FAITH, FATE AND FAKE IN 2014, Please crosscheck!!!

As we begin another year, it is paramount for you to crosscheck the base and principle on which you are living your life. Reading this article will be of good by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Everybody in this life, irrespective of their religion or life view, lives maybe by faith, by fate or by fake, and many times, these three life’s bases seem similar and can be mistaken to another if proper care is not taken. That is the reason this message is to clarify the three.

How have you been living all these while? But the good news is that is right beside you to help to live this year as the best ever and as to begin for better life.

LIVING BY FATE / Pronounce as /feit/
According to online dictionary, fate is the development of events outside a person's control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power. From this definition, we can reword fate as living outside one’s control by supernatural power – supernatural power is power above human power which could by God’s power or Satan’s power, but since God does not work by fate, hence it is Satan’s power.

To live by fate is to throw your destiny to the air for Satan to control; it is like one releasing the control of his ship to the wave of the sea. Every religion in this world is based on fate (you know Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship with God), and so people under religion are controlled with crisis, not Christ; they are living in pieces, no peace; they settle with anything that circumstances bring their ways, since they have no control, and they are not sure who, what or how their situations are being controlled, they live everything to fate.

People living by fate live in fear, because fear is a roommate of fate since nothing is certain. People living by fate have no faith in Christ; they reject or refuse Jesus Christ as their Lord. People living by fate live the way they please even in unpleasant and sinful manners in Satan’s freedom of bondage – seeing themselves as the controllers of their lives while Satan is their Dictator. They believe in their father’s religion or their framed philosophy.

Living by fate is living by probability, nothing is certain, not even where they are ending to after dead; everything is dim and blurry. There is no life as dangerous as living by fate.

LIVING BY FAKE
Fake is something not genuine; imitation or counterfeit. This is counterfeit of something original – Faith - fake faith. If you are a Christian, a church member, a Christian worker, a Christian leader or a Christian minister, it means you know what faith in Christ is all about, but do you know Satan does manipulates faith or exchange it along the way and turns it fake? That is the reason it is imperative for every Christian to constantly examine their faith in Christ lest it turns to fake. “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Characteristics Of Fake Faith:
(i) Confession Without Repentance. The beginning of fake faith is confessing sins to God without first repenting from those sins. If you want to surrender your life to Jesus or you want to rededicate your life to Him, and then you start with the prayer of confession of sin without first repenting from that sin, you will always find yourself confessing and committing sins. Repentance is realizing your sins as sins and ready to forsake them. If you are confessing the sin you have not made up your mind never to commit again, is that not a bundle of fake?

(ii) Good Claiming Without Godly Characters. The common feature of fake Christian faith is claimings that lack godly living; claiming the righteousness of Jesus without living righteous life, claiming to be a child of God without lifestyle of holiness; claiming, “there is no condemnation” while they continue in sin and have unsettled restitution. Such faith is fake.

(iii) Confession Of God’s Promises Without Considering God’s Precepts. Every Christian of today, including the fake, has in memory at least 3 promises of God. Bible verses of God’s promises are the most popular verses - like 3 John verse 2, Philippians 4: 13 and 19. But the funny thing is that many Christians who are good at confessing the good promises of God barely consider the precepts and commands of God. That is the reason Bible verses like Romans 12:1, 1 John 3:8, or Hebrews 9:27 may not be popular with such Christians and in their churches. If you are one of the Christians who are more of confessing God’s promises without taking more time to consider and live according to the precepts of God, then you are holding to a fake faith which you urgently need to drop now for a better one.

“Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.” Psalm 119:40

(iv) Earthly First. Christians with fake faith seek first earthly stuffs more than heavenly things; they are more concerned about their physical well-being than their spiritual well-being. How will you know this? In your personal prayer, if you pray first or mostly on earthly things like blessings, provision, prosperity, protection, health, etc. in your prayer time than purification and sanctification of your soul, righteousness of God, grace and strength of God to be more like Jesus and to do the work of evangelism, then you are a fake Christian. In your preaching and pursuit this year, if they are primarily on such earthly things, then you are having a "beautiful" fake faith as a Christian or as a Christian minister.

1 Timothy 6:11, “But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.”

LIVING BY FAITH IN JESUS
There is no better life you can live in this world apart from living by faith Jesus Christ. You can live luxurious life, you can live in mansion, you can live in wealth, you can live in beautiful place, but if you are not living by faith in Jesus Christ, you are in misery.

Living by faith in Jesus is living with certainty and confidence: with certainty of where you are coming from, where you are and where you heading to; with confidence of who is in control of your life and what He has for you. Living by faith removes confusion, fear and unrest mind. Living by faith is ensued with peace of life and unspeakable joy of the Lord.

There is only one group of people who can genuinely and successfully live by faith in Jesus, and God wants you to be part of this group, because every other group are disqualified. Many people desire to live by faith, many claim to live by faith, but only one group actually lives by faith. Here is the group - Romans 1:17, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH
Only the just shall live by faith! Only the just are actually and genuinely living by faith! The Bible does not say, “People shall live by faith” It does not say, “Sinner shall live by faith”. How can you claim to live by faith when you are not just, or how can you live by faith if you are not just? IMPOSSIBLE!

This is a divine DISCLAIMER from God, that only the just are living by His faith, which He recognize, other claimers are on their own. Sinning sinner claiming to live by faith is fake claim, backsliding Christian claiming to be living by faith is fake. Before you can live by faith, you need to be among the just. And who are the just?

THE JUST!
“But the just shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38

Another words for “The just” is the righteous, the redeemed, the regenerated. There is no shortcut or other means by which you can live by faith except by becoming among the just.

Do you notice that the Bible does not say, “Faith will make you just” but it says “The just shall live by faith” Many preachers of today and tuning it upside down saying if you have faith you will become justified in Christ even when you continue in unjustified lifestyle. No, this is fake! You can’t continue living in unjustified lifestyle, that is in sinful life, and claim to be just at the same time. You cannot continue in sin and live by faith at the same time.

To become a just person, you need to be justified by Jesus Christ when you repent from your sins, confess and forsake them.

SALVATION: We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ to live a faithful life, not to continue in unfaithfulness. Those who claim salvation in Christ by faith and continue in sin at the same time are living in spiritual confusion and contradiction.

You need to get the following clear:

We are saved by GRACE. “For by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:8

We are saved through FAITH. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8

We are saved for good work, RIGHTEOUS WALKING. “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

If you know the means by which and through which you are saved, but you don’t know for what purpose you are saved, you will miss everything. That is the problem with preachers who preach once saved is always saved, who say you can continue in sin and still claim faith, and the same problem with Christians who claim they are saved while they continue in worldly lifestyles.

Beloved, do you care for genuine salvation that gives victory over sin and that will give you a definite purpose for the rest of your life? Do you want to live by faith in this year and the rest of your life till you see the Blessed Jesus? Then you need to be justified in Jesus Christ. Please click on this link, read and pray as directed https://www.facebook.com/notes/revelation-of-truth-evangelical-ministries-rtem/how-to-be-saved-and-start-a-new-life-in-jesus/270674586372252

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GOD BLESS YOU