THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER’S PAY

There is the debate as to whether Christian ministers should be paid a salary or not. The argument rages between those who are of the opinion that there are no records of ministers being paid in the New Testament and that ministry is too lofty a work for anyone to measure its worth in dollars, pounds or naira. The other party believes that ministry is just like any other work people do today and that those involved in it should be paid for whatever service they render, even in God’s name. I share the latter view on Christian ministers’ remunerations. This position is however not without a “but” that should be clearly understood according to scriptures.

First, we must understand that there is no such thing as a full-time minister in the New Testament. The term full-time is the making of modern day church people to distinguish between those who work in church and do nothing else from those who though work in church but have other avenues of making money. The Apostles of the Lamb were both full time and part time ministers. There was no such distinction in their time and there is no record of any of them being paid by a local church. The truth is that there really were no organized local church settings as we have them today in their time. These men had been commissioned by Jesus Christ simply to go into the world and preach the gospel. They had received the power of the Holy Spirit to aid them in this work; they were consumed by zeal to do the work and they just could not do anything else. Paul said: “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of:  for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). So for them ministry was neither full-time or part-time, ministry was all-the-time and the distinction between full time or part time never came because they didn’t have paid ministers in a so called full-time ministry capacity like we have today. Nevertheless, in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul the apostle makes a case for minister to be paid. It is however important to note the real gist of that scripture, as we will see that the apostle had more to say on the subject than just ministers’ pay.

Verse 3 gives us an idea of what prompted this subject in the first place: some people had been criticizing Paul’s method of ministry. In their time the people held their leaders accountable and were not afraid to ask questions. The leaders themselves did not see it strange that people asked these questions. Instead of using his apostolic authority to shut them up, Paul, here, is giving an “answer” to those who “examine him”. Paul goes on to state what his rights are as a Christian minister in verses 4-6 and these rights should be accorded all ministers of the gospel at all times: 1. A minister has the right to a good life, to be merry, to eat and drink. A minister can own properties, have holidays and enjoy life generally. 2. A minister has the right to marry and have children. So, enforced celibacy is alien to scriptures. 3. A minister has the right to be fully committed to the work of ministry and do nothing else: he may “forbear working”. These were Paul’s rights and these rights should be accorded any minister of the gospel in any age. In verses 7-12 the apostle resorts to reason and the Old Testament to make a case for the minister’s pay. He ends this with verses 13 and 14: “Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple?  and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel”. Paul is here comparing the Levithical Priesthood to New Testament ministers. The Levites worked full time in the temple and were sustained by the tithes, first fruits and various types of offerings the people dedicated to God. Likewise Christian ministers should be supported by the people they minister to. Some people use these verses as the reason why tithes must be given in church today. I believe that if Paul thought so he would have stated clearly that tithes should be given to the ministers he was making a case for – I can see no better opportunity than now to mention tithes. The fact that he was silent on it showed that Paul saw tithing in its proper form: a form of giving which translates as free will giving in the New Testament church (2 Corinthians 9:7). Both the gentile and Jewish church of Paul’s day understood that the tithes were agricultural products that were to be given to Levites. Paul, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, could not ask anyone to give him tithes. The best he could argue for was that they who ministered “spiritual things” should enjoy material blessings from people.

In spite of the rights and privileges of Christian ministers, Paul shows us in verse 12 and 18 that there are somethings that were of greater priority to his rights and privileges: 1. That the gospel should not be hindered. 2. That ministers do not abuse their powers or rights by charging money for the gospel. Because of the possibility of these two scenarios occurring, Paul gave up his rights and privileges when ministering to the Corinthians. Some argue that this is peculiar to Paul alone and should not be used as a yardstick for all ministers. While this is true, we must not loose track of Paul’s discuss here. He is showing us that there are somethings that are more important than others. As good as the matter of a minister’s welfare is, the hindering of the gospel and the abuse of ministerial privileges is even more important. We must appreciate the enormous power a minister of the gospel wields and the great tendency for this power to be abused. When a man stands over a people and speak to them as God’s oracle, he stands in a position of great authority and power. That man may use that position to make or mar God’s people. One area where this position can be greatly abused is in the area of money. The gospel that Paul talks about here is a free gospel that should be ministered free of charge. When all a people hear when they attend church service is give money, give money, give money… are they hearing a free gospel? In this scenario, will the gospel not be hindered? What does hindering the gospel mean? People will not go to church because they believe that Pastors are looking for their money. The power of God that accompanies the preached word will be withdrawn because the Holy Spirit that brings conviction has been grieved. The name of the Lord will be blasphemed. Churches will be called “In the Name of God PLC”. Non Christians will say “I cannot afford to be a Christian because it costs too much financially”. Christians will be maligned as sheep that cannot think but who pour all their finances into churches where Pastors live large and ostentatious lifestyles. In short, the gospel will be hindered – it would not produce the effect it is designed to produce. It is because of these that the apostle traded his rights and privileges so that the gospel may have a free course in people’s hearts. We see proof of these when the apostle shows us in verses 19-23 that his priority is to bring GAIN to God’s kingdom and not to amass GAIN for himself. We see him exploring all kinds of wisdom, within a righteous context, to gain men for Christ.

Paul ends this discusses with verses 24-27 by showing that ministry is a race that requires temperance and discipline. He shows us that Christian ministers have a crown to seek for; there is something to gain which is not in this life. He shows us that he keeps his body under and disciplines it so that he may not be a castaway. Some interpret this as a need to fast, so the minister does not sin and then loose his salvation but we must remember that Paul had mentioned earlier that ministers had some privileges to eat, drink, marry, have sex, and earn a wage. We can see then that bringing the body under subjection would mean giving up some of these privileges for a higher calling. That is to say that it is wisdom for a minister to stop some of his privileges to be more effective in ministry. And the implication is that if he does not do this he will be a castaway. He would loose a heavenly gain because he has sort earthly ones. So, this position is not something peculiar to Paul alone but should be the position that every Christian minister should seek for so as to gain a heavenly reward.

