A READING FROM SAINTS MADE MERCHANDISE

INSTITUTION OF THE TITHE AND ITS PURPOSE

    We first come across God’s specific instructions concerning the tithe in the book of Leviticus. 27:30. It is here were God instituted the tithe and we first hear that he set it aside to be His own. He instructed that any use or conversion of the tithe would be treated as a loan repayable at 20% interest. Agricultural products could not be converted to money. They were supposed to be tithed in their natural form.

        That means that wheat had to be tithed as wheat or wheat flour and oil as oil. Nobody could tithe these in the form of money. If at all one had to tithe with money, 20% of the value of the agricultural product had to be added as interest. This only applied only in circumstances that left the worshipper with no other alternative other than converting his tithe into cash. Tithes of livestock, however, could not be converted to money no matter the dictates of circumstances. Lev. 27:32-34.

    In Deuteronomy 14:23 God says that we must tithe our earnings so that we ‘may learn to fear the Lord … always.’ In Malachi 3:10 we are also told that we tithe in order to bring food into the house of God. The words that God spoke to Moses in Deuteronomy14: 22-23 are, ‘Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn: that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always.’ In this scripture God is giving specific instructions that we are required to tithe our harvest every year without fail and that we must eat the tithes at designated places so that we may learn to fear him. It is interesting to note that in all the two scriptures mentioned above God made reference to food thereby suggesting that there has to be a link between tithes and nourishment. There also must be a link between tithes and obedience. I believe that God will bless us if we fulfil his purpose for tithing which is honouring him as the Lord and him alone. It is a requirement of every saint to fear God because honouring God and keeping all his commandments is the whole duty of men. Christ also taught us the great doctrine of the fear of God going to the extent of saying, ‘do not fear those who can kill the body only, but fear God who can destroy both soul and body in hell.’

    We therefore must never worship any other God but Jehovah whom we must follow and fear and whose law and voice we must obey and keep. We must forever cling to him because we who stand in faith must always revere the almighty God and never exalt ourselves now that the end is nearer than when we first believed and Christ could any day appear, we must therefore fear and serve the great God who created the universe and all that fills it. One wise man of yesteryear said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom so let us make our first step into the riches of wisdom.

    The Lord who says we must learn to fear him by eating the tithes of our earnings in his presence is the one who says that tithes provide food in his house; food that we must feast upon in thanksgiving to the Lord. See Malachi 3:10. God desires that we bring food to his house so that his flock will not starve. In Isaiah 40:11 God said, concerning Jesus Christ the great caring shepherd,  ‘He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.’ It is because of this reason that we can boldly say that he causes us to lie in green, tender and nourishing pastures and leads us to cool and satisfying waters. From previous discussions we discovered that tithes belong to God and that the tithes provide food to God’s flock; we can therefore technically say that God feeds his people with tithes. Now if God says that Christ shall feed his flock like a shepherd we can also safely say that he will feed us both spiritually and materially.

    The material nourishment could come from tithes. Psalms 68:10 further says that God has prepared his goodness for the poor whilst Psalms 72 says that he takes care of the needy. Then comes Psalms 132:15 with the promise, ‘I will satisfy her poor with bread:’ and knowing that God works through men we can assume safely that the tithes we bring to the house of God, apart from other sources, bring nourishment and satisfaction to the needy. When we bring our tithes to the house of God, the destitute and poor will be fed from the increase of our seed. During the Mosaic era the destitute understood and admired the custom because it showed them the love of God displayed through men. Those who had some wealth did not tithe in order to become richer but because they feared God and they loved to share what they had with the less privileged in society. What the God and father of the fatherless gave them; they shared with orphans and widows. Blessing and prosperity is therefore not the ultimate purpose of tithing but is only a fringe benefit to the obedient and God fearing saint. The feeding of the less privileged with our tithes is pleasing to the Lord because he is a father to the fatherless who gives justice to widows and liberty to captives. Because of his caring love Christ lamented the Pharisees and Scribes’ attitude towards tithes and their lack of concern and love. That is why he was forced to say in Mat.23: 23, ‘woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithes of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgement, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.’ God’s justice demands that all men be treated equally. It demands that the rich and poor be treated as persons who are at par. The rich must share with the poor freely what the Lord has also freely given them. See Deuteronomy 15: 7 – 15. His justice demands that when those who are fortunate enough to own fields go to harvest, the less fortunate and landless must also harvest. Lev. 19:19-10; Exodus 13: 10-11. God himself is so upright that he gives rain and sunshine equally to both the righteous and the wicked and in the same proportion to those who serve him and those who scorn him. Mat. 5: 44,45.

    God’s judgement and mercy are inseparable. When we all sinned and fell short of the glory of God, ordinary justice would have demanded that we bear our own punishment but the justice of the everlasting God called for a mediator, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to carry our sins on the cross of Calvary and because of the mercies of God we are now the children of God. His justice therefore demands that those who have received mercy must also show mercy to their fellow men. (Romans 11:30 – 31; James 2:12, 13; Matthew 18:23 - 25). The merciful often identify with those in adversity. Mercifulness is a sign of pure and unpolluted religion. James says ‘Pure religion and undefiled before God and the father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.’ (James 1:27). It thus cannot be disputed that mercy is a catalyst of faith and faith is what constitutes the Christian religion.

    Mercy is an act of faith. Faith can either be active or dormant. Active faith is genuine and dormant faith is mostly a counterfeit. The act of faith, which displays our devotion, is mercy. James says that faith is dead without this act. In his own words, James wrote, ‘what doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have no works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give him not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath no works, is dead, being dead. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.’ (James 2:14 - 20). This is the Biblical meaning of faith with works and not, the claim and get it theory. Faith with works gives whilst faith without works claims everything selfishly. When we fail to give the needy what they lack and instead say, “Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled” we often call it positive confession or prophesying in to the needy’s life. But dear fellow believers, is it true that such action is prophesying in to the poor man’s life?

