Chosen by God: a look at the doctrine of predestination

The question of predestination vs. free will is a long standing one in the body of Christ. There are many that say that God has already chosen those who would be saved and it is those and nobody else that will be saved. Subsequently and according to this view whether somebody will be saved or not it is not so much a question of somebody else speaking the Word to him and him subsequently believing this Word. Though he definitely needs to do this, he can essentially do it only because God has “predestined” him for this, has “chosen” him. Had God not “predestined” him, had God not “chosen” him – in the meaning of chosen him over somebody else that was not chosen - then he would not be saved. It is thus ultimately up to God who is going to be saved and whom He, as per this view, has “predestined”, pre-choose to be saved. Those who God has chosen to save will be saved but those whom He has not chosen (which actually then means: those He has rejected for salvation) will not be saved. This is definitely a very convenient doctrine as it shifts the responsibility of salvation to God, meaning that He, as per this view”, has already chosen those who will be saved. So if you don’t feel like speaking the Word to others … not much of a problem. God knew it, and did not arrange for somebody that was to be saved to come your way. After all whoever is to be saved will be saved no matter what… it is all up to God. It is my personal opinion that as much as convenient this doctrine may be, it is also a very wrong and dangerous doctrine. I also believe that it is this doctrine that is responsible, at least partially, for the passivity of many people concerning speaking the Word: people do not really feel responsible for speaking the gospel as ultimately, and according to this view, whoever is to be saved will be saved. I strongly disagree with this position. I believe that according to the Bible, God gave His Son for ALL men, which then means His choice for salvation is: everybody. In turn this means that the view that God chose to save some, over some others cannot be correct.

Salvation: God’s choice for everybody.

To see what is the desire of God concerning salvation let’s start with I Timothy 2:4. There we read:

1 Timothy 2:4 “God our Savior .. who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

Whom does God want to be saved? What is His will about salvation? What is that that He wants, desires? As the passage tells us, He desires, wills all men to be saved! “All men” means ALL. He did not choose some people over some others and then gave His Son for them only. Instead He gave His Son for all people, for everybody on the face of this earth and He desires that everybody on the face of this earth is saved! This is His declared will, desire, want, choice. Here is what verses 5 and 6 of the same epistle tell us:

1 Timothy 2:5-6 “For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom FOR ALL, to be testified in due time.”

For how many did Jesus Christ gave himself as a ransom? Not for some but for ALL, brother and sister. Jesus Christ paid the price for everybody and He did it with the purpose that everybody can taste salvation. If He then did this, wouldn’t be entirely contradictory to say that God has actually chosen only some of these all for whom He gave His Son, which then essentially means that He did not choose (i.e. therefore rejected) the remaining? Imagine that you went to a prison and you loved all the prisoners so much that you paid the highest possible price - for God that price was His Son - to make them free. How many would you want to see free? I guess ALL. Now imagine that some chose to stay in the prison. What would you feel? Wouldn’t you be very sorrowful and sad about this? You paid the highest price for them! You want them out! I would be very sad if they choose to stay in and so I believe is God. He gave His Son, He paid the highest possible price for everybody and guess what: He wants everybody to take advantage of what He made available. He wants everybody to be free “from the power of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13).

Here is what the famous John 3:16 passage, which is so frequently being quoted, tells us:

John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that THE WORLD through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

God loved the WORLD (using our example with the prisoners: He loved ALL the prisoners, not just some) and for the whole world, for EVERYBODY, He gave His Son. Why? “SO THAT THE WORLD THROUGH HIM MIGHT BE SAVED.” When God gave His Son He was not targeting at just a part of the world but at the whole world! He did not want to free some prisoners but ALL the prisoners. Salvation is God’s choice for everybody, because it was for everybody that He paid the respective price. There is no man on the face of the earth for whom God has made a choice that he is lost.

What does the Word mean when it speaks about chosen ones?