Having stated all this, the question still remains as to whether ministers should be paid or not. The answer to that is that no size fits all. There may be a need to pay a minister and their may be a need not to pay a minister. A minister may choose to collect money for a work he does in ministry; he may choose to decline. The important thing is for men of God to truly discern whether their action or in-actions in ministry is hindering or furthering the gospel of Jesus Christ. Consider this example: a people attend Sunday service and in the space of two hours the following offerings are received: Workers Anointing Offering, Sunday School Offering, Sunday Love Offering, Building Offering and Mission Offering – while tithes, first fruits and some prophets offering as considered obligatory. Can the people who attend such an assembly be said to have received a “free” gospel? The implication of not preaching a free gospel is that the gospel will be hindered in one hand and the ministers themselves will be cast away on the other hand. Is it possible for a church to run without collecting tithes and offering? Were tithes and offerings collected in the churches the apostles of the lamb led? The perfect scenario that 1 Corinthians 9 shows is that a church should be a place where people come to hear the gospel and not a place to collect money from them. Ministers should be afraid that in the process of collecting money, people may be “put off” and souls denied heaven. But do Christian ministers really care about these things? I think that both tithes and offering should never be collected in church services. A collection box may be available somewhere in a church auditorium for people to put their monetary support for the ministry. I also think a minister could have a number of people who will partner with him and support him financially and prayerfully so that money issues never take center stage in a church. Because God and mammon are rivals any day, it can be pretty difficult to notice when one has veered off worshiping God and started worshiping mammon.

When we understand the crux of Paul’s discuss in 1 Corinthians 9 and we look at the way and manner Jesus Christ handled the subject of money, and as well see scriptural admonitions to ministers in regards to money (Matthew 10:7-10; Phillipians 3:18-19; 1Peter 5:2; 1 Timoth3:3), we will realize that the minister’s remuneration is a vital aspect of Christian ministry. Christian ministers should be men and women of skill who can work secular jobs to provide for their needs and the needs of their family – Paul, himself a foremost apostle of the Lamb, was a tent-maker. In cases were the minister, however, feels led to “forbear working” and be fully committed to ministry, he must be ready to bear the cost that will come with such a decision (1 Corinthians 4: 9-13). Ministry is not a business venture; ministers are not Chief Executive Officers and therefore should not expect to rival CEO’s lifestyle and remunerations. Ministry comes with sacrifices and some of those sacrifices are what Paul will have us see in 1 Corinthians 9. God is faithful to meet the needs of his servants but God’s servants must not use ministry as a cloak for covetousness. In most cases when a man veers into full time ministry, it is always wise to have a group of people who believe in his ministry enough to support him financially on a regular basis. With Paul letter to the Philippians, it is safe to say this is how the apostles of old and even Jesus financed their ministry. If this cannot be done, such individuals should work with their hands and earn a living. This is very important in the light of the two issues that Paul discusses in 1 Corinthians 9: the fact that the gospel must not be hindered and the fact that it must be presented free of charge. When money begins to occupy a crucial part of ministry and men who venture into ministry begin to use it as a platform to make money, they will begin to tear down the things that they were sent to build up.

PS: I wish to state that my writings are not directed at any church or minister in particular. My messages are to the body of Christ in general.

Happy New Year: 2014!

BOKO HARAM AND THE NIGERIAN CHRISTIAN

Two reports coming from Borno State gives us a fair idea of the dilemma that section of the Nigerian nation is experiencing at the moment. They are the attack on Baga village by soldiers from the Nigerian military in April 2013 and the carnage that occurred in a military base in December 2^nd for which the Boko Haram sect has claimed responsibility. In the former case, the Nigerian security forces are accused of carrying out something close to genocide on a village that was suspected to be harboring Boko Harm terrorists.

Boko Haram

In the latter case these terrorists are seen to have carried out a very successful campaign against a Nigerian military formation that has caused the Nigerian military a great deal of embarrassment. In both incidences, we are at the mercy of the press to know the exact figures of the causalities and we are left to a great deal of speculation as to how these incidences occurred and what informed them. Whatever conclusions may be arrived from them and others like them, something is sure: Borno State is not at peace and the rest of Nigeria has every reason to be bothered about this. It is Borno today, it can be Oyo tomorrow.

This essay is concerned about discussing the Boko Haram challenge and helping the average Nigerian Christian to have a balanced view of it so that we can work together as Nigerians to see the end of this insurgency. It must be stated from the onset that the Boko Haram sect is not Muslim. Yes, they may be said to be an Islamic sect but because of their resort to violence and murdering of innocent people – Muslims and Christians alike – their ideas are far from being Muslim. Rather they have invented a new religion that must be clearly seen as un-Islamic. It is important to state this because it is not uncommon to hear Christians refer to Muslims, in a bid to spite them, as Boko Haram. If a man holds the Islamic ideals but does not support or is not involved with men who kill others to make a political statement, that individual is not Boko Haram and Christians must understand this distinction. I have listened to messages that teach Christians that at the heart of the Islamic message is a love for violence – the Jihad. We

are told that there are a number of verses in the Quran that calls faithful Muslims to kill those who do not accept their religious beliefs. My answer to such is that any warped mind can take any holy book and make it say whatever his demented thinking wants it to say. Even the bible can be interpreted to teach that Jesus supported violence. Consider these scriptures:

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force – Matthew 11:12

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth:  I came not to send peace, but a sword – Matthew 10:35-36

These verses are the very words of Jesus and these are the kind of verses some Christian groups stood on as they embarked on the Crusades in the Middle Ages to restore Jerusalem to Christianity. History is replete with the horrors, murders and un-Christian things these men meted out in the name of Christianity. I am too sure no Christian is ready to call those people “brethren” today when we read of their escapades. This is the same challenge that the average Muslim is facing in the wake of the Boko Haram challenge that has gripped the Nigerian state. Nigerian Christians must understand that these Boko Haram are best referred to as Boko Animals – yes, brand

President Jonathan lending a hand of support to the Military

new animals that have undergone some mutation from human beings. They have become animals not by any supernatural work of the Almighty but by their own resort to be brainwashed by some ideas that are far from Islamic.

