyone is a glutton or a drunkard, so too not all find sex as something that critically defines their lives. These are eunuchs so to speak, which the gay community seek out to destroy from their godless ignorance that forcefully counts these as their own. Also its flabbergasting that these diseased homosexual fools, first hijacked the term ‘gay’ and then the rainbow for their flag to add some cheer to their utter depravity that they may delightfully identify with it and still be accepted in society.

Job31:1
“I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.

Mt5:27-28
27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Coming back to our topic, eunuchs need not necessarily be those who are castrated but those whose lives are not enslaved to their sexual instincts. Back in the old days, men were castrated and put in very high positions in heathen courts. These individuals, having no family or posterity to look forward to, dedicated their lives to their king. Also, since they were castrated, there was no production or secretion of testosterone in their body, to make them susceptible to seduction, with the fall out of influencing their decisions. Castrating these officials also safeguarded the king’s interests/affections concerning his queen.

Rom2:29
But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

Acts18:3
Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

Celibacy therefore is gift of God to certain individuals, who dedicate their lives to serve the Lord, these are eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven (Mt19:12), they aren’t castrated but they bear what circumcision symbolically represented in the Old Testament, which metaphorically is a circumcision of the heart unto God (Rom2:29). Unlike Roman Catholicism, where priest live a life away from life in practicing celibacy, the Bible teaches that believers live and bear witness for the Lord Jesus Christ, while participating in the same manner of the people’s lifestyle (Acts18:3).

Gen1:28
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Eph5:25
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,

Josh24:15
15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

All Christians need not necessarily identify with celibacy because marriage too is a gift of God like celibacy, given to certain individuals, that from their circumcision on the heart, these too may abstain from fornication by being absolutely committed to their spouses (Eph5:25) and unlike this ungodly world, raise a household that lives to serve the Lord (Josh24:15), just as the God commanded from the very beginning (Gen1:28).

Jn1:12-13
12But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

1Cor1:2
To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

Phil4:13
13I can do all this through Him (Jesus) who gives me strength.

To conclude, the gift of marriage or celibacy reflects what every practising Christian is i.e. a Saint and a Priest in service of the Lord (1Cor1:2), not according to the calling of any religious authority here on earth but by God’s calling unto Himself (Jn1:12-13). For the Almighty nature of God, propitiates the rebellious and sinful will of men, unto His own righteousness by the power of Jesus’ atoning blood.

Doing Away with Terror!

Right from Adam’s fall, man finds trouble with everything except himself. It is like a person in a group doing a head count but forgetting to count himself in. The most recent hostage situation in Mali among other atrocious threats of terror, cries out loud for the need of moral reform in this world.

Now how do you think that is going to come about? For those who believe, that to love Christ is to live by His commandments (Jn14:15), should know that Jesus propitiates/overcomes the sinful nature of the world (1Jn2:2) by the power of the blood (Rom3:25), in which is His life (Lev17:11). The Moral Law is the standard of Christian living, where God is first in the believer’s life and second in thy neighbour, who is loved as much, as the believer loves himself/herself (Mt23:36-40).

Every act of ethnic cleansing or genocide like the Holocaust under the Nazi regime, the Armenian genocide at the hands of Ottoman empire or the genocide in Darfur, are all atrocities that have abused life from a perspective of lawless anarchy, leading to the downfall of that ruling regime by the Sovereign hand of God.

Now reading the Bible is like learning your ‘a, b, c’ and sentence construction then, is when you interpret scripture in the light of scripture. We therefore understand that the Church did not begin at Pentecost but began with Adam, where the first gospel that cited God’s redemption through the Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned in Gen3:15. By definition (Gen32:28) “Israel”, is one who strives against God and men and prevails; also from Ex31:13 we know that sanctification is of the Lord. Further, we must understand that Salvation is, God saving you from Himself, not from Satan, because it is God and not Satan who truly is judge, who pays the wages of sin, which is eternal death in fires of hell. So from the fact that the Holy Spirit gives life, we understand from scripture that the Son of God came, taking on the complete nature of man, to be that substitute and spotless sacrifice who would bear to the full extent, the wrath of His Father for sinful men, by carrying the guilt and sin of all people in His body (1Pet2:24). By this, the Lord Jesus Christ merited salvation for God’s elect, thus purchasing for His Church, the life giving Holy Spirit

Job 23:10
“But He knows the way I take;
When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

So bringing it all together, the Lord sanctifies His people in the furnace i.e. this world, while He purchases a living spirit from the Holy spirit for these who are His people, that they may come forth as gold, as He burns out the dross from within them.

