TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

^11-12 The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: “The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that’s the real life.” Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: “The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them.”{Galatians 3:11-12 MSG}

The only possibility of having a true relationship with God is via faith in Christ Jesus. No man can sustain a satisfying relationship with God the father by keeping a list of rules. Without faith it is impossible to please God. 

Our fathers of old and the heroes of faith had true relationships with God but it wasn’t based on the number of commandments they could keep. In fact the majority of them had a lot of short comings. God overlooked their faults and took into account only their faith to put them right with Himself. He justified them simply by their faith.

 I am now going to discuss the faith and faults of some of these heroes and explain how God related with them. You must not forget that the ultimate sacrifice that will take away sins forever had not been paid as at then. If these Heroes were accepted when Christ had not died, I wonder if we will not be more accepted now that He has paid the price for sin.

To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. ² It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God's approval.

³ It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God's word, so that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.

⁴ It was faith that made Abel offer to God a better sacrifice than Cain's. Through his faith he won God's approval as a righteous man, because God himself approved of his gifts. By means of his faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

⁵ It was faith that kept Enoch from dying. Instead, he was taken up to God, and nobody could find him, because God had taken him up. The scripture says that before Enoch was taken up, he had pleased God. ⁶ No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him. {Hebrews 11:1-5 GNT}

How did the people of ancient times win God’s approval? The answer is right there in verse 2. It didn’t say they won God’s approval by keeping commandments. In fact there were no ten commandments as at that time. The commandments came during the time of Moses. 

They simply were declared righteous by their faith. God approved of them and accepted them by their faith. They had true relationships with God by faith.

Let’s start our discussion from our patriarch Abraham, a name that every Christian, Jew and Muslim knows very well. The father of many nations and the source of the three major religions of the world, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. This man was so blessed that God had to extend his blessings to the gentiles via faith in Christ Jesus. The bible stated that whoever will have faith like Abraham will be as blessed as Abraham was.

^9-10 So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: “Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law. {Galatians 3:9-10 MSG}

What shall we say, then, of Abraham, the father of our race? What was his experience? ² If he was put right with God by the things he did, he would have something to boast about—but not in God's sight. ³ The scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and because of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” ⁴ A person who works is paid wages, but they are not regarded as a gift; they are something that has been earned.  ⁵ But those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who believe in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself. 

⁶ This is what David meant when he spoke of the happiness of the person whom God accepts as righteous, apart from anything that person does:

⁷ “Happy are those whose wrongs are forgiven,
    whose sins are pardoned!
⁸ Happy is the person whose sins the Lord will not keep account of!”

{Romans 4:1-8 GNT}

^13-14 Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God’s life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it. {Galatians 3:13-14 MSG}

You see my dear friends, Abraham became father of nations by faith. He trusted in what God can do for him not in what he can do for God. He accepted what God arranged for him and so God accepted him. The bible states that Abraham believed God and it was accounted as righteousness. That belief is what has made him so blessed that the blessings could even extend to uncountable generations after him.

Does it mean Abraham didn’t have any faults, was he completely without sin? If he had any sin, how come God didn’t take his sins into account in the New Testament? Let’s check the scriptures for answers.

^1-2 Sarai, Abram’s wife, hadn’t yet produced a child.

She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, “God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her.” Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.

^3-4 So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took her Egyptian maid Hagar and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife. Abram had been living ten years in Canaan when this took place. He slept with Hagar and she got pregnant. When Hagar learned she was pregnant, she looked down on her mistress.{Genesis 16:1-4 MSG}

First offence by Abraham was that he slept with Sarai’s maid, Hagar. If you decide to say that Sarah gave Hagar as a wife to Abraham, then we can say Abraham married more than one wives and besides I doubt if he paid her bride price.

Secondly Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister. And even Sarah agreed to lie alongside.

