The Greatest Law Preacher

Author: Paul Ellis

Website: Escape To Reality

Post Title: The Greatest Law Preacher

Written on:  14.01.2012

“Don’t stray too far from the red letters,” is a piece of advice often given to new preachers. It means, stay close to the teachings of Jesus and you can’t go wrong. It sounds good, but it’s actually bad advice. Everything Jesus said was good and wonderful, but not everything He said was meant for you. Read the red letters of your Bible and you will find both stories of unprecedented grace and merciless declarations of law. Mix these messages and you will end up confused and double-minded. The solution is not to balance law and grace – you can’t – but to filter everything you read through the finished work of the cross. To make sense of what Jesus said, you need to understand what Jesus did and why.

Jesus lived under law

Jesus lived at the crossroads of two covenants. As humanity’s representative He came to fulfill the old law-keeping covenant in order that we might relate to God through a new and better covenant forged in His blood. Since the new covenant could not begin before He died, Jesus lived all of His pre-cross life under the old covenant of the law:

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. (Gal 4:4-5)

Jesus was born under law, circumcised by law, and presented in the temple according to the law. Every Jewish person that Jesus met was also born under law. We need to keep this in mind when we read the red letters of Jesus.

What law did Jesus preach?

To those under the law, Jesus preached the pure and unadulterated Law of Moses. When religious people came to trap him with theological puzzles, Jesus would respond with, “What did Moses command you?” (Mk 10:3). If someone asked, “What is the greatest commandment in the law,” Jesus would provide an answer from the law (Mt 22:36). In His law-keeping ministry, Jesus honored the Law of Moses:

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. (Mt 23:2-3)

Since the law-teachers often made Jesus angry, we might conclude that Jesus was opposed to the law. He was not. Jesus had no problem with what the Pharisees were preaching. “Do everything they tell you.” What really burnt His toast was their hypocrisy – they weren’t practicing what they preached:

Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. (Joh 7:19)

Why did Jesus preach the law?

Like every grace preacher, Jesus esteemed the law and the purpose for which it was given. The law was given to silence every mouth and hold the whole world accountable (Rms 3:19). The purpose of the law is to make us conscious of sin and reveal our need for a Savior.

Since Sinai, the Jews had had fourteen centuries to learn what the law would teach them – that the flesh is incapable of dealing with sin. However, the law-teachers and Pharisees had ring-fenced the Law of Moses with their traditions and interpretations. By honoring their traditions ahead of the law, they diluted the law and removed the key to knowledge. As a result, the menace of sin was not fully recognized and the self-righteous weren’t silenced.

If the law had been allowed to do its proper work, the Jews would have been primed and ready for a Savior. Every one of them would have had an experience like the one Paul describes in Romans 7. “Nothing good lives in me. Oh wretched man that I am!” Live under the condemning ministry of the law and you will inevitably come to this question: “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” If the law-teachers and prophets had done their job, then the entire nation of Israel would have gathered outside that stable in Bethlehem in eager expectation. “He’s here! The Savior has come!” they would have said. “The One who will deliver us from the curse of the law and reconcile us to God has been born. Glory to God in the highest!”

Sadly, it didn’t happen. Since the law-teachers had been negligent, Jesus had to do their job before He could do His own. Before He could save the world from sin, He had to preach the law that made sin utterly sinful. Before He give Himself as the answer, He had to make sure we were asking the right question. Who will deliver us?

So Jesus became the greatest law preacher of all time. As the prophet Isaiah had foretold, He made the law magnificent. He lifted up what others had knocked down and raised the standard to glorious levels of perfection. Never again would mankind be without excuse. You want to know what God expects? Just read the Sermon on the Mount. In it Jesus says that God demands perfection and nothing less.

How did Jesus preach the law?

Preaching the red letters of Jesus is a bit like drinking whatever you find in the laundry. If you’re not paying attention – if you fail to distinguish His life-giving words of grace from His death-dealing words of law – then you could really do some damage. Don’t believe me? Then consider these red letters:

If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Mat 6:14-15)

This is one of the most-quoted passages in the Bible and it is vintage law. It is a killer scripture. It is not good news. This verse should make us shudder for it says that our forgiveness hinges on our ability to forgive others and we are poor forgivers indeed. Men sin against us repeatedly. Have we honestly forgiven them all? What if we miss one? And what do we say to those who have been raped and abused? What do you say to a young child who has been molested? “Sweetie, you need to forgive that evil man otherwise God won’t forgive you.” That’s not grace. That’s the condemning ministry of the law in full bloom. How do you forgive the unforgiveable? You can’t! Then you’re in trouble. The law condemns you as an unforgiver. Now you’re beginning to recognize your need for grace and this is a good thing.

Any time you read a conditional statement from Jesus, you should interpret it as law. “Do not judge and you will not be judged” (Lk 6:37). That’s good advice but it’s also law. To avoid something (judgment) you have to do something (don’t judge). It’s a blessing you have to pay for. And anytime Jesus makes a threat, you should interpret that as law as well. “Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment” (Mt 5:22). That’s bad news for anyone with a brother!

The law is not for you

Jesus came to reveal grace but those who are confident of their own righteousness are incapable of receiving it. They don’t see their need. What they need is the law and Jesus gave it to them in spades. But Jesus’ larger purpose was to give us His life and His righteousness. So He also told stories about God justifying sinners and shepherds finding lost sheep. Then He went to the cross fulfilling the law on our behalf that He might be the end of the law for all who believe (Rom 10:4).

Jesus’ came to set the captives free and give sight to the blind. The law sets nobody free. But the law does reveal your need for a Great Deliverer.

How to Walk After the Flesh in 20 Easy Lessons

Author : Paul Ellis
Website: Escape To Reality 
Post Title: How to Walk After the Flesh in 20 Easy Lessons
Written On: 11 August 2011


If you’ve ever taken young children to the zoo, you will know that the big animals are initially more popular than the small ones. Elephants, rhinos, and tigers get more attention than otters, turtles, and geckos. And so it is with works of the flesh.

Ask any Christian to list the works of the flesh and they will likely respond with the list found in Galatians 5:19-21: adultery, hatred, idolatry, murder, etc. Paul calls these the “manifest” or “obvious” works of the flesh. They are the biggies, the elephantine examples of what it means to live apart from God. But the Bible also provides dozens of lesser examples of fleshly living that you may not be so familiar with. I’ve listed some of these lesser works of the flesh below.

Walking after the flesh is when you attempt to get your needs met independently of God. It’s trusting in yourself (your abilities, your understanding) and living solely from the basis of your earthly experience (what you see, hear, touch, etc.). Now here’s the important bit: You can walk after the flesh in the pursuit of both good things and bad things. Paul’s manifest works of the flesh – the biggies – are all clearly associated with bad deeds, but some of the lesser works in the list below are not bad at all. This is a critical point. We are not comparing good deeds with bad but flesh with spirit. And as we saw in the last post, when you’re walking after the flesh even good things can be bad for you.

