CONTROVERSIAL CHRISTIAN SUBJECTS

Here, you'll find articles that examine the validity various established Christian beliefs, and that discuss Christian subjects that have received much attention and debate.

WILL YOU GO TO HEAVEN?

A big pillar of Christianity today is that we are going to heaven, and it is the hope of most Christians. However, has the Bible really told us that we are actually going to heaven, or is it just a violation of Revelation 22:18-19, looking at some parts of the Bible and ignoring others? Such questions will be answered in this article.

Let’s start off with some analogies. When a man buys a house, does he give the master bedroom to his children, or does he leave it for himself and his wife? It’s obvious, the man and his wife will get the master bedroom. This idea of everybody going to heaven doesn’t match such an analogy. Not everybody can be the president’s minister. Not everybody can be the commander of the army. Some people have to be led by others, and some will have higher positions than others.

One reason why we aren’t going to heaven is because God is somebody of structure, somebody who likes leadership. God doesn’t want everybody in heaven, and nobody on earth. We can understand this with the organization of the Israelites. God chose one of the twelve tribes of Israel, Levi, to do the priestly work. Remember, it could’ve been any tribe, but Levi was chosen. They were given a different inheritance, and the way they were organized differed from that of the other 11 tribes, and they would do the sacrifices, keep control of the temple, and the other priestly work, while the other 11 tribes would just follow along (Numbers 3:12, 8:14, 19).

This same idea of authority is in heaven, because even among the angels, they weren’t and aren’t the same. Satan the Devil, before his rebel, was a very powerful and important angel in heaven (Ezekiel 28:3-5, 12-15). The saints, who will go to heaven, are not the same either, seen by the request of the mother of the Zebedees (Matthew 20:20-28). God, of course, is the highest, with no competitor (Psalms 95:3, Deuteronomy 10:17, 1 Corinthians 8:5-6).

One thing that makes people believe they’re going to heaven is the idea that the earth is going to be destroyed. After all, if the earth would be destroyed, we’d need to go to heaven, right? However, places like 1 John 2:17 and Revelation 21:1 do not suggest that the earth is going to physically be destroyed, neither do places like Isaiah 65:17 or Revelation 21:1 describe a situation where a new planet will be formed, and this one will be destroyed. Rather, God is going to purge this earth of its iniquities, and its faults, namely oppression, wickedness and ignorance. “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?” (Isaiah 58:6 - see also Psalms 9:9).

However, is there anybody at any point that will be going to heaven? Well, just as how a president has his ministers, which assist him in his leading, God has ordained saints to assist Jesus Christ, the spiritual priest (Hebrews 8-9) in judging the world and gathering his children (Isaiah 40:11, 11:12). They are predestinated ones of God (Romans 8:29), given the power to judge angels (1 Corinthians 6:2-3), the authority to execute judgment on the leaders of this world and spirituality (Psalms 149:5-9), and the license to reward his children (Matthew 16:27). They also give the Holy Spirit to the saints on Earth (which will join the others in the future) to have the means to dispense the gospel message (John 12:48, Isaiah 60:14, etc).

There are still other pieces of evidence, though. For example, in Matthew 5:5, Jesus Christ stated, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” In Psalms 37:11, David the Psalmist had stated, “But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” In Psalms 115:16, David the Psalmist had stated, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.”

It’s quite clear now whether we’re going to heaven or not; we aren’t. However, this isn’t a disappointment, because God saw the creation of the earth, and everything in it, as good (Genesis 1:31). Plus, God loves his children, and his arrangement isn’t like the arrangement of this evil world, where somebody who’s a nobody is a nobody, and a special man is a special man, no matter what. The saints are closer to God, and special, too; however, a righteous man is a righteous man before God, and God has made nice provisions for all his true children (1 Corinthians 2:9), that not only allow us to survive and worship him, but to be happy doing so.

GOD'S CALL TO HEAVEN

The New Testament sheds some light about going to heaven (see John 14:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:48-53 and Philippians 3:20-21. This article, though, will explain God’s call to heaven (who’s involved, and what such ones will do in heaven).

Why are people going to heaven?

God never intended for people to go to heaven. When He created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1), He wanted people on earth to live on earth, while the spirits live in heaven (Psalms 115:16).

However, when humanity sinned in Genesis 3:1-6, Adam’s family, which was to be everlasting, had hearts with “evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

But God wanted to fix that by creating a new family, one that would fulfill Isaiah 43:21. Jesus Christ is the father of that spiritual family (1 Corinthians 15:45, Isaiah 9:6), and the children are chosen to be a part of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-33). But who is the wife who will take care of those spiritual children, and raise them up with various experiences in this world (Zechariah 13:9)?

The saints.

They are going to heaven because they are Jesus Christ’s wives (Revelation 19:6-8, 21:9) who take care of the spiritual children that Jesus Christ produces (see how Jesus is the father of that family in our article “The Story of Eden”). Going to heaven gives them proximity to Jesus Christ as they dwell with him, progress the Kingdom Puprose, raise their spiritual children and judge the world (Luke 22:28-30, Revelation 1:6). These roles are understood with the Levites, who the saints have been compared with (Isaiah 66:21).

The Levites

The Levites were a group chosen by God to regulate the priestly work and accomplish tasks related to keeping the place holy (see 1 Chronicles 28:21, 2 Chronicles 8:14, 13:9-11, 23:6, 29:25, 34, 30:17, 22 for details on their duties). They were given a separate inheritance for this work. “Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.” (Numbers 8:14).

