The Significance of Resurrection Sunday aka Easter Sunday

From the fall of Adam, what separates man from God is sin. Sin is the very nature of man from the fall, even if he does something good, it is only to help him put himself in a position to do something wicked ultimately. From the fall of Adam, man by nature is a sinner because he loves to sin, whether it is to entertain covetous thoughts of what belongs to his neighbour or to lust after a woman who is not his or to enjoy things he has stolen or may be bearing false witness to further his own interests.

Gen 3 (the account of the fall of Adam)
2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

If you read the account of the fall of Adam mentioned in the above verse, you will understand what is the root cause of sin. From the fall, man has forsaken God’s law and become a law to himself. It’s not like Adam did not know right from wrong before the fall, because Eve clearly tells Satan that God has told them not to eat from the tree but Satan has already fallen and wants some more company to join him where he is going. So, he tempts Eve to forsake God’s law and become a law to herself, so she’ll be like God having a righteousness of her own. However, the truth is there is no God apart from God and no true righteousness apart from God’s law, which is God’s own nature and character. So, as righteousness is the fruit of those who act according to the Law of God, sin the fruit of those who are a Law to themselves because fallen man is not God, and his every self-serving thought & action that tries to affirm he is god is nothing but sin.

Mat 26:28 (Jesus says)
for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.

Heb 9:22
And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

If we look at all the instructions in the Old Testament that dealt with animal sacrifice, we see that the animal had to be without blemish. Now, when we read about the Jesus in the New Testament, we are told and He was tempted and yet remained without sin. Also consider this, that there is none worthy in the sight of God, not humans or angels but God Himself. So, it makes complete sense that Jesus had to be the Son of God incarnate to be that holy, unblemished & worthy lamb who was slain as he bore the sins of all of God’s people on the cross.

James 1:16
Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

Mat 1:21
She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

If I were to describe the Gospel in a single sentence, it is this… that God’s law is perfect and so sin (transgressing His Law) had to justly dealt with, but God is also love by nature, perfect love, and so He sent His Son to take our place and be that unblemished sacrifice for the sins of all God’s people. The Bible says, the wages of sin is death and salvation is God saving us from Himself. The Good News is, the Son of God took upon Himself the complete nature of man by being born in the womb of the virgin. So Jesus was therefore the unblemished Lamb of God unstained by Adam’s disobedience aka original sin. This Jesus, took upon Himself, the sin of all God’s people and suffered death by crucifixion. So, His Resurrection i.e. His victory over death, is victory over sin for all who believe in Him.

1 Cor 15
51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 

Psalm 19:8
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

When you read the 1Cor 15:51-53 in the context of Ezek 37:9-14, we come to understand that it isn’t talking about the rapture but about the first resurrection i.e. people coming to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ aka being born from above (John 3:3). So as true believer, we are a new creation in Christ (2Cor 5:17), we now have an appreciation for God’s word, which we did not have before we were saved as indicated in 1Cor 15:52 & Psalm 19:8.

Mat 26:64
Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

If you care to read Mat 26:64 in the context of the chapter, you will be moved to tears. Here is Jesus being falsely tried on charges of blasphemy, and my Lord seals His own fate with the truth, before a syndicate of vipers who want to kill him (John 3:20). Any man would lie his way through, even Peter who said He would go to death with Jesus (Mat 26:36), failed to acknowledge he even knew the Lord in this dark fearsome trail (Luke 22:54-62), but my Lord was no coward. He spoke the truth about who He really is, before wicked people who were just looking for an opportunity to take His life, because the Light He is, pierced the darkness their hearts reveled in.

John 10:18
No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Phil 2:8
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

My Lord could have called legions of angels and put an end to all mankind in an instant but as He said in John 4:34, His food is to the will of His Father. The Bible says in Phil 2:8, that Jesus was obedient to the point of death. In His death, my Lord bore the sins of all God’s people and suffered the deserving justice we deserved both hear on the earth and in hell where He went after He died. Being fully man, He died and being fully God He rose from the dead, victorious over sin for all who believe in Him. This is the significance of Resurrection Sunday, aka Easter. This is the new Sabbath, because like the Son of God rested on the 7th day after creation (Col 1:16), the Son of God rested on the 3rd day (1Cor 15:4), which is Sunday after accomplishing redemption for all God’s people.

P.S. Featured Image courtesy: Freepik

Looking For A Fulfilling Life? Find It In Jesus!

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Neh 8:10
…for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

There are many who are looking for purpose in life, and they try to find meaning in the thing they desire but it only leaves them dry and bitter. Take the debauchers for example, whom God has handed over to their lust (Rom 1:24), after they have had their fill of sex, drugs and drunkenness, are they satisfied? No! They are left feeling even more bitter with even more resentment for the true Almighty Triune God. However, this is how the natural man has been from the fall of Adam, natural man is a lover of sin and he/she looks for life’s meaning in their love for sin. There is however no fulfillment in fornication, theft, murder, covetousness, avarice, bearing false witness, gossip and drunkenness but mankind from the fall of Adam tries to find fulfillment in these things, as though our life’s purpose was in these things. It is no wonder the Psalm 14:1 says… “the fool says in his heart, there is no God”!… because to go about our lives, like these things were our purpose, is to believe in our hearts that there is no God.

