Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2Co 5:17

Unfortunately for some who have received Christ, they struggle with believing that God has forgiven them, especially if they find it hard to forgive themselves or if some other people wouldn’t forgive them.

Repentance can be even more difficult. Repenting from sin implies turning away from the sinful act with the intention of never doing it again. It’s easier to tell your self , or spouse, or parents, or children, that you’ll never do something again, but with God, it is probably not usually simple to just say: “God I’ll never ever do that again”. I guess that’s because understandably, sin is usually that thing which we don’t love to do anymore and don’t want to do, but may sometimes find ourselves doing anyway.

Sometimes we feel we sin because we do not have time to think or consider our options. Most of the time, we may have impulsively said something rash in anger, back-bit, or told a little lie just before we realise, with disappointment in ourselves, that we have sinned already. With other kinds of sin, like sexual immorality and similar lusts we may try to convince ourselves that we are giving vent to natural feelings or desires, as if the fact that sin comes naturally to us can make it legitimate.

Geniuine repentance is difficult or impossible if we do not reckon on the grace of God. God never gave anyone an injunction never to sin, save that which he has backed up by His grace.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Php 2:13

It is by the grace of God that we are what we are, or do what we ought to do. Living the Christian life of victory over sin, is our gift in Christ Jesus. We are not struggling to impress God, but rather His grace challenges us to reckon our selves dead to sin and alive unto righteousness. So that when we are tempted or confront sin, we can know that the power we excercise NOT TO SIN, is not in ourselves but in the grace of God in Christ.

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:11-14

Sin is beneath the Christian. Christ went through too much to make us holy instruments of His righteousness. Let there be no excuses, every little sin is big enough to spoil our testimony, even if it is one done in our closets. There is no pleasure in sin for the born-again man, only shame and power loss.

Devotional Prayer

Lord, I know that my victory over sin and sinful habits is not by my own making. I am determined to shun the lusts in my heart and to overcome my weaknesses because your grace has given me victory over sin. I pray you continually use me as an instrument of your righteousness and help me to take daily advantage of your grace, so that I can live in victory and my life can be to you a sweet-smelling living sacrifice.

We require an absolute. If we don’t find one, we make one or fake one

A strange idea coming from our background of mythological reasoning has infused into our worship and appreciation of God. As a result, our worship deeply reflects this thinking that God is too superior to be accountable. It also affects our interpretation of certain aspects of the bible and our faith life. Up to a point were people believe that whatever happens in life (particularly bad stuff) cannot be questioned because it is by God’s hand. The assumptions made in some of this contexts, barely fall short of indicting God with being unfaithful and irresponsible, only to excuse Him by concluding, “who are we to question the Almighty God“.

I see in this a subtle, yet, big misconception. God’s character is a far cry from the the tyrannical leadership of the earthly kabiyesis. We are erroneously comparing God to human kings who were not as smart, honest, generous or powerful as their followers wished they were. Like every human, they made mistakes often, passed wrong judgments from time to time, and were easily overcome by their own greed. The myth of the Infallibility of royalty was a necessary psychological tactic, amidst of other tyrannic concoctions, to hide their shortcomings and keep people under control.  It gave them a place to hide from questions they could not answer. It also provided for the people, unreal as it was, a vital imaginary absolute to believe in. In deed, all that these kings had more than their followers was the superiority of status, the Kingship. But you see God doesn’t use all that drama and theatrics at all.

I’m yet to find a place in scripture where it is said that God is unquestionable simply because He is superior in status. That would just out-rightly contradict his other attributes of love, grace and mercy. God is highly, loftily superior to man, but other than that, it is His literal lack of capacity to lie, to make a mistake, to cheat, to be unfaithful, to be unaware, to be deceived; His moral perfection and uprightness, that is His unquestionable quality. In essence, God is unquestionable, if I may say, because of His excellent character and faithfulness, not merely because of His excellent status.

God is accountable and responsible

God has earned His place as the unquestionable king, by being true to His word for thousands of generations. God does not terrorize us to silence, He wins our confidence with a faithful love and care. God is accountable to His word. He would never act contrary to it. You now see why He is so different from our earthly kings, because, He honors His word more than His name.

God is not a tyrant. He is a responsible and compassionate teacher and leader. He expects us to ask questions, that’s why He has given us His word and the Holy Spirit. God expects us to query our circumstances, our lives, our fears and our doubts with His word. You don’t have to fall for the devil’s deception anymore, to think: “there is no use asking God, He is unquestionable!”. No, God has given ample responsible answers in His word, and guides us by His spirit. Halleluyah!

So when next you sing “Kabiyesi, you are the Lord!”, sing with this understanding. The one who answers by a record of faithfulness and has never been faulted, whose reputation has never been questionable is our Kabiyesi.

11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.
12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.
13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.
14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women…
Acts 5:11-14(NKJV)

Today’s Church in the World’s View

Assuming God’s own standards for the church, I often think about how the world is ideally supposed to view we believers. Looking globally, there is a wide range of reactions to Christianity, but Christianity is still the most popular religion today, even the truly secular world have not been able to ignore it utterly. But that doesn’t answer the question for me.