    Jesus taught that the God ordained way of tithing contains the three ingredients, (1) judgement, (2) mercy and (3) faith. Tithing which lacks any of the three is not Biblical but something else. May be it is some fundraising gimmick. Judgement, mercy and faith are one when it comes to the law of tithing. No one can carry out the Lord’s justice without the Lord’s mercy and no one can show forth the mercy of God without the faith of Christ. The three are hard to separate.

    If the sole purpose of tithing were to prosper the person bringing the tithe, mercy and judgement would not have had a place in the practice. If the purpose were to bribe God for a blessing, it surely would never have been compatible with the Lord’s nature of righteousness. Those who claim that the purpose of tithing is to become rich surprisingly quote Malachi 3:10 which actually portrays a picture which is in total variance to their teachings. The scripture does not read, ‘bring ye the tithes so that I will open the windows and pour a blessing.’ Such wording would have denoted the reason for tithing rather than a call to tithe. Instead the wording is, ‘Bring ye all the tithes… and prove me… if I will not open the windows’ thus suggesting that the blessing is not the reason but just proof that God has been pleased by our obedience. When Moses’ rod became a snake it never was a display of the purpose of God to turn it into a serpent but mere proof that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had appeared to Moses. The parting of the Red sea was in no way for the reason of drowning the Egyptians but proof that God had delivered the nation of Israel and cut off the nation’s bondage to Egypt. Blessings that follow tithing are therefore in no way the reason for tithing but just proof that our obedience has pleased the Lord.

    I have often wondered why preachers and teachers teach us to tithe for the sole reason of prospering and ignore the reason laid plain in Malachi 3:10. God says, ‘Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house…’ this is a very clear message and in complete harmony with all laws which govern tithing in the books of Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Numbers. Why does God want food in his house? He desires the food in his sanctuary so that his people may have meals in his presence and learn to fear him all the days of their lives. Deut. 14:22 - 25. Because we missed this true purpose, we have introduced a new material and pecuniary purpose and have often told the innocent that if they eat God’s tithes, they will reap numerous curses of poverty.  Such statements are in absolute contradiction to Deuteronomy 12: 1 - 7,11,12,17 – 21 & 14: 22 – 29 which command us to eat God’s tithes so that we learn to fear him the rest of our lives. Those threats of poverty in no way vindicate Numbers 18: 21 – 32 which limits the priest’s share to a tenth of the tithe. If the present day threats of curses of poverty and teachings of tithe to get rich contradict the just mentioned scriptures, my question is, ‘whose doctrine are we daily exposed to in this day and age?’ Is it of Christ or of men? When are we going to turn Biblical with reference to tithes and start to obey the Lord? We are going to allow the poor, destitute and those with no inheritance to feast on tithes we bring to the Lord’s house when? It now is the right time to get rid of this leaven from mammon that we added to the pure doctrine of Christ. Teachers of stray doctrines will indisputably get a hiding on the day of reckoning. James 8:1.

    During Biblical days the tithes provided food and nourishment to the Levite and priest because they had no inheritance. It provided the same to the stranger, the needy, the destitute, widows and orphans because God cared for them. Deut. 26: 12,13. It also provided satisfaction and enjoyment to the worshipper who brought the tithe and to his family and that is why it was conducted within a spirit of celebration. It never was intended to put the worshipper at a disadvantage or loss. If properly practiced, it never will enrich somebody at the expense of another. Instead it is a benefit to all parties to it. Deut. 12:12.

    Will God not bless you if you share your food with the hungry? Remember the Lord’s words, ‘I was hungry and you gave me food.’ I am convinced he will unquestionably bless you. The promise in the book of Malachi 3:10 is fulfilled when there has been food in the house of God. We do not tithe because we desire prosperity but because we fear and love the Lord. In any case the Master told us not to waste our time gathering worldly riches that can be corroded and stolen. Righteousness and the approval of God is greater wealth than silver and gold. The king of kings and the giver of life in Matthew 9:13 said. ‘Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice’.

    I always ask myself why the modern day saint’s mind is always obsessed with the desire to become rich. Why are we always seeking the latest automobile and not who to provide transport in the cars we currently own? Which one of the early apostles and believers became stinking rich through tithes and offerings? An honest examination of us and an examination of our lives and theirs will reveal a vast difference. Why? During the days of the Acts of the Apostles no church member lacked anything because those who had property sold the excess and shared the proceeds with the needy. In our societies such a spirit is not present. Instead we seek to possess more and more where they sought to share time and again. Are we serving a different God from theirs? Is our practice and conduct not a commercialisation of the free gospel of liberty? Will God hold us guiltless? It is high time we examined our conduct and motives and took the required corrective action. We must judge ourselves and return to God because God is not mocked. Have we sown to the flesh or to the spirit?

    It is a common sight today to walk into a church and see poor widows and orphans receiving no assistance from the church but from the Department of Social Welfare. Had the church played its role the Department of Social Welfare would have had less headaches. How can the world believe that we are Christ’s disciples if we neglect the less privileged members of our own churches and if we lend no help to our own blood relatives? I personally do not think that poverty is a curse but an opportunity for those blessed and more privileged to show forth the mercy and love of the great God and creator. Stephen and his six colleagues had a ministry of serving the hungry. Now is the right time for us to return to God. ‘Fear God and keep all his commandments because that is the whole duty of men’, wrote the wise king.