A classic example of something that is good yet bad for you is God’s law. It is not sin, it is good! But try to live by it and you will find yourself walking after the flesh. Paul said his ability to keep the righteous requirements of the law was ineffective because he tried to do so in the puny strength of his flesh (Romans 8:3). Living under self-imposed law is one of the primary ways we walk after the flesh – hence its position at the top of my list.

Just a reminder: The wrong way to read this list is the carnal way – identifying things you should or should not do. Christianity is a bit like marriage – it’s a love-relationship. You will kill it if you try to reduce it to a set of rules. We are less interested in the what than we are in the how. So how do we walk after the flesh? 

Here are 20 ways:

1. Try to keep God’s law (Romans 7:9-25): Think that you have to do stuff to be blessed (Ephesians 1:3), that you have to perform to stay saved (Galatians 2:21). The old covenant is the fleshly covenant; the new covenant is the spirit covenant.

2. Set your mind on earthly things (Philippians 3:19, Jn 3:12): Keep your eyes on the here and now. “What you see is all there is” (Colossians 3:2). Entangle yourself in the affairs of life (2 Timothy 2:4).

3. Think about how to gratify the lusts of the flesh (Romans 13:14): If it feels good, do it (Romans  14:17).

4. Pursue your goal through self-denial (Colossians 2:21-3): Don’t look. Don’t drink. Don’t touch. Fast twice a week. Practice perfectionism (Galatians  3:3, KJV).

5. Make sacrifices to impress God (Hebrews 10:1,8): Be conscious of your debt to Jesus and consider it your duty to serve. Put your ministry or business before your marriage.

6. Load others with heavy burdens (Luke 11:46): Expect your Christian staff to work harder for less pay. Send the message that the work is more important than their families or their health. Shackle them to your vision. Use emotional manipulation or, worse, scripture, to pressure people to support you.

7. Take pride in your independence (Jeremiah 17:6): Respect no one (1 Peter 2:17). Scorn authority (2 Peter 2:10). Flaunt your freedom (1 Corinthians 8:9). “Who needs fathers? I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:12).

8. Worry about your life (Matthews 6:25, Luke 8:14, Philippians 4:6): “What shall we eat? What shall we drink? What shall we wear?” Entertain fear and doubt. “I can’t do it” (Philippians 4:13).

9. Cultivate self-belief (2 Corinthians 12:10): “I can do it!” Boast in your accomplishments (2 Corinthians 11:30). Boast in your wisdom, strength and riches (Jeremiah 9:23).

10. See yourself as a victim (Romans 8:37): “Woe is me. I’m not worthy. My sinful nature made me do it.” Blame God (James 1:13). Blame the devil (1 John 4:4). Blame your circumstances (Deuteronomy 28:13).

11. Be a man-pleaser (Galatians 1:10): Wonder, what will my boss think? How will the board react? How will this affect the tithers? Say only what they want you to say.

12. Make plans in a worldly manner (2 Corinthians 5:7, Jeremiah 17:5): Do a SWOT analysis; list the pros and cons; make decisions based on money. Manage the risks and stay in control.

13. Try to grow a ministry (Psalms 127:1, 1 Corinthians 3:6). Work hard to make things happen.

14. Define success by human standards (John 8:15, 1 Corinthians 1:26): It’s all about the numbers. “How many soldiers do we have? How many attend the prayer meeting? Are donations increasing? Are we doing better than last year? Am I doing better than my predecessor?”

15. Nurture your reputation (Philippians 3:8): Put on a good show and make a good impression (Luke 16:15; Galatians 6:12). Be face conscious. Make a name for yourself (Genesis 11:4) and blame the wife when things go wrong (Genesis 3:12).

16. Pray long prayers, especially if others are listening (Matthew 6:5-8).

17. Regard people from a worldly point of view (2 Corinthians 5:16): Engage in office politics. View new-comers as potential recruits or leaders for your programs. Cultivate task-based friendships. Choose the best-looking man for the job (1 Samuel 16:7). Show favor to the one with money (James 2:3).

18. Sacrifice people on the altar of your principles (1 Corinthians 3:1-4): “I’m right, you’re wrong.” Judge the weak (Romans 15:1). Distance yourselves from those who aren’t as doctrinally pure as you (1 Corinthians 9:22).

19. Combat worldly problems with worldly weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4): Put your faith in politics. Start fights (Zechariah 4:6). Picket the abortion clinic. Protest the gay parade (Isaiah 42:2).

20. Pretend to be Jesus (Matthew 24:24): Draw people to your ministry and build toward yourself (1 Thessalonians 3:8). Teach others to depend on you. Stand in the gap. Try to crucify yourself (Colossians  2:20).

This is a yukky list and frankly, I didn’t enjoy writing it. Just about everything on this list, I’ve done. God help me, some of the things on this list I’m still doing! Don’t let this list condemn you. A better response is to get mad because we’ve been conned! The prince of this world has deceived us into thinking that this is how things are done, that the fleshly way of life is normal. But this is not normal life for one born of the spirit. We act this way out of habit and ignorance. We walk after the flesh because when we were in the flesh this was how we lived:

You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. (Colossians 3:7)

I have to say this again: Some of the activities on this list are good! Please don’t think I am against the law or fruitful ministries or planning or praying without ceasing. I am not. But understand that the carnal mind longs to be told what to do when God is much more interested in how we are doing it. Are we trusting in the power of our might or are we resting confidently in His? Are we walking as “mere men” (1 Corinthians 3:3) or are we being revealed as mature sons and daughters of our Father? Flesh cannot give birth to spirit. Neither can walking after the flesh empower you to live the life God has called you to live.

I encourage you to review the list again and ask the Holy Spirit to help you identify those areas that He wants to deal with today. “But Paul, that’s pretty much everything on that list!” Don’t panic! Your heavenly Father knows you are a work-in-progress. Some of these issues can be dealt with now; others can wait. He loves you regardless, without any reference to your performance. He knows everything that you’ve done and everything that you’re ever going to do. It’s impossible to disappoint Him.

In this post I’ve given you 20 generic examples of walking after the flesh. In my next post I’m going to provide some classic examples of walking after the flesh found in the Bible. Then, in the post after that, I will give you a simple “flesh test” that you can take on your own. This test consists of two easy questions that will help you determine whether you are walking after the flesh or the spirit in any given situation. In other words, it will reveal those areas in your life where freedom and joy and peace are about to come bursting through!

A Checklist On What Is Hidden In Your Subconsciousness

How well did I understand grace before I understood grace?

A Facebook Note by Paul Ellis on Thursday, 19 May 2011 at 04:11

Have you ever seen those Magic Eye 3D pictures that look random at first glance but then reveal a hidden picture? Maybe there’s a group of you looking and someone says, “Wow – look at that! It’s a ship!” Then another person sees it and now they’re both describing the picture to you. But try as you might you just can’t see it. They try to encourage you. “Look – it’s right there. It’s huge!” But still you can’t see it. You’re starting to think there’s no picture at all and they’re all deluded when suddenly, revelation comes and a ship appears! If you’re like me and you’re usually the last person to see these things, you’ll no doubt embarrass yourself at this point by shouting, “I see it!”

