Christians Beliefs

 

God is in the business of calling. He is a relational Being and He premises His relationship on His call and our response to the call. The first person God called was also the first person He created - Adam. We don't know how many times God called Adam and what Adam's responses were, but we know the the details of the last time He called Adam in Genesis 3:9. The response was negative - and the consequence was disastrous, both for Adam and for the generations after him.

God never called Adam again after that episode.

Today, it is your turn. God is calling you one more time. What will your response be?

For those who have never responded to Him positively, He is calling you unto salvation. Unto light. Unto life eternal.
For those who have given the much needed initial response, He is still calling you unto holiness and unto service.

Again, I ask, "What will your response be?"

Therefore, the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your heart as in the rebellion..."

God bless you.

 

A natural human phenomenon is to become more interested in things spiritual as old age creeps in and the once vibrant vigour no longer avails. There are many explanations for this which include first, the fear of the unknown regarding death that is daily drawing nearer especially as contemporaries begin to die one by one, second, an inward desire to atone for past atrocities and thirdly, an unpleasant and humbling appreciation of the weakness that is getting worse on a daily basis.

The weakness is typically physical, but also financial, emotional and social. There is thus the tendency to replace what is lost with spiritual strength.

At this stage, many turn to esoteric pursuits, some try to find succour in secret societies or witchcraft, etc. while many turn to one of the numerous religions of the world. But right now, we are concerned only with those who, in their twilight years, have turned to the Christian religion. This is to say that they have become very religious and have intensified their activities in the church. But you know, increased religious activity is one thing, spiritual salvation is another. The lesson is that no one can bribe God with religious activities. Yes, it is good and desirable to be in the church but it is meaningful only if one has come through the door – Jesus.

Now, let's be clear about this. Salvation can come to anybody at any age. That is not deniable. What is dangerous is the adoption of a religious life without a prior salvation experience. It merely gives a false sense of safety, but empty and devoid of God's approval. What is what doing at all, is worth doing right.

So, my dear reader who has suddenly become active in church and private religious life at old age or just around retirement, you need to answer the questions – “Have you sorted yourself out with God?”. “Have you gotten your spirit regenerated via the acceptance of Christ as Lord and Saviour?” Frankly, this is the most important step. Without it, nothing else matters – whether physical or spiritual.

 

Spiritual salvation is like three young sheep belonging to a good shepherd. In disobedience to their master the shepherd, these sheep strayed out of the midst of the flock into the wilderness, having been deceived by a crafty lion that the shepherd was merely enslaving and limiting them, and that there was greener pasture outside the sheepfold if only they would follow him. When the master discovered the absence of the sheep, he persistently called them back but they refused to heed his call.

Now alone and unprotected in the wilderness, the wild roaring lion turned upon them suddenly intending to kill and devour them. It is interesting to note that their reactions to this development were quite different:

The first sheep suddenly realised that neither the lion nor his word could be trusted. That there was in fact no “greener pasture” anywhere outside his former master’s flock. With great regret about his absconding and previous rebellion, but joyful that he still had the opportunity of another chance, he quickly ran back to his owner, the good shepherd who gladly welcomed him back – no questions asked. To top it, the shepherd also adopted him as a son.

The second sheep also saw immediately that it was no longer safe to stay with the lion, so he ran! He had now realized that the shepherd was the true master. However, he still resented the lifestyle within the sheepfold but rather believed the word of the lion that the life outside the sheepfold was to be desired over and above the word of the shepherd who was too old and outdated. So, he went back to the sheepfold and entered by a side-door so as to avoid contact with the shepherd who was at the gate. He consequently mingled with the other sheep of the flock though he neither had renewed contact with the shepherd nor believed his word. So, while this sheep was physically back at the sheepfold, he remained a total stranger within the fold – both to the shepherd and the other sheep.

The third sheep on his own part, did not bother to run away. He felt that his colleagues had seriously exaggerated the situation. He also believed that the lion would still lead him to the promised greener pasture. But just to be cautious, he queried the lion on the matter who craftily assured him of his good intentions. He gave “proof” of this by leading the sheep to a neutral (third-party) able-looking shepherd with a very large flock of sheep and goats, herds of camels, cattle, swine and all manner of animals. The lion told him, “This is just an example of the numerous ways available of finding life fulfillment outside the sheepfold – and, you see, I am not even involved!” “This must be it!” the lost sheep said to himself. He promptly joined the crowd. But unknown to him, this new shepherd was actually an employee of the very lion that was escorting him and the impressive large gathering that he just saw belonged to the lion from where he picked at will to devour anytime he was hungry.

