Month: May 2020

Isaiah 54:14-17
In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.

We are established in his righteousness. The reason why terror and persecution are far from us is not because we do good all the time or that we are without faults, it is based on his righteousness. Do not base God’s goodness on your own goodness, God’s goodness is based solely on his goodness.

What does he mean by weapon? He said you shall not fear because fear is a tool and weapon of the enemy. The root of fear is an unworthiness consciousness. When a man begins to approach God based on his merits, and works, he is breeding fear. We have a defense against the weapon of the enemy. It must always come to our minds that God is not angry with us. One must never trace the source of the occurrence of evil to God. God does not do evil and he has nothing against us. Our defense is his everlasting kindness. Our faith is not based on our faithfulness but on his faithfulness since he is always faithful.

We must always refuse fear, fear is the weapon of terror. The way the fear comes is by tongues rising against us. Tongues here refer to speech, words and not physical weapons. The way we condemn them is to speak back at fear. There is no wisdom in keeping silent.

Matthew 6:31
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

Fearful thoughts come to us because this is what the world is built upon. You take fear by speaking the fear. We cannot stop fearful thoughts from coming to us, but I can stop it from being productive. Fear and worries die unborn until they are spoken.

Confession: I do not give in to fear, I exercise my righteousness by my words. No weapon fashioned against me shall prosper. I win always.

CAN I LOSE MY RIGHTEOUSNESS?

Righteousness is God’s gift given to us in Christ. It is never by our works.

Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Rather it is a gift of grace.

Romans 5:17
For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Paul made it clear that God’s gift is irrevocable.

Romans 11:29
For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Thus righteousness is an irrevocable gift. The price of our righteousness is in the precious blood of Christ, hence whatever we have from it is everlasting.

1st Peter 1:19
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

The author of the book of Hebrews called it the blood of the everlasting covenant.

Hebrews 13:20
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Hence what the blood gives is everlasting.

Hebrews 9:12 &15
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us…15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Righteousness is based on the blood of Christ and as such it is everlasting.

Psalms 119:142
Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.

Confession: I am righteous not by my works but by his work and this righteousness is forever.

PATERNITY IN CHRIST

  “For when you would have ten thousand teachers in Christ, however, you do not have several fathers, since it was I who begot you in Jesus Christ by the Gospel.” 1Co 4:15

A father according to Paul is the one who generates you in Jesus Christ through the Gospel. One who does not know the gospel cannot be a father in Christ. To beget here comes from gennao which means to bring to life, to convert. This is a conversion that brings you to life by teaching the too good to be true news of God’s love.

Since the word father himself comes from pater which means the one who influences the thought of the other in order to bring him to his lifestyle. Fatherhood according to Paul is achieved at the level of what is known as the mindset. Because it is from this thoughts machine that we draw our concepts, reasonings and ideologies that determine our mode of perception. And we interact with our world as we perceive it.

You therefore understand that a father in Christ is much more than a person who shares with us some biblical verses or advice to get us out of a specific situation. He is the one who brings us to Christic life by the exact doctrine according to the Pauline revelation.

  Affirmation: Father, thank you for this wonderful person whom you used and continue to use to bring me to the life of Christ by the exact doctrine, by presenting Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery. Amen!

COLOSSIANS 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ (NIV)

The understanding of most Christians is that by avoiding sin they will avoid hell and by living right, they will get to heaven. This is the teaching most of us received from Church and Sunday school. With this understanding, we tried in our efforts to live right so we could avoid hell and inherit heaven. We lived in fear because we were not sure whether our good works were enough to qualify us to heaven.

The truth is that, avoiding hell or going to heaven does not depend on our ability to do good or our ability to shun evil, though doing good or avoiding evil are very commendable acts we encourage. It rather depends on whether you are in Christ or in Adam. It depends on whether you have believed the gospel of Christ or not.

Heaven is inherited not earned. The believer is not trying to make heaven. He is born from above. Heaven is his hometown. So, it is a matter of who your father is, Christ or Adam? If you should stand before God and he asks you why you think He should let you in, what will you say? That you lived right and avoided sin? A big no. No man can justify himself before God by his works. It is Christ who qualifies us. In him we have been made citizens of heaven right from our new birth.

I inherit heaven not by my works but because I was born in Christ, I have it as an inheritance by virtue of my faith in him.

John 6:35-40,
Galatians 2:16; 3:11,
Colossians 1:12-14

Ephesians 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.

The believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise as a fruit of redemption. Seal is for an identification where God is forever identified with you. Sealed as a guarantee with the Holy Spirit.

Hence in John 14, Jesus says the Holy Ghost will dwell in us forever.

Ephesians 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

A man cannot be said to be redeemed if he does not have the Holy Spirit in him. it is a result of being redeemed. Just as redemption is a function of Christ’s work, the Holy Spirit is given as the gift of Christ. The believer does not have to work to receive the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

The word “seal” was translated from the Greek word “sphragizo”. It means to put a permanent mark of ownership on something or someone.

Ephesians 4:30 And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

The word “Redemption” means to get back something you paid for. The indwelling of the spirit is a proof that this body has been paid for by the blood of Jesus.

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

2nd Corinthians 5:5 Now he that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

2nd Corinthians 1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

CONFESSION: I have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Because I am redeemed, the Holy Spirit dwells in me.