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Acts 2:38
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Thankfully, as you have read from the 2 pieces of scripture above, there is hope for us in Jesus Christ but if we are to seek him, we must deny ourselves and by denying ourselves I don’t mean giving up on life, like the Monk Who Sold His Ferrari sort. I mean that we turn from all those desires which are sin before the eyes of God, and wash ourselves by continually reading His word, and by this, I don’t mean reading the same chapters day after day but studying the Bible from cover to cover, till we know it like the back of our hand. Just like how you study to get employed and then you learn on the job as well, the same way you need to study and practice what’s taught in the Bible, that seriously. It’s after all God’s word, the very source of a fulfilling & meaningful life (John 4:13-14).

Gen 1:26
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

Psalm 19:7-8
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

Mat 28
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

From the three pieces of scripture mentioned above, what we ought to understand is, that mankind was made in the image of God and so the purpose of man is to reflect His image, which is the nature/character of God, that is His Law. God is Spirit (John 4:24) and His Law is spiritual (Rom 7:14) and true spirituality comes from meditating on His Law (Ps 1:2). The irony is that, though the Bible is out there for everyone to buy and read, no one really has the desire to do so, because they are all chasing after their sin, and so the world is filled with nothing but apathy about true spirituality. The world would rather go indulging in their sinful lust and call it spirituality, the Kamasutra & Tantric Yoga are fine example of such spirituality. So, though many may hate Salvation by predestination, the fact remains that by ourselves we have no desire for God, because all of mankind fell when Adam sinned against God. So, though the Gospel is preached to many, it is only those who are ordained to eternal life who believe (Acts 13:48), because Salvation doesn’t only encompass saving faith but everything from that desire, which draws people to Jesus (Jn 6:44), to that Godly sorrow which brings about repentance (2Cor 7:10), leading us to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph 2:8-10).

Mat 11:28-30
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

John 3:8
The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

If you look closely at the two pieces of scripture mentioned above, you will notice that these show Biblical predestination is not to make people feel unwelcomed, it is just to help us understand God is sovereign in salvation (Rom 9:11:24). On the contrary, if you look at Mat 11:28-30 mentioned above, you can see Jesus calling those who are tired and fed up with the world’s wicked scheming, people who are nobody and crying out for hope. In His call, He is offering to take the penalty of your lawlessness/sinfulness upon Himself and in its place give you His nature, so that you may shine radiantly as an image of God – bearing God’s own nature, the very purpose for which mankind was made. Another thing you must remember, is that you must not let anyone discourage in your seeking the Lord, no matter how genuinely Christian that person may be. Take the account Isaac in Gen 27, he wanted to bless Esau but God predestined Jacob to inherit Isaac’s blessing (Gen 25:23), and that is how it happened.

John 6
33 For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

Rom 5:17
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

So, there you have it, if you’re looking for a fulfilling life, the solution is coming to faith in Jesus Christ. I am certainly not talking about being just another lukewarm nominal Christian. You need to be something like how Pastor Voddie Baucham describes himself… “a fire-breathing, TULIP believing, five-point Calvinist” because that is how people who find their life’s fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ really are. Their lives are more than just satisfied, they are filled with enough fiery zeal to stand up for God’s truth, even if it’s against the whole world because they have found life’s ultimate purpose in being a radiant image of God.

Coming to faith? Count the cost!

Mat 13 (A Costly Pearl)
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Luke 8 (Parable of the Sower)
4 When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable: 5 “The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled underfoot and the birds of the air ate it up. 6 Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out. 8 Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
11 “Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. 12 Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.

Luke 14 (Disciples Tested)
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

If you care to notice, the 3 pieces of scripture mentioned above are saying the same thing, that is if you are coming to faith you must be prepared to give up anything and everything, if that is the price you have pay to come to faith, that is provided if you want to, which is provided if God is drawing you to believe in His Son Jesus Christ (Jn 6:44). Take a look at the Parable of the Sower, the first lot are those who couldn’t care less about God’s word because they are so full of themselves from their self-idolatry. The second lot are those who are surprised to go under fiery trial for their faith (1Pet 4:12) because they are looking for an easier way out in life, but surprisingly for them, believing in the Gospel did not accommodate their sloth, and so their faith turned out to be nothing more than a damn farse. The third lot are sitting on the fence type, they do not know whether to put what the Lord thinks of them first or whether to consider what the world thinks of them first. So, they are never able to live out their faith, as their lives are something like being Ferdinand, that highly self-conscious bull in a bone-china crockery store. The fourth lot are the true believers, who put God first in their lives before everything, their family, friends & themselves. It so happens, they love the Lord so much that though they are given to selflessly love and be concerned about the people around them (Mat 22:36-40), the love they have for their neighbour and themselves is like hatred (Mark 10:28-30/John 12:25) compared to the love and zeal they have for the Lord (Luke 14:26).

Ps 34:8
O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

1 Pet 2
3 if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.
4 And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For this is contained in Scripture:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone,
And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.”
7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve,
“The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the very corner stone,”
8 and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;
for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

The above 2 pieces of scripture are provided for those who may argue that the seed which fell among the thorns are genuine Christians. The Word of God on the contrary says, these seeds never bear fruit because they are choked between two contradicting lifestyles… a biblical one & a worldly one, and so in their attempt to please the world and serve their own interest, Christ is not the rock on which their lives are founded and so they bear no fruit, fruit which serves as the evidence of the saving grace by which a person is saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

John 15 (Jesus speaking)
14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
…
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me.

