TODAY’S DEVOTION (MONDAY 17th April 2023)
“knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,” 1 Peter 1:18-23 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 107TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS & WONDERS
May the LORD be glorified for the 107 days we have already seen this year. Indeed, it has been filled with God’s amazing deeds.
I do not think we have walked away from the blessings of the year of amazing grace yet, because the blessings of that declaration are still strong as ever before, and are helping us in keeping us fit and safe. The blessings are delivering us from a life of sin, and its consequences.
Yes, the blessings are the reason for the signs and wonders we have seen this year. They have watched over us, fought our battles these 107 days, and granted us victory over our enemies – the flesh, the world and the devil. These daily works of the blessing of God’s amazing grace, has greatly helped us in understanding why God’s throne is a Throne of Grace, not a throne of grave.
You know, grave buries what is dead or alive, but grace brings back to life what is dead, and keep what is alive more alive. Grave swallow destinies but grace unlock destinies. Grave will diminish everything placed in it and reduce it to dust, but grace will increase everything placed in it and make it as beautiful as gold.
That is why if you are in a church under the spirit of grave, your destiny as a holy Child of God cannot be unlocked. You will just be moving from sin to sin and be comfortable about it.
Sadly, majority of us called Christians are trapped in this mess. We move from sin to sin and feel nothing about it. We lie and cheat easily and lead very filthy lives, yet believing we are saved – saved from what? One cannot tell, because until one is saved from a life of sin, one is not saved from eternal judgment. That is what the Bible teaches. Your pastor may teach otherwise!
The fear of God has become extinct in so many hearts. We now fear men more than God and see God as a friend of sin instead of a friend of sinners. Yet, the Bible has no place in it that shows that Jesus was a friend of sin, He was a friend of sinners. There is a difference between being a friend of sinners and a friend of sin.
Jesus was not a friend of sin, because that was what He came to deliver us from – from being friends of sin. The Bible says He was tempted in all points yet without sin. He was a friend of sinners but not their sins. That was why he said to the woman caught in adultery, “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”
Sadly, many of us who claim born again are friends of sins because we are not born of God. You see that in our decisions, life styles and all we do. You see that in our relationship with money, and other mundane things.
MAJORITY ARE BORN OF THE CORRUPTIBLE; WE ARE BORN OF DOCTRINES THAT MAKES US FRIENDS OF SIN.
That is why you find so many of us living with sin, eating in, or with it, priding ourselves in it, getting and staying married in it, preaching while living in it, rejoicing in it, and doing all we do in it, yet we are not bothered of its power to deny us eternal rest with Christ. We build our confidence and assurance of salvation in the sinner’s prayer we recited without denouncing the sinner’s life.
The Bible made it clear that what reduced us to this level of Christianity is the kind of doctrine we have been feeding on as end time Christians.
The missing doctrine in so many local churches today is the doctrine of Christ. That is why the Christ life of righteousness, purity and holiness is absent. I believe if all the doctrines on the lips of preachers are replaced with the doctrine of Christ today, the millions that are on the broad way that leads to eternal damnation will be taken from there and restored to the narrow way that leads to life.
Today we are going to see why many of us are not genuinely saved. Why genuine salvation is not easy to come by. Do not forget we have been looking at the doctrine of Christ on Life. We have seen the doctrine of Christ on natural life, now we are looking at the doctrine of Christ on spiritual life.
Yesterday we said, just as natural life begins with natural heartbeat, so does Spiritual life begin when our spirits (or hearts) begins to beat in God or after God. And that can only happen during the born-again experience. That is why what we are born of is very important, which brings us to our devotional text.
It says;
“knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 1 Peter 2:18-23 NKJV
There is so much in this text, but we will dwell in the main facts that concerns the doctrine of Christ on spiritual life. However, before we come to that, let me share some truths with us.
THE FOUNDATION OF A THING IS WHAT DEFINES ITS STRENGTH AND MOST TIMES LONGEVITY.
There is the principle of foundations that states that how you start a thing is the foundation of that thing. In the same way, how you start your Christian life is the foundation of your Christian life. We call it your spiritual foundation.
The reason why you hear preachers still talk about evil foundation is because most of those they house in their churches are not genuinely saved. They did not start their Christian lives on the right footing hence have no ideal foundation. You cannot be saved and have an evil foundation. We should stop beating about the bush.
Clearly, those who still have evil foundations after salvation did not start their Christian lives on the right foundation; the foundation of the LORD. Hence being troubled by the many evil foundations they were born into.
When a Christian life starts on the right footing, it will have the foundation of the LORD as its foundation. That foundation makes the person’s life a rock that cannot be destroyed by the evil one. The Bible says;
“Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.