The Levites were not supernatural people who did things no one else could. God chose them for the priesthood because they didn’t participate in the adultery of the other 11 tribes in Exodus 32. They were to keep the whole nation of Israel holy before Him. “But let none come into the house of the Lord, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord.” (2 Chronicles 23:6).

Why Are the Saints Peculiar?

Just like the Levites, the saints are not supernatural. They were “redeemed from among men” (Revelation 14:4). They are just spiritually fertile because their hearts agree with God’s (Matthew 11:25-26, 2 Thessalonians 2:13). They are tested and proven to be holy and pure. “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:4 - see also Revelation 3:4 and 5:9). They “love not their lives onto the death (Revelation 12:11).

In this world, they dispense the gospel message (Isaiah 52:7), acting as reapers to gather the children of God with the message (Hosea 11:10, Zephaniah 2:1), and to act as a witness (Revelation 11:3). They are persecuted during this time, but are justified in the process (Romans 8:30).

Being Content

We have to be content with how God does things. We can’t impose what we want for ourselves on God. Rather, we should learn to be content. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5). We should be like St.Paul, who learned to be content in every situation. “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Philippians 4:11).

In 1 Samuel 23:16-17, Jonathan showed contentment when he declared to David that he, though being the son of King Saul, would be next to David when he became king. He wasn’t just doing this because he loved David; he knew it was God’s will for that to occur, and he didn’t question God. This is different from what Mariam and Aaron did in Numbers 12. They weren’t content with God’s arrangment of Moses leading the Israelites.

Plus, God doesn’t work the way humans do. Here, when you’re poor, you’re seen as less important and not worthy of rights and a steady future. The rich have that shoved in their faces.

However, God’s arrangement is balanced. The saints may be more special to God; they may be closer to Him; they may be more powerful than humans. But that doesn’t mean God loves them more than righteous humans. God loves all who worship Him with a pure heart the same.

Therefore, instead of imposing our decisions of inheritance on God, we should celebrate that the saints have been chosen! After all, they work for our benefit, as they keep us safe and raise us up in righteousness. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” (Revelation 19:7).

RAPTURE

Rapture is a futurist doctrine in the branch of study “eschatology”. It’s the idea that Jesus would come physically and take his people to heaven. This theory was popularized by John Nelson Darby in the 1830s, and others like William Miller and Harold Camping predicted when it would happen (1843 and 2011 respectively).

This article will focus on Matthew 24:40-41 and whether that verse supports rapture or not, along with other topics that people misunderstand to support rapture.

Matthew 24:40-41

“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

This verse does not refer to rapture, but rather how the gospel message works. When the gospel message is preached, some people accept the message, because they’re called by God (John 6:44). They have a spiritually fertile heart. God is spreading the gospel around the world (Matthew 24:14) to gather those people (Isaiah 11:12) so that they can live forever. This process can be understood with the parable of the sower.

“Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.” (Matthew 13:3-8).

The seed is God’s word which is planted in different kinds of hearts. Some hearts are good, or “spiritually fertile” (the seed that fell on good ground) while the others are people who have hearts that can’t live according to the gospel message. This distinction is just like the one in Matthew 24:40-41, that some will be taken, and the others left.

There are examples in the Bible of such distincts made (not necessarily by the gospel message, though). For example, out of Jesse’s seven sons, it was David who was chosen to be King over God’s people (1 Samuel 16:1-13). David and his brothers were very similar physically (blood connections), but how they ended up spiritually was completely different, just like, “Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left."

Ruth and Orpah is another great example of this. Ruth and Orpah married into the same family, and both their husbands died. So you’d think that both of them would persist in going with Naomi to Bethlehem. But after some convincing, Orpah left. It was Ruth who persisted, as we see in Ruth 1:16-17, and she ended up marrying Boaz, and through that became the great grandmother of King David and a part of Jesus’ lineage (Matthew 1).

The statements in Matthew 24:40-41 were a part of a larger section of statements, from verse 36 to 42. It was about an hour that we’re not aware of. This doesn’t refer to the rapture being in an hour people don’t know, but rather the fact that Jesus Christ has come as a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2, 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 16:15). This is not because Jesus Christ wasn’ts to be secret; the wickedness of this world prevents people from understanding his coming (Matthew 24:12 - iniquity shall abound). This explains why the events of Jesus Christ’s kingship in our time, such as gathering the word together using social media, the Internet, etc (Matthew 25:31-32) and weakening the power of the nations and leaders (Matthew 24:29 - shaking the heavens) are largely unknown in the world. The way the world used to work (kingships and overlords, big spiritual powers) is changing so that there will be no oppression, injustice and wickedness prevailing from leaders being used by Satan. That entire system is a “new heaven” and a “new earth” (Isaiah 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:1-5). Those who God reveals what Jesus Christ is doing will understand what’s going on in the world and rejoice (Revelation 19:1-6) and make sure to not love the world (1 John 2:15-17). Those who don’t know will fall with the world (1 John 2:17, Matthew 24:35) just like in Noah’s time (Genesis 6-8, Luke 17:26-30). They will be left behind, while the righteous ones will be “taken”.

The Saints

One reason why people believe in rapture is because they don’t know who the saints are, what their role is and the difference in their inheritance from the rest of God’s children.

In 1 Thssalonians 4:16-17, it gives us the answers to these questions. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

When God was crowned as King, he called his men from the grave and they became spirits, to rule with him in heaven (Luke 22:28-30, Revelation 1:6). The “trump of God”, can be understood with the two trumpets in Numbers 10:2-10, which were blown to sgnal various things, such as for the Israelites to assemble, and for them to fight a war. And just to know, the “descend from heaven” isn’t physical. It means he’s turning his attention to the Earth, the way God turned His attention to the Israelites to deliver them from their bondage (Exodus 3:8).

