Do you know?
Genesis
Our Earth did not rotate on its axis or go around the Sun always. The sun was created on the fourth day after the replenishing of the Earth began.
At least the first three days of this Earth (and possibly the fourth) were not 24 hours long as there was nothing to measure time.
The landmass named Earth, its atmosphere called air or first heaven, the ocean, and the firmament, also called the sky or second heaven were created by God on the second day of the creation week.
The tree of Life, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and death to mankind have a deeper meaning than what they literally stand for.
There was no night for the first seven days in the region God created life. God Who is Light was present here for the whole first week.
The Bible talks about the circle of the earth, circle of heaven (sky), circle of the deep (ocean) and a circular horizon. The Bible has never supported a flat Earth theory.
The beginning
Angelic beings, the planet Earth, water, and fire were created much before the first day; they were created in the beginning, even before time. And heaven, also called the third heaven, God’s abode, has always existed.
God, the Father
God does not need a wife or a woman to beget children. He is the Creator and has power to bring forth children.
Jesus, as the Word of God, is God’s firstborn and was the only begotten long before I and others became His children.
The Word has always existed alongside the Speaker even in the eternity past.
The Holy Spirit has always existed as God’s breath.
While we read of polygamy, adultery and other sins committed by God-fearing people in the Bible, God never approves these nor does He overlook them. He always judges sin, big or small. Believers should not take such behavior as examples to emulate or follow. They are given to us as warnings.
Jesus, the Son of God
While the birth of Jesus was an indisputable historical event, nobody knows for sure the exact date as the calendar we follow today was not followed at that time in history.
There was no Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas at the birth of Jesus. This name is not even mentioned in the Bible.
The shepherds that visited the child Jesus at the manger worshipped the Child, not Joseph and Mary.
Three wise men didn’t visit Jesus; it could be two or more than three who brought three costly gifts.
The wise men didn’t visit the manger; they visited the house of the young Child Jesus (less than two years old).
The birth of Jesus was good news to all mankind, not just the Christians. There were no Christians at that time in history!
Jesus is the Savior of the world, not just Christians, which is a small population of the entire mankind.
Jesus did not lose His life on the cross; He gave His life there; He had the power to lay it down and take it back.
Jesus is not our Father but is our eldest brother in the family of God. Jesus is not betrothed to His daughter.
The Church of Jesus Christ
Jesus sent out His disciples to preach the gospel, not do social work. Any social work for the believers happened inside the Church.
The Bible does not recommend building churches, schools and colleges, seminaries, hospitals, and prayer towers and prayer mountains.
There is no mention of a Church, building or it’s property being passed on as inheritance to a wife (wives?), children or relatives of a ‘minister of God’.
No wife or children of a minister of God automatically qualifies as an heir to the ministry. The lazy, the lascivious, the lethargic, and the lucre-lovers cannot become pastors or evangelists.
Recommended ordnances
Women, married or not, are instructed to cover their heads inside the Church to show their agreement and faith in Christ being the Head of His Bride.
Washing of another’s feet not only exhibits humility, but also the need for mutual confession, instruction, and edification of the believers in a church fellowship.
Baptism by immersion in water is an external testimony of the death to the old self and the born-again experience that has already happened internally.
Mere baptism in water is not the salvation experience. Faith in the atoning death of Christ for the remission of sins and submissive repentance towards a new life in Christ is the true born-again experience.
Being born again and being baptized in water are not the same. Baptism is the external witnessing of the internal experience. Mere baptism does not save anybody.
Not all who are baptized in water and filled with the Spirit are guaranteed a direct entry into heaven. Only those who finish the course/ race of faith enter in. Falling from grace is a real possibility and is irreversible.
Christian behavior
As in the life of Paul, an instantaneous transformation of behavior happens during a born-again experience. Does not death occur instantly? And breathing of new life too?
Delayed obedience is disobedience. Repentance results in an instant reversal in course marked by an immediate submission to the word of God. Growing in faith is a life long experience.
I don’t have to pray to obey, to do the will of God, or to submit to His word. I need to decide willfully, and resolve to do these with all my heart willingly, instead of waiting for a vision, dream, revelation, or strength directly from God.
Cults and non-Christian beliefs
Like many blind beliefs held by the followers of the Christian religion, the ascension of Mary is not mentioned in the Bible.