Phil 2
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Luke 22 (Jesus is Speaking)
31 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; 32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Further, I would like to say that when the Bible informs the believer to count the cost, it is not from the perspective of the believer earning his/her way unto salvation. Salvation is 100% the finished work of Jesus Christ in the life of every believer, Jesus paid it all. So, when the Bible says one must count the cost, it is simply Jesus keeping us informed about the kind of life we are to expect in this fallen world. So, those who stick with Jesus (John 6:65-66) are only those whom God-the-Father has decreed to know him (Heb 8:11). Another consequence a practicing Christian faces is being handed over to Satan to be sifted, like Peter was, Job was sifted too, but they endured… how? It’s because Jesus was interceding for them (Rom 8:34) and God the Holy Spirit who was in them was greater than the god (Satan) of this world (1John 4:4). In this manner the Bible draws a picture of the Church that is built at the gates of this world/hades (Mat 16:18), because the spirit of Jesus that lives in the believer, is like the stronger man who plunders the house of Satan (Luke 11:21-22), and so the Church is pictured at the gates attacking a fortress built on a foundation of sand (Mat 7:26 & 21:44).

Rom 8
16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

2 Cor 4
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Mat 13
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Like it says in Luke 22:35, when Jesus sent out the 72 to preach the Gospel among wolves, they did not lack anything. So also, for the believer whom God has called unto Himself from the foundation of the world, he/she is gifted with the Perseverance of the Saints to pay every price in meeting that standard of the worshiper who worships God in Spirit & Truth (John 4:23-24). This is made possible for the believer, only in Jesus Christ for who’s name sake the believer willingly suffers but his/her affliction is momentary, preparing the believer for the eternal weight of heaven’s glory that is beyond all comparison. For in Christ, we are heirs of God and like Mat 13:44 says, we are willing to risk everything, even our lives for the glory of God and His beautiful Gospel.

Jesus’ Saving Work In His People Is Tested With Fire!

Phil 1:6
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Rev 15:2
And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.

1Cor 3:13
each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.

When you take a look at the above 3 verses carefully, you will notice that these verses come together to describe the identity of Israel as described in Gen 32:27-28. We therefore see that the Church is simply the Israel of the New Covenant and the reason we prevail in our striving against God and men is because of the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ that is taking place in us. So, like a noble metal (gold/silver) is purified in the furnace, the Word of God that germinates a living spirit in the believer who was foreordained to saving faith, gives the believer nobility (Rev 1:6). This living spirit grows in the believer, eventually overpowering the flesh in him/her. This is the process of sanctification, where God puts a series of trials in the believer’s life, which acts like a furnace in his/her life (Psalm 119:71, 75), and unlike the unbeliever who goes from bad to worse after going through a trial. The believer comes out a better person after going through a trail, as these trials appear to burn the dross in him/her in subduing the flesh and empowering the spirit in him/her, which all happens according to the will and for the glory of the Triune God Almighty.

Isaiah 48
9 For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath;
for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
so as not to destroy you completely.
10 See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Zechariah 13
And I will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

Have you ever noticed how hard it is in this world for a righteous man of God to make a living? As for the wicked, no matter how easy it is made for them to make a living, those self-righteous fools still cannot make it. For those who can understand spiritual truth, the reason for this is explained in the above two scriptures but the foolish self-serving world we live in however, has discerned that it is better to stay wicked than live by the precepts of God. The Bible however says God is looking for those who will worship him in Spirit and Truth. For instance, as God did with Peter, He did also with Job, in handing him over to Satan to be sifted, that when Satan is through with him, Job/Peter may come forth as gold (Job 23:10) and return to strengthen their brothers/friends (Luke 22:31-32/Job 42:10). In all this sifting, it is our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ who stands with us that we may not perish under the sanctifying hand of God (Isaiah 41:10/Mat 28:20). He was there with Shadrach, Meshack & Abednego helping them prevail in the furnace, which was heated 7 times the usual (Dan 3:25). He was there with Daniel in the den helping him prevail in the midst of hungry lions (Dan 6:22). Also from the two verses mentioned above, we see that God in a manner of speaking, sanctifies the unbeliever too but not as He does so with the elect because the spirit of Christ is not there working in the unbeliever to sustain him/her in the furnace of affliction. So, the progeny of the unbeliever continues, for who knows, may be there is a believer in there somewhere whom Jesus will not lose (John 10:29/Luke 15:4) because He has already paid the price for the Salvation of all God’s elect (Heb 7:27 & 9:12).

