Freely you have received, freely give."

Believers, believe right. Let's not be found believing that our strength and power to receive from God is in some 70 days' fast done to receive power to fight the enemy that Christ has already disarmed and made a public spectacle of for us (Colossians 2:15) or our abstinence from food in order to be closer to God who gives us all things freely with Christ (Romans 8:32). See our Saviour's words in Matthew 10:8-

"Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give."

But some want you to believe that receiving and giving in Christ is not "freely." These same people condemn sinners from the pulpit without pointing sinners to Christ as the one who saves from your sins as it is written 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.”

Such false teachers put fear in your heart and make you feel that YOU (not Christ in you) have to fight your battles by doing certain things like keeping the law, fasting and sowing seed so that God can bless you or by bringing your photos and "sand from your office" for "deliverance" in order to be free from lack, oppression, judgment or even earn your way to heaven.

But look at the story of the salvation of all who came to Jesus in the gospels - Zacchaeus the thieving tax collector, the woman caught in adultery, the Canaanite woman with the demon-possessed child, Peter who denied our Saviour three times, everyone that Christ saved - none of them had to go and keep the law or fast first or do anything at all before receiving from Him, even the woman caught in adultery who deserved to die according to the law and was at the point of death was saved without terms and conditions! FREELY. Even Christ's parables- The Lost Son aka The Prodigal Son, The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin- all tell of our Lord God's underserved, unearned, unmerited favour (Grace.)

The woman with the issue of blood had to abandon all the works of the law that she had been doing in order to be healed or else she would never have touched our Saviour Jesus. She would have been stoned to death had a vigilant Pharisee sighted her as she mingled with the crowd in her unclean state. The law forbade her action. Jesus called her action faith. The law is not of faith. Trying to obey the law in order to get right with God makes one unable to touch Christ; it cuts one off from Christ. See Galatians 5:4 -

"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."

Try to obey the law in order to get right with God and get cut off from Christ.

Jesus never asked anyone whether they had been paying their tithes, sinned, disagreed with their spouse or obeyed the Ten Commandments before He showed them His salvation. This salvation includes salvation from sins as it is written:

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

But many believe that you just love to wallow in sin and tell you that you are to save yourself from those sins and addictions that you are trying so hard to give up in order for Christ to look your way.

Christ saves from sins. How can our Saviour who came to save us from our sins use those very sins that He came to save us from as an excuse for not saving us? This is akin to a loving oncologist father refusing to treat his beloved child who has cancer....because the child has cancer. Let's take our blessed brains to church.

Jesus Christ "the same yesterday, today and forever" did not come to condemn the world; He came to save the world (John 3:17) and without ANY terms and conditions like fasting or whatever before you can receive from Him. Only believe (John 3:16.) See His utterly gracious attitude towards the despised tax collectors and sinners in gospels. He healed, delivered and saved all who came to Him without first asking whether they had sinned or if they had obeyed the Ten Commandments and fasted. Only believe. The battle is the Lord's.

By all means fast if you want, but not to accomplish a work that Christ pronounced "Finished" when He hung on the cross for you and I and definitely not to get God to bless you. See Romans 8:32-

"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?"

Our Abba Father gives us ALL things FREELY with Christ and not because we fasted or "played our part." Without Christ, we can do nothing. Imagine a child skipping breakfast to get his mom who would do anything for him to buy him something that he really needs. If he needs to skip meals for whatever reason, his mother will arrange it. With Christ, we don't GIVE to GET; we GET to GIVE.

By Grace, watch what you are hearing in your local church. Is Christ at the centre? Is the message about what YOU must do in order to get right with God or what CHRIST has done? Are you being rightly taught that we are made righteous by Christ's obedience (Romans 5:19) and not our own obedience? Is Christ rightly portrayed as the One who FREELY heals and saves all who come to Him from sins (Matt. 1:21,) condemnation (Romans 8:1) and judgment (Romans 5:9) or is God portrayed as a hard Taskmaster Who will tell you to first save yourself from your sins and then go and fast or else He will let the devil have a go at you, a believer in Christ?

The spirit of the antichrist is not anti-God. Its hosts preach stongly against sin and are very particular about the need to be godly (be like God.) But just as Satan deceived Eve into believing that she could be godly (be like God) by human effort, this spirit seeks to remove or replace the finished work of Christ in making the sinner who believes godly/righteous in God's sight with human effort at being godly. The love of God and sacrifice of Christ to make the sinner who believes righteous in God's sight is seldom revealed in their sermons - but this is our salvation and the crux of the gospel! Rather, the power of the devil to catch you because of your inability to be godly by yourself is magnified!

Believers, let's not remain under the only weapon that the enemy can use against us and which Christ has disarmed him of - the Law. See Colossians 2:15. You can never do enough! You will still fall short of God's glory if you do as these people say. There will always be something for you to keep doing or bringing - your son's picture today, sand from your office tomorrow, mor laws to keep, relocating from your apartment because it is haunted, endless deliverance services when all you need to do to be saved once and for all is to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! Free indeed. He will help you!

Our works can never justify us in God's sight (Romans 3:20.) He gave up His Son to make us righteous. In Christ, we get to start from the finish line. We don't work our way up to perfection. We are complete in Him. His Spirit transforms us to the image of His glory, from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18.)

Believer, all have sinned. Stand before God as one who has even just a tiny bit of righteousness from obeying the law and He will be to you the Righteous Judge that will by no means clear the guilty, and the wages of sin is death. But stand before Him as a sinner through and through and without an iota of righteousness of your own but leaning wholly on Christ for your righteousness and He will be your Justifier. See Romans 4:5-

"But to the one who does not work [that is, the one who does not try to earn his salvation by doing good], but believes and completely trusts in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (right standing with God)."

God the Righteous justifies the ungodly who believe and completely trust in Him. Let's not follow after the example of Eve who thought she could be godly (be like God) by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (a picture of the law.) Just like the tree, the letter kills.

Believer, Jesus Christ "The Lord our Righteousness" is the Tree of Life. See how our heavenly Father in Christ sees all who believe in Him in Romans 5:9-

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

With Christ as as our righteousness, God sees us as righteous, "even though we are guilty of many sins." See this in Romans 5:16 below. THIS IS GOD'S WRITTEN WORD. And God does not think that it will make believers go on sinning sprees as false doctrine preachers say of His Grace. In Christ, we who believe never remain the same - we get to live in triumph over sin and death through our Lord and our God Jesus Christ: Romans 5:16-17:

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 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."

Right believing always produces right living.