Uncategorized – Resident Kingdom

THE TRUTH ABOUT HEBREWS 6

Simeon Edigbe — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:40:56 +0000

Simeon Edigbe — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:40:22 +0000

The Gift of Righteousness vs Self Righteousness: The Truth About Job And The Key To Why He Suffered (1)

One of the most difficult questions many people try to answer is ‘Why do Christians suffer. And is God behind the suffering?’. One thing we need to understand is that we live in a fallen world and the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. – 1 Peter 5:8 And the devil is out to make war with the children of grace (Revelations 12:17). Things will always try to come against you, but scripture says Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us – Romans 8:37 The devil has one intention and that is to accuse you, to lie and to deceive you. Our job is to remain steadfast in the faith, to keep on believing in the finished work of Jesus Christ and this is how we resist the enemy (1 Peter 5:9). Not by trying to go war against him. You can defeat a defeated criminal. Our Faith is the victory.

But even our faith is not self effort. Our faith was redeemed by Christ and we live by the measure of faith that God has given us through Jesus (Romans 12:3). The minute we believe in Jesus He covers us with His gift of righteousness (James 2:23, 2 Corinthians 5:21). His gift of righteousness is our breastplate of faith and love (1 Thessalonians 5:8).

From Genesis to Revelations there is one common topic in the Bible that gives us a clear picture on how to continuously be receiving God’s grace (His unmerited/undeserved/unearned favor) versus not receiving God’s grace. That common topic is the topic of righteousness (our right standing with God). We are either living in self righteousness, trying to be in right standing with God based on our works and efforts or we are living under His gift of righteousness that only comes by receiving His grace.

Self righteousness points to us and is based on the knowledge of good and evil (the law). His Gift of righteousness is based on His grace (unmerited favor) and always points to Jesus. Self righteousness likes to hide itself and manifest in our lives in different ways. We can look at the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, they chose self righteousness (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) over His gift of righteousness. Just like in Revelations 12, the serpent spewed bitter water (worldly knowledge) at Eve which only leads to sin and death. And Eve chose to believe in worldly knowledge rather than in His truth (sweet water) which is spirit and life. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, God only wanted them to live by receiving His truth that is spirit and life but their pride took over and they chose self righteousness and to live by worldly knowledge that led them to sin and death.
Some people say ‘if Adam and Eve couldn’t resist falling into self righteousness how can we’. We can because when God redeems and restores He doesn’t just redeem and restore to the same level as before. He doesn’t practice insurance principles of indemnity. He redeems and restores us to a greater level. He sent His Son to redeem us to a greater level than Adam. What Christ did is greater than what Adam did (Romans 5:12-21, 1 Corinthians 15:46-49). And just like the children of Israel, when the Lord saved them from Egypt He brought them out so that none among them were feeble and they were all wealthy (Psalm 105:37). He saved them to a better place than they ever were at before. And He promises that whatever the enemy has stolen He will restore double (Zechariah 9:12). Jesus’ finished work redeemed us to a greater place than Adam. To a place where we are in Christ and He is in us, where as He is at the right hand of the Father so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new – 2 Corinthians 5:17.

We are now coheirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) and our flesh that fell to self righteousness in Adam has been crucified with Christ the minute we believe in Him (Galatians 5:24). We can now reign in life. Romans 5:17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

There is no in between, we either live receiving His grace and His gift of righteousness or by the law (knowledge of good and evil) and by self righteousness. God will always speak to us based on what righteousness we choose (our own that always fails or His that is perfect). We see this throughout the Word of God. In Genesis 4:1-15 The Lord did not respect Cain’s offering because He offered it in self righteousness not because he offered the worst fruits like we were taught we were in children bible class. He was trying to be in right standing by his works. And so the Lord responded to Cain with the law “ So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”. In Cain’s self righteousness God’s grace couldn’t flow. God dealt with Cain based on what Cain believed.
And Cain believed that God’s acceptance was based on His works (his offering). Under the law the minute something negative happens guilt and condemnation sets in and the result is sin. Cain ended up killing his brother. In Exodus the children of Israel told Moses 8 Then all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. – Exodus 19:8. In their pride and trust in their flesh the Lord responded by giving them the Law (10 commandments). They boated in their ability to measure up to God’s standard of righteousness. So God gave Moses “The Big-10”. And even before Moses came down with the Law their self righteousness led them to sin, they made a golden calf to worship. He led them out of Egypt because of His grace (unmerited favor) and not because they merited it yet they rejected it and wanted to live by receiving all the good things of God based on their obedience. God deals with us based on which righteousness we choose to be under. His or ours, grace or the law.

The Lord considered Israel trusting in themselves as rebellion (Deuteronomy 9), they chose self righteousness over His gift of righteousness and in turn chose the Law instead of His grace (unmerited favor). We can keep going and look at how Jesus interacted with people when He walked on earth. If they came to Him with a law mentality (living trying to merit God’s goodness based on their obedience) then He spoke to them with parables. If they came to Him not under the law He spoke to them directly with compassion and grace and you saw an immediate transformation (true repentance) in the peoples lives.

In Revelations 3:14-22 we see the lukewarm church of the Laodiceans mixing grace (hot) and law (cold). Remember that any law (leaven) wrecks the whole batch (gospel of grace). Law always brings forth self righteousness. And the Lord despises self righteousness. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. –Revelations 3:17-18. He speaks to them from a distance, counselling them and not disciplining them as sons. How many believers are in this same category

So we see with the examples above that God deals with us based on what we believe of Him. His goodness and all of His blessings can only flow in our lives when we are under His grace (unmerited favor) and gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ. Under the law and self righteousness His goodness and blessings cannot flow. The scary fact is that when we live trying to be justified by the law (merit God’s goodness based on our works) we become estranged and alienated from Christ (the anointed one and his anointing). Under our self righteousness Christ becomes of no effect in our lives (Galatians 5:4). If you want to know what the devil is looking for when he walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. – 1 Peter 5:8 He is looking for those living under the law (the knowledge of good and evil, the 10 commandments), as this is living in the flesh and in self righteousness. That is why sin has dominion over you if you are under the law (Romans 6:14) and the strength of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56). And you live doing the things you don’t want to do and the things you want to do you won’t do (Romans 7). The law (knowledge of good and evil) brings forth self righteousness which in turn brings forth guilt and condemnation and that traps you in the prison of sin. The only answer is His pure grace upon grace, the fullness of Jesus.

Simeon Edigbe — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:37:04 +0000

THE BOOK OF REVELATION: Part 2
The contents of Revelation were written regarding the 70AD destruction of Jerusalem.
This book is actually John’s record concerning the prophecy of Jesus about the destruction of Jerusalem. It was written before 70AD. Once a person understands that the book of Revelation was written before the 70AD destruction of Jerusalem, then the contents of the book can take on a new form. Applying the use of imagery, signs and symbols it gives the reader, primarily the Jews a systematic view of how the end was coming to the age of the Old covenant.
There are several clues, which Chilton uses to point to this possibility.
Firstly, the fact that Revelation 11 speaks of the Temple as physically still standing.
“I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2 But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months.” Revelation 11:1-2
Some scholars argue that the book of Revelation was written in 96AD, 26 years after the utter destruction of Jerusalem. If it was so then it is likely that John would have made mention of it in its content. Yet there is not one mention in the entire 22 chapters regarding the destruction of Jerusalem. This point not only bolsters the first presupposition, but it also points to the truth that Revelation was very likely written about the 70AD destruction which was about to take place.
The Days of Vengeance a classic book by David Chilton is a verse-by-verse commentary on the entire Book of Revelation. The feat of writing such a book is incredible and it gives a clearer picture than any commentator I know. It seems that his goal was not simply to comment, but to show, prove, and convince the reader of his particular presuppositions. They are:
1. That the Book of Revelation was written before 70AD
2. That the contents of Revelation were regarding the 70AD destruction of Jerusalem.
3. That the time-texts of Revelation should be taken literally, that Revelation 1-22 was written regarding things that were shortly to come to pass.
4. That Jerusalem and the Jewish religious system had become apostate and was seen by God as an adulterous whore, as Babylon, as the old creation, which was about to pass away.
5. That Rome, the Roman Empire and Nero Caesar were represented prophetically as a beast, which controlled commerce and all other aspects of life.