In the light of Dan2:27-47/Mt16:18/Col2:11, we understand that God’s Church is built with living stones (Rev3:12) i.e. the testimony of Christ eternally enabled by the Holy Spirit to abide in the heart of every believer (Jn3:3,16). We however live in a world, where the sons of Adam are under the sway of Satan because in the loins of Adam they chose to believe Satan’s lies as over heed God’s truth. These fools have wicked survival instincts and perceive everything that has come from God, including: Satan, money or a mate to be somehow greater or more valued than God, who actually defines life itself. In heeding the lies of Satan, the world has received Satan as their father and it is by Satan’s spirit the world receives its nature but it is by God’s life giving breath that this anti-Christian spirit is destroyed.

From Gen2:17/Jn20:22/2Tim3:16 as against 2Thes2:8/1Jn4:3, we understand in the light of Rom9:17 that power was given to the Satanic anti-Christian Spirit so just as God raised Egypt to be destroyed that His might be known among His people, so too the power Satan in his sway has over the world is what he has been given, until the day he meets his eternal destruction at the hands of God who is Sovereign.

Nehemiah 4
16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.

19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!”

Luke22
35 And He said to them, “When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?” They said, “No, nothing.” 36 And He said to them, “But now, [e]whoever has a money belt is to take it along, likewise also a bag, and [f]whoever has no sword is to sell his [g]coat and buy one. 37 For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘And He was numbered with transgressors’; for that which refers to Me has its fulfillment.”

We know the nature of the world is against God’s Church, since the world’s lawless fools heed the spirit of Satan, who is the father of lies (Jn8:44), the accuser of God’s people (Rev12:10) and having no other purpose but to steal, kill and destroy (Jn10:10). Against these who operate under Satan, we must arm to protect ourselves and those unto whom God calls us to deliver His saving Gospel.

If we believe that there truly is a God, who gives and sustains life then we ought to admit that godless rebellions like: blood thirsty Islam, state provisioned murder through abortion/euthanasia and state licenced marriage encouraging homosexuality and bestiality; are what we must bring to an end.

The issue with apostate religions like Islam is that it gives in to the people’s lusts of putting the blame everywhere else but upon the individual himself/herself. I say this from things I have heard Muslims say; that music is banned in Islam because music once distracted certain people from hearing their call to prayer. Also chess, which according to a particular Islamic authority is banned because it once distracted a certain ruler from engaging in war, as this ruler was more keen on finishing his game of chess. So it is that Islam appears to be just another religion of outward religiosity that fails to teach self-examination before God who is Majestically Holy, as over blaming everything else. Simply because in their denial of the Lord Jesus Christ who merited salvation by His blood, the Spirit of repentance (Acts11:18) was not given to these and so they are left with a spirit of anarchy from Adam.

Again, if we believe that life is dependent on God, we ought to know that a blessed life can exist only in obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. Either way we are going to glorify Him, if not His mercy then surely His justice; a choice which is ours to reap (Deut30:19) while nothing shall thwart what God has planned (Is14:27) as He is Almighty. Even what we may refer to as God’s foolishness, that is greater than our intellect and what we may refer to as His weakness, that is greater than our strength (1Cor1:25).

Ezek 36
30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 I am not doing this for your sake,” declares the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”

John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

In King Christ, God is reigning in His righteousness and reconciling the whole world to Himself (Col1:16-20). The Church and Israel are one and the same, a people who are brought to repentance, healed and restored unto God through Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross (Is53:4-6).

John3:18
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

So the bottom line is, if we are looking for a world that is free from terror, we ought to turn to teaching the people about the Prince of Peace (Is9:6) i.e. the Lord Jesus Christ, who propitiates the sins of God’s people unto living by the healthy standard of God’s law. This evangelical work must be initiated by the Church, under the protection of the Church and the State throughout the whole world.

Hab2:14
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

This we can do by either choosing to wilfully obey God and please Him or we can give in to our slothful and lawless nature from Adam but no matter what we choose, it shall not serve to dampen what God has promised through the saving knowledge of the Sovereign Lord Jesus Christ for all creation.

The Truth we must learn from the Paris Attack!

We live in a society where believing in God is one of life’s many options, to this extent we have gone liberal. In our mushy moments we like to think and talk of God and His moral requirements but in our critical decision-making we stand on the faux grounds of evolution being a reality and so people live as they deceptively see fit ( Rev12:9). Hence believing in God is merely a matter subject to people’s choices and not one which is most critical to life.

