MY DIET, MY SALVATION (PART 1)


MY DIET, MY SALVATION 

“What has diet got to do with my salvation?” Someone might ask, “Is there any link between my dietary life and where I will finally end up when christ comes again? Is diet a salvation issue or just a personal choice?”

This short study is not to tell you what to eat or what not to eat, rather it is to show us the link between diet and our salvation. I want my reader to note this before reading further: We are not justified (saved) or made righteous by what we eat, but we shall be judged and rewarded (saved) by our works and how we treat our bodily temple. When christ comes the second time, those who have not defiled their body temple with unclean foods and those who have overcome intemperate appetite shall experience the salvation of Jesus. While those who have defiled their body temples with unclean foods and have not overcome intemperate appetite shall be lost.

BEFORE CHRIST’S SECOND COMING

How did christ describe those that will be living on earth before his second coming? Take note of the Italized words in every text presented.

“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:37-39

Jesus said the antediluvian is a type of what will happen before his second coming. One of the characteristics of these people is that they were busy eating and drinking. For this reason they knew not when the flood came. They were preoccupied with fullness of food and drink to the point of not recognising the coming flood of God’s wrath.

One may ask, is it then a sin to eat and drink? To this I will reply no. But these people were eating and drinking in such a manner that made them unprepared for the coming flood. Commenting on the above passage, Mrs white wrote:

“The same sins that brought judgments upon the world in the days of Noah, exist in our day. Men and women now carry their eating and drinking so far that it ends in gluttony and drunkenness. This prevailing sin, the indulgence of perverted appetite, inflamed the passions of men in the days of Noah, and led to wide-spread corruption.”– [Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, p.11, par. 1]

Christ is also warning us, who are living in these last days, to take heed of what we eat, how we eat and when we eat them lest we are taken unaware of his second coming.

“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:34-36

What is surfeiting and drunkenness? Surfeiting is eating or drinking in excess to the point of having headache or being unable to walk or stand up. This means gluttony. Drunkenness apparently means to be intoxicated by an alcoholic drink. It also could mean eating different types of food at the same time in such a way that it leads to intoxication when it ferments in the body system. An example of this is when milk is eaten together with sugar. This mixture causes fermentation in the stomach leading to intoxication in the body system which also weakens the mind. Mrs white has this to say in respect to milk and sugar eaten together:

“Some use milk and a large amount of sugar on mush, thinking that they are carrying out health reform. But the sugar and the milk combined are liable to cause fermentation in the stomach, and are thus harmful.“—[Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, p. 56, par. 4]

Christ is saying, gluttons and drunkards will be taken unaware of his second coming.

The other reason many people will be taken unaware of his coming is because they would not be watching unto prayer to escape what is coming upon the world as an overwhelming surprise. The reason they are not watching unto prayer is as a result of overfeeding and drunkenness. This is the reality of our time. Let us ask ourselves a question: Can one who over feeds himself or get drunk watch unto prayer? Your guess is as good as mine. The answer is no. Those who are temperate in what they eat and drink will be able to have a clear mind to understand the sign of the times. Paul also gave the same principle as christ did:

“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. . . But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” 1 Corinthians 9:25, 27.

That means those who are intemperate will be cast away because their body is not subject to self control. Their “end is destruction” for their “God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.” Philippians 3:19

These intemperate people eat anything, at anytime and anyhow. God is concerned about our health as much as he is concerned about our spirituality. “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 3 John 1:2. We need to strive to live a life pleasing to God in all areas of our lives.

INIQUITY SEPARATES US FROM GOD

Iniquity is what separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-3, Jeremiah 5:25). What was one of sodom’s iniquity that made God to destroy them?

“As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. 49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.” Ezekiel 16:48-50

It’s very interesting to note that fullness of bread leads to abundance of idleness. This, the Lord says, is the iniquity of Sodom. That means the fullness of bread is the iniquity of Sodom which separated them from God. One is prone to forget God when they are fully feed or when their is abundance of food at their disposal. Jeshurun, another name for Israel, forsook God when he waxed fat.

“But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.” Deuteronomy 32:15

This means the people of God, if not careful, can forsake God when they are comfortable and have abundance of food. In the “day of trouble [little time of trouble to great time of trouble], and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts” (Isaiah 22:5) those who have rejected God and have followed their own passion and appetite by “slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine” will say, “let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.” Isaiah 22:13. What did the Lord of host reply these people? The answer is revealed in the next verse:

“And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.” Isaiah 22:14.