To be chosen means that somebody chose you i.e. you are his choice. As we read in the past pages it is the declared will of God that all men be saved and for this purpose God paid with the life of His Son. Now if God wants all men to be saved, this means that it is God’s choice for all men to be saved. In turn, if this is God’s choice, God’s will for everybody what then does this make everybody in regards to salvation? CHOSEN. In other words when the Word of God refers to us as elect and chosen, in no way it means chosen in relation to some others that allegedly are not chosen. ALL are chosen for salvation, as this is the choice, what God wills, for every man (though obviously not all will take up His offer). Instead what the Word means by calling us chosen is chosen for salvation. Salvation is God’s choice, His will, for every man and therefore, in regards to salvation, all men are chosen by Him. However not all will accept this offer and the result is that they will be lost. But they are not lost because God did not choose them for salvation but because they chose to reject what was God’s choice for them. In the same way, we too we were not saved because God chose us over some others that were allegedly not chosen. Instead we were saved because we chose to accept what was the choice of God for us and every man. Salvation is a question of believing. It is a question of people choosing God and not a question of God choosing them. As far as God is concerned, there is no question: He chose ALL men for salvation and to this end He gave His Son. See again these passages from the Scripture:

Acts 10:43 “whoever believes in him shall receive remission of sins.”

Romans 9:33, 10:11 “whoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.“

I John 5:1 “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.”

John 11:26 “whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”

John 3:16 “whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 12:46-48 “whoever believes on me should not abide in darkness. And if any man hear my words, and does not believe, I do not judge him: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”

See all these “whoever” in these passages. WHOEVER, regardless of who he is – that’s what “whoever” means – is going to be saved or not to be saved based on whether he believed or not. If he will believe he will get saved, as it is God’s choice, God’s will for him. But if he chooses not to believe then he will not be saved. This in no way is God’s choice, God’s will for him, but it will happen based on the choice this man made. It is as simple as that.

To summarize: there are two kind of choosing. One kind of choosing refers to choosing one person over another person. In other words: I chose you instead of another person. In that sense, and according to the doctrine of election, God chose us and rejected others. He predestined for salvation us, the Christians, but not the others. The others were not chosen, according to this view. Can this view be correct? No, because, as per the other passages of the Scripture that we read, God desires, it is His choice, that everybody gets saved and for exactly that purpose i.e. the salvation of everybody He gave His Son. Therefore the choosing and predestination that are mentioned in Ephesians 1:3-7 – “he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself..” – do not have the meaning of us being chosen over some others that are allegedly not chosen, but of us being chosen for salvation. The same choice – salvation – God made for everybody else too, when He gave His Son. Like the prisoners of our example: everybody was chosen to experience freedom. Am I justified therefore to speak to those ex-prisoners that took up my offer and say “you are chosen for freedom”, “I have predestined you for this” “You are my choice”? Yes I am absolutely justified to do this. However, given that this is also my choice for those who are still in the prison, when I say “chosen” I by no means mean that these are chosen over the others that rejected my offer. For them also it is my choice that they are free. God indeed has chosen us but He has not chosen us OVER some others. God does not pick and choose those who would be saved. If He would do this He would be a respecter of persons and He is NOT:

Acts 10:34 “God is not a respecter of persons.”

Instead God will be found by everybody that seeks Him. In fact, He is searching for people who seek Him so that He reveals Himself to them:

Psalms 14:2 “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God.”

and Deuteronomy 4:29
“If .. you shall seek the LORD your God, you shall find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

When somebody seeks God, when he invites Him to reveal Himself to him and he real means it, God will, 100%, show up. He is the one that will draw him to Him. But this is not what God will do only for that person. It is instead something that He does for all that call on Him. God looks for people who seek Him and those who seek Him with all their heart will find Him. This is not something that happens sometimes for some people. Instead it is a LAW, dictated by God’s Word. When somebody invites God from his heart, God will 100% show up and draw him to Himself. It is in this sense that we need to understand the record of the gospel of John that says:

John 6:44 “No one come to me unless the Father that send me draws him.”

