Believe Right!

Believers, by God's grace, watch what your pastor is feeding you. Is it "works of the law" or the "hearing of faith?" We know that- We cannot please God without faith:  "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 Faith comes by hearing (faith is not something you "muster up"):  "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." "Romans 10:17 God supplies His Spirit to us and works miracles among us by the hearing of faith: "Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—" Galatians 3:5 But what is this "hearing of faith?" It is definitely not the Law, (including the Ten Commandments.) This we know because: The Law is not of faith: "Yet t...

Believers, we don't need the Holy Spirit to teach us that we will be punished for our wrongdoings and rewarded for doing good. Every religion teaches this. This is not of faith. This is not Christianity. This is the Law. And the Law is not of faith - Gal. 3;12. And without faith, it is impossible to please God. The Letter (the Law) kills but the Spirit gives life. The Spirit teaches us that we get the good that we do not by any means deserve (Grace!) because Another, our Lord Jesus, took our place. He did no sin. In Him was no sin. He knew no sin. Yet He was made to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor. 5:21 But God's Grace is not a license to sin. It is the Way out of a sinful lifestyle. Given the right circumstances, we find ourselves doing what we swore that we would never do, like Peter. I'm sure Peter did not go out with the sole purpose of denying Jesus. He was absolutely sure that he would not. Like Peter at that time, pe...

Before his conversion, Saul was very zealous for God, upholding the Law and ensuring that anyone who believed that Jesus Christ has fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law in all who believe landed in jail. Like his fellow Pharisees, his righteousness depended on his ability to keep the Law. His life and his ministry was all about "Thou shall not" and "Thou shall"... or else judgment, as it is with many who profess to believe in our Saviour Jesus today! Believers, don't be deceived! If you think that it is your various fasts, trips to some mountain, church donations and vigils and almost-strict observance of the Ten Commandments that makes God pleased with you or bless you, you are worse off than pre-conversion Paul and his fellow Pharisees whom Christ referred to as a "brood of vipers." What such people get in return for their self-righteousness is being cut off from Christ, according to Galatians 5:4 "For if you are trying to make ...

Believers, many of us are familiar with Psalm 23:6 - Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. The word "follow" in the first line does not do justice to "radaph," the Hebrew word that it was translated from. Radaph means “to pursue, to set off after someone in order to catch him.” The word is frequently used to describe the action of chasing down one's enemies or being chased down by them. Like an enemy in hot pursuit! Relentlessly. This is how our Lord Jesus Christ’s goodness and mercy chase after us! So next time you read this Psalm, next time you feel so "bleh" or just don't know what to do, think of the goodness and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ actively hunting you down, pursuing you relentlessly through every facet of your life, even as you unwittingly and actively try to flee or dodge away! He will catch you and when He does, He will bless you; ...

Believers, what do Paul’s words “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,…” in Romans 1:16 mean to you? What really is the gospel of Christ and why could it have made Paul or anyone else for that matter feel ashamed? Let's see why! Paul was a chief persecutor of Christians before his first encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees, living by the Law of Moses which is summed up in the words “do good, get good; do bad, get bad.” Under the law, when you disobey, you get the punishment that you deserve. God will only bless you when you keep His commandments. To receive from God, you have to “play your part.” You have to love God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself, or else judgment will follow. Under the Law, if there is sin in your life, you can’t come into His presence. Those who measure their righteousness by their efforts at keeping the Ten Commandments and good deeds are subject to all the curses of Deuteronomy 28 beca...

Believers, have you been in a position where a preacher puts you on edge with "time-bound" donations, makes you feel like you lost something because you missed a "special anointing service" or asks you to "sow a seed now" so that God can owe you a job or a house? Such preachers usually say things like "There's a special window open for anyone who gives or pledges such and such amount of money right now. Now. Right now. The window is about to close now so hurry. You don't want to miss God's goodness and mercy at this special time. Going, going, gone!" Please run away from such! This is like a parent letting her child spend the night in school and without care because she was not in the place where they did or didn't agree for the child to be picked up! If she cannot find her child, she will ransack the whole school in search of her until she finds her to take her home. Her priority is her child's well-being and happine...

Believers, the Lord says to you "Fear not." It's not up to you to save yourself from sin and eternal damnation; our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is the one who does it all. This is the reason for His coming: to save us. He says to you who believe in Him "Without me, you can do nothing." In Revelation 21:7-8, He says "He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” But who is he who overcomes? 1 John 5:5 "Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" Believers, we cannot overcome by our own strength or our ability to keep the Law in order to avoid God's wrath. Doing this has the opposite effect of cutting one off from Christ, according to Galat...

Believers, have you ever wondered how the prophecy of Zechariah to Jeshua and Zerubbabel and the Jews' resumption and completion of the building of the Temple of God after years of inactivity applies to you in Christ today? The account shows us how, before the devil can make any inroads into your life, he has to accuse you and get you to accept condemnation first! And everyone stands condemned without God's gift of righteousness in Christ. The story is recorded in the Book of Ezra (please read this fantastic account!) but let's do quick a recap: Cyrus, the king of Persia was led by God to send the Jews back to Jerusalem in Judah to rebuild the Temple of God after 70 years of captivity in Babylon, in fulfillment of the word of the Lord by Jeremiah. Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah and Jeshua, the high priest, along with the Jews that returned from the captivity got to work and the workers they appointed laid the foundation of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. The...

Believers, by God's grace, watch what your pastor is feeding you. Is it "works of the law" or the "hearing of faith?" We know that- We cannot please God without faith: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 Faith comes by hearing (faith is not something you "muster up"): "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." "Romans 10:17 God supplies His Spirit to us and works miracles among us by the hearing of faith: "Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—" Galatians 3:5 But what is this "hearing of faith?" It is definitely not the Law, (including the Ten Commandments.) This we know because: The Law is not of faith: Yet the law is...

In trying to be righteous before God by their own efforts at keeping the Law, many Christians, having only good intentions, have been cut off from Christ. 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." This makes many believers in the world today no different from the Pharisees of old, separated from Christ, believing that unless they give, they cannot get anything from our heavenly Father who gives us ALL things FREELY with Christ (Romans 8:32,) full of religious works and keeping the Law (whose deeds cannot make any righteous) in order to be holy, yet not saved. The Pharisees even had it better than these beloved of God because they had their blood sacrifices to make yearly atonement for their sins and many other sacrifices and cleansings. The Lord will not share His glory with anyone. He saves to the uttermost. He came to make us righteous, t...