I want us to take note of God’s reply. He said “surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die.” Which iniquity is he referring to? The iniquity mentioned in verse 13, the iniquity of eating and drinking as they wish. This iniquity shall not be purged. This means their iniquity can no longer be forgiven because the time of their probation has closed, they have already entered the time of trouble which Daniel spoke about in Daniel 12:1. When Michael [christ] stands up, this means he has ended his high priestly role of purging the sins of Israel. Though this prophecy of Isaiah was directed to ancient Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah, it is also applicable to spiritual Israel living at the end of the world. But those mentioned in verse 12, 13 are not the true Israelites of God but the apostate Israel of God that have rejected the health reform. This prophecy is for those living at this time and age of earth history.

EATING ABOMINABLE THINGS

Jesus said, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” Luke 16:15

Many in the world today justify their act of eating those things the bible regard as abominations. These things to my best of knowledge are highly esteemed among men but in the sight of God are reckoned to be abominations. What ever the bible regard as abomination in the past is still abomination today. A quick search of the word abomination in the KJV bible and you will have 142 hits. God is concerned about all that he identifies as abomination and he has promised to destroy any man that partake in these abominations if they refuse to repent.

“For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. 17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 66:15-17.

The Lord shall consume those that eat swine’s (pig) flesh, mouse and the abomination. Why did he added “the abomination” to the list? I believe the Lord is directing us to read Leviticus 11 Deuteronomy 14 for the whole list of the abominable foods he has warned us not to eat. Therefore, there was no need for repeating in Isaiah 66:15-17 what had already been established in the bible [the 5 books of Moses] of their time.

In Isaiah 65:1-10, the prophet of the Lord also speaks of those that eat these abominations and the Lord promised to reward them for their iniquity. In fact in vs 4, 7 the Lord associated their iniquity and the iniquity of their father with the eating of swine’s flesh and the eating of every abominable things. This reveals to us today that earing unclean food is an abomination and a sin whose end is destruction.

In the next study, we shall seek to answer the questions of: How can one defile him or herself by what they eat? I will invite us to come here again to read “My diet, MY salvation [part 2].” Don’t forget to leave a comment below.

 

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PERFECTING HOLINESS


Recently I have been thinking about some mind blowing text in the Bible which talks about victory over sin and I have been asking myself, “how attainable is character perfection in this present world?”

It is clearly taught in the Bible that all who will be translated from among men at Christ’s second coming must be found without spot, faultless and blameless. (1 Thessalonians 5:23, Revelation 14:1-5). To be among these special group of people, we must now send our sins before hand into the sanctuary that Christ may blot or purge all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to sin from the soul temple and also retain our names in the book of life. We have already entered into the time of the judgment since 1844 October 22; the time when all sins are to be removed from the soul temple as Christ simultaneously cleanses the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary.

If our sins are not sent into judgement for blotting, none can receive the seal of the living God in their forehead in the time of the refreshing of the latter rain. For we were told in Acts 3:19 to repent and be converted that the blotting out of sin can take place in the time of refreshing which will be bestowed from the presence of the Lord.

“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” Acts 3:19.

The final atonement is both heavenly work and earthly work; christ work and man work. As christ cleanses the most holy place from all sins that is transfered into it, we also must simultaneously cleanse our hearts and mind from all sins which have been accumulated by traditions, customs and habits through the help of the Holy Spirit.

We all must, through the power of the former rain given by the Holy Spirit, overcome daily all our cultivated and inherited tendencies to sin which resides in their hearts.

Christ will not translate any of us if our hearts are full of sinfulness or any bent to do evil. No one will be in heaven with a bent or tendencies to do evil because all who will enter heaven must have attained the same sinlessness that Jesus had; they must be holy within and without. Therefore all must strive to overcome every selfishness, evil tendencies, cultivated habits and wicked ways. This is not a joking matter; it is a life and death issue. Christ will not accept 99.9% victory because 0.01% is putting heaven at risk.  The Lord has promised to “make an utter end” of all afflication, adversity, trouble, sin and they “shall not rise up the second time.” Nahum 1:9.

Therefore, we all are to strive to enter heaven, looking unto Jesus our forerunner as our example. To strive is to go against what the flesh desire and do the works of the Spirit. Jesus have given us no assurance that we will attain to this state of perfection in a smooth ride but he has given us 100% assurance that whosoever take hold of His strength of victory shall find peace during this race to perfection. (Isaiah 27:5).

“But Christ has given us no assurance that to attain perfection of character is an easy matter. A noble, all-round character is not inherited. It does not come to us by accident. A noble character is earned by individual effort through the merits and grace of Christ. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; we form the character. It is formed by hard, stern battles with self. Conflict after conflict must be waged against hereditary tendencies. We shall have to criticize ourselves closely, and allow not one unfavorable trait to remain uncorrected.“– Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 331, par. 1.

As i have previously noted, according to the quote, to attain a perfect character is through “individual effort” and “through the merits and grace of Christ.” Man must cooperate with heavenly agencies as he wage “conflict after conflict” against the sinful hereditary tendencies. All must seriously and sincerely criticize themselves closely and allow not one blemish, stain, wrong habit, wrong feelings, sinful thoughts, guile remain uncorrected. This must be done daily, hourly and every minutes.

