Basically, we should be content with our salvation regardless of what accompanied it and what we had to go through to get saved. Just like Paul said, in our struggle against sin we have not resisted to the point of shedding blood (Hebrews 12:4). This simply means that, no matter what we go through either before getting saved or while working out our salvation, we have not suffered like Jesus did. No salvation story, no matter how gory or messy it is,  can outweigh what Jesus did on the cross. He shed his blood for all mankind, although he was holy, he was treated like the worst of us. We stand to benefit from this and not necessarily repeat this sacrifice exactly. However, we are expected to carry the essence of this sacrifice in our body on a daily basis so that the life of Jesus will be manifested in us (2 Corinthians 4:10). That is, we are expected to live a God-glorifying, self-denying and sacrificial life that is able to further God’s agenda here on earth. 

Let’s take the story of Paul’s conversion as a case study. Paul persecuted the early church and even gave approval of and oversaw the stoning of Stephen. He was renowned for his zeal against the church, the bible describes him in Acts 9:1 as “… breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord…”. However, his encounter on the road to Damascus was one that changed, not only the trajectory of that particular journey, but his entire life and mission. He was on his way to persecute more churches yet he met the Lord Jesus Christ and heard him speak to him so audibly that the people travelling with him also heard the voice. Jesus asked him, “why are you persecuting me?”. (As a little side note, Christians have to understand that persecution of the church or the children of God is actually persecution of Jesus). Anyway, Paul became blind for 3 days; he didn’t eat or drink during this period. One may ask, was it necessary that he became blind for 3 days? I cannot particularly tell. But the point I want to make with this post is that, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is the fact that he was saved although the road to his salvation was not pretty. Paul probably would have preferred a different kind of experience leading to salvation. But nobody is given the right to customize their journey to salvation or their salvation story. You cannot choose how you should be saved. 

After one is saved, there is a lot of work to be done too. People expect a rosy Christian life with zero level of effort from their end. But this is not what the bible teaches. We are expected to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and do everything possible to ensure that we stay in the will of God. Of course, all of this is powered by the grace of God and the leading of the Spirit who is the seal and assurance of our salvation. Therefore, the road to heaven (which I call the culmination of our salvation story) is also not always pretty. During the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:29-30, Jesus made these 2 statements regarding the level of effort Christians need to put into maintaining their salvation until we enter heaven. He said:

• If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. 
• If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. 

He ended both statements by saying that it is better to lose your members than for the whole body to be thrown into hell. What does this mean? In the literal sense, it means God would prefer it if you entered heaven with one eye and one arm instead of your entire body thrown into hell. And if this is the case, we too should prefer this level of sacrifice, pain and suffering if it means through these we can enter into heaven. Of course, the bible isn’t insisting that we literally gouge out our eyes or cut off our arms anytime we are tempted or led to sin by them. But this comes as an example of the kind of extreme measures we are expected to take just to stay away from sin and to make it into heaven. Even if it takes losing something or someone that is as important to us as an eye ball or a right arm, we are admonished to do so. The road to eternal salvation is not always pretty. 

Lastly, in Paul’s first epistle to the church in Corinth, he addressed the issue of sexual immorality in the church. He highlighted a single story and pronounced judgement on the perpetrator. In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul refers to a man who was in the church and known to be sleeping with his step mother. The apostle made two recommendations regarding how this individual should be treated. He stated categorically in verse 2 that “Let him who has done this be removed from among you”. This man was to be excommunicated or restricted from fellowshipping with the larger group of believers according to Paul. This seems like a pretty harsh judgment for the sins of a Christian brother but it aligns with what Jesus said during the sermon on the mount, captured in the previous paragraph. For the church of Corinth, this brother was probably that eye ball or right arm they were expected to remove from their midst to ensure that there was sanctity, the fear of God and a literal hatred for sin amongst them. The Apostle spends the remaining parts of this passage, instructing the church on the necessity of excommunicating some of its members who fall into a certain category of sins. He ends it all by saying in verse 13 “purge the evil person from among you”. Sin is a cancer that spreads rapidly; either multiplying itself or engendering other sins. Hence, sometimes to prevent the spread of sin, the perpetrator must be removed from the group. This is the essence of the Apostle’s instruction and it very much aligns with the theme of this post.

My main focus however, is in his second recommendation. Paul gave the instruction that this man should be delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. Regarding the man being delivered to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, I have written about it in an article you can find in this link, do check it out. My main focus, in this instance, is the fact that Paul believes the perpetrator being delivered to Satan and having his flesh destroyed will lead to his salvation in the day of the Lord. It is as if Paul is implying that, if this measure is not taken, this individual would continue in sin and will miss heaven on the day of judgement. But the discomfort and pain that will come with the destruction of his flesh, will actually ensure that he will be saved in the day of the Lord. 

Again, the road to salvation is not always pretty. Sometimes, you will be forced to inflict pain and misery on yourself just to ensure that you are saved on the last day. Other times, the pain and misery will be inflicted on you to ensure that you don’t miss heaven. And if that time comes, I pray you choose:

1. Salvation over comfort
2. Communion with the Holy God over union with family, friends and relations
3. The reproach of Christ over the pleasures/treasures of Egypt/the world (Hebrews 11:26). 

Because salvation, in and of itself, is valuable regardless of any accompanying conditions.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Romans 12:1

The Apostle Paul makes a solemn appeal to the brethren in the church at Rome to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. In doing so, he beseeches them by the mercies of God to signify the gravity of what he is about to communicate and the fact he expects the brethren to take his words seriously. 

I will attempt to unpack these 3 terminologies the apostle used in this verse:

1. Living sacrifice – A sacrifice is a sacrifice because it is dead. In the Old Testament, animals that were sacrificed to God were first killed and then burnt. Burning a live animal on the altar could result in all kinds of unpleasant and chaotic experiences. The animal, even if tied, could scatter the altar once set ablaze. Therefore, it is best practice to slaughter the animal first before burning it on the altar. Again, sacrifices are sacrifices because they are dead. Case in point, the instructions God gave to Moses regarding how burnt sacrifices should be offered in Leviticus 1:3-9. God instructed him to slaughter the animal, shed its blood, skin it and chop it up into pieces. This is what it means to offer a sacrifice to God. Hence, when Paul beseeches the brethren to present their bodies as a living sacrifice, he presents us with a grand antithetic idea. It seems he expects the brethren to live as though dead. The apostle expects life and death to dwell together in the same being at the same time. In 2 Corinthians 4:10, Paul presents this same idea in a different way. He said, “we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body”. This basically means that believers are expected to live their lives observing and  practising the essence of the sacrifice of Jesus. The essence of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is captured in a statement he made in Gethsemane. While praying in Gethsemane, he battled with God to fulfil his purpose on this earth. But eventually, Christ said, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt”. Here we see Jesus, though alive, yet dying to his own will. This is what it means to be a living sacrifice: to be alive yet dead to your own desires, will and expectations. It is wrong is to allow our will and desires to prevail over the divine and ultimate will of God for us and humankind. To live as a living sacrifice is to be dead to yourself and alive to God. It means to deny yourself because you have to say yes to him. For us to fully actualize the life of Jesus in our body, we must carry in our bodies the reality of the death of Jesus. Which is the fact that he could have refused to die on the cross and he could have saved himself from the cross. But he didn’t! He was not pursuing his will while on earth, he was fulfilling the will of the father. Jesus in the flesh, was the ultimate living sacrifice. No wonder he calls us to live like he did. In carrying in our bodies the essence of the death of Christ, his very life will be revealed in us. He was treated like a sheep being led to the slaughter, not resisting arrest nor fighting back. In fact, he rebuked Peter for attacking one of the Roman soldiers who came to arrest him in Gethsemane. This is the height of a life that was lived as a sacrifice.