Chilton in his book also brings out a fascinating point, which he did not quite to emphasize. Some keys highlights that enable one to see some comparisons that was not uncommon from the Old testament regarding God’s act of judgment upon a nation that abandoned her covenant. The contents of Revelation parallel the contents of Ezekiel (20 point diagram from page 21)
1. The Throne-Vision (Rev. 4/Ez. 1)
2. The Book (Rev. 5/Ez. 2-3)
3. The Four Plagues (Rev. 6:1-8/Ez. 5)
4. The Slain under the Altar (Rev. 6:9-11/Ez. 6)
5. The Wrath of God (Rev. 6:12-17/Ez. 7)
6. The Seal on the Saint’s Foreheads (Rev. 7/Ez. 9)
7. The Coals from the Altar (Rev. 8/Ez. 10)
8. No More Delay (Rev. 10:1-7/ Ez. 12)
9. The Eating of the Book (Rev. 10:8-11/Ez. 2)
10. The Measuring of the Temple (Rev. 11:1-2/Ez. 40-43)
11. Jerusalem and Sodom (Rev. 11:8/Ez. 16)
12. The Cup of Wrath (Rev. 14/Ez. 23)
13. The Vine of the Land (Rev. 14:18-20/Ez. 15)
14. The Great Harlot (Rev. 17-18/Ez. 16, 23)
15. The Lament over the City (Rev. 18/Ez. 27)
16. The Scavengers’ Feast (Rev. 19/Ez. 39)
17. The First Resurrection (Rev. 20:4-6/Ez. 37)
18. The Battle with Gog and Magog (Rev. 20:7-9/Ez. 38-39)
19. The New Jerusalem (Rev. 21/Ez. 40-48)
20. The River of Life (Rev. 22/Ez. 47)
Essentially what Chilton demonstrates is that the book of Ezekiel is to the Old Testament what the book of Revelation is to the New Testament. Ezekiel laid out the coming destruction of Jerusalem (by the Babylonians) in the Old Testament and John used the same prophetic language to speak of the imminent coming destruction of Jerusalem in the New Testament. With that framework, the symbolism of Revelation is set in place and becomes simpler to interpret drawing the comparisons and seeing clearer the message.
Then Chilton quotes The Meaning of the Revelation by Philip Carrington (1931) about this Ezekiel/Revelation connection.
“The Revelation is a Christian rewriting of Ezekiel. Its fundamental structure is the same. Its interpretation depends upon Ezekiel. The first half of both books leads up to the destruction of the earthly Jerusalem; in the second half they describe a new and holy Jerusalem. There is one significant difference. Ezekiel’s lament over Tyre is transformed into a lament over Jerusalem, the reason being that St. John wishes to transfer to Jerusalem the note of irrevocable doom found in the lament over Tyre. Here lies the real difference in the messages of the two books. Jerusalem, like Tyre, is to go [be removed] forever.” (Page 21)

Another interesting thing to note about the book of Revelation is that the time-texts of Revelation should be taken literally, that Revelation 1-22 was written regarding things that were shortly to come to pass.
While all four ways of interpretation by different scholars would agree that parts of Revelation are symbolic and other parts are literal, each of the of the four systems takes a different stance regarding the time-texts. I discovered that using the time texts literally is the most reasonable approach.. If the time-frame described is taken as symbolic, then the contents and interpretations will strectch to any person and time zone. This will not make sense to its original reader. See below some verses taken from the book of Revelation with regard to the time-text mentioned:

“The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servantswhat must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,” Revelation 1:1

“The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the thingsthat must soon take place.” “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.” Revelation 22:6-7

“Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near.” Revelation 22:10

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.” Revelation 22:12
“He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Revelation 22:20

Another key point to note about the book of Revelation is that Jerusalem and the Jewish religious system had become apostate and was seen by God as an adulterous whore, as Babylon, as the old creation, which was about to pass away. Upon a closer look at the book you will discover a reoccurring term the “great city”. John stated in his book “Great City” is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, yet literally speaking, this was the city where Jesus was crucified, therefore the “Great City” is a reference to Jerusalem. The great city which is also called Sodom, Babylon and the Whore is not the Papacy or the Roman Catholic Church but Jerusalem who had gave her allegiance to Rome for her commercial benefit. They rejected the Lordship of Jesus and declared in John 19:15 (NIV) “But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.” This is the spiritual adultery that the scriptures talks about over and over.

“Their bodies will lie in the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified.” Revelation 11:8
The great city split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and gave her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Revelation 16:19

The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.” Revelation 17:18

“Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “‘Woe! Woe to you,great city, you mighty city of Babylon! In one hour your doom has come!’ …. and cry out: “‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! … When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: “‘Woe! Woe to you, great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin!’… [The Finality of Babylon’s Doom ] Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.” Revelation 18:10, 16, 18-19, 21

At a point I was confused with this scripture because one renowned Prophet explained this previous verse as the destruction of the Twin towers that happened on Sept 11, 2001 during the terrorists attacks on US soil. Like so many interpretations that come many American preachers this one is false as it does not take into account content and reader relevance. Why would John write a book so important to a Jew and did not mean for them contemplate about it because it would be fulfilled in 2000 years to come.
One final thing to note about the book is the identity of the beast. Just as we the symbolism of the “Great City” meant Jerusalem, the beast also has its own keys for understanding. One of the most convincing is the lineage of the Roman Emperors provided in the book of Revelation in prophetic format.
“They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast.” Revelation 17:10-12

This passage, which is speaking of the line of rulers in Rome, tells us exactly how many rulers had already come, which one was currently in power, and that the next one would only last a short while. This rulership ancestry leads the reader to the conclusion that Nero was the Beast in reference here. The rule of the first seven Roman Emperor’s are as follows:
1. Julius Caesar (49–44 BC)
2. Augustus (27 BC–AD 14)
3. Tiberius (AD 14–37)
4. Caligula (AD 37–41)
5. Claudius (AD 41–54)
“Five have fallen…”
6. Nero (AD 54–68)
“One is…”
7. Galba (June AD 68–January AD 69, a six month ruler-ship)
“the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while.”
Of the first seven kings of the Roman Empire, five had come (Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius, and Claudius), one was now in power (Nero), and one had not yet come (Galba), but would only remain a little time (six months).

The fact that Nero fits the description of the “beast” is well documented. According to Suetonius, he murdered his parents, wife, brother, aunt, and many others close to him and of high station in Rome. He was a torturer, a homosexual rapist, and a sodomite. He even married two young boys and paraded them around as his wives. One of the boys, whose name was Sporus, was castrated by Nero. As written in Historic books he was truly bestial in his character, depravity, and actions. He devised a kind of game: covered with the skin of some wild animal, he was let loose from a cage and attacked the private parts of men and women, who were bound at stakes. He also initiated the war against the Jews which led to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD..