I do condemn the Paris Attack that occurred this morning but I know this from scripture, that Judgement begins first with house of God (1Pet4:17). If I were to consider the religious identity of France, I would say it is close to a Christian one though many may argue it is Secular from the perspective of democracy, which precisely is the issue am addressing.

The godless liberal may see the terror attack as one on democracy and the French way of life but democracy is what the people want and the terrorists got what they wanted at a death metal concert in the Bataclan club. Is life really/only about getting what you want? If you believe God exists, then isn’t life dependent to how we live according to God’s moral precepts? The media may throw the Paris attack in our face and enrage us from unholy fear but the truth is our governments have sponsored the slaughter of the innocent through abortion and licensed gay marriage to appease godless liberals in society, who care little for God’s requirements for a healthy life. This has grieved & angered the Holy Spirit (Eph4:30-31).

I am no Islamic sympathizer and I sincerely hope those who were involved in this attack get the justice they deserve, which is capital punishment (Ex21:12,14). However, liberal mentality from unholy fear is such that, from its ignorance of God it has no knowledge of what really is right and what really is wrong. These self-righteous lawless fools run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, in the sense that these would condemn the attack while later wanting mercy for the perpetrators linked with this crimes. Such is the fallen lawless mindset of self-righteousness which people received in Adam, who rejected the knowledge of God concerning right and wrong for His own deceptively enlightened state of knowing right from wrong (Gen3:1-6).

Prov 8:36
“But he who sins against me injures himself;
All those who hate me love death.”

It’s not that am a sadist or God is a sadist who enjoys the suffering of His people. It’s just that the path we chose for ourselves in Adam is one of death and suffering itself. It’s funny that we should ask, why God makes us suffer, when He has never been our standard for a healthy moral lifestyle. There is no life outside God and just as creation longs for the coming forth of His adopted sons (Rom 8:19), creation is disgusted with those who are their own standard of life and a law to themselves. My duty therefore as an adopted son in writing this post is similar to the role given Ezekiel as a watchman to warn people of their sins and it wages (Ezek33:7-9).

James 1
14 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

God loves His people, and Jesus is that cornerstone who turns curses to blessings by making Himself subject to the wages of all sin (Gal3:13/Rom8:28). For those who belong to Jesus, these alone are the godly, discipled by the Holy Spirit; as the word disciple refers to one who is disciplined by God.

Let us take a look at Israel at a point of time in the Old Testament, when they turned from God and went their own way and how God brought them back to Himself through spiritual realization i.e. repentance. We must look at this scripture below in the light of knowing God is sovereign and even those who rebel against Him, serve His purpose and glorify His justice, just as God’s people mutually delight with God in glorifying His mercy.

Isaiah 10
5 “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger,
   in whose hand is the club of my wrath!

6 I send him against a godless nation,
    I dispatch him against a people who anger me,
to seize loot and snatch plunder,
    and to trample them down like mud in the streets.

7 But this is not what he intends,
    this is not what he has in mind;
his purpose is to destroy,
    to put an end to many nations.

8 ‘Are not my commanders all kings?’ he says.

9 ‘Has not Kalno fared like Carchemish?
Is not Hamath like Arpad,
    and Samaria like Damascus?

10 As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols,
    kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria—

11 shall I not deal with Jerusalem and her images
    as I dealt with Samaria and her idols?’”

12 When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes. 13 For he says:
“‘By the strength of my hand I have done this,
    and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.
I removed the boundaries of nations,
    I plundered their treasures;
    like a mighty one I subdued[a] their kings.

14 As one reaches into a nest,
    so my hand reached for the wealth of the nations;
as people gather abandoned eggs,
    so I gathered all the countries;
not one flapped a wing,
    or opened its mouth to chirp.’”

15 Does the ax raise itself above the person who swings it,
    or the saw boast against the one who uses it?
As if a rod were to wield the person who lifts it up,
    or a club brandish the one who is not wood!

16 Therefore, the Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors;
under his pomp a fire will be kindled
    like a blazing flame.

17 The Light of Israel will become a fire,
    their Holy One a flame;
in a single day it will burn and consume
    his thorns and his briers.

18 The splendor of his forests and fertile fields
    it will completely destroy,
    as when a sick person wastes away.

19 And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few
    that a child could write them down.

The Remnant of Israel
20 In that day the remnant of Israel,
    the survivors of Jacob,
will no longer rely on him
    who struck them down
but will truly rely on the Lord,
    the Holy One of Israel.

