The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 3) : Getting a confirmation from God

I have heard this so many times but have never really seen it as something that new testamant believers have been instructed to do. Even though this is used for a variety of decisions, it seems to be predominantly when it comes to relationships and choosing a life partner. The person then waits to ‘get a confirmation from God’ so that they know if their partner is ‘the one’.

Now let me make this clear. I am NOT saying that God cannot give a confirmation, but what I AM saying is that we are not obliged, required or instructed to wait for one. It is this REQUIREMENT that has become a tradition of man. Some people refuse to make a decision until they get a confirmation or a sign from God.

I have tried to find the scriptural basis for this for myself and cannot find any so did a bit of research to see where other people are finding it from.

One came from 2 Corinthians 13:1 - “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established”

Here Paul quotes Deuteronomy 19:15 which was to be used in the case of a crime where a single witness was not sufficient. If we look at the context of 2 Corinthians 13, we have to go back to chapter 12:20-21 and see that he was talking about how he would deal with sin in the Corinthian church. Compare this with Matthew 18:15-21. It is not saying that we must ask God for a confirmation before we do anything as some teach.

Further examples where God gave a confirmation was when Samuel anoints David to be King (1 Samuel 16: 1-13), when Jeremiah is instructed to buy a field (Jeremiah 32: 6-9), and with Gideon asking about saving Israel. (Judges 6:36-40) but we must remember that Samuel, Jeremiah and David did not have what we have today and that is the Word of God and the Holy Spirit residing in us so we cannot compare our situation directly with theirs. Nor can we take those narratives to say because they got one, that we must do it as well.

The problem with seeking confirmation or sign from God is that both Matthew 12:39 and Matthew 16:4 tell us that ”an evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign“.

So if we shouldn’t wait for a confirmation or sign from God, what should be done instead? This is one of the main questions that many Christians ask when it comes to knowing God’s will in a situation and it seems as if it is a minefield. First of all, please read the answer given below from Got Questions

Question: “How can I know God’s will for my life? What does the Bible say about knowing God’s will?”

There are two keys to knowing God’s will for a given situation: 1) Make sure what you are asking for or considering doing is not something the Bible forbids. 2) Make sure what you are asking for or considering doing will glorify God and help you grow spiritually. If these two things are true and God still is not giving you what you are asking, then it is likely not God’s will for you to have what you are asking for. Or, perhaps you just need to wait a while longer for it. Knowing God’s will is sometimes difficult. People want God to tell them specifically what to do—where to work, where to live, whom to marry, etc. God rarely gives people information that direct and specific. God allows us to make choices regarding those things.

To hopefully answer this question practically, I will give some scenarios and examples (including the relationship question), which I know are not exhaustive, but I do believe that sometimes we can complicate things. I think the principles can be used in almost every area.

Scenario 1 : “I have been praying about dating this person who is not a Christian and want to know what God’s will is”

My Answer: No need to pray. God has explicitly told us in scripture that we should not be yoked with unbelievers so dont try to get God to come down yo your standard. Go up to his. Oil and water will not mix. No matter how much you shake it.

Lesson learnt: There are some things where God’s will are explicitly explained in the bible

Scenario 2:  I am looking for a spouse. How do I know if they are “the one”?

My Answer: ‘The ‘one’ is normally a myth. But God have given us some guidelines. Questions to ask yourself would be things like, are they a Christian? Do they love God and is this shown by their fruits? Do they encourage you to get closer to God or further away from him? Are they interested in prayer and the bible? And last but not least, are you attracted to them? If so, make yourself available and go for it!! Now as you can see, there will probably be more than one person in the world who might fit that description, so I believe that God says, be prayerful and YOU make a choice and YOU pick. Difficulties down the line is not necessarily proof that it wasnt Gods will but can be just God shaping our character and conforming us to Jesus’ image. All relationships will have their ups and downs.

Lesson learnt: There are some things where God has not given us specific instructions, but has given us enough guidelines and principles to work with

Scenario 3: How do I know which school to send my child to?

My Answer: As there is no scripture verse which tells you the exact school, get all the relevant information taking into account distance, reputation, league tables and then again, be prayerful and based on that information, choose a school

Lesson learnt: Again, there are some things which are not explained in scripture at all and are not within themselves sinful and God has allowed us to make our own wise decisions based on the information that you have at your disposal. I’m sure many of you do not pray everytime you go shopping asking God which products to choose.

We must remember that as Christians, the Holy Spirit is constantly guiding us, and the fact that we may go through some ‘stuff’ is no indication that it was not God’s will or that it happened because we didnt seek God for a confirmation first of all. It was God’s will that Jesus should be tempted of the devil, it was God’s will that Jesus suffered and died on the cross, it is God’s will that those who live godly will suffer persecution.