Nero’s persecution, which was initiated in A.D.64, was the first ever Roman assault on Christianity. Roman historian Tacitus (A.D. 56-117) spoke of Nero’s “cruel nature” that “put to death so many innocent men.” He records the scene in Rome when the persecution of Christians broke out: “And their death was aggravated with mockeries, insomuch that, wrapped in the hides of wild beasts, they were torn to pieces by dogs, or fastened to crosses to be set on fire, that when the darkness fell they might be burned to illuminate the night.” Christians were crucified, beheaded, burnt alive, and used as torches to light the palace gardens. Historically, Nero is the one that persecuted Christians beyond all comparison. St. John’s banishment to Patmos (where he wrote the book of Revelation) was itself a result of the great persecution of Nero. The apostle Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. The apostle Peter, who was crucified upside down, was another victim of Nero, .

So we can see from the this brief summary that the book of Revelation becomes an interesting book to look into because of its content and for what purpose it was written. It was not never written to scare us but to encourage the church during the time of the great persecution of the hope they had after God had shown his final upon a people who all time life had rejected his goodness and considered themselves not worthy of His love. As Jesus said in Matthew 23:37 “”Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” The bible ends with the end of an age, the Mosaic age for us to enter the New age ushered by the New Covenant.

THE EVENTS IN REVELATIONS ARE PASSED US AND NOT IN OUR FUTURE:

Simeon Edigbe — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:31:56 +0000

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, (Revelation 1:1 NASB)

John in writing this last book of the bible emphasized the truth of imminence of events in a variety of ways through language. He carefully varies the manner of his expressions as if to avoid any potential confusion on the matter. The Greek word translated “soon” in Revelation 1:1 is from the Greek word tachos.

According to Arndt and Gingich Lexicon, tachos is used in the LXX and certain non-canonical writings to mean speed, quickness, swiftness, haste. John uses the same word in Revelation 2:16; 3:11; 22:6,7,12,20.
John also uses the Greek word eggus:
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near. (Revelation 1:3 NASB)

Which is translated here as “near” it is also used in Revelation 22:10. This term speaks of temporal nearness and John uses it to bracket the book. The third Greek word is mello; it is translated “about to”’ in Revelation 1:19 & 3:10.
“Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. (Revelation 1:19 NASB)

The phrase, “the things which will take place after these things” is literally “the things which are about to occur” and in 3:10, “which shall come upon all the world” is literally “is about to come upon the whole world [oikoumene].”

If we apply the principle of audience relevance, what would the original readers have thought when they read this? John strategically places these words at the introduction and conclusion of the book. John was telling the seven churches to expect these things at any moment.

Simeon Edigbe — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 13:30:25 +0000

²⁵“And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. ²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. ²⁷For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. ²⁸Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God^{c]” style=”box-sizing: border-box;”>[c]} which He purchased with His own blood. ²⁹For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. ³⁰Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. ³¹Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

³²“So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Acts 20:25-32 (NKJV)

Lets see it from the Amplified version:

²⁴But none of these things move me; neither do I esteem my life dear to myself, if only I may finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have obtained from [which was entrusted to me by] the Lord Jesus, faithfully to attest to the good news (Gospel) of God’s grace (His unmerited favor, spiritual blessing, and mercy).

²⁵And now, observe, I perceive that all of you, among whom I have gone in and out proclaiming the kingdom, will see my face no more.

²⁶Therefore I testify and protest to you on this [our parting] day that I am clean and innocent and not responsible for the blood of any of you.

²⁷For I never shrank or kept back or fell short from declaring to you the whole purpose and plan and counsel of God.

²⁸Take care and be on guard for yourselves and the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you bishops and guardians, to shepherd (tend and feed and guide) the church of the Lord or ^{d]” style=”box-sizing: border-box;”>[d]}of God which He obtained for Himself [buying it and saving it for Himself] with His own blood.

²⁹I know that after I am gone, ferocious wolves will get in among you, not sparing the flock;

³⁰Even from among your own selves men will come to the front who, by saying perverse (distorted and corrupt) things, will endeavor to draw away the disciples after them [to their own party].

³¹Therefore be always alert and on your guard, being mindful that for three years I never stopped night or day seriously to admonish and advise and exhort you one by one with tears.

³²And now [brethren], I commit you to God [I deposit you in His charge, entrusting you to His protection and care]. And I commend you to the Word of His grace [to the commands and counsels and promises of His unmerited favor]. It is able to build you up and to give you [your rightful] inheritance among all God’s set-apart ones (those consecrated, purified, and transformed of soul).

Paul was clearly warning the church of his day that wolves would soon enter the church and try to snatch them away. Away from what? Away from the truth.

This is something that is not uncommon in the church today. Everyone is crying wolf, wolf! The problem is many can’t identify the wolf seeing that they are dressed in sheep’s clothing. In some cases some people have falsely accused as the wolf because they seem to represent a threat to the head pastor due to their charisma and knowledge of the Word of God.

I would like us to see it as Paul’s explained it for us to interpret in context.

These wolves were to do the following:

Say perverse (distorted and corrupt) things. To perverse transposing the truth and twisting it. This would be mixing the grace of God with another.

Paul also in his letter to the church at Ephesus mentioned about such people too.

^“5You can be sure that using people or religion or things just for what you can get out of them—the usual variations on idolatry—will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God.

^6-7Don’t let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with him. Don’t even hang around people like that.”

– Ephesians 5

When John wrote to the same church in Ephesus in the book of Revelation, he expressed the same concerns Jesus had.

2 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

²I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

Jesus said that they had tried false apostles and seen them as liars. This early church as others were in a period of transition where the Jews their brothers persecuted them because they declared that righteousness was no longer required under the law. That shattered their Jewish foundation at its very root.

These false prophets came in to lure the church into acceptance into the society by mixing the grace of the Lord Jesus with the law of Moses. Even the early believers had a hard time fully accepting God’s grace without the law and they expressed their concern in one particular occasion with Paul in Acts 21 (The Message).

^20-21They had a story to tell, too: “And just look at what’s been happening here—thousands upon thousands of God-fearing Jews have become believers in Jesus! But there’s also a problem because they are more zealous than ever in observing the laws of Moses. They’ve been told that you advise believing Jews who live surrounded by unbelieving outsiders to go light on Moses, telling them that they don’t need to circumcise their children or keep up the old traditions. This isn’t sitting at all well with them.

Many people these days make a lot of derogatory comments about those preaching the grace of God. They call them radical grace preachers and warn people from embracing the grace of God squarely without balance from the law.

These accusations and slander against the grace of God has received applause in many quarters. Unsuspectingly many has been further drawn into more bondage and cannot fully express the life of God in them. In many cases these false teachings have just produced death in the hearers.

How do you identify a wolf or a false preacher?

Pastor Paul White did a fantastic exposition on this, which I want to share with you.

“We must be on guard for the false prophet because they are ravening wolves inside. Wolves feed on sheep, so a good indicator of whether or not you are near a false prophet is not what they act like or look like, because they are wearing “sheep’s clothing” (verse 15). An indicator of a false prophet’s nature is the fruit of their ministry. Are the sheep being whipped and scattered? Are there many who have run from the church because of that ministry? Are the people sitting in the church producing the fruits of the Spirit? The answer to these questions will indicate whether you are near a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

What is the answer to false teaching or bad doctrine? Lets look at Paul’s conclusion in Acts 20.

The radical grace of our Lord Jesus is the key to safety and establishment. This grace is pure with no mixture of human efforts and tradition. This gospel builds one up is the one exalts the promises of His unmerited and unearned favour towards through Jesus. It is this truth that releases to us our inheritance as sons and not servants.

Like Paul said your establishment in life should be on the grace of God so that when the evil comes, you will always manifest the victory that is always available in Christ Jesus.

Simeon Edigbe — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:08:39 +0000

The recent decision by the Supreme Court in the US to legalize gay marriages has caused so much ripples in the religious world over morality. We have heard prophecies about an impending doom that must manifest over America drawing similaries from Sodom and Gomorah. If we really look at the matter we will honest to agree that the church has not been successful in reaching those either gay or homosexual.