2. Holy – This means that the lives we present to God must be uncommon among men. We cannot flow with the tide of the day and expect to live holy lives. There is a saying that goes like this, “only a dead fish goes with the tide”. We have been called to be living sacrifices alright, however we are expected to live to God and die to the desires of our own hearts and the pervading philosophies and ideas of our world. Therefore, a life worth presenting to God should be a life that is set apart for him. That is a life that is lived according to the leading of the Spirit. A holy life. One that has no pleasure in sin and finds no reason to over-indulge in the mundane and wallow in the profane. 

3. Acceptable to God – Because you present something to God doesn’t mean he will accept it. Some sacrifices in the bible were rejected by God. Case in point, Cain’s sacrifice was rejected by God in Genesis 4:1-7. For anything to be regarded by God, it has to be honourable, of good quality and carefully selected or presented. We must be intentional about the way we present ourselves to God. The content of our lives are of immense interest to God. What we indulge in repeatedly forms the content of our lives. Therefore, if you are to present yourself to God at a time in your life when the mundane and the profane preoccupy your entire life, chances are that this sacrifice may not be acceptable to God. I need to reiterate the point that God indeed rejects sacrifices. The notion that anything at all presented to God should be acceptable to him is a warped one. He is the King of Kings and clearly requires the best of things as well. God deserves to receive the best from our lives, including what we do with it. Some people are of the view that they will use their youthful years to pursue sinful pleasures and turn to the LORD in their old age. While God is merciful to accept people who turn to him, yet we are emphatically admonished in Ecclesiastes 12:1 to remember our Creator in the days of our youth. God deserves the best years of our lives too. God shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought neither should we present to him the years of our lives in which our strength is weak and our reasoning is dim. We must present an acceptable sacrifice to him like Abel did. Practically, we can do this by valuing the life he gave us, adding value to it and presenting it back to him. 

Paul goes on to explain that, presenting our bodies in this manner is our “…reasonable act of worship”. The ESV bible puts it this way “… your spiritual worship”. I find it interesting to know that how we present our bodies to God has spiritual implications. This presupposes that the way to worship God spiritually, is to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him. What I do with my body has implications on how spiritual my worship is. Paul curiously quizzes the Corinthian church in 1st Corinthians 6:19: 

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own

Our bodies are the holy dwelling place of the Holy Spirit who came to reside in us at the new birth. Therefore, we must treat it as such. We must be very careful not to desecrate the holy habitation of the King of the universe. We must not sling mud and filth where the Holy Spirit dwells. He is called the Holy Spirit for a reason. After Paul asked this question quoted in the verse above, he goes on to say in the next verse, “ … for you were bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body”. What we do with our bodies must continually and consistently bring glory to God. Sexual sin is known to be the only sin that negatively impacts the human body. It is an audacious desecration of the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and it doesn’t bring glory to God. Let us pursue a holy and sinless lifestyle, flee from sexual sin so we can continue to present our bodies to God as holy and acceptable to the King of all kings.

“Sing to you” is a song that encourages us to sing to God even in the midst of the storm. The question is, will God hear me though? Won’t the sound of the stormy winds drown out my voice? Why should we sing through our pain? I ask myself these questions every time. It is amazing how we read and appreciate the story of Paul and Silas singing and praising God in prison till their chains fell off yet when it is our turn to lift up holy hands to God and sing our lungs out despite our burdens, we choose to plunge ourselves further into the mire. Which is very unfortunate because we turn away from the anchor of our hope when we decide against worshiping God in the bad times. It is hard dear friends. However, there is no hope elsewhere than in the arms of God.

In KB’s second verse of the song he said:

All night I couldn’t sleep

Thinking about all this joy that I couldn’t keep

All these holes in my heart it just seems

I’ve been pierced more times than I can speak

I got another hole from a friend last week

Lord, Lord why so many holes in me?

Then I saw the hands that were holding me,

He said ‘I know you, son, I’ve got holes too’.

I will tell you why these lines are so special to me. I have not studied all religions, but from the little I know, Christianity is the only one that has at its center a deity who has tasted of the worst kind of suffering a human being can ever go through.  How is this so? God came down to earth as a man to live amongst us, to suffer like any of us. He became one of us that we through him might become like him. That for me is enough. Because then when I go to God to tell him about my pain, I can never say something like ‘you won’t understand me’. Why? Because he does! He does because he became man and walked amongst men as one of us. He bore the cross on his sore back and was nailed to it, naked and battered like a thief. It is painful to go through torture of that nature. But to go through undeserved torture and having the power to speak a word for it all to go away yet choosing not to do so, is twice as torturous. I come to God with my problems knowing that he wouldn’t dismiss me and blame me for not being strong enough. In fact, he admonishes us in the gospels to come to him when we are heavily laden and burdened and he will give us rest. There is no shame in approaching God in your pain. Very few things can be more shameful than death on the cross. If he went through that and is now seated victorious and high above every power, best believe he understands you and your pain. It is very exhausting trying to explain your pain to another person. First, what you deem painful might not be regarded as such by whoever you are telling. When you step up to God in prayer, do so in all confidence that he has gone through excruciating pain too and understands how you feel.

Our High Priest

Not only should we confidently approach God in prayer because he has gone through pain before, also we should be bold to talk to him about the weights and the sins that easily beset us. Sin is shameful and dwindles our confidence in coming before God. However, if you think about it, Jesus who never sinned became sin literally on the cross so that you and I may become the righteousness of God. The bible says he never sinned yet he was made sin. This is a very unfair exchange but all this was done for the sake of you and me. Therefore, if we sin, it shouldn’t deter us from running to him. He became sin for goodness sake! He knows the shame of sin. He knows it all.

In the Old Testament, the High Priest went in into the Most Holy place to offer sacrifice for the sins of the children of Israel once every year. The sacrifice was accepted based on how pure the animal was and how pure the high priest was. The high priest could lose his life if he stood before God having sin in him. Thanks be to God our high priest doubles as the sacrifice. Thanks be to God also that he is very pure. Therefore, our confidence of righteousness is not in our deeds but totally in the purity of the sacrifice that bought our redemption. The writer of Hebrews put it this way:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14 – 16

Our high priest was tempted in every way as we are right now yet he was without sin. He isn’t oblivious to the weight of temptation. Neither does he judge us unfairly. Therefore in all confidence, we approach the throne of God that we may receive mercy if we sin and to find grace to keep us from sinning.

The Humanity in the Trinity

The WORD became flesh and dwelt amongst men as Jesus. The WORD literally took a demotion to become a man so as to accomplish the divine assignment of redeeming man from sin. Hence in that line, ‘I know you, son, I’ve got holes too’, what Christ is actually telling us is that he has been a man before. For who can wound God? Who can inflict physical pain on God? Had he not condescended to mortal man would he have ever known pain? There is humanity in the Trinity now because the WORD which became flesh has gone back to his former estate having experienced human suffering. That is why he is the one constantly interceding for us. And we cannot express our gratitude for this enough.

The first part of the line that says ‘I know you…’ deserves every bit of attention as we give the entire line. When God knows you, it is way different from being known by any human being. At best, our closest friends, parents, and spouses can only be familiar with our ways. But God knows as through and through. He told Jeremiah, ‘before you were a clot of blood in your mother’s womb, I knew you and ordained you to be a prophet to the nations’. God’s knowledge of us is the reason he predestines us. He knows you that’s why he has destined you to become who you are and who you will be in the near future. Way before you were a clot of blood in your mother’s womb, there was a calling on your life because God knows you. Therefore it is so remarkable that before he tells us he has holes too, he states that he knows us (according to the song).

