ARE YOU A WISE BELIEVER? (Part 1-3)

Eric Aboadwe
April 21

ARE YOU A WISE BELIEVER? (Part 1)

Our Scripture reading in our new study series is taken from Galatians where it is written:

“O FOOLISH Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the TRUTH, before whose eyes JESUS CHRIST was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the WORKS of the LAW, or by hearing of FAITH? Are you so FOOLISH? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the FLESH?” (Galatians 3:1-3).

We THANK our Creator and Saviour Who satisfies us with “GOOD things” which comes from His Word, so that our youth is renewed like the eagle (Psalm 103:5). To be honest, when I am preparing the messages, I personally do not know what the next topic will be, but our God gives us as it seems good in His sight, and He enable us to learn more by expounding on a particular passage of Scripture.

JESUS is the LORD of the Scripture. This is because He is the Word (John 1:1), and He is the One who takes us through them by His “Spirit” who TEACHES us all things and bringing into our REMEMBRANCE all that He told us (John 14:26) as revealed in the four Synoptic GOSPEL (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and through His anointed Apostles and Prophets from both the Old and the New Testament.

Our study topic which is in a form of a question is a very IMPORTANT question. It says, “ARE YOU ARE WISE BELIEVER?” However, whether our answer is “YES” or “NO” must be based on the Holy Scriptures which has no defects or blemishes, and which makes no mistake. This is because our own criteria of judging who is “WISE” and who is a “FOOL” is completely different from how God “SEES” and judges just as He told Samuel the Prophet (1 Samuel 16:7).

Throughout the Bible, one person whose acts or deeds compelled many people to label him as “FOOLISH” is none other than King Solomon. And their bases for labeling him as such is because they just cannot fathom why he had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3). But through our subsequent studies, you will see that still Solomon is far BETTER and “WISE” than the majority of Christians of today.

In other words, our Scripture reading in Galatians will prove to us that even Solomon was “WISE” than many of his ACCUSERS of today in Christendom. And as we proceed further in our studies, you will see that many Christians have also married MANY women spiritually which is even more “FOOLISH” and DANGEROUS than what King Solomon did.

Now I want us to look at the REASONS why the Apostle Paul and for that matter the “Word” of God labelled the Galatians as “FOOLISH” believers even though they accepted JESUS as their Lord and personal Saviour.

First of all, Paul began by saying, “O FOOLISH Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the TRUTH.” Here we must understand that the “TRUTH” refers to JESUS CHRIST according His own words in John 14:6. Therefore Paul was saying that any believer or Christian who does not “obey the TRUTH” which says that JESUS “came by water and blood” (1 John 5:6) to SAVE us by “GRACE” (Ephesians 2:8) is actually the most “FOOLISH” person ever.

Secondly, the REASON why Paul labelled the Galatians as “FOOLISH” believers is because of his second (2nd) rhetorical question when he told them, “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the WORKS of the LAW, or by hearing of FAITH?” Here Paul was saying that any believer or Christians who attempts to received the Holy Spirit by trying to achieve “holiness” through the “WORKS” of the “LAW” of Moses is also a “FOOLISH” believer.

Not only this, but we must also know that those who attempt to receive “the Spirit” through their own “WORKS” such as fasting and prayers are also “FOOLISH.” In other words, Christians who do not believe in the SALVATION of JESUS CHRIST by the “hearing of FAITH” are the ones who live in the highest level of STUPIDITY. This is exactly how the “Word” of God describes such believers. It is according to the “Word” of God and not according to Brother Eric.

Thirdly, the REASON why Paul labelled the Galatians as “FOOLISH” believers is because of his third (3rd) rhetorical question when he asked them, “Are you so FOOLISH? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the FLESH?” Here we can see the WISDOM of Apostle Paul. He was a “WISE” believer and a “WISE” Apostle because he drew the clear line of demarcation between “the Spirit” and the “the FLESH.”

The Apostle Paul never made that mistake to mix the things of the “Spirit” which is according to “FAITH” and the things of the “FLESH” which according to “WORKS” together. But rather he separated these two things, and he WORSHIPED God by “FAITH” in the things of the “Spirit.” That’s why he told us in Romans, “I thank God – through JESUS CHRIST our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the LAW of God, but with the FLESH the Law of SIN” (Romans 7:25).

This the reason why Paul and all the Apostles of CHRIST were very “WISE.” But what about the Galatians? They were very “FOOLISH!” Why? Because they did not “serve” the “LAW” of God with their “mind,” but they attempted to serve the holy “LAW” of the Most High with their “FLESH” which is impossible for any man to achieve.