Many people take this passage and say “you see, it is all up to God. If God wants, He will draw that person to Him. If He does not want him, He will not draw him”. To interpret this passage in such a way makes God a respecter of persons and ignores that Jesus died for ALL, so that ALL might be saved. God does not pick and choose who to draw to Himself. Instead He will show up for everybody that seeks Him. It is a spiritual law that He dictated it. On that we will also say more in the next section.

Salvation: God’s responsibilities and our responsibilities.

God indeed has a role to play in salvation, the most important role. But we have our own responsibilities and God given roles too. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 is very clear about our role in the reconciliation of men to God. As we read there:

“And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given TO US the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then WE are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

By giving His Son, God reconciled the world to himself. In other words the door to God is now open. Using again the example with the prisoners, the doors of the prison are all open! But the prisoners are blind. They cannot see it. They are blinded by the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4), the devil, so that they do not see the salvation that is available for them. Thus somebody needs to tell the people: “The door to God is now open! Please be reconciled to God. Because he has made sin for us the one who knew no sin so that we will be made the righteousness of God in Him!” This, the telling, the introduction of the people to the Lord, is the ministry of reconciliation. And who has this ministry? The answer is very simple: WE. It is our responsibility to tell the people. It is us that are ambassadors for Christ. If you want something from a foreign country you have to call the embassy of that country, the representatives, the “ambassadors” of that country. For God the ambassadors are US. God opened the doors of the prison, He opened the door to Him. He reconciled the world to Himself by giving His Son. Now we, the once prisoners, the once blinded, we need to say to those who are still prisoners and still blinded “come to God, the door is open!”

More clarity on responsibilities is given in 1 Corinthians 3:5-6. As we read there:

“Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”

See the turn. God has a role, the most important role to play. The role of giving the increase. But somebody has to throw the seed and somebody has to water. And this somebody is not God. It is us! It is the ministers, and this does not mean the clergy, but us, who have the ministry of reconciliation. The text does not say: “God planted, God watered, God gave the increase” There were people involved that had to do what God had called them to do. People who said “here is God, reconcile to Him” and as that person approached God, God met Him, drew him to Himself. There were also people, like Apollos, that watered the seed sown in the hearts of the people, opening the Word of God and sharing its truths with them. See also this “through whom” that I have marked in bold letters (“through whom you believed”). The means through whom these people believed were Paul and Apollos. They played their God given role - the role of the intermediate, the minister of reconciliation, the ambassador for Christ, the role of planting and watering. But imagine we say “here is God” and God does not show up. Then would that person meet Him? As much as he might want it, he would not meet Him. But God does do the drawing, does show up, does do His role. When therefore John says that nobody will come to the Father if the Father does not draw him to Himself it is absolutely true: if God does not show up, if God does not give the increase, you and I can plant and water as much as we want but nothing will happen. But God does show up, does do the drawing, does give the increase. The question is will we do our role, the ministry of reconciliation that is committed unto us, the planting and the watering, the “go into ALL the world and preach the gospel to EVERY creature” (Mark 16:15)? These are not acts of God but roles committed to us.

Conclusion.

To sum it up dear brother: the doctrine that God has chosen some people to save over some others that He allegedly has not chosen is a very convenient but also very false doctrine. God’s choice, will, is that everybody gets saved and comes to the knowledge of the truth. If this is God’s choice for everybody what is then everybody? Chosen! Now whether he will really get saved or not depends on whether he will believe. If he will believe he will be saved. However, if he will not believe, he will not be saved. Does God have a role to play in this? Yes, the most important one: After a person invites God in his heart to reveal Himself to him, God will show up and draw him to Himself. This is the drawing of the Father Jesus is speaking about. Whoever had God revealed to him knows what I’m speaking about. This revelation of God is not something that He decides precariously to do, but something that He is obliged to do and will do based on His Word. Whoever seeks Him from His heart will find Him says the Word. God will show up, 100%, when somebody really seeks Him.