^1-2 Abraham traveled from there south to the Negev and settled down between Kadesh and Shur. While he was camping in Gerar, Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She’s my sister.”

^2-3 So Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent for Sarah and took her. But God came to Abimelech in a dream that night and told him, “You’re as good as dead—that woman you took, she’s a married woman.”

^4-5 Now Abimelech had not yet slept with her, hadn’t so much as touched her. He said, “Master, would you kill an innocent man? Didn’t he tell me, ‘She’s my sister’? And didn’t she herself say, ‘He’s my brother’? I had no idea I was doing anything wrong when I did this.”

^6-7 God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know your intentions were pure, that’s why I kept you from sinning against me; I was the one who kept you from going to bed with her. So now give the man’s wife back to him. He’s a prophet and will pray for you—pray for your life. If you don’t give her back, know that it’s certain death both for you and everyone in your family.”{Genesis 20:1-7 MSG}

Wait a minute! God, did you just call a liar a prophet? You see, God even asked someone who just lied to pray for a king. Not only that, He also intervened to prevent Abimelech from sleeping with Sarah. Even in their lies, God intervened to rescue them.

It is through the seed of such a man as Abraham that God said the whole earth will be redeemed back to Himself. The nations of the earth shall be blessed through the seed of Abraham “God said in thy seed shall the nations of the earth be blessed”.

¹⁵ And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

¹⁶ And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

¹⁷ That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

¹⁸ And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. {Genesis 22:15-18}

How can God swear by Himself to bless a man who had such faults? God didn’t even record what he did as sins. Just the single act of obedience by faith cancelled all of Abraham’s wrongdoings. He enjoyed a true relationship with God because of his faith. 

Therefore you must know that all that God requires of you is a true relationship by faith. You can’t win God’s favor by keeping the laws, only by faith in Christ Jesus.

Again let’s look at our mother Sarah. Don’t forget that she agreed to lie that she was Abraham’s sister. She lied again by denying she laughed when the messengers of God brought the good news that she would be pregnant and give birth to Isaac. Besides these two lies, she also doubted God but surprisingly her name appeared among the heroes of faith in the book of Hebrews.

 ⁹ Then they asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?”

“She is there in the tent,” he answered.

¹⁰ One of them said, “Nine months from now^[a] I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods. 

 ¹² So Sarah laughed to herself and said, “Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too.”

¹³ Then the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really have a child when I am so old?’ ¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the Lord? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

¹⁵ Because Sarah was afraid, she denied it. “I didn't laugh,” she said.

“Yes, you did,” he replied. “You laughed.”{Genesis 18:9-15 GNT}

Why will God call such a woman who lied and doubted Him a hero of faith? My answer is this: true relationship. All that God wants is a true relationship. He pardons iniquities once there is a true relationship. The same Sarah was called the mother of us all and she was compared to the heavenly Jerusalem.

²⁴ These things can be understood as a figure: the two women represent two covenants. The one whose children are born in slavery is Hagar, and she represents the covenant made at Mount Sinai. ²⁵ Hagar, who stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, is^[b] a figure of the present city of Jerusalem, in slavery with all its people.  

²⁶ But the heavenly Jerusalem is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷ For the scripture says,

“Be happy, you childless woman!
    Shout and cry with joy, you who never felt the pains of childbirth!
For the woman who was deserted will have more children
    than the woman whose husband never left her.”{Galatians 4:24-27}

Would you have ever thought that a woman who lied twice and doubted God will become the mother of many nations? Is it not shocking to know that she is also a hero of faith according to God’s judgement?

 God just wants a relationship with us. He is not so much as interested in our rule keeping as much as He wants our relationship.