Finally, it is very likely most of us look at the image of Christ on the cross and assume he only had 4 holes in his body and that was all he had to deal with. Note KB didn’t talk about physical holes in the song. He spoke about holes in the heart. These are marks of pain, anguish and sorrows that we suffer from being hurt emotionally, psychologically and even spiritually either by events or people around us. If that is so then we would have to come to the understanding that the 4 holes in Jesus’ body – the two in his wrist and the two in his feet – were not the only source of pain for him on the cross. A few days prior to the cross, he had been sold for 30 pieces of silver by one of his close allies. He was arrested after he had prayed so intensely that his sweat turned into blood. This points to the fact that Jesus was in a severe psychological and emotional distress before the Roman soldiers could ever subject him to any physical torture.

While being taken away he was denied three times by one of his closest disciples. At the cross, 10 of his disciples had gone into hiding leaving only John there. Even God had ‘forsaken’ him to the extent that he had to cry out in pain and ask why God had done that. I haven’t been this forsaken in my life before. We are talking about one who had been whipped with a flagrum the previous day and a crown of thorns forced onto his head. Then on the cross, he was pierced at his side with a spear.

When someone who has been through this level of torture assures you he understands your pain, you are left with no option than to understand your own pain. If you can just see the hands that are holding you, you will notice the scars. That ought to comfort you.

When Jesus assures you he understands your pain and does nothing about it, it is because he was also made to endure the worst kind of pain a man can ever be subjected to. If the joy that was set before him was the reason he endured such excruciating pain, then the joy that is set before you should be enough reason for you to endure too. The hope of our calling is the joy that is set before us – that one of these days we will see him as he is when he returns. May this joy remind you of the hope and purpose that is in you even in your darkest hour.

Before I proceed, I would like to start with a few interesting facts about tithing:

1. Abram paid tithe to Melchizedek. His grandson Jacob also vowed to give God a tenth of all that the Lord blesses him with. These two events happened over 400 years before tithing was instituted under the law in Israel.
2. Tithes in the Old Testament were in the form of farm produce, livestock etc.
3. The tithes were to be given to the Levites (members of the priestly tribe of Israel whose duty it was to work in the tent of meeting) – Numbers 18.21.
4. Every third year was the year of tithing – Deut. 26:12.
5.  People were given the liberty to change their tithes into money to buy whatever they so desired for their enjoyment, providing where they had to go and pay their tithes was too far away – Deut. 14:25
6. The LORD dared the people of Israel to put him to test by paying their tithes and see if he wouldn’t open the windows of heaven for them and pour out His blessings on them – Malachi 3:10
7.  In Leviticus 27:30 it says, every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the LORD.
8. Though the tithe is used for the maintenance of the house of God, it is still referred to as a ‘…contribution to the LORD…” – Numbers 18:24

From the above-stated facts, we can tell that tithing was very important to the Israelites and their worship to God. Tithing was a form of sacrifice or worship instituted by God himself to ensure that there was enough food for those who had dedicated their whole lives to serving him and those who didn’t have enough to feed themselves. The few times we see tithing being mentioned in the gospels, it was done to point out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They were a bunch of people who followed the Law to the letter. As a result, their discipline in following the laws of God gave them the impression that they could judge and condemn others who weren’t as ‘righteous’ as they were. Jesus said this concerning them ‘’But woe to you Pharisees, you tithe mint and rue and every herb and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done without neglecting the others” (Luke 11:42). Let’s note from this quotation that Jesus was not necessarily against tithing, but he was against the fact that it had become a religious ritual – a thing almost done on ‘auto-pilot’. The Pharisees strictly adhered to the tithing laws but they lacked the pursuance of Justice and the love of God.
The question is often asked, ‘to whom are we to pay our tithes?’. This is a legitimate question considering the fact that the Levites in the Old Testament were the primary recipients of the tithes. Does that mean that where there are no Levites, tithes should not be paid? Are our tithes to God or to Levites?
The church was established on the foundation of God’s relationship with Israel in the Old Testament. Israel is God’s special chosen people through whom he established his salvation plan on earth. In these end times, the church is being used to do exactly the same thing. Therefore, the priests and Levites of our time are the clergymen. The problem is that we often stop there. We take care of only the men of God, leaving the other people who work in the Lord’s house. The tribe of Levi had a clan called Kohathites; members of this clan were the ones who took charge of the various vessels in the tent of meeting. They can pass for the ushers of the church today. They were Levites too, therefore I am tempted to believe even they got their portion of all tithes received. Let us learn to prioritize the needs of all who work in the house of the Lord.

Still, on the issue of whom we are to pay our tithes to, I know many would disagree with me that it is still necessary for us to pay tithes. I strongly stand by the position that tithes are still needed in the church. I believe it is important to make a monthly financial commitment to God with the aim of providing for those who work in his house and those who don’t have enough. One thing we need to understand about giving to God is that it doesn’t need to be done directly to him. The very moment you give according to the will of God it is equal to giving to God. We all know the tithes are received by the Levites, however, Leviticus 27:30 says every tithe belongs to the Lord. That is exactly the point I made earlier: giving to God means giving according to his will and not necessarily to him directly. We must see ourselves as stewards of everything God has given us. Therefore, we must be prepared always to give out to provide for the needs of those who are financially disadvantaged because of circumstances or because of the calling upon their lives.
In Hebrews 7, we are introduced to a very interesting analogy about Jesus Christ. I doubt there is a chapter in the New Testament that treats the topic of tithing more extensively than this one. The chapter is largely about Melchizedek, the King of Righteousness and Peace and Priest of the Most High. Abraham (then Abram) met him when he was returning from the slaughter of the kings. Melchizedek came bearing wine and bread. He blessed Abraham and he in return gave the Priest a 10th of his spoils. This happened over 400 years before Moses received the law. Therefore, we can see that Abraham was not compelled to give to meet the requirements of the law but he did so by his own volition. He gave it out of reverence for God and an understanding of the love of God. Abraham was coming back from the slaughter of the Kings – he had gone to rescue his nephew Lot – so we can say he gave out of appreciation to the Lord for granting him victory. Remember what Jesus said to the Pharisees (stated in the 3rd paragraph)? I doubt Jesus would have had a problem with their tithing if they did so out of appreciation for God. The tithe Abraham paid to Melchizedek should be the module of all tithes. He did so after seeking justice for his nephew Lot and also because of his understanding of the love of God. These were the very things Jesus spoke to the Pharisees about.

I get all those who say the tithe is an Old Testament doctrine and thus, must not be practiced in the New Testament. I understand. One thing people must understand is that not everything in the Old Testament is the LAW. We see the grace of God portrayed in so many ways even in the Old Testament. Abraham believed God and it was credited to his account as righteousness, this is the central theme of the Gospel appearing in the Old Testament. Therefore, the practice of paying tithe to God out of love, appreciation and a genuine concern for the welfare of people who need support in the house of God and beyond should not be discouraged.
Are there blessings attached to paying tithes? Of course, there are. Under the new covenant, nothing is earned. Nothing is for sale. Nothing is given in exchange for blessings. However, God rewards! Therefore, a person who makes a financial commitment to give God a certain percentage of his salary out of appreciation and as a reaction to the love of God is clearly a person walking in faith and love. God rewards such people. The blessings will always far outweigh what they give.
Another concern people raise is that, what if the pastor of your church misappropriates the money that comes into the church’s coffers? This is clearly not a fertile ground to be sowing seeds on. At the end of the day, you would expect your tithes and offerings to cater for the needs of the church, church workers (including the Pastor) and the poor and needy. If one is certain beyond any doubt that the church’s money is being used for something other than these, I believe one of the wisest things to do is to leave the church and go elsewhere. Don’t just up and leave though, at least make the effort to ask questions and even correct the errors in the way church money is being used. If this fails just leave and sow your seeds somewhere else. (This is my personal opinion). The integrity of the recipient of the tithes is in itself a motivation to the givers. *Pastors, take note.