Another thing that people don’t understand is how God rewards His children. They use a verse like Matthew 5:12 to prove that they’ll go to heaven for their rewards. “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Jesus Christ was not telling us that we will have to go to heaven to receive our rewards. Rather, it was that our rewards will be heavenly ordained, and not made by man. If you look at Abraham’s life, you’ll see that his blessings didn’t come from the men around him. The nation that he’s known for was done by God (Genesis 12:1-3, 15:5-6, etc).

And for those who think that they’ll go to heaven because Elijah did, Jesus Christ told us that nobody went to heaven before him. “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” (John 3:13).

Rapture can’t be true because it would make much of the Bible wrong. The Earth is important to God; it’s His footstool, after all (Isaiah 66:1). He wants to rid it of its corruption and Satanic influence so that the righteous can live in peace, and without persecution. “For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.” (Psalms 102:19-22). God wouldn’t need to do that if the rapture would happen, right? He would just destroy the Earth and keep the righteous in heaven.

Therefore, rapture isn’t real.

IS JESUS CHRIST GOD ALMIGHTY?

This article is going to examine the established doctrine that God and Jesus are the same and see how scriptural it is.

Biblical Logic

If Jesus and God were the same, the resurrection wouldn’t have been possible because a dead entity can’t resurrect itself. God doesn’t die (Psalms 90:2), so He resurrected Jesus. Jesus Christ on Earth was quite sure of this, which was why he claimed he had the power to “take his life again” (that is, retrieve it, and as a human being, he didn’t have such powers without God).
If they were the same, Jesus Christ can’t be considered the “Lamb of God”, because a lamb never walks to the slaughter; it is lead there by whoever is performing the sacrifice. Jesus Christ was referred to as a “lamb led to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7), because he was led by God (in a spiritual sense), to the Earth to be killed (Isaiah 53:10) to take the world’s sins away (John 1:29).
If they were the same, Jesus Christ’s example would’ve been pointless. We are told to follow Christ’s example (1 Peter 2:21) because he was submissive, humble, and obedient. If he was God, then that wouldn’t be possible because God does not submit to anyone (Isaiah 40:18, 42:8, 45:5, 23, 46:5).

Their Differences

God is the King of kings and Lord of Lords. “For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.” (Deuteronomy 10:17 - see also Psalms 95:3). He is ultimately glorified, no matter what happens, and He decides who gets to be glorified as well (Exodus 9:16). His name is JEHOVAH (Exodus 6:3), and His ways are holy (Deuteronomy 32:4, Leviticus 11:44-45, 1 Peter 1:6).
Jesus, on the other hand, is the Son of God (John 5:26-27), the one who created everything else besides himself and God Almighty (Colossians 1:15-17, Ephesians 3:9, Revelation 3:14, John 1:1-3). He is King in our time, ruling God’s Kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Psalms 45:7). “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” (Luke 1:32-33).

Jesus Christ’s Statements

Ultimately, this all boils down to what Jesus Christ has said. Had he claimed to be equal with God?

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” (John 5:19).

“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” (John 6:38).

“And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.” (Luke 18:18-19).

Misinterpreted Quotations

John 10:30 - “I and my Father are one.”

This does not mean that Jesus Christ and God are the same person. Rather, this mean they have the same purpose. They both love righteousness (Psalms 45:7, Hebrews 1:9). And that is why they have such a smooth relationship (Amos 3:3).

Matthew 28:19 - “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

This verse is talking about preaching. All our preaching is about God, because without God, who owns humanity’s success, our preaching is in vain. If we do not preach through Jesus Christ, our preaching will not be relevant (Matthew 11:27, John 5:23). And if we do not preach with the Holy Spirit, but rather with the evil spirit, then it will be false and prevent people from worshipping God (Isaiah 9:16, Ezekiel 34:1-1,1, etc).

1 John 5:7 - “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.”

This is an interpolation in the Bible. This is not supposed to be there, but it was implanted by biased Bible organizers.

John 1:1-3 - “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

The Word is Jesus Christ, and when it says he is “God”, this means is a “god”, because we worship him (Philippians 2:5-11), and because of his role of ruling in the midst of his enemies (Psalms 110:2), he is conquering nations, making them submit to him (Isaiah 9:6-7, Psalms 72:1-19). And Jesus Christ hasn’t lived from everlasting to everlasting. He was God’s only creation (as in, that was the only thing that He created by Himself”, hence the title, “Only Begotten Son” (John 3:16, etc).

But where does this doctrine come from?

Over 1700 years ago, there were many philosophers who took pagan traditions, most likely coming from the Romans, and wrapped it with the Bible so it would make sense to people like Constantine, who had mighty power. In 325 AD, Constantine “the Great”, had a council for Arius and Athanasius to defend their theories (Arius had a doctrine similar to the one of Jesus Christ), and Arius was defeated. That’s people believe in Jesus and God being equal.

The Advice

When we want to believe something, we have to make sure that it fits in the Bible, otherwise we will be led astray. “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1). And if we happen to be developing such things, we have to make sure they ORIGINATE from the Bible, instead of them being wrapped with misinterpretations of the Bible’s message. “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19).

For more information:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpBDflYvyZI&t=790s

BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED

A big pillar of Christianity is the doctrine that grace is the beginning and end of our worship with God. God calls us, and he forgives all our sins, and when we do anything bad, we are entitled to forgiveness. And, to support this, people use Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” However, did St.Paul really mean that Christians don’t have to do anything when worshipping God?