John 15
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Heb 10:15
For by a single offering he (Jesus) has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Hebrews 12
3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

Like the first 3 verses mentioned in this post, the above three pieces of scripture shows us how Jesus endures with us & empowers us under the sanctifying hand of God in this world with us. God is sovereign and this unbelieving world is the furnace He uses to sanctify His people. Salvation however, is God saving us from Himself, where God puts us believers in this kiln while His Son sustains in the furnace. The Bible says, we were made in the image of God, which was broken in the fall of Adam. So, we are like broken pieces of pottery fixed with the knowledge of God presented to us scripture (2Tim 3:16-17) and sustained by the spirit of Christ in that furnace, that we may come out of that furnace being conformed to the image/character of the Almighty Son of God (Rom 8:29). So like the Parable of Sower, where the true Christian yields crop thirty, sixty and a hundred fold in Mat 13:23 & like the Parable of Talents in Mat 25:14-30, where the true Christian stewards gains and pays back their Master, 5 & 2 more talents respectively, as over what they had received… similarly, it is with the Christian who comes forth from the furnace as gold or silver for the glory of God. It’s important to note that this is not the work of the individual but these fruits are simply the evidence of saving faith (James 2:17-18) the believer has been granted by saving grace.

What we must ask Jesus in our prayer time: Dear God, Teach Me Your Law!

Psalm 119:108
Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.

Mat 28
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Many people say they pray and pray but God doesn’t seem to be listening. The real problem is that it is these people who are really not listening. It is these people who don’t trust and believe in God. They have taken neither the interest nor the time to read God’s word from cover-to-cover but they want God to hear them out. They will pay through their nose for an education to secure a comfortable life for themselves but they will want a Bible to be given to them for free, and will only read it only when there is nothing left to occupy their time with. This is the priority people give God and they expect to be heard when they pray to God, when they themselves are the ones who are not listening. The Bible says, God only hears the prayers of the righteous (Prov 15:29/Ps 119:155) because these are the people who have taken the time and effort to know the Lord. These are the ones the God has called out from the world by His Sovereign Might and brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Ezek 36:26-29), which is Salvation in itself. Please note that we are not saved by the works of the law, we are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, & conforming to God’s Law (Mat 7:21/Rom 2:13) is simply the fruit/evidence of God’s saving grace (Jam 2:17-18), we have received in Jesus Christ.

John 16
22 So also you have sorrow now, but I (Jesus) will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 1:1-2
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

So, what is knowing God? Well, it starts off by overcoming that hatred for righteousness and the bitterness in truth through repentance unto the Lord Jesus Christ and thereon believing in the Gospel. So, what is the Gospel? Well, it is God revealing himself in the Lord Jesus Christ to mankind, through inspired (God breathed) scripture (Gen 2:7/John 20:22/2Tim 3:16). So knowing God, is essentially God overcoming our enmity towards Him and restoring His purpose in us, which is making us share in His nature, because we were made in the image of God (Gen 1:26). An image that was broken in the fall of Adam but restored by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-10) in the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 5:17).

Mat 10:25
It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household.

Rom 8:29
For those whom he (God-the-Father) foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

In 2Pet 3:11-12 we are taught to pray for the hastening of Jesus’ second coming, by living righteously, and Jesus isn’t going to come to a bride (Church) who isn’t ready for her groom (Rev 21:2/Jn 3:3). As much as we look to be equally yoked in marriage (2Cor 6:14), then in the light of Rom 8:29 & 2Pet 3:11-12 we see that God has decreed His called-out-ones (Ecclesia/Church) to conform to Jesus/God’s nature at the earliest. This nature is the very law of God that is written on the believer’s heart (Jer 33:31-34), which makes us a new creation in Christ… the old is gone and the new is here (2Cor 5:17)! So, as believers, we must pray as David did (Ps 119:29), asking God to “Teach Us His Law (Ps 94:12), because God’s Law is God’s very nature which God’s people are sanctified to, each passing day. His law teaches us to put God first and love our neighbour as ourselves (Mat 22:36-40).

Mat 22
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he (Jesus) said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Mat 6 (the blessing of putting God first in our lives)
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Today, what the world suffers from is lack of purpose because they have estranged themselves from God in the fall of Adam, the believer on the other hand by the redeeming power of God, finds purpose in conforming to the image of Christ. God says in 1 Sam 15:22 & 1Cor 13:3 (Rom 13:8-10) that God places obedience even over sacrifice, & God also says in John 4:24 that He is spirit & those who worship Him must do so in spirit & truth, which is precisely what the Law of God is according to Rom 7:14, 8:4 & Psalm 119:142. So, if we understand a Christian’s journey in this world as being sanctified to conform more and more to the nature of God as revealed to us in Jesus Christ, then we must understand that as we are instructed to pray according to the will of God (1John 5:14), we must therefore pray for ourselves in asking God to teach us His Law each day.

Who Is My Brother?

Mat 12:46-50
46 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

I have seen people using the term brother, sister, mother, father, uncle and aunt in referring to others with endearment. A believer who grows up in these cultures, also naturally follows these same terms of endearment in referring to others. The problem however is not in the endearment but in expressing love which is devoid of truth because when a person is saved, he is no longer in fallen family of Adam but in saved family of Christ. The Bible says life is in the blood (Lev 17:11) but the Bible also says that the Spirit of Christ is a life-giving spirit (1Cor 15:45), which every true believer shares in. So, just as people can be related by a bloodline which they share in, so too people can also be related by the Spirit of Christ, which they share in.

Gen 17:4-5
“Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

Gal 3:16
16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.