 

DISTRIBUTION

    With the information so far gained we can safely say that tithing is a direct command from God. He has specific instructions that tithes must be brought for unambiguous reasons to his house or to the place he has chosen to place his name. It has further been noted that tithing was observed centuries before Moses during the days of Abraham. It is generally believed that Abraham lived during the dispensation of faith whereas Moses was of the dispensation of the law. If Abraham observed tithing before Moses’ era it thus means that tithing was practiced before the law, i.e. during the dispensation of faith. It is therefore also a practice that can be associated with the era of grace. The Law of Moses served to clarify certain procedures of importance in each particular tradition. Observing tithing in accordance with the instructions of God is a display of the fear and love of God. No one can dispute that a person who disregards the commands of God has no fear of God. Observance and adherence to the orders of God is a mark of the reverence of God.

    Let us now explore further the utilisation and the distribution of tithes. How and when was the tithe observed? Who was supposed to bring tithes and to whom? We must find the answers to these and many other questions from the Bible.

    The tithe, as has been seen, was and is for the benefit of all of us in the presence of the Lord. As he gave directions concerning bringing tithes to his designated place, God further gave instructions regarding distribution of the tithes. The distribution was to be among those elected to benefit from it and the manner of distribution, as we shall see, was and is a very fair one.

The beneficiaries of tithes were: -

The person bringing the tithes and his family,

The stranger or traveller,

The orphans and widows

The destitute and the poor, and

The Levite

The Levite was a beneficiary because according to the Law of Moses, he was not entitled to an inheritance. He owned no land in Israel and consequently could not farm and harvest so that he could be able to tithe. Numbers 18:22 and Ezekiel 44:28. The indigent and needy were beneficiaries because they were poor and possessed nothing from which they could tithe. These groups are specified in the book of Deuteronomy 14:28 – 29 and God, as we will soon see, appointed a process whereby these various groups would fairly share and enjoy the Lord’s tithes.

    Worshippers used to bring their tithes to the house of God where they would place it before the Levite who would in turn take out from the Levitical share of the tithe a tenth as a heave offering to the Lord which the Levite would in turn hand over to the priest as the tenth of his own proceeds of the work he conducted in the house of God. This heave offering was also known as the tithe of the tithe because it represented ten percent of the Levite’s tithe. The worshipper, his family and the less privileged members of society would then feast on the remaining share of the original tithe after leaving the Levite with his share of the tithe and the tithe of the tithe having been given to the Levitical priest. The priest and the other Levites feasted on the heave offering or the tithe of the tithe and the Levite’s portion of the tithe together with their families in any place they wanted. Numbers 18:26 – 32.

To some Numbers 18:26 – 32 may seem to imply that the worshipper’s share was ninety percent of the original tithe and the priest and Levite’s share was the tithe of the tithe or one percent of the worshipper’s profit or increase of his harvest. I at one time was also of the same opinion but I have since concluded that this, however, is not the position of this scripture. The tithe of the tithe is actually the tithe that the Levite paid to the priest and was to be counted as that which was removed from the Levite’s own income. I do not really know why the Bible does not specify the quantum of the Levite’s share in comparison to the worshipper’s original tithe. Probably the Lord intended the worshipper to come up with a fair means of sharing honestly among the Levite, the needy and his family since tithing as in fact a celebration and as such God had to provide inward guidance since God has to come first in all our decisions. This is merely my own opinion and not doctrine but it is, however, factual that the worshipper, his family and the less privileged members of society were required to feast on the worshipper’s tithe hence there is no dispute that that the Levite was not given one hundred percent of the original tithe otherwise there would have been nothing remaining for the worshiper, the needy and his family. It is the same reason why the Levite did not give the priest one hundred percent of his share otherwise there would be nothing remaining for the Levite’s family.

Numbers 18 verse 21 makes it plain that the Levite’s wage for his work in the tabernacle was the tithes the children of Israel brought. However, in verse 24, the Lord qualifies verse 21 by explaining that that wage or reward would consist of ‘the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering’ thus making clear that the Levite was only entitled to the heave offering. The heave offering was the Levite’s share of the original tithe and was regarded as the Levite’s wage. It is this same principle that required the Levite to also offer a heave offering of his own tithe.

Since that heave offering was regarded as the Levite’s harvest or wage, it also was subject to tithes. Verse 28 put across the fact that the Levite was therefore required to set aside ten percent of his earnings as the Lord’s tithe or his own heave offering. The Levite’s heave offering was given to the High priest also as the priest’s wage for his service in the tabernacle. As long as the Levite remembered to do this he would remain guiltless.

Nowhere in scripture did the priest take all the bulk of the tithe for his own consumption but was only entitled to the tithe of the tithe. The original balance of the tithe after giving the Levite his share of that tithe was the responsibility of the worshipper to entertain his family and needy people of society in accordance with Deuteronomy 14: 22-29. Hardening one’s heart against the underprivileged is not at all saintly. Deuteronomy 15:17. Abuse of the tithe by the priest attracted stiff penalties from the Lord as specified in Numbers 18:32 and Ezekiel 34:2,3 & 10. Likewise abuse of the tithe by the worshipper attracts similar consequences as stated in Galatians 6:7-8.

    For two consecutive years, tithes were brought to the house of God but during the third year, which was regarded as the year of tithing, tithing was celebrated at home where the Levite, orphan and the other underprivileged were invited to banquette before the Lord. In other words, two tithes were brought to the house of God and the third was celebrated at home.

