What are you hearing in your local church; life or death? Pretty long.

Believers, most times when we think of areas of "Satan at work," we imagine red-light districts, war, poverty, child-molestation, fornication and adultery, idol worship/juju, the kind of demonic oppression that gets people rolling on the floor and foaming at the mouth; acts of sin in general.

While the kingdom of darkness works hard at keeping the world that God so loved locked down in such captivity, these overt manifestations are usually the work of minions or lesser devils. Satan himself and "spiritual wickedness in high places" have a more refined approach to their work of stealing, killing and destroying. You find their works in places of worship where obedience to God's law is upheld as the means of attaining godliness/righteousness (and thus enjoying God's blessing) instead of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by whose obedience we are made righteous (Romans 5:19;) those places where it is preached that your salvation depends entirely or partly on what YOU must do and not what CHRIST has done. Paul spoke of such ministers in 2 Corinthians 11:15-

"And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."

These Satan's "ministers of righteousness" that are in the 'spiritual wickedness in high places' category are not the kind that make people eat grass or have ridiculous sign posts like "How to Identify a Witch: Operation Point and Kill." They don't show off their new Range Rovers and private jets on social media as their overfleeced-flock live in abject poverty, openly ask you to pay N1,000 for "special anointing" or commit adultery and stuff; these grass-eating, private jet-flaunting ones are minions who are just there to make the world think that Christians are foolish and gullible. They're there to make the world able to make fun of Christians.

The "spiritual wickedness in high places" ministers are pastoring churches and preaching their brand of righteousness straight from the pulpit. They sound and act extremely moral and righteous, preach strongly against sin and always act like they just finished having lunch with God. People respect them a lot. They preach a lot about righteousness and living a godly life and seem spotless, BUT herein lies what exposes them as agents of Satan (some unwittingly:) their own method of attaining righteousness in the sight of God is never through what CHRIST has done to make us righteous but on what WE must do by ourselves; we who can do nothing without Christ.

They preach righteousness according to works (of the law) and not righteousness by faith that is freely given as a gift to all who believe in Jesus Christ and is by the obedience of Christ, as it is written in Romans 5:19-

“By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."

Also see 2 Corinthians 5:21- "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Also see Romans 3: "26...and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

Remember Paul's words in Philippians 3:9 "and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith."

Also Romans 6:14 says "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under Law but under Grace." Try to keep the law and you will continue to wallow in sin.

But these ministers of Satan preach this verse in reverse. They deceive many into thinking that a person can be made right with God (and thus enjoy His blessings) by their own effort at keeping the law, a teaching that is in stark contrast to Romans 3:20 which says: "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."

These false teachers are the ones who say: "Yes you are saved by Grace but you still have to do your best to obey the law or else you are not really saved..." An issue that the early church settled in Acts 15 which states plainly that believers are not required to keep the law of Moses. As if we could! In Christ, the thoughts of the Holy Spirit become our action so we don't want to sin.

But these ones act like everyone (except themselves) wants to wallow in sins. They try to introduce the Law of Moses to the gospel which is Grace and ONLY Grace, and are calling this "neither cold nor hot" horrid mixture of part-Law and part-Grace "a balanced message."

Grace is a Person and His name is Jesus Christ. He does not need anybody to "balance" Him. Believer, Believe Right. See Paul's typology of Sarah and Hagar as the two covenants of Law and Grace in Galatians 4. Sarah (Grace) did not need Hagar (Law) to raise Isaac (the church.) Grace is enough.

God's grace is not a license to sin. It is the Way to right living. Once a person has the Lord Jesus Christ as his righteousness, RIGHT LIVING WILL FOLLOW. "All these things will be added unto you." See Romans 5:17:

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

Also see Matthew 1:21- "She will give birth to a Son, and you shall name Him Jesus (The Lord is salvation), for He will save His people from their sins.”

But these "ministers of righteousness" put the cart before the horse, saying "stop sinning and obey the law first, then Christ will save you." If we could stop sinning and obey the law in order to be godly, then Christ died a needless death! See Galatians 2:21-

"I do not get rid of the grace of God. What if a person could become right with God by obeying the law? Then Christ died for nothing!"

The weapon of these false teachers is accusations, like their father Satan the accuser. They point out and accuse people of particular sins, usually things relating to dressing/hairstyle, tithing, club-hopping and "comedians in the church" and make you believe that your salvation or godliness (being like God) depends on how good you are and your ability to obey the law. They never tell you that without Christ who came to "save His people from their sins" as the SOLE source of a person's righteousness, in the sight of God, the "good and holy" person who only lied about his location on the phone for a good reason is in the same boat of unrighteousness as the child-molesting serial killer. James 2:10 says:

"10 For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws."

