Salvation: A Journey of Humility and Self-awareness

Humility is self-awareness,awareness of our fallibility, awareness of our human proclivities and our need for salvation.And salvation embodies a profound understanding of the human condition and our inherent struggles. It acknowledges that as humans, we often find ourselves trapped in patterns of self-destructive behaviour, misguided desires, and harmful tendencies. Whether it be our tendency toward selfishness, pride, greed, and the likes.

Recognising the need for salvation begins with humility, a humble acknowledgment that we are not perfect beings and that we are susceptible to making mistakes. It is through this humility that we become aware of the limitations of our own efforts and the realisation that we cannot overcome these challenges alone. Hence, the need to turn to a higher power, acknowledging that there is a greater source of wisdom, strength, and love beyond ourselves. God possesses the ability to truly save and transform us.

It is not enough to simply acknowledge our need for salvation; we must also actively respond to it. This response involves obedience to the teachings and commandments of God.

You see, when we obey, we surrender our wills to the authority to whom we obey, we recognise our place before this authority and very importantly we recognise the authority’s ability to provide righteous guidance. Whether we yield to our own selves by being our own supreme authority or whether we yield to our God, is a choice that we have to make every day of our lives. The fascinating thing is this, obeying God is to our own advantage. Because it helps our course to win the battle of life, it sets us up to be able to live peaceably with all men, it eradicates envy from our lives, it breeds joy, peace, understanding, empathy and all other virtues. 

To obey God, we must follow his guiding principles and procedures or should I say standard operating procedure. And that can be found in the bible, which provides a guide to life, a guide for character reformation and character building, a guide to social interaction and family life.

The perfect case for one who obeyed God and the consequences of that obedience is Jesus Christ. We see in Jesus Christ one who surrendered his will and obeyed God to the point of death. One might think that because he died in this context, that that is a negative consequence of obedience. But it is not; you see, all humans will die, but how we die matters, what we do before we die matters. Death on the cross for Jesus was the will of God for him, it was difficult, grueling, shameful, it was extremely painful to go through that, but it was already written and agreed for that to happen in order to bring about a once and for all sacrifice for sins and a path to salvation for mankind. See what the bible says about Jesus’ humility and obedience:

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:8 – 11

As a consequence of his obedience, Jesus Christ inherited a name that is above every name, a name that all powers in heaven and on earth are subject to; he was crowned with glory; therefore serving as an example unto us today. Oh that we may be humble ourselves so that we can truly yield our hearts to God being aware of our frailty and fallibility, that God may use us to the glory of his name. Because, the process of salvation is a journey of self-awareness, humility, surrender, and obedience. It is a recognition that we cannot save ourselves solely through our own efforts, but rather through a partnership with a higher power. By embracing this partnership and allowing the divine influence to guide us, we can transcend our inherent human tendencies and live a life that reflects the qualities of goodness, righteousness, and love.

Trust in God

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

Proverbs 3:5

Trusting God can be very easy in seasons of plenty but challenging during difficult times.When we face challenges or when things don’t go according to plan, our level of trust and confidence in God is put to the test. Little wonder the wise one needed to remind us that trust is essential if we want to live a fulfilling and meaningful life. Trusting in God means putting our faith in Him completely. It means acknowledging that we don’t have all the answers and that we need His help to navigate through life’s challenges. When we trust in God, we are surrendering control over our lives to Him, knowing that He will guide us towards what is best for us. He always knows what is best for us, God is our best driver of our destiny but as humans with human tendencies, sometimes we may want to exercise our control or free will to choose that which we believe is best for us. Letting go of our control over our lives can be quite challenging and difficult and that is when we ‘lean on our own understanding’.

But the wise one, warns against leaning on our own understanding, against relying solely on our own knowledge or experience instead of seeking wisdom from God. Often, when faced with difficult decisions or situations, it’s tempting to rely on our own intuition or logic rather than seeking guidance from above. Relying solely on ourselves can lead us astray. Our human understanding is limited and flawed; only God has perfect knowledge and wisdom. Therefore, if we truly want to make wise decisions and live a purposeful life, it’s essential that we seek His guidance above all else.

