Kingdom Genomics

BIBLE TEXTS:

“But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep…” (2 Thes. 5:4-6)

“But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as the Angel of Light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.” (2 Cor. 11:14-15 GW)

The purpose of this writing is to awaken the possessors of eternal life in Christ to what is coming ahead. We are at the very end of the last days. In fact, we are in the night of the last days, waiting for the breaking of the day of the Lord, when there “…shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Mat. 24:30).

God loves His children so much that He would not leave them in darkness of confusion. He will make His plan known to them. “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amo. 3:7). The eternal plan of God is summed up in God’s dear Son—Jesus Christ. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of God’s eternal purpose. To understand the beginning of the purpose of God is to know Jesus, and to know how the whole plan will play out in the end is to know Jesus. All prophecies will find their fulfilment in Christ, and that is why the testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10).

The satanic deception that is coming, which already is beginning to play out, is part of the events of the last days which God’s children must be aware of, and they are to position themselves rightly to be able to withstand it (Eph. 6:11 & 13), because it will shake the entire world. It is part of what must happen before the appearing of the Great King—Jesus. This deception was the first statement of Jesus when His disciples asked Him of what the sign of His coming and the end of the world shall be.

“And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when shall these things be?’ And what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, “Take heed that no man DECEIVE you.” (Mat. 24:3-4)

No prayer will avert this deception from happening; it is this deception that will usher in all the evil that will eventually play out in the last days; however, the saints can endeavour to position themselves rightly not to be overcome by it. We are to be aware to “take heed”, as Jesus forewarned (Mat. 24:4). Peter the apostle said, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (2 Pet. 2:1). This deception that will be revealed in the night of the last days will combine all of Satan’s strategies in the world to unfold. These strategies are “…the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life…” (1 Jn. 2:17).

The lie that is masquerading in this deception is not going to be defined as just the opposite of truth but as something very close to the truth, which is not THE TRUTH. To make the dispensation of this deception more subtle, there will be counterfeits of the gifts of the Spirit, especially the power gifts, that will produce undeniable results. The deception will be directed at the saints who are keeping the testimony of Jesus Christ to attack the very core and ground of their faith in Jesus Christ. The deception will come with undeniable proofs with the manifestation of miracles, signs and wonders (Mat. 24:24). Saints whose focus is on the “things of God” (materialistic consumables) and not on Jesus Christ Himself will easily be deceived. During this darkest moment of deception, people will follow anything that has the shining appearance of light, especially the ones looking for signs and miracles. People shall “…wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek…” for the light of life (Amos 8:11-13; John 8:12). Satan will release his seducing spirits into the world; he will present them deceitfully as angels of light. It will then be fulfilled that which was said by Paul the apostle: “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:14).

The kind of crisis this deception will bring in, though orchestrated by the devil, will, however, be used by God to blow away the chaff from the wheat—the Bride of His beloved Son. Jesus said, “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor and will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.” (Luk. 3:17). This crisis will shake the entire body of Christ to separate the things that are temporal from the eternal realities. The writer of Hebrew said, “Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.'” And this word, “Yet once more”, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain” (Heb. 26:27). The crisis generated by this deception will become that which God will use to separate the things that are ordained by God from things that are not initiated by Him.

This darkest moment of the last days will be filled with confusions, tribulations, pains, frustrations and distractions that will all shake the entire system of the world. This shaking will make the world vulnerable to deception. When this happens, agents of darkness will deceitfully grant succour to the world, which is another attempt to further reinforce this evil deception to mislead people (including the chosen ones) into falsehoods, apostasy and destruction. The Word from the LORD will become rare in this darkest night, and revelatory visions will be infrequent (1 Sam. 3:1). And that is why God will raise in these last days New Testament “Eli(s)”, who will teach and instruct the young “Samuels” of this generation (1 Sam. 3:7-11):

1. How to remain in God’s presence

2. How to recognise the voice of God

3. How to respond to the Voice of God

4. How to understand the Word of God’s eternal plan

5. How to know that it is God talking and not man or Satan.

The prophecy revealed that “Darkness now covers the earth, and thick darkness covers the nations…” (Isa. 60:2 GW). This darkest moment of the last days will be just as Amos has prophesied that there would be “…a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.” (Amos 8:11-13).