    During the Mosaic era, Israel had an agrarian economy and therefore tithes then consisted of agricultural products and not money. If the distance to the Lord’s house was far from the worshipper’s home, the worshipper could convert his tithes to money and add to the money twenty percent of the value of the tithe as interest which was a requirement of Leviticus 27:31 to 34 and Deuteronomy 14:24 to 25. The worshipper would then carry the total money with him to the temple where he would buy food of his choice and celebrate tithing like all the others present. Deuteronomy 14: 26 – 27. Teachings which discourage worshippers from eating tithes or which make tithes the personal possession of the minister possibly originated from a human mind. Could it be that such dogmas are a result of human short sightedness or outright demonic infiltration of the church?  One certainty, however, is that those teachings are a complete contradiction of what we have just read above and are therefore a contradiction of the teachings of Christ.

   Man cannot change the pure, sound and true doctrine of tithes; only God has the final say. Matthew 5:17- 20. Blessings that follow tithing only reach fruition after we have done it the God ordained way or have fulfilled the Divine purpose. After tithing the appointed way, the Lord’s servant prayed in the following manner. ‘I have brought away the hallowed things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless and the widow, according to all your commandments which you commanded me; I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them: I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof to the dead: but I hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all thou hast commanded me.’ Deuteronomy 26 verses 12 to 15.

    Only a person who celebrates tithing in the Biblical way can say this prayer. You cannot tithe some other way and then pray, ‘I have given to the fatherless according to all your commandments.’ Would you truly have the courage to pray, ‘I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God,’ when you have done it some other way and still expect a blessing?  Would that not be testing the Lord’s patience?

    It is interesting to note that in verse 12 God makes reference to the third year as the year of tithing and he points out that the way of tithing involves ‘giving the tithe to the Levite, strangers, orphans and widows so that they would eat the tithe within the worshipper’s premises and get filled.’ Only after the beneficiaries of the tithe had eaten and had been filled would one pray the prayer in verses 13 to 15. In verse 14 the worshiper would pray, ‘I have not eaten thereof in my mourning.’ Please note that the Bible is not reading, ‘I did not eat your tithe,’ but, ‘I did not eat the tithe in mourning,’ thereby revealing that it is eating in mourning which is despicable and not eating the tithe. To me the phrase could refer to either eating the tithe not in the spirit of celebration or whilst one is ceremonially unclean and I am heavily inclined towards the earlier assumption. Tithing was supposed to be carried out in a spirit of festivity and not with a heavy heart because tithing time was a joyous occasion. The worshipper would thus end up saying, ‘I hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all thou hast commanded me,’ because he would truly have fulfilled the purpose of tithing in light of God’s law.

    From the information so far gleaned, I can boldly say that tithing was a thanksgiving celebration. Tithing time was thanksgiving and love giving time. It was a time to say, ‘God thank you for such a good harvest,’ and also a time to say, ‘fellowman I love you,’ by sharing one’s gains with the impecunious. It was not only the farmer who harvested his field; the Levite and the needy also received a harvest of love from the farmer. This was a time of joy hence tithing was more of a festivity than a duty. Unlike vows, which were a duty, tithing was a thanksgiving celebration therefore tithing is celebrated whilst vows are paid.

    This subject of festivity brings me to yet another point of fellowship. The point the practice of tithing was emphasising was that there has to be fellowship among the people. Fellowship involves companionship, partnership and social interaction among people. It calls for communication, sharing with others, friendship and openness or sociability. This is the practice reported by Doctor Luke in the book of Acts when he says that the early church continued in fellowship. Fellowship is not just a ritual or tradition but a simple way of life. Tithing thus instead of just being a tradition, rite or ceremony, was intended to promote good and acceptable social interaction in which God’s people would meet, dine together, discuss, worship and share amongst themselves God’s blessings.

    Therefore tithing is supposed to be a form of fellowship rather than a rite or religious payment. More than is necessary we often turn tithing into some religious compensation or reparation. We even claim that it is a religious enchantment of obtaining profit or prosperity from God. It is high time we accept that tithing is an act of fellowship. Fellowship is the central theme behind tithing and it is God’s wish that his people engage in fellowship with him and among themselves.

    That is why he commanded his people to invite the disadvantaged to their premises for fellowship. The year of tithing was a year of fellowship. It was a year of social interaction, relationship and friendship. It was a time of buttressing friendships, relationships and unity between God’s people. This was not and is not repayment time but simply fellowship time.

    Our problem today is that we seek to pay tithes instead of celebrating them. The same goes for offerings; we pay offerings instead of giving offerings. Because of this tithes, offerings, and vows have been jumbled up. The result is confusion. Vows are what should be paid and not tithes, offerings and alms. Please take note that what we call pledges is what the Old Testament calls vows. See Deuteronomy 23: 21 to 23 and compare with Matthew 5:33 to 37 and James 5: 12.

    Sometime in 1988 I began to query the way and manner in which tithing was practiced and taught. Somehow I felt that the doctrine, which says, ‘tithe and give in order to receive a hundred fold,’ was and is still not compatible with Biblical perception. The more I practiced the method I had been taught, the greater guilt I felt. I could not reconcile teachings that encouraged the desire to become rich with Biblical warnings against worldly riches. Afterwards I decided not to tithe at all but I could not quench the great desire to learn about the subject, which by now was building up within me. The desire continued to grow until in June 1989 when I embarked on a private and independent study of both tithes and offerings. My only source of study was the Bible.  Sometime in late 1989 or early 1990 we carried out a Bible discussion study with friends, which confirmed what I was still learning in my private study and I resolved to complete the study at any cost. What I discovered during my period of study, which ran until December 12, 1991 shocked me. What the Bible taught was not what I had been taught before. The Biblical doctrine was in harmony with the Lord’s nature of righteousness whereas human doctrines nevertheless purporting to be Bible centred had some cosmetics added to it to make it more appealing. A little leaven was thrown in order to ferment the doctrine. These pages are a product of those studies I painfully undertook during those one and a half long years that I now wish to share with you. I am thoroughly convinced that many had this knowledge ages before I was also exposed to the same understanding.