Another reason why the average Christian must understand Boko Haram is so that we may realize that these animals are succeeding in planting the seed of hate and distrust in our minds. Boko Haram’s activities have as much Muslims as victims as Christians. At the outset of their campaign they were basically attacking Muslims and only began attacking churches some two years ago. When Mohammed Yusuf, the founder of sect, began preaching in 2002 or thereabout, his messages stood in stark contrast to those of the orthodox Islamic clerics in Maiduguri and most of these clerics warned their people to stay away from the sect. Even way back then Boko Haram was seen as a dangerous group, for even though their violent campaigns had not started in earnest, their messages of hate were incongruous with the messages Muslims listened to on their worship days. For this reason, when these animals took up arms against Nigerian security formations, they also attacked and killed Muslims that did not share their ideas. It was when the scope of their violent campaigns began to widen that they included attacks on churches and the killing of Christians. Boko Haram activities are well documented in the media and they are things of recent history that anyone can cross check. These Boko Animals knew that if they could attack Christians they

Borno State is in North East Nigeria

would set Christians against Muslims and with time a culture of hate and distrust will lead to religious violence that has the likelihood of engulfing the whole country. They have succeeded in doing this in Kaduna state where there is an almost equal population of Muslims and Christians; they are presently stoking the embers of ethnic violence in Jos; and they are simply waiting for the hate and distrust they are succeeding in planting in the hearts of people in the South-West to spill over into full blown religious violence. Christians must understand this plan and resist it with the opposite spirit that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ enjoined on us – a spirit of love. We must think clearly and distinguish the regular Muslim from Boko Haram. We must remind ourselves of the fact that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God – this weapon is that of love enmeshed in a spirit of tolerance and understanding; such spirit that has characterized the relationship between Muslims and Christians in the South-West and which must not be lost to the confusion in the land.

While this essay may be directed more to Christians in this country, I would also use this opportunity to call upon all Muslim to publicly denounce Boko Haram and show that there is a difference between them and these terrorists. There is a sense in it that the actions or inactions of some Muslims have contributed to the fears and suspicion of their Christian counterpart. I have seen only very few Muslim organizations and even clerics denounce these group’s activities in recent times. I can understand the peril they themselves face with the increased popularity of this sect among northern youths who

The Streets of Maiduguri

are mostly poor and ignorant. There is a void in the mindset of this army of jobless youths that Boko Haram has taken advantage of. To speak against their activities in some states in Nigeria can be suicidal. Nonetheless, it must be done. Southern Muslims can help their northern counterparts by championing this course. This will go a long way in dispelling the fears in Christians and it will help them to see the distinction between the true Muslim and Boko Haram.

One thing is certain on my mind: Nigeria will see the end of the murderous sect. We have gone through worse situations before and our God has delivered this nation. God is a Nigerian and because Nigeria is His primary constituency, He will yet save this nation. With this spirit of optimism Christians must approach the place of prayer and call upon God to save Nigeria. Let us pray for our men and women in the armed forces: that God will help them in this onerous job of keeping the security of our fatherland. I look forward to the day when Christians will organize relief efforts for people who have been ravaged by these insurgents’ activities. Let brotherly love continue in Nigeria and let us ensure that hate, suspicion and fear comes to an end. Nigeria is an idea from God and not Lord Luggard. He has his reason for setting up this country and for endowing it so much. We must be the generation that will not fail God but rather be instrumental in bringing his good purpose to pass. Christianity and Islam have clear distinction in beliefs, and for us Christians who are earnest about winning souls for Christ, this attitude of suspicion and mistrust will defeat that purpose. However, an environment of love, tolerance and peace is what will allow us share our convictions with our Muslim counterparts while giving them the freedom to accept or reject our ideas.

When Jesus said Christians are the salt of the earth, he was pointing us to a characteristic that we possess inherently and that is our ability to preserve. Our presence in this nation is preserving its unity. And it is because of our beliefs. The moment we sell our belief in love, tolerance and peace for that of mistrust, suspicion

Says these kids from the north and south of Nigeria

and hate we would loose our ability to preserve this country. Jesus said if salt has lost its flavor, it is only good to be discarded. May we not be the generation that will be recorded in history that witnessed the disintegration or "discarding" of this country. Let us free our minds of suspicion; let us turn our back on hate message; and let brotherly love continue. This way we will see the end of our mutual enemy: Boko Haram, and Nigeria will be saved.

MENTAL ATTITUDE SIN

Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man:  but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man – Matthew 15: 17-19

In Matthew 5 Jesus Christ, in His characteristic revolutionary manner, redefined the purpose and intent of the laws God gave through Moses by stating “You have heard that it was said of them of old…, but I say unto you…”: he showed that it was not just enough to murder and break the law, the mere fact that a man is angry or unforgiving already attracts the penalty of murder. He also showed that we need not commit

The "righteous" Pharisee and the "sinful" Tax-Collector

adultery before the act is done; lust has broken that law already. Jesus was saying in effect that there was another kind of sin, a heart sin, a sin we could say is greater than other sins, a sin that is many times not overtly obvious but hidden in the heart but is equally as ignominious to God as the very obvious sins and might be even more heinous than they. These sins we may term: Mental Attitude Sins¹.

Mental attitude sins are sins that originate from the heart and can lead to very obvious “physical” sins. The challenge with mental attitude sins is that sometimes these sins do not leave the heart; they originate from there and remain there and can be there for years; dormant and waiting. The individual who is guilty of them may not even know he is in such a mental state of mind. Mental attitudes sins are pride, lust, anger, malice, jealousy, rudeness, bitterness, hatred, envy, uncleanness, revenge, unforgiveness, self righteousness, covetousness, insecurity and a host of others such sins. They are what one may term first grade sins because, like Christ showed us in Matthew 5, they form the root from where arise more heinous sins. Jesus Christ taught about mental attitude sins (although he did not call them that) to point us to two things: that the dispensation of grace would demand more from us in terms of righteousness and holy living than the time of Moses; and that true holy living is beyond keeping the letters of a set of laws. It is important that we remind ourselves these lessons again.