Trusting God should be with all our hearts. The heart represents not only our emotions but also our innermost desires and motivations. Trusting in God with all our hearts means committing ourselves fully to Him – not just intellectually but also emotionally. When we truly trust in God with all our hearts, there’s no room for doubt or fear. We know that He will always guide us towards what is best for us, even when it’s difficult or uncomfortable. This kind of trust requires vulnerability and surrender, but it also brings great rewards – peace, joy, and a sense of purpose.

Trusting in God is not just a one-time decision; it’s a daily choice. Each day presents new challenges and opportunities to either trust in God or rely on our own understanding. Therefore, we must make the conscious effort to choose trust every day. This means spending time with God through prayer and reading His Word. It means seeking wisdom from Him before making decisions instead of relying solely on our own understanding. It means choosing to see the world through His eyes rather than our own limited perspective.

Hence we ought to surrender control over our lives to God completely and seek His guidance above all else. Therefore let us make the daily choice to put our faith in Him completely so that we can experience the fullness of life He has planned for us.

God Has Kept All His Promises as Another Year Ends

The year 2022 is about to draw to a close and it is a time to take stock of our journey so far. One certainty about the year 2022 is that God has been faithful, he has kept to all his promises to his people. He remains unfettered about keeping future promises. The days will come and go, the years will come and go but what remains constant is God’s faithfulness. His promises to never leave nor forsake his children was fulfilled, his promises to make all things abound towards his generous children was fulfilled, his promise to provide for his children was fulfilled. All his promises for his people were fulfilled. It is important that we recognise this, irrespective of the challenges we may have gone through.

It may have been a difficult year for some people in certain respects; they may have been ups and downs. But in all of that the bible teaches us to be thankful. So, it is time to rejoice in the Lord given his mercies. If he was not merciful over the past year, it could have been worse for us. But God was merciful, he was faithful, he was just and he kept his promises. He held the world in place irrespective of the global inflationary manifestations. So, whatever the situation today, be thankful for seeing the last day of the year in anticipation of a great year.

We ought to also look into the new year with faith, knowing that the Lord who started his work in us is faithful to complete his work in us. We should look forward with faith expecting the best, we should look forward with hope to give in our best in service of our God. We should look forward to a closer walk with our maker. We should take practical steps to make that closer walk happen. We should be prepared to give our all for our maker. We should be willing to tell others about his faithfulness, about his grace, about his person. There are hopes and aspirations for the new year, and we will do well to place those hopes and aspirations at the feet of the cross and trust that in his time, he will bring them to pass according to his riches in glory.

So, as 2023 beckons, be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Happy New Year.

God Legislated for our Weaknesses on the Cross

On the cross where Jesus died, every kind of emotion was evident. Negative emotions like, fear, shame, anger, apathy, guilt. Physical pain and agony were also obvious. Those who believed in Jesus Christ were fearful that the one in whom they had put their faith in was dying. The one who healed them of their infirmities, the one who rescued them from death, the one who gave them food when there were hungry and perhaps most importantly, the one who taught them the word of God hung seemingly helpless and defeated on the cross. Or so they thought? What could they do? If they had their way, such shame should not be meted upon the son of God. To some people on that day, hope in a better future and life with Christ among them, became hopelessness. For others, what they gained from knowing Christ and what they could potentially get by having him around was taken away on the cruel cross. The cross was indeed a place of seemingly shattered dreams. For the betrayer, who perhaps thought that Christ will evade arrest given all the power that he had, surely, they could never kill him…. but kill him they did. He could not live with himself for being the one to betray his master, saw defeat, hopelessness and helplessness and went ahead to hang himself.

Despite all the negative emotions that the was experienced by the different characters present on that day, there were positive emotions, although most of the positive emotions were to be experienced three days after, when the tomb could not keep the Christ.

To some others like the Jews, their nightmare was over, the one who wreaked havoc on their belief system was finally being taken away for good; they were joyous, content and fulfilled that they won, their belief system was going to be intact, or so they thought on that day.