Like the three sheep, all men have sinned (having been led away from God, by Satan via Adam,) and have come short of the glory of God. God does not wish anyone to perish but to come to repentance. He who repents and goes back to Jehovah God in Christ Jesus, as the first sheep did, is truly saved and has become a child of God. He who does not repent at heart but goes back anyhow – just to identify with God has merely entered a life of presumption. Such persons indeed may appear saved, but theirs is a false salvation. They are only nominally saved – which is no salvation at all. They are not children of God but strangers in His household. Finally, he who tries to save himself by following any other way apart from the Way specified by God will discover to his chagrin and eternal damnation that all other ways are in the final analysis, under the control of Satan, the roaring lion. Such a person who has utterly refused to hear the call of the Master and has decided, like the third sheep, to stay with the devil, will doubtless suffer the same faith of condemnation and eternal death.

Thus we see the three spiritual groups of human beings – the saved, the nominal and the condemned.

The saved are those who accept the word of God as well as identify with Him by confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. They therefore have the Holy Spirit dwelling in their own regenerated spirit. They are said to be Born Again and are found in the Church serving the Lord who saved them.

The nominal are those who do not accept the word of God to believe and confess the name of Christ unto salvation, but all the same maintain an external and behavioural identification with God. They neither repented of their sins nor believed in their hearts nor confessed with their mouths that Jesus died for their sins. These are the “Born Wùrùwúrú” (Yoruba for something hastily and improperly done). They are impersonators. Counterfeit Christians. Like the Saved, they are also found in the church (or organisations appearing like the church) purporting to serve the Lord they do not know.

The condemned are the people who both reject the word of Jehovah God and also refuse to identify with Him. They despise His call (which He has made through Jesus Christ). They reject the person, divinity, ministry or sacrifice of Christ. In effect, they have called Jesus accursed. Such people are the spiritually Unborn.

The question should now be answered, "Which group do you, dear reader, belong to?" If you are not saved yet, I invite you to do so now by believing in the finished work of Christ and confessing Him as your Saviour.

 

It has always been common in general conversation to speak of the brain and the mind in interchangeable ways, practically rendering them as synonyms. To go a step further, some scientists modify this position by claiming that the mind is the "function" of the brain. Yet, no concept can be further from the truth. As rightly pointed out by Lars N. Dahle (1896), equating the brain with the mind or making the mind a function of the brain is "confusing the worker with his machine"

The issue has now become quite heated in light of many recent advances made in the different fields of the neuro-sciences, especially the identification of physical and chemical explanations for intellectual functions. In the wake of these, many scientists are even imagining that there is no such thing as the mind after all. They reason that what was called the mind is really the brain at work. In a word, according to them, we have, quite literally, lost our minds. But the question remains as to whether such discoveries mean that the mind is an attribute of the brain. The answer, of course, is a resounding NO. Let us now see the true picture in the light of the truth, the Word of God.

To the believer, there is a spiritual mode of existence and there is life after physical death. That post-death life is associated with the mind and all its functions - memory, cognition, etc. The lengthy conversation between the certain rich man who just died and Abraham who had been long dead as recorded in Luke 16:22-31 is very instructive. Now, we all know that the brain does not survive physical death but is recycled to dust. Therefore, these deep intellectual activities in the post-death state between the two men could not have been possible if the brain is the same as the mind, or the mind is an attribute or function of the brain - since the presumed source of the activity had been destroyed. So, what is the real situation?

We humans are created as trichotomous beings, consisting of spirit, soul and body. The body, of which the brain is a part, is composed of matter which is physical substance while the spirit and the soul are made of another substance called "spirit" which is immaterial. Our consideration here is on the body and the soul. Now, the faculties of the soul are the Intellect (mind), the Volition (will) and Emotion. This is to say that contrary to the misconceptions of some scientists, the mind is spiritual and not physical at all. It is the seat of intellect and it is the "worker" in the above analogy while the brain is its "tool". The mind merely expresses itself through its obedient servant - the highly sophisticated material and mortal brain.

Comparisons with the Computer

A more contemporary analogy is the relationship between the software and the hardware in computer systems. The centrally- stored software is the mind of the computer while the Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the brain. While we may be very impressed with the enormous power of today's microcomputing hardware (processor speed, RAM size, Hard disk size, networking connectivity specs, etc) the real credit belongs to the software in which the "intellectual logic" is resident. Without the software, the hardware, with all its fanciful specifications, remains a piece of useless assemblage of silicon, wire and plastic. This is exactly the same way the brain too, is absolutely inconsequential to us without the direction and oversight of the mind.