The Lord has given us the gospel of grace which is for all people regardless of the moral issue involved. His ministers must minister life to anyone they serve from the well of salvation. Bringing up the 10 commandments or any law from Leviticus or Deautoronmy is not the answer. Quoting one will require you to quote all. We are good to know that all the law has been abolished by the sacrificice of Jesus on the cross.

The only law we have now is of the Spirit that ministers life to a death-ridden world. We have been equipped by God by His Spirit to make the necessary transformation and impact that the world so really needs but may not know.

I want to share with a personal experience from Bob Rufus of City Church International Hong Kong when he received an invitation to minister to a largely gay setup. He talks about how the anointing of the Spirit can transform one from being gay to straight without having to declare judgment on them.

“I want to talk about this because the anointing is the grace of God – the anointing carries grace and we want to speak about how the anointing is carried in your words. I want to talk about how the anointing is transferred through the laying on of hands and other ways.

When you leave here I believe God wants to spread the supernatural aroma and flavour and perfume of grace wherever you go. He wants us to see that the anointing can be transferred. The anointing is transferable, transmittable and tangible. The anointing of God is like supernatural electricity. The anointing of God is like heavenly materiality – it is real. You can feel the anointing. You can feel it on your hands and you can feel it on your face. You can feel it leaving your body and going into someone else’s body.

I was in Holland just a few weeks ago and we taught on the transfer of the anointing. I said; “Any five people who are sick – I don’t care how sick you are – I want to show you the transfer of the anointing and I will pray for you”. So five people came out and within a minute or two three of them were completely healed. The fourth had to go for a checkup and a few weeks later we got the email saying they were healed. The fifth one I don’t know about – but four were healed about them understanding how to receive the transfer of the anointing!

How many want to know how to give the anointing into people’s lives after receiving it? We are all called to be competent ministers of the Spirit that gives life. When we walk in the gift of righteousness and speak about the gift of grace we should be able to back that up with the transfer of the ministry of the Spirit of life.

We should be able to give away the Spirit of life. Some years ago a man invited me to go to the United Kingdom and preach to a big outreach in London. The network was called “Pioneer Ministries” and they were doing an amazing work with people suffering with HIV/AIDS and they were ministering to them. So they knew many many precious homosexual folk – people who were lesbians and homosexuals. I want to tell you that God loves homosexuals and lesbians the way He loves adulterers and murderers and every unsaved person. Jesus has died for the whole world! Somehow Christians have put homosexuality in a different category and said their sin is worse. I don’t know – everything is bad! Under the Law everyone falls short and everyone has missed the glory of God!

The church has not been successful in reaching homosexual people or gay people. In the Western world the church has not had a good result with the gay community. Much of the church has bashed the gays and marched with big “anti-gay” slogans. That doesn’t represent Jesus! I really believe Jesus walks amongst the gay people and wants to love them into the freedom of the Kingdom! So I was going to minister to hundreds and hundreds of people who hated church – hated Christianity and didn’t go to church and certainly didn’t trust Christians and are in the gay community.

Now I had never preached to hundreds of gay people at once – so I went to the United Kingdom and went out to the forest to pray and wait on God. I began to pray and wait on God for 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours until I got the breakthrough in prayer. Now the breakthrough came at the Cross but I was praying the victory of the Cross into this community. While I was in the forest, I felt the breakthrough of God. I had a white T-shirt, white running shorts on and was so happy when the breakthrough came and knew the victory had been released and I was running and jumping in the forest and even rolled down the hill and rolled down into a big pile of cow dung and my T-shirt was covered in cow dung but I was so happy I kept running and knew tonight there would be blessing and liberty and people saved tonight!

I heard God say to me; “Son, the anointing of blessing is all over your white T-shirt which was now the colour of green cow dung. Tonight I don’t want you to preach for more than 10 minutes – I just want you to go to the meeting and wave it over the crowd and I’ll do the rest”. So I said; “Jesus please don’t ask me to do this! These are British people with stiff upper lips and won’t appreciate this!”. He said; “Okay Rob – don’t worry but you will be preaching on your own”. I said; “No Lord don’t leave me on my own!”. But you see – sometimes to do the miraculous we have to do the ridiculous. That is why grace liberates us to become bold and adventurous. We can step out in faith when we hear the voice of God. We do things people are too afraid to do but we do them because we are walking in the grace of God.

So that night I went to the meeting and there were 100s of people there. Someone was trying to lead them in worship but they were not interested. They were angry and mad and upset. I came out and began to speak and spoke for 10 minutes. Everything was so tight and unfriendly and hostile and terrible that I wanted to run out the meeting. I thought; “Lord I will just preach for a little longer to get their faith up”. The Lord kept saying; “Son I am telling you – just wave the T-shirt over the crowd”. I had the T-shirt in a plastic bag and hidden it under the pulpit and was dressed in a clean shirt and trousers. But nothing was happening – it was getting worse. So finally I said; “Ladies and gentlemen – I just want to say to you that I have been disobeying God for the last 20 minutes”. As soon as I said I had been disobeying God all these unsaved people – I had their attention. I said; “The Lord told me to only speak for 10 minutes and then He told me to do …. this”.

I was feeling embarrassed and nervous and felt no great faith. I pulled the T-shirt out which was green and yellow from cow dung. And I said; “The Lord told me to do … this” and as I waved the T-shirt over the crowd the power of God was released across that room and hundreds of people fell from their chairs. Demons began to come out. People began to scream and repent. Then I said; “He told me to do THIS!” and then they went hysterical. When God told the disciples to feed the masses with fish, don’t think Thomas was breaking the loaves in half and throwing them out. They were taking little crumbs! When they saw the bread and fish was not running out – then they got bolder. And I began to get bolder and bolder. Literally 100’s of people – I have a video recording of this – 100’s of these people without me asking them to do it, got up off the floor, fell on their knees at the front, taking their lovers rings off and throwing them onto the pulpit and repenting and calling out on God.

I was amazed! But I saw one man standing in a pin-striped suit standing by himself. Everyone was on the floor kneeling and weeping and repenting. I ran up to this very British man with the white T-shirt and went pow in his stomach! He fell and began to cry out and weep before God! I didn’t realise that man worked at Buckingham Palace and was the legal advisor to the Royal Family. God got him! I wanted to give him my white T-shirt and ask him to take it and wave it over Prince Charles!

There is an anointing that flows out of grace that will radiate out of our lives and through our churches. We just have to learn how to release it and many Christians have to learn how to receive it.

I believe its time for the kingdom to release the power to change and transform through the various giftings of the Spirit operating in the lives of a believer. We can minister true change as we behold him in glory and present Him in his love. We have to be open to the Spirit of God to lead us in this revolution and not let offence becloud sound and profitable judgment. The world is confused and it might not accept it so but we who have embraced the truth should utilize every opportunity to let the Spirit of grace do only what he can do.

FAITH OR MENTAL BELIEVING BY PETER YOUNGREN

Simeon Edigbe — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 11:45:00 +0000

A truckload of mental believing produced by human effort and struggle will do nothing, but a teaspoonful of the faith of Jesus will move mountains every time.

There is a huge gap between mental believing and the God-kind of faith. Mental believing is natural. It comes by repeatedly telling our mind it is so. True faith is supernatural. It moves mountains and is only found in Jesus.

