THE TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES - PART 2

Rom 10:9 That IF thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

This very verse of scripture is what has led to a lip-service Christianity, exactly in the same way Christ condemned the service of the Jews under the Judaic system…

Mark 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 

Receiving or coming under the Lordship of Christ was not meant to be a simple confession of the lips and an assent of the mind, there is more to confessing the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The faith of the heart produces the confession of the mouth truly; but when the heart is far from Christ, it is in vain that people will worship God…their confession of faith becomes null and void.

The Laodicean Church were IN Christ by virtue of having confessed the Lordship of Christ and believing into righteousness with their heart, yet Christ was ready to throw them out of his mouth because they were neither hot nor cold…

RE 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

RE 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Notice how Christ links their WORKS to their PERSON…I know thy works, that YOU (not the works) are neither cold nor hot.

There is a DOING or OBEYING of the Word that determines whether a man is cold or hot.

The mere profession or confession of the Lordship of Jesus without the attendant OBEYING of the Lord, will make the heart to be FAR from Christ…not in geographical distance, but in its FERVENCY or lack of it towards Christ in DOING the works Christ wants us to do.

Weren’t the Laodicean Church members’ believers as well as we? Did they not fast, pray and worship as well as we? Yet Christ was not pleased with them…they confessed Christ as Lord but  their hearts were far from him…they had merely assented unto righteousness and not BELIEVED unto righteousness.

In Matt 7:21 we read of Christ casting away those who confessed his Lordship and yet did not do his will…

MT 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

This then is the work that Christ would have us do: to DO or OBEY his Will...there are many references to the Will of God particularly in the New Testament.

Our Lord Jesus aligned himself with those who practised the Will of God…

Mark 3:35 For whosoever shall DO the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Paul explains it thus:

EPH 6:5-6 Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ;

Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, DOING THE WILL OF GOD FROM THE HEART

The doing of the Will of God is therefore the works that the Laodicean Church failed to do. It is what gives our confession of the Lordship of Christ authenticity, otherwise we shall fall into the category of those who confessed him as Lord, Lord, yet Christ condemned them forever because they did not do the will of God.

Peter also instructs on how to do the will of God:

1Peter 4:1-2 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; 

That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Peter explains what he means by ‘suffering in the flesh’…it means one who has ceased from sin; in other words, one who no longer lives the rest of his time in this world pleasing himself through the fulfilment of the lusts or pleasures or desires or ambitions of men but rather, dedicating the rest of his life to DOING the will of God.

Paul agrees with him when he says that we should live UNTO God…

2Cor 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

The doing of God’s will originates in fact from the teaching of Christ:

Matt 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him DENY HIMSELF, and take up his cross, and follow me.

The act of denying one’s self is what has further been expounded by both apostles above as no longer living the rest of our time in this world unto the lusts of men but unto doing the will of God; and no longer living unto OURSELVES, but living unto him which died for us and rose again.

Again Paul reveals that it is not possible to prove or discover the Will of God if we are conforming to the pattern of this world:

Rom 12:2 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.

For only those who have chosen NOT to befriend the world by bowing to its pressures and compromises, and engaging their lives utterly with its cares and pleasures, can both know and do the will of God.

Somehow the doing  will of God appears to be directly ranged against the doing of the will of the world as we saw in the above verse and also this:

1John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

The above verse reveals that Man has two options: to do the will of the world and its lusts or to do the will of God.

There is even a much stronger verse that clearly shows these two things as being diametrically opposed to one another:

James4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

You cannot indulge yourself in the things and ways of the world and yet claim to be a friend of God; rather he marks you out as an enemy!

For Scripture clearly shows that the love of this world is diametrically opposed to the love of God and we can’t have both!

1John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Paul and all the other apostles taught the same things…they merely elaborated on the teachings of Christ.

In all the Scriptures we have read, we find the world opposed to the love of God; we find those who love the world as becoming enemies of God and now we shall see also that there is indeed a spirit of the world as opposed to the Spirit of God…

1Cor 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

THE TEACHINGS OF THE APOSTLES – PART 1

Paul begins his teaching by revealing that the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1:16). It didn’t matter whether that believer was Jewish or Greek or any other nationality (by implication); what mattered was that the believer BELIEVED that the gospel of Christ had the power to save him…but from what? Why was the believer in need of Salvation?

The very next verse gives us the first inkling about what Paul is referring to when he instructs about the power of the gospel…it contains the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD…not in the pages of the bible, but in the PRACTICE of the instructions given within it…

For therein (i.e. within it); is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, it implies that there are various levels or degrees of faith; or various differing extents to which one has practised the BELIEF in the righteousness of God. 

