GETTING RIGHT WITH GOD

What is being right with God?

Being right with God is being in agreement with God. Rather despite that we are not God, we ought to do what God would do because we are of God. But because we more often that not ignore God's voice in us, we are found to deviate from His will and this is what puts us in self manufactured and very dangerous situations. Wisdom is obedience to God.

It is sin which separates us from God. Yet apart from sin (in its traditional terms) alone is not what puts us in contention with God. Say that it may not necessarily be considered traditionally sinful that Jonah was instructed to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:2), but in his own personal will, he rather chose to go to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3).

Jonah disobeyed a direct command from God. Did Jonah sin? Yes, he sinned, but not in the traditional  terms we understand sin is. In its entire form, sin is anything that is contrary to the will of God.

Or we could conclude that Jonah broke the command that: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27).

Why did Jesus say this, though?

If you need a law to obey God, then the issue is not that you have broken it if it is, the issue is that you have broken it because you can't keep it. For no one would willfully break the law. But if I have broken it, then why is it so? I break the law because I am sinful and helpless.

It is sin which necessitates the need for the law. But if Jesus has taken away my sin, why then do I need the law? For if I have surrendered to Jesus, what does this mean? It means that it is now upon Jesus to fulfill the will of God in me because by myself, I have terribly failed.

Love is not born by the law. Love comes from the heart. Who then can reach the heart? Is it the law or it is by Divine power? Thus to say: it takes God to know God. For this very reason, Jesus who also is the God man manifested in the human flesh.

God gave the law to correct people who had gone pretty astray. The law was given as a way to restore order. It was never meant to be the defining factor in a fellowship between people and God. Jesus alone is the defining factor in any relationship between man and God.

Sticking to the dictates of the law pretty much testifies a deliberate intent to harbor the sinful nature. If not for that, Jesus has already dealt a final punch to the sinful nature. Amen.

For many of us perceive that disobedience is simply having to break the law. But sin is more than breaking the law. Not all that God wants us to do is housed in the law. God can command us to do anything that is not in the law. The law is not all. 

So, being right with God is not simply not having to sin, but having to obey every bit of a command He gives us. This is the only way we can be well with God. We are rather called to be in fellowship with God.

If we disobey God, refuse to agree with Him, and seek to challenge Him, then we are pretty not right with Him. For to be right with God is to agree to whatever He commands us. Whether it seems acceptable with people or not. 

Abraham obeyed God in very humanly challenging situations (Genesis 15:6), (Romans 4). But one thing he considered was that with God, I am pretty safe. Upon this, it was counted of Abraham for righteousness.

Noah obeyed God when it pretty appeared foolish (in human terms) to do what God had directed him to (Genesis 6 & 7). For in the literal sense, what was the sense in building the ark? But because he did not seek to challenge or contend with God in any way, it was counted of him for righteousness.

For God will never present to us in ways that we seek to perceive Him. God is not human and He is not to be perceived in the human setting. No matter how impossible and weird in the human understanding it appears, if God is directing you in a way, the fact that it is God doing so, your part is to believe and trust in Him (God).

When God commanded prophet Isaiah to walk naked and barefooted for three years (Isaiah 20:1-3), He (Isaiah) just obeyed accordingly.

When God tells us to do something, then it is possible and well intentioned. For God knows exactly what He wants out of whatever He asks of us, because He is Omnipresent, Omniscient, and Omnipotent. For all these stories of Noah, Abraham, and Isaiah are intended for us to learn that it is possible to be obedient to God in all circumstances.

How God works

God is never predictable. God is the sovereign Lord. For He forgives when you expect Him not to. He loves when you expect Him not to. God is not like man who is influenced by anything and everything.

Upon this, once you understand that God is not limited by the scope of the little human brain, that neither is there any one factor that can limit Him in anyway, then you are getting right with God. For right in the beginning, we were designed obedient to God, except for disobedience. Change your mind and listen to God's voice in you. 

Adam and Eve had been right with God until when they disobeyed Him (Genesis 3:6). It was then that they lost their right of righteousness. Being the first man on earth, ever since then, we all share in Adam's disobedience to God because we are his offspring (Romans 3:23). It is on this account that God the Father sought to provide a way to reunite us to Himself by way of offering His Son Jesus Christ for the remission of sin.

Three steps to be right with God:

• Submit to Jesus Christ.

• Live a transformed life

• Obey God

Submit to Jesus Christ.

If you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, then you have already taken a very precious step. For there is no life except in Jesus Christ. Once in Christ, and Him in us (in every meaning of it), it is automatic that we are counted righteous because we are only counted righteous by assuming the righteousness of Jesus (Colossians 1:22), (John 3:16), (John 11:25-26). Jesus is the only person to have ever lived in human flesh but with no sin at all. Jesus is the God man.

For when we submit to Christ, we have done so to God. For God the Father is in Jesus and so in Jesus is God the Father (John 5:24), (John 6:29), (John 12:44). Thus, the very first sure way to get right with God, is one to allow and accept Christ into their lives and equally submit to His Lordship. Thus, for anybody who is yet to confess Christ, you better do so, for that is the only sure way.

Jesus does nothing that He is not learnt from the Father (John 5:19), (John 5:30), (John 12:49). So, just like the fellowship there is between the Father and the Son, we should only do what we have learnt from the Father and nothing else. God wants it that whatever we do, it is been directed from Him. That we must not do anything on our own because it is gravely misleading.

Why is it?

We must not do anything of our own because ours is oriented to sin. Everything that we do on our own is sinful. It is not in man to lead himself just the way God wants him to. If he (man) does, it simply sets us in grave contradiction with God. And this makes us pretty unrighteous. Rather, the way of man is not in himself (Jeremiah 10:23).

We thus only stand pretty assured if we learn from God and just do what we have learnt from Him. Jesus and the Father are one because none of them does what is contrary to the other. So, Jesus came so that we become like Him (Jesus).

What is the profit of life?

Man's profit is in God. Rather life becomes profitable if we use it to serve the purpose of God in our lives. So, we should be asking how our lives have been used to serve God's will rather than having literally lived comfortably.

So, if we submit to Jesus, then through Him (Jesus), we are reunited with the Father. Rather we must join the fellowship there is between the Father and the Son. In this way, we ought to love what God loves, and hate what God hates.

Rather, how do we keep in fellowship with God? We keep in fellowship with God by being in agreement with Him, and this is how we get right with God. Getting right with God is only possible in and through Jesus Christ.

Live a transformed life

When we have surrendered to Christ to be our Lord and Savior, it must be exhibited in how we conduct our lives. The proof that we are in Christ and Christ is in us are the good works we produce and people can see them in us (Matthew 5:16). Change in us can only be proven by what we are seen doing or not doing (Matthew 7:15-20). 