Grace can be divided into two levels: Opportunity and Ability. Opportunity is the kind of grace that allows us to know about our iniquities. It isn’t what brings us from iniquity to righteousness, but it allows us to be aware that we were formerly in iniquity before knowing God. The apostles had continuously thanked God for ability to understand our iniquities, and be called to live better lives (Colossians 1:12-14, 1 Peter 2:9-10, Philippians 2:1-10, etc). Not everybody gets such opportunities (Matthew 13:10-16, Matthew 22:14), and for such reasons, it is grace.

Zedekiah King of Judah was given such grace, because in Jeremiah 38:14-28, he was told by Jeremiah the Prophet what would happen to him if he escaped, and if he surrendered. Not many kings had such grace. But, he’d wasted it, because he still decided to flee, and Nebuchadnezzar caught up with him, killed all his family before his eyes, and then plucked his eyes and took him to Babylon (Jeremiah 39:1-7).

In these last days as well, there are people in this world who will hear the gospel message, and it will make sense to them, and they will grasp it, like the people in Acts 2:37, and they will treasure it, like in Matthew 13:44. Such people were also described in Hosea 11:10: "They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west." It is only the grace of God that makes it possible, because most people will hear it, and not value it all that much.

But, there is also the grace that allows us to take that message and use it to cleanse the bad spots in us, the sins (Galatians 5:19-21, Isaiah 1:16-20, Ephesians 5:26, etc). The grace is God giving us the Holy Spirit to do so (Romans 8:9, 14), but we still have to put in the work and effort to make such things happen.

St.Paul can also be used as an example, because it was by God’s grace that he could have the abilities to be the successful apostle that he was. “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10). St.Paul also thanked God for the grace that he had given to the people of Thessalonica, which is why they didn’t oppress Paul, but they took care of him (2 Thessalonians 1:3, 2:13).

What’s even worse about this doctrine is that it makes people want to feel entitled towards God. Once they get told that God is somebody who will always forgive the sins of people, quoting Psalms 130:3-4 and Isaiah 63:7, they start to feel entitled to sin continuously, and be forgiven. Will we say that, because Judas was called by Jesus Christ, he will be saved, though he betrayed him and ended up hanging himself? (Matthew 27:1-5). Would we say then that the Pharisees would be saved, because they knew the Bible, though they killed Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ even asked for forgiveness on their behalf (Luke 23:34), but God still went with his judgment in AD.70 and AD.135.

For such reasons, we can’t interpret St.Paul’s statements in Ephesians 2:8-9 as to mean that grace covers everything. St.Peter and St.Paul said that if we have the grace of God to come and know the truth, but we continue in our evil ways, God is going to come after us (Hebrews 10:26-29, 2 Peter 2:20-22). We have to repent and change our ways (Romans 6:3-4, 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, Ephesians 4:17-32). Anybody who can’t change their ways doesn't have the grace of God, but anybody who can does, and will be blessed for doing so (Ezekiel 3:19, 2 Kings 17:13).

For more information, click these links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIPQHmWziyM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0rQchuVubk

WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

The Holy Spirit is simply the force of God. It is holy because it is used for holy purposes. “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.” (Psalms 143:10). Don’t be deceived by the Holy Ghost - it is the Holy Spirit.

WHAT THE HOLY SPIRIT DOES

It was through the Holy Spirit that God created this world. "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) see also (Psalms 33:6-9 and Job 26:12-13).

It is also through the Holy Spirit that people lead righteously. For example, in Exodus 3:1-14, God appointed Moses to lead the Israelites from the land of Egypt to the land of Canaan. It was said in Isaiah 63:11-14 that it was through the Holy Spirit that he did this. And in Numbers 27:16-20, when it was time to replace the leader, God appointed Joshua to finish the job, and he led with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit gives a diversity of gifts (Romans 12:4-8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-12, 28:31). For instance, Aaron had been given gifts to be a priest of the land (Exodus 28:1-3). Bezaleel was also given the Holy Spirit, to prophesy (Exodus 31:1-3) It also bears fruits, attributes of God (Galatians 5:22-23, 2 Peter 1:5-7). We’ll be able to be meek, gentle, kind, have faith, compassion and love for God, and the others (Isaiah 11:2, 2 Timothy 1:7, 1 Corinthians 2:9-14, etc).

Also, the Holy Spirit has the ability to inspire people, like the people who wrote the Bible, and the Bible itself. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). That’s why we should pray to be inspired by God (Job 32:9, 8).

There are different levels of the Holy Spirit. The general kind is the one most people get, but there is a higher level of the Holy Spirit, the anointing of the Holy Spirit. That was the kind that people such as Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:16-17, John 3:34) and the prophets/saints (Joel 2:28-29) had. They need it to go through all persecutions, distractions or hindrances and dispense the message relentlessly. (Matthew 24:31, 14, Isaiah 52:7, etc). What they say becomes fuelled by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Samuel 23:2, Micah 3:8).

It's worth noting that to sin against the Holy Spirit means to sin deliberately (Matthew 12:31-32). When you have the Holy Spirit, and you sin against what it tells you, you don't have any more chances (Hebrews 10:26-29, 6:4-6, 2 Peter 2:20-22, etc). It is therefore important that we let it guide us, and pray for it not to leave us (Psalms 51:10-11) because it can (1 Samuel 16:14). If we do the simple things that it tells us to, it leads us through the path of salvation, and to the Promised Land (earth, not heaven).