The four Gospels give us many case studies that contrast mental believing with the God-kind of faith. Matthew chapter seventeen begins with Jesus and three of His disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. When they come down from the mountain, Jesus quickly encounters human pain and suffering. We read, “And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.’” (Matthew 17:14-16)

Can you see the desperation? It’s obvious Jesus’ disciples believed in healing, otherwise they would not have tried to cure the boy. The father must have also believed in the miracle-working power of Jesus, because later he says, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

We don’t know all the details, but we can well imagine the disciples gathered around the boy while he was rolling on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Maybe they rebuked the devil or commanded the demons to leave and nothing happened. Possibly they tried repeatedly praying, interceding and pleading with God. Maybe they encouraged the father to believe more fervently, putting the onus for more faith on him or on the boy. Did the disciples try to discern the cause of the boy’s sickness? Maybe they tried to research what had been the entry point for the demons to begin to oppress the boy and his family. We don’t know exactly how they attempted to cure the boy, but we know they tried. Still, after all the prayer, rebuking and crying out to God was done, the result was dismal. The boy was as sick as ever before. Now some may conclude that this indicated it was not God’s will to heal the boy. We know that’s not the case because when Jesus came, He said, “Bring him here to Me.” (Matthew 17:17) After a short conversation with the father, Jesus heals the boy. Jesus’ action proves that it was God’s will to heal the boy.

Later on, the disciples wonder at what they have seen and why they could not cure the boy. Jesus explains, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

A Truckload or a Teaspoon

Do you see the distinction between mental believing and mountain-moving faith? The disciples had exercised mental believing. No question! They believed in healing or they would not have attempted to cure the boy. Jesus shows that if they had real faith instead of mental believing, they would only need a mustard seed of that kind of faith, and the miracle would happen.

A billion dollars worth of mental believing and nothing will happen, but a penny of faith – the God-kind of faith – and nothing is impossible.

What we call “faith” is often only mental believing or “mind over matter.” People may be heard repeatedly saying, “I’m healed, I’m healed, I’m healed,” or “I got it, I got it, I got it,” or “It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine.” It is as if we thought that by repeating something enough we’ll convince our own minds that we believe it, and then we’ll get it.

The faith that Jesus gives, the God-kind of faith, is alive, vibrant and powerful. Let’s never reduce faith to “five steps, ten keys, seven clues, or ten secrets.” Faith can never be reduced to a mere principle or a “step.” It is much more than affirming a doctrine; it is the energy of Jesus Himself flowing through you. Faith is not a condition of our mind; it is a divine grace.

A truckload of mental believing produced by human effort and struggle will do nothing, but a teaspoonful of the faith of Jesus will move mountains every time. The good news is that Jesus makes this faith readily available. You only have to come to Him, call out for Him, and draw near to Him. “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12) It’s all wrapped up in “Him,” “He” and “His.” He does the work and we receive the benefits.

Just as I Am

In every Billy Graham crusade when the invitation for people to come to Christ is given the choir sings, “Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me.” I love those words, “without one plea.” That means that I have nothing to plead of my own. I cannot brag of a single good thing about myself, including boasting of my faith. Instead, I simply come asking for God’s mercy.

Remember the prayer meeting in the temple in Jerusalem with the publican in the back crying out for mercy, and the self-righteous Pharisee in the front of the sanctuary thanking God that he was not as “other sinners.” Whose shoes would you rather be in: the publican sinner or the self-righteous Pharisee? There was no blessing in coming to God presenting something of ourselves, but mercy and grace flowed freely to the one who came “without one plea.” All our mental attempts at faith will avail nothing. When we come to Jesus without anything of our own, the floodgates of His mercy and love open wide to us.

Peace In The Storm

On another occasion when Jesus and the disciples were in the boat, a raging storm threatened to drown them. The disciples were on the deck crying out to God, commanding the winds to be calm, but nothing happened. Obviously they believed that God could calm the storm, but it was a believing produced of their mind. Jesus simply spoke the words, “Peace be still,” and there was a great calm (Mark 4:39). This is the distinguishing mark between mental believing and the faith which comes of Jesus. Mental believing is our effort to believe and see something happen. Jesus’ faith comes with great peace.

Believe & Speak

Someone may ask, “Isn’t it important that we speak in faith?” Yes, faith speaks and confesses God’s Word. Our positive confession of God’s Word comes from faith, but faith doesn’t come from positive confession, for faith comes from Jesus. That’s why the Scripture says, “I believe, therefore I spoke,” not I spoke until I believed. You may ask, “Doesn’t faith act?” Yes, action comes from faith, not faith from action – for faith only comes from Jesus.

Vasco’s New Shoes

While preaching in the central square in Plovdiv, Bulgaria a mother brought her five-year-old son, Vasco, who had been born paralyzed. The mother had heard of the wonders of Jesus that had happened in our previous meeting in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. She was overwhelmed with what she had heard, and now certain that her son would walk she bought him a pair of jeans, a jean jacket and a brand-new pair of sneakers. The boy had never owned a pair of shoes; he had no need for them as he could neither stand nor walk. However, Vasco’s mother was sure he would need shoes because Jesus would heal him. As I preached Jesus that night a beaming five-year-old and a crying mother came on the platform. Vasco ran back and forth showing the people the wonder that had happened. The people were beside themselves with joy. That’s the faith of Jesus in operation. He gave Vasco’s mother mountain-moving faith.

Now I could tell that story and someone else who was lame could also buy new shoes and come to a meeting and nothing would happen. To the one person this was a living vibrant reality; to another person it may only be another faith technique. Faith is not a method – faith is a person.

The Man Who Crawled

In one of our Gospel Festivals in India, a man paralyzed from his waist down was lying on the ground listening as I spoke of Jesus Christ. He pushed himself up leaning on his arms all the while inching his way around the crowd to get a closer view of the platform. When I spoke in the name of Jesus for the lame to rise up and walk, he tried to get up but fell down. He did it again with the same dismal result. I would never have known these details unless a friend of mine, Pastor Frederick Mwassa from the east coast of Kenya, had been present. He was standing looking at this pitiful sight of a man trying to get up and walk. He told me after the meeting, “Peter, I approached the lame man saying, ‘Shall I help you?’ The man responded, ‘No, I believe the word of Jesus that I have heard preached. I believe it more than I believe in my paralyzed condition. I will walk on my own.’” Again he tried, and this time life flowed to his limbs. He jumped to his feet and came running to the platform while all the people who’d seen him began to weep and cry, and were beside themselves at what they had just witnessed. The Holy Spirit had revealed Jesus to that man. Jesus had given him faith, and no one was going to talk him out of it.

I could relate this story and another person in a similar condition could say and act in exactly the same way, and nothing would happen. It is true that faith responds by acting, that faith without works is dead. But faith doesn’t come from imitating the action of someone else – faith comes from Jesus. Don’t try to imitate or copy what someone else has done, instead just draw closer to Jesus. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to you more everyday. Jesus’ faith, assurance and peace will come into your heart. This is why every miracle testimony is unique, whether a testimony from the Bible or a current one. As each individual connects with Jesus, that person will act out their faith in Him.

Jesus is the key to everything. Our miracle is in Him. The more we look at our own effort the worse it gets, while the more we look at Jesus the easier it becomes. I have increasingly made my whole focus to lift up Jesus. The apostle Paul writes, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?” (Galatians 3:1) Faith, miracles, healings and wonders are not produced by methods or faith techniques. These blessings come when people fully see Jesus portrayed. This was Paul’s preaching style: to vividly paint a picture of the awesomeness of Jesus.

It Is A Gift

Mental believing comes from within ourselves. We try to achieve a level of soulish concentration where we think we believe something. This is the complete opposite of the faith of God. Look again at this scripture: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

This means:

1. Faith is “not of ourselves;”
2. Faith is “a gift of God;”
3. Faith is “not of works;”
4. If faith came from our works or ourselves we could boast, but since it doesn’t, all boasting goes to Jesus.

The next verse sheds light on how real faith comes. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) Everything we have is because we are new creations in Christ Jesus. We are believers because Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of faith, is in us. We nurture and grow this God-given faith by continually looking unto Jesus.