And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” Matthew 21:43-44 NKJV
The spiritual foundation that should be laid at the start of our Christian life becomes the fruit of our salvation over time. It becomes a stone that whoever falls on will be broken, and whomever it falls on it will be grinded. That is why your life should not be troubled by what they call evil foundation.
MOST OF WHAT BELIEVERS GO THROUGH HAPPENS BECAUSE THEY DID NOT START THEIR CHRISTIAN LIVES ON THE RIGHT FOOTING.
The power of spiritual foundation that should be formed on the start of our Christian life is not existent in their lives, hence the people becoming victims of unclean spirits. There is no rock in their lives that is functioning as the fruit and strength of their Salvation or a rock of offense, to all that moves against them from the Kingdom of darkness, and sometimes the kingdom of men.
There is no foundation of the LORD in their lives, that whatever comes against them will fall upon and be broken, and whatever they rise against will be grinded. The foundation of the LORD is not the foundation of their Christian lives.
Sadly, if the foundation of the LORD is not the foundation of a Christian life, the life will be characterized by sin, it will not able to depart from iniquity, or maintain fruitful intimacy with God. That is why you find so many who fight evil foundations living lives that are patterned after the mystery of iniquity instead of the mystery of godliness. The Bible says,
“Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” 2 Timothy 2:19 NKJV
If the foundation was formed at the start of your Christianity or if your Christianity has the right spiritual foundation, you will not be able to dwell in anything that is patterned after iniquity. You will not be comfortable in any church that is patterned after iniquity. You will not be comfortable living a life that lacks intimacy with GOD.
You will have no worries about evil foundations.
The truth is, no true Child of God has an evil foundation. If your foundation is still evil after giving your life to Christ, it means you are either deluded or unsaved. If you think you are troubled by an evil foundation, it then means you should check how you got saved. That brings us to a major portion of our devotional text. It says;
“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,”
THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF BORN AGAIN WE CAN FIND IN THIS SCRIPTURE!
The first is the born again that results from the corruptible word of GOD. The other is a born again that comes out of our encounter with God through the incorruptible word of GOD. If your born again is as a result of the corruptible word, it will not have the foundation of the LORD, hence you will be having problems with what they call evil foundations.
But if it is as a result of the incorruptible word, it will have the foundation of the LORD in it. The corruptible word is a product of false doctrines, doctrines of demons and man-made doctrines. The incorruptible word is a product of the doctrine of Christ.
Genuine salvation, is a child of the doctrine of Christ.
The foundation of the LORD is laid in our lives, only when we have the salvation encounter that comes through the doctrine of Christ, because there are encounters with another Christ (the spirit of the antichrist) that come through other doctrines that people take for salvation encounters.
Such encounters will never lay the foundation of the LORD in anyone’s life. It will leave them at the mercy of evil foundations. That brings us to the subject of the doctrine of Christ on Spiritual life – a life that begins only when our hearts or spirits come alive in God. Until we are born of the incorruptible word, we cannot come alive in God.
The doctrine of Christ is the incorruptible word that is designed to help us get and stay genuinely saved. Any other doctrine, cannot get or keep anyone genuinely saved. They may help you start what looks like a Christian life, but your spirit will never be alive unto God (and His righteousness).
Hence, living in the filthiness of the flesh, like lying, sexual perversion, or the filthiness of the spirit like hate and unforgiveness, will be natural to you. You will not see anything wrong with it once your passions are stirred.
We must understand that a Christian life that started without the human spirit coming alive in God is not a Christian life on the right footing. It will end up in hell fire, because it will lack the foundation of the LORD that makes a man or woman Heaven worthy. The person will not live a life that is different from those who are unsaved outside there. The only difference will be Church attendance.
I believe enough has been shared to reflect upon this morning. As we bring this to a close, it is important to understand that it is very dangerous to yield your spirit to false, demonic or man-made doctrines. Your spirit will never come alive in God if you do that.
It is very dangerous to go after teachings that are not helping anyone to genuinely get and stay saved. There are teachings that do that. Some make people prayerful but unsaved. They are the worst teachings in my opinion, because they give them an assurance of a salvation they do not have. They make people who are unsaved, engage in fasting and prayers, asking God to kill their enemies, or get them some deliverance and etc.
It is pitiable to find precious lost souls who think they are saved, praying that God should kill their enemies or stop whatever is hindering their marriages and etc. May God help our generation of Christians, come to Christ indeed, instead of wallow in this kind of delusions.
MAKE THIS SCRIPTURE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY!
“Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.
Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.
Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” 2 Timothy 2:19-26 NKJV