Col1:16-20
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

Reconciled in Christ
19 For it pleased the Father that in Jesus all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

The validation of Christianity as life’s ultimate truth is in the transformation an individual goes through when he/she begins a relationship with God, made possible in the Lord Jesus Christ. As Charles Spurgeon once said, the Salvation God offers us in the Lord Jesus Christ is one which works like a double cure. Where first, our record of sins is passed on to the debt Jesus paid for on the cross, making us free of the subconscious guilty of sin against Almighty God and second, by sanctifying us through life’s furnace experiences into the likeness of Christ, like gold blasted in the furnace, purified by burning out the dross. Godless liberals may be sophisticated enough to hide their guilt of sin but like the radical Islamists who go marauding to earn themselves their paradise of virgins, these fools learn they are deceived by the haughtiness of their own fallen pride when they receive the justice on His divine Majesty.

John 14
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Prov 9:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Bottom Line, you: western countries who delight in being sophisticated and cultured, you forget these etiquettes, are not something of your own invention but what has been handed down and watered down from generation to generation, from a time when theology was every gentlemen’s hobby. Today the Westminster Shorter Catechism is taught in Seminary but back in the 16th century it was taught to Sunday school children. Over time you chose the ideology of evolution over creation and taught lethal devices in your schools to your own children despite the glaring conflict of scientific evidence available. Do you think you can be of substance without truth? No, you can’t! So repent France and all of you in Western countries who have forgotten to thank God for your development and return to God in Jesus Christ… lest you be left behind.

Christ Saving Power… tapped in every aspect of life, even marriage!

Genesis 3:16 (Part of the curse Adam and Eve bear for eating the deadly fruit)
…
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”

The fruit Adam and Eve ate, was the fruit of knowledge of good and evil. Now that doesn’t seem too bad by itself but if you were to dig any deeper, you would learn that before Adam and Eve ate the fruit, their standard of good and evil was the same as God’s but by eating that particular fruit, Adam and Eve brought discord to what righteousness really is because from that point, they received their own perspective concerning what is right and wrong, separate from God and this sin they passed to all their posterity (Original Sin). For this reason all people naturally come from a self-righteous mind-set that reflects a broken communion with God.

If you were to analyse Gen3:16 in Hebrew, you would notice that the curse the woman bears from Original Sin, is that she has an inherent desire to sinfully control her husband, while the cursed husband bears also from Original Sin, the inclination to sinfully respond to her by being absolutely savage and ruling over the woman, so as to silence that sinful desire in the woman to control him.

This is noticed to greater extent in cultures such as Islam that resist the Gospel. However the cure is found in Christ. For in a Christ centred marriage, this unholy consuming fire of distraught that is unhealthy for any marriage; this fire is doused with the living waters that flows out of the believer who taps into the power of Christ.

Romans 5
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
…
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

1 Corinthians7
12 But to the rest I say, not the Lord, that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And a woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he consents to live with her, she must not send her husband away. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband; for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy. 15 Yet if the unbelieving one leaves, let him leave; the brother or the sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. 16 For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?

Theologically it is perceived that the burning bush Moses encountered, in which the Angel of the Lord appeared, a fire which did not consume the bush, was the Old Testament Jesus Christ. Also the Angel of the Lord which Jacob wrestled and lived, was also the Old Testament Jesus Christ. For as John1:18/1Tim2:5 says, He is as He ever was, the only eternal mediator between God and men, who sustains, that which would otherwise be destroyed by God’s holiness on account of sin. Adam was given stewardship over all the earth (Gen1:28), so when Adam fell, creation over which he was steward, turned corrupt with sin. So man from the fall, who was purposed to be a vegetarian began to eat meat for, in his spiritual death, he needed to consume another life to live. From here figuratively comes and individuals need to live of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn6:51-56&15:1-6), which actually is an allusion to abiding in the life of Christ.

In the Old Testament the nature of Christ was symbolised by the bush burning and still not being consumed (Ex3:2) and from Jacob wrestling the Angel of the Lord and living to tell about it (Gen32:30) because by definition Israel, is one who strives against God and men, and prevails (by the power of Christ). Salvation therefore is God saving man from Himself because the holiness of His Majesty would destroy the sinner had it not been for Christ who saves people from their sins (Mt1:21).