From the saviour’s perspective, on the day of crucifixion, he exhaled and said that it is finished, yes, it was painful but, he had fulfilled his mission on earth by going to the cross. That was a huge positive on that day, he experienced the joy, satisfaction, contentment, delight in fulfilling the prophecies that were written about him and keeping to the word which he said earlier to his disciples, that the son of man must die as it was written by the prophets and that he will rise again on the third day.

Most of the positive emotions were experienced three days after the resurrection, joy that the death could not keep him down – alas, victory over death had been achieved. The entire human experience had been reshaped, history re-written; the world will never remain the same since that day. The enmity between the creator and the created, caused by sin had been put to rest. Those who where hitherto separated from God had been brought into harmony and union, one with God. Access to God just became easier, sin no longer had the power it had over humanity, it was now conquered once and for all. Grace was purchased in abundance. Abundant life, abundant grace, abundant blessings, goodness, and mercies all multiplied.

On that day, God through his son had legislated for human weakness because while we were yet sinners, Christ died for our sins. Mercy triumphed over judgement as Christ became the sin offering – he essential was judged so that you and I may not be judged but receive mercy as a substitute. He indeed became the substitute for every sin that would ever be committed through the ages to follow, which is enormous.  He became sin itself, so that the weakness in humans, the natural propensity for sin might be overcome through ‘mere faith’ in him. Mere faith because, it is easier to believe for one’s remission of sin than to pay the price for sin, which no human can adequately pay. Sin is our weakness and God legislated for it on the cross and in place of it, provided strength that is not our own, so that we cannot boast in ourselves but reference the cross for such strength. So, when we are weak, we may remember to say that we are strong, when we are sick, we may remember to say that we are healed; when we are poor, we may be able to say that we are rich, because of what Christ did over 2000 years ago.

God makes all things beautiful in their time

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from the beginning to the end.

– Ecclesiastes 3:11

In designing everything, God made sure that each work of his creation is beautiful for its time and purpose. When he had finished creating everything, he looked back and admired his work that he had carefully crafted. The psalmist said, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”, we all are. Another beautiful observation may be seen in the gospel of Matthew 6 when the scripture talks about adornment; that Solomon in all his glory was not adorned as beautifully as the lilies in the valley. Oh, how interesting! So that means that among the characters in the bible at that time, no one was comparable to Solomon in terms of a sense of fashion, adornment; that is perhaps one aspect of Solomon’s life that is not talked about much!!! Little wonder people trooped to his palace to admire not just his wisdom but to also see him in his full glory. Yet, the lilies are much more beautiful in comparison to Solomon’s glory, wow!

So, then, if God makes all things beautiful in its own time. This also lends credence to there being a time for everything or shall we say a ‘right’ time for everything. In the right moments in time, things that seem dull or seem inconceivable become inevitably beautiful. And we know the one who never misses a tick of time. We know the one who was before the beginning of time and will be there until the very end. We know that he is a master planner who is perfect in his timing of events and can never get any of it wrong. Ever noticed that when the time is not yet right for a thing, things may not seem very beautiful or great but at the right time, things just tend to align themselves well.

God does make everything beautiful in its time. But his right time may not be our right time most often and hence why we get frustrated when things or life does not seem to go the way we want or move as smoothly as we would want or even at the kind of pace that we hope for. In the end, one thing is certain, in God’s time all things are made beautiful and dare we say perfect. And what lesson is there for us to learn of our God? Well, trusting his timing for all aspects of our lives and needs. Trusting that he will meet all our needs according to his riches in glory, in his time of course.

He Promised ALL Things

In 2 Pet 1:3, the apostle Peter spoke of the divine power of God having given us ALL things that pertain to life and godliness. The apostle Paul echoed a similar message in his writing to the Romans in chapter 8 verse 32. He said that if God did not spare his own Son but gave him up to die for us, that he will also through his son give us ALL things. Little wonder Paul himself proclaimed that he could do ALL things through Christ who strengthens him when he wrote to the Philippians.