For more information, click this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCgAfdNvu3U

THE CONCEPT OF BAPTISM

Baptism as a practice originated in the time of John the Baptist, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. He was the forerunner of Jesus Christ, the person who prepared the way (Luke 1:13-17). He was called John the Baptist because he baptised many people (Matthew 3:1). And from then on, it became a very popular practice, mandated by all Christians.

Now, even though the physical practice of submerging somebody in water (immersion), and then being brought back out, is seen as cleansing all the sins you have, the question comes: Why was Christ baptised? This means that it isn’t the physical baptism that actually cures the sins, otherwise Christ wouldn’t have been baptised. “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” (1 Peter 2:22). Therefore, when he was baptised (Matthew 3:16-17), it was an outward show, to foreshadow the spiritual meaning (Romans 15:4, 1 Corinthians 10:11).

There are also some practices that people have set up based on baptism that are not scripturally based. For example, some people have changed the physical submerging to sprinkling of water, rather to speed up the process or so that you can do it in other places other than rivers. It is not scripturally based, because it is a complete submergence that can even be symbolic for the spiritual baptism (Colossians 2:12), having to do with completely changing your ways to Christ.

There is also infant baptism which is very popular. Infant baptism isn’t scripturally based as well because baptism is for people who have already come to hear about the truth, and believed in it. Infants can’t believe, obviously, and therefore baptising them doesn’t make sense at all. Everybody that was baptised in the Bible were adults (Acts 10:47, 16:15, 32-34). When the apostles would want families to be baptised, it was referring to the adults, not the children. And some people back it up with Matthew 19:13-15, or Matthew 18:1-4), where Jesus Christ was telling the disciples not to reject children. This was the spiritual sense, because it is such ones that will inherit the kingdom of God (check this video out to understand why: https://youtu.be/eXYLuvfDcXw).

The spiritual baptism has to do with our true and total repentance to God and his laws, becoming new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15, Romans 6:4, etc). The truth of God washes us clean (Isaiah 1:16, Ephesians 5:26, etc). And people who reject this spiritual baptism will not be saved (Mark 16:16, Revelation 9:20-21 and Revelation 16:10-11). We have to first of all acknowledge the fact that we are sinners (Psalms 51:5, Romans 3:10-23, et), before we can repent of them. And it is a complete change of our ways that is true repentance. The Israelites continually repented, but going back to iniquity afterwards. They weren’t spiritually baptised. They’d even hide it with excuses “but we are as the dust!’ (Psalms 103:14-16). Rather, we should acknowledge who we are in God’s eyes (lepers, even - check this video to understand why https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meRfmK2xd0E&t=581s), and learn the truth so that we can be perfect before his eyes (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

It's also worth mentioning what it means to baptise others. Jesus Christ, before becoming the invisible spirit, had told his disciples, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” (Matthew 28:19). Now, the apostles didn't continuously baptize everybody they taught. Meaning, it is giving the chance for others to repent by teaching them the truth. They have taught the truth to thousands (Acts 2:41, 4;4, etc).

It is very important that we understand the concept behind baptism, and what the physical submergence of water means. St.Peter had advised us on the spiritual baptism, saying, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:19-21).

For more information, click this link:

https://youtu.be/3MoQMTW5v2o

HOW THE SPIRITS WORK AMONG MEN

Though the world is advancing out of the concept of spirituality, and the idea of having invisible heads above us, such an idea hasn't completely weeded itself out of society. However, if we believe that spirits exist in this world, how do we know where they operate? How do we know where and when God is operating, and where and when Satan is operating, among human civilization? Well, this article well explain how.

First of all, the way to know when both Satan and God are working in the same space, which usually happens, in fulfilling of the parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30), is by the divisions that they make. Jesus Christ and others in the Bible had spoken of such divisions. “Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” (Matthew 24:41). “He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.” (Luke 11:23). Jesus Christ wouldn’t be talking about people gathering and scattering if they weren’t people controlled by Satan the Devil to be scattered.

We can understand this division by the story of the twelve spies in Numbers 13:27-33, and then chapter 14. If God were to be the only one dealing with the Israelites, the spies would’ve all agreed that the land was good to occupy. This kind of enthusiasm, excitement and interest in God’s work is also understood with the story of Lydia in Acts 16:14-16 and the story of David in 1 Samuel 17:1-58.

However, because Satan was operating ten of them, they decided to give another report, a report of weakness, and of fear, considering the giants of Anak that were living and guarding Canaan at the time. This idea of negativity, and not giving support when needed, is a good way to know when Satan the Devil has come in. Because of what they did, it caused the Israelites to rebel, and for God to sentence everybody who had left Egypt over twenty to death.

We have to understand the fact that Satan the Devil and his will is sold to people like candy. In Genesis 3:1-6, he came to Eve and sold his will of rebellion, unlimited freedom and humanism to her, and she accepted it. God also sells his stuff to people like this, but there’s a difference. Satan’s wills are very cheap, because they aren’t very effective, and whatever few effects they have are temporary. God’s will is expensive to buy, because, unlike the ways of Satan the Devil, it is pricy, and narrow, seen by the saying of Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14 - the narrow road to salvation, and with the parables of the hidden treasure and the pricy pearls (Matthew 13:44-46). It is like this because iniquity is prohibited, including people who we might have had as friends who do so (1 Corinthians 5:11, 2:6:14-18, Galatians 5:19-21 - the sins that have to be removed).

God has promised us that the divisions of humans from the influence of Satan the Devil is going to end. "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 11:15).

This principle was also used by Jesus Christ to divide the Jews, by collecting some of the Pharisees's believers with his teachings, and eventually taking over the entire congregation of people that the Pharisee were presiding over, and God said that he is going to do the same in the last days. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.” (Isaiah 10:20).