If you were to dwell a little on the above two verses, you will understand why Islam is a liar concerning Ishmael being the promised son of Abraham because Christ who is the seed of Abraham came through the bloodline of Isaac not Ishmael. So, today you have Christians all over the world because they all share in the living Spirit of Christ, who is the seed of Abraham. However, it seems Mohamed did not think his lies through in denying God-the-Holy-Spirit because with Mohamed denying the Triune Godhead, it implies that Muslims all over the world are all of the bloodline of Ishmael.

Psalm 61:5
For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

It is said blood is thicker than water because it is far easier to be thick with someone you are related to that be thick with someone you are not related to by blood. So too, it is the same for those who are share in the Spirit of Christ. It is not that we are not to love those who are not in Christ. People who are not in Christ but within our area of influence, are our neighbours and these we are to love as ourselves (Mat 22:36-40) but what you do for a brother/sister in Christ is akin to doing it for Jesus himself (Mat 25:40). That is how thick we are commanded to be with our brothers and sisters in Christ (1Jn 3:23), because after all the life that is in the Spirit of Christ is greater than the life which is in the blood. I must however repeat saying that this does not mean we are to hate our own family, on the contrary that is for your family to naturally do for seeing the expression of God’s righteousness in your life (Mat 10:36), which they will unrighteously try to suppress unless God grants them repentance (2Cor 7:10). Despite this as a believer, you are not called to hate your neighbour but love them and be concerned about them as you are about yourself (Luke 6:27-33).

Mat 23:9
Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

Eph 5
8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

James 1:17
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

If there is one peculiar thing about family, it is that they share certain common traits. The world recognizes Pathans for instance are brave, simple and sincere in their dealing with others, as these are the values inculcated in them by their parent in their upbringing. Similarly, there is a certain amount of pride that runs in the family. For example, Pashtuns swear before the world that “Pashto is the language of lions, jackals cannot understand it”. So also, as God has fathered/adopted us in His son Jesus Christ, by the very design of family, there are certain traits, which inherently exists in every believer (Eph 5:8-10 & James 1:17); and as much as a Pashtun will never be proud of calling himself a Pathan, so too a believer can never ascribe to the values he has learned as coming from the world. Rather the Christian is proud that he is taught of God (John 6:45 & Mat 23:9) and takes immense pride (Jer 9:23-24) in knowing Almighty God revealed to him in God’s Son Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah 9
23 Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

Another detrimental aspect that exist in a believer calling a non-Christian a brother or sister is that calling someone brother is synonymous with sharing fellowship but as much as the Bible says light cannot fellowship with darkness (2Cor 6:14), so to a person who delights in sin cannot share and enjoy fellowship with one who delights in exercising the righteousness of God. So, the next time you as a believer wants to call someone who is not a believer with endearment, call them either politely as friend if you don’t their name or call them respectfully by their name but never as brother, sister, uncle, aunt, mother & father, that is unless they are related to you by blood in that way.

Salvation: God’s Will Over Man’s Will!

John 1:12-13
12 But to all who did receive Jesus, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

It is said that two wrongs don’t make a right. However, ever so often we come across Arminians who believe it is by our human will that a person believes in Jesus and possesses salvation. So, given the vacillating nature of our human will, the Arminian secures this lie with another lie (confirmed in John 6:39), which is that Salvation is losable because it is after all secured by the vacillating will of man. Now for man to be able to choose God, it must mean that man inherently is not totally depraved and knows what is good when he sees it. So, this is another lie (confirmed in Rom 3:12), which goes into securing man’s ability to choose Salvation. Now if man can choose salvation, it must mean Salvation is an open invite, which is another lie (confirmed in Acts 13:48). Also if Salvation is an open invite, then it means that man wilfully keeps the love of God presented to us in Jesus Christ waiting on him, till he is ready to accept Christ but then this is another lie (confirmed in Eph 2:1 & Mat 13:13) because the Bible says that man is dead in his sins, and concerning the Gospel it is said that man hears but cannot hear, looks but cannot see and listens and does not understand. Such are the five lies of Arminianism, which tries to suppress God’s sovereignty in Salvation. Why is this so? It’s because the Arminians typically cannot trust God with their salvation, and as vacillating as their nature could be, they feel more secure believing the onus of their faith is in their own hand, than in the hands of God.

Mat 15 (the reprobate heart)
11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.”
…
17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?[d] 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person.

Jer 31:33 (the regenerate heart)
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

2Cor 5:17 (the regenerate heart)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

You may ask me, does man have such a thing as free will? Well, the answer is yes obviously but it doesn’t supersede the sovereign will of God in Salvation. In the fall (Gen 3:2-6), man became a law to himself, forsaking the law of God and receiving a righteousness of self. In doing so man was sold into the slavery of sin but in Christ (Mat 11:28-30), man is reconciled back to God, going from being enslaved to sin to being enslaved to the righteousness of God. By his own will a man cannot change his own heart because his heart is the source of his being, from which his will which delights in wickedness springs forth. The free will therefore follows after the heart. So, in the reprobate state when the man’s heart is a stone (Ezek 36:26), his will delights in lawlessness/sin (Mat 15:19) but when he is saved, God gives the person a new heart (Jer 31:33), which matures delighting in God, His will and His righteousness (Ps 37:4). It is for this reason it is said that David was a man after God’s own heart, because he delighted in God’s law (Ps 40:8), which was the very nature and character of God, that was written on David’s heart to follow after.