The just shall live by faith is an expression that shows how LIVING is equated with PRACTISING in the bible…for if the just shall live by faith, it reflects that the just shall live by PRACTISING his/her BELIEF in the righteousness of God, and as he develops skill in the practice of it; so also does his understanding of it increase so that he enters deeper levels of practising the righteousness of God.

Indeed elsewhere in the Scriptures, there is an allusion to developing SKILL in the practice of righteousness, it calls those who are not familiar with its practice UNSKILFUL in the word of righteousness.

Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is UNSKILFUL in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

In the very next verse we see why the gospel is the ONLY power that can save Man, and we see exactly what it saves Man from…

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;   

Just as the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, so also is the wrath of God revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness.

The sum of it all is that the gospel is the power that saves us from the wrath of God that is against all ungodliness and unrighteousness, for it is the Principle within us that opposes unrighteousness and ungodliness.

Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:. 

The book of Romans teaches a lot on the subject of this righteousness of God that we receive by faith of Jesus Christ…it shows how righteousness is received into the heart:

Rom 10:10 For with the heart man BELIEVETH unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

This is also the first point at which the Church began to derail…for they failed to understand the meaning of BELIEVETH and assumed it meant a certain AGREEMENT or assenting to the word; because they saw they needed righteousness…they did not understand that the heart BELIEVES by PRACTISING what it has grasped as its own and compels the whole Man to do so…thus the confession of the mouth is only to affirm and release what the heart has already believed unto.

Matt 15:18-19 But those things which PROCEED out of the MOUTH come forth from the HEART; and they defile the man. 

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies

In these scriptures we see the connection between the heart and the mouth, the same connection we saw in the above quoted scripture (Romans10:10).

THE THINGS WE SPEAK OR CONFESS WITH THE MOUTH ARE THE THINGS WE ARE ALREADY DOING.

In verse 19, we see some of the things the natural heart DOES…it is the heart that commits murder, adulteries, fornications, thefts…not the body…the body merely executes what the heart has already done in spirit.

These are the things that the natural heart has BELIEVED INTO; hence it is confessed by the mouth.

Matt 5:28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her ALREADY in his heart.

The act of LOOKING is an act performed by the body, but the heart is the one that performs the act of adultery before the body performed the act of looking. It is not that the heart LOOKED FIRST, but that the heart committed the act of adultery in the intentions and motives of the heart, BEFORE the body followed suit by the act of looking.

It is clear therefore that the actions of the heart are far weightier than the actions of the body, for the body itself may not even go into the actual sin itself; whereas the heart has already committed the sin.

The confession of the mouth mentioned  in Romans 10:10 is not to be misconstrued as  the admission of guilt, rather it is the natural tendency of the mouth to execute what the heart has ALREADY performed, just as we saw in the act of LOOKING of the eyes. It is the natural outlet through which the mouth releases the contents of the heart into physical manifestation so to speak.

Pro 4:23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

The things that proceed out of the heart are the issues of life, spelt out by Christ as evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, etc. they proceed out of the mouth through the meditation and articulation of man’s plans and desires and motives.

Thus when a person is born again, he receives a new spirit and a new heart (the spirit of a sound mind…we shall return to this later); this new spirit or heart no longer functions the way the natural heart once did…it now has a new life within…the life of the HOLY Spirit- the Spirit of Christ; and will begin to DO the desires of the Holy New Life, and of this the mouth will meditate, do and speak of.

So when we come out for altar call as newly born again believers, it is the wrong scripture to use…for it is quoted out of context…it is meant for those who have already begun to practise the DOING or BELIEVING into what the new heart wants to do…to practise righteousness…holiness…love…

Rom 10:8-9 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.  

This is the scripture upon which we base our altar calls usually, yet Paul was in no way referencing the Salvation of the spirit, seeing as the Church to whom he was writing already possessed this.

Paul was in fact laying down conditions for something, with the conditional word IF…

Paul was referencing natural Israel as it is written in verse 1:

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

It was in follow up to this his heart’s desire that he continues all the way into verse 10 where he is still outlining the way for natural Israel to be saved, not by the law of righteousness (verse 4); but by the righteousness of faith.

He was comparing the law of righteousness with the righteousness that comes by faith, so he went on to say in verse 5:

For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall LIVE by them.

But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 

8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 

This is the essence of the gospel that Paul preached…until he comes to this verse…

16 But they have not all OBEYED the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report…

There is an obedience to the gospel that is required if our belief is to be confirmed as one that has believed unto righteousness.