We have to know where Satan the Devil might be coming to make a strike at us. We should be aware of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). He can use anything from friends, wives to wives to children to destroy our faith, but with the wisdom of God, which is something we should ask for if we don't have (James 1:5), we can be as wise as serpents, and as harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16), and cancel out anybody who is trying to steal our faith away from us (1 Corinthians 5:11, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, etc), and only let our hearts be controlled by God. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23).

For more information, click this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ougfI-rkPYI

GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER

This statement is drawn from 2 Corinthians 9:7, which reads, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

A cheerful giver is someone who willingly gives to God. The person sees the need in contributing to God’s work. The amount doesn’t necessarily matter; it is the value that we have for it, especially in comparison to what we have, and the way we feel about it. That is why Jesus Christ said that the widow gave more than rich men who donated large gifts (Luke 21:1-4). After all, God is a spirit (John 4:24), and therefore judges wth the heart (1 Samuel 16:7), and our value for what we give. In fact, the way we feel about God also affects what we give. Cain gave something to God that he wouldn’t even want for himself, but Abel gave something very valuable to him (Genesis 4:1-4). Anyone can use that to decode a cheerful giver from one that’s not.

In the time of the Israelites, there was an offering called “freewill offering”, which was optional for those who wanted to give to God. There were regulations, though. You couldn’t just give an eagle or a wounded goat. You could only bring certain animals, and they had to be without blemish (Leviticus 22:17-25). And there were other things involved, too (Numbers 15:1-10). Those were only in place so that the offering could be within what God wanted.

There were also times when the children of God donated to God’s work. When His taberacle was to be built in Exodus 35, people willingly and generously offered gold earrings, blue, purple and crimson clothing and other things that were needed. In 1 Chronicles 29:1-9, 14, 17, people willingly offered gold, silver, iron, etc. to build God’s temple in David’s time.

Now, let’s look at individuals who willingly gave to God.

Joseph of Arimathaea donated the tomb he prepared for his own burial to bury Jesus (John 19:38-40). He wasn’t begged or encouraged to contribute and be a donor to God’s will. He saw the need in giving Jesus Christ, a special man in his eyes, a decent burial.

The Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:8-10 is another great example, becaus she fed Elisha anytime he passed by, and even saw the need to make a place for him to be staying. Remember, she was never asked to do that; as you’d see in 2 Kings 5:15-19, Elisha’s not the kind of person who goes around, asking people for stuff. But the Shunammite woman saw the need in giving/contributing to God, through helping Elisha.

A third example is Obadiah in 1 Kings 18:2-4. When Jezebel was killing God’s prophets, Obadiah hid 100 of them, feeding them with bread and water. Once again, nobody asked Obadiah to do that. He saw the need and reason to spend his money feeding those prophets.

All the instances that have been given above are physical, because physical things were donated to God. But remember, God is a spirit (John 4:24), and obviously doesn’t really glory in physical things. So, it’s not only physical things we can give to God.

Our bodies are offerings to God, too (Isaiah 66:20 - it’s no more physical bulls, but ourselves, in a spiritual light). We worship God in the spirit, and in the heart (Philippians 3:3) by giving God our hearts (Deuteronomy 6:5). Our heart is what makes us love things, hate things, pursue things, etc (Proverbs 4:23), and it’s what devises wicked things (Matthew 15:18-20). But when we give it to God, that’s very valuable, because Satan the Devil has set up many tricks to try to get that from us. And that’s what St.Paul spoke about in Romans 12:1. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Something wrong with this world (especially done by false pastors) is that they’ve turned the concept of giving to just money. Pastors try to make you give your money to them by telling you that it’s for God, because they “do God’s work”. Too bad it’s in vain (Matthew 15:7-9). They aren’t satisfied with willing donations and gifts. They want to extract it from you, because they are greedy (Isaiah 56:11). Some pastors try to honour people who give, and shaem the ones who don’t. They make rich people sit at the front, the way the Pharisees would make people who give gifts escape important biblical laws (Mark 7:11-13). Some pastors even make plaques for those who give, so that those who don’t will give so that they too can be on the podium. These people are like the sons of Eli in 1 Samuel 2:12-17, who wanted to take everything you’re sacrificing, instead of just what comes out of the fork, and they’re forceful, not wanting you to give willingly. What such people don’t understand is that the honour goes to themselves, and not to God. They still get the money, but God doesn’t get anything because it’s the willingness and the value that the people have for their gifts that’s important to Him. “For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.” (1 Corinthians 9:17).

Giving, especially to God, is a very good thing, and He never leaves such ones empty-handed (Matthew 10:42). He will make sure that they don’t lack any “good thing”. “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.” (Psalms 34:10). “For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” (Psalms 84:11). You can also read Isaiah 32:8, Proverbs 11:25 and 2 Corinthians 9:6.

One blessing that people who give to God get is honour. When you support God’s work, like what Joseph of Arimathaea or the Shunammite woman did, you will never be forgotten, both by God, and in my cases, the world, too. “God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to other Christians.” (Hebrews 6:10 in the Good News Bible). When what God is doing succeeds and blossoms, you will be known to have contributed to it. The Shunnamite woman got a child because of her giving (2 Kings 4:8-37). And the list goes on and on.

If we want to be blessed by God, we have to give to Him. If we give very little because of no motivation or enthusiasm, we get very ltitle, but if we give very much, from loving God, we get very much. “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” (2 Corinthians 9:6).

For more information, click this link:

https://youtu.be/Dr-LxcX_TPI

IF A MAN DIES, SHALL HE LIVE AGAIN?