As I have stated above, there is no biblical basis that believers MUST get a confirmation before making any decision. Jesus never instructed us to do so, the disciples were not instructed to do and Paul was never instructed to do so.

BUT DONT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. CHECK OUT THE SCRIPTURES FOR YOURSELF

Related Posts:

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect - Introduction

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 1) : Pleading the blood

The traditions of men making the Word of God of none effect (Part 2) : Tithing

Shai Linne talks about his song Fal$e Teacher$

On Shai’s most recent album, “Lyrical Theology Part 1: Theology” he has a song devoted to False Teachers. This video gives a little background into why he felt it was important to address such a topic.

Listen to the song below

UPDATE: Paula White Ministries responded to this song which you can view by clicking here and see Shai’s response to their letter by clicking here

Engaging the Culture Biblically – Flame

To get a bit of a background to this topic, please listen to Flame’s song #1 spot

Flame then goes onto the Wade-) radio show where he discusses the following:

- (1:23) – His experience at SXSW 2013
- (2:02) – Workshops he enjoyed at SXSW
- (2:25) – Attending the Kendrick Lamar interview at SXSW
- (3:07) – Flame’s expectations for “#1 Spot” prior to releasing it
- (4:18) – Has Flame had an opportunity to have conversations with those who dislike the song
- (5:00) – Who Flame was talking about on “#1 Spot”
- (7:22) – The History of CHH and the ministry philosophy discussion
- (8:31) – His concern for the direction that many new artists are taking with their music
- (10:16) – The status of his relationship with Lecrae
- (12:37) – Has he dialogued with Sho Baraka and J.R. about these topics
- (14:30) – The importance of having a public forum to dialogue these issues
- (17:00) – The importance Christian Hip Hop Artists preaching the gospel in their music
- (18:15) – His challenge in sharing the gospel when he is doing mainstream media
- (20:30) – How he has seen sharing the gospel in interviews modeled
- (23:20) – Young Noah’s status with Clearsight Music
- (25:07) – The Blackout Circuit Tour

Then to cap everything off, Flame tries to put everything into context about engaging the culture biblically

What do you think? Has the pendulum gone to far the other end when trying to reach out to the lost or have we got the balance just right?

Got a bible question? Get the app

If you are anything like me. I love the bible and I love reading it, trying to get some undertsanding. There are many questions that I have had and I love the Got Questions website because the answers are very balanced and biblically and doctrinally sound. It answers a wide variety of questions. Some crucial, some not so crucial

You can now have these answers in your pocket if you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad or Android device as can be seen below.

I love this app and more often than not, when I have a question about a christian topic, it is there. So what are you waiting for? Click here for info on how to download the app to your device

Ten of my favorite blog posts on Real Christianity

I cannot believe that I have been blogging for over five years beginning with How Important is Doctrine and as of today, have written 619 posts, this being my 620th. Every now and then, I go back to my old posts and re-read some of them, if not for anything else to re-encourage myself. So out of these 600+posts, below are ten of my favorite posts in no particular order and my reasons why. Just click on the titles to read the posts

1. The Marks of False ‘Christian’ teachers and teaching - OK, I am going to cheat on the first one as it was my first series (11 parts in total) called The Marks of False ‘Christian’ teachers and teaching starting with A Form of godliness. I saw so much foolishness in churches and on Christian TV and I knew that a lot of people were beginning to question a lot of things but were afraid to say anything. I just said what they were thinking. So I wrote the series and gave my reasons for doing it as I know a lot of people would think that I was just a heresy hunter. If you want to read the full series, just follow the links at the bottom of the posts

2. To tithe or not to tithe - Tithing was one of those things that kept me in bondage early on in my days and I know keeps many in bondage today. Many preachers use old testament scriptures like Malachi 3:8-12 to manipulate people into giving money and making them feel that they have robbed God if they don’t give their 10%.  That was until I searched the scriptures for myself only to find that the new testament principle of giving is proportional giving and giving out of what you have and not out of what you don’t have thus getting yourself into debt. It is also about a person giving what THEY purpose in their heart (2 Cor 9:7) . I wrote this to make it plain why Christians are not under any obligation to tithe anymore under the new covenant.

3. How do you know that you are saved (that you are a Christian)? - I really enjoyed writing this blog because it became very apparent to me that many people thought that they were Christians but they were actually self-deceived. This troubled me so I wanted to have some kind of ‘test’ whereby a person could measure up themselves to. Luckily the books of 1 and 2 John has such a test and has been one of my most popular posts that is found when people do searches, which tells me that a lot of people really do want to know if they are a Christian or not.