Another plausible analogy is the relationship between a business software and its associated Report Viewer. Scientists are like a group of company Board members beholding the impressive printouts of analytic corporate performance for the current fiscal period. So impressed are they with the ability of the ReportViewer in producing different stunning and informative documents that they begin to give great kudos to the ReportViewer - even referring to it as "the computer" or "the software" in statements such as "The software was able to identify all the Receivable accounts ...". The truth of the matter is that it was not the ReportViewer that identified the Receivables - nor does it even have any intellectual logic to do it. That credit goes to the actual accounting software which did all the work and passed the results to the ReportViewer to do its fanciful presentations. Yes, that is all that the brain is doing - Presentations. It is the mind that performs the underlying intellectual work, which is a spiritual issue. But lest we are mistaken, we must stress that even the work of "presentation" is serious work indeed. It requires its own sophisticated abilities. This is why the brain is so complex. All we are saying is that just as the ReportViewer is not the originator of the business information that it so competently presents, so is the brain not the originator or controller of intellectual capacity but an exhibitor of what it has been directed to do.

Therefore, if brain research now discovers physical and chemical explanations of intellectual functions, let there be great restraint in concluding that these discovered molecules and processes are the directors of intellectual capacity. The truth is that they are the obedient executors of the instructions given by the mind, which is spiritual and beyond the scope of material scientific instruments of observation.

Proper Role of Science

Science was never designed to investigate spiritual entities like the mind and thus, its tools are not only inadequate, they are abysmally inappropriate. Nonetheless, brain research should continue to be intensified for at least three reasons:

First, there is great merit in knowing the full range of the functions that the mind passes to the brain to execute. Of course, there is no guaranty that what science will discover necessarily defines the whole scope of the capacity of the mind. Rather, it will be the subset that is deemed needful for the attention (and capacity) of the brain. Second, there is much to learn from the intricacies of how the brain performs its servant role, and how it can be helped to do it better. Third, it would be interesting to know, if at all possible, the manner of functional communication that exists between the mind and the brain, and the implication of communication for psychological and psychiatric phenomena.

No, we have not lost our minds: we have only been looking for it where it does not exist - in the lowly room of its servant rather than in its exalted mansion which physical science doesn't have the required access to.

By its very nature, the subject of the divine will is complex and mysterious. On the one hand, it is established in eternity, being rooted in God's knowledge, volition and ability, while on the other hand, it is only realised in the dynamics of human history. The need to harmonize this dual nature of the Will of God has resulted in numerous theories, which are often antagonistic and typically of little help to the ordinary believer who desires to make sense of His Father's counsel in a way that both answers biblical difficulties and help his daily walk with God.

It is therefore necessary to make clear doctrinal statements on this important issue to aid believers in their bid to serve God acceptably.

In spite of the different words employed in the scriptures for the divine will which have tended to acquire unique technical meanings, it has become standard to recognise them under either of two labels: Divine Decrees (preferred by seminarians) or simple Divine Will by the rest of the brethren. In my use of these words, I have chosen to be more grammatical than technical in the hope that the message will have smoother passage to the heart and minds of believers.

Essential Nature

On account of His perfect knowledge, God not only knows all things that can be, He also knows, in every detail, all things that will actually be. This very fact of divine knowledge makes their historicity certain, but the personal desire of God as well as His direct involvement in the performance of this certainty has been the crux of contention in the Church for centuries especially between Calvinists and Arminians. Whatever view one holds, what is not debatable is that God's knowledge does not imply moral approval or personal implementation of things that do come to pass.

But God has not left us without help. He has duly provided for mankind, every guide and enablement required both to know and to do His will. The Bible says,

"And this is the WILL of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6: 40)

With Jesus as the way, the truth and the life of our lives, knowledge of and alignment with the will of God is assured. On this basis, I have adopted a simple model to guide the believer in understanding the divine will.

A Four-Cell Grid

Basically, God's will is either of the things that He personally desires, i.e. His perfect will or those that He merely allows i.e. His permissive will. God's perfect will may be decreed or it may be preceptive while His permissive will is either mercifully condoned or judgementally condemned. 

The following notes give some details:

 

Perfect Will

These concern things that are God's personal desire in holiness. They are His 'good pleasure'. However, it is necessary to recognise and differentiate two sub-categories of the divine perfect will.

DECREED WILL

These are based on His absolute sovereignty and wisdom, and are required for His eternal counsel. It is of this category that the Scripture says "what has been determined shall be done" (Daniel 11:36). They are inviolable and not susceptible to prayer or petition. God Himself will personally
implement them and shall not relent.

Examples include creation, allowance of the Fall, redemption, sojourn of Hebrews in Egypt, incarnation of Christ, Resurrection, Second Coming of Christ, Eternal Judgement, e.t.c. The life destiny of some people are already woven into the decreed will of God and therefore, such people
will invariably perform the role preordained for them, such as Cyrus, the Persio-median king. But such invariable fate in not the standard. Normally, the destiny of human beings and even nations fall under the preceptive will of God, as discussed next.

