The BIG Picture (Q&A)

Social Media Question: What must we do to live according to Christ? My Reply: Let us take the biblical advice from Romans 5–8 to answer this question. To live according to Christ, one must first be justified through faith in Him, Romans 5:1. This justification marks the beginning of a journey, where one grows in the knowledge of God’s Word. It becomes essential to understand that living according to Christ cannot be achieved through personal effort. Our flesh is at enmity with God, and our natural mind is corrupt. The starting point is immersing oneself in the Word of God (specifically the epistle of Romans) and allowing it to renew the mind, for it is the carnal and corrupted mind that prevents us from living in alignment with Christ. It is crucial to recognize that one cannot live both according to Christ and according to sin. By nature, we yield to sin, for it is all we know, Rom.6. As the Word begins to reveal the nature of sin and exposes how living in sin is displeasing to God, w...

Online Question: I want to know the difference between living by law and living by grace. What are the works that come under law? How does the grace of God through His Son Jesus supersede law? Jesus came to fulfill the law. Can you explain this? My Reply: Living by law (or by the letter of the law) is an act that you do by your strength and ability. It does not take faith to obey the law. You know what the law is, since it is defined, and you labour to obey the law by strict adherence and discipline. The law can be the moral law, the Mosaic law, or your own made-up laws to appease your conscience. Though following the law can have an outward appearance of righteousness, there is no change in the inner man. The law cannot make you righteous and it cannot save you. In addition, the law condemns one because it gives power to sin that resides in the nature of man. Rom 7:21-24 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. [22] For I delight in the law of God after ...

SOCIAL MEDIA QUESTION: What do I do if I’m far from God? MY ANSWER: Assuming you have received and trust in the gospel of Christ: that Jesus died for your sins and was raised again for your justification, then the following scriptures will increase your relationship with God. Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. In order to come to God, to grow in Him, to trust Him, and to fall in love with Him, you have to come in FAITH. You do not form a relationship with God in your flesh. God is not a human and a relationship with Him does not work on a human level with touch and feelings and emotions. You cannot see God and be swept off your feet by His charming looks. The only way you can connect with God is through FAITH; believing that He is, and diligently seeking Him. Colossians tells us that as we initially received Christ, in like manner we must walk in Him, C...

Reconciled AND saved by his life are different parts of God's salvation Read this verse in Romans chapter 5 and take special note of the tenses used to describe reconciliation and salvation by his life. Rom 5:10  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Let's take a deeper look at what it is saying: --being reconciled Reconciliation is the first part of our salvation. It is the part that the majority of believers understand and relate to. Reconciliation comes about by being justified through the hearing and believing of the grace gospel. In simple terms, Romans chapters 1 to 4 educate us on God's righteousness, man's unrighteousness and ungodliness, God's wrath upon those who reject Him, and God's grace upon those who believe in His Son. It is through this grace of God, by means of the cross of Christ and His resurrection, that God can be just and the justifier of...

The following discourse is commentary from a social media site based on reactions to one of my posts. The main context of this Q&A is concerning hearing God's voice and walking in righteousness. There are some important lessons to learn regarding how we hear God's voice and how we walk according to the Spirit and not according to our own 'works' or efforts. Questions or comments in the post are bulleted. "John 10 says “My sheep hear my voice and follow me.” Do you hear his voice and obey him?" The only way to 'hear' His voice is through the written word of God. It is the word of God within you, acquired through reading and studying it and gaining understanding in it that embeds God's Spirit within you. Jesus says in Jn6:63, "the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." So, to get God's Spirit in you, you need to get into the written Word of God and get it into you. It is through the knowledge and underst...

QUESTION: Wouldn't you say that before I was a Christian, I was a slave to sin, but now I am a Christian I can overcome sin in my life through the power and grace of God. Not to be saved but because I am saved by grace. God loved me enough to die in my place and forgive my sins. He also loved me enough to dwell in me through the Holy Spirit so I can have a new life and not be a slave to sin. For example, before I was a Christian I was addicted to drugs, after I'm a Christian Jesus not only saved me but delivered me from drugs. Now my desire is to obey and follow Jesus because I love Him. ANSWER: We learn from scripture that the flesh is unsalvageable. Even Paul, our apostle and example in the faith, cries out at the end of Romans 7, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Sin is inside the nature of man. The flesh can never be saved. This is ultimately why we get a new body at the rapture/resurrection. What God has saved and regener...

Rom 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified , them he also glorified . Paul tells us that if we truly believe in Jesus Christ by hearing and responding to the grace gospel, we are freely justified by the ‘decree’ of God, and we can have peace with God, and access to the grace that He provides, Rom 5:1-2. Through faith in the gospel of grace, we are transferred from the administration of death, which is in Adam, into the administration of life, which is in Christ. When we belong to Christ’s administration, we are now identified with righteousness, peace, and life, as Paul continues to tell us, Rom 5:17-19 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) (18) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the...