We  pursue righteousness, albeit it is a free gift from God. For righteousness begins in the heart and then it bears fruit in us. Only by it (righteousness), can people tell we are for God (2Timothy 2:22), (1Timothy 6:11), (Isaiah 51:1). We ought to undress the former sinful nature and then assume the righteous nature of Christ.

In Christ, we are made anew (2Corinthians 5:17). And upon this, we must not continue living the kind of life that is contrary to the way that Jesus is designing us to be. For the new life that we assume when we come to Christ, is life that we have been granted by Christ (Galatians 2:20). 

The new life that we assume belongs not to us. We must maintain it well because we will account for it. It can't be that when we have surrendered to Christ, that it is then that we carry on sinfully. In Christ, we have given away our sinful self (Romans 6:6-7), (Ephesians 4:22) and at this point, it is the righteous life of Christ that dwells in us.

Obey God

It is imperative that we should always obey God. We must be one with God. Every time God tells us to do anything, the answer should be YES SIR.

We create a grave gap between us and God because we misunderstand Him. We tend to doubt Him and His slender voice in us. We are tempted to think that: since He is invisible, then He can't measure up to a visible matter. This is only a grave mistake. Oh God, have mercy!

Why should we doubt the almighty God? How much can man be if without God? How much can man do if without God? Where else can man be if without God? What is man's destiny if without God? What bit of a  micro second can man live if not at the mercy of the almighty God? Every time we intend to challenge God, we are only setting ourselves in a self defeating and dangerous game. No one can ever win against God.

Up to date, many people have no definitive picture of what exactly Jesus is. When we say He is the Son of God and God incarnate, we cause an uproar. Well, what has God told us He is like?

For it is not easy to understand this when I use my little human brain, and yet when I submit to God so I can understand better, it pretty gets much easier (Isaiah 1:19-20).

It is very important that we pray, fast read the Bible, congregate with the brethren, but these aren't the reasons we are counted to be right with God. To be right with God is to follow in whatever He tells you to do. It may be none of the above, but the fact that it is God saying so, it surely is very well intentioned.

We could pray, fast, and read the Bible. We could do anything that gives us the very appearance of a Christian, and yet still remain disobedient. Being obedient is not having to follow the daily routine of what a Christian should do, but rather having to incline to the direct instructions God gives us.

Yet, it is also pretty important that we do understand that it is never by ourselves that we can achieve anything, for Jesus wouldn't have come. It is only by the grace of God that we can go much further (Philippians 4:13).

Always and always, seek for the way of God. Happiness comes from having done the will of God. When we do the will of God, then we have all the assurance.

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I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

"I AM the resurrection and the life".
 John 11:25

When Jesus said this, He wanted us to know as well as understand that He is the surety for resurrection and life. This literally implies that if it is not for Jesus, there could have never been resurrection and life. Jesus is surety for resurrection and life, at least according to this statement He made by Himself. Only through and in Jesus can we live on in the life after. 

The term “I AM” connotes and can be used to sum up the attributes of God as ALPHA and OMEGA (The beginning and the end), Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, transcendence, eternal, infinite, powerful, righteous, holy, just, good, truth, gracious, immanence, immutability, loving, merciful, and self-existing.

In this, it so is that God alone is what He is. For these attributes are exclusively unique to God. We can be any of these attributes only if He (God) shares them to us. Rather all these attributes are solely owned by and are for God. For God is sovereign in His being.

This term I AM also connotes a fact about God. The fact is that: there is no way you can describe God. Rather; God is not up to be debated. Or that: no opinion about God does count. It is like: "...I AM WHO I AM, what else do you want to know"?

This term is first used when God appeared to Moses (Exodus 3:14). On more than one occasion, Jesus used this term to describe His person.

If Jesus uses the same term with pretty much confidence, it indisputably suggests that there is a strong correlation between Him (Jesus) and the God who appears to Moses in the non-consuming bush fire. For He (God YHWH) said to Moses: "I AM WHO I AM". And none else but Jesus goes on to affirm He is the I AM (John 8:58). This is one of the empirical grounds to suggest that the same God extends in Jesus. Rather Jesus is God incarnate.

• "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35,48,51).

• "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12).

• "I am the door of the sheep" (John 10:7,9).

• "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11,14).

• "I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25).

• "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

• "I am the true vine" (John 15:1,5).

What is resurrection?

This is the concept of a living being coming back to life after death.

What is life?

This is the existence of an individual human being or animal.

Jesus emphatically claims sole ownership of the power to access both resurrection and life, according to His statement in scripture.

Why is life and resurrection exclusively guaranteed in Jesus?

Jesus is the perfect sacrifice that is acceptable before God. For Jesus is the Son of God and He is God. None else can measure up in terms of what Jesus is and what He does. None else has promised a bit of life. But Jesus has promised us life because He is alive.

Who else has risen again from the dead? Who else has prophesied his death and resurrection? But we can stand assured of life in Jesus because He alone has overcome death (Isaiah 25:7-8), (Acts 2:27), (2Timothy 1:9-11), (Revelation 1:17-18). And that that is so, He has shared with us of the everlasting life that is in Him.

Now the threat of death can no longer apply to us (who are in Jesus Christ) (1Corinthians 15:55). So, Jesus gives us what He pretty has in abundance, and that is life. And He (Jesus) has proven this by being the first to rise from the dead at the word of His mouth.

So, it is pretty a proven fact that none else can meet Jesus' standards. What is the reason that many of us can't submit to His (Jesus') authority, except for sheer jealous, blindness, oblivion, and spiritual ignorance? For it is not simply wishful that Jesus is what He surely is. It is not a corruptible claim that everything is because Jesus is.What is your choice, if at all you should have a choice of your own?

Jesus is God's power to create. Jesus is the reason the world ever is (John 1:1-5). If it were not for Jesus, nothing would have ever been.  Upon this, we can reliably conclude that Jesus is the word of God. And God's word is inseparable from Him. So, Jesus is Divine as much as God the Father is Divine. For the Son (Jesus) is one with the Father (God) (John 10:30).

Are they two different Gods? No not. It is one God who chooses to work the way He wishes to. He is one God in the three (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). He is the one God who extends in the three.

Jesus has provided a way that man can be restored in fellowship with God. Adam was in fellowship with God. But Adam disobeyed God, and upon this, man died in the spirit. For God is Spirit and we can only find Him in the Spirit. So, that Adam died spiritually when he disobeyed God, it so is a fact that he (Adam) was no longer in the spirit only where God is addressed. In this, everyone who followed Adam was no different from him. 

But Jesus is no Adam. For Adam lost the spiritual touch. Jesus came to restore that spiritual touch by granting us the command of righteousness only by which everything is to obey us. For what man needs is the command of the spirit like the one Adam had before he disobeyed God. 

There is no human person who could have ever been able to execute the task to redeem man. For all human are sinners. Yet a criminal cannot stand surety for a criminal. In the same vein, a sinner can't stand surety for a sinner. Who else is not a sinner that is not God?  If none else, then Jesus is God.