    When I noticed the difference between God’s pure doctrine and man’s leavened doctrine I wondered why it is so. I wondered why practices contrary to the Bible had been allowed to carry on in the church without any checks. I concluded that this was because the modern day saint is not concerned with the purity of doctrine but the advancement of his church movement’s teachings. No one is ready to examine his movement’s doctrine in the light of Biblical doctrine hence the existence of too many movements with conflicting doctrines. Each time a new church movement is founded nobody is prepared to examine or find out why the new movement has been started. Everyone attributes it to the calling of God. The Jewish and Gentile churches in the New Testament were not two different movements or denominations but one single body yet our groups are numerous unrelated movements always discrediting each other so as to preserve their own identity. Paul never discredited Peter’s teaching and neither did Peter nor James but instead they essentially complemented each other’s teachings because their source was one.

Today each movement is separated from the rest. It has its own unique teachings it seeks to protect in an attempt to preserve its identity. Sometimes I wonder if they ever seek to preserve the identity of Christianity. No member of the movement can stand scriptural rebuke of the movement’s teachings; instead scriptures are forced to conform to the movement’s doctrines. The same applies to the leaders since they are the source of such teachings. Instead of scriptures forming doctrines it now is doctrine to which scripture must conform. This often leads to many church movements and splinter groups which is no solution at all but an expansion of the problem. What often happens is that movements with harmful teachings that appeal to the human mind become popular and in the process others with plans of opening their own movements copy the untested teachings with a hope of achieving the popularity enjoyed by their predecessors. So when somebody promised people that they would become multimillion-dollar wealthy men through tithing and people flocked to that church movement others copied the entire doctrine without checking for scriptural precision because they also wanted to achieve a similar membership growth.

Let me at this point put it on record that not all new movements are a production of the human mind but a majority of them originate from the calling of God. It thus means that we have no justification to judge and conclude others to be in error. It is only the Lord who has the right to judge and not man.

False teachers, false prophets and conmen thrive where conditions are as just explained above. Frankly speaking, some of the dubious doctrines are peddled by conmen bent on heaping personal wealth under the cover of God’s name. Indeed some teach the same doctrine honestly believing it is the right thing but I am convinced that some, if not most, of those teachers are people of questionable integrity. Many of the get rich quick doctrinarians could be false teachers and conmen who do not serve the Lord but their own bellies. Be warned, you could be associating with a religious conmen.

Peter says in his second epistle chapter 2:1- 3, ‘there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you…’ A church leader who desires nothing else but wealth must be looked upon with a suspicious eye. Do those promises of limitless wealth arising from the tithe to become rich formulae truly come from the Lord or it is someone using feigned words to con you of your last cent. It could be that Peter’s prophecy and warning is being fulfilled in your own day and before your own eyes so never ever say that you were never warned.

Today there could be some church leader somewhere enriching himself from your tithes whilst your family and the needy are starving to death. Do such teachers serve the Lord or their own bellies? Stick to the Lord and to him alone or else you will be ripped off by some unprincipled conman purporting to be a servant of God. If your tithe does not provide for those specified in the holy book, you could be in a partnership of fraud with whoever is enriching himself with those tithes. You are both defrauding God. Even if you derive no benefit from the fraud you remain a criminal partner with the fraudster because you have the power to obey or disobey God. The choice remains yours.

The blessing of the Lord will only be bestowed on us when we fulfil his will. When the purpose of tithing has been accomplished God will then reward us with his blessings and blessings are not always money. Only a person who does not fear God has the nerve to pay no attention to God’s directives and that is also the person with the guts to cheat the almighty God. If tithes are withheld or misused people especially the deprived may be malnourished. When tithes are brought to the house of God and distribution is properly done, there will always be plenty and surpluses. 2 Chronicles 31:5 – 10. History bears record that such surpluses have resulted in the need for storehouses or treasure houses where the excess was stored. Read Nehemiah 10 verses 37 to 39 and 12 verse 10 to confirm this claim. Even during the days of Nehemiah, centuries after Moses, giving and distribution of tithes was based on the instructions set out in the books of Numbers, Deuteronomy and Leviticus. Only the portion apportioned to the Levites according to Numbers 18: 26 – 31 was stored in these treasure houses.

A long time ago after Nehemiah discovered the will of God concerning tithing he and the people of his day returned to the law of God. Nehemiah instructed that tithes should be offered according to the instructions of Jehovah and this is what he said in Nehemiah 10:38; 12:44, ‘And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites, when the Levites take tithes: and the Levites shall bring up the tithe of the tithes unto the house of our God, into chambers into the treasure house.’ ‘And at that time were some appointed over the chambers, for the chambers for the treasures, for the offerings, for the first fruits, and for the tithes, to gather into them out of the fields of the cities the portion of the law for the priests and Levites: for Judah rejoiced for the priests and for the Levites that waited.’ This was done to ensure that no deviation from the Lord’s commandments would be made. Deut.12: 32. Tithing which is a deviation from the instructions of the Lord is sinful and I believe that is why Amos once said, ‘hear the word of the Lord you…who oppress the poor, who say to their masters, bring let us drink. Come to Bethel and transgress, bring your…. tithes and publish the free offerings: for this liketh you, oh ye children of Israel, saith the Lord.’ Read the book of Amos 4: 1- 4 and compare with Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42. A defeat of God’s purposes for tithes is robbery, broad daylight robbery. Malachi 3:8,9.