4. So you think that you’re a Christian. Power testimonies from former false converts - This ties in to number 3. When I heard these testimonies, I knew there were countless amount of people in this situation and I wanted to share it because I wanted others to see if they could see themselves in the mirror and if so, do something about it. The worse deception ever is to think that you are a Christian when, in fact, you are not

5. Spending Quality Time with God - This post always comes to haunt me because I know that this is something that I am constantly guilty of not doing but it is a constant reminder of where our priorities should be  

6. When your children don’t want to follow God – This post was and still is a very personal one to me. It hurts me to know that my children (so far) have decided to not follow Christ. I can only pray that God orchestrates the events in their life to point them to him.

7. Every Man’s Battle - I wrote this because it is a taboo subject amongst Christian men but can be a deadly poison if not dealt with….especially when it comes to the summer.

8. The Money Challenge - If anything, this is a shame on most of us as Christians about what motivates us to share the  gospel with others. I never want to be  Christian that as the gospel group, Commissioned, say in one of their songs that we “tend to find security in our salvation. We should constantly think about the lost”

9. Should we ever question what the man of God says – This post goes hand in hand with the post of Touch not the Lord’s anointed. Say goodbye to the untouchable preachers. The reason why I started this whole blogging stuff is because I questioned everything that I had previously heard and decided to go back to the basics of the gospel. You know, things like the cross, salvation, sin, repentance, faith, discipleship and NOT breakthroughs, blessings and divine favour which seems to be so prevalent in churches these days.

10. Christ is the only way, now you choose - I have posted many videos over the years but I love this video because it puts everything in perspective about what Christ has done and how he has provided a way out for those who have repented and put their trust in him

“Lecrae” Speed Drawing – This Is Crazy

If we were made in God’s image, that would mean that we have some of his creative attributes. If that is true, what is man able to create? Watch the amazing video below to find out. It is truly out of this world.

As a side note to my atheist friends, do you think it is possible that this could ever happen by chance?

Related Posts:

Relativism – Is there such a thing as absolute truth?

April Fools Day Mr Atheist - Is this you?

So you think that you’re a Christian – Part 2

OK, following my post about Not Forsaking The Assembly, it has been pressing upon my heart how easy people think it is to be a Christian and what is required. It is as if it is easy-believism. This was evident in the death and the funeral of Whitney Houston. Now let me say for the record before I get anyone jumping down my throat about ‘judging’, I have no idea where Whitney Houston will spend her identity. I did not know her personally and that is not the point of the post. However, people seem to think that because a person says they ‘loved the Lord’ or attended church or even read their bible, that that gives them an automatic ticket to heaven. However, scripture gives us a different picture.

²¹  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

As you can see many people will be’ saying‘ but Jesus will still deny their entrance to heaven because they were not doing and living in obedience to scripture. See the video below as a wake up call

Last year here in the UK, we had our census. Now if we went by a lot of these surveys, we would be led to believe that most people are christians. However if we dig a bit deeper you will see something different. Athesist Richard Dawkins conducted his own research to find out about those who aligned themself with Christianity. Click here to take a look.

As you can see, some of the results are as follows:

Q) What would you say is the MAIN reason you think of yourself or the person who completed the Census thinks of you as being of this religion?

A) I was christened/baptised into this religion  46%

Q) Apart from special occasions such as weddings, funerals and baptisms or christenings, how often IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS have you attended services or meetings connected with Christianity?

A) Not at all during the last 12 months  49%

Q) Apart from special occasions such as weddings, funerals and baptisms or christenings, when did you LAST attend a service or meeting connected with Christianity?

A) More than ten years ago   32%

Q) When, if at all, did you last read any part of the Bible? I mean independently and from choice, and not as part of a church service or other religious meeting.

A) More than 3 years ago 36%

Q) Which of the following statements BEST describes your personal view of the Bible as a guide to morality?

A) The Bible is not a perfect guide to morality as some of its teachings are not appropriate today, but it is still the best guide we have

There are many people who call themselves christians but their fruits reveal that they are actually a false convert or simply just self deceived. The biggest deception is when a person truly believes that they are a christian when in fact, they are not and they only find this out on judgment day. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death (Proverbs 14:12). The fact of the matter is, contrary to the results of surveys, the vast majority of people are NOT christians even if they profess that they are. How do I know? Because scripture tells us so strive to enter through the narrow gate.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Please check out the links below and if you are not a Christian, please look at my link to non-Christians. If you are not sure if you are a true christian, please examine yourself by clicking here

Related post:

So you think that you’re a christian? Powerful testimonies from former false converts

Have you truly repented?