In Southern Nigeria, where I come from, atleast nominally, the people are predominantly Christians. Christianity is popular. Most people think a Church wedding is cool.  Gospel music /home videos, or whatever’s so called are best sellers. And then, people who never go to church, can tell you the most trendy and glamorous churches or pastors. Church programs in places like Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt and other parts of the east, witness the most populated religious gatherings all over the world. Butwith all these observations, how much can we rely on the current church system for a truly spiritual influence in the lives of my people?

I’m disturbed by the fact that many people see belonging to a religion as a social requirement or convenience, that’s why we find many actual unbelievers who feel very comfortable in our churches, without having any definite commitments to Jesus or the bible. I’m afraid about people attending church for different reasons, and to satisfy many selfish needs.  I fear that merely identifying  with a church can now  be conveniently converted for social leverage and status solely. Perhaps more disturbing is the fact that some of our churches encourage these, maybe all they also actually care about now is remaining popular and wining souls for Christ is no longer their ultimate.

The public image of  the first century church

11 So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.
12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.
13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.
14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women …
Acts 5:11-14(NKJV)

There are several observations to make from this passage:

One, the occurences taking place in the church as a vindication of God’s presence, inspired awe and reverence not only in believers but also unbelievers around. Apparently in those days, if the church was regarded as popular, it was because of God’s undeniable vindication  amongst them in moral purity and in works of power. Does our society actually see our church programs today as more than a social or religious gathering, a place where God actually is present in holiness and power? But how can they really, When they are well acquainted with too many of the church people who lie and cheat, who are irresponsible and unfaithful in work, business and love? and youths who are largely sexually immoral. I’m asking.

Also, v13 clearly let’s us see that people who did not believe, or were not saved yet, were afraid to just come into church and identify with Christians for selfish motives apart from seeking conversion for themselves. Not to mention that being a Christian itself, at that time, came with a price, Persecution and other sacrifices. The lifestyle of those believers was impossible to imitate or fake, they clearly and unapologetic-ally stood out from the world of sin, compromise and selfishness.

The excuse we some times give for compromising the gospel standard, is that we want to pull people in, we want to have sinner friendlier churches. But the uncompromising portrait of the first century church indelibly confronts this rationale. Didn’t that church grow? Oh! they grew and spread in leaps and bounds. The bible specifically offers some details in v14. “And believers were increasingly added“ – it was newly born again believers that were added to church  in multitudes, not unrepentant unbelievers or pretenders. Consequently, the predominant kind of fruit the christians bore at large was righteousness.

Church with God’s power and presence

We must realize that we are the church. We must be a truly spiritually minded people if we really want to enjoy God’s presence and power clearly evident for all to see in our churches again, like it was in the time of Peter. There are a few things we have to consider:

Our Gospel, what we preach. What kind of gospel did the Apostles preach, they definitely didn’t advertise general goods and wholesale solutions to every personal problem in that church. They preached Christ simply, they advertised salvation from sin and eternal life. so no prospective believer was in doubt what they were signing up for. If you weren’t tired of the weight of sin and looking for a savior, you wouldn’t be in their church. If all you wanted was a cure from poverty, or sickness, nobody would be taking advantage of your neediness, trying to trick you to join the church. In our poverty stricken environment in Africa, most people would do anything, if you promise that it will give them financial freedom, and that includes general church attendance, sowing seeds of faith, paying of tithes etc. Being a Christian, can hardly be referred to as a work of grace in this cases. These kind of patronizing, need centered gospel, doesn’t produce any long lasting faith. We may contextualize the presentation of the Gospel, so as to identify with different kinds of people, cultures and experience, but we cannot adjust it’s contents to suit individual neediness.

Christ centered-ness and Love, how we live. Christ should be at the center of our focus, not just the center of our message, but also the center of our desires and aspirations. The world can intelligently tell what our priorities are by the way we live in the society and the examples we lay in the office or business places. This, in its own self, is a witness of our gospel. Do the things we live for contradict the gospel we profess. “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:35. The world also notices our selflessness in the way we demonstrate love towards one another. Besides, God identifies with love. The spirit of God moves freely and comfortably wherever there is love and devotional harmony.

Our doctrine and sanctification. We do not discriminate when we present the gospel, no living human is evil enough to be denied a right to hear the gospel. But we must discriminate against certain ideas in church with good reason. We must discriminate against ideas that compromise the message of the gospel, even though they bring  more unsaved people to attend church. We must not be conformed to the world or worldly desires, we must do the will of God. Rom 12:2, 1 John 2:15-17. We must preach the truth with grace and compassion like Jesus did, but we must preach nothing but the truth.

If we opt to lessen the standards of doctrine as prescribed by the epistles, maybe conform our teaching more to the incline of what carnal minds wish to hear, shying away from issues of repentance and consecration, in order to accommodate more of the unsaved kind and coax them into commitment in our churches, we make the church more conducive for the sinner, but will it really be God in charge  or would it just be us running a show.