For we needed, or we need the God man to stand surety for us because He alone is the holy and righteous God. All of us who are in this sinful flesh are spiritual criminals. Yet all of us who are in Christ Jesus have been exempted by way of assuming the righteousness of our surety who is but Jesus Christ.

So, if we do agree that God only is no sinner, and it is pretty a proven fact that Jesus did not fall into nor commit a single sin, what else should we conclude He is if He is not God? For scripture is affirmative that no one ever had a proven case against Jesus (John 14:30), (John 8:46). Jesus is the God man

For all of us only make seemingly exciting but wanting statements that are measurably hollow and therefore can’t have the required weight to possess the authority that can match the authority of Jesus. Jesus was proactive. He (Jesus) always matched His word with action.

So, Jesus said I AM the resurrection and the life because I alone, I am designed for that. I alone, do have the will, the way, and the mechanisms to do it the way God wants it because I AM the God man. Thus the use of the same term I AM, just the way it was used when Moses had an encounter with God. Jesus was affirming that it is Him who appeared to Moses in the burning bush.

Attributes of Jesus that He is God

• Faithful. We are in an era where everyone doesn’t trust the other. Jesus alone is faithful.

• Wise (Luke 2:52).

• Humble (John 6:38).

• Obedient (John 15:10).

• Patient

• Charitable (Mark 12:30–31).

• Giving (Mark 5).

• Forgiving  (Luke 23:34).

• Compassionate (Matthew 9:36).

• Servant (Mark 10:45).

• Loving

• Committed

• Prayerful

• Gentleness

• Self-Control: Jesus did not fall into a single temptation.

 Death and Life

Death and life are factual. If not one, then it is the other. Each of these two has a reward. Life is assured only in and through Jesus. The reward for submission to Christ is to be seated in the heavenly realms. But denial of Jesus is guaranteed death. Death not of the body (for the body is only dead walking), but death of the spirit (Ezekiel 18:20). And upon this, the dead will be sent where death pretty dwells. For those who have no the covering of the righteousness of Christ will be eternally condemned to death in hell fire (2Corinthians 5:21).
 

The source and cause of death.

The source of death is sin. (Romans 6:23). Sin breeds evil of which God is judgmental with death. Man cannot help himself out of sin. Only when we submit to Jesus Christ do we escape death which sin comes with. Jesus alone can help us out of the consequential sin.

The source of life

Just as we have seen all above, the source of life is none else but Jesus Christ. We lost spiritual life when Adam disobeyed God, but in Jesus Christ, the same life is restored to us. For in Jesus, we can see all that the invisible God is. Rather Christ is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15-17). 

So, Jesus’ authority therefore comes from the fact that He is God. Jesus is all holy, and all righteous. No other person can be holy and righteous if it is not granted to them through God's Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus alone paid the price that nobody else could. He offered Himself for the type of sacrifice that was equally required. All God’s anger which was meant for us was all exited on Jesus.

Jesus was spit upon, mocked, slapped and finally crucified on the cross (Philippians 2:5-11). He accepted all this to happen to Him so that you and I can have the precious opportunity to live again. Thus, today we speak boldly of life because of the perfectly accomplished redemptive task of death of Jesus on the cross.

Jesus died on the cross and rose again. Thus the statement; “I am the resurrection and the life…” When you resurrect, you have regained life. Because He rose from the dead, there is lively hope that whoever accepts Him and lives according to Him has the lively opportunity to live again (John 11:25-26). For this indisputable fact, Jesus is the source of life (John 5:24), (John 5:39-40), (John 6:27), (John 1027-28), (John 14:6), (John 20:31).

Those who accept Him, even when they die, they will live again, because He lives, we live. All authority to grant or to deny life was therefore granted to Him alone. For Jesus' sacrifice alone can match God's standard (Matthew 28:18). In Jesus alone, there is resurrection and life. 

I DO NOT NEED TO CONSULT ANYONE ON THIS. Amen

God bless

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WHEN EVIL PEOPLE DIE

God never rejoices at the death of an evil person. It is a loss to the Kingdom of heaven. And that we (Christians) are of the Kingdom of heaven, we pretty much share in all that grieves the same and do rejoice when it rejoices. For if God were to rejoice over the death of any "evil" person, then He should have been doing so over the death of all of us, because we are all evil.

Christians are ambassadors of the heavens (2Corinthians 5:20), (Philippians 3). We represent the heavens on earth. And upon this, we must not fail in our ambassadorial duties.

We must work as tirelessly as we should to reach as many people as we can so to bring them to the Kingdom of the heavens. If we do not do this, or do it but not as well, then we have terribly failed and we are equally accountable (Ezekiel 3:18-20, 33:1-11). Christians must influence society in the most positive way.

While we live, we all have lively opportunities to change the course of things both literally and spiritually. We have the opportunity to repent and reconcile with God. The most dangerous thing is to die when you have changed nothing about yourself or in society in a positive way. For upon death, whatever it is, is what it will always be. 

So, if an evil person dies, we can do nothing to help them (when they have died) because God designed it that all has to be put right from here. Jesus came to help us put our lives right with God. Upon this, it was a requirement that He had to come on earth because there is no other way He could have helped us minus dressing in human flesh and showing up on earth.

In this, the requirement that Jesus had to dress up in human flesh and show up on earth is pretty proof that everything that be is rectified from here, or else, you are ruined.

For when we depart from earth (death), there is no opportunity left to put a thing right. Upon this, if an evil person dies (in that evil form), it so is that there is no any slight hope of ever saving them. It is rather a deal done and sealed (John 3:18), (Luke 16:19-30).

Who is an evil person

There could be many sorts of definitions of who an evil person is, (in regard from one culture to another, one religion to another), but in all these, you realize that there is an agreed universal moral standard. Say for example, no society will accommodate a thief, or a murderer.

Categories of evil

Moral evil 

These are offenses committed by one person against another person. These would include offenses as murder, theft.These are also social offenses.

Cultic sins or sin against the person of God

These are offenses aimed directly against the deity. Such sins would include: blasphemy, idolatry.

Cultic values are addressed in the first four of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:3-11), (Deuteronomy 5:7-15). 

Jesus also defines the  "Great Commandments" along the same view (Matthew 22:37-40), (Mark 12:30), (Luke 10:27).

Then the ethical law is considered in the last six of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:12-17), (Deuteronomy 5:16-21) and in the "Great Commandment" (Leviticus 19:18).

Source (origin) of evil 

The source of evil is sin (disobedience).  For there was a tree in the middle of the garden of Eden in whose fruit was the knowledge of good and evil, and upon which if eaten, it would lead to condemnation (Genesis 2:9). So, upon this, God instructed Adam not to eat of the same (Genesis 3:2). For it was not for man to distinguish between good and evil. Or if it was, it would have never been the right time to.

When Adam did eat of the fruit of this forbidden tree, he indeed died. For he did not become "like God" (because he was not to be God), he rather died (Genesis 3:5).