Not all who follow a Christian religion are followers of Christ. Especially, Roman Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah’s witnesses, Seventh day Adventists and the Unified Church of God (that preach Jesus is the Father, Jesus is the Son, and Jesus is the Holy Spirit) are not Christians.
Those who idol worship Mary or other Saints or pray to them for intercession are Roman Catholics and Maryians, not Christians.
All who believe in the father, son and holy spirit need not be Christians. Even the Hindus believe in this trinity – sivan, kumaran / pillayaar and sakthi.
The continued sacrificing of goats, bulls, bakri (lamb), red vermillion applied Gourds, coconuts, and lemon (and bread and wine at an altar) is evidence of unbelief in the once and for all substitutionary shedding of blood of Jesus on the Cross.
Divine Healing
Jesus mentioned the need for consulting a doctor for our everyday bodily ailments. Jesus heals supernaturally all ailments, especially those that cannot be healed by a physician, disabilities by birth, or those caused due to spiritual reasons.
God is more concerned about the health of my soul than my body.
God might not always heal my physical ailment even after my praying for it.
God will not heal an unbeliever who would continue in sin or would return to one’s sinful ways.
God will not heal a believer who might become proud or puffed up because of his / her holiness or the gifts or revelation that God gives.
God will not heal or perform a miracle if mortal humans or servants of God get the glory.
Praying, Bible reading, and fasting
God is more concerned about why I do something than what I do or how I do it.
Prayer is seeking and desiring the will of God in my life; I pray continuously without ceasing; it is not a one-way communication.
Reading the Bible and praying does not make me pious; even AI powered Chatbots do them today.
Merely believing in God is not the mark of a Godly individual. Even demons believe in God. Obedience to God is the evidence of faith in God.
Anything that is not directly or implicitly mentioned in the Bible is certainly not worth my attention, time, money, efforts, or following.
Reading the Bible does not guarantee high marks in my exams in schools and colleges, or success in my day’s activities.
Reading the Bible and not receiving life from it is the same as not reading it at all.
Reading the Bible must not be for increasing my knowledge in it; it must be for experiencing what it says.
Winning the crown of righteousness is more important for me than winning a Bible Quiz or acquiring a degree or doctorate in it.
Fasting is setting aside earthly food and seeking the will of God and desiring His revelation from the word of God about anything I am not sure of. It is not arm-twisting God to achieve my goals.
Nowhere in the Bible do I find instructions to fast for three, seven, ten, or forty days. Nor am I asked to abstain from non-vegetarian food for forty days annually.
Worldly vs Spiritual
I cannot afford to lose the crown of righteousness to win worldly recognition, power, and position.
God does not promise me a own house, money and worldly wealth. Yes, He will provide food and clothing.
I don’t keep God’s commandments for fear of punishment or desiring reward. I do it because I love Him with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Loving God is equally important as loving my neighbor to the point where I am constrained to share the love of God with them.
Evangelism
Technology, a chief weapon used by the Enemy to destroy mankind, can be used against him to destroy the evil powers.
I am expected to be a witness for Christ in my public behavior and life than mouthing a witness about Him on a stage or at a special occasion.
My ministry does not begin and end with distributing tracts or even Bibles to unbelievers. The Holy Spirit empowers me to courageously testify for Jesus.
White dress does not always denote purity and holiness; even tombs are white; what is inside matters the most.
There is no mention of women apostles, pastors, and teachers in the Bible; women are instructed to remain silent in the church. However they should evangelize and help in ministry.
Every believer has the responsibility to share the gospel with others; it is not only the preachers on stage.
Christian giving
God looks at what I keep back for myself than what is offered for His ministry.
God is not seeking for my tithe or offerings; He wants my loving heart and my body as a living sacrifice.
Those who keep paying tithes are bringing themselves under a curse of the law of the Old Testament.
As per the New covenant, God wants my all, not just the ten percent of my material earnings.
God wants me – my spirit, soul, and body – more than my money.
I am accountable to God for not only my money but also for my time, my energy, and my talents and skills.
The Bible does not recommend handing over offerings to a minister of God. However, it does mention setting aside some money and collection of money for the benefit of the economically poor believers.
God is looking for people who sing for His glory, not the talent, tune, or music.
It doesn’t matter to God if I don’t hit the right notes while I sing for His glory.
Loving God
God’s love does not demand any materialistic things in return – money, gold, or property.