Conclusion

God chose to show His presence in the church since it’s earliest years by works of power, signs and wonders. Apart from seeing numerous miracles, the young men for instance, who packed out the dead bodies of Ananias and Sapphira would have no doubts about God’s fiery holy presence in the church, same for those who knew what happened to some of those who ate from the Holy Communion table unworthily. You may ask, is God’s presence and power really that evident in the church today? Or why then, does God condone much more unrighteousness in the church presently? God’s presence is still Holy and Powerful as ever it was Holy. So Maybe we should all ask ourselves where are our churches in His presence?

A couple sells a property of theirs, they want to do like the Christians are doing and contribute the proceedings from the sales to the church. Nobody is asking them for it, but apparently out of vain glory, they both connive to claim they sold it for a lesser price than the actual figure, so they can keep the rest and still be praised for having given all their gains.

God is not pleased with their attempt  to make a fool of the church and His omniscience. Their plot is revealed to Peter by the Holy Spirit, who condemns their act as a lie to God and not to man, he even pronounces the judgment that followed right after. And instantly, the husband Ananias, and his wife Sapphira drop dead, one after the other, right in the church. (Narrated in Acts 5:1-10)

Now, I’ve never been able to read this passage in Acts 5 without cold shivers and questions popping out all over my mind. Questions like where is grace in this story? Did Ananias and Sapphira, have a chance to repent? And where they the only ones lying or sinning in church to have been singled out for such swift retribution or Did God deal with all sinning people in church that way then? Would He still judge me just like that? I’ve always felt futile and like I’m missing the point trying to find these answers, but then, I’ve learnt some lessons from the passage.

What lessons? The grace in divine Judgment

Sin kills, whether instantly like dangerous driving, or slowly like soft poison, the soul that sins shall die. God’s standards have not changed, the wages of sin is still death, whether for the unbeliever or the professing Christian. As far as God is concerned, the person who out-rightly rejects Christ and the one who who acknowledges Christ but doesn’t reject sin, have both rejected His forgiveness and His grace and may get the same end, the wages of sin.

I’m afraid this doesn’t sound gracious to me either. God is a God of forgiveness, Christianity is a religion of Grace! But then I wonder, if God permits to let all sin go unpunished, will it make the world a better place? Will it make the church more graceful to be in? Would it have made Him a better God? If all of us could get away with cheating on each other, telling lies and killing, then there would be no need for a judicial system or any form of law, there would be no justice or a sense of right, and consequently, no fundamental human rights too. The Holy God hates any form of sin, He will bring all sins to judgment. However, His own righteousness and justice is the fundamental  strength and basis for righteousness whether in the church, our society or the secular judiciary.

I find grace in the fact that God doesn’t put his hatred for sin first before us, but puts His love for the sinner first. He has sent Christ to die and to give us an opportunity to claim forgiveness, through His death on our behalf, so we can escape the ultimate retribution for our sins.

My mind flashes on the gory episodes that have been witnessed in and around Jos, where the embers of the turmoils of a barbaric war have barely gone out. It’s been only a couple of days since, in Zot and Dogo-Nahawa, villages in the Berom community, every person or thing associated with Christianity was a target, including children, women and the aged. They were hacked to death wherever they were caught or burnt alive. A mother still hears the echoes of the last scream of her baby. A girl still remembers her father’s dying shout of agony. The sights of piles of lifeless bodies and the stench of death, the debris and the ashes still linger not only in their senses but perhaps literarily in the air. So that everybody still double checks on the locks all day and have their eyes behind them as much as they have it in front.

I think the fearful experience of those who survived these Jos raids may be similar to that of the disciples after Jesus was killed. I see Jesus coming again through their closed doors and frayed nerves to heal their hearts and bring them hope again. I see him coming to them with those words: “Be not afraid! I am the Resurrection and the Life, He who believes in me, though he were dead, he would live again.”

Let our country never neglect to continue to pray for Plateau State and the bereaved people of Jos, especially the Christians. That the blessing, hope and confidence, that the resurrection affords be multiplied to them as they recover from this trials.

The city of Jos would be restored;
Our justice, charity and our community;
Our spirit, our hospitality and prosperity;
Beauty for gun smoke and ashes;
peace and strength for war cries and despair.

Our children will once again play on the streets
without fear, without guns in sight.
Our patrons will remember our famed hospitality and return,
we will regain our place as a national scenic attraction
Cool, green, lush, rich tin city of Jos.

The city of Jos would be restored
We will not pass on a heritage of malice
Or handover missions of revenge against our neighbours
But a legacy of justice and equity swallowing up
A history of hatred, murder and greed.

Our age old portrait of community life
Weaved by numerous ethnic threads and binded
by a rare spirit of tolerance and hospitality
once again will be recaptured;
saved, reborn and revitalised city of Jos.