Do you work for a “gift?” Obviously not! A gift must be free or it is no longer a gift. Faith is a gift of God.

At times we hear people say, “I have seriously studied and prayed and my faith is growing. I believe I can do great things for God now.” This type of speaking is an indication that faith’s not at work, because we cannot work for faith and consequently we can’t boast in it.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I practice Bible reading, prayer, and spiritual discipline with all my heart. Still we may read and pray diligently and yet not have the faith that moves mountains. Only Jesus can give us this faith. When His peaceful presence touches you, another world will open up to you. It’s no longer you trying to have faith. Instead, His faith, the faith of Jesus, is flowing through you. He is our TOTAL MIRACLE SOURCE.

WHY THE NEW JERUSALEM CANNOT BE A LITERAL PLACE?

Simeon Edigbe — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:12:48 +0000

Revelation 21:16

“The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with the rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal.”

1. Its Size Is Physically Impossible for a City

12,000 stadia = about 1,400–1,500 miles (depending on measurement).

That’s nearly the distance from Lagos to Cairo or New York to Dallas — a single “city” covering half a continent!

The text says its height is equal to its length and width, meaning a city 1,400 miles high. That’s over 600,000 stories tall!

No city on earth — even in the future — could physically exist with such dimensions.

2. It Matches the Shape of the Holy of Holies

The description of a perfect cube is significant:

1 Kings 6:20 describes the Holy of Holies in Solomon’s temple:

“The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high.”

This was the place of God’s intimate presence, where only the high priest entered once a year.

The New Jerusalem being a perfect cube symbolizes that God’s presence now fills the whole “city” (His people) — no longer confined to a small room in a temple.

This is consistent with Revelation 21:22:

“I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.”

3. The Measurements Are Symbolic, Not Geographic

Numbers in Revelation are highly symbolic:

12 = fullness of God’s people (12 tribes, 12 apostles).

1,000 = completeness, vastness.

12,000 = symbolic of the fullness and perfection of God’s redeemed people.

Just like the 144,000 (12 × 12 × 1,000) is not a literal census but symbolic of God’s complete covenant people, so is the size of this city.

If we insist this city is literal, we must also believe its walls are made of jasper, its streets of literal gold, and that gates are made of single pearls; all clearly symbolic imagery pointing to value, purity, and beauty.

4. Its “Height” Is a Clue to Its Spiritual Nature

No literal city’s height is ever measured like its length and width but John’s vision includes height.

This shows we are not dealing with geography, but theology:

God’s presence is now vertically and horizontally everywhere among His people.

It represents the all-encompassing dwelling of God with man (Rev. 21:3).

5. Practical Problem of Literalism

If literal, this city would have to land somewhere on earth.

1,500 miles wide would cover multiple countries and oceans but Scripture gives no geographical location.

Instead, its description focuses on qualities (purity, holiness, light, no curse, no night) rather than navigation or placement on a map.

The sheer size and cube shape of the New Jerusalem are intentionally exaggerated to communicate a divine truth:

God’s people under the New Covenant have become the dwelling place of God.

His presence now fills them completely, length, breadth, and height.

It is a picture of perfection and completion, not a blueprint for future construction.

The Goodnews About Hell Pt. 3

Simeon Edigbe — Wed, 20 Mar 2019 11:26:25 +0000

I was doing my research on when the church actually embraced the doctrine of eternal conscious torment seeing the shocking translations of the words, Hades, Sheol and Gehenna. I found a fantastic article that in my own estimation couldn’t have been a better compilation of facts well research without any form of bias.

Please remember that I am not using this medium to draw any conclusions for you. This is for those who are open hearted. This is to stir us up to study, not for disputes.

This article was put together by the guys at Brazen Church. Though most of it was contributed by Julie Ferwerda.

Enjoy!

The Irony of “Orthodoxy”

When you begin to study Church history you quickly realize that “orthodox Christianity” is an oxymoron. Merriam Webster defines orthodox as, “conforming to established doctrine, especially in religion.”[i] You might also hear it defined as “right doctrine.”

Orthodox suggests that there are certain truths and doctrines that have always been peacefully and consensually agreed upon, accepted by the majority of “people like us” throughout all the centuries. And as the story goes, various groups of “heretics” have attempted to tamper with this “right doctrine” throughout history, only to fail miserably as the truth remained undiluted over the centuries.

These are the assumptions many of us grew up believing. We were handed an absolute narrative, told that it has withstood the test of time, and invited nicely to never question it ever… or else. Mainstream Christianity wants us to think there has always been a harmonious consensus, and those who question are not simply disagreeing with their pastor… oh no!

You are going against 2,000 years of what “those who follow the Spirit of God” have always believed and accepted as truth.

While tradition and orthodoxy have been instrumental in preserving certain truths — and indeed, there is a profound beauty to be found in sacramental liturgy — the reality is that for centuries, Christian Orthodoxy preserved itself through fear and control, opting to protect it’s doctrinal “truth” through the active suppression of opposing ideas.

What’s particularly ironic is that the modern Evangelical Church tries hard to distance itself from the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church while the core of it’s theology comes directly out of the councils, doctrines, and creeds established by the early Roman Catholic and Latin Church.

The truth is that since the very beginning, Church history has been rife with unrest, conflict, and even bloodshed — primarily over matters of establishing orthodoxy. And with today’s easy access to the annals of Church history, it’s time for us churchgoers to rethink the myth of orthodoxy, and begin re-evaluating what we’ve been taught.

For instance, many Christians insist that if you question hell, you are rejecting what has always been agreed upon by the Church, yet the doctrine of eternal torment was not a widely held view for the first five centuries after Christ, particularly in the early Eastern Church, the Church of the early apostles and Church fathers such as Paul, Clement of Alexandria, St. Gregory of Nyssa, Origen, and others.

What we do see during this time is the expansion and proliferation of pagan myths about the afterlife, which were then repackaged as eternal, fiery torment in the Western (Catholic) Church, primarily by Latin theologians and Church leaders from Rome. It seems this was most likely motivated by political expediency. The idea of eternal torment was a prime tool for controlling the average churchgoer with fear and was congruent with secular mythologies of the time. Later, pop culture added fuel to the fire (pun intended) through imaginative works like Dante’s Inferno.

That Awkward Moment Eternity Slipped In

The invasion of Hell into Church doctrine ultimately starts with the invasion of “eternity”. Words like “eternity, eternal, everlasting, etc” don’t truly exist in scripture. Rather, these words are all derived from the root word Aión which means “an Age” or “Eon”.

Take a phrase like aionas ton aionon. This phrase shows up several times in the Greek New Testament (Romans 20:10, for example) and has been traditionally translated as “forever and ever”.

But here’s the problem. Aión means “Age”, not “forever”. And even worse, tonmeans “of”, NOT “and”. For example, Abraham was the father of (ton) Isaac. ALL THREE WORDS of this phrase are completely mistranslated. What it actually says is “Ages of the Ages”.

We see this root word Aión every time we see “eternal”, “eternity”, “forever”, “everlasting”, etc. All of these words revolve around the concept of Ages.

So why are we telling you this?

Because “Ages” played a crucial role in the way early Church fathers viewed life. It was a highly significant paradigm to how they viewed God, this life, the afterlife, etc.

Due to the history of the Biblical text and the numerous influences in its popular translations, we’ve been left with a very Plato-esque focus on this concept called eternity. But that was not the paradigm of the “orthodox” church until St. Augustine, a student of Plato, funneled Christian doctrine through Plato’s teachings of the “eternal soul”.

Plato made several philosophical arguments that have ironically come to define our mainstream Christian paradigms.

1. First, Plato believed that the soul was separate from the body and that the soul was fundamentally pure but tends to become deformed through association with the body.