In essence, they preach after the pattern of their master Satan who deceived Eve into believing that she would "be like God" (be godly) by her own effort, if she ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This tree is a picture of the law which gives the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. See the forbidden fruit as a picture of the law that many are trying to obey in order to be godly in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG)-

"The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me..."

Satan is still seducing people through his ministers behind pulpits today by deceiving many into thinking that they can be godly by human effort at keeping the law, afterall, what is bad in trying to obey the law in order to be godly? It seemed good to Eve, as it seems good to many who profess Christ today. But the end is death. See Proverbs 14:12-

"There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death."

Trying to obey the law in order to be godly seems good to man but this way of attaining godliness is not of Christ. All who try are under the curse: See Galatians 3:10-

"Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the scripture says, “Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God's curse!”"

It is impossible to obey all of the law: "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3:20. Plus we can't say "I will do my best to obey the law and God will see that I have really tried and consider me..." This is the horrid mixture of part-Law and part-Grace that Christ refers to as "neither cold nor hot" in Revelation 3.

To think that one can obey the law even a tiny bit is PRIDE. Such think they have some good in them, contradicting Christ's "There is none good but God." Believer, the reason why we are not committing particular sins is because we have not been tempted beyond what we can bear in those areas. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some people think that they can obey the law and some sins are beneath them. Peter too boasted in this manner but he sang a different tune when his situation changed.

The one who is trying to obey the law in order to be godly rejects God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ. One is either righteous by the law (impossible) or righteous by faith in Christ. One is either "saved by Grace through faith" or not saved at all. The law is not of faith. The one who is trying to obey the law in order to be godly is faithless, and without faith, it is impossible to please God.

The letter kills. We can do nothing without Christ, least of all be godly, but these ones deny God's power in making the sinner who believes righteous through Christ.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was desirable to Eve as it is desirable to many who profess Christ today; and it is still killing those that eat from it, those who live by the law; those who try to be godly (attain to righteousness) by their own effort: "for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." And salvation by the Spirit of the Lord is "not by might, not by power." The good that one does under law kills just as fast as the evil.

Galatians 5:4 says "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."

But these false doctrine preachers actively preach righteousness before God through keeping the Ten Commandments. See how Satan kills! Isaiah describes this self-righteousness of those who are trying to be righteous by obeying the law as "filthy rags" (menstrual rags in the original Hebrew translation) in Isaiah 64:6.

"We are all infected and impure with sin.

When we display our righteous deeds,

they are nothing but filthy rags."

Romans 5:19 says: "By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous."

Adam's disobedience infected everyone with the old/sinful nature which, when activated by the law, causes sin to proliferate. See this Romans 7:5-

"When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death."

Christ has rid all who believe, having Him as our righteousness, of this "sin infection." See Colossians 2:11-

"When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. 12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead."

Understand the essence of God raising Christ from the dead. See this in Romans 4:25- "Who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous."

The TPT puts it this way: "Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!"

Christ's resurrection is the divine evidence that we have been made righteous/godly forever and apart from works or obeying the law. To try to obey the law in order to be godly is to deny Christ's resurrection.

Believers, beware of false teaching. It leads to death. Remember what Titus 2:14 says of our Saviour Jesus Christ:

"who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."

See the The Living Bible version: "He died under God’s judgment against our sins so that He could rescue us from constant falling into sin and make us His very own people, with cleansed hearts and real enthusiasm for doing kind things for others."

This shows us that people who are living in sin are in captivity and a price (death) needs to be paid for them to be free; a price that Christ paid with His blood (the wages of sin is death) and is free for all who believe.

But these ministers of Satan preach that one can redeem oneself from the lawless deeds that hold one captive by sheer self-will and determination at doing. Right there on the pulpit, they shoot the only weapon of Satan the Accuser: accusations aka "every tongue that rises against you in judgment." Such ministers throw fiery darts of accusations like: "you call yourself a child of God yet you are still stealing/You don't love your neighbour as yourself/Abraham was going to sacrifice his son but you can't even give so and so!" But they never point you to the one of whom it is said in Matthew 1:21-

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

These false teachers tell you to double your efforts at obeying the law so that you can be godly. This is as USELESS as putting plaster on a festering sore that is as a result of cancer. See Romans 8:4 (MSG)-

"The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us."

Believers, these are things that Christ came to save us from! 2 Corinthians 3:18 says: "But we all, seeing the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord."

These false teachers tell you to depend on the arm of flesh that will fail to transform yourself but reject the power of the Spirit of the Lord to transform the sinner who believes to live right.

They ask: "how can God bless you when you are still doing such and such?" But they never point you to the only One, Jesus Christ, who can get you out of that prison of sin. They point you to yourself who can do nothing without Christ! They try to make you your own sacrificial lamb, but the lamb used for sacrifice for sins has to die. The letter kills. The law kills all those who are trying to get right with God through law-keeping.