That’s how it was for me with grace.

I knew people who looked into the Bible and saw radical grace but I didn’t. Sure, there were pockets of grace but there was a whole lot of other stuff as well. Then one day, revelation came and I saw Grace! He’s right there on every page and in every book! How can you miss Him? He’s huge! I now find myself reading old scriptures with new eyes and saying, “Look! This is speaking of Jesus! This is all about Him – I never saw this before.” Now that I’ve seen Him once I see Him everywhere. I was saved decades ago and I have always loved God with my whole heart. But when I got this revelation of His amazing grace, it was like being born again, again.

A friend recently asked me, “How did you understand grace before you understood grace?” Here’s my answer: I thought I understood grace perfectly well. For as long as I can remember I’ve considered myself a testimony of His grace. But when Grace Himself came into focus, I was floored. I realized that I had barely understood grace at all. Looking back I can identify nine signs that showed I did not fully grasp the grace of God.

1. I understood that I was saved by grace but not that I was kept by grace

I had received Christ by faith and without doing a thing, but I was not continuing in Him by that same faith (Col 2:6). Although I would never have said it, I had taken out a little works insurance. Faith is a positive response to what God has done, but I liked to initiate things. And so my walk became “do, do, do,” rather than it’s “done, done, done.” There was no rest, only performance anxiety. There was always another meeting to lead, another plank of truth to teach, another stray sheep to gather. I thought this was normal. I could get excited about the idea of being saved and saving others, but I was not drawing from the wells of salvation with joy (Is 12:3). I was constantly stressed and I treated grace as grease for my engine.

2. I felt obliged to serve

Jesus had done everything for me, what would I do for Him? Of course I didn’t use the word “indebted” – that would’ve alerted me to the poverty of my theology – but much of what I did was motivated by a sense of obligation. I thus cheapened the exceeding riches of His grace (Eph 1:7) by trying to pay Him back for His priceless gift. Inevitably this shifted my focus from Him and His work to me and mine. Instead of being impressed by what He had done, I was trying to impress Him with what I was doing.

3. I motivated others using carrots and sticks

Because my own motives were screwed up it was inevitable that I would preach rewards and punishments to others. Do good, get good; do bad, get bad. At the same time as I was preaching against legalism I was putting people under law! My gospel was like an ash-tray – full of “buts”! God loves you but… Jesus died for you but…  God’s gifts always came with a price to pay. But grace is free – you can either receive it or reject it but the moment you start charging for it, you’ve missed it. There’s only one motive in the kingdom and that is love. The Son of Man didn’t come to threaten us, judge us, or scare us, but to demonstrate love (Rm 5:8). I no longer believe that evangelism means scaring the hell out of people. The good news that the world needs to hear is that God is good and He loves us. The new covenant of grace is the formal expression of His unfailing love for us (Is 54:10).

4. I saw myself as a servant rather than a son

My identity was in the things I did rather than in my Father. I saw myself as working for God (a noble cause!) rather than doing the works of God. I would not have said I was justified by what I did for I knew that grace and works don’t mix (Rms 11:6). Yet I was mixing grace with works like there was no tomorrow! But here’s the strange thing. Even though I preached servanthood more than sonship, whenever there was a crisis I was quick to relate to Him as Papa. It was only when I was strong and healthy that I was seduced by the religious need to do something for God. Happily, there were many crises!

5. I kept asking God to provide things that He’s already provided

6. I was more sin-conscious than Christ-conscious

Like many Christians I was afraid of sin (keep it out of the camp!) and I was not known as a friend of sinners. I defined sin as bad works only and I taught that the solution to sin was repentance. I had read that the grace of God teaches us to say no to ungodliness (Tit 2:12), but I wasn’t quite sure how that worked. So when preaching against sin I used inferior incentives like fear and punishment that led, at best, to temporary, will-powered changes in behavior. I emphasized what people must do (repent!) more that what God has already done (forgiven us!). I kept the focus on us when it should’ve been on Him and my preaching was powerless as a result. If anyone failed to experience victory over sin, I just figured they were unacquainted with God’s transforming grace – even though I had given them none.

7. I always tried to do the right thing

Someone under grace says, “I trust Him from start to finish. He will lead me in the right path” (Ps 23:3). But in subtle ways I preferred rules to relationship. What I craved were clear Biblical guidelines for living. I thought I was choosing good, but then so did Adam. We both had an independent spirit that led us to eat from the wrong tree. I felt particularly good when people came to me for guidance. I thought I was giving them wisdom when really I should just have got out of the way and taught them to lean on Jesus (Jn 10:27).

8. I had a stronger relationship with the written word than with the Living Word

I did not read the scriptures to find Jesus (Lk 24:27) but to learn, what should I do? I read indiscriminately and was often confused by scriptures that seemed to contradict each other. My solution was to go for balance: A little of this, a little of that, for all scripture is profitable. But by failing to filter what I read through the finished work of the cross, I unwittingly poisoned myself. I was mixing the death-dealing words of the law with the life-giving words of grace. Although I was zealous for the Lord, in truth I was lukewarm. I was neither under the stone-cold reality of the law nor walking in the red-hot heat of His unconditional love and grace.

9. I knew I was righteous, but I didn’t feel righteous.

When I stumbled I would more readily confess my sins to God than allow the Holy Spirit to remind me of the gift of His righteousness to me (Jn 16:10). I knew I was a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), but in many ways I acted and spoke as if I was merely an improved creation. I thought honesty about my struggles was the key to getting more grace. But I probably would not have struggled so much in the first place if I had just learned to see myself as God sees me – redeemed, righteous, and holy.

I am convinced that grace comes by revelation. If you don’t yet see it this post may sound like the ramblings of a man who is unbalanced. (Thank God I am! I’m done with balance!) If you do see Grace, then right now you will be resonating like a tuning fork. So let me finish with a few words for those of you in the first group. Please be patient with those of us who are leaping for joy. Don’t walk away from the Magic Eye picture scowling, “I can’t see it, there’s nothing there.” Just keep looking! Grace really is standing right there in front of you. And He’s huge!

We Are All Under Grace!

We are all under grace… all of us... even the unbelievers. Every human being on this planet earth are under God’s grace…

John 1:17 ~  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 

It has been over two thousand years ever since our Lord Jesus died on the Cross and resurrected on the third day of His death. When He was spending His six hours of long suffering on the Cross, He had made seven remarkable statements... these statements are selectively recorded in the four Books of Gospel!

i) "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

ii) "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

iii) He said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother."

iv) "I am thirsty."

v) "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

vi) "It is finished."

vii) "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

With these seven remarkable statements from the mouth of our Lord during His great suffering, as human being, we ought to believe that Father God is indeed faithful in loving us, for Jesus' death was a confirmation to His declaration that He so loved the world and He would gave up His One and only Begotten Son… and we, who called ourselves BELIEVER..., yes BELIEVER..., oh yes BELIEVER, should better know that our sins are totally forgiven In Christ..., past, present and future! Sin is a looooong settled issue!