What about the Christians of today? In fact most of them are also “FOOLISH” just like the Galatians who appear in our main passage of Scripture reading. Majority of Christens are just like Nicodemus. When JESUS told him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is BORN AGAIN, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” (John 3:5), Nicodemus replied, “How can a man be BORN when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be BORN?” (John 3:4).

Here in the above passage, we can see that even though Nicodemus was a great Rabbi among the Jews, his “FOOLISHNESS” was revealed in his reply to JESUS. He was really a “FOOLISH” Rabbi. But thanks to JESUS who helped Nicodemus to understand the whole concept when he told him, “Unless one is BORN AGAIN of the water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is BORN of the FLESH is FLESH, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit” (John 3:4-6).

So here, we can see that JESUS also drew the clear line of demarcation to Nicodemus, and He told him that he (Nicodemus) must not mix being born of the “FLESH” with being “BORN AGAIN” of His water and the Spirit which are parallel to each other because they can never meet or intersect. This was the main PROBLEM with Galatians and many Christians of today whose “BORN AGAIN” is according to their performance in obeying the “LAW” with their “FLESH” which is more stinky than excreta (faeces, sweat, and urine).

If human excreta such as faeces, sweat, and urine is in the “FLESH,” can it obey the Holy and just “LAW” of the Lord God Almighty? After the FALL of man, our bodies were degenerated into this state of hopelessness, and nothing can CHANGE it unless our “soul” is “BORN AGAIN” through the BAPTISM, the BLOOD and RESURRECTION of CHRIST.

We must all be Christians who are “WISE” and not “FOOLISH.” This is because whether we are spiritually “WISE” or “FOOLISH” will determine whether we will enter the “Kingdom of God” or not. The reason for this is because those who are spiritually “FOOLISH” will be DECEIVED by Satan just as he did to the Galatians, and he will take such people along with him to hell.

Our study continues...........

















Eric Aboadwe
April 25

ARE YOU A WISE BELIEVER? (Part 2)

Our Scripture reading is taken once again from Galatians:

“O FOOLISH Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the TRUTH, before whose eyes JESUS CHRIST was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the WORKS of the LAW, or by hearing of FAITH? Are you so FOOLISH? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the FLESH?” (Galatians 3:1-3).

In our previous study, we were able to analyze from the above passage the three (3) REASONS why the Apostle Paul labelled the Galatians as “FOOLISH” believers based on his three (3) rhetorical questions which were to draw their minds in recovery concerning how they have erred in FAITH.
Paul the Apostle actually REBUKED the Galatians so harshly for this because he said that their erroneous FAITH renders our Lord and Saviour to have “died in vain” (Galatians 2:21).

This was a serious matter spiritually because it was a matter of Heaven and Hell. As Christians, we can only enter the “Kingdom of God” by FAITH in the “RIGHTEOUSNESS” of CHRIST, and not by our own acts or “GOOD” deeds which God sees as “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).

The truth is that the Galatians begun WELL in their FAITH in the Lord JESUS. They believed in the BAPTISM of JESUS which fulfilled “all RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Mathew 3:15). That’s why Paul told them that, “For as many as of you as were BAPTIZED into CHRIST have put on CHRIST” (Galatians 3:27). However, later they corrupted their FAITH in the Lord, and they believed in man-made doctrines which leads to Hell.

That’s why in Chapter 2, Paul explained that what happened to the Galatians is something that “occurred because of FALSE brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy our LIBERTY which we have in CHRIST JESUS, that they might bring us into BONDAGE), to whom we did NOT yield submission even for an hour, that the TRUTH of the gospel might continue with you” (Galatians 2:4-5).

Therefore those who get offended and who think that Paul was so harsh to use the word “FOOLISH” have a problem due to their FLESHLY thoughts. If somebody in the beginning of his FAITH chose “Heaven” through the “RIGHTEOUSNESS” of JESUS, and he later on reverse his decision to choose “Hell” by believing in man-made doctrines, do we want the Apostle Paul to refer to such a person as a “WISE” person? We must call a spade a spade!

In fact such a person is not “WISE” as people want us to believe, but he is a “FOOLISH” person who didn’t use his God-given “WISDOM” to reject anything which comes from Satan. If somebody welcomes Satan under his roof and eats with Satan, can he be a “WISE” person? If the Devil holds somebody’s hand to take him to “Hell” and the person agrees, do you want such a person to be called a “WISE” person? We must throw away any attempts to “PLEASE” human beings and call a spade a spade.