The Word of God will always be available, but it will not come in the way many people are currently used to. That is why it will appear as if the Word of God is no longer forthcoming. People are used to the Word of God coming forth in a charismatic or dramatic way. But in the night of the last days, the Word of God may not come with charismatism, because deception would have wrapped itself in charismatism (with counterfeits of spiritual gifts) to mislead many, especially in the religious circles (church denominations), because that is what they respond to and are used to.

“And he said, ‘Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice” (1Kg. 19:11-12).

Earthquake and stormy or windy experiences will not be used to reveal the intentions of God like we are used to in the last days. God will speak and reveal His plan in a way we are not used to. Charismatic big gatherings with sophisticated sounds, lighting and decorations may not be the avenue where God’s intentions are revealed. God will speak to His children in a way that only those who have been with the Lord will be able to recognise His voice, which is different from the conventional. Just like the recorded experience of Elijah the prophet, he had been with the God; he was able to recognize and hear God in a “still small voice”. There were voices in the earthquake, but he didn’t hear the Voice of God in the earthquake; there were voices in the wind and in the fire, Elijah could not recognize the Voice of God in those dramatic experiences, which are synonymous with the current charismatic move in the Christian communities. Of course, God at times had spoken in the midst of earthquake, wind or fire (Exd. 91:16-19), but will in these last days speak to His children through His Son, living in them by His Spirit of Truth (Heb. 1:1-2; Jn. 16:13-15). Only the true sheep will be able to know and follow the voice of the good shepherd in the last days (Jn. 10:14). The true sheep won’t follow the voice of strangers no matter how charismatic these voices may sound (Jn. 10:5).

“The Holy Spirit has explicitly revealed: at the end of this age, many will depart from the true faith one after another, devoting themselves to spirits of deception and following demon-inspired revelations and theories. Hypocritical liars will deceive many, and their consciences won’t bother them at all! (1 Tim. 4.1-2. TPT).

This piece concerning the battle against seducing spirits is not to scare the saints but to enable the saints to become aware of what is to come and to be prepared for victory as we remain in and with the person of truth — Jesus Christ. As stated, no prayer or fasting can avert the deception of the last days, and we cannot run away from it. Revealing how the deception will unfold is God’s way of preserving the saints to help the saints know what they are up against in the night of the last days and to awaken them to the truth so that they will be able to stand on the evil day (Eph. 6:11), that they don’t sleep but stand their ground in Christ—the Ground of Victory (Jn. 16:33; 1Jn. 5:4-5).

In the night of these last days, many of the faithful ones who have not been lured into deception will be tired of soul winning. The falsehoods paraded by the false messengers of light with signs and wonders will dissuade many from following Christ. The deception will make evangelism difficult. The messages from the seducing spirits will appear very true to the people, which will build strong demonic strongholds in their minds. This will make soul winning difficult for the faithful ones in Christ, and to penetrate the hearts of men with the Word of God will be a warfare. The resistance to God’s word will be massive, because it will be so hard to distinguish true light and darkness masquerading as “false light”. The only way to clearly differentiate the truth from falsehood in the last days will be to watch out for the fruit of the Spirit and not the gifts of the Spirit, even though the gifts of the Spirit have their place in the plan of God. (Mat. 7:16; Gal. 5:22-23). This is because the gifts of the Spirit can be mimicked by the seducing spirits, with undeniable proofs (especially miracles, signs and wonders)—(Mat. 24:24). Therefore, gifts of the Spirit and church–charismatic–life will not be considered the basis of differentiating the Spirit of Christ from the spirit of antichrist. Discerning spirits through the manifestation of gifts will be difficult in the night of the last days. The experience of soul winning will be characterised by toiling, just like the experience of Simon Peter, when he had toiled and caught nothing. This is because the counterfeits manifested by the seducing spirits will also produce undeniable proofs, which will dissuade many into error and lead people away from Christ, like the magicians in Egypt did before Pharaoh and Moses when Aaron’s rod turned to a serpent. The magicians reproduced the same result (Exd. 7:11-12). The harvest of the false apostles of Satan will be abundant, which will fulfil what Jesus said, that the false prophets will deceive “many” (Mat. 24:5).