Jesus with His death on the Cross had changed the dispensation and ended the era of human performance religion. His death on the Cross had called the human race out from the era of law, into the era of abundant provision of His grace and the gift of His righteousness… This is the era whereby the sins of all mankind had been forgiven… It is finished…! God had done His part… His grace has been lavished to all mankind… it is now up to mankind to respond to His love by receiving His Son through faith. Faith is indeed,  believing in what Jesus had done, not what our faith can do. 

Ephesians 2:8 ~ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.

Therefore, in this dispensation, it is NOT only those who preaches GRACE are under GRACE... But as long as you are a human being, whether believer or not, you are under GRACE. As long as you are born after the death of Christ, you are under this Grace Dispensation! Believers of Christ are no more under law but under grace. Believer did not invite Moses into their heart to be their Saviour... Believers have invited Jesus into their  heart, and Jesus is their Saviour. 

So, if we are not listening to the preaching of pure grace, or even if we are listening to the preaching that mixes grace with law, we have been robbed of all our blessings that Jesus died to give us…! We will slowly be "killed" and eventually, be "destroy"...! Before the devil comes to kill and destroy, he has already done his ground work on his targeted victims, that is to steal the truth from them. It is this lie on unforgiveness, condemning, legalistic preaching that keeps Christians bound. Christians are carrying a lot of guilt over their life which are bound by the teaching and preaching of prideful men. The end result is, instead of looking for victory that they already process, they focus on their own lacks. Instead of being positive in life, they are negative… Instead of being free, they are bound!

John 10:10 ~ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness is a bombshell to this religious world… Grace is unearned, underserved and unmerited favour from God. Nobody deserved anything from God but He chose to love, He chose to give... for He is Love and we are the object of His love! It is all about what Jesus had done… and our faith is to receive what Grace has given, no question asked…!

For it is by grace we have been saved, through faith and this not from ourselves, it is the gift of God.

Where Do You Stand...?

How well we can see is very much determined by the position that we are in. Therefore, the angle of our sight will affect the way we believe, the way we talk and the way we behave…

John 1:17 ~ For the law was given  by Moses, but grace and truth  came by Jesus Christ.

The law stands alongside with Moses, while grace and truth stands alongside with Jesus. Law is standing at the different mountain with grace and truth. Law is at Mount Sinai while grace and truth is at Mount Zion. Law is the word of God but Grace is the word of Christ (He is the Way, the Truth and the Life... no one comes to the Father except through Him!). Therefore, the way we interpreted the Bible also demonstrate to us the mountain that we are camping on…

If we see in the Bible that we need to obey the Law to be righteous and holy, we are standing alongside with Moses and we are dancing with the Pharisee and the Sadducee. This is the attitude of a servant. From this angle, we can never understand that our righteousness is from our Lord Jesus Christ. From this angle, we are actually using our mind to comprehend what the Bible says. We reap what we have sowed. We do good, we get good, we do bad, we get beat.  Though we are zealous for God, but our zeal is not based on knowledge. Since we did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish our own, we did not submit to God's righteousness. We cannot comprehend that Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. Because of our ignorant, we have insulted God grace.... We have slapped Jesus on His face... We are saying  His death meant nothing to us!

My friend, concerning law, Jesus only used His finger to write on the stones… when come to Grace, He  gave up His whole body on the Cross.

Grace is unearned and unmerited favor from God. We cannot use our effort to earn God’s grace. We have to humble ourselves before Him to receive His grace. This is the kind of humility that is pleasing in God’s eye... and this kind of humility is definitely not the kind of humility that is advocated by any legalistic preacher. 

If you are a legalistic preacher and you are now facing the ever increasing pressure from this grace revolution that is happening all over the world, I think the most difficult thing for you to do now is to humble yourself and preach against all your past teachings. You may try to use the word “Grace” in your preaching, but your motive is to further implant an inception into your "sleep walking" congregation… 

I am going to share with you a little revelation and I hope this revelation can help you to wake up from your sleep walking as well...

If you can understand that Saul the Pharisee was definitely more legalistic than you, there is still hope for you. God loved him as much as He loved Paul. It was the grace of God that converted Saul the Pharisee into Paul the Apostle. The Apostle Paul was called the Apostle to the Gentile and he wrote two third of the New Covenant. He even personalized this gospel of grace as “his gospel”! He was called the Apostle of Grace for his revelation of God's grace... like the late Datuk Ramsay Jitam, he was called the Apostle of Loving Tears for when he preached, his tears would fall when he was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit...

If we are saying we believe in Jesus, do stand alongside with Him… Be a believer that acknowledge and glorifies His finished work. Be a believing believer…

Which Table Are You Partaking From?

In my previous post entitled "Confusion", King Nebuchadnezzar has been exposed of his conspiracy to confuse the redeemed. From his table, he lavishes his royal food and wine! Be discerning enough not to feast from his table. His table is called the table of confusion. The royal foods and wine is the teaching with the  mixture of law and grace which in one hand disarms the purposes of the law was given for and on the other hand neutralized the resurrection power of God’s grace.

Before us in the presence of our enemies, our Redeemer prepared the Table before our enemies.  We are partaking His Body and His Blood from His Table. This table is victorious, full of undeserved, unearned and unmerited favor of God. We come to our Lord's Table to enjoy and celebrate His victory and all that He had done for us! 

Before we continue, may I ask whether which table is your "Jerusalem" partaking from?  What is the difference between these two tables? Well, This king Nebu prepares his table before of our own weakness. When we come to king Nebu’s table, we need to legalistically confess all our sins and this is an insult to our Redeemer's finished work! This king Nebu is trying to copy the way our Redeemer prepared the Table but he leads us to eat and drink in an unworthy manner and as a result, many are weak and sick, and many sleep.   But when we come to our Lord’s Table, we partake with thanksgiving and acknowledgement of our Lord’s finished work in remembrance of Him. Because of  His grace, His body had open up a new and living way. The more we come, the more we live! Our Lord’s Table is full of solid truth which is His broken Body and His Blood!

Daniel the Prophet is the picture of the redeemed. He had the wisdom to resolve not to defile himself with the royal food and wine and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. He asked the official to give them vegetable and water instead and test them for 10 days.

Have you resolve not to eat from king Nebu’s table?

The root word for vegetable here is seed. Jesus mentioned about the Word of God as seed in Matthew 13. He also said in one of the parables that He is seed and unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Now with this compilation of the New Covenant truth on seed, we can see that Daniel by then had already been feeding himself with the New Covenant truth, for the Word was with God and the Word was God. This is not ordinary Word but the resurrected Jesus Himself. As for water, we can easily connect water with the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, He only comes to glorify Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, Who is the Only Truth. That is why Apostle Paul preached in the Book of Romans that faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of Christ. The Christ here is the resurrected Jesus. Apostle Paul himself received revelation from the resurrected Christ and  with his revelation, he was able to write two third of the New Covenant. 

By the way, as I was writing this post, I was fascinated by the statement that my wife wrote on her Facebook wall. She wrote: No man understands the Scriptures, unless he is acquainted with the cross! What about that?