I need to mention that just because God’s will supersedes man’s will, it does not mean that God makes man sin (James 1:13-15). Man sins by his own free will and God simply lifts his restraining hand and hands man over to his lusts (Ps 81:12/Rom 1:24). It is therefore man’s free will that makes man culpable of his sin, but man being the hypocrite he is from fallen Adam, blames God when he is tempted by his own sinful desires, & when it comes to salvation, he somehow sees his own free will as the instrument by which he chooses God’s salvation, as though his reprobate will ever had the desire for anything that is genuinely good.

Ezek 36
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Ephesians 2
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

If you care to notice, there is great similarity in the above 2 verses of scripture. We see salvation is by grace through faith, it is 100% the work of God in us (Phil 1:6) and we cannot boast of those things which God has brought about for us to do because those things are the works of God’s Holy Spirit in us. By ourselves, we would have no desire for God and to know him. We would all be just like the world, who couldn’t care less about God and doing the right thing, unless it served their own vested interest. So, don’t say that it was by your will and you chose to believe in God because that would be like a wolf saying he loves to eat grass. From the fall, all of mankind loves sin and hates the truth about God. So, as I have proved to you from the Bible, Salvation is not by the will of man but by the will of God, who gives us a new heart, from which springs a new will/desire that freely enjoys doing the good will of God.

Psalm 3:8
Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people!

God & His Law Is Love!

1John 4:8
The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

I have come across a lot of these so-called born-again Christians who claim to saved, yet their new found faith seems to have made no change in their lives. They still love their sin, it’s just that now they are happy to know they are going to heaven because of the lip service they have offered God in accepting Jesus into their hearts. Biblically, no one can receive Jesus unless they repent (Mark 1:15) because from the fall every man has received a righteousness of self that is contrary to the righteousness of God (Gen 2:17 & 3:4-7). A fallen man’s heart is an idol factory because his chief end is himself and he has only asked Jesus into heart with the hope of a better life. There is no repentance or conversion of heart in such a man, & the love God represents to such a person is a love which accommodates his sin. It doesn’t strike such a man in the least, the price Jesus paid for sin (Is 53:3-11), because such a man loves his sin more than he loves Jesus Christ.

Rom 6
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? …
14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!

While the hyper-grace antinomian sees lawlessness as grace, the Bible on the other hand refers to lawlessness as sin (1Jn 3:4). Very often I have read bumper stickers which say “My Life – My Rules”, this is nothing but indicative that people in general, who naturally estranged from God, being in Adam… wise in their own eyes (Gen 3:5-6) and a law to themselves (Is 5:21). The natural man therefore pictures God as a love which is hippie fashioned, where you can live as you please… do drugs, fornicate, steal etc. and God will just keep loving you just like the hands of a clock, which keep turning. Yes, the Bible does say that it was while we were still sinners that Jesus died for our sins (Rom 5:8), and yes, Jesus did come to call sinners, not the self-righteous (Luke 5:32/2Cor 7:10), and yes, saving grace is unmerited favour (Eph 2:8-10), it is not earned; but if you claim to know Jesus and without any obedience to show for it (Jn 14:15), then you are only fooling yourself if you think you are saved because though we are not saved by obedience but by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the obedience that makes the saving grace we have received in Jesus evident in our lives (James 2:18).

Gal 5
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Rom 7:22 to 8:2
22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23 but I see a different law in [p]the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [r]the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

It is said that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and this is true in the case of the hyper-grace antinomian who believes that law has to do only with sinners/punishment, and has nothing to do with those who are under grace. We ought to understand that what attributes are true of God are true of His Moral Law because the Law is the very nature and character of God. So, if we look at the above two passages of scripture, we notice that those who are a law to themselves, living in direct opposition to God and His Law (nature & character), these die by the law (Rom 2:12/Prov 8:36), because if we are to live in this world, we are to live by his terms but for those who are a new creation in Christ, these are by nature the doers of the law (Rom 2:13) because this is their new nature in Christ (2 Cor 5:17). The law is written on their hearts (Jer 31:33), and these believers are truly born-again, the image/nature/character of God that was broken in Adam is restored to them in Christ (Rom 5:17).

1Cor 13
4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away.