That’ why the Apostle Paul said in the same Book of Galatians, “For do I now PERSUADE men, or God? Or do I speak to PLEASE men? For if I still PLEASED men, I would not be a bondservant of CHRIST” (Galatians 1:10). Paul did not make any mistake concerning this, but he maintain his spiritual composure, and he spoke what God told him to speak, and not according to the DESIRES of “men.” That’s why he did not mince his words to refer to them “FOOLISH” because they deserve it.

The Corinthians on the other hand were very “CANAL,” and Paul refer to them as such. He told them, “For you are still CARNAL. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not CARNAL and behaving like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3). So if somebody claim he is born again, but he has some “envy” toward his own Brother or Sister instead of encouraging him or her, then he is indubitably a “CANAL” person. This is according to the “Word” of God, and it was something which was going on in the Church of Corinth.

However the difference between the Galatians and the Corinthians is that even though the Corinthians were “CANAL,” they did not mix their FAITH in the “RIGHTEOUSNESS” of JESUS CHRIST with the “LAW.” In other words, the Saints in Corinth did not make that mistake to mix the “LAW” and the “GRACE” together which is something that God hates the most. However the Galatians were doing the opposite, and this is the reason why Paul refer to them as “FOOLS.” He saw them like this in the sight of God and not in the sight of men.

But those who preach for their stomach, and “whose god is their BELLY” (Philippians 3:19), wanted the Apostle Paul to tell the Galatians, “O WISE Galatians?” But because Paul himself said that he did not live to “PLEASE” men, he called a spade a spade. So if you are truly born again of the “water and the Spirit,” and you cannot shine the true “LIGHT” in your former church whose doctrines are “FALSE,” and you are just mingling with them in music and dancing, then you cannot be a “bondservant” of JESUS CHRIST.

If our God and Saviour JESUS sent the “Holy Spirit” to us, and His “Spirit” actually came and bear witness to us by saying, “Their SINS and LAWLESS deeds I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17), and somebody believes in a pastor, a teacher or prophet who says that God still “remembers” our SINS and the person believes in that, then he is not different from the Galatians, and so he will receive the same title which Paul gave to the Galatians as “FOOLISH.”

If God says to us, “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the LORD, “Though your SINS are like scarlet, they shall be as WHITE as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as WOOL” (Isaiah 1:18), and a pastor who is a human being also tells us that God cannot wash away your SINS to become “WHITE as snow” and some people believe in the words of the pastor more than God’s “Word,” then such people are the ones of whom the Apostle Paul referred to as “FOOLISH” believers.

If JESUS told the Apostle Paul to write to us, which is “not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God” (2 Corinthians 3:3), and he wrote, and God sent the epistle to us, and He told us, “By that will we have been SANCTIFIED through the offering of the body of JESUS CHRIST once for all” (Hebrews 10:10), and a human being also tells us that we are not SANCTIFIED once and for all, but we are SANCTIFIED gradually, then whether we will be seen as “WISE” or “FOOLISH” in the sight of God will be based on any of these two which we believe as Christians.

That’s why JESUS said that, “WISDOM is justified by all her children” (Luke 7:35).

Our study continues.............







Eric Aboadwe
April 26

ARE YOU A WISE BELIEVER? (Part 3)

Galatians still remains our Scripture reading where we are told:

“O FOOLISH Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the TRUTH, before whose eyes JESUS CHRIST was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the WORKS of the LAW, or by hearing of FAITH? Are you so FOOLISH? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the FLESH?” (Galatians 3:1-3).

We THANK God once again for His “Word” of “TRUTH” which is our shield and buckler, and which has freed us from fear, doubt and dangers, so that we are not afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday (Psalm 91:4-6). Without the “Word” of the “TRUTH,” all these BLESSINGS cannot be ours. But THANKS to JESUS who has given these and many other BLESSINGS to us through His “RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Brethren, what is the NAME or TITLE of this Group which we are? It is called “THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD.” And I can confirm without any exaggeration that since this platform was formed for the Saints of God, everything that God has been teaching us on the platform is related to this very “RIGHTEOUSNESS” of God which I am talking about.
And we must really be THANKFUL to our GOD and Saviour JESUS for this because He has never “FAILED” us, not even once, to give us “our daily BREAD” (Matthew 6:11).

God feeds us every day as long we ruminate on His “Word” which we have already heard and which we are “BORN” with in the “HEART” of our “soul.” We must not forget that when JESUS (the Sower) was sowing the “seed” of His Word, He planted it in the “HEART” of our “soul” where the “GOOD ground” is located (Matthew 13:3-8).