Well, after ten days of testing, Daniel and his gang looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. This is the consequence of the right nutrition for the spirit man… After sitting under a ministry that preaches only the grace of God for eight years, I noticed that those who are in the Grace ministry are healthier in their physical and spiritual life. They are better nourished as the Bible says they are eating meat, not drinking milk because they understand the teaching on righteousness. The newly converted in our midst know more fundamental truth than those “old” Christians who sit under a ministry that preach the mixture of law and grace. 

I am now convinced that Daniel who was in his dispensation already had the wisdom to prophesize on the coming of the Messiah and the end time events because of his  resolution to partake only vegetable and water. What about us, the redeemed who had resolved not to defile ourselves with the royal food and wine from the table of king Nebu, the king of confusion?  We have the vegetable (seed, the Word of Christ) and the water is in us (the Holy Spirit in us)… Wow!

Which table are you partaking from? Is it king Nebu’s table or our Lord’s Table?

A Bunch of Rubbish or Jesus?

"Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they're interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them. The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ's praise as we do it. We couldn't carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials. You know my pedigree: a legitimate birth, circumcised on the eighth day; an Israelite from the elite tribe of Benjamin; a strict and devout adherent to God's law; a fiery defender of the purity of my religion, even to the point of persecuting the church; a meticulous observer of everything set down in God's law Book. 

The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.

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Fruits

Religious people are more concerned on bearing fruits than the condition of the root. Their religious minds have been blocked from seeing that the law demands bearing of fruits while grace graces the condition of the root. The famous passage from John 15 is therefore causing a lot of concern among the religious Christians and therefore had been frequently used to demand fruits from their followers.

John 15:5 ~ "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:6 ~ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

My friends, plants do not strain and struggle to produce fruit. Instead, by planting them on good soil, with adequate exposure to sunlight and water, fruits are produced effortlessly. Same thing happen to us as a born again Christian, with adequate exposure to the SON of Righteousness, with the constant irrigation of the living water from the word of Christ and planting ourselves in the soil of grace (good soil) instead on the law (soil mixes with stone), good fruits are produced naturally in our life without any effort. 

Jesus is grace personified. He is the mediator of the New Covenant and He is the vine. If bearing fruits is our concern and our duty, then this branch of us is definitely not abide to the vine and is withering. We, as New Covenant believers are spiritual being and should never try to justify ourselves by law… or else we are alienating ourselves from Jesus and we have fallen from grace. Jesus is then becoming of no effect to us because we are  now what John 15 verse 6 says, and no more in the vine….

Galatians 5: 4 ~ You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

My friends, Galatians 5:4 does not say when we sin we are alienated from Christ but when we try to obey the commandments. Abide in Jesus give us victory over every situation. So is His grace because He had conquered everything for us. Our victories in every situation are fruits, our success in every area of our life is fruits, our well being is fruits, our health is fruits, and family harmony is fruit…

You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace and if anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned...

New Covenant Prayer Life

The Old Covenant Saints were not born again and they did not have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. They were looking forward to the Cross prophetically and they had to seek, ask and knock at the door for answer. Begging prayer is Old Covenant prayer.

The New Covenant Saints are born again and we have the Holy Spirit living in us. That is why the Bible says no one ever born on this earth is greater than John the Baptist. But whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John. We, as a born again believers, our Daddy has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. So instead of seeking, asking or knocking, we have to look back to the Cross for the revelation of what Daddy means by having blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

In this context, we are to listen to the preaching anointed by the Holy Spirit that unveils Christ and His Finished Work because every answer for our needs is found in the Person of Jesus. In this dispensation of grace, I think it is wise for us to use our ears more than our mouth… for the Bible says: faith comes by HEARING, and hearing by the word of Christ. Through faith then, we confess what we already have. It is the word about what Christ had done that bring forth faith, and surely, without faith it is impossible to please God. We do not have faith because we do not believe the word of Christ. We cannot produce faith from our Law keeping.

In the Book of John, the crowd was asking Jesus: "What must we do to do the works God requires?" And Jesus answered them that: "The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent." So believe His Finished Work is the key to our faith.

In order for people to believe, Apostle Paul asked this question: How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?

God is pleased through the foolishness of preaching the word of Christ (the good news of the Finished Work of Christ) to save those who believe. Jesus’ Finished Work is a stumbling block to those who seek their own righteousness, but is the power of God and the wisdom of God for those who believe.

What kind of preaching have you been listening to?
- Preaching that points you to the Cross and unveil Jesus and His Finished Work or preaching that points you to yourself and what you should do?
- Preaching that points you to Jesus’ righteousness or preaching that points you to your sinfulness? Preaching that preaches the unearned and unmerited favour of God or preaching that preaches on what you must do in order to be qualified for God’s blessing?
- Preaching on the Bread of Life or preaching from the “stone”?
- Preaching from the Tree of Life or preaching from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?
- Preaching that preaches the grace of God or preaching that preaches legalism?

Grace minsters to our spirit while law ministers to our flesh. Christ centered preaching edifies our spirit man while legalistic preaching edifies our flesh. Preaching of grace balanced with law confuses us; we call this Babylonian teaching. If that is the case, have you been edifying your spirit or your flesh? Are you feeding on the Bread of Life or on the stone tablets? Are you climbing the Tree of Life or the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?

Matthew 7:9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
Matthew 7:10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

See what the Bible is actually implicating - Which of you, if his son asks for GRACE (Manna, bread from heaven), will give him LAW (Two tablets of stone taken down by Moses)? Or if he asks for JESUS (Fish – A symbol for Jesus), will give him Satan (Snake – who tempted Eve in the Garden)?

We need to listen to the grace (word of Christ) of God and faith is responsible for the growth of a Spirit filled, born again believer. Our ear therefore, is an important channel for the growth of our spirit-man. New Covenant believers feed their spirit-man through their ears…

I think it will be wise for us to humble ourselves and listen to Him. Find out what Jesus’ Finished Work is all about. All the answers that we ever need are in Him. I also think it makes sense when revelation makes us understand that the act of listening is actually part of our prayer life in this grace dispensation.

Nemo Knows, Do you...?

Have you ever thought of those fishes in the ocean? Even though the water in the ocean is salty, the bodies of these ocean fishes are not affected by the sea water. Their fleshes are fresh and not salty. When we cook them for our meals, we still need to put salt to make them tasty. Hmmm… interesting right?

For all I can understand is that, these fishes are alive! They just live out their life as fishes in the ocean! Nobody ever taught them on how to be fishes in the ocean. They just have the ability to pursue life in the ocean because they are not rebellious. They obey the instinct given by the Creator!

Christians are the same. We are righteous because of Jesus’ Finished Work. This mighty divine exchange had already happened at the cross. If we are believers, we are new creations. As new creations, we just need to live out our righteous life, the abundant life given by our Lord.