Please do not give your tithes to Aaron (under the law). Do not tithe as the Pharisees did. Be like Abraham and give your tithe to Melchizedek. Give your tithe to the one who is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Give your tithe to the King of righteousness, the King of Peace and the Priest of the Most High. Do not do it as a ritual devoid of the love of God. I didn’t come to tell you whether to give your tithe or not. I agree with Joseph Prince when he said ‘tithing is not for everybody’ hence people shouldn’t be forced to tithe. I came to tell you why and to whom you should give it. Give it to the one who lives forever and not under compulsion by any pastor or church tradition.

Furthermore, here [in the Levitical priesthood] tithes are received by men who are subject to death; while there [in the case of Melchizedek], they ARE received by one of whom it is testified that he lives [perpetually] – Hebrews 7:8 (AMPC)

However, Grace is not just news, it is the very personality of God revealed. I wish I could repeat this a thousand times. It is a not just a message, it is the revelation of who God is by his precious Holy Spirit. Therefore just by telling it won’t cut it, we need to demonstrate Grace as well. There are people preaching the fire and brimstone of hell, seeking to scare people into accepting Jesus Christ. There is no fear in love so how can anybody last in the kingdom of God if they entered because they were afraid of the other place? It is rather sad and painful that there are people who still preach a performance-based gospel. After all what Jesus did? Why would you preach the law under the dispensation of Grace? Anyway, the reaction of those of us who claim to be enlightened in the new creation realities is my focus in this post. All of a sudden it appears the Holy Spirit is opening my eyes to the negativity exhibited by some of us ‘Grace Preachers’. How we bash our brothers and sisters who preach the law. How we tag them as ‘anti-Christ’. How we claim they are being influenced by the devil. WE ARE PREACHING GRACE WITHOUT THE SPIRIT OF GRACE.

We have reduced it to a message so we don’t know our tone, choice of words, posture, demeanor etc. can all distort the message. How different are we from those who preach the law when we have managed to tag anybody who preaches a doctrine different from ours as the anti-Christ? The message of grace is most efficacious when inspired by the Spirit of Grace. God is very much interested in the way we deliver the message as much as he is in the message getting to the intended recipient. In Jeremiah 2:2, God told the prophet to “Go and cry into the ears of Jerusalem, saying …”. See? God gave the prophet the emotions with which to express himself before he gave him the message. This goes to show that God is very much particular about how a message from Him is delivered to the intended recipients. You don’t mock another person’s theology while engaging him/her and later present the Gospel of Grace to them. Where was Grace in your conduct? Grace, that inextinguishable force that forcefully snatches people from the clutches of the enemy will never mock another person’s poor understanding of scripture. Just as Jesus was filled with compassion when he saw the multitudes, so should you be driven by a deep sense of concern and compassion anytime you encounter people who preach another gospel than Grace. It is our duty to teach such people the best way we can. This is not the time to put them down and tease them or make them feel unaccepted.

Some of us may make reference to what Paul said in Galatians 1:8 in defense of the use of harsh words on people who preach the law. Let us examine that passage, shall we? Paul was writing to the church in Galatia mainly to draw their attention to the fact that they were drifting away from the true gospel and slipping into a performance-based relationship with God. Paul was quite furious. He said if anybody, even angels, preached a gospel other than that which the Galatians had received earlier, let that person be accursed. This doesn’t justify the name-calling I’m seeing on social media. Let me explain. The preceding verse (Galatians 1:7) gives us the understanding that Paul was referring to “…those who want to distort the gospel of Jesus Christ’. The ESV translation puts it this way ‘…those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ”. Which means the people Paul is declaring accursed are those who deliberately distort the gospel of grace. We just need to understand that there are those who are doing it deliberately but there are those who are genuinely ignorant, let us not lump them all in and curse them all.

Largely, this post is about how those of us who are enlightened should treat our brethren who are not. There are two stories in the book of Acts that I would like to cite to support my assertion. The first one is the story of Apollos. He is described as “… an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures… “who taught accurately the things concerning Jesus though he only knew the baptism of John. How was Apollos competent in the scriptures and still not adequately informed about the gospel of Jesus? It is simple, no one person is the repository of biblical knowledge. That is why we need to be humble enough to listen when we are corrected and humble in the way we correct as well.

In the New Testament, the baptism of John was performance-based and it is a shadow of that which was to come. John himself said that the one to come after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Apollos had no knowledge of this, yet he was teaching in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preach something slightly erroneous, this was their reaction:

… but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Acts 18:25

Did you see that? This is the Spirit of Grace on display. The spirit that makes you come to the realization that what you know was revealed to you so there is no need to flaunt it or brag about it. But whenever it is necessary, teach others in humility and not for vain recognition. Priscilla and Aquila didn’t hop onto social media to taunt the doctrine of Apollos. They didn’t call him the anti-Christ, neither did they insult him. They dragged him aside and taught him the true gospel. Apollos grew in the faith and became almost as influential in Christendom as Paul was. To the extent that in the book of Corinthians Paul said ‘What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:12). See? This is the same Apollos in the book of Acts being counted amongst the champions of the Christian faith. This kind of fanaticism is not encouraged because it breeds division, however, my point remains, Apollos who was taught by Priscilla and Aquila became so influential that he had quite a following amongst the Christians of those days. Do not tear people down when they don’t know as much as you do. Offer help when you can. Teach them the right way. Call them aside, don’t call them out to embarrass them on social media. Preach Grace by the Spirit of Grace.

The second story that illustrates how the Spirit of Grace operates is the story of Cornelius the Roman Centurion. He was a devout man who prayed to God and gave generously to all who needed help. An angel appeared to him and told him to send men to bring the Apostle Peter to his house. Just around the same time, the Spirit of Grace was at work in Peter’s life. Through a vision, God was communicating to Peter that that which he (God) has called clean, no man should call unclean. This vision was in reference to the coming move of God amongst the Gentiles. Immediately the men from Cornelius arrived, Peter went with them to Caesarea. First things first, the Roman Centurion and his entire household bowed before Peter to worship him when arrived at the house. Peter asked them to rise up and he went on to say “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean”. God says we shouldn’t call anybody unclean, so how are some of us tagging others whose theology doesn’t match with ours as ‘anti-Christ’? Though Cornelius was a devout man, his knowledge of God was inadequate and that is why God sent Peter there. Notice how Peter didn’t insult him, or refer to his lack of understanding of the Grace of God and the move of the Holy Spirit; Peter went there solely to teach Cornelius and his entire household the wonderful Gospel of Grace. Peter’s being there alone was a demonstration of grace, why? Because it was unlawful for Jews to mingle with Gentiles, therefore by going there, Peter was abolishing that law and bestowing unmerited favor on the entire household of the Roman centurion. While Peter was teaching them about the Holy Spirit and the Grace of God, they were all filled with the Spirit of God and began to speak in tongues, Hallelujah! This is it! There is the demonstration of the Spirit of God when Grace is preached by the Spirit of Grace. The Spirit of Grace is the Holy Spirit, he doesn’t come to condemn, ridicule theology or embarrass people who don’t know much. He comes to convict them, save them and then pour out himself into them.