DEPEND ON FAITH TODAY AND ENJOY A TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE

THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE

                  THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE

²² That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

²³ And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

²⁴ And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. {Ephesians 4:22-24}

We must bury the old self and put on the new Spiritual life. True holiness and righteousness comes with this new life. It is the very nature of God the Father. We are truly God’s children if we allow the Spirit lead us. The Spirit joins Himself with our spirit and declares that we are God’s children. The Spirit doesn’t make us fear in bondage as the old Law of Moses did to us. Instead the Spirit has adopted us into God’s family and now we can call God “Daddy! Papa!” with every boldness we have. This means that we are Heirs of God and we have an unbelievable inheritance. Everything God gives as treasure to Jesus Christ belongs to us also.

 All of these is possible thanks to the new law of freedom. This new law is not written in tablets of stones neither is it written in letters but it is written in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. It is the law of the Spirit of life. It gives life unlike the law of sin and death which gives death.

⁴ And we have such trust through Christ toward God. ⁵ Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, ⁶ who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit;^[a] for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.{ 2Corinthians 3:4-6}

This new law came with the new covenant and it has nothing to do with our self-abilities. It is simply based on God’s sufficiency in us. The Spirit of God in us gives us life because He enables us to obey this new law of freedom. The laws are now written in our hearts no longer on tablets of stones.

¹⁵ And the Holy Spirit also gives us his witness. First he says,

¹⁶ “This is the covenant that I will make with them
    in the days to come, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts    and write them on their minds.”

¹⁷ And then he says, “I will not remember their sins and evil deeds any longer.”¹⁸ So when these have been forgiven, an offering to take away sins is no longer needed.{Hebrews 10:15-17 GNT}

In this new law of freedom that came with the new covenant, sins are no longer remembered because they are forgiven. Christ was the offering needed to take away sins. No other sacrifice is required than to accept Jesus Christ as the propitiation for our sins. This new law of the new covenant far exceeds the law of sin and death of the old covenant in glory. You can read more about the new covenant in my book titled “NOT GUILTY”

⁷ But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, ⁸ how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? ⁹ For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. ¹⁰ For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. ¹¹ For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. {2Corinthians 3:7-11}

The old law of sin and death engraved in stones was called the ministry of death. It’s a pity that most minsters today are still ministering death to their congregation by emphasizing so much on the laws of Moses. I call such ministers “Ministers of death”. The real ministers of God are those who feed their members with the ministry of the Spirit and emphasize the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

The ministry of the old Law of Moses is the ministry of condemnation but the new law of freedom is the ministry of righteousness. The old covenant has passed away with its rituals and death sentences. Do not stay in a place where all you hear your pastor preach every day is condemnation. You may as well be trying to revive that which Christ already did away with. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to them that believe. Stay under the ministry of righteousness and you will have life.

There is no condemnation now for those who live in union with Christ Jesus.² For the law of the Spirit, which brings us life in union with Christ Jesus, has set me^[a] free from the law of sin and death.{Romans 8:1-2 GNT}

 There is therefore now no condemnation for you because you have been set free from the law of sin and death by the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, the law of freedom, the law of righteousness. It is written in your heart. Listen to the Holy Spirit who resides on your inside and He will help you fulfil God’s will.  

Jesus has given us a new commandment before He left and that law is based on love. The laws of Moses are all fulfilled in that law. Herein is that law:

³⁴ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

³⁵ By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.{John 13:34-35}

¹⁴ For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”{Galatians 5:14 ESV}

²¹ And so, my dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have courage in God's presence. ²² We receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ What he commands is that we believe in his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as Christ commanded us. ²⁴ Those who obey God's commands live in union with God and God lives in union with them. And because of the Spirit that God has given us we know that God lives in union with us. {1John 3:21-24 GNT}

The only thing that is required of us now is to have faith in Christ, love God and love our neighbour as ourselves. We can’t say we love God if we don’t love our neighbours. We must come into a true love relationship with God. A real bride and groom kind of relationship. We must love God with the whole of our hearts minds and souls. This love relationship with Christ will then reflect in how we love our neighbours. You can read more on how to enjoy this love relationship with Christ in my book “THE BRIDE OF CHRIST”.