In first century Palestine when Jesus walked the face of the earth, the Jewish religion, Judaism, was experiencing some renaissance.  Having been delivered from the Babylonian captivity and having the likes of Ezra and Nehemiah teach them the laws of

Jews taken in Captivity to Babylon

Moses all over again, there was a new found hunger to serve God. If not for the sake of serving Him, but to at least prevent another captivity. What they did not realize was that the religion that Ezra passed to them had again deteriorated, leaving behind a lifeless form of Judaism. It was this religion Jesus met during his earthly sojourn in the flesh and it was this religion that crucified him. Jesus Christ was a contemporary minister. He did not make vague references about the issues he was teaching on, except when he gave parables in fulfillment of scripture. Jesus’ teachings came in stark contrast to those of the religious teachers of those days, so that while ordinary people loathed listening to these men, whose self righteousness shone as the noon day, they listened to Christ gladly (Mark 12:37). And our Lord did not disappoint them. Jesus did not bind heavy demands of the law on the people; rather he showed the true intent of the law. Jesus Christ was real and very compassionate to people who had sinned (John 8:10-11) but condemned the people who seem not to have sinned because of their outward religiosity but were guilty of a greater sins in the heart: mental attitude sins. This was the matter that was being thrashed out in the text that introduces this essay. The religious teachers of His days were accusing his disciples of transgressing some traditions. But Jesus responded by saying that if anyone was breaking God’s laws it was the religious leaders themselves who had “transformed” God’s laws and its original intent to doctrines of men, that gave rise to laws and traditions of the elders. Then Jesus said that it was not what went into a man that defiles him, but what comes from his heart. Defiling in this context will certainly mean sin. Jesus would have us believe that the root course of all sins is from the mental state of a man’s mind; if the man’s mind is oriented towards the laws of God and their true intent, he would obey God’s laws naturally. But if they are not, he will disobey God’s laws. Jesus, like he did in most of His ministry on earth, was redefining the actual purpose of the laws of God. We would see this play out clearly in the trial of Christ that led to his crucifixion. The religious leaders who were bound in a mental state of hatred and malice conjured all sorts of lies to see Jesus crucified, but they did not have any qualms with keeping the demands of the laws even at that period of time.

So it is not a legalistic adherence to a list of codes written in a book that makes a man holy, rather it is a conscious attention to the state of a man’s heart that makes him holy. For example, the man who has learnt the art of shielding his mind from lustful advances and guides his eyes, is more likely to win over sexual sins than another who has a head adherence to the law: “thou shall not commit adultery”. The day he takes leave of his senses because of the enormity of the temptation at the moment is the day he will commit adultery because he simply will just forget the law and do the act.

It also leads us to the spirit of the New Testament: which is that God has taken His laws, which hitherto he had written on tablets of stone, and has put them on our hearts (Hebrew 8:10). If those laws were written externally, we will need to continually resort to external forces to keep them. If they are written on our hearts and entrenched there, we would simply breadth out what is already inside: holiness (remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 15). Some are of the opinion that the grace that came with the New Testament came to help us keep God’s laws of the Old Testament. This is far from the

truth of scripture (2 Corinthians 3:3,6; Hebrew 8:13). The nature of the New Testament laws is that these laws of God are more in number; richer and more demanding than the laws of the Old Testament. These laws were structured to tame the flesh (Colossians 2:23b) and they are meant to be progressively applied to the New Testament believer. While the Old Testament placed its the demands on the Jews all at once, the laws in the New Testament come one after the other, by the witness of the Spirit in our hearts. And as the Christian learns to obey them, he grows progressively in grace and holiness.

One primary difference between the Old and the New Covenant is grace. In the New Testament there is grace to keep God’s demands in our hearts. We will find them as we resort to God in prayer and the study of His word. But one other means of grace must not be forgotten and that is preaching. It is important that God’s people, who are being discipled in the way of righteousness, place themselves under the ministry of a godly, sanctified, grace-filled minister of the New Testament, who will feed them with the word of God; with which they can go out to live righteous lives (John 21:15). Many Christians fail in their Christian walk because they either do not have godly role models to pattern their lives after; or the messages they hear every Sunday lack the grace ingredient to live holy during the week (Hebrew 13:9); or the ministers themselves have traded the oil of holiness at the lap of Delilah and are passing to the congregation a defiled spirit that leads the people to act likewise. God intends to give his people grace to live the Christian life – for there is yet a temptation that will arise that God has not made adequate means of escape from.

One other reason why we need to remind ourselves of the concept of mental attitude sin is so that Christians may learn to shed off the toga of self righteousness that perfection of works seem to impart on us. When we realize that God does not measure sin the way we do, and also discover that mental attitude sins are as grave or if not more serious than some overtly obvious sins, then we will learn to be humble and talk more in terms of the righteousness that proceeds from grace than the one that comes from works. God hate sin. God will judge every sin. And for those in Christ, God has judged their sins in Him. We need to be continually humbled by the fact that the most upright Christian is as much a sinner as the carnal one, because there is no one without sin (1 John 1:8),  both of them are equally guilty before God (Romans 3:19). But because they

Mental Attitude Sins

are Christians, scripture refers to them as “saints” (1 Corinthians 1:2); this title does not originate from the Pope but from the righteousness of Christ Jesus imputed on us, as we identify with his death and resurrection in faith (1 Corinthians 1:30). When we do this we see that we are all debtors to God’s mercy and grace – regardless of our state of maturity. This does not remove the fact that if Christians are found in overt sins, they must be cautioned and sometimes disciplined, but only with the hope of restoring the erring brother and it must be done in love (Galatians 6:1).

When Jesus said we should not judge our brother, I believe he meant it in the sense of labeling some other Christians as sinners while we are the righteous. The truth of the matter is that some of us come from well shielded and protective backgrounds and would not have been exposed to the temptation that some other believers are. Even if we come from the same background, we are all at different levels of grace, faith and exposure, and God’s expectations of every one of us differ. We cannot judge another Christian because we do not see the whole picture. And while we judge and label them as something, the believer, who is a Priest before God, may have entered the holy of holies by the blood of the Lamb, found forgiveness and cleansing for his sins, and proceeded out to be a new person in the Lord. All this while, we join the devil in the ministry of accusation and condemnation. If there is one lesson this author has learnt: it is never to judge Christians on some mere acts of sin – regardless of how grievous. I will take up issues with any man on matters that border on doctrine and scriptural interpretations; but I thread very carefully in the matter of practice and overt sin. And I think it is a good practice for every one of us because we may be the one in need of restoration from some sin tomorrow.