Now turning to us, God has given to US the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry of sowing the Word and watering. He does the increase (the drawing to Him) but the sowing and watering, the introduction of the people to the Lord, the ministry of reconciliation is given to us. The doctrine according to which God has chosen only certain human beings for salvation, which then implies that He has chosen some others for sending them to hell is a very false doctrine and has put people into sleep as they believe God will save whoever He wants. This is not true. We have responsibilities brothers and sisters and speaking the Word, looking for opportunities to spread the Gospel, is something that is on us to do. Speak the Word, tell the prisoners “get out of the prison”. Whether they will get out or not it is their responsibility. But it is our responsibility to tell them. It is our responsibility to show them the Father. As far as the Father is concerned, He wants them with all His heart! He paid for them the same price He paid for us and He waits for them with the same open arms He waited for us.

Anastasios Kioulachoglou

               Please check out Anastasios's book 

               "The Warnings of the New Testament". 

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The good works that God has prepared for us

We saw in the article “Righteousness and the Bible” that we are righteous without any work. As we saw there: the good works were not nor were they intended to be the means for somebody to get saved or become righteous. The means for our salvation and righteousness is the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. He did all that was needed for our salvation. This now in no way means that God does not want us to do good works or He is indifferent about it. In contrast, He has already prepared the good works for us. As Ephesians 2:10 tells us:

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

God has already prepared the works He has for us, and He did it with the purpose that we walk in them. Therefore it is not us that prepare the good works but God that has already prepared them for us. We however need to walk in them i.e. to realize them, to do them.

Something else very important: when we believed in our heart in the Lord Jesus Christ and His resurrection we were born again and became new creatures. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us: “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation”. Though we were not saved by good works, being new creatures, we were created for, made for the good works that God has prepared for us. See this “created for” (marked with red in the above quotation of Ephesians 2:10) or else “made for”. The same words we would use to say for example: “a car is made (created) for travelling”. “A telephone is made (created) for making phone calls”. “A radio is made (created) for receiving radio signals”. In other words, God, by telling us that we “were created for [made for] good works that he has already prepared for us”, He is telling us that He made us fully able, He has created us for, made us for, it is in the DNA of our new nature to do the good works He has prepared for us. Doing these good works is natural to us, to our new nature, because we were created for them. In contrast not walking in these works would be like not doing what we were created for. It would be like having a telephone that makes no phone calls or a radio that is dead.

We will understand better the meaning of the good works that God has already prepared for us by going to I Corinthians 12. There we read:

I Corinthians 12:27 “you are the body of Christ, and members individually”

And I Corinthians 12:18 
“But now God has set the members, one of them, in the body as it has pleased Him.”