The keyword throughout these statements is ALL. Not some, not many, not few but ALL things are promised. That is a precious promise of a never-failing God. One who would rather see the earth come to an end to avoid the unfulfillment of his word; and yes, he is that serious. He is the one that is reliable, capable and specialises in the impossible.

Despite ALL these promises, it can sometimes become difficult to appropriate the blessings to ourselves.  And that happens mostly because we do not possess the prerequisite for receiving the promise – faith.

One element within these promises that is important to note is that all these promises are to be experienced through the knowledge of the word of God. Because faith comes through the knowledge of God. When we build our faith to the point of taking God by his words even when our present physical experiences or circumstances do not align with the word of God, then we start our journey towards receiving the blessings that come with the promises.

The fact that God makes his promises with a very strong and certain language without mincing words or trying to give caveats is really interesting. When he says he has given us everything we need for life and godliness, do we believe it when our situations are not aligning or when we are not seeing physical evidence to support that assertion? What about when he talks about giving us everything? Does he really mean it? What does everything or ALL things really mean? What does it include? Is it just eternal life? What about material things?

You see, we can discuss all the what abouts or what-ifs. It won’t change the fact that those certain statements of promises were made. To experience them, we need to reflect on our lives and our ways to make sure that we are in tune with God, to ensure that we are obedient to his words and that we are seeking him with all our hearts. Because whoever seeks God with all their hearts will find him. Instead of asking the what abouts or what-ifs, we should be looking inward and surrendering ourselves to him, to allow him to use us, to allow him to direct and guide us through his words. When we do this, we will be well on our way to enjoying the blessings of the promises.

Christ, whose glory fills the skies!

Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true, the only light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise!
Triumph o’er the shades of night;
Day-spring from on high, be near!
Day-star, in my heart appear!

Dark and cheerless is the morn,
If Thy life is hid from me;
Joyless is the day’s return,
Till Thy mercy’s beams I see;
Till they inward light impart,
Warmth and gladness to my heart.

Visit, then, this soul of mine;
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, radiant Sun divine;
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more Thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.

CHARLES WESLEY (1707-1788)

O Jesus, King most wonderful

O Jesus, King most wonderful,

The conqueror renowned,

Your Sweetness most ineffable,

In whom all joys are found!

When once You visit the heart,

Then truth begins to shine,

Then earthly vanities depart,

Then kindles love divine.

O Jesus, Light of all below!

Fount of life and fire!

Surpassing all the joys we know,

And all we can desire,

May every heart confess Your Name,

And ever You adore,

And, seeking You, itself inflame

To seek You more and more.

You, may our tongues for ever bless,

You, may we love alone,

And ever in our lives express

The image of Your own.

BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, (1091-1153)

Life is meaningless outside the Cross of Christ

For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

1 Corinthians 2:2

No one can find true meaning in life outside of the cross of Jesus Christ. Yes, life is meaningless or purposeless outside of Christ. Now, that is a strong statement and bear with me let me explain why? You see, the true meaning or purpose of the existence of human kind here on earth is more transcendental than many will like to admit. It goes beyond logic, it goes right into the purpose of our existence as humans on earth. Biblically, we are made in the image of God for the purpose of glorifying God. That is the manufacturer’s functional description of our purpose. Every other thing that comes with life is a luxury that is meant to help us perform that function better.  

Just imagine this, the apostle Paul when he was among the Corinthian Christians – sought nothing among them except the message of the cross and the effect it had on the human race. One phrase to describe this feeling or mindset is – tunnel vision.  Paul had a plan to ignore everything else that was not consequential to people’s salvation and concentrate on preaching Christ alone and him crucified. That is a man who knew his purpose – to do the work of the one that sent him – just like Jesus Christ his master.