The wonder of the New Testament is the blessing of the cross of Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus lived and died that we might enjoy the fullness of being sons of God. By Him we have a righteousness that is sure. By him we have access to the presence of the Father.

Put your hope in the Done Work of the Cross
and you shall be be Saved

By Him the written code, the laws of Moses, are abrogated and we are free to follow the leading of God’s Holy Spirit. By Him we have a Sure Hope, heaven, a place of rest, comfort and everlasting enjoyment of God. By Him we have peace in this world despite every tribulation. And by Him we can overcome the deepest mental sin state in our heart that we alone know; and sometimes we do not even know, but God knows. Jesus came that he may deliver men from their sins: including the worst of them all, mental attitude sins (Matthew 1:21).

1.     The Concept of Mental Attitude Sins is taught by many ministers including the Late R. B. Thieme (Jnr). You will find them in his books.
2. I would be very glad if anyone, by reading this essay, came to the consciousness of his own sinfulness and a need of Savior. I would enjoin you to call upon the name of Jesus Christ, in your own words, as you truly feel in your mind, in the privacy of your heart; and you will be saved. You can send me an email: yesufudeji@yahoo.com and I will rejoice with you and find some ways to encourage you along in this new found faith in Christ.

HEAVEN

There is a mansion in a place far away

No tears nor sadness, night is always day

The sun is always shining on an unclouded sky

Beautiful city, heavenly city of light

You also Can Get to Heaven

As I drove to work some weeks ago, the words of the above song by the legendary gospel trumpeter Phil Driscoll, titled “On the Other Side”, drifted into my heart from my MP3 player. I then had those rare moments in life when I contemplated what life after death shall be like. Of course, as a Christian believer in the person of Jesus Christ, my thinking centered on what heaven shall be like. This essay is not going to be glorifying death; rather it shall be speaking of a place called heaven and shall be exalting the Person who will be making heaven worth all of its glory – the Person of Jesus Christ.

John 14:1 – “Let not your heart be troubled:  ye believe in God, believe also in me.   2 In my Father's house are many mansions:  if it were not so, I would have told you.   I go to prepare a place for you.   3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also”. These words proceeded from the mouth of Jesus as he spoke about heaven, the eternal home God Almighty has given to as many as found faith in Christ Jesus. A careful study of those words reveals that there is no air of uncertainty in His words; the only condition given to make heaven is faith; we do not see our Lord threatening fire and brimstones about sin taking Christians to hell; rather we see these words as words of comfort coming from the Savior to a group of distraught disciples as they came to grip with the fact of Jesus’ inevitable departure. To comfort them, he gave them His word: I shall be returning to take you to heaven.

There is a greater need for doctrines emphasizing the reality and certainty of heaven in

"Every moment we live, we face a thousand ways to die"

today’s turbulent, shaking and disaster ridden world. The recent Super Typhoon Haiyan that wrecked havoc through the nation of Philippines reminds us mortals of how easy it is to die in a world like this. Death seems to stir man in the face every moment. Unfortunately, the Christian church that should present a well rounded doctrine on the afterlife to men reeling from life’s uncertainties are themselves either not knowledgeable of what the bible says about this subject or they simply lack the correct biblical doctrines on heaven. So that rather than preparing the saints for the life after now, we are told that there is a prosperous life that we can look out for in this life and thus we have believers today who have their minds set more on things of this earth than on things in heaven (Colossians 3:1). Or in other cases, heaven becomes a laborious task that must be attained via human effort through the means of holiness; resulting in a group of Christians that are so heavenly minded that they become earthly useless.

The first century Christians had a better grasp of what heaven was. In their time there was an active expectation of the return of Jesus Christ. When this did not happen, they faced the mission of evangelism with such self abandonment because they believed the words of our Lord that said those who kill the body cannot kill the soul. This were their testimony: We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21). There was no ambiguity about the after life for them: heaven was a sure place they looked forward to. So much so that Paul the apostle in Philippians chapter one was in a fix as to which one to choose: whether to remain and help the church or to go and be with Christ. He felt dying was better but remaining will benefit the church. When he will eventually face death, he said in the letter to Timothy that there was a crown awaiting him and all those who look forward to Christ’s appearing (2 Timothy 4:6-8). There was an air of certainty in his statement; it was not hinged on self righteousness but on Christ the righteous Judge; and it also had a promise for those who looked forward to heaven.

Beware of False Visions of Heaven

Today, the visions of heaven that we hear of leave many Christians in doubt of what there eternal destiny shall be. Lately, we have heard of so many people with claims to after death experiences. Many of these people come back to tell us that heaven cannot be reached except by human effort. Their visions lack the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith; rather they tell us that we must pray enough, give enough, and work enough to enter heaven. So rather than a joyful expectation of the kingdom of God for laboring believers today, we instead have a fearful expectation of judgment (Hebrew 10:27). What is supposed to be the expectation of the wicked is being made the expectation of the righteous. I use this opportunity to comfort the heart of any Christian that has been shaken by these visions by saying that they are false visions from the world of Satan, and that the bible does not support a plethora of the claims these people come up with in those visions (Colosians 2:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:2). Rather, the bible makes it clear that everyone who has found faith in Jesus Christ can look forward to an eternal home in heaven; for God has not appointed us to wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9). Genuine Christians should look forward to heaven without fear.

For those who have a reason to fear their eternal destiny because they have not found saving faith in Christ: the very fact that you have the privilege of reading these words shows that the hope of heaven and eternal life is still within your reach. Like you may have heard, and which I will endeavor to reiterate here, Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. I will not enter into the religious debate as to whether there are other ways to God but will simply state what the bible says that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life and as many as will come to God can only do so through Him (John 14:6). Finding eternal life through Jesus Christ is not difficult: it requires only that you understand and know God. As you come to grasp with this knowledge of God, there will be the need to ask God in the privacy of your heart to forgive you of your sins and to allow His Son to come and live in you for eternity. There is no one way fit all unto salvation; I am convinced that God can save men in myriads of ways but they all share a common route: confession of sin and faith in Jesus Christ. When you have done this sincerely from your heart, God will come to live in you by His Holy Spirit. This Spirit will help you in life and is also a guarantee that God will bring you to heaven (Ephesians 4:30).