Each one of us is a member of the body of Christ with a particular function that was given to him by God. God has set us in the body with a specific role and as it pleased Him. And as in the physical body responsible for giving the orders to the members is the head, the brain, so also in the spiritual body responsible for giving orders is the head and this is one: CHRIST (Ephesians 5:23). The members of the body of Christ, as the members of the natural body, have as mission to do what the head is saying. We are not to decide the good works, the role we have in the body. This God has already decided and prepared for us. What is our mission is to walk in these works, to realize them, to function as we were created to function! If we ignore this, if we choose to close our eyes, then our mission will never be completed. What I want to say brothers and sisters is that although God has prepared for us the works we are to do and although He has put us in the body with a specific role, function, it is US that walk in these works; it is US that we are to realize what the Head is saying. If we don’t do it then nobody is going to do it for us. If we don’t play our role in the body then, as a natural body suffers when some of its members do not function well, so also the body of Christ will suffer. You see Christ is only the Head of the body. He gives the orders, but He depends on the members to execute them. Many brothers have a distorted meaning of what church is and they believe that ministry, doing the work of God, the works He has prepared for us, it is something that belongs to the clergy, to the so called “professionals”. For the rest, our only mission seems to be to fill the pews on Sundays. This is a big mistake. In the Word of God there is no such thing as clergy and laity. What there is, is a body and every brother or sister has been set in this body by God with a specific function. You brother or sister that read this article have a specific function in the body. Do you know it? Do you do what God has set you in the body to do, the good works He has prepared beforehand that you walk in them? Or you just spend your time in the things of this world (that choke the Word of God and make it unfruitful – Mark 4:19), since ministry belongs, allegedly, to the …. professionals? If you brother and sister don’t do what God has created you for, made you for, set you in the body for, then nobody is going to do it. You are unique in the body of Christ, as every member in your own body is unique and absolutely necessary. Therefore if you have not yet found what God has prepared for you, it is absolutely necessary that you find it. It is necessary that you leave the sofa and seek the Lord. It is time to tell Him: “here I am Lord. What do you want me to do?” He has created you for, made you ready, fully enabled you for the good works He has for you. But you need to be available; you need to want to walk in them. If you are not available to God then nothing is going to happen. You will in this case be like the member of the body that though indeed is in the body, it does not communicate with the head. This is a sick member, a member that does not function well. The opposite picture - the picture of this very vivid image of I Corinthians 12 with the body, the members and the head - is the picture of a healthy member that upon the head’s calling it reacts immediately. It is the picture of a man of God who looks unto the head to see what it wants and reacts accordingly and without hesitation. It is the image of the Christian that WALKS in, realizes the works that God has prepared for Him, bringing forth fruit and not allowing the Word to fall victim of the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things (Mark 4:19). Such Christians God wants us. Christians that bring forth fruit and, through it, glorify our Father:

John 15:5, 8 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit ..… Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be my disciples.”

Anastasios Kioulachoglou.

               Please check out Anastasios's book 

               "The Warnings of the New Testament". 

               Purchase at Kindle and Amazon or 

               download for FREE at: http://www.jba.gr/
                      Articles/pdf/the-warnings-of-the- 

               New-Testament.pdf

Believers, are you prepared to suffer?

2 Timothy 3: 
1But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 6For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

                         

False Teachers are Everywhere. They love to tickle your ears.

I am blown away with the ignorance and failure to warn the believers. John Piper is almost void of truth, but he loves his own opinions. HE TOTALLY IGNORES THE THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE WARNINGS PAUL GAVE!!!!!  He wants to be loved, tickle your ears, and not hurt your feelings, BUT WILL NOT WARN YOU OF PERISHING. This is about hell. 

Paul tells us a different story.....the truth!
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; 4 AND THERE MUST BE NO FILTHINESS AND SILLY TALK, OR COARSE JESTING, WHICH ARE NOT FITTING, but rather giving of thanks. 5 FOR THIS YOU KNOW WITH CERTAINTY, THAT NO IMMORAL OR IMPURE PERSON OR COVETOUS MAN, WHO IS AN IDOLATER, HAS AN INHERITANCE IN THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST AND GOD.

6 LET NO ONE DECEIVE YOU WITH EMPTY WORDS, FOR BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS THE WRATH OF GOD COMES UPON THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE. 7 THEREFORE DO NOT BE PARTAKERS WITH THEM;

8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.

14 For this reason it says,
 “Awake, sleeper,
  And arise from THE DEAD,
  And Christ will shine on you.”

15 Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 17 So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; 20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; 21 and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

The parable of the sower: “and that which fell among thorns..”

The Word of God very clearly describes certain things that make the heart weary and heavy and the seed of the Word barren, unfruitful i.e. though the seed is there, it does not bring forth the fruit that it is supposed to bring. Here is what the Lord Jesus said in Luke 21:34:

Luke 21:34
"But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.

There are certain things that make our hearts to be weighed down i.e. they make it heavy and weary, hard, indifferent and cold. And though many of us may not have a problem with “dissipation and drunkenness” (anyway these are condemned as obvious sins by most Christians and many times by non-Christians too) what about “cares of this life”? What the Lord is telling us here is that cares of this life, cares of making it, “surviving” in this life can make your heart heavy and hard, if you are preoccupied with them; if all your effort is about making it today; if you are too busy with this life and its cares.