The chosen ones in Christ will go out in the night of the last days as “fishers of men”; with the mind that the best time for kingdom harvest is in the night of the last days, they will forget that they (the chosen) are the children of the day and not of the night; the night is the time when the evil ones will execute their operations. Jesus said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” The night of the last days is not for the work of harvest; it is for something profound in the eternal plan of God that will usher in a bountiful harvest in the breaking of the day. The Gospel of Luke gave a prophetic account to illustrate this:

“And it came to pass that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret.” And saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, ‘Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.’ And Simon answering said unto him, ‘Master, we have TOILED all the NIGHT and have taken nothing; nevertheless, at thy WORD I will let down the net.’ And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net broke.” (Luke 5:1-6)

On the night of the last days, all the evangelistic strategy designed by men to bring souls into the Kingdom will fail. Only the Lord will usher in the harvest by His divine power. It is a time of gross darkness. The messengers of darkness will vehemently launch attacks to destroy the work of God on earth, but their operation is only for the night. There will be weeping in the night, but great joy will come at the breaking of the day (Psa. 30:5). The night of the last days is the time for the faithful ones in Christ to be watchful in faith and prayers. Jesus said, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” (Luke 21:36). The saints are to wait on the Lord—who is the Bright and Morning Star—for instruction (Rev. 22:16); He will destroy the works of the devil when His light appears in the morning (1 Jn. 3:8). If the saints work in the night trusting or depending on their human strategies for harvest, they will end up toiling. In the night of the last days, the chosen ones in Christ are to prayerfully and patiently wait on the Lord of harvest himself to bring a great Kingdom harvest. Harvest in the last days is dependent on the instruction from the Lord, not on human wisdom or strategy.

John the apostle forewarned and said, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 Jn. 4:1 KJV). In John’s day, the basis for discerning spirits was based on the confession of the Lordship of Christ and the incarnation of Christ. John said, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.:And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world” (1Jn.4:2-3 KJV).

In the night of the last days, the false prophets will confess that Jesus is the Christ—the Anointed One sent by God; they will profess Jesus as the Lord and as Christ, meaning that they will declare His incarnation to be the truth. But the Lord Jesus Himself had already given us the basis to discern the Spirit of Truth from the lying spirits. Jesus Christ forewarned in the Gospel of Matthew and said:

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. YE SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUIT. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone that says unto me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?’ and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mat. 7:15-23).

The fruit of the Spirit will be the basis to discern the true from the false and the good from the evil. The Fruit of the Spirit is the exact character of Christ that reveals His life and nature.

Paul wrote:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22-23).

The operations of the Spirit of Truth will be recognised by:

1. The love of Christ

2. The joy of Christ

3. The peace of Christ

4. The long-suffering of Christ

5. The gentleness of Christ

6. The goodness of Christ

7. The faith of Christ

8. The meekness of Christ

9. The temperance of Christ

Why did Jesus tell us to look for the fruit in discerning the nature of spirits?

1. Fruit cannot be mimicked. A tree produces a kind of fruit which cannot be mimicked by a different tree.

2. Fruit is a visible expression of the life of a tree (and the source can be recognised).

3. A tree is called by its fruit. The fruit tells us about the tree.

4. Fruit is solely produced for others. This reflects the selflessness of Christ.

5. The seed of the tree is found in the fruit. When others pluck to eat, the seed in the fruit goes with them and is planted in their lives.

6. People don’t throw stones or sticks at fruitless trees. When a tree is constantly attacked, it is because of the fruit. The work of Satan is to battle against the truth.