We do not need to perform to deserve our righteousness anymore! To be radical, we don’t even need to be taught on how to live a righteous life; because the Holy Spirit is already in us convicting us of righteousness! If we are those Christians who still choose to perform to deserve our righteousness, we just promote among ourselves another form of religion. We are worst then those fishes in the ocean, as we are rebellious to our Savior. It is sad to see that majority of the body of Christ today still try to live like a Christian (be righteous) instead of living out their Christian life (righteous life)!

If those fishes are trying to perform to be fishes in the ocean, life will be tough and they will end up dying in the ocean. Look at those dead fishes. In order to prevent them from decaying, they are preserved through seasoning with salt. This kind of fishes is called preserved salted fish! We can try our best to preserve them, but they are dead, being seasoned with salt, laid under the sun to be dried and end up hanging in the grocery shop for sales. Salted fish do not have the life to choose for themselves what they want and where they want to be. They are just helpless and being manipulated.

If we are Christians and still trying to be a Christian, we are as good as those salted fish. Religious people will try to preserve us through their religious teachings, demanding our performance to be righteous. We are being seasoned by their legalistic salt, laid to dry on the stones and bound by our religiosity from choosing what we want and where to go. We are also helpless and live a manipulated life in a religious kingdom…

Our Lord loves to use natural things of this world such as fish, bird, bread, stone, serpent, fig tree, lilies in the field to teach the mystery of His truth. His grace is ever present and fully lavished in our midst. Out of His outrageous grace, He lavishes His Spirit to convict us of righteousness. We need to come to our senses and respond to His conviction that we are righteous by faith not by work. Only through our establishment in His righteousness then we can start to appreciate His grace!

Romans 5:21b ~ so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Grace can only reign in a believer who is Christ conscious and righteousness conscious. If we are still full of sin consciousness, we have fallen back into law and we end up trying to justify ourselves through our law keeping and self effort.

Galatians 2:16 ~ knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Once we can understand that it is all about His grace, we will start receiving His abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness and we will reign in life through this one Man, Jesus Christ.

I do not want to be a salted fish. I do not want to be a Christian being preserved and manipulated by religion. I want to be those fishes in the ocean knowing that they are fishes belong to the ocean and just following the instinct given by the Creator. I want to be a Christian knowing that I am forever righteous and live out the righteous life that my Savior had given me! He had come to give me His abundant life and He had told me that His sheep knows His voice! I just want to click on to His frequency of Grace and receive the abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness.

Even Nemo knows that he belongs to the ocean not aquarium… As for me, I know I belong to Jesus not religion. Hmmm... what about you? Nemo knows, do you...?

Faith Without The Truth Is Dead!

Have you believe the truth to have the right kind of faith for your right work? Those who like to resort themselves with the phrase “faith without work is dead” is indeed religious and legalistic. It is clear evidence that they still have the mixture of old and new covenant mentality… most of all, their attention is not on faith but on the work. Remember, religion dealt with the fruit while Jesus dealt with the root!

The implication of work in its context is our spontaneous action from the Gospel we have heard but it has been religiously implied as our work for church and our work for God. That is why this verse is best used in a work oriented church environment. Faith without work is dead… so by hook or by crook, WORK!!!!... to show others that you have FAITH!!!! The MORE you work, the BIGGER your faith is!!!

John 6:28-29 ~ Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

With reference to the phrase "faith without work is dead" and in respect of this life threatening verse (at least it was threatening to me for many years), what kind of fresh revelation do I have after I have established myself on His grace? Hmmm... at least I have a platform to establish myself on… and I choose to establish myself in His grace for the rest of my life, for grace and truth comes through Jesus… and I suppose it is good for my heart to be established in grace too.

James 1:22-25 ~ But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

James was actually talking about the spontaneous reaction of the hearer of the Gospel. The Gospel or the Resurrected Jesus Himself is our MIRROR. Every time we come to church, the preacher should take out this MIRROR and show Him to us. The MIRROR tells us that we are righteous, we are forgiven, we are blessed, we are prosperous, we are without sickness, we are free, we are precious in His eye… WE ARE IN CHRIST!

Before you question your own faith, ask yourself what kind of mirror have you been shown to when you come to church? Have you been shown with the mirror of Moses or the Mirror of Jesus? Have you been shown of your own sin, your shortcoming, your ugliness, or what you should do and what you shouldn’t do? WOW... That is not the right mirror! That is the mirror of Moses! If you have been shown to a wrong mirror, how are you going to have the right kind of faith? For faith comes by hearing, hearing by the words of CHRIST, not the words of Moses and also not the word of Elijah…

As I have said, it is not about faith that these legalistic people are concerned with. They are concerned with your work for their legalistic Kingdom. Our Lord Jesus is not concern with our work for His Kingdom for He said believe is the work for the work of God. He is more concerned with your WALK in His Kingdom!

Have you believe the right truth? (It is so sad that I have to add the word “right” in front of the word “truth”. Hey..., truth is truth, there is no right or wrong! But to certain people, we just have to add the word “right” there!) It is all about believing. When we believe right, our faith will be right and spontaneously, our work will be right. Please wake up from your sleep walking and come to your senses. Sleep walking cannot make you go far... you still have to go back to your bed and do your "waking up" there..., just like the Israelite in the wilderness!

Those who have ears, let them hear! This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent...

Faith Without Work Is Dead?

Because of these bible verses in the Epistle of James, the amount of laboring in the Lord from a believer has been used as a checklist to monitor the level of faith a believer has...

1. James 2:14 ~ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?

2. James 2:20 ~ But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

3. James 2:26 ~ For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

This Epistle from James, the Elder of the early Churches in Jerusalem then, was written to the twelve tribes of his Jewish counterpart scattered among the nations. This Epistle was the first letter ever written in Bible time at around AD48 to AD62, about 15 years after our Lord was glorified and the birth of churches at that Feast of Pentecost.

The Jewish believers then were struggling between putting their faith in the Lord and obeying their Jewish tradition which derived from the Commandments. They were torn between two lovers (Law and Grace), feeling like a fool... It was their transitional period and time then was tough. Because of the fact that, all the Jewish people were equipped with the knowledge of the Mosaic Law from their young age, this Epistle from James was written to encourage them to live out their knowledge through faith by trusting their Messiah, as He had already accomplished the law at the cross. Nevertheless, due to their religious background and that transitional period, this Epistle was somehow, written with legalistic aspect because during that period of time, the message of grace was not yet given as Paul, the Apostle of Grace to the Gentiles was still in Arabia being ministered by the Lord.

I would conclude that James was ministering to his Jewish counterparts with “a bit” of legalism because in Galatians chapter 2, Peter was led to draw back from eating with the Gentiles and separated from them when he heard that certain men came from James were in Antioch. The most obvious evidence of James’ legalism is that, it was not even James himself but certain man from him coming to Antioch that caused Peter to withdrew from Gentiles… If James was not legalistic then, why should Peter, a well known Apostle in the New Testament who ever walked on the water, who ever preached a message that saved three thousands, was afraid of these certain men? I don’t think we need to be a rocket scientist to understand this contradictory situation and we see lots of this happening in a legalistic churches... :)

As Paul saw that many were led astray by Peter’s hypocrisy, the Apostle of Grace to the Gentile, rebuked Peter as he saw him (his act of hypocrisy) not acting in line with the gospel. If you have the revelation from these two examples, you will know that Peter’s testimony was actually the living testimony of what James was saying as faith without work is dead. Peter had witnessed and knew of the Gospel and yet he did not act in line with the gospel. A living example of faith without work is dead! If you don't believe the gospel, you will not have faith. Therefore, how can a dead faith produce good work? It is all hypocrisy!