Moreover, the Lord said in the parable of the sower concerning the third category of those who hear the Word:

Mark 4:18-19
“And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

As the Lord makes it clear: preoccupation with the cares of this world, the cares of this life, plus the deception of riches and the lust of other things are enemies to the seed of the Word so much so that if they take place in our heart they will choke the seed of the Word and make it barren and unfruitful. In other words, the cares of this life, the riches and the desires of other things CANNOT co-exist in our heart with the Word of God. One of the two will have to go. It is either the one or the other. Not both. This fits also with what the Lord said concerning money:

Matthew 6:24
“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

You cannot serve two masters at the same time. If you want to follow God, if you want life and peace, if you want the seed of the Word to grow and give fruit then you have to give up your pre-occupation with caring about what the world cares, with money and the lusts for other things as the Word cannot grow together with these. You cannot be an alien and a stranger in this world (1 Peter 2:11) and at the same time be part of the world’s system. It is not possible! If you somehow believe that you can manage both together then you deceive yourself. You may say: “Oh brother you do not understand my situation.” I do! I’m also having a job and a family with 3 small kids. And what I’m writing I write it out of experience. I cannot work daily for 12 hours and expect to grow with a 10 minutes devotional in the morning and a Sunday morning sermon. It will not happen! We do not need just quality time with the Lord. We also need quantity time. We need teachings of the Word to be fed. We need to shift our interest from the world to the Word. Then growth will come just like growth comes to newborn babies when they drink their milk. As the Word says:

I Peter 2:2
“As newborn babies, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby”

If you do not drink the milk of the Word but instead you feed yourself with the garbage of the world, do not wonder that you are not growing but you feel weak and weary. Only the Word of God can bring increase.

The trap of cares, riches and lusts for other things: what to do

Now the good news is that the above described situation can change and you can start growing and giving fruit again. What is needed is that you stop being preoccupied with cares, money and desires for other things and instead focus your attention to God and His Word. In fact I believe it is the other way around: as you make space for God and His Word you will lose interest about money, worldly desires, ambitions and cares. This interest will fade away as you start drinking from the milk of the Word and focus on God as your first and foremost priority. And as you do this, growth, life and peace is going to come back again. You need to “get busy” with the Word and its teachings. Now to be able to do this you may need to do some adjustments. For example you may need to slow down at work and put limits. Now let me make clear here: I’m not saying that work is bad. In contrast as the Word says: “if any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). To work therefore as a mean to earn your bread is no problem at all. In fact it something that we are obliged to do it! It is a blessing that God gave us! What I believe however is a problem - apart from not working - is to over-work and by this I mean to work far and above from what you need to earn your bread and to the point that apart from work there is no space for anything else in your life i.e. work is a blessing but to be workaholic is a problem. You may also need to manage your time better, removing time devoted in watching TV, surfing to worldly sites or overindulgence with hobbies. If you commute to work, you need to find good teachings of the Word and listen to them. You need to change. Staying unfruitful is not an option and it is entirely opposite to what the Lord said:

John 15:16
“I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain”

And earlier He warns us:

John 15:1-6
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.”

A true follower of the Lord abides in Christ and as a result brings forth fruit. Not abiding in the vine means unfruitfulness for only by abiding in the vine can we bring forth fruit, walking in the works that God has already prepared for us. Being then unfruitful – because of our preoccupation with the world instead of preoccupation with the Word - is not just a sorry yet still acceptable state. It is in fact a very dangerous state that has to be changed immediately. For more on this, please read the exhaustive study: Salvation according to Jesus and His apostles.

We are chosen to bring forth fruit. Yet, as we said, this will not happen if we allow the seed of the Word to be choked by the thorns of the riches, the desires of other things and the cares of this life.