My personal expectation of heaven is huge. The idea of heaven of being a place laced with streets of gold, mansion, angels, singing, etc, is good and nice; but what I look forward to seeing the most in heaven is the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the

"Welcome Good and Faithful Servant"

world. The One under whom all my sins are hidden; my comforter; my love; the fully breasted One who sustained me through all of life and gave me all these blessings, while comforting me through tribulations that accompanied my witness of Him in this world. The One through whom I obtained all of life’s blessings by grace alone. If I am privileged to be given a crown for my service to Him, I trust God to lay it at His feet because without Him I could do nothing: I am all that I am by the grace of God. I look forward to knowing the Father through the Son by the Holy Spirit. I also look forward to seeing loved ones that were long dead and had gone ahead to heaven: I trust God to see my late Mother, who taught me about God at a very early age. I look forward to seeing the great apostles of the Lamb, especially Paul, whose writings God used to disciple the church. I look forward to an eternity of worshipping God and enjoying Him forever, through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Folks, heaven is real and you can be there. It is the reason why I do not subscribe to a doctrine of long life and prosperity. If heaven is a sure place and I am done with my assignment for God on earth, why wait any longer. I trust God to allocate for me the number of years that shall be sufficient to complete my assignment on earth and when I am done, I shall be grabbing death and be using it as a horse to eternal life (if Jesus tarries His coming). This I believe is the kind of thinking that inspired Phil Driscoll to sing that song about “The Other Side”. Enjoy the second stanza and the chorus, and you may follow the link to listen and download the song itself.

See you on the other side.

In the beautiful city, the pain’s gone away

I hear that you can see the music, shines bright as day

The love they say this whole needs, is heaven’s always

Dreams cannot paint it, this heavenly city of light

Chorus:

Can I get a witness from the grand stand in the sky

Where the sun is always shining, I’m ready to fly

Won’t you tell me what you see in that city so high (so high)

I know that its so much better, so much more beautiful

The sun shines brighter on the other side

Phil Driscoll

Listen: http://www.mp3olimp.net/phil-driscoll-on-the-other-side/ (Press "play")

THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST (PART 5)

My Concern

Another Gospel

Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? – 2 Corinthians 11:28-29 (NIV)

Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not well;  yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you – Galatians 4:16-19 (KJV)

At some point in the ministry of Jeremiah he did not want to speak for God anymore but he could not help it as God’s word in him became like burning fire and he could not hold it in (Jeremiah 20:9). Paul the apostle made it clears that “though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of:  for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16). The preaching of these men of God was not popular; they preached out of a burden that God had placed on them and it could be rightly said that they were mere vessels with which God passed his message to the people of their time; the messages these men preached were way greater than them. True gospel preaching in any age is not stardom or show biz; it comes with a price that only a few can pay.

My greatest concern about the messages preached today in the name of the gospel is that these messages lack the power to save. It is through gospel preaching that the power of God that saves sinners is manifested. Peter went to minister in Cornelius’ house. The people there listened to the gospel with a prepared heart and received it with faith. Without making an altar call and without hands laid on anyone and without saying any sinner’s prayers, these people were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, literally (Acts 10:44). God has ordained that salvation will come to men via gospel preaching and this is the reason Satan attacks the gospel. If he can succeed in ensuring that the gospel lacks its true ingredients, then it looses the power to save and all we will have in the local church is religion, entertainment, showbiz and a sheer waste of time. All of these will be happening while hordes of souls are lost to hell moment by moment.

There are no new tricks in the Devil’s bag. We must understand that Satan’s means of making the gospel loose its potency has not changed since the time of the apostles of Jesus.  In the days when Peter, James and Paul led the church, Satan’s primary means against the gospel was by confusing the grace that was preached in the gospel of Jesus with the laws of Moses. He is still doing the same today but in a subtle manner. This matter was what led to the Jerusalem Council meeting in Acts 15. The conclusion of that meeting was not the fact that four laws were enumerated for the Gentiles to keep but this: “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:11). The conclusion reached in that meeting is the belief that it is the grace of God that saves sinners and that the Christian life must be lived by this grace and not by any system of laws.

Today, the church is again weighed down by laws but not necessarily the laws of Moses but our inability to distinguish the Old Testament from the New. The church today takes much of it examples for Christian doctrine and practice from the Old Testament rather than the New. Thus, the priestly order of Aaron has been conveniently converted to a league of Men of God. Rather than submit to the admonition of Jesus that says we are all brethren (Matthew 23:8), we find it easier to have ordained Pastors and Bishops, who hold such authority in the church and cannot be questioned but must be revered. Any tendency to question these men, we are referred quickly to the Old Testament again were God placed a curse on those who dared challenge Moses: “touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm”. We forget quickly that the people of God in the New Testament have been made priests and kings unto God (Revelation 1:6). This fascination with the Old Testament extends to the church’s preoccupation with buildings.

Buildings: Symbol of Organized Church Systems

The temple in Jerusalem was the symbol of the Jewish religion. Today, the church building occupies an equal place of relevance. And regardless of the cost of building and maintaining it, the church building has become our symbol of religion too. It is this Old Testament mentality that informs tithes and offerings collected in church services; thanksgiving; child and property dedication; Sabbath observance; full time ministry; mass choir; anniversary celebrations, a queer belief that God dwells in church buildings and a host of other similar practices. None of these can be traced to the New Testament churches led by the apostles of the lamb.