God does expect my love in return for His loving me – a genuine love for Who He is, not what He gives.
Loving God means obeying His word wholly, wholeheartedly, and enthusiastically, with an undivided heart.
God is more concerned about how and how much I love Him than just a verbal confession of love.
God's love
God so loves a sinner that He wants the sinner to come to Him repenting of his sins and seeking for forgiveness.
God does not love a sinner that does not want to repent and who wishes to continue in his sin.
God is zealous and angry towards hypocrites, liars, and deceivers.
Forgiveness
God forgives everyone but only those who come to Him repenting are forgiven.
God expects me to forgive everyone who has hurt me or sinned against me. However, this forgiveness becomes effective for those who repent of their actions and return to me for reconciliation. A backdoor entry with an unrepentant heart to renew the relationship is hypocrisy of the offender. None can fool God.
Salvation
Not all who have accepted Jesus Christ in their lives are saved; only those who are accepted by Him are saved.
God accepts everyone who wants Him exclusively and who leaves behind everything else that one had trusted life-long.
I and you are the reason for Jesus dying on the cross; it was not the Jews or Romans of His time.
Irrespective of one’s gender, God accepts every one of His children as His sons – everyone gets the same inheritance. (This is not the perverted inclusiveness of the LGBQAI+ sinners and supporters).
The baptism in the Spirit
The Holy Spirit is given to all who would believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The baptism or fullness of the Holy Spirit is the taking over of one’s entire life – spirit , soul, and body – by God.
The fullness of the Spirit is evident through the fruit that is produced by the individual.
The fullness of the Spirit also determines my right bearing, my humble attitude, and my sober mindset.
The fullness of the Spirit sanctifies my thought, word, and deed – my mind, my speech, and my behavior.
There is no need for a tarry meeting today to receive the Holy Spirit because the Spirit has already come to exists in the believers after the glorification of Jesus.
Prophecies will end and tongues will cease as they are temporary gifts for the edification of the early Church. Today, we have the written word in our language, revealing the will of God directly, implicitly, or illustratively.
Speaking in tongues is not the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit today. Fearless witnessing for Christ is. Peter, Paul and Apollo are examples.
Love, the fruit of the Spirit, is an everlasting evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Worldly prosperity
Jesus did not always bless individuals; He also cursed some of them for their hypocrisy and deceptive nature.
Worldly prosperity does not indicate God’s approval of our lifestyle or the blessing of God; it might very well indicate that the individual has bowed to Satan.
My worldly wealth will make it difficult for me to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is better to dispose it off as quickly as possible.
God wants my mind to be spiritually renewed actively; He does not want it to remain passive or idle. Those who practice Yoga or those involved deeply in video gaming are vulnerable.
Christian growth
God expects me to grow continuously in the nature of Christ, drawing nourishment from Him, and produce abundant good fruit.
God the Father will prune the branch that (in)tends to produce bad fruit and cut-off the branches that produce no fruit even after pruning.
Christian Church
We gather as a Church so that we contribute to each other’s spiritual growth, not always sitting as spectators. No cell in the body is inactive.
Believers are encouraged to counsel each others, not always sit, listening to the preaching of one person from the pulpit.
No New Testament church should have a pulpit and a pew, separating the ministers from the believers.
Every believer in Christ has the solemn duty to scripturally beseech, reprove, correct or instruct every other believer in Christ.
Every believer is advised to test every spirit, whether it is of God and to judge every prophecy whether it is from the Spirit of God.
Revelation
Revelation in the Bible is a ‘signified’ book, full of signs and symbols; it needs Spirit-led interpretation as demonstrated by the Lord Himself right in the first chapter.
Jesus Christ is returning only once as per His promise. He didn’t mention that it would be a two-phased return.
(A two-phased return of Jesus to two different places at two different times, for two different audiences, for two different purposes, in two different manners would make it two returns, not one.)
There will be just one last day for believers, for unbelievers, and this Earth and heavens; same day.
God has one plan of salvation for everyone, not one for the Jews and another for the Gentiles (non-Jews).
The first beast of Revelation thirteen is a kingdom according to Daniel’s vision and is a hybrid of three past kingdoms.
The second beast of Revelation thirteen is also a kingdom that will be the spokesperson of the first.
The first kingdom of Revelation thirteen will be fierce while the second will be a seemingly innocent-looking kingdom.
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