They must heed to the words of Paul: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2 Corinthians 13:5) Many christians are waiting for a miracle in their lives that will remove the filthiness in their soul. This, I say, will never happen. It is a false expectation that will never come to fulfillment.

It is true that there is no merit in our work. Nothing that we do earn us righteousness, for “by grace are ye saved through faith.” Ephesians 2:8. But yet the Bible is abundantly clear that we are judged and receive our rewards on the basis of our works. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Matthew 16:27 (see Revelation 22:12, 1 Peter 1:17, Romans 2:6). Our works, deeds, effort, actions does not atone for our sins, but our cooperation with God is needed in attaining perfection of character. We must demonstrate to the fallen world and to the devil that we have Christ abiding in us and through Christ we can workout our salvation with fear and trembling.

Faith in christ is acting upon God’s word and living by every word that proceed out of the mouth of God. Faith is not idleness or inaction. Faith is action. Faith works by love and love is the fulfilling [keeping] of the Law. (Galatians 5:6; Romans 13:10). I often give this analogy to explain what faith is:

If you are in a lecture hall full of students and some group of police officers ran into the hall informing all to go out of the hall as a result of a time bomb which had been planted in the lecture hall by a terrorist and the time bomb could be seen by all in the lecture hall. Let me ask: “Will you remain sitted in the hall despite believing that a bomb was actually planted in the hall and the police officers are round to detonate the bomb, or will you run out of the hall despite believing that a bomb was actually planted?” Am sure a sensible person will flee from the hall as quick as possible despite believing that the bomb is about to be detonated by the police officers.

WHAT IS HOLINESS?

Faith is acting out what God has revealed to us in his Word and Testimonies. This faith is what lead us to a state of holy lifestyle. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” (Hebrews 12:14). This is not an option. This is a command without which we cannot see God.

“Holiness is agreement with God”– Testimonies vol. 5, p. 743.

“Holiness is not rapture; it is the result of surrendering all to God; it is doing the will of our heavenly Father.”– Thoughts from the mount of blessing, p. 149.

“Holiness is wholeness for God; it is the entire surrender of heart and life to the indwelling of the principles of heaven.”– Desire of Ages, p. 555.

HOW DO WE PERFECT HOLINESS?

“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 Corinthians 7:1

This text is powerful. It has come to be one of my favorite text on victory over sin. Paul gave a simple ways to perfect holiness. After one have been justified by grace through faith (imputed holiness), he or she had just begone the race of holiness, he or she now must live the life of Christ, he must take the following steps to enjoy the sanctified life (imparted holiness):

1. Having the promise of God: We must have the promises of God stored in the heart and not just a head knowledge. All must have a daily settling into the truth of the word of God intellectually and spiritually that they may not be moved to sin. This promises are gotten from the word of God. They are divine. They are powerful and sharper than any two edged swords (Hebrews 4:12). These promises are the words of God by which all must live on. We must have these promises stored in the heart that we might not sin against God. Said the Psalmist,  “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” Psalm 119:11. This was Christ’s method in overcoming. Since the word is from God and not from man, we can rightfully say this is God’s helping hand to make us holy unto perfection. It is the word that sanctifies the soul and sanctification is holiness (1 Peter 1:22,23).

2. Cleanse yourself: The next step is the role that you and I are to play. The text we are considering above says, “Let us cleanse ourselves,” it didn’t say, sit back and watch Christ cleanse you. Rather the emphasis is on us cleansing ourselves. Some one may say, “You are working out your salvation without the help of Christ. This is legalism.” This is not so! Faith, has we have explained previously, is action: acting out the word of God. James also gave a similar counsel: “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:8. Again we see a similar instruction to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts.

Does this mean we have a cleansing agent of our own to make this possible? Definitely not. What do Paul and James mean by us cleansing and purifying ourselves? David gave the answer. David asked the same question and the Holy Spirit gave him the answer: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.” Psalms 119:9.

According to Strong’s Definition, “to take heed” in hebrew is “שׁמר” or “shâmar” which literally means any of the following “to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard ; generally to protect, attend to, etc.: – beware, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).” That means if any one seek to have his life cleanse in this world he or she must build an hedge round about his heart with the word of God by observing and keeping all that the word says. Also he must hedge out anything that will defile his heart such as impure pictures, songs, words, etc. Jesus will not do this for us. In fact his blood that cleanses from sin will not benefit us if we do not accept it by faith.