Now that Adam and Eve had become "like God" (knowing good and evil), yet they were not God, they had to be stopped from perpetuating evil from a position of God's person. They were thrown out of the garden accordingly. God would have eventually instructed them on evil but now they had learned of it by experience, something God did not intend.

From the time Adam and Eve disobeyed God evil spread everywhere. Not that it was being taught, but that since Adam had committed evil, so it is that Satan  bred evil in Adam and his offspring. For Cain killed his brother Abel because evil had descended to him from his father Adam (Genesis 4:1-16). 

This kind of situation grieved God and He regretted why He had created man. For evil carried on in and through man (Genesis 6:5).

The knowledge of good and evil

The knowledge of good and evil is the ability to discern good and evil. Yet to man, the knowledge of the same meant conceiving evil because he (man) was not guarded against evil.

When Satan was tempting Eve to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree, he told her that God had forbidden them (Adam and Eve) from eating of such fruit because He (God) knew that the moment they ate of it, it would make them to be "like" God.

The message in this is that God had the knowledge of good and evil, but Adam and Eve did not. So, that if Adam and Eve ate of such fruit they would be like God, was that they would also acquire the same knowledge, and it so happened.

What is good?

Good in the divine sense is what is correct, excellent and virtuous. It is absolute that God is the standard of what is good since goodness is His nature.

Nevertheless, being good can be at the human level, but it is also at the divine level. Divine is God and divine good is therefore exclusive to God.

That God created man in His own image may imply that man had shared in being good like God is good. And man was meant to conceive it that way. But he (man) was not to have the knowledge to discern and conceive evil. Rather man was to conceive good but not evil.

What is evil?

Evil is a supernatural force which operates in a person and drives them to commit wickedness and depravity.

So, if we define evil in this way, we pretty agree that it is not of a person's choice to be evil. For there is a supernatural force which orchestrates the actions thereof.

That God didn't want Adam and Eve to have this knowledge pretty much suggests that God was shielding them from conceiving evil because if they did (just as it was), the devil would use this route to find his way in them (Adam and Eve).

Since evil is a supernatural force, they would have never been able to resist practicing it when they conceived it. And having conceived it, it meant that they had given it space in their lives. And it so happened that when they did conceive it, it automatically orchestrated them into practicing evil. Adam and Eve did not have what we may call the divine mental stability to fend off evil.  

Why only God to have the knowledge of good and evil

God is supreme to everything. God has all the attributes that He is God. He is not subject to any human flaws. He is divine. Scripture also defines God as Spirit. God is Spirit and in this, He is Omnipresent and Omniscient. 

Adam and Eve had nothing of the attributes of God of their own. If they had any of a divine attribute, it was so because they shared it from God. But apart from this, God knew that they (Adam and Eve) did not have the divine mental stability to shield them from practicing evil had they had the knowledge of it. The moment they knew evil, it was only a way the devil would have them to practice it. And so it was, and so it is.

The devil wanted it that man eventually practices evil. But God is not like man. For God knows evil because He is God. God (unlike the gravely vulnerable man) can not conceive and later alone practice evil. Yet once Adam and Eve knew good and evil, they could not help practicing it. 

Just as we have said above, evil is a supernatural force which can't be literally resisted. There is only power and the mechanism to resist evil in God and not in the ever vulnerable human beings. Thus, everyone needs Jesus if to overcome their natural weaknesses. 

Why practice evil

Part of the reason why man continues to practice evil is because that is what is recorded on his mind. For it is one thing to have the knowledge of something, and it is another to practice what you know. Yet man can't resist practicing evil once he has knowledge of it. 

Our brain or mind for that matter must be recorded with the matters of God if to resist evil practices. There is a very thin line between one knowing something and doing or not doing it. For everything we do begins with the knowledge of it. How can you know unless you have been told? We do evil because the devil tells us to. And we do good because God tells us to, unless for evil pretense.

What God was to do

God was not to allow this pandemic of evil from sin go on unabated. For after the flood, Noah offers a burnt sacrifice which was so pleasing to the Lord. And it is then that God swore never to do the same albeit man carried on with an evil heart (Genesis 8:21).

Evil is in two ways: 

• Man's view of evil 

• God's view of evil 

Man's view of evil

The literal definition of evil

• Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.

• Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful

• Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.

• That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader's power to do both good and evil.

• An evil force, power, or personification.

God's view of evil

God's view of what is evil or not pretty much differs from what man decides is or is not. For society decides what they perceive to be in their best interests. But we ought to note that it is not about what society does or doesn't decide on, but what the revealed will of God declares.

So, whether cultic or moral evil, all evil is against man much as it is against God. For if you commit murder, it is no less than idolatry or blasphemy. Evil is everything that is against God and His will. For even the Moral law is God's own law which is but for us to live in peace with each other.

In this, there may not be grounds to distinguish the moral law from the cultic law. For natural evil is termed so basing on what we know God loves and dislikes.

So, upon this, we pretty do agree that God is the definer of what is good (2Samuel 10:12), (Mark 10:18), (Luke 18:19 ), right (Genesis 18:25 ), and just ( Job 34:12 ). So, God hates evil and He will avenge judgment upon all those who practice it (evil) ( Psalms 5:6), (Isaiah 31:2), (Micah 2:1 ).

In general terms, evil can be defined as disobedience to the revealed will of God. It (evil) is disharmony with fellow humans and God.
 

How to change the course of things

How do I change the course of things? One will ask. This is a million dollar question, yet not short of answers.

For each one of us have their own wishes. But thus goes the saying: "if all wishes were horses, everybody would be riding". Everybody seek to do things their own way, but which is the approved way? Or which is the way of God?

What am I to do?

We are Christians because we believe and follow Christ (Acts 11:19-30). Jesus Christ is our model. We do what He does and we dislike what He dislikes. Jesus is our perfect example. Everything He tells us to do, we should do without asking a single question because it is truth.

There is none in any of Jesus' teachings when He tells us to rejoice over the death of evil people. After all, it is this kind of people He came for (Matthew 9:13), (Mark 2:17), (Luke 5:32). Jesus did not curse anyone, no matter how much He had been provoked into such a situation.

Jesus did not condemn anyone. He gives everyone opportunities to change their course. Sometimes, some of His disciples would be overwhelmed by events and circumstances, but Jesus never allowed to be overtaken by any of such (Luke 9:54-55). 

In this same spirit, this our Lord and Master Jesus Christ gives us the greatest commandment and that is to preach the word of the Kingdom of heaven (Matthew 28:19-20), (Mark 16:15-16), (Luke 9:2, 24:46-47).

When Jesus commands us to go into the world and preach the gospel, teaching people all things that He told us to and thereby making them disciples, He was directing us how we can influence peoples' lives in a positive manner and bring them to the heavenly fold. And upon this, there are thousands of testimonies of people who have been touched by this gospel of change, love, reconciliation, healing, peace etc.

