{"id":1177,"date":"2009-12-15T16:45:38","date_gmt":"2009-12-15T14:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/blog\/?p=1177"},"modified":"2009-12-15T16:45:38","modified_gmt":"2009-12-15T14:45:38","slug":"law-grace-part-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/?p=1177","title":{"rendered":"Law &#038; Grace: Part 6"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In Part 5, I have dealt with the fact that the Church have replaced the Law of Moses with a new set of church laws and rules and thereby nullify the redemptive work of Christ and the grace of God in our lives. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Please hear my heart again today.\u00a0 It is not my position or focus to attack the Church or to generalize that all congregations are the same, but I am crying out to all children of God, <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">especially the leaders<\/span> that we should get our houses in order and in alignment with the true Word of God.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If the Word teaches us that the Gospel is the <strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Good News<\/span><\/em><\/strong> from God, <strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">why is it:<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>That after 2000 years not even 30% of the world population has accepted this Good News?<\/li>\n<li>That people would rather commit suicide than to seek for help from other children of God or the local church? \u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>So easy for the children of God to lose all hope and faith?<\/li>\n<li>That people would fall away from the local church with no valid reason other than they are tired of coming to church?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In countries such as England and Germany and even the USA, many people came to repentance through great revival tours of well known evangelists, but <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">why is it<\/span><\/strong> that the second generation from these saved people opted to turn their backs on Jesus Christ and the Church?\u00a0 In the past century many church buildings have been transformed into local pubs in these so-called Christian countries.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Why would people still accept false religions such as the Jehovah Witnesses or Seventh Day Adventists which in fact is totally based on performance and not on the Grace of God? This is completely in contradiction with the true Word of <!--more-->God and the message of grace through Jesus Christ.\u00a0 We do not deserve the grace and forgiveness of God and we never can earn it through our duties and works or by keeping the Law. See the following scriptures:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Rom 3:24<\/strong>\u00a0 <strong><em>Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Eph 2:8<\/strong>\u00a0 <strong>For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: <em>it is<\/em> the gift of God: <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Maybe it is time that we should start asking these questions to ourselves and when we do find the answers, the leaders of the Church can start the restoration process from within and from the top.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Let me ask you another question.\u00a0 <strong><em><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">What is the core business of the Church?<\/span><\/em><\/strong> \u00a0If the Church had focused its attention and money on its core business over the past 100 years alone, this world would have been a much better place today and governments would be run according to the principles of God and His Word.\u00a0 Unfortunately, more and more countries have removed the Word of God and prayer from their government institutions and schools, etc. in the past 10 years, while it seems the emphasis of the main stream churches of today is more concerned with:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Providing entertainment to the congregation than the revelation knowledge from the Word. The main stream churches are conforming to the standards of the people and their requirements rather than the people being transformed through the Word to the standard of God.<\/li>\n<li>Playing political games and bickering about their historical and petty church dogmatism which cannot be supported by scripture.<\/li>\n<li>Hosting of mega events with international speakers with the added benefit of a huge profit taking;<\/li>\n<li>Teachings in the church are limited to basic knowledge and what everyone knows already.\u00a0 It keeps the people sin conscious and powerless because they never grow to maturity through the Word and in relationship with Christ.<\/li>\n<li>Any other in-depth teachings should be followed through specific courses which come at a premium price.<\/li>\n<li>Teaching their new leaders more on the denominational doctrines than on the revelation knowledge from the Word concerning the good news of grace, forgiveness, righteousness and how to build a lasting relationship with God.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Making investments in the best money markets worth millions while we still have missionaries struggling to survive and nations in Africa who have not yet heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Buying of property and buildings \u2013 all the churches combined possess more property and buildings than any other business (according to a recent article in a local newspaper).<\/li>\n<li>Across the world there are even churches that have Halloween parties at church because of a lack of knowledge.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Chasing the ever evading revival (short lived) hype that everybody is looking for, instead of teaching the people about transformation (everlasting) through the Spirit of God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Church has lost her voice in a large context over the world because of her inability to provide clear doctrine and leadership on matters such as salvation; women in ministry; gay relationships; moral living; etc.\u00a0 Church organizations are too afraid to confront these and other issues according to scripture because it might offend their members and in so doing lose out on the monthly offerings and tithes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In my opinion, the worst of them all is the fact that the main stream churches has placed much more focus on the birth of Jesus Christ through the celebration of Christmas, than on the death and resurrection of Christ. Celebrating Christmas has absolute nothing to do with Christ or His birthday and is nothing else than a money making racket for business and churches alike all over the world.