WHEN AND WHERE TO PRAY

 

 

WHEN AND WHERE TO PRAY

 

Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, enter into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.

 

            Prayer calls for intimate relationship. Most of us believe in public prayers yet public prayers are rarely a result of the intimate relationship which prayer alludes to. Public prayer is sometimes intended to show off our prayer skills or our ability to knit great and poetic prayer phrases. Coining poetic prayer phrases does not necessarily mean that the prayer is focused on God. The poetic phrases may actually be directed to the ears of our compatriots though words may make it appear as if the prayer is focused on God.

            In Matthew 7:8 the Lord said, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.” What motivates prayer may not necessarily be a desire for a memorable relationship with God. Quite often our prayers are designed to impress the congregation. This explains why a great number of public prayer chanters rarely pray alone. As long as there is nobody hearing their prayers they will not utter a single prayer. The hallmark of these people is their long and elaborate poetic prayers invariably shouted at the top of their voices.

            The Lord in Luke 18:10-14, the Lord tells us of two kinds of prayers. He said, “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” The religious person appears to have been calling on God yet his real intention was inform the tax collector his level of religious clout. By saying, “I am not like other people … or even like this tax collector,” in the hearing of the tax collector, the taxman would come to the realisation that the Pharisee was great and holy man of God very eloquent in prayer. Do you think that the Pharisee would have prayed the same prayer had the tax collector been absent? How often do we behave in such a manner?

            The Matthew passage at hand is very clear in that it says, “when you pray, enter into your room.” This was a departure from the traditional prayer venues of the day. In those days, common places for prayer were the temple, synagogues, besides populated rivers and even streets and street corners or market places. Some even did it on rooftops. These were favourite places because of the number of people who would congregate there and witness the “commitment” of the “religious and godly” people saying out their prayers to God. In Mathew 6:5, the Lord said, “when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.” The main reason for this behaviour was to be seen of men. Rather than receive answers from God they were after the glory and praise of people.

            The Lord’s prayer principle was a complete departure from the traditional Pharisaic deportment. The principle was fully clad in the standard of a strictly personal and private entreaty with no regard of what others felt. The prayer spot was designed to be away from the public eye. The principle was fully anchored on the level of the relationship between the one praying and the one to whom the prayer was directed. Without the said relationship, there is absolutely no need for prayer. Why pray, in the first place if the person to whom you pray does not hear you? The Shona people of Zimbabwe have an adage that says, “A relationship is between two people and a third person is a spoiler.” Indeed, third parties must not spoil that which exists between me and my God.

            The Lord further says, “and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father.” This further point to that relationship. This a paternal relationship wherein God has fatherly rights over you and you enjoy all rights accruing to a child. Notice this important aspect of prayer. Shut the door behind you so that you are away from the meddling crowd and you remain with your God in secret. When you are alone with your God, you will show off to no one. This was Christ’s secret. Luke 5:16 reads, “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” (NIV) It was his habit to pray alone and away from the public.

 

 

to be continued

New Heaven and New Earth

Revelation 22 King James Version (KJV)

22 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

² In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
³ And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
⁴ And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
⁵ And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
⁶ And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
⁷ Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
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 shewed 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.
¹⁰ And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
¹¹ He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
¹² And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
¹³ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
¹⁴ Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
¹⁵ For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
¹⁶ I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
¹⁷ And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
¹⁸ For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
¹⁹ And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
²⁰ He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
²¹ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

 

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Phil. 2:11-13

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23New King James Version (NKJV)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10King James Version (KJV)

In my book Saints Made Merchandise: An Analysis of Tithes, Alms & Offerings I write, “When Paul points out in Ephesians 2 verses 8 to 10 that although works did not save us but that we are saved by grace through faith, that we were elected before the creation of the world to do good works for which we are called, the message becomes clearer. So when we walk by this faith we will naturally perform good works of which alms are a part. Interestingly, Ephesians 2 verses 8 to 10 makes a thought-provoking strong link between salvation by faith and God ordained works. John the Baptist once said to people who had just repented, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8Produce fruit worthy of repentance.  9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.  10The ax lies ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

These scriptures pass an interesting message. There is a serious misconception within the Christian community that since salvation is by grace through faith, actions or any form of deeds are of no consequence in the equation of salvation. What we seem not to realise is that everyone who sins is a slave to sin. (John 8:34) Jesus came to seek and save that which was lost. Paul once wrote, “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:18-25.

Christ came to deliver us from the bondage of sin which is responsible for our failure to do that which pleases God. It is not true that God is not interested in our deeds. God is actually interested in our works. The apostle John once wrote, "The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.  10By this the children of God and the children of the devil can be distinguished: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God" (1 John 3:8-10) Many fool ourselves by claiming that all you need is to believe in Christ and once you do so you remain saved. We call it once saved always saved; all our sins, past present and future are forgiven. This assumption is blatantly incorrect and an absolute abomination to the Lord.

Paul, the man who never believed in salvation through works once wrote, "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-22) To buttress this the Lord said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’  23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

 when we talk of salvation not being of works all we mean is that our works do not in any way bring to us salvation all have sinned and since we are all under the bondage of we can not do that which is good no matter how much we try. We will only be able to do good when we get delivered from sin and Christ begins to live in us. therefore one evidence that we have been saved when we start to live righteously in this present life.