They point out and highlight sins when in Christ, under the New Covenant, our Lord God remembers our sins no more (Hebrews 8.) Romans 8:1 tells us there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus but under their false teaching, people are made to feel condemned because their accusations are true, and after condemnation comes judgment in the form of death preceded by its symptoms (the curse.) A death that Christ already died for the world! They are saying that Jesus who died to save us from sin will not save you from your sins unless you by yourself stop sinning!

Believers, believe right. According to Titus 2, Christ gave Himself to redeem us from EVERY lawless deed (acts of sin.) How could our Saviour use the very sins that He came to redeem us from as an excuse for not saving us? Why would you need a Saviour if you can stop sinning and attain perfection by the law all by yourself? It is Christ's "Neither do I condemn you" that makes us "go and sin no more."

Such ministers attempt to reduce the finished work of Christ to a footnote in their preaching. Our Saviour's name is mentioned in the "in Jesus name" at the end of each prayer point but according to them, the "real work" is in the various fasts undertaken, laws obeyed, various vigils, tithes paid, neglect of the body and seeds sown in order to receive from God. This is a gross misrepresentation of our loving Abba Father who gives us all things freely with Christ! Romans 8:32 says:

"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

But with such ministers, receiving from God, attaining right-standing with Him and enjoying His blessings depends on your ability to keep the law and "do good deeds" and not what Christ has done. According to them, being free from generational and other curses depends on you, a Christian, attending their "deliverance services" while clutching childhood pictures that they often ask you to bring along, an action that is in stark contrast to Galatians 3:13-

"Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”, 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."

Believers, don't be deceived. Believe right. In Christ, God is our Abba Father. Would you really withhold care and protection from your own child because he disobeyed you? Would you let your neighbour's dog bite him to death because you've warned him to stay indoors several times? No! You will correct, discipline and train your child in the way he should go and keep him from harm! How much more our Father in heaven who so loved the world that He gave His own Son to die for us!

In Christ, we are God's own little children! He hates sin because it is a cancer that destroys man that He so loved, so gave His own Son to pay the wages of our sin and save us from them. In Christ, we have His gift righteousness. With this gift of righteousness comes no condemnation. It is Christ's "Neither do I condemn you" that makes us "go and sin no more."

Let's take our blessed to church. Why would God's law condemn a person that has not sinned? This gift of "no condemnation" is for those who are guilty, condemned and like the woman caught in adultery, should face punishment in the court of the Law of Moses. All have sinned so all who are under law stand condemned. But in Christ, we are not under law but under Grace. In Him, we can expect the same salvation from sins and judgment as the woman caught in adultery- no terms and conditions like "go and fast, sow seed, pay tithe and obey the Ten Commandments before you can receive" apply.

A good fake product is one that most closely resembles the original. By God's grace, beware of these preachers of righteousness by works of the law. They seem to be godly, religious and sqeaky clean. Their preaching focuses on doing the seemingly "good" thing of obeying the law in order to be godly- same strategy that Satan used on Eve. But Proverbs 14:12 warns us about their way:

"There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death."

Many of us are aware that some pastors dish out this horrid mixture of part-Law and part-Grace but still hear them because we feel that we can get nourishment from the Grace part and want to comply with Hebrews 10:25-

"not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

This is akin to eating a mixture of fresh bread and concentrated acid and expecting that your body will only make use of the bread! Some kids get their lunch from school everyday. If you knew that the cooks put just a tiny bit of death-inducing chemical in their food everyday, what would you do? Law and Grace don't mix. The assembly of the body of Christ is where the gospel of Christ- pure Grace with no part-Law admixture- is being preached. The letter kills, like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Spirit gives life and with the Spirit of the Lord, it is neither by might nor power. Grace is undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Try to obey the law in order to be godly and sin will have dominion,

"For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14.

Many preachers of a false doctrine know this and so keep the flock focused on doing the impossible task of righting their sins and shortcomings by trying to obey the law so sin can have dominion.

Believer, believe right. Only in Christ do we get to live in triumph over sin and death (sickness, lack, etc are all "death begun"). See Romans 5:17-

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

Only believe and you will Live Right. Human effort at obeying the law and suppressing sinful urges can only take one so far. The arm of flesh will fail and when it does, those sinful urges will explode into a volcanic eruption of sinful deeds that lead to death. Salvation, even salvation from sins, is not behaviour modification or obeying the law in order to be godly as many false teachers preach. Salvation in Christ is all about hearts' transformation by the Spirit of the Lord.

Why don't you ask the Lord our Shepherd to lead you on the path of righteousness and make you lie down in green pastures where you get to feed on life today? He loves us so. He hears and answers His sheep when we call. Always.

Very happy to recommend Joseph Prince's teachings to everyone, but NEVER depend on yourself or on what pastor said. By grace, depend on what God's Word says. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.