Paul’s contention with the Judaizers of his time was not just because they practiced circumcision but because he was trying to ensure that the gospel and the church life that will emerge from its preaching will not be adulterated and thereby loose its potency. God meant for the church to be distinct from Israel and that distinction is not to be confused. Paul preached the doctrine of dispensations (Ephesians 1:9; 3:1-11). A mystery doctrine that teaches that even though God never changes, He has instituted certain changes all through human history to bring about His eternal purpose of redeeming humanity to Himself. This doctrine is a mystery in the sense that it was not revealed to Old Testament Israel but to the apostles of the Lamb, who in turn taught it to the church through their epistles: and therefore the distinction between the Old and the New Testaments. We have three dispensations that can be subdivided into two each. These are the Theocratic, Christocentric and Eschatological dispensations. The theocratic dispensation can be subdivided into the age of the gentiles and the age of Israel. The age of the gentiles will range from the time of Adam and Even, through Abraham and up till the time the nation of Israel came out of Egypt. The age of Israel will be from the time the laws were given through Moses until the time Jesus was born. Then we come into the Christocentric dispensation that can be divided into the Hypostatic Union and the Church age. The hypostatic union is the time when Jesus was born, through his earthly ministry and up till the time he died on the cross. It called hypostatic union because of the unique union of the God-man found in Jesus Christ. It also represent a unique time in the dealings of God with humanity when grace and law operated at the same time. The time of Jesus must be seen as a separate dispensation because that is the only time in history when God dwelt amongst men and it is the dispensation that makes other dispensation relevant. Then we come into the church age, which is the dispensation were we live in the present time. It ranges from the time Jesus died on the cross up till the time when the church will be taken away in rapture. This dispensation is not characterized by the laws of Moses but solely by grace. The teachings of the apostles, particularly that of Paul, are what theologians like to call Church Age doctrines. These doctrines are particularly designed to be taught to the church: for the equipping and perfecting of the saints until we all come to the full measure of maturity in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 4:12-13, 2 Timothy 3:16-17). After rapture there shall be the eschatological dispensation that is subdivided into the time of tribulation and the millennial rule of Christ. When we understand dispensations, then we can understand the seeming discrepancies in the teachings of Paul and Jesus Christ¹. Jesus operated in a time of law and grace. He fulfilled the law and bequeathed its righteous requirement to the church. Paul taught that the church is no longer under the laws of Moses but under a new law that commands us to love God and men.

My Contentions

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints – Jude 3

The major difference between the true gospel and a false one is that

False Teachers are Wolves in Sheep Clothing (Matthew 7:15)

God is at the center of the former while man is the central figure in the latter. The gospel of Jesus Christ peaks ultimately on the sovereign workings of God. So that when Paul discusses justification by faith in Romans, he could not but talk about the doctrines of Christians’ election (Romans 8:33) and Predestination (Romans 8:29-30; 9:1-33). He then concluded the whole discuss with a wonderful rendition on the sovereignty of God in chapter 11:

33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!   how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!   34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord?  or who hath been his counsellor?  35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?  36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things:  to whom be glory for ever.   Amen.

A thorough study of scriptures shows the sovereign out workings of God on the earth. History simply tells His Story. It is all for His glory. On the other hand, the false gospels center on man, his needs and how man can attain glory in this life; of course, at God’s expense. I shall be taking sometimes to explain some popular doctrines but will avoid linking them to specific popular preachers’ names so as not to breed unnecessary offence.

There are some doctrines today that place faith at the center of the Christian gospel. This faith is one that uses God to gain the good things of life. It uses scripture like Mark 11:24 to claim whatever is good, regardless of what God’s will on such things are. Adherents of this kind of religion use faith to get wealth and health. Their core justification for their kind of Christianity is the fact that it works. They forget quickly that the bible does not record anyone using his faith to get wealth and health, and if the early Christians truly lived this kind of gospel life, they would not have been recorded being persecuted, poor or destitute, as we have them well documented in

the New Testament (1 Corinthians 4:9-13). Jesus Himself would have been super rich and would have devised a less ignominious means of purchasing salvation for us than the cross.

There are many things that work today and these things do not have any root in the bible. The reason why we have adherents of Buddhism, Hinduism, Animism, and even Islam, is because there are certain metaphysical aspects of these religions that can be used to conjure material benefits to their adherents. I can never forget reading a book titled “The Cosmic Power within You” written by one Joseph Murphy. In it the author recounted many miraculous occurrences, blessings, healings, and prosperity that came the way of people who have learnt to use a certain cosmic power within them. That book never mentioned the name of Jesus, quote one bible verse or tell us what the cross of Jesus did. He simply was telling us that every human has a cosmic power that can be utilized to that person’s advantage. There is little difference between those who espouse a Word of Faith Christianity and Joseph Murphy except for the fact that the former use scripture to lend credence to the same doctrine the latter teach. The faith that is taught by the word of faith movement simply has as its end product or benefit the prosperity, health, promotions, healing and blessings of those who believe in it, however, in the name of Jesus. That is why this sort of faith is not the one in which the individual prays and waits for God’s will to be done. Rather this faith is a “living” or “active” faith whose outcome is dependent more on the person than on God in whom we are expected to place our faith in. Thus the need to be strong in faith; and not to waiver; and the need to continue exercising this faith through a positive world view and confessions, as the outcome is wholly dependent on your faith and not necessarily on God. “You are what you believe”, ministers of this gospel bellow. It takes people who have ventured into the world of metaphysics or have read the works of the likes of Joseph Murphy to understand my point here. The end result of it all is for man’s benefit and to bring glory to man. God is just a means or a vehicle to achieving this purpose. This is one leading example in which man has replaced God in modern gospel preaching. It is this teaching on faith that has led to others like it: the prosperity gospel and motivational teachings. At the root of all of these doctrines are man and his benefit, and not God and His glory. The teachings of Joseph Murphy come under the New Thoughts doctrines that became popular in the United States in the 20^th Century. Doctrines from New Thought form the over-aching doctrines in the Word of Faith movement. Paul the apostle certainly had the likes of the Word of Faith movement at heart when he talked of those who will see godliness as a means for making profit (1 Timothy 6:5)

Next to the faith movement is the holiness movement. While the former is a more recent occurrence, the latter dates back to the 18^th and 19^th century under the Puritans, Quakers and some of John Wesley’s followers. The holiness movement is a sharp reaction to

extreme grace preaching and living. There are those who believe that God’s grace permits them to live without laws or boundaries and in reaction to this, the holiness movement went the other extreme to say that God is still the God that enacted the Ten Commandments and his commandments are not for decoration in the bible. They also take scriptures like Hebrew 12:14 to give the impression that we are saved by our holiness. Their doctrines on holiness become so based on man and his efforts, that the grace of God in Christ Jesus is gradually edged out of the life of their churches. The mark of many of these churches is a pre-occupation with rules and regulations. The church dictates the mode of dressing especially for the female folks, insisting that they must wear head coverings. Many of the people in these churches become very hypocritical as they see the practice of religion more in external things than in inner purity. Salvation by works is their central doctrine. They are constantly in pursuit of making heaven – and consider any doctrine that suggests a Christian’s security in grace as utter heresy. These people live in constant fear of one’s sin making them miss heaven and can be a very poor representation of what the Christian life is and thus put off many people who have at some point or the other considered Christianity.