May we learn from Priscilla and Aquila. May we learn from Peter as well. May we learn from Paul too. May we get to the point where we will be driven by compassion to teach people whose knowledge of God is inadequate. This is not the time to show off or assume a high chair as a biblical scholar extraordinaire. We need a lot more well-equipped laborers on the ground, offer help to build them up when you can.

Tattoos. Body piercings. Cross-dressing. Are all these acceptable in the sight of God? It is stated categorically in the book of Leviticus that all these are (or used to be) unacceptable to God. Do these commands have a backing in the New Testament?

First of all, I need to state this: the Law does not in any way refer to the 10 commandments alone. The law is a dispensation. It is a mentality (which means it transcends time frames). It is a determinant of the relationship between man and God. The law is God giving men the chance to be acceptable in his presence. Therefore there are more laws the Israelites had to adhere to than the 10 commandments Moses took on Mount Sinai. These laws are outlined in the book of Leviticus and other Old Testament books. Jesus is described in the bible as ‘the lamb that was slain before the foundations of the earth’, meaning, he was destined to die for the sins of the world before creation. But we all know God works according to times and seasons. Therefore the Law was an interim measure to restore man to a shadow of the fellowship he had with God in Eden. It wasn’t time for Jesus to come and die for the sins of mankind yet so God put in place an interim measure to bridge the gaping chasm sin created between God and man.

Not every law given in Leviticus and Deuteronomy has a spiritual bearing. If this is all you would walk away with after reading this post, I would be exceedingly glad. God gave three kinds of laws in Leviticus: Ritual Laws, Laws concerning the Priesthood and Purity Laws. In this post, we will dwell largely on the purity laws. These laws didn’t only make a man spiritually acceptable in the sight of God, most of them, if adhered to, actually made man physically acceptable in the presence of God. This is because God used to manifest himself to these people physically so physical cleanliness was very important. The Law was put in place to reveal the imperfection of man. For if God gave man one law in Eden and man broke it, he clearly wasn’t expecting men to be able to keep many laws. The truth is, it was all in the build up to the arrival of the promised Messiah.

Ok so back to the laws. It doesn’t take much critical analysis to notice that some of these laws were simply personal-hygiene laws. They still fall under the purity laws anyway, because they keep the body clean just as adherence to sexual laws would make a man spiritually clean before God. For example, the law prohibited the Jews from touching the flesh of dead animals. The law also states in Leviticus 15 that a man who discharges semen (in his sleep) and a woman in her menses are both unclean. Both are expected to bath and wash their clothes and anybody who touches either the cloth or the beds they slept on is also unclean. In Deuteronomy 23, the bible says that the children of Israel were prohibited from easing themselves in the camp. But rather they were instructed to go outside the camp, dig a hole and afterward cover up their excrement. These are clearly hygiene laws.

Now here comes the controversial laws. In Leviticus 18:28 the Israelites were warned against making marks on their skin (tattoos). Deuteronomy 22:5 speaks against cross-dressing. The question then is, why do some Christians have tattoos on their skin and are bold enough to attend church services with their skin looking like the map of a swampy area? Why do Christian women wear trousers? Why do Christian men wear earrings? Are they ignorant of what the bible says about cross-dressing?

In Galatians 5:6, it says:

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accounts for anything but only faith working through love.

Circumcision is the mark of the covenant the Jews had with God. It involved the physical cutting away of the foreskin of the manhood. Therefore, circumcision was pretty much a big deal in those days. Acts 15 addresses this issue too. Paul had come across a group of believers in Antioch who believed one would have to be circumcised to become a Christian. Hence he traveled all the way back to Jerusalem to meet up with the elders of the church to discuss this very issue. Some of the remarks of the elders were astounding. Peter asked ‘now, therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?’. He said this in reference to the issue of circumcision – which basically stands for keeping the law. He calls it a yoke! It means the very moment we choose to follow the law we have willingly thrown a yoke around our necks. James made a similar submission at the council. None of them implied that Grace is a license to sin. No! Far from that. What I’m saying is grace is a better reason to live right than the law. Grace empowers you to do the right thing other than following a bunch of laws.

From the verse we read from Galatians, it says that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accounts for anything. Which means whether you are circumcised or uncircumcised it really doesn’t matter. Whether you have tattoos or not, it really doesn’t matter. Whether she wears trousers or not it really doesn’t matter. It even amazes me that the people who say it is sinful to have tattoos don’t realize that the verse that speaks against tattoos is preceded by a verse that speaks against shaping your hair as a guy. I have shaped my hair by the way. Am I guilty of any sin because of this? Will I go to hell because of this? Can a mere hairstyle outdo and undo what Christ did on the cross? Certainly not! This is what happens anytime we try to judge people by the law, we end up implicating ourselves. Little wonder the bible says that whoever keeps the whole law but breaks one of them is guilty of all. As simple as that. So if you are going around judging men for piercing their ears, braiding their hair, tattooing their skin etc. yet you have shaped your hair, you are as guilty as you claim they are. You break the entire law by breaking one. If you have a toilet in your home, please know that you have broken the law (refer to Deut. 23). A lady who goes to church in her menses or a man who goes to church the morning after having wet dreams has also broken the law. This is tiring already! Even typing it out is tiring!

This is why Grace is the solution. After the death of Christ, we are totally changed from the inside out. We are born anew. Already acceptable in the sight of God on Jesus’ score. God is pleased with you. Therefore we don’t have to follow a bunch of rules to be pleasing in the sight of God. We don’t have to follow the law to attain righteousness. We are already righteous. Does this in any way mean we can do whatever pleases us? Definitely no! The only thing is, whatever we do that will ever please God should stem from his grace and not by works – so the glory goes back to him.

Going back to Paul’s epistle to the Galatians he told them they’ve been called to a life of freedom, nevertheless, they mustn’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Interesting. Which means we are at liberty to do certain things but we mustn’t do them because we want to please our flesh. At another place Paul says ‘everything is beneficial but not everything is helpful (edifies)’. A tattoo doesn’t mean you are of the devil. Piercing your nose doesn’t mean you are hell-bound. We are at liberty to do these things, but we mustn’t let it be a quest to merely please our flesh. ‘Oh facial tattoos are in vogue so I need to get one’. That is wrong!

Also, we are admonished to desist from such things for the sake of the weaker brethren in the faith. There are some people who aren’t mature enough to understand the gospel of Grace and the freedom it comes with. Such people would be compelled to judge when they see another Christian fully exercising his liberties without constraints. They might just tag you a sinner and it is not their faults but yours. You should know better.

Sometimes we need to understand these things also from a cultural point of view. I’m saying so because even in Acts 15, culture was at the center of the debate the disciples had. There are certain things that are acceptable in one culture and totally abhorred in another. In the ghettos in America, having tattoos is no big deal. Therefore when someone from this kind of background comes to Christ, he would be inclined to having even more tattoos. Let’s take for example Scottish men in kilts. They wear skirts because it is a cultural norm in Scotland. A man wearing a skirt is largely regarded worldwide as cross-dressing. Are we saying all Scottish men are not possible candidates of God’s grace? Can’t a Christian Scottish man wear his skirts to church and feel at ease to worship God? Why do we want to put a yoke around their neck (as Peter would say)?

I personally do not like tattoos and piercings. Nevertheless, not mine, but the will of God be done. In the New Testament, circumcision is of the heart and not by the law (Rom 2:29). So it is not about what you have written on your skin but how much of God’s word is inscribed on your heart. It isn’t about the number of piercings you have in your ears and nose, it is about how much you keep your eyes fixed on His nail-pierced hands. It isn’t about cross-dressing but it is solely about putting on the righteous garment you obtained by grace and keeping it clean. You can wear a crucifix with the cross hanging so low that it touches your knee when you bend, if you still don’t carry your cross daily and follow after Jesus, you are merely burdening your neck.