2. Second, like his teacher Socrates, Plato believed that the soul itself was immortal, thus necessitating an eternal destination for the soul after the body dies.

3. Third, Plato proposed that good actions result in a reward in this life, but more importantly, a greater reward after death. Similarly, bad actions result in consequences in this life, but even greater punishment after death.

Plato linked some of his ideas to prevailing Greek mythology, including the locations of Hades and Tartarus. In Greek mythology, Tartarus is the location deep below Hades where the Titans were enslaved and the wicked were tormented. According to Plato, this is where divine punishment was meted out.

It is of this philosopher that St. Augustine remarked,

“The utterance of Plato, the most pure and bright in all philosophy, scattering the clouds of error . . .”

These ideas proposed by Plato are not from the Bible. They are Greek philosophy. BUT we have spent centuries reading them into the Biblical text and even translating the Biblical text through their lens.

But if we go back before the time of Augustine, we find 5 centuries of Church fathers who never carried this lens.

How Hell Invaded Church Doctrine.

The big point we are building up to here is that the early church fathers DID NOT believe in eternal torment. We aren’t talking about the first guy or two post-Paul. We are talking about the first 5 centuries after Christ.

Let me repeat that, just so we are clear.

Eternal torment was not a pillar of church doctrine for the first 5 centuries after Christ.

Dr. Ken Vincent, retired psychology professor from Houston Community College, and author of over one hundred books in the fields of psychology and religion, notes:

The first person to write about “eternal hell” was the Latin (West) North African Tertullian (160–220 A.D.), who is considered the Father of the Latin Church. As most people reason, hell is a place for people you don’t like! Tertullian fantasized that not only the wicked would be in hell but also every philosopher and theologian who ever argued with him! He envisioned a time when he would look down from heaven at those people in hell and laugh with glee! [ii]

Out of the six theological schools in Tertullian’s day and beyond (170–430 A.D.), the only school that taught the doctrine of eternal torment or hell to its students was the Latin (Roman) school in Carthage, Africa. Four of the other five taught that, through the death and resurrection of Christ, all people would be saved through restorative judgment and reconciliation in a plan of Ages.[iii] This teaching was called, “Universal Salvation” or “Universal Reconciliation.” Dr. Vincent says,

By far, the main person responsible for making hell eternal in the Western Church was St. Augustine (354–430 CE). Augustine…was made Bishop of Hippo in North Africa. He did not know Greek, had tried to study it, but stated that he hated it. Sadly, it is his misunderstanding of Greek that cemented the concept of eternal hell in the Western Church. Augustine not only said that hell was eternal for the wicked, but also for anyone who wasn’t a Christian. So complete was his concept of God’s exclusion of non-Christians that he considered un-baptized babies as damned. When these babies died,

Augustine softened slightly to declare that they would be sent to the “upper level” of hell. Augustine is also the inventor of the concept of “hell Lite,” also known as Purgatory, which he developed to accommodate some of the universalist verses in the Bible. Augustine acknowledged the Universalists, whom he called “tender-hearted,” and included them among the “orthodox.”[iv]

Not only was Augustine somewhat the champion of the hell doctrine in the Western Church, he also had a major influence on the onset of religious bigotry and hate campaigns in the following centuries.

In the 1907 book, Lives of the Fathers: Sketches of Church History in Biography,written by Frederick D. Farrar, who was Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen of England, we read about Augustine:

The advocacy of hell came primarily on the scene with Augustine: In no other respect did Augustine differ more widely from Origen and the Alexandrians [Eastern Church] than in his intolerant spirit. Even Tertullian conceded to all the right of opinion.

[Augustine] was the first in the long line of Christian persecutors, and illustrates the character of the theology that swayed him in the wicked spirit that impelled him to advocate the right to persecute Christians who differ from those in power. The dark pages that bear the record of subsequent centuries are a damning witness to the cruel spirit that actuated Christians, and the cruel theology that impelled it.

Augustine was the first and ablest asserter of the principle which led to Albigensian crusades, Spanish armadas, Netherland’s butcheries, St. Bartholomew massacres, the accursed infamies of the Inquisition, the vile espionage, the hideous bale fires of Seville and Smithfield, the racks, the gibbets, the thumbscrews, and the subterranean torture-chambers used by churchly torturers.[v]

Samuel Dawson, author of, The Teaching of Jesus: From Mount Sinai to Gehenna a Faithful Rabbi Urgently Warns Rebellious Israel, says:

Most of what we believe about hell comes from Catholicism and ignorance of the Old Testament, not from the Bible. I now believe that hell is the invention of Roman Catholicism; and surprisingly, most, if not all, of our popular concepts of hell can be found in the writings of Roman Catholic writers like the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), author of Dante’s Inferno. The English poet John Milton (1608–1674), author of Paradise Lost, set forth the same concepts in a fashion highly acceptable to the Roman Catholic faith. Yet none of our concepts of hell can be found in the teaching of Jesus Christ![vi]

Following on the heels of Augustine, the greatest influence on today’s hell theology via most modern Bible translations came from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate. Jerome translated this tainted version of the Scriptures from a very inferior Latin text in the late 4th century:

For over a thousand years (c. AD 400–1530), the Vulgate was the definitive edition of the most influential text in Western European society. Indeed, for most Western Christians, it was the only version of the Bible ever encountered. The Vulgate’s influence throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance into the Early Modern Period is even greater than that of the King James Version in English; for Christians during these times the phraseology and wording of the Vulgate permeated all areas of the culture.[vii]

What was the problem with Jerome’s Bible? It was heavily influenced by Latin hell-inventing theologians like Tertullian and Augustine.

When you realize that the hell doctrine was so late in being adopted by the Church (and hence, Scriptures), the poorly constructed walls of orthodoxy begin to crumble. It was several hundred years after Jesus and the apostles that men began formulating many of these new Church doctrines and creeds, many still a part of Evangelical Christian orthodoxy to this day.

Had our old English Bibles been translated directly out of the Greek instead of Latin, it’s very probable that the doctrine of eternal torment would never have found its way into our modern Bibles and theology at all. Many of these doctrines were strong-armed into the Church through major dissension and even bloodshed, with intolerant, oppressive Church leaders insisting that they were “led by the Spirit” on such matters.

The Afterlife According To Gregory

While we’ve been telling you a lot about what early fathers didn’t believe, I think it would be helpful for us to look at what some of them did believe.

We are going to look briefly at St. Gregory of Nyssa, who lived from 335 to 395 AD. In addition to being canonized, St. Gregory served as the Bishop of Nyssa and is known for his significant contributions to both the doctrine of the Trinity and the Nicene creed.

In other words, this guy is one of the founding fathers of church orthodoxy. If you aren’t aware, the Nicene creed serves to this day as the universal statement of faith for not only the Catholic church, but most anyone who would call themselves “Christians”.

St. Gregory DID NOT believe in eternal torment. But let’s not stop there. What he DID believe in was universal salvation — that all would ultimately be reconciled to God.

For it is evident that God will in truth be all in all when there shall be no evil in existence, when every created being is at harmony with itself and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; when every creature shall have been made one body.

St. Gregory, like many in his day, believed that we were on a progression through the ages, where at the end of the Age, those who had purged themselves of evil in this life would enter into the blessedness of the Age to Come, while those who hadn’t would be passed through cleansing fire, after which they would also enter into that same blessedness.

Whoever considers the divine power will plainly perceive that it is able at length to restore by means of the aionion purging and atoning sufferings, those who have gone even to this extremity of wickedness.