1Corinthians 7
54 But when this [perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The same saving power of Christ is available in a marriage that is Christ centred as it neutralizes the inherent curse from both the man and woman. By this I do not mean that there is no love which lasts in non-Christian marriages because as Mt25:24 states, God gathers (His righteousness) where He did not even sow (from the perspective of (Jn3:3/Joel2:29) because Christ is Lord over all (Rom3:29/Phil2:9-11). In doing this God draws all creation to Himself reigning in His righteousness over all the world through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.

To conclude, if you can’t figure where your marriage is going wrong, more than you would care to admit, the solution for your marriage would be that you be PUT RIGHT WITH GOD, which is only possible by the power of Jesus Christ (Jn3:16-17/Phil4:13).

Trust God to Usher in His Peace!

Prov 16:7
When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

Mt 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

Rom 12:18
If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

Phil 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Gen 3:15/Mt 10:34/2Cor 6:15

When I examine myself, I realize that though I have become bold for the Gospel, am not much of a peacemaker; whether this is merely from the perspective of the world or also from scripture, this am still to discern.

When I reflect on the person Jesus Christ, I realise He is the complete revelation of God as not merely TRUTH but GRACE as well (Jn 1:17). Justification is by grace for the Bible teaches we are justified by GRACE ALONE and for reason being, that Christ died for us while we were still sinners (Rom 5:6). None in their right mind can say they deserved Jesus… God’s unblemished Lamb to be slain for them. In this I realise, the grace God exhibits to all His people in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today the God fearing man is defined as one who shuts up and says nothing but the Bible teaches Holy Fear as one who desires to willing do the good pleasure of God, as David who stepped out of the line of trembling Israelites and stood up to Goliath (1Sam 17:11).

A look at the Ten Commandments (Ex 20) shows that a person’s foremost reverence must be unto God, such are the first four commandments, while the other six speak of the holy requisite of God’s people loving their neighbour at par with themselves. If a person’s foremost reverence is not unto God then he/she takes that place that belongs to God for themselves, from their lawless nature that transpired from Adam (Gen 2:17), passed to them through Original Sin. Such societies of Godless fools are totalitarian is getting what they want from their self-righteousness, weather that be through murder or thievery it doesn’t quite matter as these are automatically redefined from their lawless nature to suit their convenience.

Like the counterfeit law of the masses, the Law of God, which requires the individual to LOVE is also totalitarian. For unlike the lawless masses who are characterised by their impatience, God is patient with even those who are on the road to eternal destruction (Rom 9:22). As individuals we are thereby called to be so patient (1Cor 13:4) with the wicked as to not resist them (Mt 5:39) and turn the other cheek in love (Mt 5:44) but we are to do all this, not from the unholy fear of repercussion from an ungodly society but from holy fear out of obedience unto a holy God, whom we trust.

The right thing must therefore be done for the right reason and we cannot fool God in this matter. As from Deut 6:8, the Moral Law was required by the Godly to be bound on their forehead and their right hand, so as to imply that the Godly think and act according to the Law of God i.e. according to God’s good pleasure. It would be foolish to act according to the Law but think from unholy fear, as such would not be from wisdom which comes from the fear of God (Prov 1:7). The Law of God was also put on the door frames of the houses that families may reckon as Joshua did in Josh 24:15 “…as for me and my household we serve the Lord.”

Hence the peace of God comes from knowing God first, by people who place their hope in the good pleasure of God and not in living lives that are acceptable or follows after the wayward/unbelieving trend in society at large. There is no lasting hope for those who do not trust in God, because outside Christ people are merely possessed by or are handed over to their lusts (Rom 1:24-27), which in turn harms themselves (Prov 8:36) because people who don’t have the Lord to rely on, are left with people like themselves to rely on, who have no desire or capacity to lead them to find hope in Christ! This is what empowers destruction of self and neighbour from what you could term “crab mentality” in a Godless society.

The terms of lasting peace (Is 11:1-11) therefore which Christ shall bring about (Col 1:16-20) is knowing God (Hab 2:14) from selfless love so as consider our neighbour as walking in our shoes. For as Isaiah prophesised (Is14:5-20), authority has been given to the Prince of Peace i.e. Jesus Christ (Is 9:6) over everything in the Great Commission (Mt 28:18-20), even over the prince of the powers of the air i.e. Satan and his dominion (Lk 10:18/Eph 2:2); to usher peace into this world.

So let’s not lean on our own understanding (Prov 3:5) which is susceptible to unholy fear that makes for the kind of news we listen to or find interesting but let us trust in God to usher in His peace to a broken world.

How to deal with Satanic Humanism!

Rev 12
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.

Mat 5
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’
39 “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
40 “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also.

