It is not all up to God. There are things we are responsible for. Until we recognize this and take charge of what has been left in our care, we shall fail to benefit from what God has freely given us. In this series, we shall look at five key areas of our lives, which we must see to.
Firstly, we are to see to it that we take hold of everything God has given us for our lives and for godliness. 2 Peter 1:3 says “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” (2 Peter 1:3). In this text, we read that God has accomplished His part by granting us everything we need for life and godliness. But we are only able to access these blessings through the true knowledge of God – that is our part. It is when we have the true knowledge of God that we get to know exactly what He has given us and how we are to take hold of them. This requires that we become people who are seriously devoted to the hearing and study of God’s Word. Through the Word of God, we are brought into the true knowledge of God and true discernment (see Philippians 1:9-10). And the degree to which we truly know the Word is the degree to which we are able to enjoy all that God’s divine power has granted for life and godliness.
Secondly, it’s our responsibility to see to it that we are not deceived. In Matthew 24, when Jesus was asked about the sign of His coming, the first sign He gave was deception (Matthew 24:4). This is how He put it: “And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you” (Matthew 24:4). Here, Jesus puts the responsibility of not being deceived on us. How do we do this? We can find the answer in Acts 17:11: “Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true” (Acts 17:11). After such a great apostle as Paul had preached to them, the people of Berea still compared his message with the Scriptures to see if what Paul preached were true. The Scriptures called them noble-minded compared to the Thessalonians who did not do so. Similarly, to ensure that we are not deceived, we are are to compare everything we hear with the Scriptures, no matter who it’s coming from. This is a sure way to be equipped to reject what is false and live by the truth. Not only are we to know the truth but we must also have a love for God’s truth to be delivered from deception. Having genuine love for God’s truth will keep us from taking pleasure in wickedness and the consequent deluding influence, deception, and destruction that come upon those who do not love God’s truth but take pleasure in sin (2 Thessalonians 2:8-11).
To be continued.
Kwadwo Omari, PhD
November 2, 2021.
A Very Important Message
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16). For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). Therefore, If you do not know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, I invite you to put your faith in Him. Pray the prayer below to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour: “I come to you God in Jesus’ name and surrender my life unto you. I repent of my sins and I ask You to forgive me all my sins. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I believe with my heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead. I thank you God for saving me, in Jesus name, Amen”. If you sincerely prayed this prayer, believe and be assured that you are saved, for the Bible says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13, Romans 10:9-10, Acts 16:31). Find a Bible believing church to attend so that you can be discipled to grow in the ways of God. You can also email me ([email protected]) and I will be happy to grow together with you in Christ.