This is a question that has existed for thousands of years, as Job had wondered about it in Job 14:13-14. “Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past (that wrath being the wrath that God has in these last days, according to Isaiah 28:21, Ezekiel 38:19-20, etc), that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again?”

The idea of resurrection is a reality, because the core of this question is about that. Jesus Christ had proved it when he demonstrated resurrection in Matthew 9:18-26, by resurrecting the girl, and in John 11:32-45, with Lazurus. It’s worthy of note that Jesus Christ didn’t see people who were dead as really dead, but more like sleeping. The people he really called dead were the Pharisees, but I’ll get to that in a bit. When Jesus Christ resurrected people, it was like he was just waking them up, and God sees it the same way.

But the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the first resurrection, because he was resurrecting to live eternally. “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Revelation 1:18). He is partaking in the first resurrection, him and his firstfruits. Those firstfruits are the saints of God. “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:23). The idea of firstfruits is a very simple analogy to understand it. There were, and still are, always those first fruits that come down first. Those ones are for the priest, or the leaders, generally. Then, it would be the rest of the fruits that would go to the congregation being ruled by the priest, or the leaders, generally. Same goes with the resurrection. Jesus Christ promised that after Jesus Christ and God himself would prepare the place, they would be taken up there. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 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. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14:1-3).

And then there is the general resurrection, for both the just and unjust. It includes the people mentioned in Hebrews 11:4-40, and all the other righteous ones,and the unjust ones. “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” (John 5:28-29 - see also Daniel 12:2 and Acts 24:15).

Now, like I said before, I would go into what it means to be spiritually. To be dead spiritually is for God to see you as somebody who cannot inherit eternal life. Usually it’s when you don’t know God, but sometimes people who know God are also seen as dead before him simply because they don’t keep his commandments. “The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.” (Proverbs 21:16). Such people will not live again.

What I have already said makes it clear that it is possible for a man who dies to live again. And Job himself gave the answer as well. “O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shall call, and I will answer thee: thou will have a desire to the work of thine hands.” (Job 14:13-15). Job also demonstrated such knowledge in Job 19:25-26. “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And thou after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”

For more information, click this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YeORlLmt40

THE DUMBEST THINGS CHRISTIANS DO

This article will list five dumb things Christians do and give relevant advice to avoid them.

One dumb thing Christians do is monetize Christianity (make Christianity all about money). Christians love money and limit God’s true blessings to just money and what it can bring. As for pastors, they teach their flock to focus on money and bring money to them so that they get richer (Micah 3:11). At every level, Christianity has become about money, and this fulfills Jeremiah 6:13. “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.”

However, Jesus Christ (a righteous man) drove out the sellers, money changers, etc. at the temple (Matthew 21:12-13). He exposed the Pharisees because they’d excuse obeying certain commandments if you’d give gifts and money (Mark 7:11-13; see also Isaiah 1:23). If money was everything in God’s service, he wouldn’t have done so.

There are two problems with monetizing Christianity. One, money itself has been considered “unrighteous” on its own (Luke 16:12), and something that much evil comes from (1 Timothy 6:10). It doesn’t satisfy, either (Ecclesiastes 5:10). Also, God set up Christianity with the ransom sacrifice so that people could serve Him, and the blessings that He intended on giving weren’t just related to money. Jesus Christ said you would get peace in your life (John 14:27, Matthew 11:28-30), and if you’re humble, God will reveal His purpose and will to you (Matthew 11:25-27). Those are blessings that Christians ignore because to them, they aren’t as profitable. They want money because people buy private jets and fancy cars with that.
Instead of making Christianity all about money, we should flip it around by using our money to build a better relationship with God (Luke 16:9). We can use our money to support His people (Matthew 10:42), the way Joseph of Arimathaea donated his tomb to bury Jesus (John 19:38-40). We can also buy resources that we’ll use to learn more about God and His purpose.

Many Christians involve God in their worldly lusts. They are more interested in the pride of life and look for a God who can provide those things. They read places like Matthew 21:22 and John 15:7 which suggest that God will give them whatever they ask for. Then, they start bringing all their worldly requests.

In another way, Christians drag God along with what they want in life, instead of the other way around. The Pharisees did this because they taught the commandments of men (Matthew 15:9). These commandments were ones that humans would want to hear (Luke 16:15), but they would bring God into such commandments, even though they didn't come from the truth. That’s what made them kill Jesus.
Many Christian children in this world do the same thing (Isaiah 3:4-5, 12, 2 Timothy 3:12). Instead of listening to their parents (Exodus 20:12, Ephesians 6:1-3), they want to tell their parents what they think and make them provide resources to help sustain their life goals.
If we don’t want to do this, we should trust that God knows what we need to live a fruitful life (Philippians 4:19, Proverbs 3:5-7). We should let God guide us and decide what we should do. Abraham, for example, let God decide where he should go with his belongings and people (servants, relatives, etc). He didn’t show God where he thought he should be going (Genesis 12:1-3).

The third foolish thing Christians do is in Hosea 6:6. “For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.” When Saul was king, for instance, he offered the necessary offerings, but he was not righteous because he didn’t value spiritual orders, values and principles, which was why he decided to offer the offering before war in 1 Samuel 13, picked and chose what Amalekite property to destroy in 1 Samuel 15 and even killed God’s priests at Nob in 1 Samuel 22.