7. Fruit takes time to grow before harvest (this reflects the patience of Christ).

8. Fruit doesn’t appear by magic. It is a product of growth in the knowledge of Christ (2 Pet. 3:18).

The saints will be able to recognise the operations and manifestations of the Spirit of Truth by the Fruit of the Spirit (the character of Christ). Gifts can be mimicked and be manifested in the flesh, but the fruit of the character of Christ cannot be mimicked and can only be produced or manifested by the Spirit.

The Bible also recorded how to distinguish between the wisdom of God that is from above and demonic wisdom that is earthly, which is by recognising the kind of fruit it produced.

“This wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife are, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good FRUITS, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the FRUIT of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” (Jam. 3:15-18).

James in the above scripture revealed that the fruit will reveal the wisdom of God in Christ; that is, the wisdom from above will manifest the righteousness of Christ, the gentleness of Christ, the peace of Christ, and the purity of Christ. The wisdom from above can easily be entreated. All these attributes reveal the character of Christ.

Saints, we must not be found sleeping in the night of the last days, “…knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.” (Rom. 13:11-14 KJV).

Grace Always

The old generation (the fathers) should not be discouraged or lose hope thinking they are no longer fit for the next move of God’s agenda on earth, and the new generation (the children) should not overrate themselves because of their great strength, especially now that knowledge is increasing in their time, but rather they should learn to receive instruction and godly counsel for maturity.

God is not going to raise His army for the next move either from the old generation or the new generation of believers, but He is going to raise His army from both generations. Both generations have their roles in God’s agenda. In God’s eternal programme and ongoing warfare, the fathers and children are all going to be part of God’s formidable army.

From the old generation will come forth a group of Joshuas and Calebs, who have been discipled in Christ by the Word of God, grounded in faith that works by love. These ones will train and lead the New Generation to develop the spiritual capacity to conquer both physical and spiritual territories as declared by the Spirit of Prophecy.

Before this great move, there would first be a revolution that will bring the old generation and the new generation together in the spirit of oneness. The old generation will give attention to listening to the new generation and see their importance as part of those God is using to build His Kingdom, and this move will humble the new generation to honour the old generation to receive counsel from them to grow up in the faith of Christ and to develop capacity for victory.

This revolution is what is best called “THE MALACHI REVOLUTION OF UNIFICATION”.

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he shall turn and reconcile the hearts of the [estranged] fathers to the [ungodly] children, and the hearts of the [rebellious] children to [the piety of] their fathers [a reconciliation produced by repentance of the ungodly], lest I come and smite the land with a curse and a ban of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4:5-6 AMP)

The war between the fathers and children will be put to an end. Because the fathers want to be honoured, and the children want to be heard. This revolution will bring a reconciliation that will make the fathers listen to the children, and this will bring the children to humility in honouring the fathers. This reconciliation will bring great harmony to the Body of Christ.

Who will make the first move, to bring about this great reconciliation, the fathers or the children? The move towards this great reconciliation will start from the fathers, according to Malachi 4:6. The fathers (old generation) will first turn their hearts to the children, and the children will have no option but to do the same. For this to happen, God will first raise a group of people (the Elijahs), who will initiate this great revolution. They will declare the counsel of the Lord by the Holy Spirit, to prepare the hearts of the fathers and children for this revolution. After this revolution, the kingdom of darkness will shake, and Christ the King will recover more grounds (the hearts of men) to enlarge His realm of dominion for His coming reign on earth. The Lord Jesus Christ will reign as the great King, and both the fathers and the children will reign as princes, exercising the dominion of God’s righteousness on earth (Isaiah 32:1). Selah!

(@ 08:00 pm, 21st July, 2025)

✍️Gracious Evans

Bible Text:
“Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity those who come to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them.” (Heb. 7:25 AMP).

This article is written under the inspiration of the scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17):

1. To make people understand the concept of God’s grace in Jesus Christ with all simplicity

2. To know how to appropriate the grace of God in our lives

3. To know why we can trust and have confidence in the grace of God in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

This article is aimed at helping people understand a little bit more about the concept of God’s grace. I found out that we cannot walk in the reality of what we don’t know. It is the truth that we know that will set us free (Jn. 8:32), which also means we cannot be freer than what we know. We will enjoy our freedom in Christ to the extent of our knowledge of Him (Gal. 5:1). We need to establish some fundamental gospel truths to help us have a clear understanding of the subject matter.