God has been FEEDING us always through our personal study of the Bible, the NLM Books written by Rev Paul C.
Jong, and through the various messages posted by Brother Genesis Philip Boadu, Brother Eric Fordjour, Emmanuel Sarpong, Sister Jacinta, Brother Okorie, Emmanuel Sackey, and with other messages posted by our fellow Brethren on the platform irrespective of how small their messages or contributions may appear. Even if somebody post a message which says, “Behold” The LAMB of God who takes away the SIN of the world” (John 1:29), it is a spiritual FOOD for us.

God said in the Psalms, “I am the LORD your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your MOUTH wide, and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10). This is in accordance with God’s love and faithfulness towards us. He said that if only we will “open our MOUTH wide” in readiness by FAITH to eat His “Word,” He will always give this BREAD to His children to eat. It is a delicious food prepared by the “RIGHTEOUS” acts of JESUS which the Apostle Paul refer to as “One Man’s RIGHTEOUS act” (Romans 5:18).

When you look closely at our Scripture reading from Galatians 3:1-3, you can see that it talks about the “RIGHTEOUSNESS” of God even though the word “RIGHTEOUSNESS” is not mentioned in the passage. But the Galatians were feeding on a different FOOD prepared by human beings (false doctrines), and they were turning away from this priceless and precious “RIGHTEOUSNESS” of God. This was the main reason why Paul REBUKED them so harshly for this because he said that it is the most “FOOLISH” thing to do.

Those who are offended by the word “FOOLISH” must know that the “Word” of God does not only tell believers SWEET things and neither does He speak SWEET words even if we go WRONG or astray from the path of FAITH. But rather God “REBUKE” us in order to bring us on track to Himself when we err in the FAITH just like the Galatians. This is a fact that is proven over and over again in the Bible.

And do you know that the Apostle Peter was not far from being REBUKED? Peter was the one of whom JESUS said, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this ROCK I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). But the Apostle Paul REBUKED the Apostle Peter when he went astray from the FAITH. Therefore he said in the same Book of Galatians, “Now when Peter come to Antioch, I WITHSTOOD him to his face, because he was to be BLAMED” (Galatians 2:11).

When Paul says here in the above that he “WITHSTOOD” Peter to his “face,” it means that he REBUKED the Apostle Peter when he erred in the FAITH. This is because Peter was also mingling the “LAW” and the “GRACE” together in hypocrisy to the extent that Paul said that “the rest of the Jews played the HYPOCRITE with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their HYPOCRISY” (Galatians 2:13).

God really hates “HYPOCRISY.” He hates it when a
BELIEVER accept the fact that he cannot obey the “LAW” to be saved, but at the same time he is trying to establish his own “righteousness” by this very same “LAW.” God really detest this act of HYPOCRISY. Paul did not REBUKE Apostle Peter for his “WEAKNESSES” of the flesh because he himself was also beset by “WEAKNESSES,” and he was earnestly praying to the Lord JESUS to take away this from him (1 Corinthians 12:7-10).

But even in the midst of Paul’s “WEAKNESS,” our Saviour told him, “My GRACE is sufficient for you, for My STRENGTH is made perfect in WEAKNESS” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Therefore since Paul himself was living by the “GRACE” of God, there was no way he will REBUKE Peter for his fleshly “WEAKNESSES.” But he said that the reason why he REBUKED Peter was because, “I saw that they were not STRAIGHTFORWARD about the TRUTH of the gospel” (Galatians 2:14).

Here, the word “not STRAIGHTFORWARD” is another word for “HYPOCRISY.” In other words, when Paul says that the Apostle Peter and some believers were “not STRAIGHTFORWARD” about the TRUTH of the gospel, it means that Peter was saying something like, “We are saved by GRACE, but you must obey the LAW which says that a JEW must not keep company with or go to GENTILES, or eat with them.”

This is something that the Apostle Peter himself confessed in front of Cornelius and his household when God sent him to preach to Cornelius and his people (Acts 10:25-34). But Peter so soon forgot the LESSON which God taught him that he should not call anything which God has “CLEAN” as “UNCLEAN” (Acts 11:9), and he was playing the hypocrisy.

In conclusion, we cannot be classified as “WISE” believers if we mix the “LAW” and the “GRACE” together. It therefore behoves on us not to turn ourselves into, “O FOOLISH Galatians!” We may make a mistake in the FLESH, but we should never make any mistake spiritually by mixing the “LAW” and the “GRACE” together. This is because these two can never meet.

Our study continues..........