Many of us who are proud Christians today were once termed as evil. But we have made use of this abundance of the numerous opportunities that Jesus gives us so that we can change the course of things. It only is in Jesus that a murderer can become a saint. In all measure, Saul who became Paul was evil. But he is now Paul the saint.

Our Lord and Master never rejoiced over the death of any soul, neither did He ever teach us to. It grieves God when it so happens that an evil person dies (in their evil form). So it should grieve us as well. For we must be one with Jesus. We must love what He loves and we must dislike whatever He dislikes. 

Recall that according to the Biblical definition of who an evil person is, or what evil is, it so is a proven fact that everyone is evil (Romans 3:23). Adam and Eve became evil because they disobeyed God. And we are the offspring of the same. So now, it is not of one's choice to say whether they are or not evil. 

That we perceive some of us to be evil is the human setting in which the devil operates and wants us to understand things. And in this way that the devil wants us to  understand things, we are kept in the evil setting. Then we feel sweet viewing others as evil because we falsely think we are not. No one of us is inexcusable (Romans 2:1-3). Yet God's Kingdom is not about who is wrong and who is not. The Kingdom of God is about righteousness, love, healing, peace, joy, etc

Who am I?

The good of me is not that I perceive myself good. It is not the good that people say I am. The good of me is that I should recognize the evil in me.

A way to be able to overcome evil is first to recognize its existence and its presence in us. For the devil just wants us to falsely wish that we have no evil in us. Yet this is simply his (devil's) way to keep us within his perfect reach. Upon having known this therefore, I must be yearning to guard my spirit, but not to guard the false perceptions of myself, or what I falsely appear to others that I am, yet I am not.

In all this, we all qualify as evil. We can only live in false denial. So, much as it so is true that Hitler or Bin Laden, or Stalin are evil (in every sense of the human setting), we must recognize that the evil in one of us is potentially in everyone.

For evil is not only what one literally does, but what they are in the heart. Evil proceeds from the heart and not from outside into the heart  (Mark 7:20-23). If everyone literally practices what they harbor in the heart, there would not be a bit of peace in this world. Everyone is just restrained. But the potential to do anything is in everyone.

How to get rid of evil

It is not up to me and you that there is evil in us, yet the repercussions of being evil gravely affect each one of us. For we just found ourselves in such a state by way of being the offspring of Adam.

If it was of a choice, to be or not to be evil, no one would love a bit of evil in them. So, upon this, God's issue with us is not that we are evil, but that we refuse to listen and submit to Him so He directs us how to overcome evil. God wants us away from the sinful image of Adam into the righteous acceptable image of Jesus Christ.

In the spirit of helping us to overcome this gravely consequential evil, God has provided Jesus who stands blameless and free from all the flaws of man that in Him (Jesus), we can be replenished and restored to God. That is that in Jesus we are pretty accepted of God. Upon this, everyone who is not in Christ is pretty evil and condemned.

But if we deny Jesus, that gravely consequential evil remains in us, and upon this, we are pretty condemned. Only Jesus has the materials and the mechanisms to iron out the evil in our hearts and minds and make us presentable to the holy and righteous God.

So, in all this, God wants us to commit to Christ only in whom we are justified. For we need the righteousness of Jesus, but not that which is made by the works of the law (filthy righteousness). We can only receive the righteousness of Jesus when we commit to Him. In all this, God is not judging us basing on how evil we are, but basing on having or having not denied Jesus Christ (Isaiah 46:13, 56:1), (Romans 1:17, 4:5, 10:4), (2Corinthians 5:21).
  

God's position when evil people die

It pretty grieves God when evil people die. Upon this, God has commissioned a grand project to provide a way that each one of us can repent of their evil. The heavens rejoice when a soul repents of his evil ways (Luke 15).

When a sinner turns away from evil and chooses the path of holiness and righteousness, it is then that it is work done. But when the evil die in their evil form, then it is a loss to the Kingdom of heaven. For Jesus came to save and not to destroy (Luke 9:56).

Nevertheless, God has given us the power of choice. Rather God does not impose Himself on us, albeit He does not give up on His mission to redeem and set us free from the evil forces. 

So, as a Christian, I must blame myself if I have not reached out to a soul. And if it so happens that that soul dies, (in that evil from), then I must have it ringing in my mind why I did nothing when I have had the opportunity to.

But if I have reached out to that soul, but he denies Jesus Christ, then I have nothing to blame myself for and the blood of that person is upon him.

In all this, my utmost interest as a Christian must not be that an evil person dies, my utmost interest should rather be that if I get the opportunity, I should reach out to that person and bring them to the fold of Jesus Christ.

And if the issue is about to or not to rejoice over the death of an evil person, if a person has given their lives to Christ, and have changed from their evil ways to the ways of Christ, in this way, I can rejoice that I have been used by God to touch a soul away from hell. 

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TRANSFORMATION THROUGH THE MIND (ROMANS 12:2)

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good, acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

The key words; conform, transform, renew, mind, prove, discern, will, good, acceptable, and perfect.

Being transformed

This is change in form, condition, character or substance.

Conform?

This is to comply with rules, standards, or laws governing something. So, that we should not conform to this world means that we must not subjugate ourselves to the rules and standards of the same.

Renew

To renew is to make (something) new, fresh, or strong again. So, this is to encourage us to become new, fresh and strong again for God yet again.

Mind

The mind is the state to apply oneself or attend to something. Say to mind one's own business. Yet this is in the way that we should mind God's business.

The mind is also reason, sanity, or sound mental condition. Say if one loses his mind, then he does not apply to this. But we must not lose our mind in relation to God and everything that is for and to Him.

Prove

To prove is to demonstrate the truth or existence of (something) by evidence or argument.

In this, we are to demonstrate the truth. The truth is to resist sin in every way that is available to us. It is the ability to be led by the Spirit and not by the insatiable demands of the flesh.

The truth also according to scripture is Jesus (John 14:6).

Will

Will is the act or process of using or asserting one's choice; volition.  Say that my hands are obedient to my will. 

We are of God. We are because God is. Upon this, just like a hand is obedient to you, so should you be obedient to God.

Scripture states that we are gods (Psalms 82:6), (John 10:34). We are gods in the sense that we are of God. We are nothing if not in God (John 15:1-6). Upon this, we must be obedient to the will of God who is our only source of life and strength.

Discern

This is the ability to distinguish (someone or something) with difficulty by sight or with the other senses.

The ability to perceive or recognize (something).
 
It is rather a situation that would require divine intervention. For it is a scenario which comes in extra ordinary conditions.

It would require to involve inner reflection in the mind in conjunction and consultation with the Spirit which if not done, either a decision won't be made or will be made but wrongly.

In this kind of situation, the devil will readily present as the angel of light (2Corinthians 11:3, 14).

Good

This is to be desired or approved of.