Jesus said, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness…” (Mat. 6:33 KJV). These words of Jesus conveyed the life of His kingdom. It explained what the kingdom life is. The verse of that gospel of John did not convey the idea of the kingdom of God as a place (i.e., not as a thing of geographical location), but it conveyed an idea of a life! Understanding context enables us to have accurate interpretation of the Bible, and to achieve this, we should always allow the Bible to explain itself to us and not read our thoughts into the Bible. The Bible says, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” In context, the word “and” in that verse is from the Greek word “kai”, translated as “even” or “which is also”.  So, let us substitute “which is also” in the verse. It will be like this:

“But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, WHICH IS ALSO His righteousness…”. It means the Kingdom of God is the righteousness of God. So, what Jesus said was that the Kingdom of God is God’s righteousness. That’s very clear! Let’s confirm this with another verse of the Bible. Paul wrote to the Roman saints, and he said,

“For the KINGDOM of God is not meat and drink but RIGHTEOUSNESS…” (Rom. 14:17 KJV, emphasis added).

From those verses of scriptures in context, we can clearly see that righteousness is the life of the Kingdom of God.

What is righteousness according to the Bible? Righteousness from the New Testament Greek word “dikaiosunē”, which was translated as “character or act of equity” and “justification” (according to Strong’s Concordance). Thayer defined “righteousness” as “the condition acceptable to God” (Thayer’s definition of Hebrew and Greek Words). We can therefore say that righteousness means an equitable character or a justifiable character that is acceptable to God.

What is the meaning of the Kingdom according to the Bible? The word “kingdom” is from the Greek word “basileia”, which is translated as “rule” or a “realm” (Strong Concordance). Thayer defined “kingdom” as “royal power”, “kingship”, “dominion” and “rule” (Thayer’s Definition of Hebrew and Greek Words).

By putting all of these thoughts together, we will clearly understand what Jesus was saying. As the principal thing, we should seek to come under the dominion of God, which is the manifestation of His righteousness — the justifiable character that finds expression from His life. The kingdom of God is not a thing of a geographical location that can be seen with our eyes.” Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed’ (Luk 17:20 NIV).

“The kingdom of God is receiving the life of God in Christ to express His righteousness. The kingdom of God is a life that is established within, with the purpose of giving expression to the life in righteousness.”

Jesus said:
“For behold the kingdom of God is within you (in your hearts) and among you (surrounding you)” (Luk. 17:21 AMP).

Jesus is the standard of God’s righteousness. He is the only man that has fulfilled the righteousness that was demanded by the law of God (Mat. 3:15; 5:17). So, anybody who has not lived or will not live the way Jesus lived is not going to be acceptable to God. Jesus is the beloved son of God with whom He is well pleased (Mat. 3:17; 17:5). The standard of righteousness that the Law of God demanded was so strict and stringent that the Bible says:

“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it’ (Jas 2:10).

The Kingdom Life is the manifestation of God’s righteousness — the character that is justifiable before God. It is the character that flows from the life of God; no fault is found traceable to this kind of life. No law can find any fault against this kind of life (Gal. 5:22-23). Righteousness is the manifestation of God’s kind of life in Christ.

Jesus is the only man that has lived this kind of life. He was tempted at all points, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15 NIV). The righteousness of God in Christ is the standard of righteousness that God demands from every man, but no man could live up to this standard. God therefore made this kingdom life available in Christ by grace through faith. But thanks be to God, in Christ, God accepts man just as God has accepted Christ in Himself. In Christ, man has fulfilled the law for righteousness. If a man therefore wants to live by the law apart from Christ for his own righteousness, he must keep the whole law and not stumble at any point; but the law has condemned all men as sinners (Rom. 3:23) because of the inability of man to keep the righteous demands of the law. Through faith in Jesus Christ (who is the standard of God’s righteousness), those who could not keep the law for righteousness are freely justified and gifted with the righteousness of God (Rom. 5:17). All who have been condemned under the law as sinners now … are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24 NIV). This means that “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. (Rom. 10:4 NIV).