The problem here is not work, the problem is not faith either. The problem is, Peter did not believed. Believe what...? Believe the gospel...! In John 6:28, people were asking Jesus, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" And Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." Oooh… faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Seeing is one thing, witnessing is another thing; if only Peter would have believed the word of Christ instead of depending on his religious knowledge, faith is just a branch of his right believe and the work, will subsequently be the fruit from that branch of faith!

Wow... there is hope for all of us because even Peter could fail to believe... and the Grace of our Lord is ever super abounding so that one day, yes one day, we all will believe!

Have you been hearing the right message? According to Paul, who wrote two third of the New Testament, our faith is dead if we do not act in line with the Gospel! Are you hearing the message of the Gospel or you have been thinking that the Gospel is only for the Gentiles? Paul was using the Gospel to measure Peter’s faith and Paul said there is no other Gospel but one - the Gospel of Grace!

So, faith without work is dead, but faith without believing the TRUTH is also dead. How can a dead faith produce any good work? It is not what we can work out, it is what we have believed. Please put the cart back before the horse, right believing produces right living. When we believe the right thing (the truth), our faith is right. When our faith is right, our work will be right. When our work is right, our faith is not dead!

So why worry so much about our faith? Do not fear, just believe.... the Gospel of Grace!

What A Quiz...

It was all started with a few of us taking up the quiz in Facebook on "Which Singapore church are you best suited in?" and the result are New Creation Church. All of us were having the same result and I found out that the trick of this quiz is on question # 3: i.e. What else do you do besides attending services? If you don't choose the given answer "I like to listen to Hillsong and DVD sermons", for sure you go other church, like... mmm???

At first it was a happy exchanging of words among close friends then came a friend of Samuel and Jennifer, contributing his comment… Wow… Religious people as what I’ve learn from Pastor Prince's sharing do exist… From his comment, I find it interesting to steer up the religious wave (I usually don’t do this sort of thing) to see how big the wave can go…



Here it goes…

Jennifer: we go 2gether-gether ok?? ;)

Penny: yeah..........

Jennifer: felicia & calvin took the quiz too..hehe! same result.

Felicia: Yoohoo!!!

Xxxx Xxx: hmm... some people say that new creation church preaches health and wealth gospel, a feel-good version of the Truth...

i'm not saying they are wrong or anything, just saying be careful and always exercise discernment, ok. =)

Alan: Jesus heals the sick... that is health. Jesus multiplies 2 fishes and 5 loaves... that is wealth! He is the same yesterday, today and forever... hmm good discernment!!!! Amen!

Felicia: AMEN PASTOR! :D

Xxxx Xxx: Yes, Jesus heals the sick. when He was on earth, He healed every sick person who came to Him - there is no record of Him ever refusing to heal someone.

yet, after He ascended to Heaven, although His disciples continued to heal (and yes, i do believe that the gift of healing is still active in the church today), the incidence of healing was no longer 100%. see how Paul told timothy to take a little wine for his stomach and his frequent illnesses in Timothy 5:23. or see how Epaphroditus was sick and almost died, in Philippians 2:25. why not just heal them, if we were able to heal at all times and in all cases?

so the fact is that, in spite of the purest faith and the most fervent prayers, God does not always heal. we may not understand why one is healed and another is not, but it is something we have to deal with. yet this is a fact that one almost never hears from the lips of those who preach the health and wealth gospel. and yes, God can prosper us if He chooses. Promotion comes from the Lord (Psalm 75:6-7). yet reading Jesus' words, "you cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6:24), and His reply to the rich young ruler, "go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven" (Matthew 19:21) and paul's words in 1 Timothy 6:10, "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil"... all these verses show us that there is something wrong with the kind of gospel that can blithely proclaim that all God wants to do is to bless and prosper you.

God does not want to make us happy - He wants to make us holy. and that means struggle, sacrifice, disappointments, dying to self, and etc. not the hollow promises of health and wealth that some churches peddle.... once again, a disclaimer - i do not say that New Creation Church is one of these. just that this kind of teaching is becoming prevalent among some churches, and we would do well to be careful and practice discernment. =)

Alan: 2 Corinthians 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

Father, whatever promises that he doesn't want, please give to me and I say, " Amen!" to Your glory...

Felicia: I want also.. Amen!

Xxxx Xxx: lol... i do not deny, and neither do i reject, the promises of God. so, alan and felicia, if you're hoping God will give you my "rejected blessings", too bad, they're all mine! =D

but... here's a promise (or is it a warning?) that ties in with what i was trying to say earlier... "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine... Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." - 2 Timothy 4:3-4

one thing that makes the health and wealth gospel so dangerous, is that it's exactly what we want to hear. we must not 'censor out' the difficult, hard, challenging parts of the gospel. ok? =)

Felicia: aww.. shucks.. hehe.. but God's promises for me are sufficient for me and much more. wouldn't mind rejected blessings to come my way.. hehe

Samuel: Xxxx Xxx.... some people say is not good enough...what do you say? What's important is whether you know or not? Why listen to what other people say?

Matthew 16:13-20. Jesus asked his disciples who he is? They replied, 'some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. But Simon Peter answered 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God'.

Let's not argue on what others say... find out for yourself... the bible is simple to understand but really a mystery for some... as the truth is kept a mystery to those that do not appreciate the generosity and abundant grace that comes from the father of lights. Why cast pearls before swines?

Alan: You are reasoning with your mind... discernment is from our heart... Many people tell you here you don't want to listen... It is not what people say, it is what you think... Repent (renewal of our mind) from reasoning than you can discern. What we are doing here is discerning the truth not reasoning the truth. It is not about NCC but it is about Jesus... Grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Samuel: Yup...let's not rob fellow believers of what Christ has so graciously and freely given...it has never been cheap grace but it was the most 'costly' sacrifice- if you can put a value to it, that God has given. It cost Him His Beloved Son. If the greatest miracle (which is salvation) came by us believing in the finish work on the cross, tell me why is it that you need to work out your salvation. It has never been about 'you + Christ=salvation'. The equation in the bible has always been 'Christ+0=salvation'. If you can work out your salvation then there is no need for Christ in the first place. Let's not 'Pharisize' our faith in Christ by complicating it with our self effort. It all begins with pride and not humility to say that you can live a perfect life without sin. No one can but Christ. That's why you need to fully depend on Him and His willingness to bless you out of your socks. There's so much to share but I doubt you will discern what we wish to share with you…Xxxx Xxx.