It is having the qualities required for a particular role.

It is also possessing or displaying virtue. Being righteous.

That we are of and from God, what is good for God is what should be good for us. That can only come by closely inclining to the Spirit. And inclining to the Spirit means giving in your mind to the voice of the Spirit and not of the flesh.

Acceptable

This is to be able to be agreed on: or suitable to be allowed.

In this, we must align ourselves in a way that is acceptable to God. This is only possible and available in Jesus Christ. In Him (Christ), there is the opportunity to make things anew and acceptable to the Father (God) (John 14:6).

Perfect

Being perfect is having no mistakes or flaws

It is being completely correct or accurate

It can also be having all the qualities you want in that kind of person, situation, etc.

In this, we must incline so closely so that we are purely sure that what we do is indisputably the will of God. This is what gives us confidence upon which we can grow our faith in God. This is the way we stand free of the wiles of the devil (John 14:30).

The case of Renewing the mind

We are being urged by scripture to be transformed by the renewing of the mind.
 

Now, what from do we renew our mind?

For this implies the human mind must have been perverted somewhere in the course of life.

When Adam and Eve sinned, nothing got any better till the coming of Christ. For God saw every intent of the human mind was perverted and He would destroy the world and everything therein (Genesis 6:5). So, we renew our mind from perversion to the will of God.

Human action is decided and directed in the mind, except for reflex actions (1Peter 1:13).

Good or evil begins in the heart. In the heart are both: the good forces against the bad forces. And the battle between God and the devil is for the heart of man.

For the Bible states that; salvation begins in the heart (Romans 10:10), thus salvation is a matter of the heart. Equally so, evil begins in the heart (Mark 7:21). But the decision to be or not to be is done through the mind.

Victory over nature is determined in how you manage your mind. Salvation is for all who come to Christ in humility, but transformation is a matter of endurance (Matthew 24:13). For in Christ we are saved, but it is another matter to keep so to the end. In between, the process of transformation takes place.

Thus then, to commit sin is not to be denied the right of continued confession of being Christian. Yet to confess to be Christian is simply to have decided well and taken the right direction, but transformation is a process.

In light of the above therefore, much as being saved begins in the heart, transformation begins in the mind. To say it literally, if the heart is the engine, the mind is the driver. To commit sin is not to have been oblivious it is, but because one has allowed the mind to be misdirected by the sinful nature.

Scripture urges us to have the mind like the mind of our Lord Jesus (Philippians 2:5). For Jesus was upright in mind. The mind of Jesus is the kind we need if we are to be constructively transformed.

If the mind is not transformed and renewed, there can't be meaningful change in a person. For the evil feelings of the flesh are directed in the mind and are effected in the body.

For the mind follows either the flesh or the Spirit. A perverted mind will succumb to the demands of the flesh. For example, if you have a sexual urge, the mind will direct you to the opposite sex in disregard of your marital status.

Yet the mind should not command what actions you take. Thus for scripture to say that if you are led by the Spirit, then you will live, and it is then that you become a child of God (Romans 8:13-14), (2Corinthians 5:16), (Galatians 5:16-17).

The devil uses the flesh through the mind to destroy us. On the other hand, God uses the Spirit through the mind to direct us His way (Colossians 3:2), (Romans 8:5-7). Thus the mind can be made subject to either of the two; the demands of the sinful flesh or to the way of the Spirit of God. For if the mind is not transformed, it is impossible to overcome sin.

Thus, much as the devil works in the flesh through the mind to misdirect us (2Corinthians 11:3), so it is that God works in the Spirit through the mind to put us right. For it is impossible to understand the matters of God with an unsettled mind. We need God to open our minds to Him (Luke 24:45).

We ought therefore to desist from worldly patterns by not simply succumbing to the sinful nature of the flesh. For example, it does not mean that if you have a sexual urge, you should automatically succumb to it. For you ought to consider factors like: am I married so I have the space to do it or not? And if you are not married to him or her, then it is sin to lie with the same.

If you feel like being gay, it doesn’t mean being so. For the desires of the flesh are never profitable and empowering to the Spirit. We ought therefore to set ourselves for God in how we manage our earthly life which is only but for a time (Ephesians 4:23).

To prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God is a matter of both the mind and heart. Thus we can choose to use our minds well and in the service of God.

For it is not evil to have a mind, but how you choose to use it is what counts. But because in this scripture proving the perfect will of God is mentioned in line with having our minds transformed, it means the mind is an integral part of the discernment process.

NB An empty mind is the devil's workshop.

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WHEN SHOULD I HAVE SEX?

I do not think Christians have to bother whether it is sin to have sex before marriage or not. Scripture teaches us it is sin to have sex before marriage. If you look at a woman and you lust after her, you have sinned (Matthew 5:27-28). How much more terrible is it if you have sex with her when you are not married to her?

So, if you asked; when should one have sex?

Man is a special creature of all God's creation (Psalms 8:3-8). And He (God) made everything about man special, including the game of sex.

Human sex is therefore a game that is ring-fenced by certain rules and regulations. It should exclusively be a game for the married couples. And if it is a game of married people, it so should be that the consenting parties are pretty prepared for it. Rather it must be for people who are pretty ready for marriage.

How and when is one married?

Now, there are different patterns of marriage depending on the culture and the traditions of a particular people. But what is clear is that it must be between two consenting adults.

The parents of the two parties must bless the marriage. And then the clergy must sanction it and declare the two parties to have the space to entertain each other in every way that is in line with the practices of marriage.

Where is this in scripture?

• Abraham gave gifts to the parents of Rebecca so he could secure her for his son Isaac (Genesis 24). So, dowry is Biblical.

• Jesus attended the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12). Jesus could have never attended something He did believe in.

• He who finds a wife finds favor before the Lord (Proverbs 18:22). It is he who finds a wife who finds favor before the Lord, not he who finds a girl lover. 

So, sex is pretty a beauty and it was in God's plan for it to be the way it is. How and when we do it is what should be discussed if we are to do so.

Sex before marriage is ideally and morally wrong, and worst of all, it is sinful. Sin is severely and terribly consequential in the following ways:

• For he who sins is a slave of sin (John 8:34). 

• The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). 

Sex before marriage is called fornication. Jesus taught that FORNICATION is sin and which leads to condemnation by God (Mark 7:21). More scripture which teaches us that sex before marriage is sin:

"Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: [It is] good for a man not to touch a woman" (1Corinthians 7:1-40).

"Marriage [is] honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge" (Hebrews 13:4).

"And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife" (Exodus 22:16).

"Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body" (1Corinthians 6:18-20).

"Nevertheless, [to avoid] fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband" (1 Corinthians 7:2).

"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness..." (Galatians 5:19-21).

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh (Genesis 2:24).

"For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:.." (1Thessalonians 4:3).

"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:.." (Colossians 3:5).

"For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1John 2:16).

"Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body [is] not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body" (1Corinthians 6:13).

"[And] lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and [that] I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed" (2Corinthians 12:21).

The devil uses man to manipulate God's creation. He (the devil) seeks to manipulate the idea and the intention behind creation to the extent that we have now been reduced to discussing whether  homosexuality is right or not.

God loves it that we have covenant children. We can only have Covenant children in holy marriage (Malachi 2:15).

Jesus manifested in the flesh so to put right all that went wrong. If our fore fathers erred on this, we of today should endeavor (by the help of the Holy Spirit) to bring things back to the way that glorifies God.

If you are caught to have gotten saved/born again while in an unholy marriage, you have no other choice but to put things right by going to church and be joined in holy marriage.

If you have done all things the right way, you should never again bother yourself with whatever happened before you accepted Jesus to be your LORD and SAVIOR. When we accept Jesus to be LORD and SAVIOR, we are cleansed of all the past.

NB Sex is for us to enjoy. But consider it as a game which is governed by certain rules and regulations. If you break the rules of the game, how then can you be crowned the winner?! For the rules and regulations of the game are pretty much part of the victory.

A brief of the rules and the regulations of sex:

• Sex is between married couples

• It is between two consenting parties

• It is between husband and wife

• It is supposed to bring both Spiritual and physical satisfaction.

• It must be a uniting factor

• It must be productive

So, have you already had sex? Are you married? Have you corrected the wrongs of the past? Where do you intend to go from now? What do you intend to do? How will you do it? What will it be for?

 Yet you can do better than this if you will. 

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WHEN AM I TO BE PASTOR?

There are quite so many itching issues in the Church today, but this is not to say they haven't been before.  For Christ is still refining the Church so that it is presentable to the Father.

For issues such as: when should one be "pastor" cut across, even in countries where the church has been established for centuries. For in the west, it is not easy to simply claim to be Pastor without having gone to Bible College. Yet even in these countries, such issues still persist.

Society in the West is more informed and not as desperate. On the other hand, though, in much of Africa, especially Uganda where I happen to be, the Church is still young and still emerging. It is not yet streamlined and a lot of effort is being put just into working out all such issues.

It is therefore quite easy for someone to simply call themselves any titles they wish. In many of the LDCs, anybody can start ministry at will, without any scrutiny for caution.

Now, this challenge can be three fold.

• Self wish to be called by a certain title (Pastor)
• Called by such title by virtue of being active in church.
• Called such title by virtue of having been called by God

Self wish to be called by a certain title (Pastor)

Sometimes, some people have self wished to be called by certain titles for their selfish reasons, while others have actually been called by God to be so. To many of such people, the title of Pastor is easily perceivable and quickly paying. 

For to be a Pastor, most often than not, you will have to possess a flock, a flock in the sense that you can easily feed yourself on it. To be an Evangelist takes long to pay off. To be an Apostle means you will have to plant churches and leave them to others to shepherd them. To be a Teacher, you really have to be patient for your labors to literally pay off. Rather, because we are selfish mortal beings, we tend to look at it much in terms of quicker material gain than to simply love to serve the LORD.

And for this very reason, some people begin ministry with one different title but will change to another title after some time. This may not be done in the spirit of ministry, but because one may falsely believe that it is easier to begin with a certain servant title but change to another (more decorated one) when we are firmly planted in ministry. So, upon this, many people find it easier to begin as pastors, but will end up as apostles because it is more decorated to be called by the title apostle.

According to the Bible directive, it is the evangelist to bring souls to the Church. Albeit evangelism is the main gateway to ministry for anyone who may be called or wish to come into ministry. That is to say; evangelism is a command for every Christian to perform (Mark 16:15-16). For evangelism is the greatest commission.

Nevertheless, there are individuals who are particularly commissioned for this task. Yet Jesus designed the Church in a way that everyone at any level that he is serving, he is equally important as any other. For the Church to be complete, it pretty requires every bit of the gifts given for ministry (1Corinthians 12:4-31), (Ephesians 4:7-16).

The apostles are commissioned to plant Churches, organize them, and then hand them over to pastors. Now this is where the controversy currently is. It is pretty true that this has become impractical. Many individuals today are called by the title apostle simply because they think it is more prestigious and more decorated to be called so than assuming any other title. But as concerns performing the tasks of an apostle is becoming pretty impractical. For no one will start a Church and simply hand it over to another person.

Additionally, there is currently the prevailing notion that if you have not started a Church, then you are less of a minister. This very notion has culminated into everyone looking to plant a Church so they can have a feeling of independence. By one having a flock under their command, they can do what they wish. This is creating a scenario whereby everyone is in a rush to start a Church, anywhere, even when he is not been called to do so. And upon this, conflict is surely unavoidable.

So many funny characters are currently hiding behind serving the LORD yet they only execute much disservice. The LORD Himself will do the clean up, at the right time. For it is a process, the LORD can't fail (Matthew 13:24-30). Equally so, we should not give up the fight. For the Bible tells us we will know everybody by their fruits (Matthew 7:16-21).

But let me also seek to let you know that some people can be gifted twice. Someone could be a Pastor as well as a teacher. For I have come to learn that even to be pastor can be done in various ways. There are those who are pastors by way of counseling, others are by way of preaching, encouraging others, etc. So, you will realize that even pastors are gifted differently. We may all be pastors, yet each one of us is a pastor in a way.

Called by a title by virtue of being active in church.

It is pretty a common practice in much of African Churches for one to be referred to as pastor for simply being active in Church. I encountered the LORD when I was still a schoolboy. It was such an excitement that I loved to involve myself in every church activity.

I headed the Students Scripture Union during my Ordinary Level studies in one school (Kololo High School). I carried on as Prayer Secretary at another school (Old Kampala Secondary School) during my Advanced Level studies. 

At church, I headed the Church Students Union and later alone, I was very active in the Youth Department. By way of being this active, I was readily branded pastor even as I was yet to be ordained for so, neither had I undertaken any course in this regard because I knew not I would ever be one. Later alone, I concluded I didn't love it, for it is so demanding. I loved to be Evangelist and that is it. But the LORD led me slowly by slowly into being what I am today (pastor).

This is not intended to tell you much about myself, but to give you my personal view and experience. The title of pastor is being used the way it is because it is easy for those who wish to misuse it for self wishing purposes, but it is also easy to call a person so for those who would view them as being more active in the matters of church.

Called such title by virtue of having been called by God

There are some people who are called pastors by virtue of having been called by God.  Rather it is a calling by God. Nevertheless, despite having been duly called by God to be a pastor or any other calling, it still calls for preparation, training and interaction. 

• It calls for preparation because you need to know how you ought to conduct yourself while going about your calling. 

• You ought to be trained because you need to know what to do and when to do it.

• You ought to interact because you are called to serve and not to show off. 

Be it in Bible times, everyone who has been called by God for anything, has had to be prepared and duly trained for the calling. 