Eph 6
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

In being given to understand that “Satan” by very definition is one who “plots against the people of God”. Just as today many so called Christians throw Mat 5:38-40 in the faces of those who seek lawful action, back in the days of Christ, the Pharisees let the people feel just as helpless by selling them the equally misplaced extreme of “eye for an eye”.

Mat 23
4 “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.

The design behind satanic humanism is that it duplicates Godly religiosity in various forms. The motive, to steal the hope of Christ’ sheep! Today, with the state governed by the desire of the masses called democracy, we find ourselves in a situation, where we are preached the love of God against righteous action that is Biblically requisite, which does not define love but undermines concern for the individual who seeks Godly counsel.

The thing is that, if we do not act according to righteousness, we can neither be given to think along those lines. You see, just as Adam & Eve we led to ponder on Satan’s offer before acting on it (Gen 3:1-6), so to if we act outside righteous, we are just as much given to believe as Satan would want us to believe, concerning the truth about God & that we have no hope outside the scope of ourselves.

Psalms 116
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones.

Psalms 84:10
10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Mat 10
28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Luke 12 (the case of the ungodly)
16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.
17 “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’
21 “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Having said this, I must say that our lives are precious and we are given to discern our situations by the Holy Spirit (Mal 3:18/1Jn 4:1-4/1Cor 12:10) to make the most out of the scenarios, concerning our livelihood. This is speaking in the context of God whom we are accountable to, and our neighbour whom we are to consider as much as we do unto ourselves.

Phil 3
12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Ecc 3 (A Time for Everything)
1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven–
2 A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
9 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
10 I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

Mat 5 (Beatitudes)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.
12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

To help you understand what an individual is in for concerning a Godly life (Luke 14:27-30/Psalms 127:1/John 6:39-44). It is like specific times of being subject to the furnace of affliction, which keeps getting hotter and hotter i.e. like a sportsmen who feels he/she has not done enough as yet and chooses to press toward their calling, such is how the living spirit given you in Christ perceives Godliness in the Living Triune God. Like a child who loses sight of the parent for that brief moment, in a crowded public place, is overwhelmingly joyful to find and be united with that parent such are our times in the Christian life (Isa 54:8). Our anxieties shall cease at the point of the grave, where our spirit shall then go to be with God, and when He shall return, we shall be renewed in our bodies without the frailties of sin.

We ought to remember that, if a particular thought sickens us, we need not indulge in that thought so as to go from being tempted, to that act of sin. In understanding Satan’s motive to Kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10); we know that Satan often incites us in these lusts and so we certainly should not give in but turn the other cheek. Not in the sense of Jesus asking Judas to kiss the other cheek (Luke 2:47-48) but in the sense of “let sleeping dogs lie” i.e. do whatever in within your scope, to an extent you can cope, to not instigate trouble!

Rom 12
17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

Mat 7
6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Rom 12:17-18 & Mat 7:6 are two sides of the same coin, just like this topic, which we are discussing. In being given to understand that the ungodly hate the godly with maliciousness, which they can do best to cover with a smile from their own righteousness. We need not entertain their challenges to prove ourselves because our Godliness is of God just & our righteousness is of Christ’ merit i.e. religiosity is our Godly nature unlike the anarchy of self-willed humanist religiosity.

Heb 4 (Remember Eph 6:10-17)
12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

So if you are studying the Word of God, remember to use both edges of the sword only as God the Holy Spirit guides you, who teaches us the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ concerning the Living Triune God.

May God be with you and bless you dear brothers & sisters in our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!

Here is an anecdote that just might help you see the broader picture!

One Baptism! (an attempt to explain the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit”, misrepresented by Charismatics)

I find myself in a very awkward position to write about this but thanks to the Charismatics who bear the name of Christ, I find the need to explain the so called Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Mat 21
24 But Jesus answered and said to them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:
25 The baptism of John — where was it from? From heaven or from men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’
26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” And He said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things

Eph 4
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

Mat 3
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Acts 11
15 “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning.
16 “And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
17 “Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”
18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

Apparently one of Apostasies trademarks since Adam, is de-establishing (Gen 3:1-4)what God has set as truth. The Church historically has held to “One Baptism” and even mentions it in the Nicene Creed, which is the Catholic Statement since about 325AD.

