Believe Right!

I used to wonder about this. Here's an illustration: I’ve lived in Lagos, Nigeria for most of my life. I've never stepped foot in my father's hometown, somewhere in Ondo State. The local dialect is mostly Greek to me. I have no idea what issues the people there are dealing with. I’m closer to my mom’s side of the family. She's Yoruba like my dad was, but almost in name only; very heavy Bini influence. Just imagine how useless I would be as the chairman of the local government/senator representing the district in which my father’s village is situated. I don't even understand the local dialect. I'd be telling my advisers to  “let them eat cake”  very often because I'm likely to judge them and their needs based on my own personal experiences. The high priest stood as a representative of the people to God, making atonement on their behalf. Moses grew up in the palace of Pharaoh, probably not fully aware of the travails of the Israelites in captivity and...

Short answer: Remember Joseph's words in Genesis 39:9 when when Potiphar's wife wanted a piece of him and he resisted:  “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” “The wicked people” anywhere are people who have sinned, be it by doing great wickedness or minimal wickedness. Sin does have degrees of greatness. In John 19:11, Christ said to Pilate  "...Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” God's word says  “all have sinned…”  so by default, no one on earth   is excluded from the dragnet of  “the wicked.”  It encompasses all who have sinned and that's everyone. We were all destined for hell. Because God loved us so,  “…He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  2 Corinthians 5:21. All who have Christ as their righteousness get to escape being counted among the wicked and not because we did anything to deserve it .  This is grace-...

Believers, did you know that Peter who denied Jesus three times and with swearing and cursing was the first of the eleven remaining disciples (Mary was the first person) that Christ appeared to after His resurrection? See 1 Corinthians 4-5: "That He was buried, that He arose on the third day as the Scriptures foretold, 5 And [also] that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the Twelve." According to human wisdom. Peter should have been visited last or not at all because of his actions, but he was the first of the disciples that Christ appeared to. So what can we take away from this? Where sin abounds, grace super-abounds! Romans 5:20 says: "The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,"  Boasting in one's ability to do the right thing by human effort will lead to an increase in transgression according to Romans 5 above. Peter's fear and three-time denial of Christ stemmed from h...

Believers, see Christ's words in Mark 16: "17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in My Name, and they will speak in new languages.18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.” This promise is for "those who believe" but many of us believers can hardly say that we experience these signs that differentiate believers from non-believers. We even believe that the signs are for deliverance ministers and the clergy in general; not so, beloved of God. Jesus was talking about you and I who believe! So why aren't these signs evident in the lives of many in the church today? We see the reason in the preceding verses of the same chapter (14-16:) 14 "Still later He appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief becaus...

Believers, honour your pastor/priest/leaders (the bible says to do so in 1 Timothy 5:17) but know Whose and who you are in Christ. Trying to obey the law to get right with God makes it look like those who seem to be more adept at doing so are closer to God than you are, so you need to go to God through them. Not so. 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." Also see Galatians 3:10- "But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under His curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.”" And no one can observe and obey all. God's grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) is the righteous foundation on which God hears, saves and blesses His children. Human effort at obedience in order to get from God IS ...

Believers, remember those two disciples (Cleopas and his companion) on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24? They were sad because they felt all hope was lost since Jesus had been crucified, was dead and His body was not in the tomb. They did not recognize our Lord Jesus on the way. Here's what our Saviour did on the way: "27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures." There was no New Testament at this time so Christ taught them about Himself from the Law and the Prophets. After Christ was revealed to them in the breaking of bread, "32 They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” Believers, the Law and the Prophets (Old Testament) is filled with faith pictures that fire up our hearts with our Saviour's love for us. See our Salvation (Jesus Christ) brought out of the s...

Believers, Adam and Eve ate of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" and they died. In Deut. 1 is the story of the Israelites when they refused to enter the promised land (which is a shadow and type of our rest in Christ today) because of the giants, etc in the land. They trusted in their knowledge/ability and not in God's goodness. So God told them that only their little ones who have no "knowledge of good and evil" shall possess the land (v. 39). The unbelieving generation of Israelites wandered and died in the wilderness. Only their little ones made it, and not by their own power too. Remember Jesus' words in Matt 18:3 “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." So what is this "knowledge of good and evil" and how does one feed on it today? It is the law that so many people are trying to obey in order to be godly (be like God)! It is relyi...

Believers, consider Luke 18:9-14: "Jesus taught this parable to those who were convinced they were morally upright and those who trusted in their own virtue yet looked down on others with disgust: 10 “Once there were two men who went into the temple to pray. One was a proud religious leader, the other a despised tax collector. 11-12 The religious leader stood apart from the others and prayed, ‘How I thank you, O God, that I’m not wicked like everyone else. They’re cheaters, swindlers, and crooks—like that tax collector over there. God, you know that I never cheat or commit adultery; I fast from food twice a week and I give you a tenth of all I make.’ 13 “The tax collector stood off alone in the corner, away from the Holy Place, and covered his face in his hands, feeling that he was unworthy to even look up to God. Beating his breast, he sobbed with brokenness and tears saying, ‘God, please, in your mercy and because of the blood sacrifice, forgive me, for I am nothing...

On our wedding day, I covered my shoulders with a bolero worn over my wedding dress during the 'church part' of the ceremony because the church had their rules about what not to wear: no train on dress, etc. I didn't want to wear a bolero. I got away with having a train on my dress, though. But as soon as we got to the reception venue, I ditched the bolero:) We are often concerned about the moral issues of the day; what is right and what is wrong. But one thing is for sure - legislation can (sometimes) force one to obey certain rules as it did when I wore the bolero in church, but it can never make one have a change of heart. It cannot transform anyone. Once the restrictive legislation is lifted or become too much for the bearers, they will slip back into their default mode of sinning. Believers in Christ, Grace (our Lord Jesus Christ Himself) came to transform hearts. He didn't come to demand behaviour modification or tell us again what is good and what is evi...