 Israel had heard the gospel preached but had not OBEYED it.

There are many that HEAR the gospel message and come out for altar call, yet are not genuinely saved…because they did not first repent of their sins…they were ushered to the front of the church with much applause to cheer them on…with congratulatory messages like heroes…no one taught them how to repent…all they knew was they had AGREED in their minds that the gospel message is the truth.

The first ‘Altar Call’ was given on the day of Pentecost when 3,000 souls were saved. The multitude were PRICKED TO THE HEART…in other words, they were CONVICTED not PERSUADED…not CONVINCED; so much so that they asked Peter and the rest of the apostles the question WHAT SHALL WE DO?

They were very concerned about their predicament…they wanted ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE to be saved!

Here is Peter’s response to them:

Acts 2:37-38 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 

Then Peter said unto them, REPENT, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  

Peter did not lead them in an Altar Call prayer…he did not lead them in a ‘Sinners’ Prayer’ because there was a foundational thing to do, and that foundational step was not the verbalizing of a confession or admission of guilt and a ‘receiving Christ into their hearts’ no, they first had to REPENT!

Again Peter preached after the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate and gave the PROPER ORDER of Salvation:

Acts 3:19 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; 

Repentance of the heart under conviction came first BEFORE Conversion, and then their sins would be blotted out.

Paul in preaching to King Agrippa, told him about his own conversion and his subsequent assignment given by Christ whom he had seen in a vision at Damascus. He told King Agrippa precisely how he carried out the assignment to save souls:

Acts 26:19-20 Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: 

But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.

We must never forget that the heart believes UNTO righteousness…it is not some instantaneous act; it is a believing UNTO…there is a process and that process is Repentance.

When a man begins to do works that are tantamount to Repentance, he has begun BELIEVING UNTO RIGHTEOUSNESS.

Repentance then is the foundation for the good soil upon which the Sower sows seeds and reaps a hundred fold returns (Mark 4:14-20).

If you are familiar with the parable, you will realize that many RECEIVED the Word even with joyfulness…they were BORN AGAIN so to speak…they had ‘believed’ with their hearts unto righteousness and confessed the Lordship of Jesus with their mouths…they had been accepted into the church…and yet after a while…

16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately RECEIVE it with gladness; 

17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.

They did not have root in themselves…the ground was not good soil…it lacked ONE THING…genuine repentance…the heart had not done any works of repentance, therefore its BELIEVING was in vain!

Out of four different kinds of ground, all of them heard the word and received it...but only one was good ground...

FIRST REVIEW OF SONS AND SLAVES SENT TO ME BY SIMILOLUWA OLAREWAJU OMONAIYE

SONS AND SLAVES – A REVIEW

This is a story that revolves around two strong Christian families – The Abayomis and the Adeleyes. Both of good standing in the Christian faith, having the head of the former family as the head of a church –RISING STAR CHURCH; and the latter, the head of a HOME FELLOWSHIP; but their genuine obedience to the will of God differentiated their true identity in the Kingdom of God.

I have also come to understand in this story that a church or a home fellowship is just a building or a venue that affords believers the opportunity to gather in one place to worship and hear from God, but the pure intent and content of our heart is what God seeks to move within us and expressly manifest his sovereignty in our daily lives.

This is a story that rightly divides the true state of our stand and walk with God. It poses to us a question that should be answered personally – Do I genuinely have a relationship with God that can allows me to listen to his will and act without questioning Him; or is my relationship with God based on the teachings I hear from the church, the confessions I pronounce but without the power of the One behind the confessing, is it based on the stereotyped services and Christian gatherings I attend and so on?

 The teachings we hear in church today is another aspect of our Christian walk with God that should be checked, are we hearing the intent of God’s heart to the church or Mammon-possessed and polished teachings that are taught to massage the personalities of the congregation just for the preachers’ self-benefits.

If we take a critical look into the Bible, we will be able to differentiate between the true state and teachings of the Corinthian and Laodicean church, and that of the 21st Century or modern day church.

 It will be to the advantage of our Christian growth if we take our time and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us deeply what he intends for us after attending services in church. A strong and genuine personal relationship with God along with a sincere act of service to Him is all we as believers ought to live for everyday of our lives bearing in mind that God will forever take care of all that we can ever need or deserve to live a good and comfortable life – Matt 6:33.

Serving God as a showcase to make money, attain fame and power is just like digging a pit gradually and walking into it alongside.

SIMILOLUWA OLAREWAJU OMONAIYE