When we realize that the majority of churches in Nigeria fall into either of these two groups then we would appreciate the enormous task at hand. The gospel of Jesus Christ has continually been threatened by the gospel of man right from its inception and it is our duty to call the Christian church back from were it has fallen to. Yes, the foremost responsibility of the church is to propagate the gospel but what will we propagate if all we have is an adulterated message on our hands. We then realize that as much as we are called to propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ, it is incumbent on us to preserve it also.

My Convictions

Jesus said “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). I desire that all men will know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent,

and that by knowing Him men would have eternal life. It is for this reason I am sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in this five paper series. I believe that in the gospel there is inherent power to save sinners and to give sufficient grace to live the Christian life in a manner that is pleasing to God. I believe the undiluted gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of grace that has justification by faith as it central theme, and that God is so committed to His word that He is ready to confirm it anywhere it is preached. I am however concerned that the gospel will loose its power if it is not presented with the necessary items within it and it will simply become another philosophical talk or talk show or an avenue for entertainment (1 Corinthians 2:5). For this reason the gospel must be preserved from every sort of distortion.

I believe the aim of gospel preaching is to bring sons to God with Jesus Christ being the first born Son from the dead. Sons of God, in this case, denote men and women coming to maturity in Christ Jesus as they are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God. So that unlike in the days of old when God ruled men with laws written on a tablet of stones, God desires that his sons be led directly by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8; Galatians 5:23; Hebrew 9). In this way their righteousness will be “greater” than that of those who lived under the laws of Moses in that the demands of the Spirit on God’s sons will always be greater. But it also means that every man can enjoy growth in grace at his own pace and not having to depend on a general standard of rules and regulations like in the days of Moses. So that the demand on the new born babe in Christ will certainly be different from the demand on the matured (John 21:22) and that way God can deal with his children at everyone’s spiritual level without anyone comparing himself with another. The beauty of the blessing of the Spirit is that God is with everyone that calls on the name of the Lord. They can enjoy being led of the Spirit and see God do great things in their lives, with everyone dealing with God according to the grace of faith He has dealt each man (Romans 12:3). The mark difference between spiritual babes and matured sons is that babes or children always require rules and regulations, while sons have exercised their spiritual senses to discern between good and evil (Hebrew 5:14|), and choose to do good without any system of laws to guide them.

I believe that the Christian church should be concerned with what its testimony is in the world. As it is now the name of the Lord is continually blasphemed by the actions of many Christian people, especially prominent Christian leaders. Our primary duty to the world as Christians is evangelism and this includes how we conduct ourselves in the eyes of the world. There is no reason why a Christian leader should indulge himself, living the life of a cooperate CEO of a multinational company, owning private jets, fleet of expensive cars, mansions, etc, in spite of the poverty ravaging the land. The fact that non Christians are at the forefront of criticizing this sort of lifestyle should deter such actions. Even if a Christian leader finds support for this in the bible, he should restrain from indulging himself in it lest he passes the wrong message to the world and lest our witness is tarnished. Gospel preaching is not in words alone but it is seen even more in our actions. When the life the Christian man lives begin to approximate to the way Jesus lived, the bible says the world will ask us a reason for our hope in Christ; then it becomes very easy to point to a crucified Christ. The case, as it is today, were virtually every air time on the local TV and radio, is occupied by either one church jingle or preaching, but does not translate to Christians living above board in their private homes and offices, is a disservice to the gospel and cannot bring

souls to Jesus as God wants. There is a need for a total overhaul of what true gospel preaching and living is, and this must be taught to the Christian community in our various local churches so that we may be the light and the salt Christ desires us to be.

My Conclusion

There is no end to any discuss on what the gospel of Jesus Christ is. It is my desire that Christian people can read what I have written and ask themselves if what I have written is according to scripture. That will demand that they must be like the Berean believers who checked everything Paul taught them before holding them up as doctrine. If in doing this, my readers find out that what I have written is the truth, I will desire that they compare this gospel with what they hear in their churches. If it turns out that it is in anyway different, they owe it to themselves to ask their ministers some very uncomfortable questions. And if adequate answers cannot be given, they may need to find other congregations to fellowship with.

What I have written is not mere theology. I have endeavored to

The Christian's Constitution

teach the bible not based on my understanding but by taking the scriptures at face value. Bible teachers are always in danger of reading into scriptures what it never says and that is why I maintain that the best kind of bible study is teaching the scriptures, especially the epistles, verse by verse. Anyone who has done this has always gone away with a richer grasp of the bible. It may also be necessary that bible teachers use sound bible concordance to trace root meaning of words in their original Greek form and know the context in which words are used, while at the same time paying attention to the historical perspectives within which the epistles were written and whom the epistles were written to. This way it becomes very easy to know how to apply these messages to our time. A plethora of errors are being propagated because bible teachers are not studious enough. Every Christian minister must be a theologian if he must be able to rightly divide the word of truth.

My hope is that if anyone has not made a decision for Christ and has managed to read through all I have written, such a person would come to faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I believe that the same God, who is mighty to save you, is also sufficient to keep you safe unto that day when we shall be in God’s kingdom. I also trust God that Christians who have read this piece will find increasing grace to grow in their faith in the Lord: loving God and humanity, and increasing in a zeal to better human life through true gospel preaching and living.

Thank you for reading and God bless you greatly.

1. For a more in-depth study of the doctrine of Dispensation, I recommend R. B. Thieme Jnr’s book on the same subject. Others have also written exclusively on it and a simple google of the word would shed some light on it.