 
On the other hand the Old Testament, prophet Ezekiel, addresses the subject in this manner. “When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: In his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. . . . When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die” (Ezekiel 18:24, 26). As if he was addressing the same topic, the apostle Paul wrote, "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and
envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Galatians 5:19-22).
The writer of the book of Hebrews weighs in by saying, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (Hebrews 4:1-11) This is the same thought that Paul brings in the epistle to the Philipians when he writes, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." (Phil. 2:11-13) When we go back to the Old Testament, Ezekiel repeats his teaching by saying, "When I [the Lord] shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and committeth iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it...... “When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby” (Ezekiel 33:13,18).

What comes out clear here is that when one abandons his rigteusness he also loses the benefits thereon. This is the very reason Paul wrote, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Whilst warning about worldly lusts, Paul says, " But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.  I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." 1 Tim 6:11-19 

 

 

Dangers of sleeping in church

SIDE EFFECTS OF SLEEPING IN CHURCH.
A lady dozed off when the pastor was preaching. when she woke up, she head the pastor saying,
"stand up!". She stood up and the pastor said, "thank you mama, God bless you, remain standing..". The pastor continued," any one else who has been unfaithful to her husband? Pliz don't be shy, be like this sister, stand up!

By C Mugairi

GRACE WHICH BRINGS SALVATION

This post was originally posted on Monday, 16 May 2016. It is repeated here with some additions to explain Jeremiah 31..

 

   Titus 2:11 to 14, ‘For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world; looking for the blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and our saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous unto good works.’

Salvation comes from grace and not faith. Many a time we have taught or been taught that we are saved by faith yet that is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that we are saved BY GRACE through faith. In Eph 2:8 Paul writes, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” you see it is not faith that saves but it is the grace of God that saves us. Faith is just the tool or means we use to appropriate this salvation.

The Bible says that the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all mankind. This grace has not been sent to some but to all people. In other words grace has brought salvation to everyone. It is not any form of grace that brings salvation. It is the grace of God which brings salvation to everyone and not the grace of man. When this grace has brought salvation man must then use faith to appropriate the salvation.

Upon appearing to all and sundry with salvation the grace of God teaches the whole world to:

1.      deny ungodliness and worldly lusts,

2.      live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world;

3.      look forward to the blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and our saviour Jesus Christ

4.      be eager to do good works

There is an abnormality in many Christian circles that once under grace there is nothing that we are expected to do. It is taught that unlike people who are under the law, people who are under grace are free and nothing more is expected from them. Surprisingly in Paul’s epistle to Titus we are told that grace in point of fact teaches us to do something. In writing to the Ephesians after elaborating that salvation is of grace and not works so no one has a reason for boasting, Paul goes on to write in Eph. 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.” In other words God has ordained good works which must be performed by people who are under grace.

Usually when we talk about not being under the law we make the wrong assumption that the law is no longer of any effect yet Jesus himself said in Matt 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place.” Some claim that Jesus spoke in such a manner because he was still in the Old Testament yet that is not entirely true. Jesus never operated in the Old Testament whilst on earth and that is why he was an enemy of the Pharisees, Seduces and the then priesthood. He was on record of having said, “ye have heard of old …. but I say …” In fact Jesus tells us when the Old Testament ended by saying in Luke 16:16 “The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it.” The Old Testament was until John and the New Testament was ushered by our Lord and savior Jesus Christ because, “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:17

Paul writes, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Rom 7:7. Again in Gal 3:24 Paul writes, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” From these quotations it is clear that the law does not in any way provide salvation. The law merely shows that one is a sinner who is in need of a savior.

The law condemns a sinner and brings no salvation with it. Moses brought the law and through it by means of figures and symbols he prophesied about the coming of a savior who would wipe out the scourge of sin. Through the symbol of the brazen serpent he pointed out that the savior would become sin in the same manner that brass became a serpent but through that process bring salvation to slaves of sin. John 3:14-15; 2 Cor.5:21. Christ was aware of man’s predicament and the fact that apart from a savior man could not extricate himself from the bondage of sin. Christ therefore by grace brought salvation to man. Salvation is therefore entirely depended on the grace of Christ and not the works of the law. In any case Paul says that the law is our tutor, who brings us to Christ so that by the grace of Christ we may be justified by faith.

The apostle John once said in 1 John 3:4, "sin is the transgression of the law." . Had there been no law there would have been no sin because without the transgression of the law there is no sin. Adam transgressed God's law not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil hence he sinned. Since the days of Adam no human has been able to fully observe and keep God's law because that law was not part of the human nature. When Moses wrote the law on tables of stone it still did not improve matters because then the law was still outside man. This was the main reason why God had to substitute the Old Testament with the New Testament.

Through the prophet Jeremiah the Lord said, "Behold, the days come ... that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Jer. 31:31-34. commenting on that scripture, the writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, "In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Heb. 8:8-13.

The major difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament is that in the Old Testament the law was written outside man whilst in the New Testament the same law is written in man's heart and it thus becomes part of the nature of that person. It is for this reason that John says, "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. 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. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother." 1 John 3:4-10.

 

So you see that a person in whose heart the law of God is written does not struggle to keep that law because that law has become part their nature and personality. The statement is clear that "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." Therefore those who call for the disregard of God's law under the pretext of not being under the law but are under grace greatly err because the grace of God teaches us to live godly lives as dictated by the law of God. Such living is not outlawed by the law of God hence people who live such lives cannot be said to be under the law.
 