Truly the greatest commandment is to love God and love man. Once this is achieved, every other commandment is automatically fulfilled

One of them, a lawyer, spoke up: ³⁶ “Sir, which is the most important command in the laws of Moses?”

³⁷ Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’^38-39 This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: ‘Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets stem from these two laws and are fulfilled if you obey them. Keep only these and you will find that you are obeying all the others.”{Matthew 22:35-40 TLB}

 The irony of it is that most churches are trying to obey all the other commandments and religious rituals but fail to obey the most important law of love and faith. Jesus said “keep only these and you will find that you have kept all others”. Isn't it simple enough? The broad way involving so many rules and rituals have been made narrow into just one law of faith and love yet many still prefer the broad way. Jesus said only a few find the narrow way that leads to life. Christ is the only way. Faith in him and love for him and others is the way that leads to life. Chasing after many rules and religious rituals is the way of destruction, the way of sin and death. Only by faith shall the righteous ones live.

 

To be able to love the lord your God and your neighbours, you need the Holy Ghost to help you.

He is the one who helps us come into a true love relationship with God and man. He teaches us how to relate with people from a pure heart of love. He distributes God’s love in our hearts.

⁵ This hope does not disappoint us, for God has poured out his love into our hearts by means of the Holy Spirit, who is God's gift to us.{Romans 5:5 GNT}

The Holy Spirit also produces fruit in us which helps us relate with our neighbours and live a pure and holy love lives. The first on the list is love and the others follow but you will notice that when the Holy Spirit produces His fruit in us, there is no longer conflict with the laws of Moses.

²² But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.{Galatians 5:22-23 GNT}

To round off this article I would like to reiterate that we now live by a new law of freedom. We have no business with the law of sin and death anymore. Keeping a list of rules no longer makes any meaning before God. What matters now is something far more than that, something more glorious and it is called the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus and it is written in our hearts. To be able to walk by this new law, we must have faith in Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Ghost implant His love in our hearts. We must not seek the laws of Moses. God is not as interested in our rule keeping as much as He is interested in our love relationship with Him. If we love Him enough, we would find ourselves naturally obeying His commandment to love our neighbours and whatever His Spirit tells us to do we would do easily. We must therefore seek for a satisfying relationship with God through the Spirit.

Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love. {Galatians 5:5-6 MSG}

⁵ But we by the help of the Holy Spirit are counting on Christ’s death to clear away our sins and make us right with God. ⁶ And we to whom Christ has given eternal life don’t need to worry about whether we have been circumcised or not, or whether we are obeying the Jewish ceremonies or not; for all we need is faith working through love. {Galatians 5:5-6 TLB}

¹⁸ When you are guided by the Holy Spirit, you need no longer force yourself to obey Jewish laws.{Galatians 5:18 TLB}

Spirit controlled men through faith and love please God. Carnal men try to please God by keeping religious laws and rituals. However, without faith it is impossible to please God.

 I repeat, Chasing after many rules and religious rituals is the way of destruction. The way of sin and death. Only by faith shall the righteous ones live. Through faith in Christ Jesus and Love for God we fulfil the law of the spirit of life.

He is love, He is life and he is the author and the finisher of our faith. Chase God, Chase faith, chase love. When all is said and done only three things will count: FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE.

¹³ There are three things that remain—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love {1Corinthians 13:13 TLB}

 ⁸ But let us who live in the light keep sober, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the happy hope of salvation.

⁹ For God has not chosen to pour out his anger upon us but to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ; {1Thessalonians 5:8-9 TLB}

Once you obey this new law of faith and love, you have hope of salvation. You expect the rapture with joy knowing that your salvation is secured in Christ. For Christ in you is the hope of glory. His return is at hand and when he comes will he find faith on earth?

KEEP THE FAITH! KEEP THE HOPE! KEEP THE LOVE!

GOD BLESS YOU.