3. Filthiness of the flesh and spirit: What are we to cleanse ourselves of? We are to cleanse ourselves from the filthiness of  the flesh and of the spirit. What filthiness? Outward filthiness (in the flesh) and inward filthiness (in the spirit or heart). Man is made up of flesh and spirit. God wants us to be purified not only inwardly, but also outwardly. Must of us know the inward cleansing. This is purifying our hearts from evil thoughts, wicked thoughts and sinful hereditary tendencies. This inward cleansing is both the work of Christ and man. The cleansing agents are the blood, the word and the Holy Spirit. These three will not benefit us if we do not cooperate with Christ.

The area must often neglected is the cleansing of the flesh (the outward part). The flesh is the body and the body has been bought with a the blood of jesus.

“Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:18-20

One way the body or flesh can be defile or made filthy is through sexual sin such as fornication, adultery, masturbation and having lustful desires by watching pornography movies or sexual content movies.

What we eat could also defile our body and make it filthy. Daniel understand this principle. “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.” Daniel 1:8. Defilement of the flesh is connected to diet. This aspect is broad which I might create a time to write upon.

To attain perfection unto holiness we must have a clean heart and flesh. The clean flesh is not the same as holy flesh or immortal flesh but a flesh undefiled of sinful habits or unclean food. Let us walk in the spirit and make no provision for the lust of the flesh.

WAR AGAINST THE GIFT OF PROPHECY


WARNING:
This message is certainly not for all Seventh-day Adventists.

I repeat!

This post is not for all Church going Seventh-Day Adventist. Thus, you don’t need to accept this message. In fact more than 50% Adventists will frown at it. This is an apologetic message.

What then is the Message?

We are at War. Yes, a battle against the Prophetic role of Ellen Gould White. We ought not to be bothered about this but we also need to be alert, for the Roaring Lion, Satan, has come to scatter the Flock, eat the ignorant and lead souls to damnation. He will use many within the fold (Church) to accomplish this. Many so called stars (Members, Elders, Pastors, and Leaders) of the church will lead humble souls, who are seeking to study God’s word, to reject the role of Sister White and make her writings of non-effect.

I pray I am not one of those who will lead souls to reject her writings which Christ gave to the Church or even personally reject her counsel for my life.

No wonder, Apostle John, under divine vision, saw this battle ahead of time against the Last day Church and he wrote:

“Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time . . . And the dragon (the Devil) was wroth (furiously Angry) with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev 12:12, 17.

Note this clearly: The Dragon, the devil, is specifically at war, not with any other set of people, but with those who keep the commandments of God (both Ten commandments and all Christ’s commandments) and those who have (possess) the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The commandments are understandable, but “What then is the Testimony of Jesus Christ?”

But Revelation 19:10 gives the answer: “testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Most Adventist will say, Ellen G. White. But she is not the testimony of Jesus Christ. She is only a vessel through which the Holy Spirit communicate the testimony of Jesus Christ. You see, the Testimony of Jesus is the Gift of Prophecy that the Holy Spirit gives to the remnant Church of Rev 12:17 which the Dragon is at war with. The bible and the writings of Mrs. White comprises of the Spirit of prophecy. The many in adventism are against both the bible and writings of Mrs. White.

Note what John wrote about those who possesses this gift:

“And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren (Brothers) that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Rev 19:10

Then later on the Angel that spoke to John repeated this same statement when John was about repeating the same act of worship. The Angel said:

“. . . See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the PROPHETS . . .”

Nobody can claim this gift if they were not called into the prophetic office. You may teach prophecy but this is different from the prophetic role. Teaching prophecy on its own is a gift but not the same as having the prophetic gift like that of Mrs. E. G. White. I for one don’t intelligently understand why many Adventist hate the prophetic office of Mrs. White?

THE CHALLENGE:
I challenge all Seventh-Day Adventists (Those who do not believe or believe in the prophetic role of Ellen White) to test Ellen G. White prophetic role by reading just three of her books this new year.

The three books are Desire of Ages, Steps to Christ and The great Controversy.

If you don’t have, just send be your email, I will send then to you in PDF format so long your computer or tablet phone or any phone you are using has Adobe PDF reader.

IS MICHAEL JESUS CHRIST?


Unless we understand that Jesus took certain titles or names for the roles He played, especially in the plan of salvation, certain titles such as archangel which mean a chief angel or the commander of the army of angels, will indeed seem derogatory of Jesus and we will miss the whole point. Concerning God’s warning in Isaiah 28:9-10 which says “Whom shall He teach knowledge? And whom shall He make to understand doctrine?” and the childlike humility of being “weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts” (v. 9) and the patient studious caution of placing “precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, and there a little” (v. 10), few topics warrant this solemn instruction from God as the topic of the pre-incarnate personality of Jesus Christ. The question “Is Michael Jesus Christ?” that has caused several divisions amongst God’s end-time people is a question we can find satisfying answers to from the Bible. This short write up is written to shed more light on this topic.