A person who breaks the law is under the law but a person who does not break the law is not under the law. It is only thieves who are affected by laws which outlaw theft. They are the ones who are under such laws. People who respect the sanctity of other people’s property are not under antitheft laws because those law do not regulate the way they live because whatever such laws outlaw does not affect them in any way. In the same vein people who live righteous and godly lives are not under the law because they already live lives that are not outlawed by the law. This is the reason why the grace of God teaches us to:

1.      deny ungodliness and worldly lusts,

2.      live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world;

3.      look forward to the blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and our saviour Jesus Christ

4.      be eager to do good works

When we deny ungodliness and worldly lusts we will start to live lives that are not controlled by anti-covetous laws. “Thou shalt not covet” applies to lustful persons. Prostitution, greediness, selfishness, corruption and all worldly vices stem out of ungodliness and lust hence all people who practice them are still under the law. In my book Saints Made Merchandise I point out that the apostle Paul says, ‘the good that I would do I do not: but the evil I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.’ Sin can therefore render our desire and ability to do good works powerless. When we get rid of sin, good must flow out of us freely and abundantly. That is precisely why Paul said the grace of God that brings salvation causes in us a passion for good works. Has Christ delivered us from the law of sin and death? If he has then we have no justification for not doing good acts. He thus has every reason to either commend us or upbraid us for not sharing with others that which we possess. It is thus imperative that we deliberately deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and because of that the grace of teaches us to precisely do that.

The grace of God does not only teach us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts but it also teaches us to live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world. Grace does not teach us to live soberly, righteously and godly in the world to come but in this present world. Righteous living is for now and not for the future. Jesus Christ became sin for our sakes so that we may become the righteousness of God in Christ. It therefore means that in order to live righteously we must allow Christ to live his life through us. When this happens good will naturally flow from our innermost beings according to the Lord’s plan for us. Again in my book Saints Made Merchandise I write, “Good works do not in themselves bring righteousness to a person but they are in reality a product of righteousness. Therefore it is not good works that produce righteousness but it is righteousness, which produces good works, and the good works are the evidence of that righteousness. Since alms are a by-product of good works it follows that alms deeds are acts of righteousness. In his doctrine our saviour and Lord said, ‘seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness … Sell that you have, and give alms, provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not…. And you yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord…. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching.’ Matthew 6:33; Luke 12:33-37…. Good works do not save and cannot produce righteousness, as has already been said, but arise from righteousness and the grace, which saves us through faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore anyone who is unrighteous has no fellowship with the Lord. Even the righteousness that is by human standards is insufficient to please God. One prophet and writer of ancient years once said that all our righteousness is like filthy rags before the Lord. Even the righteousness which is by the observance of the law is inadequate on its own as was shown in the story of the rich young man who asked the Lord what he had to do in order for him to inherit everlasting life. It is said that the young man had observed and obeyed the law of God, given through Moses, since his childhood but Jesus indicated that perfection could only come after repentance. A teacher of the Law of Moses who was righteous according to the standards of the Sanhedrin was told that he had to be born again so that he could inherit the kingdom of God. In both cases Jesus was hinting that the righteousness of God is not the righteousness of men.

The righteousness that pleases God is the one, which is by godly standards. When God therefore noticed the shortcomings of men as far as righteousness is concerned he decided to impart his own righteousness to men. Jesus, the Word that became flesh, lived on earth for thirty-three solid years as human and with all human limitations. Of the thirty-three years he devoted three and a half to teaching the word of God doing good and healing all those who were sick. One Passover week he became sin, by bearing all our iniquities in his own body, so that we would become the righteousness of God through him. Since then all those who believe on him automatically become the righteousness of God through Christ. It is not of works but of faith.

The righteousness of human standards is of works while the righteousness, which is of godly standards, is of faith. Good works brings about human righteousness whereas Jesus Christ the righteous king himself brings godly righteousness and it produces the good works. Good works do not produce it. Instead of good works giving birth to righteousness, it is righteousness that must give birth to good works. God’s order is righteousness first and good works later. When we reverse the order we mostly end up in hypocrisy. According to Ephesians chapter 2 grace brings salvation through faith first, which salvation brings the righteousness of Christ, and then good works are expected later, an indication that genuine good works are a product of righteousness. Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:8-10 read, ‘for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.’

It is clear here that if our salvation was a result of our own good works, we would have something to boast about but that is not the case because our salvation and righteousness is dependent on God himself through Christ. It is further without controversy that verse 10 states that God predetermined us to do good works and walk in them. It follows then that all who believe in Christ must walk in good works. It therefore means that when God imparts his righteousness on us, the righteousness will lead us into good works which is the reason why James says that pure and undefiled religion before God will cause us to do good. I trust that is why the tenth verse of the second chapter of the apostle Paul’s epistle to the Galatians makes it a requirement of every Christian to do good works. I also suppose that is the reason why Paul claims, in his epistle to Titus that the grace of God, which brings salvation, teaches us to do good works. The righteousness of God will make us zealous of good works.

Those who claim that good works have no place in a Christian’s life greatly err because God expects us do good. Revelation 22:32 makes it clear that our rewards shall be according to works. Since alms deeds are part of good works it consequently means that they are a product of the righteousness of God. Alms giving was natural in the early Christian church because the righteousness of God had first place in the believers’ lives. Those who have the righteousness of God find out that giving is normal. It was because of this righteousness that early Christian believers gave each other in such a way that no one amongst them lacked. We do alms out of righteousness and not to attain righteousness which reason makes this form of giving a pleasure and a delight to the saint.” For more details concerning this book visit http://www.amazon.com/Saints-Made-Merchandise-Analysis-Offerings/dp/0797469141 or

Grace does not only bring salvation as it also brings us hope teaching us to look forward to the blessed hope, and glorious appearing of the great God and our savior Jesus Christ. The good news is that Jesus Christ is coming back again to judge both the living and the dead. We look forward to that great day when the last enemy, death, will be vanquished. That will be a great day when the dead in Christ will rise again and we who will be alive will be caught up to be with the Lord forever. The apostle wrote, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”