Many believers of Christ today sincerely want to live the kingdom life; that is, they want to live in the way that is acceptable to God, but they do so by trying to mix their abilities or works with God’s grace. They indeed want to live righteously, but they try to live not depending on God’s grace in Christ. They intend to live according to God’s standard of righteousness by observing certain rules, relying on their abilities. Their perception suggests to them that receiving God’s grace is to help them keep the Law for righteousness. Grace is not received to enable us to keep the law for righteousness; grace is received to reign in life, which is manifesting the life of God’s righteousness. The Bible states that:

“For if by the transgression of one man, death spread its dark shadow and reigned through that one man’s sin, how much more will those who receive the abundance of God’s glorious grace, the gift of righteousness, reign as kings in the realm of life through the One, Jesus Christ!” (Rom. 5:17 TPT)

We do not receive grace from God to keep the law. The grace of God is not to enable us to keep the law. In Christ, we have fulfilled the law when we received Jesus as our righteousness (Rom. 10:4; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21). Now that we have received abundant grace, we are not designed to keep the law; we are designed as God’s workmanship in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5:17 & 21) to reign as kings in God’s kingdom of righteousness through the eternal life that we have received in Christ Jesus (Isa. 32:1; 1 Jn. 5:11-13). The law is not made for those who have received the righteousness of God (1 Tim. 1:9 KJV). Those who have received the gift of God’s righteousness by grace through faith are born to reign in life, manifesting the character of Christ to the world.

But it is so sad today that many believers started on the foundation of grace through faith, and at a point in their walk, they stop depending on the grace of God for righteousness and life. This is actually what Paul the apostle regarded as the perversion of the gospel in his epistle to Galatians. These believers started by God’s gift of grace but resulted in works to stand approved before God. They thought faith in Jesus Christ was not enough again. Which means trusting Jesus for His life no longer has the ability to keep them spiritual.

In the gospel of Christ, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, not from faith to works (Rom. 1:17 KJV). It means we receive the gift of righteousness from God by faith, and we continue to walk in the righteousness of God by faith. The Bible says:

“”So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him” (Col. 2:6 NIV).

We received all that God has made available in Christ for us in Christ by faith, and we are to continue in them by faith. Praise God.

So, now that we are in Christ, trying so hard to please God by relying on our ability to keep certain rules or religious standards to become acceptable to God is a perversion of the Gospel of Christ.

Jesus, many times as recorded in the Gospels, used earthly or physical realities to explain spiritual realities to convey His message with simplicity for comprehension. In the Gospels, He used illustrations and, many times, parables to communicate kingdom truths. This He did, to communicate His idea and purpose for mankind.

I will use an illustration to explain the concept of God’s grace. Sometimes, to understand spiritual realities, using earthly realities can be helpful (Jn. 3:12). If we don’t understand the concept of God’s grace, we won’t enjoy its workings in our lives experientially in reality.

To illustrate the concept of grace, it is like you are travelling to a place like the United States of America from Nigeria, and to get there, you need to travel by air. You cannot get to America by yourself. You don’t have wings to fly, so you need something that has the ability to carry you there safely and fast — an aeroplane. When you are in that plane, what you do is that you look for a seat to sit and relax. The job of the plane is to carry you. You are not the one carrying the plane; it is the plane’s work to carry you. The plane bears your whole weight and loads. Inside the plane, you don’t do anything other than sit and rest! What you are doing is that you are resting on the work that has been done on the plane to carry you to your destination.

It is, however, foolish for a man to be in an aircraft and still want to fly by himself. Inside the aircraft, you don’t do anything; if there is anything to do, it is to sit, relax and rest. There is no working, running or flying to get to your destination inside the plane. If you could fly to America by yourself, you wouldn’t enter the plane to begin with. But because you don’t have the ability to fly in/by yourself, you need the plane to fly you to your destination. Now that you are in the plane, you trust that the plane will carry you, and you relax knowing that the pilot will do his job. You have so much confidence that the plane will definitely carry you to your destination, home and dry.