Now from the above verse we know what Biblically is love. So, let’s go verse by verse to show how this is the very nature of God and His Law. Looking at 1Cor 13:4-5 you will notice it is saying the same thing as Eph 4:32, which teaches us to “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” This is strikingly similar to John 13:34 where Jesus says “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” Still, we know from 1 John 2:7-8 that this is not a new commandment but an old one, because it contextually speaks of not breaking Gods commandment as Cain did, as mentioned in 1 John 3:11-12. So, we see that 1 Cor 13:4 is a teaching that is coming straight out of the Law/commandment of God, which is love in itself because God is love and His Law which is His very nature, is also love. Now coming to 1Cor 13:6, we know from Exo 9:27 & Deut 32:4 that God is righteous and truth, just as we know from Ps 19:9 & Ps 119: 142, 151 that the Law of God is righteous and truth. Hence the definition of love which is in 1Cor 13:6 is describing the very nature of God, which is His Law. Coming to 1Cor 13:7, in the light of Job 4:6 we understand that these things talk about waiting on the Lord, and concerning waiting on the Lord, the Bible says in Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Now take a look at Isaiah 42:4, which says “He will not be disheartened or crushed Until He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.” It’s almost as though Isaiah 42:4 rephrases Isaiah 40:31 but this is because the Law is the very nature of God who is love. Hence the Law is also love. Now, from 1Cor 13:8 we understand that Love is pure, perfect and eternal, which is just as how the Bible describes God in 1Jn 3:3, Deut 32:4 and Gen 21:33 as being pure, perfect and eternal respectively, and this same way, the Bible also describes God’s Law in Ps 19:8, Ps 19:7 & Ps 119:7-8 as being pure perfect and eternal.

Mat 22
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Rom 5:17
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!

To conclude, the only love the world knows, is a love for sin viz. idolatry, fornication, avarice, covetousness, drunkenness and substances abuse. It’s no wonder that the Bible says in Jer 17:9 that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” The love of God on the other hand is not one of lawlessness, but it is the very nature of God, presented to us in His Law. The fallen man from Adam however, hates discipline (Hebrews 12:8) and therefore fails to see God’s Law as love because it doesn’t serve his own wicked interests. Nevertheless, if you were to look at the Ten Commandments from Exo 20:2-17 in the light of Mat 22:36-40, you will see that these are instructions teaching us how we are to love God first with all our strength and second how we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, but this cannot just happen, because this is not within the nature of the fallen man. This is only possible in Jesus Christ (Jn 1:12-13), who paid the wages of our sin in full (Rom 6:23) while imbuing his nature in us through God-the-Holy Spirit (John 14:26).

The Friend You Have In Jesus!

John 15
13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Today, we have such a thing called #BestFriendsForever and the truth is there is no best friend forever but Jesus, because we human beings while we were still in the loins of Adam, we disobeyed God in the garden of Eden. How? In the same way Levites paid Melchizedek their tithes in the loins of Abraham (Heb 7:9-10). So, coming back, the wages of that sin is death, which the God-the-Son bore in our stead, by taking on human flesh in the womb of a virgin, to become that perfect substitutionary sacrifice and save us from our sins. You know, there is this saying “a friend in need is a friend indeed”. The fall of Adam sold us into the bondage of sin & our very nature turned sinful, to the effect that every child born to this day, is born into sin. Nobody needs to teach a child to be disobedient, they naturally disobedient thanks to the fall of human kind in Adam. It’s almost like we are locked up in this prison called Sin & no one is willing or able to bail us out, but then Jesus comes, and He doesn’t just bail us out, but clears us of every charge by take all those charges upon himself, which were all deserving of death because whom we have sinned against, is a holy God. Take a look at what the prophet Isaiah prophesied about Jesus who was to come…

Isaiah 53
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

The above scripture shows you that there is no true friend like Jesus. To proceed, the Bible says that Jesus is the only mediator between God and men (1Timothy 2:5), interceding for God’s elect (Rom 8:34), before God. Not just that, He has been the very medium through which God-the-Father has revealed Himself to humankind from the very beginning (John 1:18). In the Old Testament, He was known as the Angle-of-the-Lord, where He promised to make Ishmael a great nation (Gen 21:18), & He could only do so, because the Angel-of-the-Lord in the only begotten Son of God, who is the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. In the New Testament, we know Him as Jesus, as He took upon Himself human flesh to be that perfect/sinless sacrifice for all sin (Luke 1:35/Mat 1:21). So, it is by faith in Jesus, that we human beings who were spiritually bastardized by Satan unto death in the fall (Rom 5:17), are adopted into the family of God unto eternal life through our Lord/King & Saviour Jesus Christ (John 1:12-13).

1Peter 2
6 For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” 8 and,“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

On expounding the above scripture, I would first like to say that though the prophet of Islam’s Allah: Mohammed, who often tries to duplicate Biblical Christianity is claiming to be sent by God. This Mohammed tried to replicate the citation of this corner stone as being the Kaaba, when Biblically this is actually, the Son of God: Jesus Christ (Eph 2:19:20), upon whom the believer builds his life and is not disappointed (Mat 7:24-27). This Rock is not the Apostle Peter either, whom Roman Catholics claim was the first Pope so as to bring the Church under the Pope. The Church is not under the Pope but under Christ, & the scripture (Mat 15:16-18) which Roman Catholicism misinterprets to support its Papacy [since they claim Peter was the 1st Pope], actually refers to the rock like foundation of the apostles have laid (Eph 2:20), in building the Church (body of believers), as established through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Ezek 36
27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 28 You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. 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.