PRECEPTIVE WILL

The second category of God's perfect will is that premised upon the principles of His word shared with us. Through His word, God reveals to us what His perfect desire for us are both in our relationship with Him and in our personal lives and interactions with the rest of creation. They are
His precepts for OUR good and are not required for the achievement of His eternal counsel. They are however profitable for us, individually or in groups.

God will supply all the needful equipping (Phil. 2:13) to make these possible BUT will not personally execute them. He will not compel their implementation. Man has to utilise the provisions so as to attain them. Prominent in these provisions are faith and obedience. If he fails, it is
man's personal loss. God's eternal counsel is not affected one way or the other.

The exercise of the preceptive will of God includes our repentance and salvation, financial prosperity, good health, career success, fulfillment of destiny, e.t.c. All these are God's perfect will for every man, but we know that most of us miss some or even all of these. The great majority
of mankind live outside the salvation of God while many of those that have found grace to be born again are still burdened by sickness, poverty and failures. None of this is the will of God. Preceptive will is premised on divine principles and is therefore not automatically attained. People
like Eli, Saul, Jonathan, Elijah, Iscariot even missed the fullness of their life destinies.

In addition to the 'loss' suffered, sin and eternal damnation may also be imputed if the failure of achievement is due to willful disobedience to God e.g son of perdition like Judas Iscariot who having been justified went ahead to apostacy.

One thing we must take away concerning God's perfect will is that He acts automatically for all things related to His decreed will but we need to pray and live purposely to move Him concerning preceptive will.

 

Permissive Will

Relates to all things that are not the perfect personal desire of God but which all the same He, under His full knowledge (but not approval) permits to proceed and be effected by His created beings whom He had bestowed with free agency. Technically, whatever is not perfect will is permissive will.
Again, there are two varieties of permissive will: (a) Condoned and (b) Condemned

CONDONED

Under this group are human activities whose consequenses are limited to temporal realm. This is to say that although the issues originate in the heart of man instead of God, they are not primarily sinful and would not ordinarily lesd to eternal damnation. They come via two channels:

1. Imperfect execution (underachievement) of perfect preceptive will.

The sad reality is that most of us, Christians live under this form of permissive will, one way or the other. We settle for less-than-perfect options. From the Scriptures, the lives of Jehu, Samson and Jonathan readily come to mind. In us as modern-day believers, mediocrity and lack of endurance
to the end often plague us.

Are we sufficiently aware that evangelising ten souls means operating under permissive will if we have been equipped to evangelise a hundred? All other areas of life and ministry (or work) can similarly be affected.

2. Amoral alternatives to perfect will.

In themselves these activities are morally neutral, but because they are not God's preferred option, they are very liable to contamination by sin. Yet, we find God condoning them every now and then. The most popular are:

- Divorce. (Mark 10: 4)
- Polygamy. (2 Samuel 12: 8.)
- All human governments such as monarchy and democracy. God's perfect will is theocracy, but if we reject Him from ruling over us, He will not impose Himself. (1Samuel 8: 7-9.)
- Institutionalised schooling for basic education. (Homeschooling is God's perfect will)
- Wrong choice of spouse, career e.t.c. E.g. a wrong choice of spouse may either be sinful in itself (if an unbeliever) or lead to sin via wrong influence or both (Ahab/Jezebel).

All these suffer from great 'troubles' and difficulties because they are the results of man's desire and limitations.

Nonetheless, since the effects are inherently limited to this world, God in His mercy often steps in to give guidance into how to go about these things so that they do not become sinful (and eternally destructive) - since sin will make them have eternal consequence. Hence, He gave Israelites detailed
warning and guidance about kingship even though it was not His choice.

CONDEMNED

The activities under the condemned permissive will are those with eternal consequences, that is sinful acts. This include willful disobedience, adultery, fornication, lying, e.t.c. It is rather common for people to ask questions about the role of God in moral evil especially when it appears
that "innocent" people are the victims. Why did He stop murder, rape, stealing, etc? While a full treatment cannot be given in this article. it should suffice to emphasise that such moral evils are not God's perfect will. God knows about all of them, but they are not His personal desire. He does
not approve but His principles are ruled by love and justice - His moral agents must never fear to act and suffer the dire consequences.

The only solution is repentance but most don't ever find that grace.

Closing Notes

Only the decreed perfect will is fixed. All others are the effects of God's principles on the choices we make. They can be changed by proper or improper activities of human beings, as determined by our belief in, and obedience to Him revealed in Jesus Christ. Hence, the role of prayer and obedience to God to guide us right. So, with God, there is destiny BUT NOT FATALISM. Any teaching of a general predestined fate is wrong.