The Lord dealt with the issue of cares and riches in more passages than the ones we have seen up to now. Here is another revealing passage:

Luke 12:15-31
“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? "And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Do not worry about your life what you will eat and your body what you will put on. God is going to take care of you brother and sister. You do not need to worry about such things nor do you need to care about riches and other things. The people in the world care about such things. Their attention is how to make it today and once this is past then how to become rich and how to acquire more things. But we are not the same. We belong in a different kingdom. We have our wonderful God and Father that takes care of us. To us the top and foremost priority is not how to make it in this world, how to survive, how to become rich or how to get a more luxurious house or car. Instead our top priority is, and ought to be, God and His Kingdom. “Seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you” (Luke 12:31) says the Word. If however instead of being preoccupied with the Word you are preoccupied with the cares of this world, the riches and the desires of other things then the seed that once was sown to your heart is going to dry and together with it you will dry too. And this should not happen! See here the solemn warning of our Lord:

John 15:1-2
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

Also 1 John 2:15-17
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Let us please take these matters very seriously and let us get out of the traps of cares, riches and desires of other things.

Concerning in particular the deceit of riches and the desire of other things: I do not really understand why so many go after riches calling it “prosperity” when the Word says:

1 Timothy 6:7-10
“For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Brother and sister: do you have food and clothing? If you do then be content!! You do not need anything more!! But if you desire to be rich, if you covet after things, then you are heading for a snare. You do not need to accumulate wealth and riches. You do not belong here and you are not going to take it with you. You just need your needs covered and for this you don’t need to worry at all. God has given you a promise: seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and what you need will be added to you.

Conclusion

To summarize: we are aliens and strangers in this world. This world is not our home as a hymn says. We are citizens of heaven, called by God to go forth and bring fruit. Yet the Word of God that was sown into our hearts has a deadly subtle enemy that can make it barren. It is called “cares of this life, deceitfulness of riches and desires of other things”. Many of us are preoccupied with these things and despite the dryness and weakness we see as a result we do not really attribute the issue to our preoccupation with the wrong things. Also the church does not seem to explicitly condemn these either. Thus many of the Christians that fill the churches on Sundays are actually weak and dry as the problem is not revealed openly and the solution to it is not given. But this does not have to stay like this. Christian life means peace, life and fellowship with God and His Son. Please remember the joy, the peace, the life you had when you first believed in the Lord. This is supposed to be with you forever! And if it is not there it can come back again. All that you need to do is to change priorities and seek God as your top and foremost priority. God and His joy have not changed. You have changed and that is why the joy has disappeared. You need to be fed with the Word, daily, with big doses, indulging yourself to it instead of “indulging” in cares, riches and desires of other things. You need to seek God, His will, His Kingdom and His righteousness. Thenn everything else will be added to you.

Now to close this article, let’s go to Hebrews 11:13. There, after the Word spoke in the preceding verses about some Old Testament saints that walked in faith, it says:

Hebrews 11:13-16
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. ”

We, like them, are aliens and strangers on the earth. For us, as for them, there is a homeland different than the country of our passport. There is a mansion built up for us in heaven. Let us make as much fruit as possible in our life, for the time is short (our life - be it 70, 80 or 90 years – passes very quickly. If you are above 40 you perhaps understand better what I mean). Let the end of our life find us like Paul saying:

2 Timothy 4:7
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

And John 14:2-3
“In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”

Anastasios Kioulachoglou

               Please check out Anastasios's book 

               "The Warnings of the New Testament". 

               Purchase at Kindle and Amazon or 

               download for FREE at: 

               http://www.jba.gr/Articles/pdf/the-warnings-of-the-     

               New-Testament.pdf

True Christians are Aliens and strangers in the world

We find the phrase “aliens and strangers in the world” in 1 Peter 2:11. There we read:

