The Church (most of its leadership) is not doing well by keeping the scriptural truism from the laity. So many scriptural anomalies got ingested in the unsuspecting laity during the millennia of the hegemony of Catholicism. James Arminius, whose teachings sired the Remonstrance and their five points, the fifth of which states thus: “believers are able to resist sin but are not beyond the possibility of falling from grace. The crux of Remonstrant Arminianism lay in the assertion that human dignity requires an unimpaired freedom of the will.” Over 90% of Christians believe this Arminianistic didacticism (unfortunately).

                1Corinthians 1:30 says, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” where the ‘righteousness’ is, the Greek, dikaiosunē (dik-ah-yos-oo’-nay):‘equity (of character or act); specifically (Christian) justification.’ And 2Corinthians 5:21 has “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Dikaiosunē is the same Greek word for ‘righteousness’ here.

Matthew 16:18, “….and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Katischuo (kat-is-khoo’-o), that is the Greek for ‘prevail against’ which means ‘to overpower.’ Jesus says so clearly that none of His saved can be overpowered to fall into sin that will make him or her to lose heaven. This is the Bible. This verse points to the fact that it is absolutely incumbent upon Him to ensure our eventual heavenly citizenry the moment we pray the prayer of salvation. Jesus takes over our lives from then on.

Anyone who gets born again is a stone that has just been fix, permanently, in the building called Church. No satanic shenanigan can remove him from the structure whose erection is brought into a ginomai (made –righteous, that is) by Him who is the Architect, Draughtsman and the Bricklayer of the Church, the mystical body of His own being. God will never use an element which will become ineffectual to build the Church! The gates of Satanism cannot overpower a true Christian. A true Christian is a person who has professed the Lordship of Jesus.

John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  ‘Life’ is zoe (dzow-ay’) ‘1. life-above 2. epithet of Jesus (John 14).’ Zoe comes from zao (dzah’-o) ‘1. to live {literally or figuratively}.’ It is in contrast to another Greek word, bios (bee’-os) ‘1. natural, physical life 2. (literally) the present state of bodily existence 3. (by implication) the means of livelihood.’ ‘More abundant’ is the Greek perissos (per-is-sos’) ‘1. superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality) 2. (by implication) excessive.’

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” To understand the unique profundity of this asseveration let us begin with ‘I am.’ When you read this verse from the Septuagint ‘I am’ will be ego eime. When Moses asked God for His name, the Septuagint rendition is ego eime. The life, zoe, that Jesus is giving abundantly in this verse is God’s kind of life. It does not come to extermination and absolutely nothing can bring it to extinction.

What is the connection between the ‘I am’ and the shepherd? Psalm 23 opens with “The LORD is my Shepherd” where the title ‘LORD’ is Yhovah (yeh-ho-vaw’) ‘1. (the) self-Existent or Eternal 2. Jehovah, Jewish national name of God.’ In Psalm 80 the first verse reads: “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.” If the Shepherd of this verse is not Jehovah God, then Jesus never trod upon the surface of this terra firma. So, when Jesus declared, “I am the good shepherd” the definite article points in the direction of the One no Israelite would feign not to know: the Almighty LORD God of Israel! Amen!

Get born again by praying this prayer with all your heart and truthfully: Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins and You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory, Amen.        (…to be continued…)

Click here to read part II

Click here to read part IV

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