At least the rich young ruler know that he can never meet God's standard of a perfect life. Jesus wanted him to realize that he can never reach God's standard. Neither can anyone say that he or she can fulfill the 10 commandments fully. You fail in one you fail all ten. And it's your thoughts that count. The Christian way of life, if there is any is an impossible one, that's why you need Christ in us to live His life through you. Let's not get carried away with our self righteousness. It's pride bro... pure pride... Are we now trying like the Galatians who were initially saved by grace trying to fall back on our self efforts to reach God's standards? Rightly discern the old and new covenant bro... and you will not be confused. Do not pour new wine into old wine skins. The root of evil has never been money bro....it's the love of money...How are you gonna bless your neighbor if you yourself cannot even support your own family?

How is it possible for a believer that believes that God will not prosper him to sell all that he possess.

If you believe that God can put sickness on you and make you suffer to teach you a lesson so that you can be tough then you might as well think of your earthly father to be the same. Does it make sense for your dad to decide one fine day to take all your privileges away, send someone to mow you down with a truck, or send someone to rob you and beat you up so that you can learn self discipline and become tougher? Of course not. If your earthly father loves you very much, how much more do you think your Heavenly Father? He did not spare His Son, don't you think He'll will give you much more... and much more...and prosper you and give you health?

Samuel: That's why Paul in Romans wrote this...'And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love. Death can't, and life can't (even life). The angels (even angels) can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the... Read More deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord'. Jesus is really, really good. Let's not take away what he has suffered and paid dearly for on the cross.



Well, what do you say? As for me, I’ll say, ”Preach it Bro… there are still a lot of "unbelieving believers" out there...!"

Lord, Can I Help You...? (Repost)

The people in Sarawak is celebrating Gawai Festivel on 1st and 2nd of June. On the first day of the Gawai celebration, we went to Kampong Chupak, 38 KM from Kuching, to visit my colleague. Kampong Chupak is a beautiful village with beautiful mountain range and Paddy field. On our journey to the kampong, I took a short video clip while I was driving and I want to share it with you... :)

Road to Kampong Chupak

During this holiday, I took my sweet time to read through my own blog again... and I was touched by this blog post and I decided repost it again...


Jim and Edna were both patients in a mental hospital. One day while they were walking pass the hospital’s swimming pool, Jim suddenly jumped into the deep end. He sank to the bottom of the pool and stayed there… Edna promptly jumped in to save him. She swam to the bottom and pulled Jim out.

When the Head Nurse Director became aware of Edna's heroic act, she immediately ordered her to be discharged from the hospital, as she now considered Edna to be mentally stable.

When she went to tell Edna the news, she said,
“Edna, I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is you're being discharged; since you were able to rationally respond to a crisis by jumping in and save the life of another patient, I have concluded that your act displayed sound mindedness… and the bad news is … Jim hung himself in the bathroom with his bathrobe belt right after you saved him. I am so sorry… he’s dead.”

Edna replied,
“He didn't hang himself; I put him there to dry....”
“Can I go home now…?'



This is not a real story; but a secular joke circulating through e mail. Well… have you heard of this joke before? If you had, never mind, my focus is not on the joke but on your reaction after you have heard of it.

Man… I laughed, I even shared with my friends and we laughed… but the Lord intervened by putting a thought in my mind in the midst of our laughter, i.e.…

“The accuser of the Brethren” has his influence over legalism and religious teaching. As such, a legalistic and religious mind is as good as a mind that is “mentally challenged”. Under that sort of religious influence, we ourselves tend to put people to dry without our understanding of the knowledge of God and still we thought we are helping God... and Lord, can I help you, is always our cry...!

It is sad to see that there are many Christian today still labouring to please God through their effort. These are sincere people but they just trying to reach God through their own approach… earn their righteousness through their good deeds and law keeping… without the knowledge of God.

And God by His grace and mercy does not look at us the way we look at Edna. Despite of our “insanity”, He is still faithful and patient to show His love for us, guide us and lead us out of our insanity. This is grace…

I was a victim like Jim in the story who was “put to dry” by legalism and religion. I was dried out totally… Praise God the dew of grace moisturized me and… I see Grace!


"Well, can I go home now...???"

Thorn In The Flesh

What is thorn in the flesh to Apostle Paul? Apostle Paul never said, but he offered one tantalizing clue: “To keep me from getting puffed up, I was given a thorn in my flesh”

2 Corinthians 12:7 ~ And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.

Whatever it was, this thorn indeed humbled him. Many preachers said it was a physical problem, such as recurring malaria or a kind of sickness, since he traveled through some swampy lands. Or perhaps it was epilepsy. Because of this wrong understanding, many believers still believe that the sickness that they have are from God and the purpose is to humble them... But my friend, Apostle Paul was so anointed with divine life that handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him could heal the sicks and cast out evil spirits.

Acts 19:11-15 ~ God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. (One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"

Others think that his thorn was the troublesome Corinthian church he started. The word thorn did not show up anywhere else in the New Testament except in his epistle to the Corinthians. Lets bear in mind that Apostle Paul did not had the New Testament like us. Through his revelation from his Jewish Bible, he wrote two third of the New Testament and this Jewish Bible he used was the Old Testament. There in the Book of Numbers, it describes what the Canaanites would become to the Jewish people – “thorns in your sides”

Numbers 33:55 ~ But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.

So to Paul, thorn in the flesh was not a sickness but a character… As such, do you have thorn in your flesh? Well, I have... and concerning this thing, Apostle Paul pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from him. But the Lord said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."

It is in the Grace of God that a thorn is still call a thorn. Legalism would alienate thorn, throw into the fire and burn. Legalism is contradicting to Paul's revelation on one Body, many parts in this same epistle. Therefore, I want to have the revelation that Apostle Paul had for he chose to boast in his infirmities, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me...

Seek Ye First...

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

What is the Kingdom of God?
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). The Kingdom of God is not natural but supernatural.

Isaiah 55:8~9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts".

God’s ways are higher than our ways. Men use Law to administrate their kingdoms, while God administrates His Kingdom through the riches of His Grace. His Kingdom is a Kingdom of Grace. The riches of His Kingdom was manifested through the Person of Jesus in the midst of a law abiding society. Jesus' disciples were told that if they knew Him, they would know the Father as well. The manifestation of the Father's riches was demonstrated to the fullness at the Cross where the Fountain of Life was lavished as a Gift to this hopeless world.

Yet this rescuing Gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If Adam’s sin put many at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God's Gift poured through one Man, Jesus Christ, will do! For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one Man, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17).

Matthew 6:33 and Romans 5:17 are having the same truth and promises. The only difference is, Matthew 6:33 (seek ye first) is before the Cross while Romans 5:17 (receive the abundant provision) is after the Cross. Before the Cross, you seek. After the Cross you receive! Do you know how this provision was make possible? It was Jesus' Finished Work on the Cross that enable us to benefit from this divine provision. Is this not grace?

Our law keeping bring us no way in the Kingdom of God. There is nothing we can do to earn anything from Him because everything had already been given. If you are still seeking, SEEK first His Kingdom (Grace) and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you. For those who are very much into grace, RECEIVE His abundant provision of Grace and the gift of righteousness and you shall reign in life...