Sometimes showmanship is the evidence of the absence of legitimacy

You have to understand that this happened so many years ago – maybe between 2003 and 2005. I still remember the quote because I have applied it to so many areas of life and time and time again it proves to be so true. The reality the quote discloses best describes how I feel about sex tapes. Guy, if you were having legitimate sex, there wouldn’t be a need to tape it to show it to your boys as proof of anything. It is as simple as that. There is no point to prove when it is legitimate. There is absolutely no need to impress a third party if it is legitimate. Usually, people tend to show off when what they are doing isn’t permissible. I have a few married friends and they need not send me a video tape of what they do under the sheets because I already know they do it – rightfully and ‘legally’. There have been stories of married couples taking videos of themselves while at it. It doesn’t concern anybody what married people choose to do in their bedrooms. It only becomes an issue if they carelessly let it slip into the hands of a third party. Now back to the point I was making, since society has managed to deceive many into thinking sex is a precious thing only smart guys can steal from girls, why won’t boys want to show unquestionable proof when they do achieve that ‘feat’? I have heard so many stories of guys lying to their friends that they slept with a particular girl. Since the first of such stories was found out to be a lie, the brethren sat down to develop a new strategy: a way to produce evidence that would silence all doubts. Ladies and gentlemen, that is how sex tapes came about.  

‘Sex tape’ is a genre of porn. ‘Sex tape’ is guiltless porn. ‘Sex tape’ is an amateur home-made porn. ‘Sex tape’ is porn with familiar faces. ‘Sex tape’ is unscripted-porn – so it is probably more enjoyable because you know they are not acting. Sex tapes  invoke pity – usually for the lady – therefore people think it is ok to watch it in order to express how deeply hurt they also are by the actions of the guy.

Sex tapes are worse than porn. Sex tapes are evil!

The thing about porn is, usually, the people involved signed up for it. They actually hope and fervently pray the whole world gets to see them doing whatever – for the money. With sex tapes, one party’s desire for street credibility tarnishes the image, taints the reputation and scars the other party emotionally and psychologically for life!

Well, I know there have been a few cases where the lady in the video appears very much aware the act is being taped. Not to jump to the defence of such ladies, but even if she knew, I doubt she would agree to the idea of the video going viral online. I am yet to read about a sex tape that was initiated by a girl to tarnish the image of a guy. It is always the guy. Why? Biblically, guys are held to a higher sexual purity standard than women, per my understanding of the text. (I have spoken extensively about it in this blog). Therefore until we submit to divine standards for sex and purity, we will never see the end of this.

“[M]odern science allows us to understand that the underlying nature of an addiction to pornography is chemically nearly identical to a heroin addiction.” – Dr. Jeffrey Satinover

Addiction to porn is a field of study on its own. I’m hoping God will grant me grace to talk about it sometime soon. No matter how pious a guy is, I will not be shocked if he opens up and tells me he is battling addiction to porn or has done so in the past. What would shock me is if a guy about my age, says he hasn’t ever battled porn addiction before. It is that serious. I watched a TEDx video sometime ago that changed my perception about the porn industry. The speaker defines porn as ‘visualized sex slavery/ prostitution’. He stated that most of the girls in the videos are actually doing it against their own will. There is somebody benefiting tremendously while these girls go through all the abuse in full global glare. Hence, the speaker resolved to refrain from watching porn. I certainly cannot tell how long this resolve would last, but I found his speech quite remarkable. To some extent, this information may deter somebody from watching porn for a while, because it feels like you are endorsing, encouraging and financially contributing to sex trafficking. The abusive and appalling story behind the porn flick may deter you. But what if the story isn’t that appalling? Does it mean you can watch it? This is one of the reasons why people enjoy sex tapes and actually store lots of them in folders on their PCs. The story behind most sex tapes is that of payback or revenge – which makes it ‘exciting’ to watch. Some jilted lover’s attempt at getting back at his ex he still sleeps with. Some guys actually team up to do it. Yo, it is so not cool. The internet never forgets. One day it will all come back to haunt you.

• Let’s not share the videos when they come out. The director of the sex tape, the viewer and the sharer are all voluntary promoters of this genre of porn. You are very much a part of the problem if you watch and share the videos.
• Let’s not allow ourselves to be taped no matter how deeply we think we are in love. The lady in the first sex tape that was ever made, thought she was in love too.
• There is a reason why bathroom windows are small and way up the wall. In fact, it is not love if he/she is asking for nudes and perv stuff like that.

I can’t trust the conscience of a human being. It takes a higher power and force to keep us all in check. What can end this menace? I don’t know. One thing I know is, you have no business stripping before anybody who hasn’t vowed before the Lord to live with you till death. Safety first, stay pure.   

This scenario is way too familiar. A guy and a girl have sex illegitimately, but the girl is always held responsible or brought before the Pharisaical Court of Justice in public. Somehow we have managed to make sex look like a thing girls give to the satisfaction of the guys that ask for it. Therefore when a guy ‘manages’ to get a lady to sleep with him outside marriage, he is hailed as a champion and the lady is called a slut. Jesus himself had to deal with this very issue. Remember when they brought the adulterous woman to him? The woman was caught in the act of adultery: meaning she was involved with a guy. Of course, the patriarchy in that society was so prominent that the man was left off the hook and the woman was found guilty. Jesus looked on the woman with eyes of love and compassion and not eyes of condemnation. He knew that condemning people would only deepen the scars that the guilt had left in their soul. His aim was to bring redemption. Nothing redeems better than love. So he looked at the woman and told her ‘… neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more’. Jesus didn’t approve of the sexually immoral lifestyle here. He offered the woman a dosage of ‘no-condemnation’ to empower her to stay away from sin. Condemnation leads to guilt; guilt hardens the human heart; a hardened heart is a fertile ground for more sin.

This isn’t Jesus’ only encounter with a sexually immoral woman. At a well in Samaria, he spoke with a woman who had five ex-husbands and was at the time in a relationship with a man who wasn’t her husband. Did Jesus condemn her? Nope. He let his love rain on her to the extent that she was transformed instantly into an evangelist, going about inviting people to come and listen to ‘… a man who told me all I ever did’ – as she put it. That day many Samaritans came to believe Jesus because he chose to be compassionate towards a woman who didn’t deserve it by societal standards.

The double standard of sexual behavior is a moral code that permits sexual promiscuity in men but prohibits women in the same regard. This has deluded many guys into thinking that they can be sexually immoral and at the same time judge girls who are just like them. It doesn’t even make sense. It is like a rapist sentencing another rapist to prison in the court of law. I am all for purity … and yes, it is because the bible says so. Nevertheless, I think the bible isn’t partial in the standards it sets for the children of God (male or female). If we are to make that assertion at all, then it appears that the bible expects greater sexual purity from men than women. In Matthew 5:28 it says that any man who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. The bible says men should stop sleeping with women in their fantasies. Can you see the difference between the sexual standard society sets for men versus that of the bible?

It is hard to go a day without having lustful thoughts, especially when the temptation to do so stalks you every step of the way. Guess what, God in his infinite wisdom wants us to deal with the problem at the roots: the thought-level. Our actions are more premeditated than spontaneous. Which means, once you keep thinking about an activity, it is more likely you will indulge in it when given the opportunity. So if you keep sleeping with women who you are not married to in your mind, the likelihood that you might do it in the physical is extremely high. The truth is, this isn’t what the bible even says. According to the verse I quoted above, once you lustfully fantasize about a woman, it is recorded as adultery. Guys, guard your heart. Watch what you think about. Kill sexual immorality at the roots and don’t cut the leaves and gloat over it just yet.