Christians act similarly because they believe Christianity is all about going to church, singing and listening to a pastor. To support this, they might quote places like Acts 16:25 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 where rejoicing and singing was done/advised. But what about integrity, faith and love? Those were things Jesus Christ hammered on. Most Christians don’t have time to learn about those attributes because their hearts are to the world and what it can provide, and they don’t have the Holy Spirit (because it is the Holy Spirit that enables you to exercise such characters - Galatians 5:22-23). Their hearts are “far from God” (Matthew 15:8), though they pay lip service to Him (verse 7).
However, Christians should learn to not do this. God is a spirit (John 4:24) and worshipping Him requires the heart (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:39). Our hearts have to seek for God because God judges by the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Plus, as St. Paul said, we have to present our bodies (our hearts in particular) a “living sacrifice” unto God (Romans 12:1). That doesn’t refer to clapping and singing, but loving God and keeping His commandments. We are donating what the “issues of life” come from to God (Proverbs 4:23) so that we can serve Him faithfully.

The fourth thing is mixing church and state. To mix church and state is to share your heart between politics and spirituality. Many Christians are influenced by what politicians say and want to find favour from them. The chief priests did this by calling themselves subjects of Caesar (John 19:15), and King Herod also became friends with Pilate (Luke 23:12). The 400 prophets in 1 Kings 22 did this by acting as yes-men to King Ahab, an evil political leader, and their prophecies were influenced by what Ahab wanted. These examples can be contrasted with Nathan and David. It was Nathan, the prophet, who’s spiritual words influenced David’s feelings and made him repent (1 Samuel 12), and not the other way around.

Christians should understand that political forces are taking over spiritual forces because God wants to remove the spirituality (mainstream spirituality) that was influenced by politics. The abomination of desolation (the political system in this world) has the authority spirituality used to have (Matthew 24:15-16). Therefore, we have to keep our hearts towards God and not share it in half to include political leaders. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13).
Therefore, what Christians should do is to physically respect governments, pay their taxes, etc. (Romans 13:1, Titus 3:1, 1 Peter 2:13-14), but give their hearts to God. As Jesus Christ said in Matthew 22:21, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.”

One more dumb thing that Christians do is to have unhealthy relationships with others. Many Christians do everything that married couples do before deciding whether marriage is good for them. They want to enjoy everything that marriage has to offer before actually going into it.

Christians shouldn’t do this because God didn't set up relationships that way. Sex was something that sealed marriage together. That was why when Shechem slept with Dinah, he immediately decided that he would marry her. There was no question about it (Genesis 34:1-12).
Fornication and adultery have been seen as sins in the Bible (Galatians 5;19, 1 Corinthians 6:18) because God’s intentions towards setting marriage up in this world didn’t include having sex with someone but potentially marrying someone else. Therefore, Christians should do things properly by being married to the person they have sex with, just like Shechem wanted to do in Genesis 34.

Christians do these dumb things because they don’t understand the identity of a Christian. Christianity to most people is something they put in their pocket and run after the world with. But it’s more than that. It’s a lifestyle that we have to constantly live. Christians shouldn’t run after the world or conform to it. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2). We have to be unique from unbelievers and not seek what they do (2 Corinthians 6:14, Matthew 6:25-33). Jesus Christ is a good example to follow because his principles were God’s principles (John 4:34, 5:19, 6:38, 12:49-50, etc). He wasn’t interested in what Satan had to offer (evident in Matthew 4). He was obedient, disciplined and retained his integrity to God’s principles. To be a good Christian, we must do the same.

For more information:

https://youtu.be/n6tUGRRP2i8

WHO ARE THE SAINTS?

A saint is an ordained or anointed priest of God. Priest, in this case, means ministry, because they are leaders in the Kingdom of God. However, some people confuse this, thinking that humans can ordain saints, or that it isn’t only the saints that will be going to heaven. Are these things scripturally based? Let’s find out now!`

The Bible has made it clear that saints are ordained ones of God, because they are known before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Romans 8:29). They are not taught the things of God by man, but it is sent by God himself (1 John 2:27, 1 Corinthians 2:1, 4, 13, etc. For example, St.Paul was called by God himself, when the light was shown, and the Holy Spirit was sent to him. (Acts 9:1-19). Same goes with Jeremiah, who was already chosen before he was born (Jeremiah 1:5).

In this earth, the job of the saints is to dispense the message (Matthew 24:31, 14), referred to as the gospel of peace (Romans 10:15, Isaiah 52:7, Ephesians 6:15, etc). God said that there would be people that would feed the righteous ones of God with knowledge and understanding (Jeremiah 3:15). “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.” (Joel 2:28-29).

Because the saints teach the truth, they have to be persecuted. They teach righteousness, and the world isn’t in support of that (we can understand this through the story of Job, in Job 1-2, and also reading Psalms 59:1-4 and Isaiah 53:1-12). As a result, they have to be persecuted. However, the saints are surprised, and neither are they fearful. Rather, they rejoice, because it is a good indicator that they are doing the right thing (Matthew 5:10-12, Acts 5:41-42, etc). And Christians should be no different.

As a result of their persecution, God promised them that they would be rewarded in heaven, since they would become spirits (John 14:1-3, Philippians 3:20-21, 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18, etc). However, some people take this to mean that they will be going to heaven as well. We can understand the separation through the Levites, because the Levites had separate lands, and didn’t share very much with the other 11 tribes of Israel (Numbers 8:14, 3:12). As a result, they were distinct from the other tribes, because they helped the High Priest, and generally took part in the Levitical laws. Similarly, the saints have a separate reward for the works that they did.

It is important that we understand the saints, and what their inheritance is. They, and Jesus Christ, lead us, and when we are righteous before God, we are one with them, because we have unity of purpose (John 17:20-26).

For more information, click this link:

https://youtu.be/pR5B6F3R2pE

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