One of the truest ways of knowing who someone is or who a figure is in the Bible is to simply know the roles they played or their job description. When we think of a boy that took care of his father’s sheep and went after a lion which took a lamb out of the flock, we immediately think of David, and whether this man is somewhere else referred to as “The Psalmist”, we know it is still David based on the evidence of the role he played. When we think of a man who stretched out his hand over the red sea and drowned Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen, we think of Moses, and whether this man is somewhere else referred to as “God’s servant”, we know it is still Moses based on the evidence of the role he played. When we think of a man that fiercely persecuted the disciples of Jesus Christ and later became a foremost apostle himself, we think of Paul, and whether this man is somewhere else called “Saul”, we know it is still Paul. Whether Satan is called “The devil” or “The Serpent”, or “Lucifer”, we know is still the same person based on the evidence of the role he played in Scripture. Now, considering the topic of this write-up, let us look at some evidence and examples from the Bible.

Let’s begin here. Take a look at Joshua 5:13-15

13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my Lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.

The man that appears to Joshua here says he is the captain of the Lord’s hosts. Do you know this is what the name Michael signifies? But this is a title that correctly applies to Jesus Christ only. In the same account, quite similar to Moses’ experience at the burning bush (see Exodus 3), notice that Joshua was said to have worshipped this man and called him my Lord in godly reverence. One thing is clear; angels do not accept worship of this sort or of any sort.

We have two accounts in Revelation 19:10 and Revelation 22:8-9.

Revelation 19:10 King James Version (KJV)

10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Revelation 22:8-9 King James Version (KJV)

8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. 9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

The response of the angel here is pretty much clear in that angels are chiefly servants or messengers. They like us are created to worship God; not to receive worship (Revelation 4:11). The inevitable implication of this is that the man that appeared to Joshua couldn’t be a created being; he is whom he says he is; the captain of God’s hosts and he is whom Joshua calls him; the Lord. Now take a look at Matthew 16:27 and see a job description of a captain of the Lord’s hosts. Here is Jesus.

Matthew 16:27 King James Version (KJV)

27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

This is talking about the return of Jesus Christ. Also see:

John 5:28, 29 King James Version (KJV)

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

Now compare this:

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 King James Version (KJV)

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

If you have more time, you may also compare this with 2 Thess. 1: 7-9. This job description of a Captain of the Lord’s hosts, which entails the second coming and the resurrection, amongst many others in the Scriptures is certainly those of Jesus Christ. Yet, the man in the form of an angel that appears to Joshua with a sword drawn in His hands, says he is the Captain of the Lord’s hosts. Who else could He be but the pre-incarnate Christ, the Son of God, appearing in the form of an angel? We know that another job description of Jesus Christ is that He is the high priest and minister of the sanctuary in heaven after the shadow of the sanctuary service in the old dispensation.

Hebrews 8:1-2 King James Version (KJV)

1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; 2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.

(Also see Revelation 1:12-20 for more evidence of Christ’s ministration in the heavenly sanctuary). Yet, in Revelation 8, we see an angel in verse 3 and 4, performing Christ’s role and we can know this is the heavenly sanctuary because it happened right before the throne of God (Vs. 4), which we know from the old dispensation is in the most holy place of the sanctuary (Isaiah 37:16; Psalm 99:1; Exodus 25:19-22). Concerning the sanctuary in heaven, we know no created being could perform this priestly role to which man’s redemption is intricately connected (for this is what the sanctuary services were all about), thus this ‘angel’ in Revelation 8:3-4 was definitely Christ and the word ‘angel’ here would suffice as a minister or servant, which describes Christ’s ministry and service in the heavenly sanctuary. No angel can perform priestly services unto to God on behalf of the human race; only Jesus Christ. These are some of the many evidences in the Scripture that for certain purposes, such as seen in the experiences of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Daniel, and John the Revelator, that the Son of God appears in the form of an ‘Angel of the Lord’, for if He truly appears in His pre-incarnate glory without taking this form, these feeble men, He would have destroyed by the brightness of His glory. And the roles afore-described, are the roles of Christ; never the role of the Holy Spirit or the role of some created being as some have deemed Michael to be. (You may also compare Jude 9 and Zechariah 3:1, 2 to see that Michael, though God, has always been subject to His Father, even before He became the incarnate Jesus Christ). Concerning Daniel 10:13, which pose some challenge to some, we know that there are ranks of angels in heaven based on their roles; the ones closest to the God’s throne, being the highest in rank. These high ranked angels are ‘princes’, and Lucifer, who was also a covering Cherub before his fall, was actually a ‘prince’ too, even been compared to a wicked earthly king, the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28. And he still retains his princely title even after his fall, being referred to as the prince of the kingdoms of Persia for his role in hardening the hearts of the kings of Persia (Cyrus and his Consuls) against God’s purposes through Daniel. So though Michael was referred to as one of the chief princes in this passage, He is ultimately not of the same status as the highest angels/princes of heaven, but He is the Christ, the prince of princes, the great prince (see Daniel 12) whose job description in Daniel 12:1-3, which entails the second coming, the resurrection of the dead and a resulting executive judgement (compare Daniel 12:1-3 & John 5:27-29) is essentially, as seen all over the rest of Scriptures, that of Jesus Christ.