In Job 31:1 Job said he had made a covenant with his eyes not to look at a woman lustfully. The dude had to literally sign a contract with his eyes lest he lust after a woman. Job is an Old Testament character by the way. If he could do this, we who are enormously empowered by grace should be more than able to do same and even better. Let us be intentional about sexual purity. Let us not treat it like a thing that will fall onto our laps from heaven. Men need to train their hungers. I am not even talking about sexual hungers at this point. Really, you need to train yourself to eat and consume only that which is necessary for growth and development. Your being operates under one law of consumption. This law informs your decisions on everything you let into your system: be it music, movies, books or even conversations. Therefore, if you eat anyhow, everywhere and at any time because there is food, you tend to consume other things with like mentality. So you can sleep with any and every lady who appears appealing to your sight. If she resists engaging in intercourse with you, because you have little control over your fleshly desires you apply force to have your way with her – and that is rape. Train your hungers bro; tame your hungers. Though it is not stated categorically in the Word, I can boldly say that God rarely uses people who have a bad eating habit. Most people God used in the bible were ‘chronic fasters’ who ate to live and didn’t live to eat. Daniel ate greens when he was offered sumptuous royal food and meat. John the Baptist ate locust and wild honey while both of his parents worked in the temple which meant they had an ample supply of meat and food at home. Jesus fasted for 40 days before commencing his ministry. Moses also fasted for 40 days. The 84 year old prophetess Anna vowed not to stop fasting and praying till Jesus was born – and she did get to meet him. Train your hungers bro!

On the flip side, the people who couldn’t train their hungers brought calamity unto themselves and others around them. Adam and Eve were authorized to eat everything in the garden but two fruits. At the end of the day they ate one and that was the root of the sin Jesus had to come to die for. Esau sold his birthright and blessings to his little brother because he couldn’t train his hungers. The Israelites lamented that they were tired of eating manna; hence God sent them an abundant supply of quails. While the meat was still in-between their teeth as they ate, God struck them dead. Amnon raped his own sister Tamar and was murdered because of it. Bro, tame your hungers. As I said, a single law of consumption operates in your being. Therefore the way you eat is sometimes directly related to the level of control you have over your sexual urges. There are two major hungers in every human being: the hunger for food and the hunger for sex. The hunger for food is stronger than the hunger for sex. Therefore if you can master full control over your hunger for food, you are automatically transformed into an intolerant dictator over your hunger for sex. Of course it must be a spiritual activity marked by the reading of the word and prayer – not merely a hunger strike.

Solomon said it is better to have self-control than to conquer a city. Ironically, he married 700 wives coupled with a whopping 300 concubines. David, his father, slept with Bathsheba though she was married and he went on to orchestrate the killing of her husband. Samson was warned against having relations with women from Philistine. He didn’t heed to this warning and that was his undoing. I would like to state emphatically that, contrary to popular belief, the downfall of all these men wasn’t the women, but their lack of self-control. Here we have the wisest man who ever lived; the strongest man who ever lived; and one of the greatest warriors in human history and they all have one thing in common: they couldn’t control their sexual urges. By these three stories, God has illustrated to us that it doesn’t take physical strength, or wisdom, or even battle prowess to have self-control. Only the grace of God can give you complete control over your flesh. The grace is abundant in his presence; intentionally make the effort to dwell there. Pitch a tent; rent a room; chain yourself to a tree… whatever you can, please do it to stay in his presence. Do not rely on your wisdom, strength or battle prowess, if these could do you any good, Solomon, David and Samson wouldn’t have made those mistakes.

He who controls his spirit is mightier than he who conquers a city, as Solomon said. Only a superhero can conquer a city all by himself. Therefore, a man who has self-control is mightier than a superhero.

Ravi Zacharias also puts it nicely (as always), he said “it was not the volume of sin that sent Christ to the cross; it was the FACT of sin”. Meaning, Jesus didn’t come to die on the cross because there was too much sin in the world, He would have still done so even if there was just a teeny-weeny dot of sin in the world. If it was about the volume of sin, he would have come during Noah’s time. Furthermore, it means that if I were the only person on this earth, Christ would have still come to die for me on the cross. What manner of love is this? This is perfectly depicted in the Parable of the good shepherd. I always picture myself as that one sheep who went astray, never thinking I was deserving of the master’s very presence yet here he comes in urgency to look for me. ‘You have 99 others’ I tell him, but he says ‘the 99 others will never make up for the anguish of losing you’. This is awe-inspiring; it drives me to my knees daily. Like, ‘Lord I don’t even think of you this much. Why are you so mindful of me? Jupiter, the galaxies, space, the sun and the moon are all more majestic and enormous in size than I am. How am I this visible that you can look past your ‘greatest’ creations and care so much about me?’

Isaiah, Job and David all said something to this effect. How undeserving we are of God’s grace. In their song ‘Avalanche’, hillsong put it nicely when they said ‘I am caught up in Grace like an avalanche’. By the way, an avalanche is a mass of snow, ice, and rocks falling rapidly down a mountainside. You need rescue from an avalanche. You need salvation from an avalanche. You can’t just up and leave, the force is too overwhelming; it will sweep you off your feet and toss you around like a doll. This is what hillsong has likened God’s grace to. Indeed, it is very overwhelming.

With that in mind, does that mean we are saved forever? So, no matter our actions are we still locked up in God’s grace? Is ‘once saved, forever saved’ biblical? Well, let’s go to scripture. Even before that, let’s look at one aspect of God’s nature that is mind-boggling as well: God’s unwillingness to violate the human will. Moses said in Deuteronomy 30:19 (clearly inspired by God) that, I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants. God almighty, creator of the heavens and the earth is the very epitome of love and justice combined. He has set before you life and death but won’t force you to choose life, but rather admonish you to do so. This is the reason why there is evil in the world. Because God didn’t create a robot when he made man, he created a being. In the very sense of the word, a being can choose what it wants to be. Therefore, if God won’t violate the human will, it means he wouldn’t impose his grace on anybody. If so, then it means that human beings can willingly and actively walk away from His grace. His grace is precious and boundless, it is not a cage or a trap. It doesn’t have a laser beam demarcating its boundaries. Therefore it is safe to say that one can be in God’s grace and walk right out of it. That is why there is such a term as ‘backsliding’ or ‘falling away’… better still, apostasy.

Prophetically, the bible actually admonishes us to expect a massive falling away of Christians leading to the revelation of the anti-christ. The bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 that, ‘Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the FALLING AWAY comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition’. Even if you are still not convinced that a Christian can lose his salvation, let’s hear what Jesus himself said will be one of the most shocking incidents on judgment day. He said many will step up to him and say they cast out demons and healed the sick in his name but he will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU workers of iniquity’. Now these aren’t ordinary Christians. These, to me, appear to be men of God who lost their salvation even without knowing it. Yes, you can lose it and not know it. A man of God I listened to recently said that, ‘God is the only boss who can fire you and keep you working for him’. The gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. Hence, you can be operating in spiritual gifts and not make it to heaven. These are the sort of people Jesus was talking about here. They were Christians; they did miracles in the name of Jesus. Yet he called them ‘workers of iniquity’. Brethren, be not deceived, the grace of God is no licence to sin. It is free but not cheap, therefore we must handle our salvation with utmost care and reverence as we work it out daily!