• When God called Moses, He (God) made him duly undergo a preparation and training process (Exodus 2:11, 3:22).

• Joshua duly underwent preparation and training for the task under Moses (Joshua 1:9).

• Samuel duly underwent preparation and training under Eli (1Samuel 3:4-8)

• David duly underwent preparation and training (1Samuel 16)

• Solomon duly underwent preparation and training (1Kings 1:34-50). 

So, upon this, it is pretty true that there are some people who have been called but they are not trained. And it is also true that there are many people who been trained but do not have the calling. Yet it is pretty a requirement that we are both called and trained. This is how we become complete servants of God.

Fair warning... Anyone who love to call themselves titles for purposes of their own selfish material gain will surely come to naught. This is not just a threat! It is simply a matter of time.

Yet we can't have an answer for every bit. For the Church is the Lord's. The Lord God alone will cleanse it of every impurity. Prayer then is better option.

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JESUS ALONE IS THE ROCK

What is a rock?

This is the solid mineral material forming part of the surface of the earth and other similar planets, exposed on the surface or underlying the soil or oceans.

 Characteristics of rocks

• Hardness (is a measure of the mineral's resistance to being scratched)

• Luster (some minerals are shiny and some are dull, luster means metallic  or non metallic)

• Streak (Streak refers to the color powder that the mineral leaves after it scratches it)

• Cleavage and fracture (Cleavage is a way the mineral breaks and fracture is a breakage is rough and has jagged edges)

Jesus used the example of a rock because of its characteristics (Matthew 16:14-19). He (Jesus) was being metaphoric. For the rock is symbolic of something that can last for ages and ages if to say. 

Prior to this encounter, Peter was called Simon. But after this encounter, Jesus gave him (Simon) the name Peter. This name Peter means a small rock. Yet the person of Simon, or Peter for that matter, is not the rock being spoken of here.

The Church whose head is Jesus the Christ can't be founded on a vulnerable human being whose preferences and priorities keep changing every micro second. Mere men are always easily manipulated into the wrong way. It is unique only to God not to change and not to be manipulated (Malachi 3:6), (Hebrews 13:8). The Church therefore is built upon God alone. Only the nature of God has the required and fitting components to uphold it (the Church) firmly and for eternity (ages).

But then, what did Jesus mean when He said; "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it"? (Matthew 16:18). Was it to mean the person of Peter or the content of the confession?

When Peter gave the perfect answer, Jesus made this reply: 'Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 16:17). Meaning it was not a personal confession. Rather the confession was not of the person of Peter.

For if to ask, does a speaker speak by itself? Rather, is it of itself to say whatever? What tool is a speaker? Is it a transit tool or what is it? Was Peter the master of it or a tool?

He (Peter), (by expression) did not understand what he had confessed until when he was filled with the Holy Spirit at the day of Pentecost. At that moment, Peter could have never been in position to understand this. And at whatever point it could be or was, he could have understood nothing if it were not for the Spirit of God.

So, when Jesus said: "you are the rock and upon this rock...", it was not with the intent to glorify the person of Peter. But Jesus made an expression that Peter had confessed the absolute truth. And that truth was not of Peter but of the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of God which makes us understand and do the things of God (Philippians 2:13).

We all know how God made the donkey talk the language of humans (Numbers 22:28). The donkey did not speak by itself, though, but by the command of God. Peter spoke by the revelation and command of the Father. Thus Jesus (the Son) glorified the Father.

To expound more on this, let us consider why Jesus rebuked Peter for trying to deny the fore narration of His (Jesus') Crucifixion to the disciples (Matthew 16:23). Jesus called Peter Satan. Is it that Peter (the rock upon which the Church would be built) had turned into Peter the Satan? Would the Church be built on Peter the Satan as the foundation? Was it to mean Peter was Satan? The answer to all these questions is "No not". 

Yet this is a good example of how the same Peter could go either way (just like any human would). If he had made the prior statement of Jesus being the Son of God with intent, he wouldn't then have gone on to make the mistake of ignorantly denying Jesus' fore narration of His (Jesus') Crucifixion. All this is clear manifestation of how Peter was very ordinary in everything. He (Peter) only came to understand things better when the Spirit of God descended on him.

For Peter had perceived everything literally, yet Jesus was establishing a Kingdom which is not of this world. The Kingdom of God is not here or there, but it is in our hearts (Luke 17:20-21), (John 18:36). For if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Son of the living God, that is the foundation upon which God's Kingdom is built. Thus to say, the foundation of the Church is not a person, but faith in the (Son of God) is the foundation of the Church.

To further demonstrate Peter's vulnerabilities as a human person, he, despite having been with and shared with Jesus so much, he went on to deny Him three times (Luke 22:54-62). Peter had gone back fishing after the Crucifixion of Jesus (John 21:3).

What then did Jesus mean by referring to Peter as the rock upon which He would build the Church that would never be shaken by the gates of hell? Just like we have seen above, this could have never been to mean the person of Peter. But the question is; what else could it have been? What odes it mean that Peter gave this answer; "...Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God"? (Matthew 16:16).

Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. He was, He is, and He will always be. For before anything else ever was, Jesus was (John 1:1-4, 8:58). For scripture tells us nothing would have ever been if it were not for Jesus. And it is upon this fact that everything He did made absolute meaning. 

Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). Everybody else failed, yet Jesus alone overcame all. Thus then, Jesus is the rock being spoken of here, and Him being the rock of our faith, it makes it directly true that when we believe on and in Him, then we become the little rocks carrying on propagating the Kingdom of God. 

And upon this, together with the big rock who is Jesus the Christ and the Son of the living God, we build the Kingdom of heaven. That is that if one is a rock, so he is because he is an off-cut of the big rock who only is Jesus.

Yet again, one of the characteristics of rocks is that they are hard, and they can last for ages and ages. Does this character literally apply to Peter? Yet Peter's faith in Christ lives on in us. Thus then, it is not about Peter literally, but it is about his faith in Christ. 

And so then, if there is to be a heir of Christ (as is claimed by the Roman Catholic Church), it is not Peter the person. Everyone who believes Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God is the heir of Christ. And upon this, if to be, we who do believe Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God are all popes.

The doctrine that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of the living God is the foundation of the Church and that is the absolute truth. Peter was commended for having had this revelation. But to claim it is upon the person of Peter the Church is built is to credit him for more than he can afford or handle. 

 

The Roman Catholic Church desperately looked for scripture which seems to them to support their ideology of the papacy. For the papacy and many of the Catholic teachings are not founded in the basic Biblical scripture.

Is this to weigh down the person of Peter? No not. But neither should we weigh him more than he is. Neither does he claim what is said of him by the Roman Catholic Church. 

We all realize that Peter's character and teachings do not at all rhyme with the practices and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet Peter was a great man of God who made immeasurable contributions to the body of Christ. It is about what we say, believe and practice; not what people say of us.

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