\u00a0 The emphasis should be on Christ\u2019s death, burial and resurrection and not on His birthday. There is no scripture in the Bible that says we should celebrate His birthday.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Church has been proclaiming a false message for centuries in both these aspects and there is no blessing in false teachings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Christ <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">was not born<\/span><\/strong> on the 25<sup>th<\/sup> December \u2013 it was a pagan religious holiday where they celebrated the return of the sun in the Northern hemisphere.\u00a0 There are much more detail behind the celebration of this feast that you might want to know, especially when it comes to the Christmas tree, etc.\u00a0 In short, it has nothing to do with Christ or being born on this day.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>There is no power from God in celebrating Christmas.\u00a0 The power of redemption and deliverance lies in the blood atonement of Christ and not in his birthday.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>If the 25<sup>th<\/sup> December was heralded as a world public holiday of providing goodwill to all mankind without involving Christ, I would have probably also celebrated it. \u00a0But Jesus specifically declared in His Word the following about following false doctrines:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mat 15:9<\/strong>\u00a0 <strong><em>But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.<\/em><\/strong>(KJV)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mat 15:9<\/strong>\u00a0 <strong><em>They act like they&#8217;re worshiping me, but they don&#8217;t mean it. They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy.&#8221;<\/em><\/strong> (MSG \u2013 version).\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>The problem with the 25<sup>th<\/sup> December is that it was a heathen idol worshipping day which was incorporated into the holy days of the State Church under Constantine (Roman Catholic Church) and \u201cChristianized\u201d to be acceptable.\u00a0 The purpose of all was to combine the early Church (Christians) with all other pagan idol worshipping faiths in one group.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Christ <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">was not crucified<\/span><\/strong> on a Friday \u2013 because then it would have been impossible to be in the grave for three nights and three days.\u00a0 In the Book of John it is mentioned of another holy high day (another Sabbath \u2013 John 19:31) in the same week, which was the Thursday.\u00a0 In other words, Christ was already crucified on the Wednesday on the feast of Passover and buried before sundown (18:00) when the High Sabbath according to the feast began.\u00a0 Scripture says He rose on the first day, which would have been just after 18:00 (after sundown) on the Saturday when in actual fact the first day already started.\u00a0 Then the calculation works out according to scripture of three days and nights.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Church needs to eradicate itself of all these trimmings and gimmicks which clutter the real message of Christ \u2013 the forgiveness of all sins and grace through the blood of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 It is a Gospel that provides you real freedom and peace that the world cannot provide and on top of that we have the hope of everlasting life.\u00a0 Even if you read this message and conduct your own study regarding the celebration of Christmas and then still decide to continue with it, it is just fine.\u00a0 I do not want to convince you &#8211; just show you the truth.\u00a0\u00a0It is the duty of the Holy Spirit to bring the conviction of truth in your heart and when it happens, obey the Spirit of God.\u00a0\u00a0 See also:\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Rom 8:1 <em><strong>There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The core business of the Church and each congregation of Jesus Christ should be to proclaim the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ to every lost soul.\u00a0 The majority of people in South Africa know about Jesus Christ, but they do not have a personal relationship with Him.\u00a0 If we really want to make a difference in this country to stop crime and rape and HIV, then we should make sure that everyone receives this amazing grace and forgiveness of God in truth and in Spirit, because it changes lives and when it changes lives, it will also change each community and workplace.<\/p>\n<p>Stay connected for the next portion on this subject which will follow in due course.\u00a0 \u00a0Please give us some feedback on this topic in regard with any questions or concerns you may have in this regard.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<strong><em>Eric Heath is the Senior Pastor of End Time Pentecostal Ministries in Danville, South Africa and also the President of Galilee International Ministries (SA) and he is available to minister on this subject as well as other major subjects concerning our life in Christ.\u00a0 He can be contacted through this website by completing the box as provided below.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class='wp_likes' id='wp_likes_post-1177'><a class='like' href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(1177);\" title='Like' ><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.galmin.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-likes\/images\/like.png?w=750&#038;ssl=1\" alt='' border='0'\/><\/a><span class='text'><b>2<\/b> people like this post.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class='like' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.like(1177);\">Like<\/a><\/div>\n<div class='unlike' ><a href=\"javascript:wp_likes.unlike(1177);\">Unlike<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In Part 5, I have dealt with the fact that the Church have replaced the Law of Moses with a new set of church laws and rules and thereby nullify the redemptive work of Christ and the grace of God in our lives. \u00a0Please hear my heart again today.\u00a0 It [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[335],"class_list":["post-1177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inzpired","tag-false-teachings-christ-in-christmas-jehovah-witness-sabbath-revelation-knowledge-25th-december-feasts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9rp4V-iZ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1178,"href":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1177\/revisions\/1178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.galmin.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}