GRACE, FAITH, JESUS CHRIST. Whatever you add to this, nullifies all three and makes salvation and eternal life a REWARD and not a FREE GIFT from God that it is.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10)
Only the saved, saints or believers can be BAPTISED, FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT, PREACH THE GOSPEL AND WORSHIP GOD IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. We’re initiating disunity, discord and segregation, tearing down God’s precious family when we fight over the methods of water baptism, Holy Spirit baptism, methods and credentials for evangelism and days to worship God. We’re selfishly concerned more about protecting our personal doctrinal preferences and denominational beliefs than preserving the unity of God’s family. Now, God doesn’t like that at all and no good parents will.
Discussing or addressing our differences in the spirit of love, harmony and Christ-likeness AS BELIEVERS is more important than determining who’s right or wrong.
We must never underrate God’s people or create disharmony in God’s family unit – THE CHURCH, irrespective of our diverse, countless gifts, callings or denominations. That’s being spiritually mature.
Within our biological families, we do have differences, but the spirit of love and maturity helps us set our differences aside or make them secondary in order to focus on what binds us together, THE FAMILY BLOOD AND BOND!
We’re saved from our sins, translated from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ by the BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST shed on the cross for mankind and our faith in His death and resurrection.
Jesus Christ is the payment for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2.)
In Christ Jesus we have redemption through his blood, the remission or forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7,8)
For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver or any physical thing or activity. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:18,19)
Water or Holy Spirit baptism wouldn’t CLEANSE OR SAVE ANYONE, neither would evangelism or the days or places we worship God, otherwise Jesus Christ suffered, bled and died in vain. ONLY BELIEVERS, THE SAINTS, OR THOSE ALREADY SAVED, COULD OR SHOULD BE WATER AND HOLY SPIRIT BAPTISED, EVANGELISE AND WORSHIP GOD IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH.
And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son Jesus Christ. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have eternal life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life (1 John 5:11-13)
The gift of righteousness and eternal life is all in Jesus Christ and no one or nothing else, because it was Jesus Christ ALONE who, for our sins and redemption, suffered, bled and died, and was resurrected for our justification. Water baptism, Holy Spirit baptism, evangelism or Sabbath day or Sunday worship did not suffer unjustly, bleed and die to redeem us and translate us into God’s Kingdom. If any of them could save us, then, we could take anyone from the street and get them baptised, teach them to speak in other tongues, teach and persuade them to evangelise and drag them to Church on Saturday or Sunday and declare them saved. But no one can get saved that way, otherwise the death of Jesus Christ was totally in vain!
The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. [UNBELIEF]. Righteousness is available because I go to the Father and you will see me no more. [Having suffered unjustly, died and resurrected to redeem you back to God and you believe in me.] (John 16:9, 10)
Ultimately, only one sin takes people to hell and that’s UNBELIEF IN JESUS CHRIST. And it’s only FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST that delivers people from hell and gives eternal life.
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised His from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved (Romans 10:9, 10)
Whoever had received and confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, HAS HIM, and is saved and is your brother or sister in Christ, IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR DENOMINATION. Please, endeavour to love, tolerate and fellowship with them. (Even if you don’t fellowship with them now, eventually, you will when we get to Heaven). You have a BLOOD COVENANT relationship and SPIRITUAL BOND with them. Be slow to criticise, but willing and quick to intercede for them regularly. If there is any area you disagree doctrinally, we don’t condemn believers to hell because of that. If we do, it show we don’t know and can’t comprehend the reality, importance and magnitude of the sacrificial death, the blood and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!
The shed blood of Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection gave us eternal life, made us citizens of Heaven and members of God’s UNITED AND STRONG family, and also called the body of Jesus Christ. That’s the main and major thing. LET’S NOT MAJOR ON THE MINOR OR SECONDARY, fighting over them. LET’S BE UNITED AS GOD’S FAMILY AND SHOW THE WORLD THE LOVE OF GOD. Since God is love, nothing less should be expected of us, but a reflection of that wilful, sacrificial and unconditional love, AGAPE LOVE, the God-kind of love.
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST PRAYS FOR US!
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one–as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. And the glory which you gave me, I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one (John 17:21, 22)
THAT THEY MAY BE ONE EVEN AS WE ARE ONE! That’s absolute unity.
Hallelujah!
By Apostle Steve Adonai
Steve is married and lives in Illinois, USA. He is the Founder/President of Global Stamina Inc-PUSH Worldwide. He has visited countless ministries and denominations in Nigeria, Ghana and the USA. He liaises with ministers to enhance the unity of the Church, emphasising on the urgency to get sinners saved, saints edified, trained and deployed as ministers who demonstrate signs, wonders and God’s miracles to this hungry, depraved and lost world that’s eagerly awaiting the manifestation of the sons and daughters of God. His page on Facebook is https://bit.ly/37DMpY9