Now that we have seen what scripture says about falling away from the faith, let’s take a look at the implications of that. Can I come back to Christ when I fall away… especially when I verbally denounce him and go after another god? The answer from scripture is a big NO! Here it is:

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

6 If they shall FALL AWAY, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

There it is. God abounds in grace but he won’t have his grace trampled under the foot of men. The verse literally means, those who fall away from Christianity have literally done what the Romans did – they have crucified Christ and shamed him openly. He offered himself for us once and dealt with the problem of sin once and for all. So when you walk away from this offer, especially when you have tasted it before, you can’t just come back like God’s grace is an option and not the ultimate.

It is even more scary when you find out the writer of the book of Hebrew repeated this truth in Chapter 10 (v 26). Here he stated that anybody who continues to ‘WILLINGLY sin’ after becoming a Christian will eventually fall away and there will no longer remain an offering for him. He would have to go find his own Christ and nail him to the cross for his salvation. Which is absurd and impossible. Therefore I would like to admonish all Christians who read this post to remain in the grace of God. Do not fall away. No matter what you go through in this life, hold on to your faith in Christ. No earthly pain and anguish can be compared to a minute’s relief in hell – if even there is such a thing. When you have questions, search for answers and don’t allow yourself to be swayed by any wind of doctrine… the leaven of the Pharisees, as Jesus calls it.

I told a friend recently that, hell is the reverse-reality of the love of God. How terrible the punishment of hell is, reveals to us how deeply hurt God is by those who have no regard for his grace. Plus, he loves you so much to save you from hell. Read about hell once in awhile when you don’t feel loved and you will know how deeply loved you are of God. He loved you enough to save you from it. Jesus is the good shepherd: the good shepherd gives his life for his sheep. He is the good shepherd and not the good goatherd. Goats are stubborn and adamant in their ways. Sheep are obedient and very compliant. That is why Christ said ‘my sheep know me and they hear my voice’. Be a sheep today and even to the end of time.

Many people believe that there is an inherent evil dwelling in the heart of all men. Christians would like to call it “The Original Sin”: the sinful nature we inherited from Adam. By this, we were sinners before we could even speak. One man’s sin, brought a curse unto all of creation. One doesn’t have to comb through a pile of newspapers to find a story on a heinous crime perpetrated by the most unassuming person. There is bad news everywhere. In the midst of it all, the bible calls Christians Holy People. It is more than a tag; It isn’t like a honorary doctorate degree either. For an honorary doctorate degree is given to someone in recognition of his excellence in a particular field. The Sainthood of the New Testament believer is a mystery that can only be described in one word, Grace.

Before we proceed, I would like to lay the foundation of this truth: we are holy by being Christians. Our holiness was not achieved by anything we did, but purely by our faith in Jesus Christ – especially in his finished work on the Cross. Therefore, when a person becomes a Christian, apart from his conduct, there is no physical evidence of his newly found faith. All the difference and tremendous transformation take place in the spirit. Hence, it is referred to as being born again. Literally that is what happens. Heaven discards all past records of the said individual and so he doesn’t have a past. The bible says, *Eph 4:24 KJV* And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness”. The new man that you become (spiritually) after accepting Christ has righteousness and holiness preinstalled in him. It is just like upgrading the operating system on your computer – same device but new operating system. In Christ, you remain the same physically but there is a total transformation on the inside of you.

What next? You are holy, so what? Does it mean you must fold your arms and go to sleep? Well, not so at all. This is where the Mirror Effect comes in. In the bible, both God and his Word are referred to as mirrors. The interesting thing here is, only God and his word can change the condition of the heart of a man. David said “thy word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you”. James admonished us to be doers of the word and not just hearers, for any man who hears the word and doesn’t practise it is like a man who stares intently at his image in the MIRROR, walks away and forgets what he looks like. Interesting analogy there. It means, the definition of ourselves we are privy to in the Word of God should of a necessity be visible on us in our conduct. God has made you holy and righteous not to amuse himself but so that it will reflect in your works. Remember, God calls the things that be not as though they were… and they become. It is also said that we are God’s workmanship (inventions), created unto good works. God wanted to invent a ‘device’ that is holy and righteous… so he created you. He created you and called you holy so that you can be holy. In Christianity, we don’t work to get rewarded, we work because we are rewarded. It is in reverse. We don’t do holy deeds to attain holiness, we are first holy so we can do holy deeds. It is very easy to act out your nature than to act outside your nature to attain a certain status. That is the stress in the Old Testament. They were sinners who were trying to attain holiness by following a bunch of rules hoping their deeds would be pleasing to God enough. That is stress!

Christians sin. Yes we sin. If God is holy and never sins, and we are also as Holy as Christ is, then why do we sin? The walk with God is really a matter of who we are and not merely what we do. It is a matter of which camp you belong to and not just actions. That is why no matter the good deeds of Cornelius, God still required him to be saved, hence he sent Peter to preach to him. This doesn’t mean our deeds mean nothing, just walk with me and we will arrive at the truth together. I would like to outline a few things first:

Our holiness is service to God

God has made us holy and expects us to present ourselves to him holy and acceptable. Just like the parable of the Talents, the master will one day come and ask what we did with what He gave us graciously. Therefore scripture says:

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. Romans 12:1

Perfecting Holiness

Perfection is not acquisition. You can only perfect that which you already have. So the bible says, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, PERFECTING HOLINESS in the fear of God (2 Cor7:1)”. It only means we are holy already but need to perfect it. Back to the operating system analogy, when you are more comfortable using Windows XP on your computer, upgrading to Windows 10 is a huge difference. Therefore, though you may have a new operating system there is the need to perfect how to use it. You may still want to do things the Windows-XP way and get stuck or realize it isn’t the way things are done on the new operating system. This is what happens with Christians and our holiness. We were once sinners, but we were transformed instantly when we accepted Christ. Therefore, we need to perfect this new life we have received. The verse above says, it can be done only in the fear of God. So hear me loud and clear, when a Christian sins, he is betraying his nature. A Christian betrays who he is when he sins. That is why 1 John 3:9 says, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

How do we perfect holiness?

I am not preaching the law here. I am not saying there are a bunch of things we need to do to attain holiness. We are holy; we do holy deeds because we are. The flesh is in a constant battle with the spirit. The spirit wants to please God, the flesh doesn’t. This is why we need to perfect the act of making the spirit win everytime. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, it says  But we all, with open face beholding as in a MIRROR the glory of the Lord, ARE CHANGED INTO THE SAME IMAGE, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Once again, we see the Mirror Effect here. Basically, we are glorious beings. But when we keep our eyes on God, we will be transformed from glory to glory… from our level of glory to his level. This is what it takes to perfect holiness: keeping your eyes on God. It sounds like an easy task but really, it is a lot more than gazing at an image. It involves praying, reading the word, fasting etc. consistently. These are all deeds that stimulate the spirit in you to win the battle against the flesh.

You may be wondering what relationship holiness has with glory because of the verse I quoted above. Well, the truth is, holiness has a very strong relationship with glory. Glory is the visibility of holiness. Isaiah 6:3 says And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. In Isaiah’s visions, the Seraphim called God “holy” and said that the whole earth is full of his holiness? No! They called him holy and proclaimed that the whole earth is full of his GLORY.

Holiness is the highest level of intolerance for sin. Most people think the bible referring to us as holy and the righteousness of God means we should fold our arms and go to sleep. Indeed it is a status conferred on us by grace, but it is a duty too. We are the righteousness of God. Meaning, when the world is looking for a righteous God, God won’t have to come down again to show himself, we are his righteousness so we need to show up on the scene. To me, this is a responsibility and not merely a title. Only Grace can empower us to do this perfectly. Grace got us here, Grace will keep us. Therefore, be ye holy because the LORD your God is holy and He has made you Holy.