And in another quote:

Wherefore, that at the same time liberty of free-will should be left to nature and yet the evil be purged away, the wisdom of God discovered this plan; to suffer man to do what he would, that having tasted the evil which he desired, and learning by experience for what wretchedness he had bartered away the blessings he had, he might of his own will hasten back with desire to the first blessedness …either being purged in this life through prayer and discipline, or after his departure hence through the furnace of cleansing fire.

In other words, St. Gregory is saying that God gave us free will, so that in tasting evil, we would realize how wretched it is and hasten back into a righteous state of blessedness — or as we might say here at Brazen Church, hasten into the abundant life Jesus came to show us — and that this hastening to blessedness will come either in this life, through prayer and discipline, or in the life to come, by passing through cleansing fire.

This isn’t a renegade theologian firing shots at Christendom thousands of years into orthodoxy.

This is a FOUNDER of orthodoxy. This is a man responsible for forging the unifying statement of faith for all of Christianity. This is a man who attended the first ever council of the Church in Nicaea.

And THIS MAN, this founder of the faith, not only shows no traces of a belief in Hell — He actually believed ALL WOULD BE SAVED. And while not all of his contemporaries shared his belief that all would be saved, the opposing belief was that the wicked would be destroyed… NOT tormented forever.

Conclusion

It shocks me to hear people argue that the doctrine of Hell has been the definitive belief of Christendom since the days of the New Testament. Such a claim demonstrates a fundamental ignorance of Church history and is a testament to how extensively St. Augustine’s doctrine influenced the orthodox church.

The idea of eternal torment comes primarily from Greek thought — a merging of mythology and the ramification of belief in an immortal soul.

For 5 centuries, Christian doctrine remained unaffected by Hell until St. Augustine forcibly inserted it into orthodoxy, using a combination of power and violence to ensure it’s survival. Since that time, we’ve seen the gradual evolution of Christian doctrine in and around this concept, until today, the average believer has no idea that the concept of eternal torment isn’t even Biblical.

This doctrine of Hell has been used for centuries to control the masses with fear. Today, it prevents the world, both Christian and non-Christian alike, from seeing a loving Father.

A Christianity with Hell is a Christianity that must inherently be full of fear, and yet 1 John 4:18 tells us:

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

So there you have it. Pls take your own time to do your own research to confirm if the above is true. Let your heart guide into the truth about the nature of Father with a balanced view of the revelation that the scriptures provide.

Sources

You can read more on their articles refuting the hell doctrine here

JUDGMENT TO BEGIN AT THE HOUSE OF GOD

Simeon Edigbe — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 14:10:00 +0000

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1 Peter 4:17)

This is one of those scriptures that throws a divide on the implications on embracing the grace message. For those who argue for a balance in preaching the grace message based on the exclusion of a forth coming judgment this is one go-to-place in the scriptures.

As always context is key to understand Peter’s message. It will be improper to do a positional doctrine without examining all the elements in the verse and the surrounding verses.

Let’s put some flesh to the passage now.

12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning THE FIERY TRIAL WHICH IS TO TRY YOU, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that YOU PARTAKE OF CHRIST’S SUFFERINGS, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14 If YOU ARE REPROACHED FOR THE NAME OF CHRIST, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. 16 Yet IF ANYONE SUFFERS AS A CHRISTIAN, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.

17 FOR the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 Now

“If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.

When looked at context you will see Peter addressing the fact the believers of the first century in his time were going through severe persecution. This is also evidenced in other places in the New Testament. Paul’s letters seem to convey this lot.

Peter tells them that FIERY TRIALS is about to come against them. He asks them to rejoice as they partake in a form of suffering for their stand on the gospel. He tells them it is necessary because Jesus tells his disciples of it in the Olivet discourse.

9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. (Matthew 24)

This fiery trial is based on decisions taken against the church by their Jewish brethren and leadership. Then in vs 17 he first says “for” which means “because”. His precious statement links what he is about to say in vs 17.

This dilemma is because “the time has come”. When Peter said “the time has come” he uses the word “kairos”. This word means more than just time. It “frequently refers to time for decision in eschatological references.

The persecution of the church refers to an appointed time for fulfillment. Fulfilment of what the Lord told them as signs on the end of the old covenant/creation in Matthew 24.

Now not only did Peter say the appointed time had come, he said the time had come for “the judgment” [to krima] had come. The definite article is present in the greek but strangely absent in many Bible translations.

What judgment is he referring to?

In Matthew 16:27-28 Jesus said he was going to come in judgment to reward every man before his generation passed away.

For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. 28 Verily I say unto you, THERE BE SOME STANDING HERE, WHICH SHALL NOT TASTE OF DEATH, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

This scripture puts it very clear that this was an event that was due upon that generation and not in our time.

Paul also echoed this too;

30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world (oikoumene, ) in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men”

The root word Oikoumene, used for “world” in this passage, actually means “inhabited or civilized world,” not world as in global planet earth. This is the same Greek word used in Luke 2:1: “Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.”

Surely Ceasar Augustus did not carry out the census in every nook and cranny of the planet earth. This world was their civilized world that was under the radar of their control.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.” (Matthew 24:9)

Why would the apostles be hated in all nations if they had not preached the gospel in all nations? They were hated by all nations because they preached in all nations. What they did they preach that would stir up that hatred? The gospel had at its foundation the fact that the Mosaic laws were no longer a determining factor for salvation and relationship with God. This did not go down well the Jews who all their lives were born into it for centuries. The gospel at its best was blasphemy at the worst for them hence the persecution.

The gospel going round the Roman empire was to give the Jews everywhere the opportunity to embrace the redemption in Jesus and escape the wrath that was to be unleashed. That wrath was the day of judgment demonstrated in the removal of that old covenant world.

It needs to be noted that Peter said that the judgment would “begin at the house of God”; and would include those “who do not obey the gospel.” In their reference as Hebrews, the house of God refers to the temple. Jesus told them in Matthew 23 that the house would be left desolate.

Those who do not obey the gospel are not believers who sin. They were Jews who refused to accept the gospel of Jesus. Paul talks about them and still presents the theme of judgment on them in 1 Thessalonians 3.

4 so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all YOUR PERSECUTIONS AND TRIBULATIONS THAT YOU ENDURE, 5 which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; 6 since it is a righteous thing with God to REPAY WITH TRIBULATION THOSE WHO TROUBLE YOU, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 IN FLAMING FIRE TAKING VENGEANCE ON THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW GOD, AND ON THOSE WHO DO NOT OBEY THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe,[a] because our testimony among you was believed.

If you pay a close attention to the above statement by Paul you will see the harmony with Peter’s:

The church was being persecuted by the Jewish leadership and it was time for wrath (expressions of the law) to fall on them. That was the judgment. This theme runs throughout the scripture from Cain and Abel, Ismael and Isaac etc.

The judgment occurred at the “house of God” and it was found wanting from the cross when it’s veil was torn apart. The cross made it obsolete and it became known in scriptures as the synagogue of Satan (Revelation 3:9).

Daniel prophesied the same event in chapter 12 as occurring for times, time and half a time (3 1/2 years which was the length of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans) and when the power of the holy people were shattered (the Law and city).

It is also important to understand the word “judgment” is not always as we use it in the English language. The word itself, krino, means to separate.

In those events that occurred at the end of that age there was a separation going on even in the midst of the persecution of the church.

Jesus used the metaphors of the 10 virgins, the wheat and the tares, the sheep and the goats and others to teach the separation to distinguish those who were true Jews of faith (Galatians 3:7), and who were the Jews of the flesh, the apostate murderers of Jesus and the saints.

Ad70 demonstrated who the true sons of God were. It brought about the kingdom which demonstrated the full manifestation of sonship in the image of Christ. We are not waiting for any judgment to happen in the church of Christ. We are rather living in the endless kingdom age expecting the knowledge of the glory of the Lord to cover the earth as the waters covers the sea.