These clearly show us that Michael (which also means Prince; compare Daniel 12:1 with Revelation 1:5), a crucial figure in the Old Testament, who appeared to many of God’s servants in the form of an “Angel of the Lord”, is indeed Jesus Christ.

Friend, what are your thoughts? Kindly leave a comment below.

This article first appeared in http://sofidimaye.org/is-michael-jesus-christ-2/

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WRITTEN BY S. O. FIDIMAYE

BEYOND THE TRINITY MYSTERY: WHY YOU CAN TRUST THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY


While it is easy for many to come to terms with the teachings of the Bible, some find it confounding the idea of a triune God. Many believe God is one and there is no other, and thus, they find it hard to accept the idea of a God in three Persons. Moreover, the term ‘Trinity’ does not even appear in the Bible and many have traced the origin of the Trinity doctrine to paganism, an argument which is justified in that the idea of triune gods were prevalent in pagan religions. Yet, even though it is true that the Bible does not use the term “Trinity” anywhere, it is equally true that the Bible does expound it, as we shall see.

The term “Trinity” is not alone in the category of unused terms in the Bible; the Bible also does not mention terms such as rapture, monotheism, and millennium, but it does teach them clearly. So to disregard the doctrine of the Trinity on the evidence of the non-usage of the term will inevitably amount to a total disregard of the weight of Scripture which when considered as a whole, speaks of God as one, yet three Persons. And while it is true that the doctrine of the Trinity share similarities with the pagan teachings of triune gods, so much so that many believe it was from there the Christian Trinity doctrine originated, it is equally true that the doctrine of the Trinity as found in the Bible is self-sufficient. The Trinity doctrine of the Scripture is that of a God that manifested Himself in three Persons, and although the three Persons of the Trinity are God, based on biblical proof, the Bible yet speaks of God as one, in a similar sense to how it spoke of a man and woman as one; a union, and not in any other sense than a union (Genesis 2:24; John 17:10, 11).

When we study the Bible as a whole, and understand the plan of salvation for mankind through Jesus Christ, which has been highlighted in previous posts under the ‘Exclusive Features’ category, the doctrine of the Trinity becomes very meaningful. A perfect scenario is the fact that the Father had to resurrect the Son and the Son had to send the Holy Spirit as His representative on earth, after His resurrection. During the closing stages of Jesus’ earthly ministry, Jesus promised His disciples that when He gets back to heaven, He would send them “the Helper” who, interestingly, will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement (John 16:7–11). This is a revealing statement, considering that this is exactly how God speaks of Himself in Jeremiah 9:24, that He is the Lord, “exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.” The manner in which Jesus Christ describes the work of the Holy Spirit in comparison to God’s mission on earth as seen in Jeremiah 9:24, is striking. It reemphasizes the whole concept of the plan of salvation for mankind through Jesus Christ: God the Father exercising lovingkindness, judgement, and righteousness on the earth; God the Son coming down to the

earth to manifest lovingkindness, judgement, and righteousness; and God the Holy Spirit taking the work from there till the end of the world while also convicting the world of sin, because they do not believe in the redemptive sacrifice of the Son. This is basically the purpose of the Trinity, and it is quite unfortunate that the same ones for which God manifested Himself in three Persons, are the same ones who think it is a foolish concept of God.

Arianism, subordinationism, monotheism, as taught by other faiths, and other doctrines of God save the Trinity, as thought by the Bible, will totally undermine the plan of salvation, or suggest the lack thereof, no matter how shrewd and rational they may be.

The precise purpose for which Satan introduced his own version of the Trinitarian government into the pagan religions of old is left to be unraveled, but we know that Satan has always wanted to be like the Most High God (see Isaiah 14). Could it be that Satan wanted to create his own government on earth as seen in heaven from whence he came? Having failed in his rebellion against God in heaven, and being a covering cherub, which meant he was in close proximity to God’s government more than the other angels, could it be that he intends to achieve his purpose on earth by establishing a similar government to God’s, where he makes the people worship the mystery rather than the Most High God? By captivating the minds of men with a three in one god system as seen in the worship of the sun god amongst pagan religions of old, he is inevitably able to accomplish his purpose of making people idolize the mystery while bastardizing God’s true government. And as always, just as in the case of the Messiah, a solemn truth that the devil tried to topple over by introducing his own versions into the pagan religions of old before the Messiah arrived, there is a craftiness and deception to making God’s government look like an ambiguous three in one, rather than a God who manifested Himself in three Persons, who are one for unity’s sake. Like any counterfeit, the devil’s version of the trinity as found in pagan religions of old is a scathing insult to God’s government, and believers, rather than allow the devil to topple them over, ought to be aware of the subtleness of their adversary. Moreover, the Bible alludes that adherents of these religions will be judged because they had some revelation of the true God, saying, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:19–22).