I have learned through my fortunate stay with an apostate charismatic body that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is given according to the will of men. In most cases, when their Pastors lay hands on an individual, that person, who is prompted then (today [… not relevant because the Word of God is complete, given us in the Bible that we may not seek further revelation outside scripture 2Pet 3:11-12/Rev 22:18-19]) to speak gibberish (they call it tongues) is said to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. These hypocrites may caution such statements of mine as blaspheming the Spirit but I certainly am not doing that but it is they who blaspheme God the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29). For theirs is a religion devoid of accountability unto the Moral Law (Mat 5:17-20 & 22:37-40) from a baptism devoid of repentance (2Pet 2:17-24) to aid magnifying not God but their own worth (Luke 14:11) via instruments such as the prosperity Gospel.

Rom 10
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”–that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,
9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

You see, when an individual/family/society experiences “Romans 10:8-10” as an absolute reality in the context of “1Cor 12:3” is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:15-18). You see the baptism of John was only to prepare the heart/s to receive Christ (Luke 1:17)… make straight the way for Jesus Christ the Lord to be received as Savior (Mark 1:3).

John 3
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
…
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

You see, in the Son of God (who is absolutely God) taking upon Himself the complete nature of man but without sin, He is foreordained as the firstborn of us brethren (Rom 8:28). Being not creation but the creator Himself (Col 1:16) with the Father & the Holy Spirit, He is the First to be raised from the dead and the first to receive the Holy Spirit in Baptism (Mat 3:16-17). A Leader who teaches us to follow only by example; His Salvation (Jn 5:21-23) is His, to give to whom He so chooses (Jn 15:16) for He is Good Lord and Good Shepherd.

John 6
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Heb 12
6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

Looking at Jn 6:44 & Heb 12:6-8 in the context of Jn 12:24-26, we understand that “one baptism” is given as a sacrament signifying the undoing to Original Sin, where Adam received (Gen 2:16-17) and passed to all his posterity a nature of righteousness governed by self and not God (Rom 5:14-15/1Cor 10:16-17). The charismatic idea Spirit baptism by laying hands on people who already are given by God to believe in Jesus can be likened to the Pope canonizing Christians unto Sainthood (1Cor 1:2-3).

Exodus 31 (in the context of Heb 2:8-18)
13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.

To conclude, Sanctification is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9) unto His elect, transforming His Church into the likeness of His beloved Son Jesus Christ, unto Salvation (Phil 1:29). Baptism thereby Indicates: salvation is impossible for men & women by themselves but possible only by God (Mark 10:26-27). How or why, then would the righteous suffer in this fallen world but such is the furnace experience where we are sanctified (kept in the furnace) not beyond what we can endure (1Cor 10:13). No harm but only blessing befalls from Christ who cleanses us through our trials in which He is absolutely present (Dan 3:25) upholding us by His absolute might (Phil 4:13).

Baptism… its Godly essence!

Attended mass today at a Roman Catholic Church & must say I was impressed to hear some sound Biblical preaching… which is always welcome among those Catholics/Christians, who are not embarrassed of the Gospel for its incapacity to please people’s love for sin.

The Priest sought to explain why Jesus was baptized though He is/was without sin. If we are to understand the nature of Jesus Christ, we must know that He is fully God & also fully man. Sacraments instituted in the Church are only those, which Christ has established. Now concerning baptism, it is circumcision carried forward from the Old Testament. As Isaac was circumcised when he was 8 days old (Gen 21:4), so too Jesus was circumcised when He was an infant (Luke 2:21)! Knowing John was only a few months older than the man Jesus Christ, the baptism of Jesus as an infant is ruled out.

John 1
32 John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.
33 “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’

Luke 1
34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.

1 John 5
7 For there are three that testify:
8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.
10 The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

The Baptism of Christ is therefore seen that is was not about Christ having sin in Himself to required repentance but that the testimony of God be witnessed concerning His Son, that the Lord Jesus Christ is thee Messiah, anointed by the Holy Spirit (Jn 1:32-33 & Lk 34-35).

Genesis 17 (Circumcision was given to MEN ONLY, as being dedicated to the Lord)
12 And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.
…
23 Then Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all the servants who were born in his house and all who were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham’s household, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the very same day, as God had said to him.