A beautiful aspect about friendship is how you rub off on each other, and how the happiness of the other becomes your own. So, when you are brought to desire what God righteously desires, you are filled with more joy than you could ever hold because which fool can stop God from getting what He wants. In knowing Jesus as a friend, it so happens that we don’t have anything to offer Him but our sin, which He willing took upon Himself at the appointed time (Rom 5:6), and what He offers us instead is a new spirit, a heart of flesh, in exchanged for our hearts of stone, which He bore almost as though we stoned Him with our sin filled stone hearts, by which He suffered death on the cross for our sins. So, while Jesus bore the chastisement for our sins, He offers us a new Spirit, a spirit of righteousness, a spirit of obedience unto God, where we delight in the righteousness of God & His Law, instead of our sin. This is what is theologically referred to as the double atonement, where on one hand Jesus pays the penalty for all our sins, and on the other hand, He shares His own righteous nature with us through God-the-Holy-Spirit. Where can you find such a friend, but in Jesus!

Mat 11
28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

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.

So, if you are genuinely looking for friends in “high places”, and I mean genuinely looking, then look no further because Jesus is all you need and when you have a friend in Jesus, then you will also find a friend in fellow believers, who although not as perfect as Jesus, delight in the Law of God and fear the Lord (Ps 119:74, 79) unto receiving wisdom and understanding (Ps 111:10) to love the Lord with all their strength and second their neighbour just as they love themselves (Mat 22:36-40).

Happy Friendship Day!

The Christian Triune God!

I have always felt my calling lies in feeding Jesus’ flock (John 21:17). I have no seminary degree but I have studied my Bible from cover-to-cover, studied the Westminster Larger Catechism, read a few Reformed authors, spent a lot time in reformed circles/discussions, & the fear of the Lord governs my life. I love feeding his flock with spiritual meat but once in a while I feel the strong urge to feed malnourished and stunted believers some spiritual milk… this is one of those times where I feel the urge to exposit on God’s Triune identity.

Gen 1:26 (Old Testament)
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Col 1 (New Testament)
13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Rom 8:29 (New Testament)
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

Gen 1:26 sites the creation account of man, stating that God created man in His image, an image which was broken in the fall of Adam because in the fall when Adam ate the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, in doing so he (Adam) forsook the nature of God and God’s Law to become a law to himself and serve himself chiefly in all things. So today, while God teaches us not to steal, commit adultery, murder, covet, steal and put God before all things even ourselves… what we do is murder and support murder through abortion, so we could continue with our lifestyle of fornication… then we steal through piracy… we are also covetous by nature which is evident through the friendships we maintain because we don’t want to hang out with nobodies, we want to hang out with people who have something we are running after… & we do all this by denying abortion is murder, denying piracy is stealing, denying our self-centered friendships is covetousness… but how is this possible? It is possible through that misplaced knowledge of right and wrong which Adam received to himself in forsaking God’s Law, & so today man is as Satan tempted him to see himself… as a god to himself (Gen 3:5), because it is in being a law to himself that man commits the most heinous of atrocities in serving himself as the chief end of his being. So as God serves Himself through righteousness because the truth is the Triune God Almighty is God, man on the other hand serves himself through deceit and wickedness because there is no truth in the law (knowledge of right & wrong) he lives by, estranged from God in the fall of his great forefather Adam. Another destructive outcome of this law which man received in the fall of Adam is unbelief, since fallen-man doesn’t believe that his best interest lies in putting God first, even before himself that is. Why?… because the Triune God Almighty is God & man is not God.

Rom 5:17
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Mat 28
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

John 14:26 (Jesus is Speaking)
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

You might wonder why am taking you through all this to explain God’s Triune identity. Well, the Bible clearly sites the role of Father, Son & Holy Spirit, and a person cannot be saved if he/she denies the Three Persons of the Trinity, who are the One Godhead. The Bible says that in God’s salvation involved sending His Son to take on Human flesh in the womb of virgin Mary because He being God could not be stained by human procreation through which the nature of fallen Adam is passed down to all of Adam’s posterity. So, in this manner Jesus was both fully human and fully God. The Bible says that none but God is perfect in God’s sight, so if you go by the sacrificial requirement, you understand that the animal had to be without blemish (fault), & this was so simply because they were a shadow of Christ who was to come (Heb 10:1)… the lamb of God who was perfect in God’s sight (1Pet 2:22) because Jesus was God Himself, and One with the Father (John 10:30). This spotless lamb of God bore our sin though He was sinless Himself and God the Father crushed Him under the weight of our sins because the wages of sin is eternal death and as much as God is perfect Love, His Justice is perfect as well… His justice demanded the wages of sin be paid but His love provided us His own Son to be that substitutionary atonement for our sins. Yet, I feel what must hurt Jesus most were not the stripes He bores for our sin but the broken communion in those moments in which God-the-Father forsook God-the-Son on the cross as He poured out the full force of His wrath which Jesus endured because it was His Father will (Luke 22:42) to bear His strong right arm Jesus and save His people from their sins (Ps 44:3 & 98:1).

John 10 (Jesus is speaking)
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are One.”

Now look closely at Mat 28:20 & John 14:26… the Holy Spirit is a person, which you can tell because the Holy Spirit is referred to as a He. Also notice that Jesus says in John 14:26 that He is leaving us with the Holy Spirit who will bring to mind everything He has taught us… and then when you look at Mat 28:20 Jesus says He will be with us to the end of the age… by which He (Jesus) is implicitly saying that He and the Holy Spirit are One just like He said that He and the Father are One in John 10:30. Hence proved the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity are One Godhead.

Dedicated to my friend Daniel Friedemann, who is struggling with Unitarianism.