Christianity is not a mystery religion for the presence of mysteries. Christianity becomes a mystery religion when the mystery is worshipped rather than God, or when God is worshipped for the sake of the mystery rather than for the sake of love, as found in the worship of the sun god; the reality to which believers today must awake, and know that this is exactly what the devil has done to Christianity, to the extent of the corruption of the Scripture, where the devil, using his agents, has strived to make bare what needed not to be, and thus, has set up an idol to captivate the minds of God’s children with the mystery of the Trinity, rather than with the God of the Trinity. In rather extreme cases, he has made many to disbelieve in God, on the grounds that the Trinity is a doctrine that cannot be explained. Yet, where God came from is a mystery and so is how He made the universe and all that is in it within six literal days. That Jesus Christ is both the lamb and the High Priest that was portrayed in the Old Testament sanctuary services is a mystery, and even so, a priest according to the order of Melchizedek; a non-Levite king of Salem, whose genealogy is not recorded in the Scripture, hence, having no father and mother nor beginning or end of days, since his genealogy is not known (see Hebrews 7).

So, when we study the Bible as a whole, and understand the plan of salvation for mankind through Jesus Christ, the doctrine of the Trinity becomes very meaningful. Download the PDF document of this article sofidimaye.org-BEYOND THE TRINITY MYSTERY WHY YOU CAN TRUST THE DOCTRINE OF THE TRINITY. Friend, what are your thoughts? Kindly leave a comment below.

Written by S. O. Fidimaye

The article first appeared on:

http://sofidimaye.org/beyond-the-trinity-mystery-why-you-can-trust-the-doctrine-of-the-trinity/

*The content of this post is based on my new book, “The Believer’s Dilemma: Questions that beg for answers” which is available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N044LKV and Smashwords

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/671686 and other major online retail stores.

 

 

CHRIST DOES NOT SET US FREE, HE MAKE US FREE.


CHRIST DOES NOT SET US FREE. HE MAKE US FREE.

“Wait a minute Mr. Preacher,” Someone might possibly say, “Are you saying Jesus does not set us free from sin? Didn’t you read in your Bible that “ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free . . . If the Son therefore shall set you free, ye shall be free indeed John 8:32, 36?” I will reply by saying, the Scripture didn’t say “the truth shall set you free” rather the Scripture say, “the truth shall make you” and “the Son shall make you free.” That is why we need to use a good Bible translation. It will be advisable to make us of the KJV translation. The NIV translated it as set free, but in the KJV it is translated as make free. In fact no where can we find the phrase set free applied to Jesus or salvation, it is always make or made free. Someone might possibly ask, “Why is this so important? It doesn’t matter if Jesus set us free or make us free, all that matters is that we are free.” To such person is this article written.

The Mission of Christ

Jesus mission into this world is to save His people from their sin. It is written of Him.

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21.

He was also revealed to save His people from the works of the Devil and the works of the Devil is the works of the flesh.

“For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8.

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21.

Jesus came into this world to make us free from sin. Jesus is in the making free business and not the setting free business. It is true that sin is like a cord that binds us to Satan and the world and we become his goods or his slave. But one cannot be bound up with a cord or chain without first being captured or entrapped as a slave.

Proverbs 5:22 clarifies this: “His own iniquities shall take [entrap] the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” First we are entrapped or taken before we are held with the cords of our sin. Sin destroys the image of God in us and when tasted leaves us spiritually dead, lifeless and in bondage. Those who are bound by the cord and chain of sin are slaves to sin; they are regarded as slaves to another power stronger than them. Jesus made this clear in John 8:34-37 when he was speaking to the Jews:

“Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.”

The word servant in verse 34 literally means bondservant or slave. A slave is one sold to another person called master or lord. Paul further made it clear in Romans 7:14 where he wrote that he is carnal “sold under sin.” The master is sin or the sinful practices which we indulge in either openly or secretly. Satan, through the fleshly passion of our carnal heart, binds us to himself that we may do his bidding and makes us is rightful captives. Satan, through the sinful passions or sinful practices, becomes our master or what Jesus calls the strong man of our life.

The strong man and the Stronger Man

Jesus gave a parable about the strong man and the Stronger Man that overcomes him in Luke 11:21-22.

“When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.”

The strong man that is armed and that keeps his goods is Satan. His goods is man, those that are under his slavish power, those who have committed sin and are in bondage. The Stronger Man is Jesus who will come upon him and overcome him and rescues the slave from his armour and he will then destroy his power. But it is interesting to note how the Holy Spirit further explains this in the account of Mark. In Mark 3:27, the Holy Spirit explained to us how this Stronger Man was to rescue or save His good from the bondage of the strong man.