Romans 2 (Baptism is given to MEN & WOMEN, as being dedicated to the Lord)
14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,
15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,
16 on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.
…
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.
29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

Knowing Baptism replaces Circumcision (Gen 17:12-23 & Rom 2:14-29), infant baptism is hence Biblical. However many disagree with this, even among those who were baptized as infants, as I too once did. It must be understood that parents baptizing their children as infants, are taking the responsibility of bringing their children up to know and serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15). So it is that these children baptized as infants and unfortunately later as adults again (Eph 4:5), are unable to decipher that the poor Godly stewardship their parents exercised over them, is the reason they found interest in God outside their immediate family. Such is the spiritual ignorance (Hos 4:6) most Christian households are dealing with. As it is with any conversation you have, it is very important to see scripture in the context of scripture, to know what God is speaking out, to you, through the 66 books of the Bible. Adult baptisms as adult circumcisions (Gen 17:12-23 & Rom 2:14-29), were only required by new converts to Christianity (Spiritual Israel) and such was not just given them as individuals but to their whole household (Acts 16:27-33) including children.

Hosea 4
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.

Acts 16
27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”
29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas,
30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
The Jailer Converted
31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house.
33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.

What is essential in baptism is a heart ready to receive the Lord. If you have a heart filled with love for yourself, you can recite your baptismal promises till Christmas comes and goes without making any difference in your life.

Understanding that the Church is Israel (Eph 2:11-13) since Adam i.e. counted as Abrahams spiritual descendants (Gal 3:29), we learn that Baptism points to being born of God (Jn 3:3) as in born from above, so that our hearts may proclaim Jesus is Lord and believe in His resurrection as victory over death (Rom 10:8-11). Now to steer of the Charismatic definition of Holy Spirit baptism, I need to state (Jn 3:3, 19-21 & 16:8-13)- that being born from above has to do with being convicted as a sinner in the light of God’s majesty unto repentance to believe the Gospel (Mk 1:15)& so receive the righteousness of God over our own (Jn 12:24-26).

John 3
18 “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.
20 “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
21 “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Luke 23
39 One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!”
40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
41 “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”
43 And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”

To conclude, I must state: one who repents of Himself to receive Christ as Lord is saved though he/she may not be baptized before they fall asleep but this cannot easily excuse those who refuse or delay their baptism out of: the fear of men OR out of the overwhelming love they may have for themselves.

Design Perfect Chaos!

Why is it that man is hassled by chaos?
It is because he prefers life to be served to him,
Like it were all available at a kiosk.
What is ‘chaos’ in a person’s mind?
It’s having as much control on life,
As a man who walks, though he is blind!

It’s like when you step into a fish market,
You can’t decipher who is saying what and to whom.
You’ve come by car when there is no place to park it!
So what is all this?
It is about us who love control,
Told we are mere stewards in a world that is His!

Since the fall of Adam in the garden,
Man received his own standard of righteousness.
This was Separate from God and without pardon!
Adam’s falls has changed our perspective of life,
Where what we cannot control, we despise,
As righteousness is now each one’s own, toward eternal strife.

So Chaos truly, is because man is unruly!

Man from His fall is crippled,
And so such a thing as trusting God,
Makes man think that his strife would be tripled.
Ideally, there is no such thing as chaos,
But man disbelieves God controls all,
As fall’s sting leaves man as dumbfounded as a sea horse.

This is the break from the rat race,
Every natural man runs,
As though it were keeping to life’s only pace!
To believe in one’s heart that God controls all,
Requires man to put away pride
And admit of oneself, folly from the fall.

Life is not for man to control,
And to even desire such a thing,
Shows man is since Adam, a depraved being on the roll.
A man’s desire to control every outcome,
Shows his broken communion with God,
Who is infinitely beyond all creation, even their sum!

If you asked: how much better,
Are the works of God as compared to men?
Then view the detail in a thread of a sweater!
Take a look at blood under a microscope,
And you see! The perfect design of an RBC!
While a thread appears as a chaotic kaleidoscope!

Man may believe only what he sees,
So Chaos is man’s incapacity to look beyond himself,
And see Almighty God working all things to the ‘T’.
Even if a person completed his doctorate with a brilliant thesis,
He still misses out on a rich relationship with God,
If this person knows not the Lord Jesus!

Like a person sitting pillion on a motorcycle,
and barely trust the rider,
Such is worried sick even when the engine runs idle,
So also it is with us men naturally,
Who trust not God,
But trust men, instead of God, fearfully!

So I close by inviting every person to remember,
That one need not substitute God’s solutions in the Bible,
For there is blessing in obeying His Law from January to December!
His Moral Law commands you first to love God above all,
Second, to love every neighbour as you do yourself,
And may God by His grace grant you a break from Adam’s fall!

– Poem by Fergus Davar
P.S. This is a poem I had submitted for a secular publication and it was rejected. So here it is for you to read and enjoy i.e. if you like reading material that glorifies God and humbles man.