How to make your child a false convert and the testimony of one such convert

Just say this prayer?

How to botch an altar call

Evangelistic Malpractice

True and False Conversion

Lets stop being so quick to call everyone a christian

How do you know that you are saved (that you are a Christian?)

Gyamma feat. RAM1 ‘Sin Bad’ Official Video

This is the new music video from my good friend Gyamma. Take a listen and you can see more information about him and download his mixtape free (YES FREE) here

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

Do Not Forsake the Assembly – Why Church Attendance/Christian Fellowship is Important?

This is one of the commandments of scripture. However, lately there have been people who call themselves christians and have no desire to have regular fellowship with other believers, whether that be in an established church or otherwise (depending on where you live in the world). Christian fellowship is one of the signs of a true believer (1 John 1:7)

Taken from Got Questions

The Bible tells us we need to attend church (have Christian fellowship) so we can worship God with other believers and be taught His Word for our spiritual growth (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:25). Church is the place where believers can love one another (1 John 4:12), encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13), “spur” one another (Hebrews 10:24), serve one another (Galatians 5:13), instruct one another (Romans 15:14), honor one another (Romans 12:10), and be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32).

When a person trusts Jesus Christ for salvation, he or she is made a member of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). For a church body to function properly, all of its “body parts” need to be present (1 Corinthians 12:14-20). Likewise, a believer will never reach full spiritual maturity without the assistance and encouragement of other believers (1 Corinthians 12:21-26). For these reasons, church attendance, participation, and fellowship should be regular aspects of a believer’s life. Weekly church attendance is in no sense “required” for believers, but someone who belongs to Christ should have a desire to worship God, receive His Word, and fellowship with other believers.

Let me make it clear. Going to church and and being around other believers doesnt make you a christian but if you are a true christian, you will want to go to church and/or have a desire to be around other believers on a regular basis.

“Without the God-given habit of corporate worship and the God-given mandate of corporate accountability, we will not prove faithful over the long haul.” – Kevin DeYoung

Related Posts:

Are you ‘not in church’?

Reasons to leave and reasons not to leave your local church

Phillip Jenson asks Mark Dever – When is it ever right to leave a church?

Eddie Long ‘crowned’ as King

I saw this video over at Slaughter of the Sheep, and I was indignant how Eddie Long received this ‘Kingship’.

A few scriptures came to mind

¹ Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: ² “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. ³ So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. ⁴They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. ⁵ “Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷ they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others……¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matthew 23:1-6,12)

And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”. Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.(Acts 12:22-23). Watch out Eddie!!

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself (John 6:15). Even Jesus, who is the the King of Kings, withdrew himself when they tried to make him King

This ceremony was done by Rabbi Ralph Messer, who leads Simchat Torah Beit Midrash (STBM) – a congregation promoting interfaith discussions –  teaches principles of the Torah that he claims “produce life” or prosperity.He also writes on his Facebook page: “If you have been undecided, unfocused, and unexcited, then start learning about Principles of God. You can Succeed! You have been Redeemed! Yeshua (Jesus) has a plan for your life! It is called the Torah. … Remember, a Torah Principle applied accurately will cause you to prosper Financially, Emotionally, Physically and Spiritually.”

Thats funny because last time I read scripture, it tells me that the only thing that the law can do is produce wrath (Romans 4:15) and death (2 Cor 3:6) and is only a tutor to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:19-22). In other words, the law condemns us and takes us to the cross but no further.

Wil Gafney rebuts some of the ceremony in this post. I am not a Jew so cannot vouch for its accuracy but I wouldn’t be surprised. If anyone knows better, it would be good to know

As a result of the video going viral on the internet, Messer has subsequently stated that it was a misunderstanding but looking at some of his teaching, I am not convinced that it was. He puts an unhealthy emphasis on the Torah. In the video below, Messer tells us that the Torah (the first five books of the bible) is NOT the law. However, Jesus constantly mentioned the law (Torah) and the prophets.

In the video below, he states that he does not talk about sin (the very thing that we should be talking about) but ‘the realm of death which brings curses and the realm of life which brings blessings’. How dangerous is that?

A lot of Christians believe that they are closer to God if they follow Jewish traditions and ceremonies but this is totally at odds with scripture. In fact, Paul wrote a whole book called Galatians to address this subject because some were being poisoned into thinking that they were more godly by follwing the law. What did Paul say to them?

O foolish Galatians (Christians or Atlantians in this case) ! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. ² Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:1-3)

Lets not just turn a blind eye to his tomfoolery but speak up against it. Many people will continue to be deceived if we stay silent

UPDATE: Eddie Long has sinced apologize to the Jewish community. Click here for details