1 Peter 2:11
“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from fleshly desires, which war against your soul.”

The Word of God tells us that we are aliens and strangers in this world. This means that this world is NOT our home. We do not belong here. To understand this better let’s use an example: let’s say that you board a plane and land in a country foreign to you. You are alien and foreigner in that country. You don’t understand the language of the people. You cannot read their newspapers. You turn on the TV but you soon have to turn it off as you do not understand anything. It is all foreign to you. You are an alien and a stranger. If however, using the same example, you start speaking the language of the people, listen to their news, watch their TV programs, speak about what they speak and do what they do, you are no longer a stranger and an alien, but you are integrated to that country, you are part of it. It is the same for us as Christians. The Word of God tells us that we are strangers and aliens to this world. We are not supposed to be conformed to this world, to share the same interests with the world, behave as the world behaves, watch what the world watch and have the same vision and interests as the world has. We are strangers and aliens here and we are not supposed to be integrated or conformed to this world (Romans 12:2) i.e. be shaped together with the world (that’s what co-formed means). We are coming from another world, another home. Where is this home? Here are a couple of passages that answer this:

Philippians 3:20
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,..”

And Colossians 1:12-13
“He [God] has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,”

We are citizens of heaven brothers and sisters. There, and not in this world, is our home. Indeed, once we were citizens of this world and its kingdom, the kingdom of darkness. But we are no more. We were delivered from that kingdom and we are now citizens of the Kingdom of the Son of God and therefore aliens and strangers in this world.

Anastasios Kioulachoglou

               Please check out Anastasios's book 

               "The Warnings of the New Testament". 

               Purchase at Kindle and Amazon or 

               download for FREE at: 

               http://www.jba.gr/Articles/pdf/the-warnings-of-the-     

               New-Testament.pdf

Christian: Conformed or Transformed?

“Be not conformed to this world” … how many of us have heard these words again and again. But do we really know what they mean? All of us need to pay attention to what we read in the Word. Superficial Bible reading – does not do anything. “Be not conformed to this world” – the Greek word translated as conformed here means co-shaped, co-formed. What the Word is telling us here is: do not be or become of the same shape, same form, co-formed, with this world. We are different brothers and sisters. A Christian is different!! We do not belong to this world. And yet many of us cannot miss listening to the news, worry about what this world worries, doing what this world does, speaking about what this world speaks. Now if we think, hear, speak and do what this world thinks, hears, speaks and does then guess what? We are co-shaped, co-formed with this world. And as long as the world and its worries and “joys” occupy your life be sure: you will not grow in Christ.

“but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Instead of conformed to the world we should be transformed. Now to be transformed means to change form to become something of different form, shape. What should our new form be then? The answer is simple: CHRIST. As Paul says in Galatians 4:19

“My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is FORMED IN YOU”

See this word FORMED! Christ, who lives in us, is our new form! And as Colossians 3:2 tells us:

“Set your mind on things above, NOT on things on the earth.”

Could it be made clearer? Transformation is done by renewing of the mind and it is up to you where you will set your mind on, with just 2 options available: the things on the earth and the things above. The first option will make you a spiritual pigmy, a Christian that is just a baby that never grows, spiritually retarded but by choice i.e. you choose to never grow despite all the potential that is called CHRIST in you. The second option means spiritual growth, Christ formed in you, close fellowship with the living God, whom you have tasted and know how good He is. And as I Peter 2:2 tells us:

“as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,”

Growth comes through the Word of God. You need the Word in order to grow. Not religious teaching that sound moral and pious but teachings of the Word! And again as the Lord said:

John 8:32
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

What is truth? Christ again, speaking to God, His Father said: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word [hence the Word of God] is truth.” The truth, the Word of God, will make you free. Will you seek this Word? Where we set our mind on is something CRITICAL. We will either be co-formed with this world or we will grow, be transformed by choosing - and it is a CHOICE and one that WE make – to renew our minds by setting it on things above and not on things of this earth, by feeding it with the Word of God so that we grow thereby.

«For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ» (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

Anastasios Kioulachoglou

               Please check out Anastasios's book 

               "The Warnings of the New Testament". 

               Purchase at Kindle and Amazon or 

               download for FREE at: 

               http://www.jba.gr/Articles/pdf/the-warnings-of-the-     

               New-Testament.pdf