You see, as Christians, at some point in our lives, we all committed to taking up the cross of Jesus because the yoke is easy and the burden light. We committed to serving the true king until we transition to be with him. However, life can happen to us very quickly and so sometimes we find ourselves seeking other things even more than we do seek to fulfil our primary purpose on earth. Hence why every Christian at some point in life made this claim just as Paul made. We know that the Christian life is that which is hinged on the cross. Because there can be no Christianity without the cross. And there can be no eternal life and true peace and meaning to life without Jesus and his cross.

Going back to the apostle Paul, he made the above claim because the central theme of Christianity is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The message of the crucified saviour, Jesus is the most unique and bizarre concept in Christianity – the crucified messiah.  Oh, that we may take up the cross and live the live with such tunnel vision as the apostle – so that we may recognise every other aspect of life as secondary to the message of the cross and it’s attendant responsibility that it places on us who believe. The responsibility of perfecting this awesome gesture of love in obedience to the word. The responsibility of going out there to make other disciples by sharing the word and our experience of how the word has transformed our lives.

Should the Bible be Amended?

“But you and I know the Bible is, in many places, a flawed document. My point to you about gay rights for example – it’s time for an amendment to the Bible. You should compile a new Bible.”

– Piers Morgan.

A few months ago, someone re-echoed this sentiment by Mr Morgan and I remembered the above statement that was made a few years ago. In fact, for Christians in the 21^st century, such statements have become common place. Non-Christians often wonder why most Christians are not so amenable to change in consonance with changing societal norms. The reason for that is not far-fetched as Mr Morgan identified – the bible. The bible is not a dynamic document that changes in accordance with changing society, otherwise it would have been revised far too many times by now. It is not flawed as Mr Morgan said; one’s ignorance or the biblical principles does not tantamount to flaws. The bible is never like any other human written book but is an inspiration from an all-knowing God (2 Pet 1:21). Never in the history of humanity have people openly and so blatantly called for the amendment of the bible. Perhaps people in the past have not called for such changes because they understood the content of the bible more so than a lot of non-Christians and some Christians do today.

You see, the bible is like a constitution but more than that even; because it is sacrosanct, self-interpreting, self-regulatory and self-explanatory and divine. The bible does not mince words or sit on the fence when it comes to issues. For example, consider the words in the bible in the concluding remarks in Revelations 22:18-19, it says:

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

Revelations 22:18-19

You cannot add to it; it’s that simple. So, the simple answer to the question of updating the bible is that you can’t update it because (1) there are negative consequences, (2) another important reason is because it is complete, correct and more than capable of making the truth seeker wise (2 Tim 3:16-17) and (3) God’s foolishness is wiser than any man’s ideas or updates (1 Cor 1:25). No man is clever enough to write a document that will remain true for all ages and most importantly capable of saving eternally.

So that leaves us with two choices – either we adhere to what the bible teaches or we don’t. We cannot alter what has been written and has been helpful and has made the wretched person wise for up to two millennia. Simply put, we are incapable of producing a better document than what we have which is able to make men wise and able to offer salvation.

If it was up to people today to add to the bible, many concepts will have no right or wrong answer. It will be open to a personal interpretation. It would be something like, let each person do as they please as long as they don’t hurt other people. You see, the world has become very subjective, even simple biological facts have become subjective in the eyes of many. People now want to bend the rules of nature to suit every whim and caprice of their choice. Even biological science of which was for centuries objective and determinant is becoming more ‘tolerant’ or ‘inclusive’ of people’s choices. Words and principles that governed human society for ages have assumed new meaning.

That is what an updated bible or a bible written by today’s moral standards and judgements will be like. It will have nothing to do with the kind of statements that people today will call inflammatory. For example Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life, NO ONE comes to the father except through me. Now, that statement leaves no room to any other interpretation, you either believe it or you don’t. You cannot really say that other ways to God are also legitimate because when you believe that statement it invalidates other claims of access to God.

Another point to be made is that there isn’t any book that has influenced society positively as much as the bible has. And it is imperative to leave you with this statement from the bible – do unto others what you want them to do to you. This is a sacred message, the bible contains sacred wisdom inspired by God to make people wise, if you accept it as it is – the word of God that is no flawed and needs no human update or interpretation, you will be better for it.