It is, however, sad that people have such great confidence in a plane and have that great trust in an earthly pilot but never have such faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to help them live right before God. If we can have such confidence in man’s work on earthly things, shouldn’t we greatly trust the Almighty God in Christ Jesus over spiritual things?

Grace is likened to be the plane. Grace works like the plane. And the Pilot is Jesus Christ, the one who is the author and finisher of grace (Jn. 1:17). You can’t fly to America by yourself, just like you can’t be righteous or live righteously by yourself. The plan of God’s grace is God’s provision in Christ to help us live a life acceptable to God. In this plane of grace, we are to sit, relax and rest; and most importantly, we are to trust in our Pilot—Jesus, our Saviour. We are called to sit, relax and rest in the grace of God in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:6; Psa. 2:4). Grace is God’s ability to do through us what we cannot do by ourselves. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve as a gift. We receive this gift of grace by faith, and we must continue to live by faith to enjoy the gift of grace, not from faith to works; it is from faith to faith (Rom. 1:17 KJV).

—We cannot be righteous or live righteously in/by ourselves apart from Jesus, no matter how we try. Our righteousness is like a filthy rag before God (Isa. 64:6).

—We cannot live a sanctified life by ourselves; Jesus had sanctified Himself for our sake (Jn. 17:19).

• The only option we have to be approved before God is to trust Jesus, by receiving Him as a gift for our righteousness, forgiveness, redemption, sanctification, justification and salvation (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:8-9; Col. 1:14; Eph. 1:7; Rom. 5:17).

Jesus Himself is the aircraft of grace. Jesus is the pilot of the aircraft of grace, and those who have come to God through Jesus Christ are the crew members. He has called us (his crew members) to enter into His aircraft of grace to fly with him (as his coworkers), and he promised us that, when we enter into Him, we will find rest for our souls (Mat. 11:28-30).

Do you want to live righteously? Trust Jesus! Do you want to live a sanctified life? Trust Jesus! Do you want to manifest the fruit of the Spirit? Trust Jesus! We can trust Him to accomplish in us, and do through us, what we cannot do by our own abilities. We are to live by faith to express the life of God in righteousness. As we have become righteous by faith, we are to live right before God by faith.” For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” (Rom. 1:17 KJV).

Can we trust Jesus? Yes! Why can we trust Him? Because “… He is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them. Glory!!!

Grace Always.

Glory! It is an eternal truth that God revealed and manifested Himself in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Person of God. In Christ Jesus, divinity is manifested in humanity. Therefore to know God is to know Jesus Christ, and that is what eternal life is all about (Jn.17:3 kjv). Jesus declared Himself as the way to God, the truth about God and the expression of the life ot God. Therefore, no man can come to know God except through Him (John 14:6).

The revelation of the love of God in Jesus Christ to the world is the whole summary of the Bible. It is man’s response to this love, that will determine his destiny. If man accepts this great love, it will impart him with everlasting life, but if he rejects this love, it will lead him to eternal damnation (Jn.3:16; 1Jn.3:1). Jesus—the anointed Christ, expressed the love of God through His death on the Cross (Rom.5:8; Jn.5:13). Accepting the love of God, is believing in what He (Jesus) accomplished through the finished work of the Cross. The message of the Gospel is therefore centered on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as prophesied in the Scriptures, as revealed in the Gospels, and as expounded upon in the Epistles (1Cor.15:1-4; Jn.15:39). The Gospel is the good news of God’s love that came through the knowledge of what the Cross of Jesus accomplished for mankind. What a message!

No wonder Paul the Apostle said, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world… For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (Gal.6:14; 1Cor.2:2 kjv)

The purpose of this platform is to establish the Kingdom of God in the hearts of men to become His disciples, by the preaching of the Gospel of the Cross of Jesus Christ, thereby establishing people in the faith of the son of God, till Christ be formed in them (Gal.4:19 kjv). Grace to you always.

✍️Gracious Evans.