“No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.”

The Bible says, the first thing the Stronger Man will have to do is to first bind the strong man before he can spoil his house. This means, before Jesus, the Stronger Man, will begin the cleansing of the soul, the soul that was once in bondage to sin, He would have to first bind up Satan, the strong man, under whom we were held in bondage through our sinful passions, lustful desires, fleshly desires and the evil of our nature. If Jesus does not first bind up the strong man [the power of Satan through the fleshly and sinful passion of our nature] we cannot become free from sin.

It should be noted that the binding of Satan in this regard should not be mistaken to be the same as the binding of Satan during the 1000 years millennial reign of the saints with Christ in Revelation 20:1-3. Again it is imperative to note that the binding of Satan in this article is the binding of his power over us. Satan’s power over his subject is found in the sin that they commit. This sin reside in the carnal heart of man. Jesus said out of within proceed every evil things such as murder, adultery, hatered, lies, fornication etc. [Mark 7:21-23]. Those are partake in the sin that resides in the heart or cherish them are partakers of the nature of Satan. Therefore they are of Satan and they are his rightful goods which are guarded with arms and weapon. Apostle John make this clear in 1 John 3:8 that, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.” Only Jesus has the power to deliver from the hand of this strong man because we are naturally weak and dead in sin.

If Jesus sets us free without first binding the strong man, the strong man will rise up again to hold us in bondage. The way of Salvation is not to set us free but rather to make us free. We are made free when the old man, the flesh, the body of sin or the power of sin is bounded up by the power of Christ while the chain and cord of sin is consumed by the consuming fire of God. In order for the Stronger Man, Jesus, to make us free, He would have to first bind the strong man and then do the cleaning up of the house as we cooperate with Him. The strong man have to remain bound and dead before we can receive our salvation from sinful habit and sinful life style.

Can we be entangled again by Sin?

Definitely yes! Jesus bind the strong man but He does not bind our will power of choice. When the power of sin in the flesh are bound up by the power of Christ divine nature which is imputed and implanted into us, we are immediately made free from the power of sin and death but this freedom in Christ does not mean our choices are taken away from us. Paul wrote: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” Galatians 5:1. That mean it is possible to be entangled again with the bondage of sin.

Someone may ask, “How is this possible? But I thought the strong man was already held bound by the power of Jesus?”

It is possible to be entangled again to sin when we, through the choices that we make, set loose the evil passions of our sinful nature that Jesus had previously placed in bondage. It is truthful said: “You cannot defeat the demons you enjoy playing with.” When we give ourselves as instrument of unrighteousness we are going back to bondage and we are setting free the strong man which was previously held bound by the power of Jesus. For it is written in Romans 6:13, “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” This means that it is possible to yield our members [body, mind and desires] as instruments of unrighteousness or instruments of unrighteousness.

Jesus will make you free

Jesus will make you free, if you allow him to bind the strong man in your life. So long the strong man is bound up and remains in this state, you will walk in liberty and freedom and in victory. How does Jesus accomplish this act? It is through the cross. The strong man is bound up by the crucifixion of the flesh on the cross. The flesh must remain on the cross in order for us to experience victory daily. For us not to serve sin, the body of sin must be crucified and remain dead. It is written in Romans 6:6-7, 12:

“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin . . . Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.”

For us not to obey the lust of the flesh, sin must not reign in our mortal body. For sin not to reign in the mortal body is to be kept impaled on the cross. This impaling of the flesh on the cross is done by reckoning ourselves dead to sin by faith. Through crucifixion the sinful flesh is held bound and man is made free. Freedom in Christ is the same as being made new in Christ Jesus; we are no more slaves of our sinful passion or to Satan or the strong man, but we are now slaves of Christ, the Stronger Man. “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.” Romans 6:22; 2 Cor. 5:17.

Summary and Concluding Remarks

If Jesus sets us free from sin while the strong man, old man, the sinful passions, the body of sin, the carnal mind and the evil heart is not held bound by impaling it to the cross, we will certainly not have victory over our sin and we shall be living believing we are in saved. But if Christ first binds Satan, who works through the strong man, the old man, the sinful passion, the body of sin, the carnal mind and the evil heart then the Stronger Man, Jesus can take his time to make us free, to make us new and make us a new creature. Jesus is able to put under his power the strong man in order to make us free. When He makes us free, we are free indeed and remain so as long as the strong man or old nature or sinful flesh remain on the cross crucified and dead. Are you willing to be made free in Christ Jesus while the sinful passion is held bound, or are you willing to be set free from sin while the sinful passions is let loose and free to harass you over and over again? The choice is your today to make.